May 18th Meeting - "and the Emmy goes to....."

Eagles,

Another great meeting Monday night! TV night was a night where we not only celebrated TV, we also got to learn something new about each other. From John B telling us he watches 2-3 hours each day to Ute sharing that she doesn't even own a TV.

What TV night would be complete without Emmy Awards? Here we go.....

Best presentation of an invention: John Bimonte - the "Toastmaster Startup Kit" (a headband and wristbands for new people that, ahem, perspire when they speak)

Person that made me feel oldest: Meghan Neller – As Quotemaster, Meghan quoted Gilmore Girls (never heard of them)

Person that made me feel youngest: Richard Freeman, who told us he liked Rat Patrol (I read about them in social studies class)

Reference that made some of us wish Google was around in the 60s: Ian Brooks for his Diana Riggs reference.

Best live performance of a TV sound track: Tony Centorino for his a Capella performance of the “Ballad of Gilligan's Isle” (Sherwood Schwartz is rolling in his grave)

Best visual description: Heather McKelvie for describing how Mr. Rogers told her through the TV that he wanted to talk to her Mom. Heather asked her Mom to come to the TV while she was, hmmm, indisposed

Best Educational speech: tie between Robin Corrigan's Go for the Gold tutorial on Toastmaster awards and Kate Kelly for teaching us about Susan B Anthony through her interpretative reading.

Best alternative to sleeping at church: Deb Haggett for her persuasive speech on how our clergy can learn to be better speakers

Thanks to all mentioned above as well as the following that took on meeting roles…..Jeff Torone, Allie Centorino, Sandra Centorino, Tom Corrigan, Vin Messina, Kevin Tran, Ute Brinkmann, Joe Oddie and Ruchi Pandey.

Thank you for another fun evening! See you on June 1st! There are roles available….please sign up for something!

Tony

Cinco de Mayo

Eagles,

May 4^th was  a fun evening that showcased what Eagle and Toastmasters is all about!

Our meeting had a festive “Cinco de Mayo” feel to it. That is, until Allie the Humorist told us it is actually “Sinko de Mayo”. Our Toastmaster, Rachel, regaled us with her entire Spanish vocabulary, which was only exceeded by the six Spanish words Sandra had on her Table Topics display!

We had two guests from other Toastmaster clubs, Aparna and Paul. While it is really fun “showing our club off” to potential new members, it is especially gratifying hearing compliments from members from other clubs……..We have a great club! It is a privilege having guests like Aparna and Paul contribute to our club with table topics, evaluations, and positive energy. I hope to visit their clubs sometime.

My lasting impression of Monday’s meeting, was John Bimonte’s Icebreaker! John stepped up to perform his Icebreaker a month early when a speaker slot opened. John permeated his speech with eye contact and his vocal variety was remarkable for a first speech! He is off to a great start!

Robin presented a very informative speech that summarizes the Toastmaster Communicator and Leadership programs…..If you remember nothing else about her speech, please know that she is a wealth of experience in this area. Please reach out to Robin or any of our more experienced members if you have questions or needs in this area.

A note about the agenda…….For several of you, “life got in the way” resulting in you having to remove your name from the 5/4 sign-up sheet. Each one of you respected the Eagle family by letting me know as soon as you found out you could not make it….Thank you! I look forward to your participation in future meetings. To those of you that did participate, some on short notice, thank you for stepping up! It is great to know we have “each other’s back”.

I would like to close with a short message about playing “Taps”. I spoke about playing Taps at my Dad’s military ceremony, which took place in the Sarasota National Cemetery in 2012. Shortly before my Dad’s burial, my cousin (also a trumpet player) told me that the Service personnel would play a recording of Taps unless I lined up a trumpet player. My cousin flew down to Florida....I played Taps and he played the echo.

There is an organization that will line up a bugler - www.buglesacrossamerica.org. If you know of anybody that needs a bugler, just go onto the site to request a player. You can also reach out to me and I’ll see what I can do to help. Every Serviceman and Servicewoman should be entitled to a live player!

Get ready for TV night on 5/18! Please log onto the website and sign up for something!

Tony

PS. Congratulations to our new officer-elects, Kate Kelly, Heather McKelvie, and Meghan Neller! I will provide more of my thoughts about this over the next few days

March 2nd Eagle Toastmaster Meeting

Fellow Toastmasters,

On March 2nd we had a unique evening to meet under the bright lights and in front of the cameras at Wallingford Public Access TV. Here are the highlights.

