Capital City Toastmasters

Dear Capital City Friends:

We had a fantastic turnout this week. It was good to see so some old members return after some time away. Plus, we had four visitors. It was a full house.

Rey enthusiastically led the packed room and taught us the meanings of our names. Some proved 100% true. Wendy means “sweet.” Bert means “bright.” Carol means “merry” and “kind.” And others proved totally unnecessary. After all, did the self-proclaimed emperor of our club (aka Albert) really need to be told that his name means “noble”? C’mon, Rey, exercise a little discretion, would you?

Louis (the “great warrior”) posed some tough table topics questions – so tough that Staci was thankful many non role players were present. How would Carol advise Adam on naming the creatures of this world. We don’t know, but we know she likes her name and doesn’t care if it’s misspelled. What would Jason (“the healer”) name after whom? Again, we don’t know, but after Jason bowed to acknowledge his return, he told us about Tater and Ret, two poorly named pups in his family. What new field of study would Albert create? This time we got a direct answer. Without hesitation, Albert answered the study of parents who give their kids unusually spelled names like Brendyn and Wendi. When has Brendan messed up a name? Maybe he never has, but Brendan likes to sneak a peak at a friend’s yearbook, randomly pick a name of an old classmate, tell the friend that he ran into that classmate, and then make up stories about what the classmate had to say about his friend. Interesting. We may have identified another field of study in response to Albert’s question. People who namedrop from yearbooks. It’s a rare condition/illness.

On to the prepared speeches. Sandra (the “helper and defender of mankind”) delivered an explanation as to why she’s been gone from us for a while. She’s been studying for the second part of the Chartered Financial Analyst exam. Some uber intelligent classmates told her years ago that she couldn’t pass the CFA exam, so she set out to do just that. Congratulations on completing the exam, Sandra. We’ll be thinking of you on August 19 when you get the results! Stephen (“quick thinking” and “keenness of wit”) then practiced a speech he’ll actually be delivering to a real audience in the near future. He discussed the appropriateness of architectural criticism in his magazine and his responsibility as editor to make sure that any such criticism is fair and balanced. Stephen, we hope the real thing goes well for you! We hope you will both report back on how things turns out for you.

Amy, who’d like to be called “Sparky” from here on out, generally evaluated. Wendy and Stuart evaluated the speeches. Wendy raved about word choices and delivery. Stuart offered a number of tips that we can all use. For example, we can all improve our speeches by having clear organization, using transitions so the audience can follow the organization, and trying not to read our speeches.

We wrapped up the meeting by welcoming two new members. Marsha and Lloyd, we’re thrilled to have you and look forward to hearing your ice breakers!

Ribbon Winners -
Best Table Topic: Jason
Best Speaker: Sandra
Best Evaluator: Wendy
Most Enthusiastic: Rey
Best Use of Humor: Brendan