Holiday Party

I had an absolute blast at our Holiday Party this week!

It was held at the Golden Bowl Bowling alley in Golden, President Pamela Gould was kind enough to organize this wonderful event for all of us.  It was a small group, but this gave as a great opportunity to get to know each other better and eat more pizza:)

The meeting was very informal with two speeches given by myself and by Darryle Brown.
Darryle's speech was amazing, not only did he share valuable, personal information about his life, he also gave advice and lessons he has learned.  Darryle's speech had such an effect on us that it was the center of our conversation while we ate pizza.  It was a speech that each of us could relate to, in a variety of different ways.  It was really interesting to sit around and share our stories, ideas and feelings related to Darryle's speech and to Toastmasters in general.
As we sat down for pizza and talked, we also evaluated the two speeches.  Instead of the formal evaluations we usually present at Buffalo Toastmasters, we did a round table evaluation where each member gave their input and ideas to the speaker.  At first it was a little intimidating having my speech thoroughly analyzed by the group, but then I really enjoyed it.  Everyone offered great insight and thoughts for how to improve.  I am really grateful to have presented that day and to have received such amazing feedback.
I really felt like I got to know the group so much better over pizza and great conversation.  It made me realize what a wonderful, caring and thoughtful group of people we have at Buffalo Toastmasters.

And then we bowled....

My score of 56 paled in comparison to Larry's 210!!!  He printed the results as proof, and I am sure he will be carrying them around with him.  Although only Ray, Larry and I bowled we had a great time.  They are both amazing bowlers, I tried to keep up:)

Thanks to all who made it for a wonderful Holiday Party! But next time, I will need a little more bowling support!

Happy Holidays and I will see you all in the New Year,

Caroline, Treasurer

Toastmaster Words of Wisdom

"The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.— George Jessel

"There are two things that are more difficult than making an after-dinner speech: climbing a wall which is leaning toward you and kissing a girl who is leaning away from you."
— Winston Churchill

"The duty of a toastmaster is to be so dull that the succeeding speakers will appear brilliant by contrast."
— Clarence B. Kelland

"Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening."
— Dorothy Sarnoff

Every speaker has a mouth;
An arrangement rather neat.
Sometimes it's filled with wisdom.
Sometimes it's filled with feet.
— Robert Orben

December 1st meeting

We moved the meeting to Intrawest Shared Services in Golden, but we didn't miss a beat.  Ray Hebert (the 2nd) ran the show as Toastmaster in his always resourceful and witty style. Two fine speeches from the veteran Ron Wachenheim and a relatively newcomer (but talented) R.J. Kern. The evaluations by Walter Weinig and Linda Knudson were equally accomplished with positive feedback and constructive suggestions (although not many needed).  And fun, OMG.  Pamela Gould came up with the most creative Table Topics in many a moon. She drew a target on a white board with various sections depicting topic categories. The extemporaneous volunteer speakers shot suction darts to see what their topic would be. The bulls-eye said "Ask Ray any question". Volunteers hit on "How they got to Buffalo TM", wild card and jokes. Alas, no one could hit the bulls-eye, allowing Ray to escape potentially embarrassing interrogation. A rollicking good time was had by all . . . but then, that's not unusual for Buffalo-ers!