Tom Corrigan’s skill and experience was on display as our Toastmaster. He kept the meeting moving and stuck to the agenda. Robin Corrigan wore multiple hats….she was the Table Topics Master, General Evaluator, and the speech evaluator for two speeches. As the TT Master, she encouraged two of our newest members, Jeff and Ruchi, to speak in front of the cameras.

In commemoration of Dr. Seuss’s birthday, Rachel Mele provided a Dr. Seuss humor moment. Shannon Breaux, another “newbie”, provided a Dr. Seuss quote from a special book.

We had four speeches from our newer members. Deb Haggett set the tone with an inspirational speech that showed that “if you can see it and believe it, you can achieve it”. The Inspire speech is the longest speech (8-10 minutes) in the first CC manual and she did it without notes!

Alison Centorino gave her icebreaker last evening. Allie’s speech, “The Giving Girl”, communicated how friendships are about “quality not quantity” and the importance of helping others. She set the bar high for her next speech!

Sandra Centorino’s speech, Wine and Spirits, described a magical evening as a designated driver. Her “How to Say it” speech painted a vivid picture with her words.

Speaking of driving, Heather McKelvey brought her car to life…..13 years and 160,000 miles. That car gave Heather the best years of its life!

Our Eagle family is now 23 members strong. Last night was Shannon’s and Ruchi’s first meeting as new members and they are no longer the newest. Jill Wruble just signed up….I look forward to meeting her at our next meeting!

Our next meeting is a Toastmaster International speech contest on 3/16. Rachel sent out the details. Please consider signing up for a role. More to follow…..

See you on 3/16!

Tony

October 6, 2014 minutes of Eagle Toastmasters meeting

We had a new Toastmaster this evening Joe Oddie, he did a terrific job; volunteered last minute!

Our President, Susanne reminded everyone to mark their calendars and to attend the Humorous Speech Contest at the Senior Center in Cheshire 6:30 on 10/16... bring $5.

We had a guest that was a past member Joe!  Welcome.

Humorist was Thomas P.  Fired off plenty of one liners... kind of Rodney Dangerfield'ish.  Great job.

Word of the day Pommeaceous... thinking of the Apples in harvest now.  Interesting... no one seemed to use it.

Great Quote about leadership from Sandra Centorino... from John Quincy Adams.

Table Topics  - You could choose between 2 bags... High Test, then Regular... Really interesting topics:  What advice would you give your 10 year old self?; Would you like to master a whisper or shout?  Does Love mean never having to say you're sorry or always saying your sorry?...

Speaker 1 Elaine Piazza spoke about Roles and Responsibilities.  The most important part is to Communicate, Communicate Communicate!... she went over all the Meeting Roles and the responsibilities in the order of a meeting, and Club officer roles and responsibilities.  biggest point is to be careful about general email; be more specific and get a response confirmation.

Speaker 2 Tony Centorino - Best gift we gave our daughters.... Values.  1. Work ethic, 2. Give to those in need, 3. Accountability.. the willingness to face reality when facing a challenging situation. 4. Openness to talk about family decisions weather financial or vacations.  Great job!

Speaker 3 Kate Kelly.  Icebreaker.  50 and fabulous.  She has a terrific sense of humor!  She is the same person as she was 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50.  New perspective... like a Turtle .vs. a Giraffe.  Turtle sees everything up close, a giraffe has its head in the air.  great analogy.  she found integrity is better than $$; and still quips that she has probably more questions than answers... and she would recommend it... turning 50 that is.

Our General evaluator Ute was terrific!  so smooth and great transitions from one person to the next. she offered many comments to help improve.  She even asked the speakers after their evaluations what they had to say. Rachel evaluated Tony Centorino and had speech suggestion of looking at people more and notice how the word 'and' is used as a filler.  3rd speech and awesome with no notes.
Richard Freeman evaluated Kate Kelly and offered no suggestions!  imagine... a great speech.  She was engaging, funny and had great transitions.

Meeting ended on time!  Thanks To our toastmaster!  Great meeting.  Next meeting Oct 20th!  sign up :)

Eagle Toastmaster Meeting of July 21, 2014

President Welcome: Suzanne Morse Welcomes 2 guests Lisa and Visiting John Area Governor.

