Meeting Recap: March. 13, 2014 (Luck of the Irish)

Dear APS Members and Guests,

“The Luck of the Irish” was celebrated at the APS St. Patrick’s themed meeting thanks to Toastmaster of the Day Christine Navigante. As Christine explained, St. Patrick’s Day originated as a religious holiday, but has since become known for shamrocks, leprechauns and other lucky charms. APS President Gouri Seetharamadded some of those festive trappings to the meeting, and to the agenda. Guest Hibernians were Are

a Governor June Babb, Nidhi Phozdar, Robert Goodman, Tatyana Gorbatyuk and Amit Nihalani. “Hibernian”was the Word of the Day chosen by Grammarian Marcia Chambers.

“Cinderella” was the Storytelling folk tale project as given by Jacqueline McIntyre. Speech Evaluator Tim O’Donnell liked the way Jackie acted out the story of the mythical persecuted heroine, but suggested that more concise and polished language would enhance the tale even more.

Laurent Nicourt did the latest version of his Division D contest speech “The Blazing Giant, the Gorilla and the Hummingbird.” Evaluator Sheryl Berger did her part by saying that she loved the message and Laurent’s unique vocal effects. She then suggested varying the pacing and using more pauses, because the drama was not enough.

“Tribute to a Friend” was Tim O’Donnell’s Special Occasion Toast to his friend and Toastmasters high achiever Laurent Nicourt. Fellow Hibernian Brian Robinson liked Tim’s Toastmasters centric topic, but suggested simplifying the toast by perhaps mentioning only two of Laurent’s many accomplishments.

Brian Robinson gave his Division F contest speech “Face It,” the message being that your problems will only grow bigger if you don’t face up to them. Evaluator Todd McKinney praised Brian’s universal message and dynamic stage presence, but suggested that he face up to some inconsistencies in his stories, have a much stronger ending and dig deeper into the very fertile ground of monetary humor.

Leprechauns were running amok in the Lucky Charms flavored Table Topics segment run by honorary Hibernian Manuel Saldana. Some had never heard of the legendary creatures, but Eloise Johnny, Harry Aneziris, Sheryl Berger, Tatyana Gorbatyuk, Amit Nihalani, Nidhi Phozdar, and Robert Goodman all did their best to find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

Rafay Khalid ran a comprehensive General Evaluation and provided valuable feedback to the speech evaluators, some of whom are Division contestants. He suggested listing three strong and three improvable points, then losing your notes by memorizing the key word for each. Rafay said the best evaluation conclusions should have a summary, and leave your listeners with something to think about. Derek Chengave the Timer report and Marcia Chambers recounted the use of grammar, including the word “Hibernian.”

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Todd McKinney

VP Education, Advanced Public Speakers