Amazing things can happen when you come to a Toastmasters Meeting!

You might learn something. You may hear a speech about poisonous snakes, or a presentation on which female Disney character is the hottest babe.

You may get a lesson on selecting the right wine or how to become a better liar. You might see people from Nepal and Germany and Sweden and Russia. And Rollingwood.

You may meet creative, intelligent, generous people who are focused on self-improvement, and on serving others. And these people might make you feel so welcome and so supported that you become motivated to become a better speaker yourself!

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New ways to pass the time when you’re at work!!

To bring you out of the dark ages, Louis created a couple website tutorial videos. New members can get a comprehensive tour, and vets can find some cool tools on Toastmasters International’s site.

We’ve also got Rey’s fantastic speech on evaluating, in case you missed it!

They’re all under the Helpful Videos link in the menu.

This one’s for my girls in the hood.

The annual Capital City Battle of the Sexes started with a bang! And her name is Amy Samet, the most prized female in our club, the PRESIDENT, and also today’s Toastmaster and completely unbiased referee.

Representin’ for da boyz, Jason brought us a word of the day from the urban dictionary: Weapons of Mass Distraction. Those are… well, Dolly Parton’s got ‘em for sure. Louis stepped up next, pitting guys and girls against each other in head-to-head table topics bouts.

Leeanne was the yin to Jason’s yang, both trying to explain what I believe were the universal men and women’s restroom signs that Louis drew on the board. Eric outrageously claimed that dogs are better than women, but no, no, no, Lora rebutted that dogs are better than every single male in her household, citing laziness and destruction against the men. Touché!

Michael’s icebreaker was a sneak attack on the men’s behalf: a hilarious story of being the fastest kid in school for 3 years.. until… Gretchen. Yes, she beat him. Score another one for the girls today!

Rey, the Toastmaster talk show host extraordinaire, used a gimic and a laptop to spice up the Successful Club Series speech on evaluating. Don’t worry if you missed it, there’s a video!! And it’ll be posted on the website sometime this week. You may want to check it out if your name begins with Alb or Cork. Great material on how to evaluate, and a fun advice column portion! Awesome!

Our two guests, Dennis and Gene, really enjoyed the meeting (despite all the male bashing) so we hope to see them again soon. Sheena popped in today to be our general evaluator, giving the girls an edge in the battle: hope to see you again soon too!

There was a vote and somebody won, but I can’t seem to remember who it was. If I had to guess, I’d say it was THE GIRLS, obviously. I’ll keep you updated if the memory ever comes back to me.

Leif Brown joined the club at yesterday’s meeting!  But he’s no newbie, as we saw in his first table topic, he’s got plenty of Toastmaster experience.

Welcome, Leif!  We look forward to your first speech at Capital City!!

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez!!

The good times, they did roll at today’s Mardi Gras meeting with Maureen as emcee!! She brought beads, mardi gras chocolate coins, and for her own personal amusement she threw in some FAKE [PLASTIC] chocolate coins. (Maureen we’ll be sending you our dental bills soon).

Rey “the Party Girl?” DeVeau, wearing a rather large collection of beads and wielding an empty whiskey jug, threw out table topics instead of candy, and all 3 participants dutifully exposed themselves: New member, yet experienced Toastmaster Leif recounted hilarious stories of his fanatically anti-Catholic mother who saved him from a baptism attack at the very last moment!! Noone will be surprised that Drew has NO regrets from her Mardi Gras on 6th street. Lesson learned: never take beads from strangers, especially Drew, she’ll make you pay! Carol also let it all out, with her alter ego Foxxy Brown coming out on sixth street. Apparently Foxxy loooves Maker’s Mark, or is it Marky Mark?

Miss Triple Threat Ania Joseph gave a motivational preach, I mean speech, on how to get over our habitual flaws and get ready for the International Speech Contest!!! Although starting out looking cute and professional enough, by the end of her speech, it looked like New Orleans threw up on her, with all the props and costumes she picked up on the way. “Feeling shy? carry a gun.” Best tongue-in-cheek presentation. ever.

Louis scared the pants off of us with a White House press release announcing that the all too possible war with Iran has begun. Afterwards, the audience assaulted him with questions, to which Louis responded with the familiar government doubletalk. Spot on! And congrats on completing another advanced manual!!

CONGRATS TO THE WINNERS!

Best Table Topic: Leif
Best Evaluator: Amy
Best EVERYTHING ELSE: Ania!

