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Club News:

Tuesday, June 06, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmaster

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 13 attendees for a great meeting!

Congratulations to Andy Bennett. Andy was inducted into Land of Sky Toastmasters Club.

Congratulations to Susan Lane. Susan completed the Communication and Leadership Manual and is receiving the Competent Toastmaster (CTM) Award.

Congratulations to Kim Schwartz. Kim completed the Communication and Leadership Manual and is receiving the Competent Toastmaster (CTM) Award.

Jennifer Nash was a guest today.

Darrell Brooks was the Toastmaster of the day.

Harry Paly had a great joke for us today.

We had two great speeches today from Susan Lane and Kim Schwartz. Susan's speech title was "What if it was true!". Eternity: defined by a line that goes from infinity from left to right or right to left, either way it is a huge amount of time. Is there life after passing on? Is there eternity? Do our loved ones who have taken the ultimate journey wait for us on the other side? The only thing that separates us from this world and the next is faith. So hold on to you tickets; the bus will show. Kim's speech title was "Live Better, Feel Better". We all need to take a good look at the food we eat. Do all the preservatives and artificial flavorings and chemicals make our food better or worst for us? How does all the fast food affect our health?

Shawn Pyfrom was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant ( Andy Bennett, Glenda Fuhrmann, Ed McGowan, Jennifer Nash ) had to answered questions. What is the best summer you ever had? What is your thoughts on the increase of school bus accidents?, How do you avoid the increase of teenage drivers on the roads?, What would you do with three months off? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Ali Zarabi and Steve Lukacena did a great job in evaluating the speakers. Steve and Ali not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Harry Paly did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Maria focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks to Andy Bennett for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Glenda Fuhrmann as AH counter. The word of the day was " Mendacious". Maria Harwood did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Jennifer Nash efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Ed McGowan wrapped up the meeting with his evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

There are a couple of clubs asking for help as they continue to form their clubs.

The Henderson County Toastmasters need help filling roles for there meetings . Please contact Larry Branscum for details and directions to the meeting location. Larry Branscum's cell phone # 602-799-8956.

The Oteen Club needs help filling roles for their meeting at the VA Hospital. Meeting starts promptly at 4:45PM every Thursday. Our club just received the Founder's Club Award for sponsoring Oteen. Please contact Ed McGowan about what Oteen's needs are. Principally they need help with evaluators until their people gain some more experience. Ed McGowan's work phone # 651-4703 and home phone #684-8310.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Susan Lane for best speech, Ed McGowan for best table topic and best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday, May 30, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 14 attendees for a great meeting!

Ed McGowan was the Toastmaster of the day.

Lee Anderson had a great joke for us today.

We had three great speeches today from Shawn Pyfrom, Glenda Fuhrmann and Ali Zarabi. Shawn speech title was "Creating the Best Club Culture." This speech is out of the Successful Club Series. The three main points were 1. Set good example for others to follow. 2. Show all the other members and guest that we care about them. 3 Everyone is Welcome. Glenda's speech title was "The five steps of memorization". The five steps are 1. Memorize the beginning and end. 2. Learn the sequence. 3. Memorize the middle portion using links. 4. Memorize the hard parts. 5. Put it all together. Ali speech title was "Brain Aneurism". People do not know what crates aneurisms. They link it to stress or increase in blood pressure. But what really causes brain aneurisms is comments made by people that mean absolutely nothing. This comment bounces back and forth in the head until something explodes.

Brian Vasilik was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant ( Cindy Jordan, Steve Lukacena, John Locke and Lee Anderson ) had to answered questions. The questions were: If you could attend Woodstock in 1969 would you? What names would you give stages in a multiple stage concert? Who would you like to see in concert and why? How do you prepare for camping at a festival? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Harry Paly, Kim Schwartz and Darrell Brooks did a great job in evaluating the speakers. Harry, Kim and Darrell not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Maria Harwood did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Maria focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks to John Locke for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Cindy Jordan as AH counter. The word of the day was "Adroit". Andrew Bennett did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Lee Anderson efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Steve Lukacena wrapped up the meeting with his evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

There are a couple of clubs asking for help as they continue to form their clubs.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Glenda Fuhrmann and Ali Zarabi for best speech, John Locke for best table topic and Maria Harwood for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday May 23, 2006 By; Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 13 attendees for a great meeting!

We had several guests join us today: Jackie Branscum, Larry Branscum and Tom Vann.

Brian Vasilik was the Toastmaster of the day.

Harry Paly also had several great joke for us today.

