Meeting Recap: Thursday, April 14 2016 (Metamorphosis)

Dear APS Members,

Did you go through a “Metamorphosis” after joining Toastmasters? Joining APS likely accelerated your transmutation even further. Toastmaster of the Day Georgia Jones is a perfect example, having broken through her chrysalis in recent years. Manuel Saldana is another, having just recently received his DTM recognition. For this meeting Georgia had the idea to transmute the APS meeting room so that a greatly enlarged speaking area was created on the long side of the conference table. Who needs American Idol, when this larger speaking area would allow the occupant to become an “APS Idol?” “Transmute” was the Word of the Day selected by Grammarian Todd McKinney.

“Pandora is the One” is a proposal by David Graubard that would allow the music streaming company to greatly improve their financial results. The business plan includes creating inspirational content, tracking users with complex algorithms and using “crowd sharing” to generate user engagement. Speech evaluator Georgia Jones liked David’s provocative title and the depth of his proposals. Georgia suggested that strong eye contact and vocal variety are vital for the success of a persuasive presentation, and to not apologize for any team member who may not be present. 

Manuel Saldana gave a briefing and took questions on “2016 Initiatives” for his Sole Mate Running Camp. Customer services include marked running trails in a mountain location and food provided according to member preference. Harry Aneziris thought Manuel handled the Q&A well and was on track with his initiatives. Additional speech techniques like humor, surprises and visual aids like maps and photos could also be employed.

Table Topics Master Todd McKinney got people thinking about change. Harry Aneziris enjoyed attending the Division D Contest the prior evening as an alternate for Wesley Webster and especially enjoyed the performance by Brian Robinson who took first place for APS in Speech Evaluation. Georgia Jones thinks evolution and revolution are both a part of change, like when the evolutionary step of moving from Jamaica to America caused a revolution in her way of life. Soft-spoken David Graubard expects that an advanced club like APS will help him rise to a higher peer standard, while offering more diverse feedback and not just being told that he needs to “speak louder.” APS has changed Manuel Saldana because it allowed him to reach that higher peer standard and he no longer fears being on stage with his mentors Harry and Georgia.

General Evaluator Georgia Jones praised the meeting quality and the new room setup, but noticed that the club needs to replenish our supply of proprietary meeting documents. Georgia wasn’t happy with the late start and reminded us to give adequate notice when using any electronic visual aids.

Todd McKinney closed the meeting by announcing that APS is once again a Perfect 10 President’s Distinguished Club, and thanks to the efforts of Neerja Purang our club has been strengthened with the additional memberships of veteran Toastmasters Lisa Qu and Leonard Lubarsky.

A brief ceremony ensued and Manuel Saldana was presented with his recognition ribbons for Advanced Communicator Gold, Advanced Leader Silver and Distinguished Toastmaster! Congratulations Manuel!

~ - ~ -  ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~ - ~

Todd McKinney

Secretary, Advanced Public Speakers