Toastmaster:  Ian Brooks ACS.

Humor Master:  Robin Corrigan.

Word Master:  Elaborate.

Quote of the Day:

Table Topics: Tom Corrigan.  Speaker 1 Megan: Favorite activities at the beach are a good read swimming and a thrilling Jet skiing outing. Speaker 2 Anthony: Moon landing worth it – lots of technologies gained.   Mentioned we have 1.8 million more computing power than on the original moon landing vehicle.  Speaker 3 Chris:  Free vacation offered to multiple European cities or 1 city.  He has traveled and mentioned both … says it’s nice to stay in one place for a while to get to know the area and people.  Speaker 4: Tom P. Will soccer overtake baseball and football as America’s favorite sport?  NO emphatically.  Too sophisticated.  Cannot tell when soccer starts and ends.  Speaker 5: Anesa.  What can be done about bullying?  Starts at home.  Educate Parents on how to raise children.   People stepping up and declaring what not right. 

Speeches:  3 Icebreakers

Sandra’s speech— Parents wanted to name her Santa but compromised with Sandra which means helper of humanity.  Married Buster (Tony), 2 girls Stephanie and Alison.  Started ‘Cure chief’ which made soft head covers for Cancer patients..  She ended that business and started “say it forward” positive quotes to cure negativity.

Tony’s speech— aka. Buster, talked about his years with GE from a Computer Science degree to a present Account Executive.  He travels about 60% , deals with large Power Plants to the $50 dollar meter in your home.  He works on providing solutions.  He is Toastmasters to become better speaker with dealing with CEO’s and VP’s.  Conversation has changed over the years. There is less time and must be practical.

Cartlton’s :  He is a movie buff and pointed out where his name was used on TV; “Carlton the doorman” He prefers to observe than be heard that is why he is with our Toastmasters group.  He is  a music Connoisseur 90’s hip hop.  UConn Husky Graduate.   He works to convince Men and women to end violence.  He says he is an “Average Joe.”

Evaluator:

General Evaluator:  Elaine Piazza, ACB

Robin for Sandra: Great Visual Aid. Steps in front of Lectern. Confident, Humor great, Natural speaking Ability.

Ian for Tony: In the first 5 seconds mane an enormous impression.  Nice posture, clear strong confident speaking voice. 

Susanne for Carlton: Very well presented, good tone.  Speech reflected adequate preparation and had a Great opening!

Ah Counter:   Anesa  Great accurate counts. 

Grammarian:  Chris.  Careful of past tense.  I made myself clear .vs. I have made myself clear.  Watch for double negatives.  Gonna .vs. going to.  Word of the Day used the most by Ian (4).

Timer:  Megan   All were in time; only a couple a little over.

18 were present including 2 guests.

Reminder:  Next Meeting is August 4; all should sign up for roles.

Eagle Toastmaster Meeting of September 8, 2014

President calls the meeting to order 7:15.  Suzanne reminds everyone about the humorous contest next week and encourages everyone to sign up… such motivation!  She also mentioned that it would be fun to introduce Club Themes.  Asked the Club officers for any input; Ute mentioned that Club dues are upon us 42$ for ½ year 78$ full.

Toastmaster: Sandra Centorino.  Awesome job for the first time.  Run like a pro!

Ah-Counter and Grammarian Tom P.  Doesn’t miss a trick.  Graciously mentioned everyone’s Ah’s and space fillers.  Also a pet peeve with using the word more.  For example more dead .vs. dead.  Let’s eliminate the word more; not necessary.

Timer:  Meghan Neller.  So efficient!  Amazing how much time we use or don’t.  Even when we timed the World Champion Speaker; we all thought it was much more than the 6 minutes he used.  Thanks.

Humorist:  Ute.  Thanks for bringing balance to our meeting.  Where would we be without a laugh or two.

Word of the Day: Tantamount.  Great word; and one of the more easier words to use.  Nice choice Tony Centorino.

Quote of the Day:  Donated by Cassandra the Quinnipiac Hockey Coach, from Benjamin Franklin.  Powerful and Motivating; we all needed that.

Table Topics: Susan Morse our lovely President!  What a great idea; Fortune Cookies.  It brought such a lift to our extemporaneous segment.  Everyone was into it.  Cassandra, Anthony, Meghan, Carlton, and well me ;).

