Fun YHTBT note! Thanks for your effort Jonathan!
Sent from my iPhone
On Oct 19, 2018, at 4:39 PM, J. K. <jonathan.kolber@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Our Toastmaster was Dirk. The theme was that there was no theme. (This was
Dirk's latest experiment in Club innovation. It was, in a sense, his boldest
yet: how do you make a meeting without a theme innovative? You'll find out...)
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Sergeant At Arms Robin opened the meeting in a rousing way. He even gave a
mini-speech of introduction!
Club President Jennifer conducted business quickly. Club VP of PR Colette
exhorted (future Word of the Day, up for grabs!) members to Like the Club's
Facebook page. Also, to invite friends. (Aside: I just "liked" it and also
posted a link to https://www.facebook.com/frontrangetoastmasters/?ref=br_rs. ;
The whole thing took one minute.)
Lori reminded us that the regional educational meeting is TOMORROW SATURDAY
OCT 20th, and an incredible bargain in value delivered at only $20 with
ELEVEN EDUCATIONAL SESSIONS. She also encouraged us to come in the evening to
celebrate the honoring of SEVERAL Club members. The awards ceremony is free!!
(Details: https://www.d26toastmasters.org/fall-training-expo/)
Jennifer pointed out the dangers of assumptions, and someone interrupted with
an aside (Aside: who does that?) to sing the Technical Writers' Mantra:
"A-S-S-U-M-E Makes an Ass of You and Me". (Yes, that's the whole song. YHTBT.)
Want to be a better Evaluator? You can use Dirk's Evaluation Form, used by
multiple time Best Evaluator winners Dirk and Jennifer! (Jennifer sent this
form out Thursday morning in her package of useful forms.)
Toastmaster Dirk introduced the Lead Players of the evening. He made several
impromptu replacements, which went smoothly.
Lead Players were:
Inspiration and Gesture Master (first time!!) - Richa
Greeter - Colette
Grammarian - Savanna (Word of the Day was Bazinga!! No it wasn't, GOTCHA. Yes
it was. YHTBT.)
Ah Counter and Quizmaster - Jonathan
Timer/Joker - Robin
We had two Speakers, Jennifer and Colette.
Jennifer, evaluated by Alan, took the ordinarily dry topic of "Meeting Roles
and Responsibilities" and made it lively (!) by handing out an amazing 4 page
writeup. It all consisted of two columns: (A) According to Toastmasters
International and (B) According to Front Range Toastmasters. EVERY SINGLE
ROLE is different, at least in one respect, between how "they" do it and how
"we" do it.
We've even invented roles like Gesture Master that are unknown at other
clubs!!
Should FRTM evangelize its approach to the greater Toastmasters community?
Could we give a talk about it at a district or national event? (Aside: Dirk
once opined that there are two big reasons why more clubs don't adopt the
FRTM model: the club must meet EVERY week, and meetings must last 2 hours.
While that may preclude many clubs from cloning FRTM, there are THOUSANDS
that could do so if they knew this model existed.)
(Big Aside: At the last conference I attended, I pitched a member of the TMI
Board on a campaign "Get to Know the Real Toastmasters" which would show
people having a lot of fun while learning. The idea was that most people--who
consider public speaking about as frightening as death!--think Toastmasters
is a harsh and frightening environment. While our Halloween meeting MAY be
frightening, I think we can all agree that FRTM is the opposite of such
notions. Had Jen and I known about FRTM years earlier, we would have joined
years earlier. How about you?)
Colette was our second Speaker, evaluated by Lori. Colette took the very
timely issue of Proposition 112 and gave a Pro/Con analysis. The question is
whether or not to extend the distance requirement for fracking operations to
2,500 feet. It sounds simple, but if adopted will reduce fracking
possibilities in Colorado by 85%! After carefully stating the arguments Pro
and Con, Colette adopted Con based on insufficient evidence to prove the
need. (Aside: Hey, that sounds like a great debating strategy!)
We had a 10 minute break. This was followed by a RANT!! by Katelynn.
Katelynn's rant was about traffic. It was well-received, and I somehow doubt
it will be the last.
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We then had Table Topics, led by Master Ray. Ray posed a series of
provocative questions, tailored to the victim, uh, games participant.
Richa spoke about what makes her insecure. (Many things.)
Robin spoke about his most enjoyable family activity in the past 3 years.
(Clue: it involved all of us!)
Alan shared music tracks that lift his spirits when he's feeling down.
Lori talked about the qualities of true friends, and the need to get rid
of"friends" who don't embody those.
Savanna talked about her favorite sounds. (Another great performance from the
person who can't stand Table Topics.)
Luis talked about the # 1 change in his life in the next year.
Robin (again!! Another innovation in a meeting without a theme) talked
about--uh, DEMONSTRATED--his most striking physical attribute, and promised
an encore in costume performance at our Halloween Party.
Jonathan was asked what he'll remember in 20 or 25 years. (He had difficulty
remembering the question.)
Katelynn spoke about her #1 motivator.
Dirk spoke about having missed the opportunity to become proprietor of his
family store, which is highly successful.
The General Evaluator was Luis. He was functioning like any other Evaluator.
He was even timed.
Alan evaluated Jennifer ('s performance). He pointed out that she managed to
have notes/not have notes/have notes in a unique way. (YHTBT.)
Lori evaluated Colette ('s performance). She noted that Colette did many
things well, while not really speaking to the back of the room.
Savanna counted 22 uses of BAZINGA!! It might just be the most popular Word
of the Day ever!! (Now up to 23!)
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Richa, as Gesture Master, flagged several memorable gestures, including
Jennifer's odd yet deliberate and repeated one-handed gesture from head to
side.
Yours Truly, as Ah Counter, failed to click TWO of the FOUR (or five)
examples noted before Luis' final GE presentation. However, there was good
self-noticing by Savanna. And the most noteworthy thing is how few uses of
er, ah, um, so, and double clutches we had. We're getting good at this, folks!
As Quiz Master, Yours Truly had four "real" questions and one BAZINGA!! (Now
up to 24.) Nobody quite got them all right, but people were close.
GE Luis gave a tight and discerning evaluation of the whole meeting, noting
exceptional performances by diverse Players. (Would it be a good idea to
start calling people with roles in an evening the Lead Players?)
And now, for the drumroll....
Best Table Topics was Robin (who had an unfair advantage, but was still a
crowd favorite)
Best Speaker was Jennifer, Colette having disqualified on time.
Best Evaluator was Lori.
In the spirit of killing fewer plastic-producing petroleum products (and baby
seals...YHTBT), we had no ribbons.
Remember, next week's meeting is our Halloween Party!! It, too, will have
some innovations!
Until next time, I am your~~
Club Secretary
PS--Bonus Cartoon:
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(You'd enjoy this even more if you'd heard Robin's joke!)
