06_22_04 Geospeakers Meeting Summary

This meeting of GeoSpeakers was rocked to order by VP-Education Ann Gunderson, who also stood in for Fran Hostettler as Galvanizer. GeoSpeakers welcomed Lauri Kanerva, visiting for the second time. Toastmaster Gretchen Luepke Bynum then introduced the theme of the day, "Great Moments in Toastmasters." Master Evaluator Cynthia Ramseyer introduced the evaluation team: Gary Curtis (Ahs), Chris Gutmacher (Timer), and Joanna Dickson (Wordmaster).

Speaker Neil Shapiro spoke with the sincerity of a true fan about "To Move or Not To Move" and very ably convinced his audience that the Oakland A's really do need a new South Bay stadium, as the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum is better suited for football than baseball. The Timer, totally absorbed in what Neil was saying, guessed his speech to be ~6 minutes long. Evaluator Ann Gunderson provided Neil with a thorough evaluation, noting that Neil did very well with the up-close eye contact and vocal control.

Table Topics was introduced by Carol Reiss, who reflected that her Great Moment in Toastmasters was the ability to deliver a eulogy for her mother, which was very healing for her. Each person present (except Neil) had an opportunity to reflect on his or her great moments with GeoSpeakers in response to Carol's questions. Taking home trophies were: Ann Gunderson for her Most Eloquent discourse on how her inner voice prompted her to finally join Toastmasters and enables her to speak in public; Gary Curtis for his Most Interesting observations about his need for processing time in order to do an evaluation; and Lauri Kanerva for his Most Humorous remarks about learning English in his native Finland by hanging out with juvenile delinquents, resulting in his ability to "write like an angel, speak like the devil." In as much as Lauri intends to become a GeoSpeaker, we can all look forward to what is sure to be a fascinating Icebreaker!

Evaluating the meeting overall, Cynthia Ramseyer observed that despite a slightly rocky start (had to change rooms at the last moment) and some rattled nerves, everyone stepped into their roles and performed admirably. She also noted that the sine qua non of Toastmasters is the ability to listen critically and evaluate speakers thoughtfully, as well as the ability to speak clearly and convincingly.

The meeting closed with one of Fran's wonderfully funny quotes from the Grandma Moses' Bible: "Leave the cat alone, for what has the cat done, that you should so afflict it with duct tape?" (Lev. II, 14:9).

(6/23 note from Fran Hostettler about the quote above:
"The whole text was a segment on the Garrison Keeler show "Lake Wobegon" or Prairie Home Companion, on KQED Saturday nights or Sundays from 11-1:00, from several years ago. It's by Ian Frazier. The Moses and Grandma Moses part is my variation.")

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