We had a great speech from Susan Lane. The title of Susan's speech was "Put it in writing". How often do we go without saying how we feel about our family or friends. How about writing our feelings in a letter or a card. The greatest gift we can share is ourselves. Write down in a letter your feelings and love of you mom, dad, children or friends. As long as that person has the letter, they will always have an awareness of your feelings. Even when we move or move on, the person will always know how we feel about them. Days go by so fast and life speeds on even at a faster pace, we forget to stop and smell the flowers. So STOP and write how you feel to mom, dad, children and friends. Let the most important people in your life know.

Steve Lukacena was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant ( Shawn Pyfrom, Tom Vann, Cindy Jordan, Ali Zarabi , Ed McGowan, Jackie Branscum, Brian Vasilik, and Larry Branscum ) had to answered questions. The questions were: Some people say a little white lye is OK, what do you think? You are a finalist, what characteristic took you there? Tell us about your first crush? Finish the sentence Once a pone a time _____________, Who do you look like?, If you had to ware a button with five words, what would they be? If you could choose a person to go to dinner with, who would it be? Finish the sentence I love to ___________. Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Larry Branscum did a great job in evaluating the speaker . Larry not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Linda Brandt did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Linda focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Cindy Jordan for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Glenda Fuhrmann as AH counter. The word of the day was " Alleviate". Harry Paly did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Cindy Jordan efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Ed McGowan wrapped up the meeting with his evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

There are a couple of clubs asking for help as they continue to form their clubs.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Susan Lane for best speech, Shawn Pyfrom for best table topic and Ed McGowan for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday May 9, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 17 attendees for a great meeting!

We had several guests join us today: Andy Bennitt, Lee Anderson, Jackie Branscum, Larry Branscum and Annie Zaffrann.

John Locke was the Toastmaster of the day.

Cindy Jordan had a great joke for us today. Harry Paly did a marvelous job introducing the membership.

We had a three great speeches from Susan Lane, Brian Vasilik and Randy Johnston. Susan Lanes speech title was "Life before gadgets". There are so many new inventions out there today that do a specific job. There are apple corers, vegetable peelers, etc but before them was just a knife. We all can look around the house and see many gadgets that we bought over the years that now just sit around and collect dust. Brian Vasilik speech title was "Drawing Characters". Brian let us all into his thought process on how he draws. Brian showed us how he translates peoples facile landscapes to paper. Randy Johnston's speech title was "Summertime blues". Summer is the time for vacations. There are many types of vacations and destinations. What is best for the family? How can the cost of the vacation be reduced? Planning and research are the keys to make any vacation great.

Linda Brandt was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant (Maria Harwood, Glenda Fuhrmann and Harry Paly) answered several different questions . The questions were: What is your favorite place you have stayed?, What is your favorite book? and What is your favorite TV show? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Ed McGowan, Ali Zarabi and Jacky Branscum did a great job in evaluating the speakers . Ed, Ali and Jacky not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Shawn Pyfrom did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Shawn focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Glenda Fuhrmann for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Annie Zaffrann as AH counter. The word of the day was "Tarry". Maria Harwood did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Larry Branscum efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Cindy Jordan wrapped up the meeting with her evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

Congratulations to Linda Brandt for earning her CTM at the Henderson County Toastmasters meeting on May 24th 8:00 a.m

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Randy Johnston for best speech, Glenda Fuhrmann for best table topic and Jacky Branscum for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday May 2, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 14 attendees for a great meeting!

We had two guests join us today: Andy Bennitt and Lee Anderson.

Ali Zarabi was the Toastmaster of the day.

Glenda Fuhrmann had a great joke for us today.

We had a two great speeches from Kim Schwartz and Ed McGowan. The title of Kim's speech was " Colon Cancer". Kim talked about the colon, what it does and it's location in the body. She also covered the different methods of detecting colon cancer. Colon Cancer is on the rise within the United States and is easily curable in its early stages. Thus people need to be check by their doctors. The title of Ed's speech was "Windy and the Beach". Ed spoke about his trip to Willington for his sons soccer game. On arrival at Willington Ed and his family found out how windy it gets at the beach. They had to push doors open and buy more clothes to keep warm. Also the soccer team had to adapt their game to allow for wind. The players kicked the ball into the air and the wind just pushed it back.

