Meeting Minutes - February 4

The first meeting of February was well attended on the part of Cedar Hill Toastmasters members in addition to the three guests. 

Paul provided the opening remarks welcoming everyone to the meeting. 

John, serving as a Toastmaster of the evening, announced in the very beginning that it was the Appreciation Day at Cedar Hill Toastmasters. John encouraged everyone to participate in this celebration by paying a compliment to a fellow Toastmaster every time he/she took the stage. Eliot presented the Word - "jentacular" and many stood up to the challenge of using this word throughout the meeting. Larry brought some humor by introducing a joke. 

Three speakers presented their prepared speeches. Lyn's speech was from project 7 of the Competent Communicator, Research Your Topic. Lyn presented a wealth of information about the Groundhog itself, the tradition behind celebrating the Groundhog Day and the associated activities, in a very interesting format. 

Next, Anna shared her knowledge about mindfulness and meditation and also provided some tips on how to make it part of our daily routine in order to counteract the stress. This was project 3  from the Competent Communicator, Get to the Point. 

Veronika presented her Icebreaker speech and she revealed her love for the adventure and travel to distant places, such as India. In her speech, she also highlighted her educational and career accomplishments. 

During the Table Topic session, Marla presented questions to volunteers who wanted to practice the impromptu speaking. The theme was Valentine's Day. Amazingly, all guests were participating in Table Topics!

Prepared speeches were evaluated as follows: Martha evaluated Lyn, Kevin evaluated Anna and Elizabeth evaluated Veronika. 

Larry tracked the Grammar and gave his report. Elizabeth was the Timer. Joyce provided the General Evaluation. Among her comments, she brought up the need for using the Toastmasters preferred way for announcing the speakers, including their name and speech titles. 

Paula took the roles for the next meeting, which will be held on February 18. 

John wrapped up the meeting thanking everyone for complimenting other fellow Toastmasters, for the words of appreciation expressed during the meeting. 

Also, he addressed a couple of business items, such as a reminder about the mentorship program and the upcoming events: 
Jan Jam - February 13, 12-4pm, Manchester Church of Christ
Cedar Hill Toastmasters Open House event - February 17, 6:30-8:00pm Lucy Robbins Welles Library in Newington. 

Respectfully submitted, 
Martha Danielewicz 
Secretary 
Cedar Hill Toastmasters