Looking back, The Model Prayer and Let It Go - a gallant morning at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM David launched us off by having us take a look at our past....

* TM Gail would tell her younger self to take the job she turned down, although in hindsight, it turned out to be the right choice!

* TM The Tom made a turning point decision to write down his memoir for his children to enjoy.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* Guest Kimberly would not compare herself to others if she could change one thing about her life.  She would focus on her own life!

* TM BeckyJo took longer to learn math, which she thought was irrelevant, and it turned out to be present everywhere in her life.  2 + 2 = 4

* TM Jorge regrets having dropped out of high school although he later made out all right!

* TM Veronica's most valuable lesson has been not to get distracted by distractions and focus on being herself.

* DTM Mary Helen wishes she had learned to ski as a girl, learned a musical instrument, although she became a professional astrologer  while playing the ukelele and signing German songs.

* I, Ana, would have chosen to study a career instead of wasting my time figuring out how to buy myself trendy clothes.

Then we listened to prepared speeches...

* TM Aleta presented a detailed description of The Lord's Prayer, where we pour out our hearts to God instead of using it as a private wish factory.

* TM Pam redid her Let It Go speech about purging holy family relics by storing them in Nostalgia Plastic Bins.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

Regarding our evaluations....

* TM BeckyJo commended TM Aleta for speaking at a moment's notice and urged her to watch prolific speakers to improve her vocal variety.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM The Tom praised TM Pam's ability to purge her belongings while singing Let It Go in B-minor and assigning her husband one storage drawer in the entire household.  

The Word of the Day was

GALLANT, adj

brave, heroic

Example:  At EarlyBirds we learn to be gallant while improvising different tasks.

The link to the recording is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5j-t_WEPM4

See you next week!

Ana

VP Education

Inside Out, Outside In, Busland in Broward - Attuned (?) at EarlyBirds

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We have a slate of officers for the new Toastmasters year beginning on July 1.  Our President, TM Aleta, wil make the announcement at the right time.  Thank you for everyone who stepped up to fill a role.

Several in the group announced they were short of sleep due to jet lag or plain insomnia.  Nonetheless, they all showed up.  Bravo!!!

TM Cory led us in Table Topics based on the movie Inside Out and its 11-year-old star Reilly's assortment of emotions. 

* TM Pam is not a theme park person but a tree person and combined both by admiring native plants in Universal.  She's looking for a weeping wipon holly. She Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Veronica does not like to feel disgusted and only felt it when there were no Florida panthers at Flamingo Park.  Sniffff.

* TM Christine suffered embarassment when her underwear's crotch got eaten by her dog during a tennis match.  Game set.

* TM Jorge suffers frustration as a formerly lunatic driver who now drives among lunatic Miami drivers.

* TM Aleta has carried guilt for years because someone got blamed for a nasty incident Aleta started at her high school cafeteria.  True confessions!

* TM David is not a fan of surprises but got pleasantly surprised when his sister showed up at his doorstep on a visit from France.

Then came the prepared speeches...

* TM Christine rehearsed a humorous speech to be presented at a church in Wisconsin while eating a slab of Wisconsiin cheese.

* DTM Mary Helen showed her zest for adventure while exploring Broward County's bus service which led her to walk across half the city for lack of a better bus.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

Then we had some great evaluations...

* TM Jose gave some helpful tips to TM Christine and commended her for standing up in front of the camera.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

* TM The Tom earnestly urged DTM Mary Helen to take an uber home from the car mechanic next time.

The Word of the Day was

ATTUNED, verb

make receptive or aware

Example:  The interests of TM members are highly attuned.

See you next week!

Ana

VP Education

One-word topics, Food is Critical and Scam Alert - EarlyBirds are flourishing!

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM BeckyJo is preparing us for Table Topics contests with one-word topics. We discovered that...

* TM Gail proliferates in her use of thingamajig, a catch-all descriptive word to find anything, reach for anything, drop anything or use anything.

* TM Veronica does not worry about chinhair YET - wait till age catches up with her!

* TM Jorge is reminded of leprechauns and pots of gold when he envisions a rainbow.

* TM David gets a dose of vitamin C and positive energy when he eats an orange.

* TM Cory got out of the box and delivered a speech in front of 100 team members while thinking of us last Thursday.  Go TM Cory!

* TM Aleta does not diet per se but keeps a healthy body by dividing her food intake into liquids for one week, fruits and veggies another and light protein the third.  On the fourth week she flourishes....

* I, Ana, make a distinction between joy and happiness and gave a non-sequitur recap of the House of Orange festivities in The Netherlands.  I Won Best Table Topics Award.

Along came (2) outstanding prepared speeches...

* TM David revealed that he loves to eat and cook healthy food - ater discovering that fast food stays one minute on your lips, forever in your hips- and healthy cooking is a spiritual experience.  We the local EarlyBirds are going to his home for an exquisite meal SANS CROISSANTS.... He Won Best Speaker Award.

* TM Gail got scammed by AI impersonation and shared very helpful tips to avoid being victimized.  Think about this:  1.3 BILLION personal records were compromised last year in the U.S.of A.  Thank you for raising awareness among the potentially scammable crowd, TM Gail!

Regarding the evaluations...

