Speechathon Recap - September 29

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, September 29, at Middlesex Community College for a special Speechathon meeting. We had 16 members and 1 guest in attendance.

Jacqueline Kirwan was our Toastmaster, and she did a masterful job of leading the meeting through 7 prepared speeches. Our functionaries for this meeting included Murali Pemmaraju (GE), Diana Ashton (Ah-counter), Ramesh Padavala (Grammarian), and Emily O'Brien (Timer). Pamela Mulready provided the Word of the Day ("sylvan").

The speechathon provided a great opportunity for our members to fit in 7 more speeches, helping a lot of members move closer to achieving their goals.

Prepared speeches:

• Charnaie Gordon presented a humorous speech from the Humorously Speaking manual, "Walk a Mile in Their Shoes". The speech was evaluated by Jonathon Herron.

• Michael O'Brien presented a persuasive speech, "The Twelve Week Year". His speech was also evaluated by Jonathon.

• Rob Schaff presented "The Underdog", an Abstract Concept speech from the Speaking to Inform manual. The speech was evaluated by Emily.

• Jennifer Cimilluca took on the character of Susan B. Anthony, and presented an Oratorical Speech from the Interpretative Reading manual, "Susan B. Anthony's Constitutional Argument." The group evaluated this speech with a round-robin format.

• Chris Sullivan presented project #2 from the CC manual, "Creating an Influence Network". This speech was evaluated by Pam.

• Judy Thompson presented "Brainstorm Predicted for Friday!", project #3 from the CC manual, evaluated by Jennifer.

• Helena Grey presented project #4 from the CC manual, "Positive Impressions". The speech was evaluated by Charnaie.



Members Present:

Diana Ashton, Jennifer Cimilluca, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Pamela Mulready, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Rob Schaff, Chris Sullivan, and Judy Thompson.

Guests Present: Paul Dietrich

Fall Speech Contest - September 22

The Middlesex County Toastmasters held their Fall Speech Contest on Thursday, September 22, at Middlesex Community College. The evening featured two contests, Humorous Speech and Table Topics. We had 21 members and 1 guest in attendence.

Jennifier Cimilluca was the Contest Chair. Jonathon Herron was our Contest Master, and Kay Jeyapalan was the Chief Judge.

Humorous Speech - Results

1. Rob Schaff

2. Mike Nicastre

3. Tom Alvord


Table Topics - Results

1. Tom Alvord

2. Arun Sodani

3. Ramesh Padavala


The contest winners will be competeing at the Area-33 Contest on Wednesday, October 12. This contest will be hosted by the Greater New Haven Toastmasters, and will be held at New Haven City Hall, 165 Church Street, New Haven.

Members Present:

Tom Alvord, Diana Ashton, John Bell, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Cheryl Mason, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, and Arun Sodani.

Guests Present: Tanya Miuskova, a guest of Anne-Marie.

Our next meeting will be our Speechathon, next week, on September 29.

Respectfully submitted,

Rob

Meeting Notes - September 8

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, September 8, at Middlesex Community College. We had a great turnout for this meeting, with 23 members and 9 guests in attendance.

Rob Schaff was our Toastmaster. Our functionaries for this meeting included Charnaie Gordon (GE), Helena Grey (Ah-counter), Jacqueline Kirwan (Grammarian), and Jennifer Cimilluca (Timer). Jay Broderick provided the Word of the Day (aplomb), and Cheryl Mason was our Table-Topics Master. Cheryl used her experience at the recent Toastmasters International Convention to inspire a great set on table-topics, and included both members and guests in the impromptu speaking.

Prepared speeches:

- Jonathan Herron presented speech #5 from the Competent Communicator manual, "Parenting and Sporting Events". His speech was evaluated by Marsha Kiley.

- Emily O'Brien recounted her experience of learning to drive, "One Memorable Day", as project #5 from the CC manual. Her speech was evaluated by Anne-Marie Cannata.

- Our special guest, Michael Aron, presented our Keynote Speech, "What Is In It For Me". Michael gave a great accounting of the benefits of participating in Toastmasters, especially with regards to the development of self-confidence. Michael's speech was evaluated by Kim Price.

- Rob Schaff used the opportunity of being the Toastmaster to complete project #5 from the Specialty Speeches advanced manual, "Introducing the Speaker." Rob's introductions were evaluated by Michael O'Brien.

Lots of planning went into this meeting, and it really paid off, with excellent speeches, a beautiful meeting space with great refreshments, and a team of participants that came prepared to perform their roles. This was a great start to our fall season, and we look to keep the momentum going with our Fall Speech Contest on September 22.

Welcome aboard!

- Welcome to Diana Ashton, who joined our club following last night's meeting.

Members Present:

Tom Alvord, Jay Broderick, Anne-Marie Cannata, Jennifer Cimilluca, Siva Digavalli, Charnaie Gordon, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Cheryl Mason, Mike Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O'Brien, Michael O'Brien, Ramesh Padavala, Murali Pemmaraju, Kim Price, Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Chris Sullivan

Guests Present: Raja Annu, Judy Aron, Michael Aron, Diana Ashton, Ute Brinkmann, Marsha Kiley, Rose Rita Riccitelli, and Beth Lapin.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB

Meeting Notes - August 25

Meeting Notes - August 25

The Middlesex County Toastmasters met on Thursday, August 25, at The Village at South Farms. We had 18 members and 2 guests in attendance.

Our next meeting will be on September 8, back at Middlesex Community College. This meeting will feature a special guest speaker, Michael Aron, DTM. Michael's speech is titled, "What Is In It For Me?"

Jennifer Cimilluca was our Toastmaster. Jennifer was assisted by Emily O'Brien (GE), Tom Alvord (Ah-counter), Rob Schaff (Grammarian), and Murali Pemmaraju (Timer and Table-Topics Master).

Prepared speeches:

- Chris Sullivan presented his Ice-Breaker speech, evaluated by Tom Alvord.
- Helena Grey presented a speech on the psychological impact of room colors, evaluated by Jacqueline Kirwan.
- Pamela Mulready presented her final speech from the CC manual, a persuasive speech showing the perils of procrastination. Pam's speech was evaluated by Mike O'Brien.
- John Keppler presented a persuasive speech from the CC manual, challenging us to understand the changes to CT withholding rules. John's speech was evaluated by Arun Sodani.

Congratulations!

- Congratulations to Pam Mulready, who completed her Competent Communicator award.
- Congratulation to guest Chris Sullivan, who completed his Ice-Breaker speech.

Toastmasters International - Winning Speeches
Tom Alvord let us know that, for the first time ever, Toastmasters International published the top 3 winning speeches on YouTube. The links to these videos can be found at
http://www.facebook.com/#!/ToastmastersInternationalOfficialFanPage

Members Present:
Tom Alvord, John Bell, Jennifer Cimilluca, Helena Grey, Steven Grey, Jonathan Herron, Kay Jeyapalan, John Keppler, Jacqueline Kirwan, Pamela Mulready, Michael Nicastre, Sally Nicastre, Emily O’Brien, Michael O’Brien, Murali Pemmaraju, , Rob Schaff, Arun Sodani, and Chris Sullivan.

Guests Present: Diana Ashton, Danielle Prushko.

Respectfully submitted,

Robert A. Schaff, ACS, ALB