Toastmasters Tuesday

"A speech is like a dress, it should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep things interesting"
Oct 11, 2016
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Each time I attend a Toastmasters International meeting I learn something new. Tonight I took on the role of Joke Master and Timer.  I really like how the meetings are introduced with a joke, it brings a lot of levity to the meeting and sets a warm and welcoming atmosphere. I learned that the joke itself does not even have to be great, the audience wants to laugh, and you just need to give them an excuse to. I learned from a previous meeting that the details help to illustrate a good joke and sets the scene for a story.You can read the joke below for a few chuckles.

The role of Timer is also important. Often times when we give presentations or speeches, we have to be mindful of how long we are speaking for. As one of the veterans of the group says "A speech is like a dress, it should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep things interesting." She was definitely right about that. Throughout the night, every speaker had to stick to their timing constraints. If was very obvious when someone either spoke too little or went over. Those that did not speak long enough did not appear to have enough to say, walking away before their point was fully conveyed. Those that talked too long had short periods of rambling or odd pauses which made the speech not flow as smoothly. And though it may seem like an easy job, I often found myself behind the time with the queues simply because I was trying to pay attention to the speeches and the stopwatch at the same time.

The Joke
A man wakes up in the hospital, he groans as he's trying to move. To his right, his heart monitor was beeping away. To his left, an IV line was dangling off this left arm. "What happened..." the man muttered.

The doctor in the room looks at the patient then down at his chart. "Your coworkers found you unconscious on the floor, by the looks of it you had a pretty severe heart attack. You are lucky to be alive."

"But...how... how did this happen."

"From the labs it looks like your blood pressure is elevated and your cholesterol is through the roof. What is your diet like?"

"Last week I was on a fried chicken diet... this week I was on a donuts and ice cream diet..."

"I see. If you continue what you are doing, you will likely have another heart attack and you may not be so lucky next time. You need to make changes to your lifestyle, and to start you must go on an all vegetarian diet."

"Ok doc, it's gonna be tough, but if you really think it will help, then I'll do it."

The next day, the as the doctor was walking pass the hospital cafeteria, he spots the man eating a 24 ounce porter house steak. "What are you doing?!" exclaimed the doctor, "You are supposed to be on an all vegetarian diet!."

The man looks up with a fork and knife in hand and a piece of steak in his mouth and replies "I am! This is beef, cows are vegetarians!"