Meeting Minutes for June 5, 2012

Cromwell Community Toastmasters: Club 5908 Meeting Minutes for June 5, 2012

The Cromwell Community Toastmasters met on Tuesday, June 5, at the Cromwell Town Hall. In attendance were fifteen members and four guests.

Members present: Tom Alvord, Louis Nizet, Sharon Roth, William Sullivan, Heather Turner, Crystal Storo, Akshay Dhote, Robert Dalo, Elizabeth Ostertag, Phil Mason, Mano Rudravajhala, Charlie Hubert, Jay Polke, Angie Ondrick, Linda Campbell

Guests present: We were honored to have four guests in attendance tonight:

Donald Ostertag ( Elizabeth's Dad) hails from New Britain and presently conducts a monthly meeting as commandant of the Marine Corps League.

Sissy Simpson, from Meriden, is an OSHA trainer who is looking to perfect her speaking style. She learned about us via an ad in the Hartford Courant.

Amy Ansah, while now living in New Britain, is originally from Great Britain, and has been a guest several times.

Cassie hails from Middletown and joined us for the first time tonight. Her goal is to feel more comfortable sharing information and speaking publicly before large and small groups.

Sergeant at Arms: Phil Mason

Business Meeting: Tom Avord ACB ALB

Toastmaster: Sharon Roth ACB CL

Word of the Day: Linda Campbell - 'imbroglio' meaning: a difficult or intricate situation, an entanglement,

an embarrassing misunderstanding, an intricately woven plot/set of

circumstances

.

Invocation: Elizabeth Ostertag - 'The Law of Detachment' by Deepak Chopra

(handout was provided)

Table Topics Master: Heather Turner ACB

Table Topic 1: What would you do if you knew it was impossible to fail. Jay Polk said he would like to feel confident by having advance knowledge only available to him in his business dealings.He also mentioned it would be great to know the Daily Number ahead of time!

Table Topic 2: What store would you want to be stuck in when the zombie apocalypse hit? Rob Dalo

chose Home Depot!

Table Topic 3: If you could live the life of a favorite book or movie hero, who would it be and why? Phil

Mason chose Steve McQueen!

Table Topic 4: If you could live forever, would you or wouldn't you and why or why not? Mano

Rudravajhala said he would not, stating that life is a cycle in which you live, leave your

mark and go back. He mentioned a character given such a choice from a favorite book.

Table Topic 5: If you could be stuck in a store for one hundred years without food being a problem,

which store would you want to be stuck in? Donald Ostertag chose Carvel or Dairy

Queen as he would enjoy having a hot fudge sundae everyday.

Prepared Speeches:

Speaker #1: Sharon Roth ACB CL

Manual:INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATIONS

Speech: The Coach

Title: The Challenge to Coach

Time: 10-14 minutes

Sharon Roth gave us some excellent insight on how to coach anyone. She divided her speech into three parts; a discussion on how to coach (provided us with a handout delineating five tips on evaluation), a role playing segment with the assistance of Phil Mason in which she further discussed the value of the 'sandwich approach' to evaluation of a speech (something positive/one thing a person could do better/something positive), and a segment asking the audience for feedback.

Speaker #2: William Sullivan ACB ALB

Manual: PERSUASIVE SPEAKING

Speech: Conquering the 'Cold Call'

Title: Selling the Invisible

Time: 10-14 minutes

Bill Sullivan has been in the healthcare field for twenty-one years and has recently been asked to get into sales. His speech explained how to sell the invisible ( a service, especially one that is expensive). Bill listed the qualities of a successful salesperson and provided us with the following excellent and insightful quote: "Philosophy drives attitude, attitude drives action, actions drive results, results drive lifestyle'. A cold call scenario was role played with the assistance of Crystal Storo. Bill also recommended the book entitledLittle Red Book of Selling by Jeffrey Gitomer.

Speaker #3: Marlyn Jess (via Skype) DTM

Title: How to Conduct a Phone Interview

Marlyn Jess shared three tips that make phone interviews successful: manage technical aspects (minimize background noise, silence extraneous devices, use a headset, use a mirror and smile), manage yourself (be as relaxed as possible, be well hydrated, go into your personal 'green room'), manage your resources (prepare for the question, have your resume handy, have stories of personal success ready). She advised the importance of pausing for benefit of both speaker and listener during a phone interview. Further, she explained the value of a cell statement ( listen to what the person needs most, that's the problem you want to solve) and reminded us not to forget the after-work ( call, write a letter, or visit).

Evaluations:

General Evaluator: Crystal Storo guided us through the evaluation portion of the meeting.

Evaluator 1: Tom Alvord ACB, ALB evaluated Sharon Roth's speech.

Evaluator 2: Charlie Hubert evaluated William Sullivan's speech.

The Ah Counter (Angie Ondrick), Grammarian (Rob Dalo), and Timer (Akshay Dhote) reviewed their reports for the meeting.

Closing:

President Tom Alvord presided over the election of club officers for the new year which begins July 1. Installation will be held on June 19, 2012 and officer training on June 23.