Meeting Notes - April 28

On April 28th the Middlesex County Toastmasters, along with many guests, learned how to write a speech in 15 minutes thanks to special guest Walter Beveridge.

Members Present: Tom Alvord, Jennifer Cimilluca, Margarita Giraldo, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jackie Kirwan, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff.

Guests Present: John Bell, James Branca, Ute Brinkman (President, Wallingford Eagle Toastmasters), Steven Grey, Charlie Hubert (Cromwell Community Toastmasters), Rachel Mele (Wallingford Eagle Toastmasters), Louis Nizet (President, Cromwell Community Toastmasters), Mary Talbot (Cromwell Community Toastmasters), Jimmy Ortiz, Norm Thibodeau (Stag Toastmasters), Bruce Wallace.

Special Guest Speaker: Walter Beveridge, DTM, a member of the Taconic Toastmasters in Hudson, NY, and a Toastmaster since March, 1997.

The Division C International and Tall Tales Contests were held on Tuesday, April 26, and Tom won the Tall Tales Contest! He will represent the Division at the District 53 Conference on May 21st. Congratulations, Tom!

Our next meeting will be a speech-a-thon on May 5th at Luther Ridge at Middletown. (Luther Ridge is on Congdon Street, off Route 217 in Middletown). All the prepared speaking slots are filled, but there are still opportunities to speak with several meeting roles available.

Officer elections for the next Toastmaster year (starting in July) will be held on May 26th. Anyone seeking a leadership role should see the Immediate Past President, Cheryl, for more information.

Rachel, from the Eagle Toastmasters club, spoke about the Facebook page she has set up. A flyer was distributed for the Eagle Toastmasters Open House on Tuesday, May 16th, at the Wallingford Public Library.

Kay was our Toastmaster for the evening, and set the theme for the meeting by reminding us, “A ship is safe in harbor, but that is not what ships are for” (William Shedd). We have to be bold and try new things, i.e. the techniques we would be learning from Walter later in the evening!

The Word of the Day, “invitation”, was presented by Jonathan. Invitation: A spoken or written request for someone’s participation.

Our invocation was given by Charnaie, who gave us inspirational words about the realm of possibilities, that we cannot cower toward uncertainty.

The evening’s technicians Rob (Timer), Ah Counter (Charnaie), and Grammarian (Mary) explained their roles for members and guests.

Our Table Topics Master, Charnaie, gave short scenes for us to act out. First up were James and Norm, strangers meeting and talking about a Toastmasters meeting flyer. Next, Jen, Rachel, Ramesh, and Michael portrayed four people stuck in an elevator. That was followed by Kim and Ute, playing the parts of two friends each annoyed by the other’s little habits. Jackie and Tom portrayed a couple about to break up, and lastly, Jimmy was interviewed by Louis and John for a meteorologist’s position at the local TV station. The skits were great fun and allowed many members and guests to participate.

The highlight of the evening was Walter’s workshop, “How to Prepare a 5-7 Minute Speech in 15 Minutes”. He walked us through a 12-step process that, starting from a single word, can allow you to choose an overall objective, determine the speech content, and plan the delivery of a complete speech. All this in about 15 minutes.

And to demonstrate, using the techniques Walter had just walked us through, Louis presented a speech about the beginning of his selling career, James presented a speech “Lost in Life” (at the first Toastmasters meeting he ever attended!), and Jackie presented “Running the NYC Marathon – Why, How, and What I Learned”.

Walter has added the presentation, notes, and materials to his website, www.wbdtm.com, so we no longer have to waste, as he put it, “millions of hours” writing speeches.

Our General Evaluator was Murali, assisted by the Ah Counter (Charnaie), Grammarian (Mary), and Timer (Rob). Murali pointed out that as usual, Ramesh did an outstanding job getting the room set up, and congratulated Charnaie for all the work and planning in having such an excellent speaker as Walter come to our meeting. Kudos were given to Kay for her great job as the evening’s Toastmaster.

Norm reminded us that the District 53 Contest will be held on Saturday, May 21st at the Clarion Hotel in East Windsor, CT. On line registration is available at the District 53 website, with early bird pricing ending on Monday, May 2nd.

Please advise any errors or omissions. Thank you.

Respectfully submitted,
Jennifer Cimilluca, Secretary
Middlesex County Toastmasters Club