So last week was Trick-or-Treat ToastMasters – meaning no one gave speeches. We spent the entire hour on Table Topics! Everyone submitted a few questions and then we were called on at random to pull whichever question came out of the metaphorical hat.
One of which was to speak on anything at all, without using the word ‘the.’
O_o
It was, thankfully, not mine, and the person who answered handled it with much more grace and humor than I would have. I’m still deciding how I feel about the question itself. I get that it’s more ‘trick’ than ‘treat’ and that it fit in with the theme of the stray outside the norm… but I also feel like it’s outside the spirit of ToastMasters in general. I don’t like setting people up to fail like that, and I don’t think it’s funny. We’re supposed to be adult professionals helping and encouraging each other, and that felt more like a child’s betting their friend they couldn’t do a bajillion chin ups – complete with fingers in the ears and tongue hanging out… if that makes sense lol. Maybe it’s just cause I’m still new-ish and nervous about being up in front at all, let alone handed a seemingly impossible task rather than asked a simple question… I dunno.
How would you have felt if it had been you called upon to answer that ‘question’?
The questions I WAS called on for were:
“What is your favorite place in the world and why?” and “If you could choose any sports figure to be on Bob’s* Fantasy Football team, who would it be and why?”
Both of which are fairly easy questions to answer. Even if I knew relatively nothing about sports, I could have picked any name at all and explained that it was only because it was the only name I knew. (I went with Shaq, by the way, because after watching Shaq Vs it’s become fairly obvious to me that the world needs more Shaq.) And it’s easy to talk about something you love when you are given a very specific question and asked to explain your answer. I could have talked about the tree near (whatusedtobe) the fountain at Baylor all day. I love that tree. I love a bajillion things about it for a bajillion different reasons. Easy peasy.
We are also in the middle of a race for a new chapter president, so there was a mini-debate. I’ll spare you all the details and just tell you that the result is that I have ganked the name of my band from our ToastMaster o’ the Day’s remarks following it.
Republican Fabulous will be famous someday…and you’ll all be able to say you knew me when it was just a dream I ganked from someone wittier than me… :-p
I volunteered to be the WAG for our next meeting. (Wordoftheday, “Ah-counter” and Grammarian) Baby steps up to the speech, people, baby steps. I know I mentioned on FaceBook that I settled on a topic for my first speech, but I still have to write and practice the thing lol.
Everyone keeps asking how I’m enjoying the meetings, and it makes me laugh. It’s almost embarrassing how much I am enjoying this whole ToastMasters thing. Do I admit (to more than I already have) that I’m blogging about it? What about the fact that I have lost sleep because I can’t stop thinking about how I would have answered this or that Table Topic question, or speech topics or speech openings or… I’m like an overgrown child with a shiny new toy, really. It’s a bright, shiny, happy spot in the middle of my week – each week. And it’s making me a better person, better professional and better speaker all at the same time – what’s not to like?!?
I’m hoping I can start on writing my speech after this weekend…and then start calling my friends to make them listen to it and time me before I sign up to give it for reals lol. Soon tho. I can’t hide in the shadows answering Table Topics forever…
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Fantasy Football and a Reprieve!
Yesterday's theme was "Fantasy Football." You would think, being that it is October, in TEXAS - home of the Dallas Cowboys, Houston Texans, and Friday Night Lights - as well as our being located in Austin - home of the UT Longhorns; a lot of people would have had something to say about Fantasy Football...
...but you would be wrong, lol.
Never have I been more aware of the fact that I work in a 'geek' field. I'm fairly sure that *I* knew more about fantasy football than 90% of the rest of my club. And again, I was one of few people not called on, which amused me to no end.
However, I think the lack of knowledge about the theme actually made Table Topics more interesting, more thought provoking, and gave greater insight into my colleagues than one would have expected.
For Table Topics, if this hasn't been explained yet, a question related to the theme is asked, and a person is called upon, at random, to answer it... for one to two minutes. Filling one to two minutes with the answer to one question is much harder than it sounds... Table Topics is, if we're being honest, the reason I joined Toastmasters. I SUCK at small talk. I can answer questions, but concisely. I've never really learned how to fill in the spaces in a conversation or how to think on my feet to give thoughtful responses. Table Topics is my favorite part of ToastMasters...
For example, one of the questions asked was what nickname we would like to give a current player, and why. My answer?
