Rapport
A Quarterly Newsletter of Burien Breakfast Toastmasters
March 2001

What is Rapport?
Rapport \ ră-pôr\, n. From rapporter, to bring back. Relationship, especially one of mutual trust or emotional affinity, which permits influence or communication.

I was thinking the other day of all the wonderful people I’ve met in the past year and a half at our Thursday morning meetings, and how many more people must have attended meetings at one time or another over the past 36 years. That’s when I decided that we needed a newsletter. Something to help us keep in touch with members who no longer attend, and guests who might want to come back again some day. And another way to develop even more rapport among the regulars.

I’ll look forward to hearing your ideas and hope you enjoy our new newsletter! 

Karina Miller
Publisher & Editor

Visit our new website at:

www.geocities.com/jasker33

Meetings
Meetings are every Thursday morning from 7 – 8:15 a.m. at the Highline School District ERAC Building, 15675 Ambaum Blvd SW, Burien, WA.

Call Karina Miller at 206-909-9403 for more information.  

Officers
Karina Miller, Acting President
Elizabeth Daniels-Gray, Vice President Education
Paul Hewett, Vice President Membership
Karina Miller, Vice President Public Relations
Kathleen Appleyard, Secretary
Mildred Gartin, Sargeant-at-Arms
Gil Duffy, Treasurer
Tom Gray, Immediate Past President

The Big Freeze
by Tom Gray

One of the greatest fears in public speaking is what I have coined The Big Freeze. This is when your mind goes blank while in front of an audience, and you don't remember what to say. We consequently, are then so badly embarrassed that we never want to be seen in public again — let alone speak. This fear can become so strong that we actually then create what we fear the most. Famous author and speaker John Gray (Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus), no relation to me, actually took this fear one step further in his first speaking experience. He said that he passed out! Yet today he thrives in the public speaking arena.

The Big Freeze actually seems to occur most often with the overly prepared speaker. It is when we have practically memorized our speech word for word. This kind of preparation can be dangerous and allows little room to ad-lib. If we get off track or forget what comes next, we panic, become fearful, lost and frustrated which makes the situation worse. ( I know - I have been there.) The problem is, we have no contingency plan or don't know how to ad-lib or improvise our way back on track. So there we are, feeling completely exposed in front of the audience! This terrible feeling can be avoided.

It is best to be thoroughly prepared by knowing the material. Most important is to practice, repeatedly. Give the speech using a brief outline, or notes that highlight the main points. Refer to them when needed instead 
of memorizing word for word. It is important to know that we humans think in images rather than words. Therefore, it is better to "picture memorize " the speech in a logical sequence, much like movies are put together. Once visualized, share the speech by describing in sequence of memorized images. In addition, get comfortable with pausing. Realize it is OK to pause, to look at notes or to gather thoughts. This makes it easier to relax and 
enjoy being in the limelight. 

I will stress again, silence and pausing in a presentation is OK. In fact it is desirable! Most speakers do not pause enough or use silence as effectively as they could. Pauses that seem interminable to the new speaker 
actually look natural and conversational to the audience. We do not necessarily pause because we forgot what to say. Believe it or not, the reason we pause may be because we have so many things to say. The pause allows the mouth to catch up with the mind — a way to "sync" everything up so to speak. The pause is an opportunity to sort through the information and decide what to say next. It also allows the audience time to visualize the speaker's movie of the mind without a freeze frame!

The Inside Corner
by Ron Peltola

I used to daydream that if I ever had a newsletter column, I would call it The Inside Corner. So, when Karina Miller asked me to be a featured columnist in our new club newsletter, my daydream came true. But don’t get excited. I’m not always good in my daydreams.

I call it The Inside Corner for three reasons. First, it has a baseball ring to it. Second, I plan on sharing things I’ve observed, heard, and learned “inside” Burien Breakfast Toastmasters. And third, I want to promote good attendance. The column may contain a few “inside” jokes that you may not get if you have missed a meeting. For example, a few weeks ago I learned, don’t play cards with Karina.

Hey, thanks to Mike Deleon, I think we now know everything there is to know about groundhogs. We just need to sculpture one out of dryer lint. Elizabeth Daniels-Gray finally gave her speech on procrastination. We all agreed it was her best speech ever, and husband Tom got it on the video camera. 

Megan Fairweather took us cross country skiing with her favorite men.  Megan also took us into the world of shelters for single, homeless women. Paul Hewett took us down hill skiing in Montana for the family reunion. Paul also took us into the world of new OSHA regulations. Jim Ghiglione took us inside our brains. Tina Sorenson took us into the future world of retirement life. Mike and Peggy Deleon graciously took us into their home for our Christmas party (no groundhogs or dryer lint were spotted). Ron Perry took us into the history of toasts. Gil Duffy took us into the history of toastmasters in our club. Kathleen Appleyard took us into the art of small talk. Twice.  Flo Boynton took us to the beginning of the Silent Night Christmas carol. Mildred Gartin showed us how to spot leadership qualities in handwriting. Karina Miller took us on the ups and downs of the employment world.  Tom Gray challenged us to connect with our audience one by one. And with our eyes. Ron Peltola shared the truth about Martha Washington.
 
Was that Mildred Gartin the first person I saw as I walked into our meeting room the morning we had snowflakes falling? Mildred always vowed that she would not be able to attend when it was snowing, and not to schedule her as Toastmaster in the winter. Next thing you know, Mildred will be wearing snake belts.

Congratulations to Flo Boynton on her new job. Shucks though, it caused a conflict with our meeting time. We will miss you, Flo. And just when you started to loosen up with your jokes. As I write, pitchers and catchers have reported for spring training. Kathleen Appleyard would be disappointed if I didn’t mention some baseball. Just consider it small talk.

Congratulations to us. We have two new members. Tina Sorenson and Cynthia Kupper. Both are from planet Earth. And in the next newsletter, I’ll try to write something down to earth and not just ramble. You’d think I was giving a speech here.

What I enjoy most about Burien Breakfast Toastmasters is the fun we have together. But it was a shame that Tom forgot to load the film. 

Coming Events

This coming April, we again plan on having a meeting revolving around poetry. April is national poetry month. Last year after I gave the minutes from our poetry meeting, some of you requested copies of the minutes. So, here they are. How’s that for procrastinating. Oh, Elizabeth thinks I should wait another year.

The room was set, we began on time,
Jeannie led us in a little rime.
Our brand new flag was displayed by Gil,
Our allegiance pledge, We now proudly will.
Our host was Mike, we’re glad he’s back,
He has a wealth of little known facts.
Flagrant, flagrant we mus ent be,
Elizabeth listened, and assessed our fee.
Poetry here, poetry there,
Karina made poetry our topic fare.
Kathleen shared her mother’s poem,
It held sad news, we hadn’t known.
A gifted poet, her mom indeed,
And the tragic tone was felt by we.
Ron ran on, on Wordsworth’s life,
Flagrant “and ums” spewed more than twice (13 didn’t rhythm)
The highlight though in all I saw,
was Tom’s fresh pears from Yakimaw.

Ron Peltola

Words We’ve Learned

(and now use)

Cerise
A light, clear red color.

Esoteric
Knowledge that is restricted to a small group.

Spartan
Strict discipline, simplicity, avoidance of luxury or
comfort.

Anniversary
The annual recurrence of a date, marking a notable event.

Eclectic
Composed of elements drawn from various sources.

Hyperbole
Extravagant exaggeration.
   
Tony
Elegant, trendy, swank. (also a cereal box tiger).

Rapport

Burien Breakfast Toastmasters
4212 NE 17th Street
Renton, WA  98059

www.geocities.com/jasker33