Meeting Minutes - May 19

Before the meeting begun, Joyce introduced some housekeeping items related to filming of our club'sToastmasters meeting. Paul, Sargent of Arms began the meeting with a moment of silence to honor those who lost their lives in the Egyptian plane crash. Paul served the role of Toastmaster of the evening and explained clearly the sections throughout the meeting since we had three honored guests in attendance. 

The word of the day " gaucherie" was presented by Joyce. Eliot put his humorous hat on and delivered some entreating jokes. We had two speakers - Larry and Lyn. Larry delivered a speech "Trains" from the Entertaining Speaker series, revealing his passion for watching trains. He gave some insight on this hobby and provided additional entertainment with the use of visual aids. Lyn presented a speech entitled "Inspiring Sustainability" from CC manual, Project 8 - Using Visual Aids. She introduced the inspiring sustainability ideas such as composting, permaculture, roof top gardens and vertical gardening just to name a few.

Table Topic session was shared by Elizabeth and Mohamed. Their questions challenged the imagination of the participants. It's not everyday question on what you would do if you were invisible or had the super powers. 

Martha was the General Evaluator. Kevin evaluated Larry's speech and Paul evaluated Lyn's speech. Joel delivered the Timer's report along with some helpful tips. John was the Grammarian who presented a thorough report and some helpful suggestions. 

Before closing the meeting, Paul inspired members to look into the mentoring program available at the club. Then, John, our President took the roles for the next meeting scheduled for June 2. 

Mentor program enables Success !

M any individuals hesitate joining a club like Toastmasters because they have a fear of public speaking. Some resist because they feel very intimidated as being labeled  “the new kid on the block”.

As a long time member of the Cedar Hills Toastmasters club, I can assure you that both of these apprehensions are easily remedied.

 

At Cedar Hills Toastmasters, it is our belief that every member is important. In support of this belief, we offer a voluntary mentor program. This program matches a new or existing member of Toastmasters with a more experienced club member. The mentor will provide information about our Cedar Hills Toastmasters Club as well as the entire Toastmasters organization. You will have the opportunity to meet the individual mentors and decide who would be the best match to help you achieve your goals. You can change your mentor or even stop your mentoring program at any time. It’s all up to you. 

  

The important thing to remember is that at Cedar Hills Toastmasters, you are not an island!

  

A mentor is an experienced club member who will assist you in the preparation and execution of your speech projects. Mentors provide ideas on how to overcome the apprehension of standing in front of a group when delivering your message. They will also assist in finding speech topics you feel most confortable with and guide you through the many techniques that will make you a better public speaker.

  

If becoming a better speaker in on your ”bucket list”, I hope you consider attending one of our club meetings in the near future to see what we're all about.

You will be glad you did!

Paul Horvath

Cedar Hill Toastmasters Club

Sergeant at Arms

Meeting Minutes - May 5

Paul, Sargent in Arms, welcomed everyone to the meeting and reminded that May 5th is known as Cinco de Mayo. Eliot, who was the Toastmaster of the evening, provided some historical background for the Cinco de Mayo celebration. Elizabeth introduced the word of the day "acrimonious". Larry presented an entertaining joke. 

The speaking portion featured three speakers. Kevin gave a speech entitled "Three Strikes" from the Competent Communicator manual, project 5 - Your Body Speaks. Kevin spoke about baseball, a favorite American pastime and he enhanced his speech content with body movements. Joanna presented her Icebreaker speech from which we learned more about her favorite hobbies, running, painting and travelling. Paul delivered a speech entitled "The Toastmaster Educational Program and You" from the Successful Club Series. Paul not only informed us about the educational tracks and awards but also inspired everyone to always work toward a goal on the Toastmasters journey. 

Table Topics session was presented by Joyce in a very creative and innovative way. Joyce started with a fragment of a tale and instructed the participants to continue the tale in one minute increments. Although it was challenging, everyone seem to have fun with this activity. 

Kevin was the General Evaluator. Michelle, a Toastmaster guest, evaluated Kevin's speech, Larry evaluated Joanna's Icebreaker and John evaluated Paul's presentation. Paula was the Timer and Lyn was the Grammarian. 

Eliot gave an overview of the meeting, thanked all the participants for their contributions and complimented on the meeting timeliness. Paula, VP Education, took the meeting roles for the next meeting scheduled for Thursday, May 19.

John wrapped up the meeting with the reminder about the mentoring program at our club. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Martha Danielewicz

Secretary 

Cedar Hill Toastmasters

Meeting Minutes - April 21

Although it was a nice Spring evening and the weather was very pleasant, last night's meeting at Cedar Hill Toastmasters was well attended, and we even had two guests in attendance. 

Paul, Sargent in Arms, began the meeting announcing the press release published in Rare Reminder about Cedar Hill Toastmasters' Spring Club contest. Kevin was the Toastmaster of the evening. Anna presented a challenging Word - "thrasonical". Due to the absence of the assigned Joke Master, there was a competition between Larry and Paul to deliver a joke and we ended up with two jokes. 

The prepared speeches were presented by Paul and Kevin. Paul delivered an inspiring speech from the Leadership Excellence Series about Motivating People. Paul spoke very clearly about the main principles on motivating others, the principles that could be applied in any environment. Kevin's speech " You Want Me to Do What" was part of Project 3 "Get to the Point" from the Competent Communicator manual. Kevin spoke about engaging in Toastmasters by performing various roles, participating in district sponsored activities and challenges, e.g. Charged Up Toastmaster incentive. 

