The Linguists of Listowel met on Thursday, January 19, 2012. The theme of the meeting was "Declutter Your Life". Sharon D'Arcey called the meeting to order at 7:20 p.m. and introduced Chair Leo Brisebois. Leo welcomed everyone to the meeting and reviewed the theme. He said we should work to declutter our lives and he described a recent effort to clean out a large closet at home, making one side for "him" and one side for "her". We have to wonder how long that will last! He spoke of deleting negative experiences. Delete, delete, delete! Leo reviewed last week's first instructions for the Speechcrafters and said the theme for their program this week is "Get Your Feet Wet".
There were several agenda changes and then Leo had the Speechcrafters introduce themselves and explain a little bit about why they were involved with the program. Vern Noseworthy was introduced as the Toast and Timer and spoke of our good fortune to live in Canada before having us make a toast to our wonderful country.
Grammarian Val Hummel introduced the word of the night: pervasive. This word means to "flow throughout" and the word was chosen because sometimes clutter can be pervasive in our lives.
The Speechcrafters bravely gave their Ice Breaker speeches. John Van Meeteren gave us a laugh by describing that he is able to give a 10 minute speech in one breath. Christine Aitchison spoke of the many changes she has had in the recent past. Ella Kieftenburg spoke of her travel to Canada and how she ended up meeting and marrying her husband. Tony Galvao gave us a laugh as he spoke of his love for libraries.
Sharon D'Arcey was the evening's Sample Speaker and gave her "Be In Earnest" speech. She was practicing for a "Women into Networking" speech that she will be giving soon. She did a great job and showed confidence and poise at the podium.
Jane Stoltz took care of Table Topics and the Speechcrafters and some of the Toastmasters received items that Jane felt had been cluttering her home, and speakers had to convince Jane that she should keep the items in her home. Good idea, Jane! John won the coveted Table Topics trophy for his explanation of why Jane should keep a needlepoint hoop. Jane will take it home and will be able to use it to draw the perfect circle. And Keith can also use it as a halo as needed.
Val received her Certificate of Merit for completing 6 speeches. Sharon, Keith McCluskie, and Lorna VanderPloeg received their pins for completing all 10 speeches of the Competent Communicator manual. Congratulations to all!
VP of Membership Lorna took over the meeting to handle an induction ceremony for our newest members, Vern Noseworthy and Jill Wagemans. Current Toastmasters all voted unanimously to accept Vern and Jill as official members. Keith McCluskie will mentor Vern and Sharon will mentor Jill. Welcome to the Linguists of Listowel, Vern and Jill! We look forward to your speeches.
Keith McCluskie jumped into the role of General Evaluator and handled the introduction of the speech evaluators. Vern gave his Timer's Report and Val reported that participants used the word "pervasive" at least 6 times. Few filler words such as "ah, um or uh" were used at the meeting. Good job! Keith ended his role as General Evaluator by giving some good tips on how speakers can relax, on how to transition control of the lectern and he asked members to clap a little longer at transitions of speakers.
Leo concluded the meeting by giving out Speechcrafters assignments for next week which will be on how to introduce a speaker. The meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m.
Have a good week
Val Hummel
Club Secretary
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