A review of our cosy meeting 12-4-14

Jim opened the meeting right at 6:30. It was fitting that Toastmaster Russell Pike's theme for the evening was “I'll never stop the rain by complaining.”  During the meeting he surprised everyone when he related that Portland get more rain on more days than – Seattle.

First Speaker Edie Gillis gave a speech called, “In The Elevator.”  We learned that subjecting a captive audience to a sales pitch in an elevator just turns people off.   She said, Don't sell, connect.”  A good elevator talk is more like dialog and a dance.  She made great use of a hand-held flip chart and made us laugh.  Way to go, Edie!

Second Speaker Kevin Seed spoke on “Reading a Label.”  He handed out chemical labels and drew on his expertise as a landscaper to unlock their mysteries.  He said there were two things to know about chemical labels.  First, the label is a law.  Second, read the label.  He said that if there is no FDA number on the label to tell someone immediately.  Another great speech, Kevin!

Table Topics Master Henry Exerjian gave members Brinn Hemmingson, Jim Robison, and Edie Gillis and long-time member and current guest Sandra Wolicki (she is re-joining Portland Progressives) their choice of politics, law enforcement, and justice.  We learned that Brinn was a criminal justice major in college.  She said she had been in funny, loud protests without violence and that protesters that destroy property need to be stopped.  Sandra thought that body camera were generally good, but that we should analyze the costs and benefits.  Edie spoke out for more police accountability and that the D.A. is looking for prosecutions and not justice.  Jim talked about why the Democrats lost and said that money taking over the entire conversation during election season is bad.

Jim lead the evaluation session. 

Kathleen Clarke evaluated Edie's speech.  Kathleen liked Edie's focus on meaning and emotion.  She also praised Edie's creativity and especially the choreographed foot stomping introduction.  Kathleen said that Edie easily met her project requirements  by demonstrating “how to say it” with short, distinctive words.  Kathleen suggested that Edie should slow down a bit.

Even though Sandra was a guest, she stepped up to evaluate Kevin.  Sandra told us that Kevin had chosen a great topic for his “how to say it speech”.  She liked the catchy start and the repetition of the two points.  She liked his final recap and suggested that he end with a quote.  Sandra encouraged him to do more speeches.

Brinn was grammarian.  Five people used the word of the day, “exigency.”  She pointed out our verbal highlights and the few uses of filler words.  Christine Seed lead a short, punchy listener session that had us on our mental toes.  Peter Liu handled the timer activity flawlessly and gave a crisp report.

Jim told us that he enjoyed the meeting and that it was generally a good meeting.  He focused on our need for storage of equipment, a second guest book, and signage.  Without the storage, these were missing since Sgt. at Arms Chuck Melikian had them and was unable to attend the meeting.

It was a great meeting on a rainy day.  We look forward to our next wonderful meeting coming up this Thursday!  You don't want to miss it!