Inspired by his recent installation of a sprinkler system, Albert, our beloved emperor and Toastmaster for the day, planted some seeds and watched our Toastmasters, new and old, grow.  (Okay, that’s a little corny, I know, but it’s the truth and is in keeping with the theme.)

If our meeting was a garden, then the table topics would be the soil preparation.  Brendan called on some well established members for table topics.  Eric, who thankfully has reemerged from a hiatus from the club, spoke of the Parable of the Sower and his efforts to surround himself with rational people and to avoid irrational ones.  Drew avoided the thorns as she discussed her favorite among tulips, apples, marijuana and potatoes.  And Kirk, who is a new sprout but already well rooted in table topics, told of his dream to plant a garden of Mighty Fine Burgers.  By the way, Kirk has been picked on at four of the last six meetings where he wasn’t otherwise speaking.  Let’s give him some breathing room this week, shall we?

In our garden, the speeches are the planting of the flowers, which in this case were as varied as the window box that Zahra, our timer, hopes to one day have.  Russell charmingly delivered an icebreaker with no theme.  Patrick spoke of his newfound appreciation for weddings and babies.  Louis taught us to cause destruction with the skill of a sociopath.

And the evaluations are the watering of the plants.  Lee did an awesome first evaluation, reminding us to use stories and be mindful of keeping our energy up during a speech.  Amy spoke of the importance of organization and deliberate movements that help signal the importance of the content.  Leeanne praised the ability to deliver an interesting speech despite a technical topic.

This week, we had a little extra dose of plant food.  Our general evaluator got some input after the meeting that can be beneficial for those of us who are new to these roles.  Corky taught me that the general evaluator is responsible for leading the applause as the evaluators are introduced.  That’s a good tip, Corky.  Thank you.  And that’s also a good reminder that we all have so much to learn and that we should, even when we aren’t in formal evaluation roles, offer each other tips and insights so we can all do better the next time.  We are, after all, here to grow, right?  (See, that’s not so corny after all…)

Thanks also to Rey and Maria for being role players.

Has our garden flourished in the last week?  You be the judge.  Come back this week and see us put into use what we’ve all learned.

  • Best Table Topic:  Kirk
  • Best Speaker:  Russell
  • Best Evaluator:  Lee
  • Best Humor: Russell
  • Most Enthusiastic: Patrick B.

And one more time – congratulations to Amy for winning the Division J contest last weekend!  Mark your calendars to come to the District Conference on May 2 to support her in the next round.