Darrell Brooks was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant (Steve Lukacena, Cindy Jordan, Maria Harwood and Brian Vasilik) answered several different questions . The questions were: What is your feelings about illegal immigration and the march/boycott the immigrants had? What is your thoughts on the profit margins the oil companies had this last quarter? The Star Spangled banner in Spanish????? Would you voluntarily ask for a colonoscopy? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Susan Lane and Maria Harwood did a great job in evaluating the speakers . Susan and Maria not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Steve Lukacena did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Steve focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Susan Lane for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Linda Brandt as AH counter. The word of the day was "Lavish". Randy Johnston did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Brian Vasilik efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Brian Vasilik wrapped up the meeting with her evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

It's time for District 37 Spring Conference May 5-6 2006 at Raleigh, NC. It will be held at Sheraton Imperial Convention Center. Call 919-941-5050 for room reservations. Mention Toastmasters for a discounted rate.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Kim Schwartz for best speech, Steve Lukacena for best table topic and Susan Lane for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday April 25, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 9 attendees for a great meeting!

Maria Harwood was the Toastmaster of the day.

Ali Zarabi had a great joke for us today.

We had a one great hot seat speeche from Shawn Pyfrom. The title of Shawn's speech was "Jumping on the band wagon". As technology improves do we just go out and buy the newest thing and jump on the band wagon? New ways of doing things are always around the bend. We can now down load books, news reports, sporting events and listen to them later. Are we giving up the simple joy of reading for the new web-cast ipod craze. To jump or not to jump that is the question.

Brian Vasilik was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant (Steve Lukacena, Ali Zarabi, Kim Schwartz, Linda Brandt, Cindy Jordan, Maria Harwood and Susan Lane) answered a questions about the oil industry. The questions were: Where does crude oil come from?, What is a hybrid?, What is the difference between brand name gas and non-brand name gas? What is gasoline ally? What is the connection between tire pressure and gas mileage?, Should we have locks on our gas caps? and What is the anti-knock index? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Linda Brandt did a great job in evaluating the speaker . Linda not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Cindy Jordan did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Cindy focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Shawn Pyfrom for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Ali Zarabi as AH counter. The word of the day was "Pastiche". Steve Lukacena did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Kim Schwartz efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Susan Lane wrapped up the meeting with her evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

Division A International Speech and Table Topics Contests is on Saturday, 10:00 AM, April 29 at Lincolnton Senior Citizens Center.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Shawn Pyfrom for best speech, Ali Zarabi for best table topic and Susan Lane for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday April 18, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmaster

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 11 attendees for a great meeting!

Steve Lukacena was the Toastmaster of the day.

We had a guest today: Susan Duncan.

Ali Zarabi had a great joke for us today.

We had a two great speeches from Harry Paly and Susan Lane. Harry's speech title was "Ready, set GO!". We can count on two things in life one being taxes the other death. Harry brought to our attention that we all should be ready for the eventual passing by having a will. A will gives the person the ability to give their stuff to whom ever they want. A will also keeps the state and the courts out of deciding who gets what. Of course, if the state gets involved they will take as much as possible. So Ready, Set your will, then you can go in peace. Susan's speech title was "There is more than one way to fight a war". Is the civil war over? If you ask a person north of the Mason-Dixon line, they would say yes. If you ask anyone who was born and grew up in the south, they will probably say "The war of the Northern aggression" is still very much going on. The southern culture and family history is passed on from one generation to next generation. So the war is not over, it is being fought in different ways.

Glenda Fuhrmann was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant (Brian Vasilik, John Locke, Ed McGowan, Susan Duncan, Ali Zarabi, and Shawn Pyfrom) shared childhood experiences. The questions were: What was your favorite secret hiding place as a child? What was your favorite bug as a child?, What game meant spring time to you?, What was your favorite spring or summer outfit?, What flowers reminded you of spring as a child? Share a spring time childhood experience. Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Ed McGowan and John Locke did a great job in evaluating the speakers . Ed and john not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speakers some useful ideas to grow on. Randy Johnston did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Randy focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Brian Vasilik for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Ed McGowan as AH counter. The word of the day was "Extrovert". Darrell Brooks did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Susan Duncan efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Shawn Pyfrom wrapped up the meeting with his evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

Division A International Speech and Table Topics Contests is on Saturday, 10:00 AM, April 29 at Lincolnton Senior Citizens Center.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Susan Lane for best speech, Ed McGowan for best table topic and Shawn Pyfrom for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday April 11, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 10 attendees for a great meeting!

Shawn Pyfrom was the Toastmaster of the day.

Harry Paly had a great joke for us today.

