Demonstration Toastmasters meeting held at AMC

Seaway Toastmasters from Cornwall held a demonstration Toastmasters Meeting at the Akwesasne Mohawk Casino on Monday, April 7, 2008. The meeting had been requested by Monica Peters from the Casino and was attended by eleven Toastmasters and guests. Seaway Toastmaster’s is a group of people who get together to learn to become better speakers. There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.

Earle DePass, Past President of Seaway Toastmasters, was the toastmaster for the meeting, which began at 7:00 sharp with Monica Peters, Sergeant at Arms, banging the gavel. A round of introductions was followed by a story from joke master Bonnie Eamon, Past President of Seaway Toastmasters.

This was followed by a Tabletopics Session presented by Tabletopics Master Malcolm Robertson. This session of impromptu speaking gives five people the opportunity to speak “off the cuff” for two minutes to answer a question. Tabletopics is a great exercise in speech development to answer with a two minute mini-speech.

After a break, Toastmaster DePass gave an educational speech on the benefits of Toastmasters which is represented in 90 countries through 10,000 clubs with 250,000 members. Following that Monica Peters went up and gave an Ice Breaker Speech, the first prepared speech in the Toastmasters Manual. Malcolm Robertson gave a speech titled “Isatu” to demonstrate a speech from the advanced manual “Storytelling”.

Both prepared speeches were evaluated by Seaway Toastmasters Adrian McDonald and Bonnie Eamon to demonstrate the supportive nature of the club. The evaluations are constructive in nature and are intended to show what the speaker did right and what could use improvement. Evaluations are never negative and are used to encourage speakers to continue on and finish each manual. Bob Brousseau, Toastmasters Area Governor, provided a general evaluation for the entire meeting and rated the meeting as excellent.

Afterwards the Toastmasters answered questions and offered up reasons why they joined and stayed with Toastmasters. The participants were very enthusiastic and are looking to start a club right here in Akwesasne. A club needs twenty members to charter with Toastmasters International. If you are interested in developing your speaking ability and want to form a club please contact Monica Peters at (613)933-2583 or by email at [email protected].