In Toastmasters, I am constantly learning. Over the next
several weeks, I will blog about what I have learned at Toastmasters meetings
with Executive 408 Toastmasters in Youngstown, Ohio and Warren Toastmasters in
Warren, Ohio.
Oct 18, 2014
Executive 408
I learned a new meaning of enthusiasm. Our meeting didn’t
have a lot of people attending that night. Some roles had to be filled.
It felt like the air was slowing leaking out of the meeting.
This meeting, my role was “Word of the Day.” I glanced
around and thought, we are in need of an up-tempo word.
I chose the word “awesome.”
As I walked up to the board for the word, which I had written before the meeting started. Someone said, What is the word,? Art Byrd.”
I laughed because one of my childhood heroes, Mr. George
Williams, who owned a flower shop, would yell out his delivery van to me, “What
is the word?, Arthur Byrd?
This would happen anytime he saw me. I remembered I never had a word for him as he
turned the corner in our neighborhood and zoomed down the road.
Each time, Mr. Williams said “What the word? Arthur Byrd,”
to me. I felt like a million bucks because this nice and generous man who had
known me, since I was like seven years old, still thought enough out his busy
day to say hello to me.
I told the club, a very brief story of Mr. Williams and his catch phrase.
I said I dedicated that night’s word “awesome” to Mr. Williams
because he was awesome even though he is gone now.
After the word, the air seemed to go back into the meeting.
The club members and visitors seemed fired up to have a great meeting and it
was.
I learned that enthusiasm, a personal story and a great Word of
the Day can turn around a Toastmasters meeting.
