During the

meeting, interim officers were nominated or volunteered. They include,

John Kosky, president; Hassan Amin, vice-president of membership; and

Leigh Duncan, secretary/treasurer. Dr. Jo Kinnard also volunteered to

be vice president of education. These officers will serve until the club

has chartered, at which time, there will be a formal process of calling

for nominations and electing officers.

Several members

of the Clayton County Toastmasters club were also on hand to serve as

mentors for the new members, while teaching them how to lead their own

meetings.

"Every

club is different," says Bob Ness, vice president of Education for

the Clayton County chapter. "You can conduct your meetings however

you want." Ness, however, did give some fundamental guidelines; every

meeting is divided into two components 1) education and table topics,

and 2) the business meeting.

During the

educational/table topics portion of the meeting, several members are called

on to give impromptu speeches for up to two minutes. These "table

topic" speeches are based on a topic that is chosen in advance by

the vice president of Education but is unknown to the other members. In

addition, one member is chosen in advance to give a four-to-six minute

speech, usually on one of the topics from the CLP (Communication and Leadership

Program) manual. The general evaluator, the grammarian and "Ah"

counter and the timekeeper evaluate the speeches. No "grades"

are given; there are no tests or instructors. During the business portion

of the meeting, club administration topics are covered, such as meeting

minutes, schedules and dues, etc.

The purpose

of Toastmasters is to encourage and develop confident speaking and leadership

skills, with the added benefit of being in a friendly, club environment,

where warm, sincere relationships can develop. Every member participates

as evaluators and as speakers.

The Southern

Crescent chapter currently has 16 founding members and is looking for

four more members in order to charter. If you are interested in being

a member of the Southern Crescent Toastmasters or would like more information,

please contact Hassan Amin, at [email protected].