The Ice Breakers Cometh

As the hot humid weather continues, so do our Ice Breaker Speeches. Our new member, Tom, gave his Ice Breaker speech on July 11^th. His title was “It’s Complicated.” We got to know just about every aspect of Tom’s life from his admitting that he a procrastinator, as he held up a package of Toastmaster material that he was suppose to open a week ago, but just opened that morning, to his vacation in Alabama.

If Tom’s speech was “complicated”, then our next speaker, Greg, had a tongue twister title “Why We Do What We Do, Why Do We Think What We Think?” Greg gives speeches that require thought and reflection. In his speech, he said that we all needed to accept responsibility. Greg contrasted “needs vs. desires.” And, as always, he added humor to a serious, thought provoking topic.

Our new member, Thomas, was the Table Topics Master. He brought in a 20-sided die called an “icosahedron.” I never heard of this word before, maybe it was taught in one of my math classes, but I didn’t pay attention. I am also happy that I am writing this and not trying to pronounce it. Thomas asked for volunteers to come up and roll the die and whatever number the person rolled, he or she, had to talk about why this number was significant.

At our meeting today, July 18^th, we greeted a new guest, Shawn. We had another Ice Breaker Speech, this time from Brittney. The title of her speech was “What Do I Love?” She told us five things that she loves and she used descriptive words to paint for us a picture. One of the things that she loves is going to the movies. She described the seats as “plush movie theater fabric.” When she described the seats, I felt that I was sitting on the seats in the movie theater and not on less than plush seats at the Toastmasters’ meeting. She also loves to take the bus and to visit different neighborhoods in Pittsburgh.

Our Table Topics Master was Tom. His one word question he asked all of us was “why?” Why, what? That was our job to answer. Everyone at our meeting got the opportunity to get up and speak. Our new guest, Shawn, got up and gave a well-structured response. The “why” question he asked was “Why did I come here today?” His answer was to present himself to other people and to develop a passion for public speaking.

Next week, July 25^th, we have a full speaking schedule and I can’t wait to listen to the speeches and learn something new.