Lucy called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. sharp. She introduced the Chairperson, Leo Brisbois, noting that Leo is an animal lover and he has a dog named Lucy. Leo told the Linguists how he has learned so much from his pets over the years. Right now, he has two dogs, Cody and Lucy, and a cat named Cosmopolitan.
Leo reported that this is Week 4 of the Speechcrafter program and congratulated the Speechcrafters on their courage for being a part of the program and for the efforts they have made to improve their skills.
Vern had an awesome joke of the day involving a story about an elderly gentleman who got a new hearing aid. When asked how it was working out, the elderly gentleman said, “Great! My family doesn't know that I have it and I’ve changed my will three times!”
Keith McCluskie was Toast and Timer for the evening and made a creative toast to Canada that included a reference to Groundhog Day and the inability of the three groundhogs to agree on whether or not spring is coming early.
Brent Jemmett’s word of the day was “Malarkey”, a noun meaning nonsense or writing to obscure or mislead or impress. Brent’s example of the use of the word was “Leo is full of malarkey when he says the Maple Leafs won’t make the play-offs!”
The Speechcrafters each presented a speech. Ella spoke of the impact that cell phones are having on our lives. Christine spoke of the many layers of her artsy side. Tony spoke of the joys and stresses of parenting. John spoke of the joys of reading and urged members to plan an excursion with their family to a local bookstore.
Val provided an educational corner on the use of gestures, explaining how gestures make a speech come alive and keep the audience alert, engaged – and awake! She described how speakers can use all parts of their body to make gestures and should avoid pacing, lip biting, hands in pockets, tugging at clothes and gripping the lectern.
Lorna brought her parrot Stella out to the meeting to help with her sample speech on “Show What You Mean”. Speaking as Stella, Lorna creatively described a day in Stella’s life while Stella chewed on Lorna’s speech papers as she talked.
Tony stepped up to the role of Table Topics Master and handed out animal-related questions. Everyone had a good laugh and Tony’s idea was well thought out and funny. He declared everyone the winner!
Lucy jumped into the role of General Evaluator with gusto. This was her second week in the role and she said she felt a lot more comfortable doing it. She suggested that meeting participants should look at doing a role several weeks in a row to get comfortable with it.
Keith gave the Timer’s Report and Brent gave the Grammarian’s report. He said the word “Malarkey” was used 9 times. He also enjoyed Val’s use of the word “meat wrinkles” when she described her Cornish Rex cats during Table Topics. Brent noted that there were 72 laughs during this meeting…that may be a record.
Leo concluded by giving the Speechcrafters information on their assignments for the February 9th meeting. With nothing further, Leo adjourned the meeting at 9:15 p.m.
Submitted by
Val Hummel
Recording Secretary
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