Everyone, check out the website!! Same address www.capital-city-toastmasters.org, but a new look PLUS A BLOG!! All meeting recaps will be posted here, new member announcements, and whatever else we think is cool!! You can still use the online agenda signup — the Agenda link on the right will take you there.

If you have any feedback, good or bad, we want to hear it! Email me, Louis, or all the officers at capitalcityofficers@yahoogroups.com !!

Due to the continued outrageous demands from Ms.Brookover’s agent, attorneys and personal hairdresser, the writer’s strike continues and you have to once again endure the ramblings of Keith, the oozy scab.

Capital City Peeps,

Hola mi amigos y beetches!

Lora gave us an appropriate theme for our meeting today: Weather.  Appropriate cuz I noticed when I stepped outside there was indeed weather and there continued to be weather most of the day.  Our polished Toastmaster was her usual engaging self, weathering the responsibilities of Toastmastering with gusto, skill and humor.

John added a fun twister as our Table Topics Master by allowing some of the visitors he brought from South America to present the questions to the participants, thankfully in English.  We found out some interesting tidbits: Jason would go to South America in any season but would prefer the warmer weather so he could wear his grape smuggler.  It was a visual many of the women and Albert enjoyed.  Stuart’s long absence was explained as he told us he was riding the range and cowpoking in South America, falling off his steed and injuring his back causing to him wear the largest fanny pack anyone has ever seen.  He taught us that the Spanish word for “lasso” is “lasso”.   The coldest weather Louis had to endure was in the military, lying in a puddle in the cold rain, lobbing fake grenades at fake people.  If ever we go to war with mannequins, he’s our first line of defense.  And don’t think they’re not planning something.  I spewed some disjointed drivel long enough for the green light. And yellow.  And red.  And then some.  It was all true and poetic and came from the heart all for my beetches. Taline claims she is the worst dancer in the world but would dance with Ethan Hawke barefooted on broken glass while on fire.

Maria gave us a speech about her occupation which deals with the world of insurance in the state of Texas.  “Make sure you have enough and you’re properly covered (one hand on hip, the other shaking a finger at us)”, she might have said.  I especially enjoyed her example of me and my “friend” or wife or who ever that woman was laughing maniacally as we ran over Amy Samet repeatedly with my under-insured car.  The speech was informative, consumer-oriented and she even had related literature in English and Spanish - good job.  Wendy scurried away from her usual rat-related speech topic to discuss a serious topic, breast feeding the homeless. I mean, tube feeding sick people.  She did her research well discussing a little history, procedural facts and the importance of not lying on your tube.  It was a well-crafted, effective speech delivered with her usual warm smile.

Corky evaluated Maria suggesting that she infuse her speech with more stories, true or not, but the big meanie never said anything nice so our General Evaluator, Albert, provided the softer side of the evaluation noting her improved eye contact and voice projection.  Amy evaluated Wendy pointing out her enthusiasm, good research though reminding Wendy we not be smart, too much detail make head hurt.  Albert didn’t like our piggish, American speaking style.  We need to enunciate, slow down and speak louder so our foreign visitors can more easily understand us.  I guess he’s right because, this is the truth, after the meeting one of the South American ladies asked me if I said “boobs”.  At first I thought she was reading my mind but then I remembered I said “booze” in reference to something that keeps me warm.  Unfortunately, booze is more readily available to me.

Rey provided us the word of the day, “Sunshine” and yes, she even said, “Rey of Sunshine”, which she is.  Patrick timed us, spattering his info with breezy weather-related commentary.  Brendan insulted a nation of people and two major religious denominations with his chuckle.

And the winners were -

Best Table Topic: Stuart
Best Speaker: Windy (get it?)
Best Evaluator:  Amy
Best Humor: Keith (back on top)
Most Enthusiasm: John

Michael Schuttloffel has joined our club. Welcome, Michael.

Due to writer’s strike, Jenny Brookover’s recap will be written by Keith Smith, the dirty scab

Capital City Sneezers,

I’ve been ITCHING to do one of these recaps and now the time has come! MMMMMMBWWWWAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I just wish I could remember what happened yesterday.

There will be mucus, so stated our Toastmaster Brendan with his timely “Cedar Fever” theme. Promises, promises. I saw none but I did feel something sticky when I shook his hand. He humored us by sharing his personal experience with cedar fever which he managed to avoid for a time but then succumbed. We discovered his ultra-competitive nature when he shared his strategy for throwing off his golfing partner - shake a cedar tree and cover him in icky, sneezy cedar stuff.

