Spanish Sayings, Agile Philosophy and Starting Over - an unknackered meeting of EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

Our morning started with a linguistic twist - the Word of the Day (knackered) derived from The King's English and Table Topics translated from their original Castellano.

DTM Mary Helen offered food for thought and we ingested big morsels...

* TM Pam wolves down a PBJ sandwich for lunch before her husband and daughter have finished asking each other what will lunch be.  She loves them anyway.

* TM Astrid takes people's looks personally and finds their attitudes toward self-image to be completely passive-aggressive.

* TM BeckyJo fully concurs that it's getting out of hand - completely, unabashedly, decidedly, purposely.  It's outrageous.  Pay attention cubed.  If only we knew what IT is.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Chris 'fessed up that we can count on her for whatever - except when she's not there.  She loves being invisible.

* DTM Jim D. retired because employees were testing his patience.  Now, his Harley club members seriously need penmanship lessons to avoid testing his patience.

* TM Paolo is getting out of the psychological swamp by taking a different approach to life in general. It's all about new directions Puglia/Rome/Miami.

* Guest Paula stays calm and focused on her yoga mat by listening to her breathing and clearing up worries from her stream of consciousness during Downward Dog.

* I, Ana, use ambiguous statements to avoid pointless arguments that prove to me, once again, that I'm always right.

Then came the prepared speeches, which resulted in an unprecedented tie...

* TM Maria introduced us to the Agile Philosophy, which allows us to wear the prom dress of our dreams while spending lazy afternoons on a tire swing.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Aleta reinforced the point that instead of waiting for exes to come to their senses, we must come to our senses and chop wood and clear brush as needed.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

Regarding evaluations...

* TM Paolo marveled that customers want Prosecco for the price of Chianti and really enjoyed the Agile value generation and collaboration provided by La Gioconda (Mona Lisa) by way of TM Maria.

* TM Randolph praised TM Aleta's speech enhancement - her red blouse under the black jacket added the finishing touch to demonstrate a successful post-divorce life in rural Pennsylvania.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

KNACKERED, adj.

from British English, jolly good!

Very tired or frustrated

To kill, tire, exhaust or wear out

Example:  King Charles seems quite knackered in the leadup to his May 6 coronation.  The Knackerer's name is Redhead Harry Rotter.

Half the club is leaving for Buenos Aires, Indonesia and parts unknown.  The District and Area officers are presumably already there.  To be or not to be: That is the Contest!!

Next week, bring along your hat collection to the meeting!

Youtube link: https://youtu.be/Kre1LqJOOdE

See you then,

Ana

Recap Reuter

Evaluating the Evaluator, From Surviving to Thriving and More Evaluations - no playing hooky at EarlyBirds today!



Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

To support and give feedback to our Contest Evaluator, TM Paolo, TM Chris played for us recordings of (3) of his prior evaluations, which we then proceeded to evaluate.  In case you're wondering, the Word of the Day was NOT "evaluate" - but more on that later.

Several Club members then evaluated TM Paolo's evaluations:

* TM Tom suggested that TM Paolo act as an intermediary between the audience and the speaker.and wear eyebag concealer makeup when evaluating from Miami.  Preferred brand is Estee Lauder.

* TM Jose asked TM Paolo to focus on a stronger closing and evaluate partly in Italian.  It's good to leave the judges wondering what they heard.

* TM Pam declared herself our contest rule implementer and asked TM Paolo to add the words "In summary" to his evaluations - that will win the judges over.

* TM Marie praised TM Paolo's precise strategic analysis of the speaker's camera angle.

* TM Chris asked TM Paolo to tone down his Italianism while evaluating but accentuate it while speaking.

* TM Aleta asked TM Paolo to please please evaluate while riding a gondola in Venice.

* Tm Mary Helen asked TM Paolo to analyze the content and tone down the performance.

Next came our prepared International Speech contest speaker:

* TM Aleta bared her soul and shared her vulnerability with us after a failed marriage which led her to thrive, rather than survive, and to become proficient at changing the belts of John Deere tractors, a very lucrative profession.  All the women in the Club are seriously considering divorce as we speak.

As far as the evaluation goes...

* TM Paolo praised TM Aleta's black jacket, her facial expressions and encouraged a more energetic salutation.  He used several prior suggestions, including "in summary",  speaking Italian with an American accent and total avoidance of the word "GREAT".

Several other members of the club jumped in as impromptu evaluators, and we learned that...

* TM Pam has a photographic memory of contest rules, all gathered on a trip to Orlando.

* TM BeckyJo thinks TM Aleta needs to watch the flow of the speech and avoid staccatos or stilettos.

* TM Tom asked TM Aleta to explain that she's sharing her story.

* TM Chris encouraged her to use questions and tread well=trodden paths.

* TM Randolph introduced a new Pathways, "The Aleta Chronicles", and asked What's Next?

And so it was that after a free-for-all meeting of evaluations over evaluations and then some more evaluations, we concluded that a good evaluator will definitely win the contest if they use up all their time but do not surpass it by even one nanosecond.

