Meeting Minutes – 05.20.2021

Another successful Silicon Speech meeting has commenced. President Alex had some business to attend to, so he was out for the night. Our fearless leader Steve was on a much needed R&R break. After placing second in the Toastmasters International Contest. Steve deserves some cocktails on the beach. Cheers!

Yours truly, opened the meeting by welcoming our honored guests Tony and Ali. Ali heard about us through Steve. Tony googled us and here he was. If you reach out, we will reach back. Welcome!

The Joke Master was Karan. Let’s just say, sometimes our prayers don’t get answered. That’s if you’re talking to a wall.

Jed gave us a thought as our Thought of the Day. “Facts are meaningless until you create a story around them”– The Power of Story by Jim Loehr.

Li was our Toastmaster. Leading us to a successful meeting.

Ah Counter was Hema. Talk about meticulous counting.

Timer was Sharlene. Sharlene lit up the room with her street light show.

Grammarian was myself. I chose the word of the day, “Stupendous”. It means, awesome, marvelous, amazing and everything glorious under the sun.

First speaker was Andy. Andy provided us with a riveting speech about his past experience as a door to door salesman that led him to get out of his comfort zone. Selling to absolute strangers is one thing, but to do it and get multiple rejections? Talk about challenges. Lucky for Andy, he had mentors who helped him blossom into a successful project manager today. Not only did he learn some people skills, he excelled at it. Stupendous speech, Andy!

Second speaker was Lou. Lou is completing his pathways level 4 speech tilted, “Public Relations and You!” Lou enlightened us on how google can be your best salesman, that’s not including Andy. “Content is King, but consistency is Queen”. In the game of chess, hierarchy matters. The Steve and Lou show sounds like a great pitch for a sitcom. I’d subscribe! Sadly, this was the early stages of Silicon Speech. Thanks to Lou and Steve’s persistence, Silicon Speech is the thriving club you see today. Not only are we blessed with two exceptional leaders, we are blessed with amazing members and guests.

Lou gave our eyes the gift of slides. Each slide looked and felt inviting. Who knew all the hard work behind scenes? These minutes don’t write themselves! Luckily we always have a great time. Making these meeting minutes easy to write. Thank you Lou for sharing your time and skills to make Silicon Speech the polished gem we see today.

Lauren evaluated Andy. Lauren loved hearing the personal journey of Andy’s life as a salesman and his personal growth over time. Thanks, Lauren!

Armando evaluated Lou. Armando mentioned how Lou’s slides looked like he put a lot of effort into them. He did, and it shows. Thanks Armando!

Blake was Table Topics Speaker. Blake chose the theme “Money”.

Karan thinks money and success are one in the same. One would view money differently if they came upon it versus working hard for it. Money is success, if you work for it.

Tony would choose experiences over material things. Good choice.

Did Shar talk about money in her family growing up? Shar gave us the best example of creativity and persistence when all the chips are stacked against you. Talk about life changing advice. I wished everyone could hear it.

Maryam would give her money to children’s charities if she came upon a large sum of it.

Hema talked about the difference between greed and ambition. It’s a conversation she’s had with her teenage daughter. Ambition means you don’t ignore or acknowledge the people around you, but greed does. Love it!

That wraps up our meeting. Special thanks to our honored guests Ali and Tony. Big round of applause to our fearless leader Steve on placing second in the Toastmasters International Contest. Sharlene’s first time timer role was on point and time! Awesome job, Sharlene!

Big thank you to Lou and Steve and all their efforts to push Silicon Speech into SEO gold. All your hard work has paid off. We all reap the benefits when all of you lovely people pop in and participate. The last time I checked, a club consists of more than two members. Let’s keep this good thing rolling!