Methuselah. Which I would give to Brett Farve. Because he Just. Won't. DIE. Already.
How long did it take you read that? 15 seconds? Twenty?
With that brief answer I assume that my audience knows the joke there. I assume that they too are tired of the retirement/unretirement shenanigans assaulting sports news broadcasts every August for the last three years. I don't say that these shenanigans irritate me more than the average sports fan, because I am rather of the opinion that the sports news broadcasts could put that time to better use, for example, by covering what the UNC Freshmen are doing their first few weeks on campus. I don't clarify that by saying that I might be a tad bit biased given my fanatical leanings regarding UNC's basketball program, or that, by the way, UNC is the University of North Carolina, the home of the Greatest Basketball Player Ever, the Tar Heels, and the reason one of my wedding colors was baby blue.
TYPING that paragraph took me four minutes. Table Topics will teach me to think more quickly and thoroughly. It will help me in future interviews as well as random conversations with the smokers I tend to shy away from unless they prod me into painfully stilted conversations to fill up the empty conversational space between us.
Anyhow - by being asked questions about a subject they didn't know as well, my fellow ToastMasters were forced to think even harder about their answers. I learned alot about the people I work with, things that surprised me, things that made my day a little brighter.
Our Toastmaster meetings are filled with laughter, which, honestly, everyone could use a little bit of at noon on a Wednesday.
Our first speech this week was an Ice Breaker. (4 -6 minutes about yourself; every person's first speech) It was given by a lady who reminds me of my little sister. I've spoken with her a few times, here and there. She is outgoing and happy and personable. Her speech was entitled "How Karaoke Changed My Life."
I KNOW!
To be honest, I had a moment of bitterness. Even though I had already decided I was not going to give my speech on karaoke, or how I met my husband - I felt envious when someone else stood in front of us all and told her story, which is eerily similar to my own. She, too, met her fiancée at karaoke. *I* could have given that speech, and I was bitter that she beat me to it - which is ridiculous.
To be fair, it was only a moment of envy and bitterness. And, in a lot of ways, it has helped me settle on what I want to use as fodder for my own Ice Breaker. She also did an amazing job, which helped - since I couldn't, and cannot, rightly claim I would have given it better lol. If you're going to be upstaged, it's nice to have it done well lol.
While the speeches were being given, despite my best attempts to be a good listener - I found myself drifting occasionally. I found myself thinking about my own speech... and the three people who had seen me before the meeting and asked when I'd be giving it lol. I found myself using their speeches to settle in to an idea for my own. By the end of the meeting, when normally a piece of paper is passed around for people to sign up on - I was ready to sign up and devote myself to a furious week of speech writing and practicing and annoying my friends with phone calls to practice...
...only to find out that we aren't doing speeches next week. We are (GASP!) devoting the entirety of next week's meeting to Table Topics! (/queue Squish Happy Dance)
Which, I have decided, is a good thing. I should probably write the damn speech before I sign up to give it anyway - so that there's less pressure on me lol...
...but you would be wrong, lol.
Never have I been more aware of the fact that I work in a 'geek' field. I'm fairly sure that *I* knew more about fantasy football than 90% of the rest of my club. And again, I was one of few people not called on, which amused me to no end.
However, I think the lack of knowledge about the theme actually made Table Topics more interesting, more thought provoking, and gave greater insight into my colleagues than one would have expected.
For Table Topics, if this hasn't been explained yet, a question related to the theme is asked, and a person is called upon, at random, to answer it... for one to two minutes. Filling one to two minutes with the answer to one question is much harder than it sounds... Table Topics is, if we're being honest, the reason I joined Toastmasters. I SUCK at small talk. I can answer questions, but concisely. I've never really learned how to fill in the spaces in a conversation or how to think on my feet to give thoughtful responses. Table Topics is my favorite part of ToastMasters...
For example, one of the questions asked was what nickname we would like to give a current player, and why. My answer?
Methuselah. Which I would give to Brett Farve. Because he Just. Won't. DIE. Already.
How long did it take you read that? 15 seconds? Twenty?
With that brief answer I assume that my audience knows the joke there. I assume that they too are tired of the retirement/unretirement shenanigans assaulting sports news broadcasts every August for the last three years. I don't say that these shenanigans irritate me more than the average sports fan, because I am rather of the opinion that the sports news broadcasts could put that time to better use, for example, by covering what the UNC Freshmen are doing their first few weeks on campus. I don't clarify that by saying that I might be a tad bit biased given my fanatical leanings regarding UNC's basketball program, or that, by the way, UNC is the University of North Carolina, the home of the Greatest Basketball Player Ever, the Tar Heels, and the reason one of my wedding colors was baby blue.
