UM Masters Blog - “New Beginnings” - 29 January 2014

Our Sergeant-At-Arms, June LaRonde, started the meeting off by introducing the Toastmaster of the Day, Bev Doern. The theme was “New Beginnings”, which complemented our meeting well, considering it was our Open House meeting. Amy, the grammarian, presented the word of the day, inchoate, meaning not yet completed or fully developed. David, a guest from another Toastermasters club, lightened the mood with a humorous story about a man, a plane, and a coat of paint. We kicked off the introductions by talking about our new beginnings. Ru Li did an excellent job presenting to us the evolution of the book in her speech, “E-book or Hard Copy,” which discussed the changing technology and simplicity of the enigmatic e-book. In our table topics session of the day Diane asked Yvonne, “What role has toastmasters played in your life?” Yvonne responded with a well-organized impromptu speech that clearly displayed the confidence and expertise that she has gained from joining toastmasters. Diane then asked Brenda, a recurring guest, “What benefits do you wish to gain from joining toastmasters?” Brenda graciously accepted the challenge and spoke with poise about her hopes for her future as a toastmaster.

Bev then led us into the evaluation section of the meeting, which she dubbed “the heart of the Toastmasters program.” Pegah evaluated Ru Li’s speech and provided Ru with great feedback while using the sandwich method. Yvonne evaluated the table topics session and did an equally excellent job as Pegah did using the sandwich method and presenting feedback to those that participated. Charith was our general evaluator who provided the group with feedback regarding all other aspects of the meeting that hadn’t been evaluated thus far. As general evaluator, Charith also presented the Gold Star Award to Yvonne for evaluating and participating in the table topic session. 

On a whole, this week’s meeting was another great meeting that was as uplifting and motivating as usual. Don’t forget that next week is the Junior Speech Contest and we will be meeting in room 205! 

Blogged by Danielle  

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If you would like to take part in a UM Masters meeting, we’re located in Winnipeg at the University of Manitoba. Our meetings are held every Wednesday from 12:05 –12:50 PM in Room 111 at St. John’s College (which is part of the University of Manitoba).

If you're in Winnipeg and interested in sitting in on a club meeting to see if Toastmasters is right for you, please feel free to contact Catherine Plouffe at Catharine.Plouffe@umanitoba.ca