This particular Saturday will long be remembered by me for the wonderful lessons taught and learned early today. I feel the 1970 song, Come Saturday Morning by the Sandpipers, fits the bill most accurately.

A group of my friends from Twin Oaks Toastmasters met for our club's first Speech Marathon. About thirteen people attended for several hours of fun starting at 10:00 AM this morning. We listened to five different types of speeches by members at various levels of skill. Each speaker did a good job at fulfilling the speech objectives for their particular project.

As a CTM, I gave my first ATM-level speech out of the, "Technical Presentations" manual. In my speech I explained the reasons (in my humble opinion) why our club is recognized for the top club award the Toastmasters International organization offers, Presidents Distinguished Club. We have a solid group of ever-growing membership and we unselfishly support each other to bring out the best in each of us. I created a PowerPoint presentation, Delivering Tangible Results, to substantiate my analysis and views of why the future looks very bright for our club.

Today was also the first time I worked with another club member on a project that we then presented together before the entire audience. Lela and I flowed the knowledge we researched using a PowerPoint presentation, Gestures and Body Movements and then involved the entire audience with interactive exercises. We had the participants role play impromptu speeches with and without the use of gestures or body motions. Then we had a body movement session whereby everyone walked randomly in-between and around each other as we spoke and gestured as we encountered an individual. It was a lot of fun and at times we were laughing at the entire situation. I believe we all recognized tangible results in that session and I wouldn't be surprised to see all participating members be more expressive in their future speeches as a result of the session. Thanks, Lela. :-)

There is something magical about our Toastmasters club. We take in nervous and shy novices and turn them out a couple years later as confident speakers and leaders. I think the essential factor is because each member cares about the personal development of the other. It's almost as if we were family.

I think our club will hold another Speech Marathon again this year. I look forward to that special Saturday morning next time it's scheduled. I don't think the effect I feel right now from today's experiences will diminish by then.

Don