TYPING that paragraph took me four minutes. Table Topics will teach me to think more quickly and thoroughly. It will help me in future interviews as well as random conversations with the smokers I tend to shy away from unless they prod me into painfully stilted conversations to fill up the empty conversational space between us.
Anyhow - by being asked questions about a subject they didn't know as well, my fellow ToastMasters were forced to think even harder about their answers. I learned alot about the people I work with, things that surprised me, things that made my day a little brighter.
Our Toastmaster meetings are filled with laughter, which, honestly, everyone could use a little bit of at noon on a Wednesday.
Our first speech this week was an Ice Breaker. (4 -6 minutes about yourself; every person's first speech) It was given by a lady who reminds me of my little sister. I've spoken with her a few times, here and there. She is outgoing and happy and personable. Her speech was entitled "How Karaoke Changed My Life."
I KNOW!
To be honest, I had a moment of bitterness. Even though I had already decided I was not going to give my speech on karaoke, or how I met my husband - I felt envious when someone else stood in front of us all and told her story, which is eerily similar to my own. She, too, met her fiancée at karaoke. *I* could have given that speech, and I was bitter that she beat me to it - which is ridiculous.
To be fair, it was only a moment of envy and bitterness. And, in a lot of ways, it has helped me settle on what I want to use as fodder for my own Ice Breaker. She also did an amazing job, which helped - since I couldn't, and cannot, rightly claim I would have given it better lol. If you're going to be upstaged, it's nice to have it done well lol.
While the speeches were being given, despite my best attempts to be a good listener - I found myself drifting occasionally. I found myself thinking about my own speech... and the three people who had seen me before the meeting and asked when I'd be giving it lol. I found myself using their speeches to settle in to an idea for my own. By the end of the meeting, when normally a piece of paper is passed around for people to sign up on - I was ready to sign up and devote myself to a furious week of speech writing and practicing and annoying my friends with phone calls to practice...
...only to find out that we aren't doing speeches next week. We are (GASP!) devoting the entirety of next week's meeting to Table Topics! (/queue Squish Happy Dance)
Which, I have decided, is a good thing. I should probably write the damn speech before I sign up to give it anyway - so that there's less pressure on me lol...
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Social Networking and Thoughts on Breaking Ice
Funnily enough, today’s topic for our Toastmaster meeting was “Social Networking.” Table Topics revolved around the speaker’s feelings on social networking in general, security aspects of social networking, different social networks utilized, social media marketing possibilities for companies, etc… I was one of two people not called on – which amuses me to no end, since I had already started the debate on whether or not to use these Toastmaster meetings as blog fodder.
Today I heard two separate women mention Un-friending and Re-friending their husbands on social networking sites. The etiquette surrounding these Friending shenanigans is rather vague: telling of bad jokes whether done online or in the kitchen, disagreements about bills, hormones, etc. I’m fairly sure that the neglect of cupcake procurement is grounds for Unfriending, which fills me with a wicked delight… only I’m fairly certain my husband wouldn’t really notice. Would he get an email? Would my ‘relationship status’ change? Because otherwise I’m fairly certain this petty, funny little ‘insult’ would completely pass by Irish’s radar. Or maybe not? Sometimes he surprises me with the status updates he catches… /shrug
I have started thinking about my first speech. I’m still waiting on my New Member packet, so I’m not entirely sure how everything works, but I know that at least the first few speeches have a specified purpose or objective, such as speech outline or ‘getting to the point.’ The first speech, Project 1, is your IceBreaker. The handbook (yes, I’m a nerd who found it online so I could start early) says:
This is supposed to be four to six minute speech. I’ve been talking about myself, in written format, for YEARS in social media. In blogs, status updates and comments and tweets... I could wait until the topic of the week I give the speech, and then center the speech around said topic, as it applies to me… but, to be honest, I don’t know that I can put a speech together in a week right now, even one about myself.