The Word of the Day was

HOOKY, as in "To Play Hooky"

Unjustifiable absence from school or work.

Example:  One third of EarlyBirds revealed they had played hooky, the other third did not play hooky because they are "goody two-shoes" (a future Word of the Day), and the last third BECAME "Goody Two-Shoes" because they PLAYED HOOKY and got caught by their mother... and the rest is plain to imagine.

Here's the link to the recording:

https://youtu.be/Cv5pp0lnDcE

See you next week!

Ana 

Recap Writer

Would like to play hooky but it's too spooky

No longer a member? Use the following link/web page if you are no longer a member of this club: Not A Member https://3659.toastmastersclubs.org?action=NotAMemberNow&mid=00092592&_=kvre

Logos, Finding Jesus and Tortuous Bureaucracy - an audacious morning at EarlyBirds!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Maria led us with an inspirational poem about an alleged cookie thief.

TM Aleta got us thinking about famous logos and their significance.  We soon learned that...

* TM Maria likes to take a bite of the Apple and cannot conceive life without it.

* TM Astrid is herself an amazon warrior and the big one has taken over the world - pure and simple.

* TM Jose subliminally swooshes into his working out ensemble and is audaciously working on his own brand recognition. He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Randolph has conceded that his family's favorite meals are definitely happy ones!

* TM BeckyJo called out for Bitman to come save America but unfortunately he's busy in Brazil right now.  In a non-sequitur, she concluded that BMW drivers are definitely crazy!

* DTM Mary Helen grew up with a 100ft tv antenna with blurry transmission from nearby towns but she developed a strong connection to peacocks.

* I, Ana, need to go shopping for Not My Daughter's Jeans - pronto!!

We had two fantastic speeches today...

* TM Marie kidnapped Jesus and is now her lifeguard in many ways.  Her husband dreams of buying a boat to be named "Walks on Water".... (to be continued)...

* TM Pam tried to find humor in the times of choler...  Coviewed?  US Passport Agencies are pretty positively Third World caliber and the birding trip will happen!!  She Won Best Speaker Award.

Along came the evaluations....

* TM Paolo praised TM Marie's amazing delivery which brought us to Italy and suggested she add drama and a call to action - have we all found Jesus or bought a boat??  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Emmanuel admired TM Pam's tailored speech, suggested she keep her dates in sequence and is formally requesting TM International for 20 minutes to evaluate a 20-minute speech.

The Word of the Day was

AUDACIOUS, adjective

Intrepidly daring, adventurous, recklessly bold, rash, insolent, contemptuous.

Example:  Our club members are intrepidly sagacious and audacious while never being contemptuous.

Here's the link to the recording:

Link to the YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8NXGKL0y18

See you next week!

Ana I.

Recap Writer

Travel, Patience and Structure - a meeting with panache at Early Birds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We formally inducted our newest member into our Club.  Welcome TM Maria!!

DTM Jim brought up interesting table topics regarding travel and its joys and challenges.  We discovered that...

* TM Pam has experienced the transition from white gloves for air travel to the next person's foot on your armrest and no, thank you.  It's teleportation for a devout Zoomer like her.

* TM BeckyJo is a sideseat driver and has mistaught a whole generation of foreign students that in America it's the law to curse and scream at bad drivers.  She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Tom miraculously survived driver's ed to his 4 children but his gray hair and shot nerves are the remnants of that traumatic experience.

* DTM Mary Helen misses her teenage years when 20 kids piled up into a Volkswagen bug and go to a drive-in movie.  Ah the days of the Wild West!!

* TM Val gets panic-stricken at the thought of her niece getting home on a self-driving car, let alone flying on a pilotless plane.  That will be a no, thank you very much!

* TM Jim G.'s motto is always go forward in travel - with panache, especially because it's hard to drive RVs in reverse.

* Returning TM Astrid fondly recalled her outlaw, maskless drive from NYC to Miami at the start of the pandemic with her good friend and having an absolute blast!!

In the area of prepared speeches...

* TM Emmanuel inspired us to achieve success by exercising patience and avoiding impulsive decisions while moving to Sweden, the most patient country in the world.

* TM Aleta gave us a roadmap for 2023 to start our day drinking water and stretching and writing a Gratitude Journal which will increase our blessings awareness.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

As far as evaluations go...

* TM BeckyJo asked TM Emmanuel to give us clear examples of "before and after", ie, cursing at other drivers versus enjoying a nice drive to work.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM Marie praised TM Aleta for her timely topic and her exquisite use of hand gestures and polifacetic props.  

The Word of the Day was

PANACHE, noun

Energy, spirit and style

Flamboyant confidence of style or manner

Plume worn in a headdress or a hat

Example:  Many of our EarlyBird Toastmasters exhibit great panache in the wee hours of Thursday morning.

Here's the link to the recording.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BqAhy3uaYeI

See you next week!

Ana 

Recap Writer