Meeting Minutes
South County Toastmasters (#1957)
| Meeting Date: | March 24, 2021 |
| Meeting Type/Theme: | MARCH MADNESS; WHAT DOES IN MEAN TO YOU? |
| Meeting Location: | Sunset Hills Community Center / Zoom |
| Called to Order: | 6:00 PM |
| Presiding Officer: | George Kiser |
Officers’ Reports:
President: George Kiser
- George asked if there were any changes to the minutes and hearing none, the minutes of last week’s meeting were approved as posted.
VPE: Patrick Hunt
- “We have achieved 9 out of 10 club distinguished goals, meaning we are considered “President’s Distinguished.”
- SCTM members are now allowed to give a non-manual speech if they wish to do so.
Treasurer: Prathyush Viswaroopan
VPM: Kim Bond
VPPR: Sandy Roll
- Sandy made a post on LinkedIn on Saturday, March 20th. Additionally, she made another post on Wednesday, March 24th.
- Please take time to like and comment on the posts.
Secretary: Callie Koehr
Sergeant at Arms: Keith Page
Officer at Large: Jerry Paul
Committee Reports:
- None
New Business
Sandy Roll
- “I would like to propose that the club consider paying for two volunteers to attend lunch at the next Chamber of Commerce luncheon. These luncheons often take place during normal business hours, so for individuals who do not work during the day, if they could attend then I would like the club to pick up payment for that lunch since they will be attending on our behalf of our club. Then, when they come to the next meeting, these members can report if they could garner any interest in potential visitors joining the club.
- “I propose we do this for two meetings and see what the results are, then we could extend it further if it’s fruitful.”
George Kiser
- The motion for the club to pay for two volunteers to attend the next Chamber of Commerce luncheon was seconded and passed.
- We have a second item Jim Salih brought up at the last meeting – setting SCTM for a minimum time limit to qualify speakers during speeches.
- SCTM currently gives members a maximum of 30 seconds over their requested time.
There are a variety of ideas as to when speakers should be disqualified:
- 30 seconds before the green light
- 1 minute before the green light
- 1 minute before the speaker’s requested time
- 4 minutes for every speech
- 1 minute for the lowest range in the Pathways Project – (30 seconds before.)
Below is the discussion concerning whether we should have a limit and what the minimum time limit should be.
Bill Collier
- Bill notes, “When a project on Pathways says 5 or 7 minutes for example, we’ve had people ask for 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 15 minutes. We lost a member years ago because he wanted to do a 20 minute speech.”
- Bill adds, “This is a bigger issue for the club in terms of timing and if we’re going to get strict on 30 seconds or a minute – no more than that underneath the lowest. But we never give any consideration for members who go way way above what the project calls for at the top end.”
- Bill would like us to consider this aspect as the bigger picture and maybe address all of it at the same time.
Jim Salih
- Jim says, “There were a number of reasons why I had this suggestion. This is in line with Toastmasters International and this is in line with the speech contest.”
- When we go to speech contests, we at least know what to look for. (I think this is how we used to do it in the past.) I think it will keep people from saying when they have a 7 minute speech and they’re not sure it’s going to be 7 or 8 minutes, from them saying, “I have a 10 minute speech.” (to make sure they don’t go over with no fear of going under.)
- It also builds a discipline of building a range for your speech. The range would be 3 minutes. Jim notes, “It shouldn’t be too hard to achieve a 3 minute range during your speech.”
- That is what I would suggest – if it is 30 seconds prior to the minimum time such as if it is a 7 minute speech – 5 minutes would be your green light, 6 minutes would be your yellow light, 7 minutes would be your red light. 4:30 would be qualified and beyond 7:30 would be disqualified. This is typical with Toastmasters and what they’ve always done. I think it builds more discipline with the speaker’s preparation.
- I don’t disagree with Bill, I think that could be a separate issue for another time.
Debbie Young
- In the international speech contest they give you a range. So they’ll say 5-7 minutes, then you have to speak at least 30 seconds under 5 (so 4:30) and you can’t succeed more than 30 over. Debbie notes, “This aligns with Pathways because they give a range too. Other clubs I’ve attended stick to that range, so we’re kind of an oddity that we allow people to randomly pick a duration. I agree we should follow Pathways and it should be 30 seconds under the minimum of that threshold. (Just to align with Toastmasters) – underneath the lowest range.
George Kiser
The executive board is going to get together after hearing these comments in addition to what we’ve received by email. Then, we will follow through with the recommendation.
Unfinished Business:
- None
Announcements:
Patrick Hunt
Joint Area Meeting
- May 6, 2021
- If you’re interested in participating as a speaker or any other role let Patrick know ASAP.
- Centene Speaks will be holding the Joint Area Meeting.
- Be on the lookout for a calendar invite!
Meeting Roles:
| Toastmaster: | George Kiser |
| Greeter: | JD Perper |
| Invocator / CLE: | Debbie Young |
| Grammarian: | John Cleary |
| Time Keeper: | Bill Coller |
| Vote Counter: | John Cleary |
| Ah Counter: | Susan McConnell |
| Camera Operator: | Debbie Young |
| Table Topics: | Tom Terrific |
| General Evaluator: | Patrick Hunt |
| Joke Master: | Elisa Wong |
| Hot Seat |
Speakers and Evaluators:
| Speakers | Evaluators | |
| 1 | Kim Bond | Sandy Roll |
| 2 | Liz DeCamp | Jeff Hoehn |
| 3 | Victor Mattison | Keith Page |
Voting:
| Most Improved: | Jeff Hoehn | |
| Best Table Topics: | Susan McConnell | |
| Best Evaluator: | Sandy Roll | |
| Best Speaker | Kim Bond |
Meeting Rating: 9.5
Meeting Adjourned: 7:59 PM
Attendance: 53%
@Zoom: Liz DeCamp, Jim Salih, Kim Bond, Elisa Wong, Sandy Roll, Nancy Alba, Vic Mattison, Jeff Hoehn, and guest, Salu.
@Sunset: George Kiser, Keith Page, Bill Collier, JD Perper, Debbie Young, John Cleary, Susan McConnell, Tom Terrific, Patrick Hunt
Submitted by Callie Koehr, Secretary
southcountytoastmasters.org 