Election Night - May 25 2010

13 members were in attendance for our club officer elections.  All but one post was filled, but more on that later.

The word of the night provided by Francis, one of our newest members was

ur·bane/ɜrˈbeɪn/ Show Spelle[ur-beyn]

–adjective

1.

having the polish and suavity regarded as characteristic of sophisticated social life in major cities: an urbane manner.

2.

reflecting elegance, sophistication, etc., esp. in expression: He maintained an urbane tone in his letters.

---

Origin:
1525–35;  (< MF urbain ) < L urbānus  ( see urban;  for difference in stress and second syllable cf. human, humane)

—Related forms

ur·bane·ly, adverb

ur·bane·ness, noun

un·ur·bane, adjective

un·ur·bane·ly, adverb

—Can be confused:  urban, urbane .

—Synonyms
1.  suave, cosmopolitan.

visit dictionary.com for more information and to hear the pronunciation of urbane 

Teri Kingston led the table topics session in a very unique way.  Each participant was presented with a sentence that had to be used at least three times during his or her speech.  Once at the opening, at least once throughout and once at the close.  It proved to be quite challenging, and it will be some feat to top a table topics session like that one, but we were treated to some very interesting stories.  Joey used his phrase, "It turned out better than I thought" a total of seven times as he recounted the story of doing  roof repairs on his home, followed closely by yours truly who used the phrase, " The darn thing just kept popping out." six times to victory as best table topic.  More on that later.

Mackie was our only speaker for the night.  His speech, a eulogy, titled A Celebration was an educational for which all members participated in evaluating.  Mack continued his educational with the dos and don'ts of delivering a eulogy.

As Toastmasters, we may be called on by the people close to us to speak at important occasions like funerals, and we want to be sure that we handle it with dignity, offering respect to deceased and his friends and family.


Do:

1. Establish a connection between you and the deceased - Let the audience know how you knew one another
2. Separate yourself emotionally - Although it is an emotional time, try to maintain your composure.  It's difficult to get your message across if you are falling apart during delivery.
3. Use props only if appropriate - If Aunt Josephine loved to knit and you can use that as a metaphor for her life, then a ball of yarn and some knitting needles would make an appropriate visual.
4. Wrap it up by going back to your opening - E.g. Opening "A page turned this week in the history of the Third Concession. Even though it has been more than 10 years since Bud and Anne left the 'big white house on the corner' for a retirement home in the 'big city' of Lancaster. . ." Close "A page has turned in the history of the Third Concession this week - Buddy's page.  A man we can all be proud of knowing and will all miss.
5. End on a positive.

Don't:

1. Use off colour stories and jokes - Even if everyone knows it, this isn't the time to talk about how uncle Joe really enjoyed visiting the red light district.
2. Wing it - knowing your material makes for a smooth delivery
3. Apologize for your speaking - Now is not the time to turn the focus on yourself by commenting on how you're not good at or used to making speeches.
4. Purge yourself - A funeral is not the place for family therapy
5. Read word for word from your speech - Just tell your stories.  You want your remembrance to be natural

If you find you have to give someone's eulogy, by following these tips and of course practicing with your fellow Toastmasters, you should be able to do it with ease.  Thanks Mackie for a great educational.


Following Mac's educational, we went on to elect our new executive for the 2010 / 2011 year.  As I said earlier, we filled all but one post.    Our new executive is as follows:

Position	Outgoing	Elect
President	Harry Kingston	Denise Paquette
VP Education	Chris Semchuk	Carole Anne Levac
VP Membership	Ian Cowan	Joey Losier
VP Public Relations	Kimberley Thompson	Vacant
Treasurer	Vincent Foy	Francis Rounding
Secretary	Brigitte Walker	Malcolm Robertson
Sgt – at – Arms	John Anderson	Vincent Foy

I have decided to take a break from Toastmasters, but given that I am the outgoing VP Public Relations, I will still be on hand to update the blog and website if needed.

So, the winning table topic:

The Darn Thing Just Keeps Popping Out.

The darn thing just keeps popping out.  Let's go back about 30 years.  My daughter was only a few months old and became ill.  I had to monitor her temperature with one of those old fashioned, shake down thermometers.  When I put it in her mouth, the darn thing just keeps popping out.  I tried putting it under her armpit, but the darn thing just keeps popping out.  So, I finally took her to the doctor and explained, when I try to take her temperature in the mouth the darn thing just keeps popping out.  When I try to do it under the arm, the darn thing just keeps popping out.

So, the doctor says to me, "I'm going to show you how we in the 'profession' do it."  He took off her diaper, flipped her over onto her belly, shook down the thermometer and in it went (Just south of the equator).  Then, he removed it, handed it to me and told me to go ahead.  As I tried to make my approach, I could feel my knees go weak and my eyes roll back in my head; I thought the darn things would just pop out.  I lost my grip on the thermometer and the darn thing just popped out of my hand and hit the floor.  Sterilizing the thermometer the doctor had me try again.  I made it.  I don't know what my daughter was doing with her muscles though, 'cause the darn thing just popped out.

The doctor said, "Look, you've gotta do it until you can get a reading."

I held my hands up and said, "No!  I'm not doing it anymore, because the darn thing just keeps popping out."

'Til next time.

Practice Table Topics at Home