We had a great speech from Ali Zarabi. Ali's speech title was "Expectations". How do people get disappointed; their expectations are not met. In life we all have certain expectations. If the expectations are set to high we will fail to meet them all the time and if they are set to low, we will pass them with no challenge. And that is the key. We all have to set our expectations low enough that they are attainable and high enough that they are a challenge to met them.

Cindy Jordan was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant (Maria Harwood, Glenda Fuhrmann, Steve Lukacena, Linda Brandt, Brian Vasilik, Harry Paly, Ali Zarabi, Shawn Pyfrom) had to explain where commonly used sayings came from. The says were --> The writing is on the wall. Early bird gets the worm. Wet behind the ears. Hanky Panky. Laid out in lavender. One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. A lapped can not change its spots. Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Ed McGowan did a great job in evaluating the speaker. Ed not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Maria Harwood did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Maria focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Linda Brandt for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Glenda Fuhrmann as AH counter. The word of the day was " Thwart". Maria Harwood did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Brian Vasilik efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Steve Lukacena wrapped up the meeting with his evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

AREA 12/13 Speech Contest RESULTS

International Speech
1st Place - Mike Thomas - Blue Ridge Toastmasters
2nd Place - Linda Brandt - Land of Sky Toastmasters

Table Topics
1st Place - Chuck Greene - Asheville Toastmasters
2nd Place - Rick Fornoff - Blue Ridge Toastmasters

Congratulations to Linda Brandt for 2nd Place in the International Speech Contest. Ali Zarabi was 3rd place in the Table Topics Contest.

Division A International Speech and Table Topics Contests is on Saturday, 10:00 AM, April 29 at Lincolnton Senior Citizens Center.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Ali Zarabi for best speech, Steve Lukacena for best table topic and Ed McGowan for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday April 4, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 11 attendees for a great meeting!

Shawn Pyfrom was the Toastmaster of the day. Thanks Shawn for stepping in at the last minute.

Harry Paly had a great joke for us today.

We had three great speechs from Cindy Jordan, Ali Zarabi and Steve Lukacena. Cindy spoke out of the successful club series on mentoring. Our Club has a mentor program were a experienced Toastmaster is placed with a new member to help them along the way. Cindy showed us the qualities that a mentor and mentee have and how the program works. Ali spoke about the black hole of credit cards. How easy it is to get high credit debt and some ways to get out from under. Steve spoke about selling and buying homes. How he has to listen to the people and their needs to be able to match them to their new homes.

Ed McGowan, Kim Schwartz and Susan Lane did a great job in evaluating the speakers. Ed, Kim and Susan not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on.

Due to the lengthy speeches and the speakers going over their time limit, Table Topics was skipped to move the meeting along.

Thanks also to Harry Paly for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Shawn Pyfrom as AH counter. The word of the day was "Lucid". Kim Schwartz did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Cindy Jordan efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Maria Harwood wrapped up the meeting with her evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

The combined Area 12 and Area 13 International Speech and Table Topics Contest will be held on April 8, 2006 at the Marriott Courtyard on Tunnel Road in Asheville from 9 - 11:30 a.m. Contestants and judges should be present by 8:45 a.m.

Congratulations to Cindy Jordan for achieving her Competent Leader Award.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Ali Zarabi for best speech and Ed McGowan, Kim Schwartz and Maria Harwood for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday March 28, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 15 attendees for a great meeting!

Ed McGowan was the Toastmaster of the day. Ed did a great job.

John Locke had a great joke for us today.

We had two great speechs from Kim Schwartz and Susan Lane. The title of Kim's speech was "How to Make Paper". Kim stepped us through the process from how and where the pulp is made to the roles the paper is fed through for the final product. Susan's speech title was "It is a southernism" Susan explained the deference in southern woman verses north woman. Both know what they want but how they go about getting it is the difference.

Randy Johnston was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant (Ed McGowan, Steve Lukacena, Harry Paly, Glenda Fuhrmann, John Locke and Linda Brandt ) had to answer a verity of questions. From: Tell us about a tropical vacation?, What did you accomplish in one hour?, What differences are there between today's movies and the classics?, What would you do in Wal-Mart for 3 days?, Tell us about an underdog?, To: Tell us about an old friend and what they mean to you? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Shawn Pyfrom and Ali Zarabi did a great job in evaluating the speaker. Shawn and Ali not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Harry Paly did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Harry focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Glenda Fuhrmann for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Brian Vasilik as AH counter. The word of the day was "Discourse". Cindy Jordan did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Steve Lukacena efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Maria Harwood wrapped up the meeting with her evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Ali Zarabi was the Listener today. Ali Asked some questions to see if people were listening.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

NOTE: Inclement weather- if all of Buncombe County schools are closed or Roberson District is closed, the meeting is canceled.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Kim Schwartz for best speech, John Locke for best table topic and Ali Zarabi for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday, March 21, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 13 attendees for a great meeting!