*TM The Tom thoroughly enjoyed TM David's speech and encouraged him to repeat it again incorporating a few gourmet recipes for added spirituality!

* DTM Mary Helen thanked TM Gail for her helpful practices to make us aware of the cunning sophistication of Scammers Unlimited flourishing in the world.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

FLOURISH, verb

To grow luxuriantly, to thrive

To achieve success

Example:  Those of us with a fear of public speaking thrive and flourish in Toastmasters.

Note: Due to technical difficulties, today's recording will be made available soon - maybe.   Stay tuned!

See you next week!

Ana

VP Education

One or the other, Exotically Ordinary and The Lights Went Out, a cardinal meeting in the Early Birds' Conclave

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

TM Gail led us with a heartfelt Mother's Day invocation, and TM Jorge brilliantly displayed the US flag for our Pledge of Allegiance.  Thank you, Jorge!

TM The Tom introduced us to Table Topics' quandaries:

* Singer or Writer? I, Ana, love both of these activities and although not a gifted singer, I choose to write while I sing when I'm not in the shower.

* Blimp or Hot Air Balloon?  TM Beckyjo loves riding in both - and has actually sailed the friendly skies on more than one occasion, enjoying the scenery below!

* Rancher or farmer?  TM Aleta faces a dilemma, but ultimately chooses to grow tomatoes over being a cattle rancher in Western Pennsylvania.

* Soggy cereal or crunchy cake?  Another dilemma for Frenchman David, forever bound to soggy cereal prepared by himself with chocolate milk while watching tv as a youngster.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* Sightseeing in Africa or shopping in Milan? DTM Mary Helen will go shopping in Milan en route to a sightseeing tour of Africa.  She wants the best of both worlds.

* Raise cows or sheep?  TM Jorge chose raising sheep because he can use their fleece to make himself a jacket.

* Hang gliding or sky diving?  TM Marie says "Not today, thanks, I've got a headache".   Instead she'll  lovingly prepare a healthy oat bar for her husband's birthday.

We had a great Icebreaker today...

* TM Veronica delighted us with her topsy-turvy world of exotic vs ordinary and took us down a travelogue of various parts of the world.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

And we had a power outage reality check of a speech...

* TM Jose recounted the painful experience of having  "Lights Out!" not to the entire college dorm, but to the entire country.  Yikes!  After several near misses, he was able to emerge unscathed but alert to potential repeats.

And then came the evaluations:

* TM David enjoyed TM Veronica's speech and completely related to her trainhopping, a national passtime in France.  

* TM Pam enjoyed TM Jose's Tales of Dark Days in a Green Country and made a call to action for him to masterfully use slides as prior to today.  She Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

CARDINAL, adjective

Of prime importance, principal

Example:  It is  cardinal that the sequestered Cardinals elect the next Pope while there's still wood to be burned in the Conclave.

The link to today's recording is here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dUqNLBRUXIA

See you next week!

Ana I.

VP Education

The Wild Wild West, Do You Hear Me? Tree chainsaw massacres - a Nolens Volens morning at Early Birds

--No Video Available--

Dear Members, Guests and Friends,

We formally inducted our returning Toastmaster Veronica.  Welcome aboard!

TM Randolph led us in Nolens Volens Table Topics.  We were soon to discover that...

* TM BeckyJo keenly watches her cat while she also watches British, Swedish, German and French crime dramas.  American crime dramas are just too preachy!

* TM The Tom frequents Mom's Kitchen, a family joint where the longtime waitresses are good flirts and the food is second to none.  He Won Best Table Topics Award.

* TM Marie's faith is her bedrock, gives her courage and trust to face any challenges she encounters while doing mental acrobatics about Polls. Great job, Marie!

* TM Veronica enjoys life being lived in the moment and has found the way to be happy while working toward future goals.

* TM Jorge has learned to never say never and finds more joys than frustrations in being a software engineer.

* TM David's big ego tells him he's the smartest in the room but he's aiming to be the funniest in order to release tension in his environment.

* TM Pam was thinking of AI this morning regarding microbes and cancer-sniffing beagles who will just have to return to being pets.

* TM Jose had great athletic talents in his early days but tore his meniscus and now simply walks 700 kilometers of the Camino like he eats a piece of cake!

We had (2) excellent prepared speeches...

* TM David explored his communication style - his forte being direct, which has caused him some family tensions, so now he practices supportive, which is much more conducive to happy endings.

* TM Pam taught us how to avoid tree-trimming scams by requesting the permit to solicit, the ISA certification and thus avoid neighborhood chainsaw massacres.  She Won Best Speaker Award.

Along came evaluations...

* TM Randolph praised TM David for his organization and encouraged him to add more personal stories next time he gives this speech.

* TM The Tom, evaluating from a closet, pointed out that TM Pam's speech was well-knit and she urged us to avoid falling willy-nilly for tree scams.  He Won Best Evaluator Award.

The Word of the Day was

NOLENS VOLENS, noun

Something that happens whether a person wants it or likes it or not.

(Can be used either/or Nilly-Willy)

Example:  The dog was dragged, nolens volens, to the groomer for a much-needed wash.

Here's the link to the recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfmZEyUOg-Q

We overcame temporary and longer absences, rose to the occasion and had a great meeting as always!  Thanks everyone for the teamwork!

See you next week!

Ana

VP Education