Long Way to Go
He was stunned. He never expected to be called upon to speak during the Table Topics sesssion (where we practice impromptu speeches) because he was serving as the Timer for the very first time in life. He has his role so he wouldn't be called to speak. This was waht he had thought.
Still, he WAS called to speak. He was taken aback completely. He couldn't even understand the topic. He said to himself, "I'm not ready. I don't know what to say!" He tried to put together his thought, uttering some words. He couldn't even put it in a sentence.
He heard other memmbers clapping their hands in a show of support and encouragement. Some encouraged him, "You'll be fine." "Just take the stage. You don't have to keep talking." "Take your time. It's okay even if you end up standing there trying to find what to say for full one minute." Others said in their mind, "Don't worry. You don't have to try to be good. Just be yourself."
He stood up, walked to the stage, and somehow started speaking. When he started speaking, it got a little bit easier. He kept talking for a little shorter than two minutes. With a sigh of relief, he walked slowly to his seat while everybody else at the venue kept applauding.
We learned our lessons from this. He must have learned that the Timer could be called on to speak. (In reality, the Timer is one of the first to be called because the Timer does not have many opportunities to say something meaningful. They make some reports, but those are like, "HIdeo 6 minutes and 32 seconds. KJ, 7 minutes and 17 seconds." Nothing creative. Nothing spontaneous.) The Topicsmaster, who facilited the session, learned that it would have been better to call on someone elst to start the session so that other people could get into the mode. It could have been learned that it is always good to talk with a new member taking on a role for the first time BEFORE the meeting to sound out if they are ready to speak during the Table Topics session. Other members must have learned that unwavering show of encouragement could help a new member to summon up the courage to take the stage even when he was extremely.
Great job, everyone. We learned something important at this meeting. We can do a better job next time. We do have a long way to go, but we're sure we can make it there.
He was stunned. He never expected to be called upon to speak during the Table Topics sesssion (where we practice impromptu speeches) because he was serving as the Timer for the very first time in life. He has his role so he wouldn't be called to speak. This was waht he had thought.
Still, he WAS called to speak. He was taken aback completely. He couldn't even understand the topic. He said to himself, "I'm not ready. I don't know what to say!" He tried to put together his thought, uttering some words. He couldn't even put it in a sentence.
He heard other memmbers clapping their hands in a show of support and encouragement. Some encouraged him, "You'll be fine." "Just take the stage. You don't have to keep talking." "Take your time. It's okay even if you end up standing there trying to find what to say for full one minute." Others said in their mind, "Don't worry. You don't have to try to be good. Just be yourself."
He stood up, walked to the stage, and somehow started speaking. When he started speaking, it got a little bit easier. He kept talking for a little shorter than two minutes. With a sigh of relief, he walked slowly to his seat while everybody else at the venue kept applauding.
We learned our lessons from this. He must have learned that the Timer could be called on to speak. (In reality, the Timer is one of the first to be called because the Timer does not have many opportunities to say something meaningful. They make some reports, but those are like, "HIdeo 6 minutes and 32 seconds. KJ, 7 minutes and 17 seconds." Nothing creative. Nothing spontaneous.) The Topicsmaster, who facilited the session, learned that it would have been better to call on someone elst to start the session so that other people could get into the mode. It could have been learned that it is always good to talk with a new member taking on a role for the first time BEFORE the meeting to sound out if they are ready to speak during the Table Topics session. Other members must have learned that unwavering show of encouragement could help a new member to summon up the courage to take the stage even when he was extremely.
Great job, everyone. We learned something important at this meeting. We can do a better job next time. We do have a long way to go, but we're sure we can make it there.