Marla was the Table Topic Master and challenged the volunteers from the audience with random questions on various general topics - morning routine, best movie/book, best gift, highlight of the week. 

Eliot was the General Evaluator assisted by the speech evaluators and technicians, Joyce as Grammarian (who delivered very thorough Grammarian report) and Martha as Timer. 

Larry evaluated Paul's speech providing feedback to the speaker and also gave the audience some helpful tips on project management and slide presentations. Anna was the evaluator of Kevin's speech by providing concise and valuable feedback. 

Eliot commented on the timing requirements for each section of the meeting and concluded that the club is doing a better job sticking to the time slots, but he mentioned that there was some room for improvement. 

Paula concluded the meeting by taking the roles for the next meeting scheduled for May 5. Also, she reminded about the upcoming District 53 Spring Conference in Windsor Locks on May 21.

Respectfully submitted, 

Martha Danielewicz

Secretary

Cedar Hill Toastmasters

Meeting Minutes - April 7

Paul, as sergeant at arms, started the meeting by pointing out three members of Cedar Hill Toastmasters, Joyce, Elizabeth, and Martha had a group photo in the April issue of Toastmasters magazine.

Three guests were present.

As Toastmaster for the evening, John Calderbank pointed out that April 7 was "beer day."

The word of the day, aphorism, was given by Joyce. Several people gave examples of aphorisms during the evening.

Larry gave the joke for the day.

Marla gave her Ice Breaker speech telling of her fear of public speaking and how it influenced her psychology path in college.

Kevin practiced a speech he will be giving at the Area Speech contest.

Larry, doing Table Topics, had people pull words out of a bag and talk about that word, such as family, religion, and Spring. One of the guests participated.

Paula, as General Evaluator, called on Anna to evaluate Marla and Eliot to evaluate Kevin. Kevin also asked for general comments from members as to how he could improve his speech.

Anna gave a detailed grammarian report. Paul gave the timer's report.

After the meeting was adjourned, John reminded people of the Area Speech contest, Friday @ 6PM, 256 Church St, Middletown.

Larry presented certificates for the Speech Contest.
Tall Tales - Kevin, 1st place
International - Kevin, 1st place
                        - Paul, 2nd place
                        - Joyce, 3rd place


Respectfully submitted,
Joyce Boncal

Spring Speech Contest

This Thursday, March 17, Cedar Hill Toastmasters club held the Spring Speech contest. Participants competed in two categories - Tall Tales and International Speech. Tall Tale represents a highly improbable tale with a twisted plot. International speech, on the other hand, presents the universal topics that everyone can related to. 

Larry was the Contest Master who led the contest seamlessly. There were two contestants in the Tall Tales category - Nikki with a speech "From Deep Within the Woods" and Kevin with his speech "Right?" They kept the audience entertained and on the edge of their seats. 

Next, three contestants competed in the International Speech category with very inspiring messages,  Joyce with her speech "We All Have Them", Paul with his speech "Change the World" and Kevin with his speech "I Was Robbed."

While the ballots were counted, Contest Master interviewed the contestants. This was an opportunity to learn more about the contestants and their interests. The Contest Master presented the certificates of participation to all the contestants, expressing thanks for taking part in the contest. 

Finally, Paula, Chief Judge, announced the first, second and third place winners. Kevin won in both categories and he is advancing to Area level contest. 

Congratulations to all the contestants! Good luck to Kevin on his next contest. 

Respectfully submitted, 

Martha Danielewicz

Cedar Hill Toastmasters 

Secretary

Meeting Minutes - March 3

Dear Fellow Toastmasters, 
The meeting was well attended by the Cedar Hill Toastmasters, there were three guests in attendance and a guest speaker from another Toastmaster club. Great meeting, lots of laughs and learning. 

John was the Toastmaster of the evening. Elizabeth presented the Word "ruminate", which was a hit of the evening and many incorporated this word in their speaking. 
Mohammed was the Joke Master. 

We had three prepared speeches that evening. Kevin spoke about the dreams and aspirations as part of Using Visual Aids project. Rick, the guest speaker, in his speech contemplated the subject of happiness and what holds us back from pursuing our dreams. Lastly, Paul volunteered his motivational speech about the benefits of completing the Competent Leadership manual. 

In the Table Topics section, Anna challenged the participants with the creative and thoughtful topics on our dependence on the computer devices and social media on one hand and unplugging on the other. 

Lyn was the General Evaluator assisted by the speech evaluators, timer and grammarian. Larry evaluated Kevin's speech, Paula evaluated Rick's speech and Kevin evaluated Paul's speech. Elizabeth presented the timer's report and explained the use of timing cards to the guests. Martha was the Grammarian.
John wrapped up the meeting and introduced Larry as the Contest Master for the upcoming Spring speech contest to be held on March 17. The contest will feature two categories, Tall Tales and International speech. Larry handed the contest forms to those who volunteered to participate in many different capacities, speakers, judges etc.

We will see you all on March 17 for the Cedar Hill Toastmasters Club contest. 

Respectfully submitted, 
Martha Danielewicz
Secretary 
Cedar Hill Toastmasters