Tri-County Toastmasters #5682

The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 3-19-09 at the Virden Area Community Center. Club members present at Thursday’s meeting were: Les Apps, Dr. Todd Austin from Virden, Jim Blankenship from New Berlin, John Davidson, Bill Fulstick, Liz Mollett from Auburn, Casey Tom and Billy Watkins. One guest, Mick Bray was also present.

Todd Austin served as the meeting’s master of ceremonies. Jim Blankenship, a Certified Financial Planner from New Berlin, coordinated the impromptu speaking portion of the program, during which each participant gave a 1 to 2 minute impromptu response to his or her question.

The evening’s first prepared speaker was Todd Austin. Austin delivered an inspirational speech entitled “Communication – The Key to Success”. This presentation was a revised version of the one Austin presented one week earlier to a non-Toastmasters audience as part of a Speechcraft ‘Public Speaking 101’ workshop. It fulfilled the tenth project from the Toastmasters basic communication manual. Liz Mollett evaluated Todd’s speech.

The final prepared speaker was John Davidson. Les Apps evaluated John’s speech.

The Tri-County Toastmasters club will next meet on Thursday April 2, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Virden Area Community Center. Billy Watkins from Morrisonville will be the prepared speaker. The club will be hosting an open house as a way of introducing the Toastmasters program to the general public. For more information about the Toastmasters program, or about joining or attending the ‘open house’ meeting, please call (217) 965-3100 or send e-mail to draustin@royell.net.

The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 3-5-09 at the Virden Area Community Center. Club members present at the meeting were: Les Apps, Todd Austin, Jim Blankenship from New Berlin, John Davidson, Bill Fulstick, Casey Tom and Bill Watkins.

Billy Watkins served as the meeting’s master of ceremonies. Les Apps served as the Topicmaster, who is in charge of the impromptu speaking portion of the meeting. Todd Austin was the evening’s General Evaluator.

The evening’s prepared speaker was Casey Tom. Tom delivered his first ever speech as a member of Toastmasters, which is officially referred to as an ‘Ice Breaker’ speech. His 4-minute presentation was about golf and public speaking. Jim Blankenship evaluated Austin’s speech.

Todd Austin, the public relations officer and a founding member of the Tri-County Toastmasters Club also embarked upon an exciting project since the last meeting. He is coordinating and conducting a Speechcraft program with the assistance of a handful of other Area 1 Toastmasters members in Springfield. The first session (out of four total), was held on 3-12-09. Six central Illinoisans received training on how to improve their communication skills from Austin, assistant coordinator Kelly Anderson from Springfield’s AIG (company) Club, and Jackie Rakers who is currently the president of the Montgomery County club which meets in Hillsboro.

At Speechcraft session # 1, Austin gave a presentation about “The Importance of Good Communication Skills” and Rakers delivered a very informative and entertaining PowerPoint about “Selecting A Speech Topic”. Anderson doubled as the Topicmaster and Speech Evaluator, while Rakers also served as the General Evaluator. By the time the Speechcraft concludes next month, all Speechcrafters will have introduced and evaluated other speakers, will have participated in an impromptu speaking exercise on four occasions and will have delivered a total of three prepared speeches.

The Tri-County Toastmasters club, will next meet on Thursday March 19, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Virden Area Community Center located at 105 West Jackson Street. For more information about how the affordable Toastmasters program can help you to become either a better leader or communicator, or for information about attending a meeting or scheduling a Speechcraft program for your organization or community, please call (217) 965-3100 or e-mail draustin@royell.net.

The Tri-County Toastmasters club met on Thursday 2-19-09 at the Virden Area Community Center. Veteran club members present at Thursday’s meeting were: Les Apps, Todd Austin, Jim Blankenship from New Berlin, John Davidson, Liz Mollett from Auburn, Casey Tom and Bill Watkins. Club President Les Apps later welcomed Bill Fulstick as the clubs newest member at Thursday’s meeting.

Jim Blankenship served as the meeting’s master of ceremonies. Casey Tom was in charge of the Tabletopics, which is also known as the impromptu speaking portion of the meeting.

Les Apps, current club president and past Area 1 Governor, conducted an officers training session during the meeting. All 5 club officers were in attendance and received semi-annual training.

The evening’s prepared speaker was Todd Austin. Austin completed a project from the Basic Toastmasters Communication Manual. The title of his informative speech was “From Rags To Riches To Rags And Almost Back Again”. It was about the history of the National Football League’s oldest franchise, the Arizona Cardinals. The presentation followed the team from its humble beginning as the ‘Morgan Athletic Club’ back in Chicago in 1899, to their Racine Cardinal days from 1901 to 1920 (they played at 61st and Racine Streets in Chicago). They became the Chicago Cardinals in 1920 and won NFL Championships in 1925 & 1947 before moving on to St. Louis and finally to Arizona where they recently came close to winning a Superbowl. Liz Mollett evaluated Austin’s speech.

The Tri-County Toastmasters club, will next meet on Thursday March 5, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at the Virden Area Community Center located at 105 West Jackson Street. For more information about how the affordable Toastmasters program can help you to become either a better leader or communicator, or for information about attending a meeting please call (217) 965-3100 or e-mail draustin@royell.net.