Sandy Springs Toastmasters 11/16/17 Meeting Recap

Despite being one week before Thanksgiving, we had a "stellar" turnout (word of the day compliments of Darbie Saunders) including 2 guests.  President, Anastasia Pass, reminded everyone about the TM Convention this coming weekend at the Marriott on Windward Parkway in Alpharetta and also about purchasing tickets to attend the Humorous Speech Contest and cheer on our very own, Paige Kerr in the competition!  Anastasia also proposed that due to holiday preparations, members traveling,etc. that we pause our meetings 12/21, 12/28 and 1/4, and resume January 11, 2018.  Attendees all thought it was a good idea but before a final decision is made, members who were not able to make it today who have any thoughts, please submit them to Anastasia or one of the other officers before next week.  We will also be having a Winter/Holiday/Christmas Appetizer Breakfast on 12/14 to celebrate the season and our friendships!

Meeting Recap:

TM of the day, Ralston Medouze, had all things under control despite several roles being unfilled.  In short order, the meeting was up and running after welcoming 2 new guests and one prospective new member.  Anastasia led a Thanksgiving theme Table Topics, posing light and deep questions to members and guests all related to the core meaning of this fabulous holiday - giving thanks.  Answers by all gave us marvelous glimpses into each other's lives.  Steve Bragg won Best Table Topics for his poignant answer to "what personal accomplishment was he most thankful for this year" - which was despite being a very long year where life pretty much stopped for him when he heard the words "you have cancer" - This year he is extremely thankful he is now a cancer survivor.

Jeremiah Jones gave his 5th speech which was the Your Body Speaks project.  His speech, entitled "the Art of Disruption", outlined the whys, whats and hows of protests that facilitate needed changes or transformations of policies and/or public opinion.  Una Richards gave her second speech entitled "Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway", which was focused on organizing your speech.  Her presentation was inspired by the first chapter of her new book "Pull the Darn Trigger" in which she explained the impacts of fear, how to manage and leverage the fear - all relative to achieving goals.  Bud Otto and David Kulze gave Jeremiah and Una succinct feedback, in that order.  Una won Best Speaker and David won Best Evaluator.

Crystal Reeves, GE, reminded all of us about some basic rules of TM to keep in mind including..Never leave the lectern before the next person is at the podium.  Also, when conducting Table Topics, call on participants at random rather than in a predictable order, and lastly, throw the question out to the entire group before calling on a member to answer since the whole point of the TT exercise is to improve our ability to spontaneously respond.  Point well-taken!  

Thank you to all members and guests for their enthusiastic participation!