Meeting Recap

As meeting host, I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried beforehand. What if there were technical issues? What if functionaries didn’t show up? What if, what if, what if…I had so many concerns, but I should’ve known better. StoryMasters know how to roll!

Our Toastmaster of the day, Catherine Magruder, orchestrated a perfect and charming tone throughout our story time. If you have attended our meetings, you know that our meetings have no theme, but somehow I felt some kind of thread that day. Lessons! Did anybody feel that? Antoinette Byron’s “Weapons of Mass Influence, to Be or Not to Be” taught us how Influencers’ bells and whistles affect our lives. Jacki William-Jones allowed us to peek at the beginning of her wonderful teaching journey in “Being a French Teacher.” Mallery McMurtrey shared her vision for the Youth Leadership Program titled “Telling The Story of You” for her High Performance Leadership. Our guest speaker, Dannette Montague, who is aiming for her second Distinguished Toastmaster title, shared a hilarious cooking lesson with a surprise twist titled, “Secret Sauce.” Yours truly’s personal story, “New Kid in School,” taught us about the history of discrimination in Japan through her unique experience.

One of the things I love about StoryMasters is that everybody is always on top of their game. Anna Ziss-Patton conducted the invaluable evaluation segment with our starring evaluators Mark Walsh, Kathy Falco, Tina Tomiyama, Judith Ferber, and Margaret Mitchell. Because the Timer is such a crucial role for virtual meetings, Lin Van Gelder took extra miles to fulfill her role, juggling multiple devices and virtual backgrounds. So did our WordMaster Aprille Isham. The word of the day, “Fishy,” was swimming through the entire meeting.