Tweeter or Bowler?

That is the question we were left with after today’s two presentations.  Melissa gave us a brief history and short introduction on the Twitter Universe.  We learned the origins of what is now the most popular social network.  We also learned how the logo for twitter has changed over time and if you are familiar with the hash tag (#) functionality you can keep up to date on the tweets (news) that have been associated with the tag.  So if you are interested in what is going on at the local city council meeting all you have to now is the proper #.  

Not only can you get breaking news from those tweeting at the city council meeting or from the local and national news organizations, you can also have discussions with your local community organizations.  Oh and don’t forget you can also follow your favourite politician or celebrity and who knows, maybe someone will want to follow your tweets.

The next presentation was a short introduction to the few similarities and the many differences between baseball and cricket.  From the brief description the only similarities are both sports use a ball and a bat.  Everything else is completely different, from the size of the teams the way points are accumulated.  Although we aren’t exposed to a lot of this interesting sport, it is the second most popular sport in the world.  One of the reasons we may not see a lot of cricket is the length of the game.  Unlike baseball that can last a few hours, a championship cricket match can last days.  Yes, Days!!

Both our presenters went over their time allotment.  A lot of information was presented and I think there is still much more to learn about these two topics. I hope we get a chance for a second class.

So what is it?  Are you a bowler or a tweeter?

Ups and Downs

Well we were on a bit of a roller coaster this week.  

Our first presentation was delivered by Christine.  Her objectives were to use body language and gestures to enhance her presentation.  She certainly hit the mark with a presentation on her and her mother’s attendance at the recent Oprah event in Saskatoon.  Certainly there was a powerful message delivered to the audience, some of which we heard about during the speech.  But Christine’s animated gestures, expressing her mother’s excitement to finally see her life long idol, really added humour and excitement to our afternoon.  Well done Christine.

From the highs to the lows we went when Jane explained to us how the development of the world was so dependant on water.  She went on to explain how life exploded to where we are today almost in a non-sustainable situation.  Jane explained to us how our water systems are being polluted buy numerous things that originate from our human existence, from lakes and waterways being polluted by agricultural runoff to the huge vortexes of garbage that are present in the oceans.  Jane’s presentation was a bit of a downer but she ended with a very strong message that we need to smarten up or we will be in a worse situation and we have to find a caretaker for our lovely blue planet.

You never know what you are going to be presented with at a club meeting.  We are entertained, made to think about our actions, inspired, as well as educated.  Why not stop by next week.  I heard a little bird tweet it will be fun.

'Till then.

Contagious Random Acts of Kindness

Two great presentations and a business meeting today.  The business meeting was just getting started when time ran out.  Of course the important aspects of the meeting were dealt with.  We had a little extra time so “Monkey Business” started.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on how you look at things, there will be a motion on the table that we will have to attend to at our next business meeting.  It’s just another opportunity to practice running meeting as I am sure we all have been to some that are poorly run and very unproductive.  Toastmasters tries to rectify these situation.  The more we practice, the better we become.

Both presentations today were from the Competent Communication manual.  Erin presented a great speech, Project 3 – Get To The Point, that spoke of random acts of kindness. Something she feels is contagious.  Her examples and excellent word choice painted pictures that we could certainly see ourselves in.  Here personal examples were well explained and appreciated by the group.  She certainly got to the point.

Our second presentation was by Richard, an experienced Toastmaster.  He was completing project 10 – Inspire Your Audience.  With a speech title of “Not In My Back Yard” the audience was persuaded to consider their environmental footprint as it extents outside their immediate area and think about the amount of garbage they generate.  The key message was to reduce and recycle, not just throw away and forget about the impact of your actions.  I think the audience was inspired.

Again we had top notch evaluations from Marloes and Julia.  Feedback is always important and happily received.  It is important to know the things the speakers did well and also the areas that could have been changed to better fit the objectives or make a more powerful and compelling presentation.  It was nice to hear the assigned evaluators but also nice to see notes being passed to the speakers from the rest of the audience.  This way the speakers get additional feedback on their presentations.

I am looking forward to our next Business meeting so we can continue our monkey business.  In the mean time, I will be thinking of a new subject for my next presentation.

Maybe I will see you next week.

Fun with April First

As you can guess, the theme of this weeks meeting was April Fools.  With this theme and the word of the day being “Kibitzer”, there were some interesting introductions.  We all had a laugh, either while describing pranks that had been played on us or hearing of those played on others.  If you don’t know the meaning of kibitzer, look it up and try to use it in a sentence or two.  You will then have a better understanding of what I mean when I say we had some Interesting Introductions.

We also had 2 very interesting and entertaining presentations on the program.  Meg presented speech number four from the Competent Communication manual entitled “The Grammar Nazi”.  Meg explained and showed us how the proper use of grammar, either written or oral, has declined over the years.  The excellent example she used were the song lyrics of two popular heartthrobs, Frank Sinatra and Justin Bieber.  By reading a few lines from each of their popular songs, we could certainly see what she meant.

Julia then presented speech number five from the Advanced Communication manual, Speaking to Inform.  Julia’s presentation, “Wonder Where We Live”, explained to us the impact and evolution of The Hudson Bay Company.  She went on to explain how many of our northern communities are a direct result of the commerce they carried out.  An interesting subject steeped in history that most people are unaware of.

Table topics were eliminated due to us running out of time.  I can just imagine the fun we would have had given the theme and word.  We wrapped up the program on time after some excellent speech evaluations given by Marloes and Rathan.  We were also reminded that before next weeks meeting the Area we belong to is holding the Area Spring Contests. This is an excellent opportunity to observe the best speakers in the Area as they vie for a position at the next level of competition. It was also suggested that it would be a good opportunity to come out and show support for Jane and Richard who are representing Prairie Schooners.

Till next week.