Speakers!  Thank you to you all.  You’re the Foundation of our meetings!  Tony Centorino speech 2 “Organize your speech”  Looking at life as a user manual.  Problems left unchecked would be HUGE.  Everyone has Problems.  Identify them, Look at the Causes, then choose a solution – like most common user manuals.  Joseph Oddie speech 2 “Organize your speech” Overcoming Objections.   Very polished.  Objections: Skepticism, Misunderstandings, Draw Backs, Indifference; Overcome by : Proof, Explaining your product, Remind them of the Benefits, and Start a dialogue to uncover needs.  And ended with Objections are not to be feared… Welcome them. Rachel Mele presented us with the World Champion of Speakers video.  We were all inspired and amazed!  Awesome!  Thank you.  We can all aspire to this speech.  We all left this meeting better than when we walked in!  Thank you.  Carlton Smith Speech2 Michael Strahan my Hero.  What a great job of sharing your “Man crush” with us and with reason!  This is one huge Giants Fan.  He has taught us (and most especially Carlton) to Re-Invent and Excel.

General Evaluator:  We were graciously accompanied by our Area Governor John Calderbank.  What a wonderful evaluation; especially since he has so much experience with various clubs.  I guess we have “It!”  A very complimentary group of individuals, and a vibe that balances all areas of what it means to be and become a wonderful representative of a Toastmaster.  Thanks John.  Come again J

The Evaluators:  Such a tough job and gift to share your comments in an empowering manner.  Richard Freeman, Intense and thorough. Great insights!  Deb Haggett… How can you evaluate a professional speaker… well, with grateful appreciation for organization and talent. Tony  evaluated the 3^rd speech from Carlton.  Lots of great points and offered a suggestion to, “Relax, you’re better than you think!”  Awesome.  Thanks.

Eagle Toastmaster Meeting of July 7, 2014

President calls meeting to order at 7:15 sharp:  Suzanne reminded Officers to attend the Officers’ Training this Saturday, July 12 at Hamden Hall Country Day School.  Any member can attend to gain further insight into the organization.  She also welcomed our 7 newest members:  Meghan, Anesa, Cassie, Christopher, Rosanne, Sandra, and Tony.

Toastmaster:  Robin graciously filled in.

Humor Master:  Tom C.

Word Master:  Contemplate—to look at carefully, thoughtfully—A toastmaster should contemplate the many opportunities offered by the Toastmaster Organization.

Quote of the Day:  Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer's day, listening to the murmur of the water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.  John Lubbock

Table Topics:  Susanne posed topics relating to Independence Day.  Kate opted not to speak about her rebellious days, instead reminiscing about her spectacular 4^th of July experience in San Francisco, where she and her son witnessed fireworks over the Golden Gate Bridge.  Sandra spoke about writing her own National Anthem with a little help from Bruce Springsteen.  Tom C. spoke about the 4^th being his favorite holiday because each can celebrate in his/her own way with no imperatives.  He chose to visit Roger Sherman’s grave at the Grove Street Cemetery with historical re-enactment.

Speeches:  3 Icebreakers

Cassie’s speech—“People Matter” highlighted 3 mentors that led to her career as a College Ice Hockey Coach.  Her mission is to empower others just as she was empowered by her teachers and coaches.

Kevin’s speech—“Life’s Been Good For Me So Far” chronicled his journey from the Viet Nam refugee boat at age 11 to his educational experiences that has enabled him outstanding success as an engineer.  His optimism despite an unfortunate childhood is inspiring.

Meghan, the ultimate UCONN Huskie, chronicled the interesting experiences of her life.  Just before the end of her speech, she transformed into an experienced Toastmaster as she described her passion for reading.

Evaluators:

General Evaluator:  Tom C.

Elaine for Cassie:  Cassie’s potential came through with her focus on “people that matter”.

Rachel for Kevin:  Kevin was able to speak without notes the first time out.  His success despite the language barrier can only continue with the Toastmaster experience.

Kate for Meghan:  Kate was impressed with Meghan’s increased confidence as the speech progressed.

Ah Counter:   Roseanne

Grammarian:  Chris

Timer:  Rich

18 were present including 2 guests.

Reminder:  Next Meeting is July 21; all should sign up for roles.