February 19th Meeting

Eagles president Ute Brinkmann was away for the evening, so VP Kate Kelly welcomed us to the meeting. She had Sandra Centorino come up and share some exciting news about opportunities that have opened up to her thanks to connections made through Toastmasters.

We had 16 members and two guests attending. Jaime Fisher was Toastmaster.

Nilani Shankar provided the quote of the day, from Thomas Jefferson. "Do you want to know who you are? Don’t ask, act!"

Tony Centorino was the humorist and told a funny story about a woman dedicated to following Gil Simmon’s instructions to park the car on the correct side of the street during snowstorms, instead of simply keeping it in the garage.

Markus Schumacher was the Table Topics Master, and got us talking about our snow stories. Melinda, Sandra, Heather and Nilani all participated.

Celina Dorn was the first speaker of the night, giving her Ice Breaker speech, titled A Couple Items About Me. Celina showed us glasses, a leash, sneakers and a speaker and spoke about how each symbolized something important in her life. Her career pursuits, her dog Flake, the “fluffy white ball of love”, her interest in yoga, hiking and krav maga, and finally, her love of music.

Melinda Torgerson also gave an Ice Breaker speech, titled Party Like it’s 1999. She took us through her formative years and explained how moments from her past can be tied to her current life, her love of sports and running, music, and animals.

Steve McGirr spoke from the Special Occasion Speeches manual, Speaking in Praise. He spoke of how Toastmasters has helped him develop confidence, motivation and leadership. By constantly pushing himself out of his comfort zone, he has grown exponentially. He sees the change in his life in many ways and is thankful for all the opportunities Toastmasters has provided him.

Markus Schumacher was the final speaker of the evening, with the Organizing Your Speech project. In “My Struggle with Confrontation”, Markus talked about how he wants to work on improving his skills in facing confrontation in his personal life. He offered some tips in overcoming this, such as 1. Timing – Confront early on, before it gets too late. 2. Stick to your values, don’t compromise beyond your comfort level, and 3. Be appropriate.  As President Lincoln once said, “Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

Nilani Shankar was the general evaluator, and speech evaluators were Paula Erardi, Sandra Centorino, Brad Leete and Steve McGirr.  Functionaries were: Ah-Counter - Kate Kelly, Grammarian, Stephen McGirr, Timer – Richard Freeman.