I have debated endlessly with myself about what to speak on… I do not want to alienate or pigeonhole myself with this first speech, even though my first thought was to talk on being ChildFree, since I was a little tweaked during last meeting when someone made the comment about everyone wanting children… I do NOT want to talk about being a newlywed. I do NOT want to talk about my work aspirations and I do not want to talk about Why I’m Joining Toastmasters. I do not know that I want to talk about blogging. I don’t know that I can’t NOT be a tad snarky or controversial/confrontational or defensive while talking about myself…
It’s brought back, full force, the whole identity crisis I had successfully shoved in a closet somewhere in the corner of my brain. I don’t go to karaoke anymore. I feel like I have no identity, in a lot of ways. I don’t blog regularly enough to consider myself a blogger anymore. I cannot call myself any sort of health or fitness nut. I do not have one single all encompassing hobby to wax poetically about for four to six minutes. I read some, none of which is safe speech fodder. I social network, but not as competently or prolifically as others I know. I play some video games, but not often or well. I cook, but only when the mood strikes me. I am old, married, and boring – completely with station wagon now. I don’t know what I’m passionate about, and am not nearly as sad about it as it sounds when written out like that lol.
I like my life. I like who I am… I just don’t rightly know how to describe that person. Music maybe? Basketball? Vodka? Being Anal Rententive with a touch of OCD?
Or maybe I’ll just talk about how much I like cupcakes and why they’re, really, the perfect food?
Or about the thousand little ways that I order things throughout my day, without even realizing I'm doing it...
Or why I think dinosaurs are awesome...
Or about how I never finish projects I start...
What would you talk about?
Today I heard two separate women mention Un-friending and Re-friending their husbands on social networking sites. The etiquette surrounding these Friending shenanigans is rather vague: telling of bad jokes whether done online or in the kitchen, disagreements about bills, hormones, etc. I’m fairly sure that the neglect of cupcake procurement is grounds for Unfriending, which fills me with a wicked delight… only I’m fairly certain my husband wouldn’t really notice. Would he get an email? Would my ‘relationship status’ change? Because otherwise I’m fairly certain this petty, funny little ‘insult’ would completely pass by Irish’s radar. Or maybe not? Sometimes he surprises me with the status updates he catches… /shrug
I have started thinking about my first speech. I’m still waiting on my New Member packet, so I’m not entirely sure how everything works, but I know that at least the first few speeches have a specified purpose or objective, such as speech outline or ‘getting to the point.’ The first speech, Project 1, is your IceBreaker. The handbook (yes, I’m a nerd who found it online so I could start early) says:
The best way to begin your speaking experience is to talk about a familiar subject – yourself.
This is supposed to be four to six minute speech. I’ve been talking about myself, in written format, for YEARS in social media. In blogs, status updates and comments and tweets... I could wait until the topic of the week I give the speech, and then center the speech around said topic, as it applies to me… but, to be honest, I don’t know that I can put a speech together in a week right now, even one about myself.
I have debated endlessly with myself about what to speak on… I do not want to alienate or pigeonhole myself with this first speech, even though my first thought was to talk on being ChildFree, since I was a little tweaked during last meeting when someone made the comment about everyone wanting children… I do NOT want to talk about being a newlywed. I do NOT want to talk about my work aspirations and I do not want to talk about Why I’m Joining Toastmasters. I do not know that I want to talk about blogging. I don’t know that I can’t NOT be a tad snarky or controversial/confrontational or defensive while talking about myself…
It’s brought back, full force, the whole identity crisis I had successfully shoved in a closet somewhere in the corner of my brain. I don’t go to karaoke anymore. I feel like I have no identity, in a lot of ways. I don’t blog regularly enough to consider myself a blogger anymore. I cannot call myself any sort of health or fitness nut. I do not have one single all encompassing hobby to wax poetically about for four to six minutes. I read some, none of which is safe speech fodder. I social network, but not as competently or prolifically as others I know. I play some video games, but not often or well. I cook, but only when the mood strikes me. I am old, married, and boring – completely with station wagon now. I don’t know what I’m passionate about, and am not nearly as sad about it as it sounds when written out like that lol.
I like my life. I like who I am… I just don’t rightly know how to describe that person. Music maybe? Basketball? Vodka? Being Anal Rententive with a touch of OCD?
Or maybe I’ll just talk about how much I like cupcakes and why they’re, really, the perfect food?
Or about the thousand little ways that I order things throughout my day, without even realizing I'm doing it...
Or why I think dinosaurs are awesome...
Or about how I never finish projects I start...
What would you talk about?
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