Cindy Jordan was the Toastmaster of the day. Cindy did a great job.

Darrell Brooks had a great joke for us today.

We had a great speech from Linda Brandt. Linda practiced her speech for the up coming Area Contest. The speech title was "The Secret of Great Wealth". There were several lessons to become wealthy: 1. Part of everything you earn, You can keep. 2. Invest your money with competent people who know what they are doing. and 3. You want your money to work for you. Linda worked the three lessons into a great story.

Maria Harwood was the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant (Ed McGowan, Brian Vasilik, Kim Schwartz, Ali Zarabi, Harry Paly and Shawn Pyfrom) had to answer a verity of questions. From: When have you proved your critics wrong?, What teacher inspired you the most?, What is your favorite place to think?, What would you record using a camera?, How would your life be different if you did not have to sleep?, To: Most important document you had to sign? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Brian Vasilik did a great job in evaluating the speaker. Brian not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Ed McGowan did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Ed focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Susan Lane for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Donna Rambin as AH counter. The word of the day was "Abra Cadbra". Glenda Fuhrmann did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Kim Schwartz efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Harry Paly wrapped up the meeting with his evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language? Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please come in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.

NOTE: Inclement weather- if all of Buncombe County schools are closed or Roberson District is closed, the meeting is canceled.

Again it was a great meeting and congratulations to Linda Brandt for best speech, Shawn Pyfrom for best table topic and Susan Lane for best evaluation.

See you all next week.

Regards,

Ali

Tuesday February 28, 2006 By: Ali Zarabi, President Land of Sky Toastmasters

Greeting and Salutations Fellow Toastmasters,

Thanks to all 14 attendees for a great meeting!

Harry Paly was the Toastmaster of the day. Harry did a great job.

Harry Paly had a great joke for us today.

Donna Rambin was inducted into Land of Sky. Congratulations Donna.

We had two great speeches from Glenda Fuhrmann and Kim Schwartz. Glenda did the Ice Breaker Speech. Glenda spoke about her childhood in Texas. Glenda's father taught her how to drive a car on the family farm. Glenda had to drive through a stream of water to get up on the road. To this day Glenda uses that philosophy to get through life; do not slow down, gear down and step on the gas. Kim speech was on the United States dependence on foreign oil. To reduce the America's dependence new technology and alternative recourses must be found. Also Kim research on this topic showed how a commodity such as oil can and does impact American foreign policies.

Susan Lanewas the Table Topics Master. Each of the participant ( Maria Harwood, Linda Brandt, Cindy Jordan, Steve Lukacena and Shawn Pyfrom ) had to answer a verity of questions. From: Why do Leprechauns shower with their shoes on?, Why do Hippo's like Clark bars and Lions like Charleston Chews?, Your secret dream is to join the circus, What is you act and how are you preparing for it?, The family dog was very upset and gave you a lecture, What was the lecture about?, What type of dancing do Jerafs like? Each participant did a marvelous job answering the question creatively.

Brian Vasilik and Ali Zarabi did a great job in evaluating the speakers. Brian and Ali not only brought out the highlights of the speech but also gave the speaker some useful ideas to grow on. Cindy Jordan did a wonderful job on evaluating the Table Topics. Table Topics are mini speeches, a way to practice presentation skills. Thus Cindy focused on the presentation and not the content of each response and gave each person some good pointers. Also a point was made that the people chosen to answer the Table Topics questions should be people with no or minor meeting roles.

Thanks also to Steve Lukacena for keeping us on our toes as Grammarian and Darrell Brooks as AH counter. The word of the day was "Monger". Linda Brandt did a marvelous job timing the speeches. Donna Rabin efficiently and flawlessly counted the votes. Ed McGowan wrapped up the meeting with his evaluation. A good point was made that the General Evaluator's job is to report on the evaluators. Did each evaluator have a mini speech; beginning, middle and end. How was there eye contact and body language. Did they give the people being evaluated some good information to help them grow as speakers.

Please help the Arden(t) club with your attendance. They meet at the YMCA at Biltmore Park Monday's and 6:00PM.

One of our club goals is to start promptly at 7:00AM Tuesday mornings. Please came in 5 to 10 minutes before hand to help the Toastmaster of the day finalize the roles for the day.