The ever-cheerful Maureen was our Table Topic Master and she mastered the role supplying our participants with great questions. Lora’s cure for cedar fever includes getting in bed, resting but mainly centers on alcohol - the cause of and solution to all of life’s problems. Taline would never use cedar fever as an excuse to call in sick to work, SUPPOSEDLY she would never make up any excuse - of course a couple of her coworkers were in the audience. And Albert’s secret to a good gin martini is lots of veggies - and he explained that within the alloted time!

Zach gave an ice-breaker for our club though he’s not a first timer. Previous Toastmaster participation helped him attain leadership roles in several organizations, gave him confidence to accomplish many fantastical goals and gave him the power to move objects with his mind. Ania gave a passionate speech that included regeneration of teeth through visualization (or at least the attempt), some personal struggles and discovery. Finally, John kept our attention with his fine voice, enthusiasm and body gestures during his reading of an excerpt from a book by a New York City High School teacher’s experience on the job. Hardly anyone noticed his zipper was undone.

Wendy evaluated for the first time and did a great job providing valuable feedback to John. Louis and Patrick chimed in evaluating Ania and Zach, respectively. The Chief Evaluator was stunning and god-like.

And the winners were -

Best Table Topic: Albert Cantara
Best Speaker: John Schmidt
Best Evaluator: Wendy Fisher
Most Enthusiastic: Ania Joseph
Best Use of Humor: Brendan “there will be mucus” Owens

I think I’m supposed to add more stuff here but, hey, I get paid half of what Jenny does.

Capital City Friends,

Yes, it is already time to start thinking about the 2008 Toastmasters International Speech Contest…the excitement of the competition, the spectacular showcase of our club’s talent, the roar of the crowd!

We will need a Contest Chair, a Toastmaster, role players (timers, vote counters) and of course contestants. Present a 5 to 7 minute speech on the topic of your choice.  Winners have historically brought a mix of information, inspiration, and entertainment to their speeches.  This is an excellent opportunity to challenge yourself and build your skills.

At tomorrow’s meeting we will vote on the date, so please check your calendars. The contest will be scheduled for either March 19 or March 26 at noon, taking the place of our regular meeting. (AISD Spring Break is March 10-14)

The winner will move forward to the Area L-41 Contest, which is already scheduled for Satruday April 12.

Amy Samet, your president
Capital City TM

Dear Toastmasters and mistresses,

Although Keith and his cohorts found plenty of things “wrong” in this world (everything from men wearing their wives’ skinny jeans to… non-alcoholic beer), today’s meeting was NOT one of them! From old pros to icebreakers, we saw lots of talent that was right on!

Keith branched out to physical comedy today, bringing in hoots and tears of laughter.. or maybe those were cat calls for his tight jeans. Either way, he brought it, and so did Jason, running Table Topics for the first time today and doing a darn fine job of it. Seriously, great and fun questions to answer. I should know - I answered one! Corky and Leeanne did too, taking their turns explaining first why bellbottoms are wrong, and then what’s wrong with Miss Spears, Miss Hilton and Miss Lohan — only one thing wrong with them: they don’t like older men.

The first of two icebreakers was from Greg Anderson, whose amazing life journey has taken him from Atlanta to Austin, to a hospital bed with a major foot injury, then up and out and into UT, where he’s now a senior and engaged to a wonderful woman! Glad to have you with us Greg!

Next up was Taline Manassian, but we learned today that she pretty much answers to anything: T, TonTon, Torpedo, Butthead, whatever, she’ll come running. Especially if it’s Ethan Hawke who’s doing the calling! We welcome you, future Mrs. Ethan Hawke!

Finally, we had our third “icebreaker”… ok it was an advanced speech but it was Ania Joseph’s first speech at this club! Not to mention her first speech after getting her CC award 2 years ago. She gripped us with the story of why she took a hiatus, which was both outrageously funny and touching. Turns out she’s using her fabulous speaking skills to preach now. Another great addition to our club!!

A solid group of skilled evaluators presided over by Patrick rounded out the meeting. One last kudos to Louis for smoothly taking over the role of presiding officer in the absence of our Prez Amy.

Things that were just RIGHT:

Best Table Topic: Jenny
Best Speaker: Ania
Best Evaluator: Bert VUNK!
Best Humor: Taline
Most Enthusiasm: Ania!

See ya next week,
Jenny

Raj Bhattarai was recognized by Toastmasters International with a 20 year membership pin.

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