The never ending demands and commitment to successfully managing a project can leave many project mangers feeling more like a “project mother”. With Mother’s Day approaching, the significance of mothers was the resounding thought of the PMI Toastmasters group bi-weekly meeting held on May 9th at Nancy G’s Cafe in Sandy Springs. Traffic must have been ideal across the city as many members arrived early and ordered dinner before the meeting started promptly at 6:30 pm. The Sergeant of Arms, Dean Gudlauski led the Pledge of Allegiance followed by the reciting of the Toastmasters creed. First-time Toastmaster of the Day (TMOD), Issaiah Banks kicked off the meeting with a lot of energy introducing the fitting theme, “Mother Jewel of the Family”.
The Joke Master, Chris Coussens took a stab at lightening the mood with a “Zombie Apocalypse” joke alluding to the inability of satisfying demanding stakeholders. However, it was challenging for the audience to find humor in this disturbing reality! During the introduction of the Evaluation Team, Dean captured the audience’s attention with a new traffic light timer to assist speakers in tracking their speech time. With the fancy new timer in place it was time to hear two dynamic speakers!
Sam Abdelaziz delivered a thought provoking 2nd speech titled, “The Constitution and the Other Stories”. His speech was centered on gun control - examining individual rights, the meaning of the constitution and the validity of changes to laws. The main arguments challenged how effective gun laws were given the inability to ensure nationwide background checks and the prevention of illegal purchases. The audience was left to ponder whether new gun laws protected the innocent or enabled crime for criminals.
Seasoned toastmaster, Shannon Kraiger delivered her 9th speech titled, “Boundaries”. The audience was curious to learn new techniques to establish emotional, physical and spiritual boundaries to foster improved professional and personal relationships. Her speech provided definitions and myths of boundaries encouraging the audience to revaluate their interpretation of intangible boundaries. Lastly, actionable steps were provided to implement boundaries in the workplace and home from a positive stance. The audience was given solid guidance on how to handle mounting work demands by evaluating task and establishing priorities. Shannon concluded the speech with several nuggets that explained that boundaries did not have to be confrontational and would promote self control and overall happiness.
Dean livened up the atmosphere with the Table Topics portion of the meeting based on a Dear Abby advice column theme. The audience chose from catchy column topics including “Clueless in Cobb” and “Hot Rub in the City” and “Getting Patient in Pillsbury”! Wendy Davidson, Valerie Merced, and Laura Davidson were a few of the brave hearts that provided impromptu advice on everything from dealing with an obnoxious co-worker to showing gratitude to an uncomplicated mother.
The meeting ran smoothly with an effective TMOD, active audience and well planned agenda. The evaluators provided positive and constructive feedback to build confidence and encourage development for each speaker. With over five visitors attending the meeting, it was awesome to demonstrate the significance of practice and evaluation to support growth in leadership and communication skills. Only one speaker met the allotted timeframe, wining the best speaker award by default. Votes were casted for other categories with a best table topics and evaluator awarded.
The next meeting will be held on May 23rd from 6:30-8pm at Nancy G’s Café on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs. Elections for the upcoming 2012-2013 term will take place at this meeting. There are officer positions available for next year’s term. The current officers have done an astounding job growing the club since its inception over a year ago. Actively participating on the Toastmasters board is one of the best ways to develop as a competent leader and communicator. There are opportunities to co-lead a few roles and there are always opportunities to support a position as a committee member. Actively engaging and leading in Toastmaster’s is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate and develop leadership and communication skills, so don’t wait to get involved! The time is now!