Christmas Movies and New Years Resolutions at Greensburg Toastmasters!

I got an unexpected surprise this week. That would be a Wednesday evening off from work. It doesn’t happen often, unless I’m on vacation. When I woke up that afternoon, Mom went to pick up Annabelle from school. That bought me some time to wrap another gift. It didn’t take me long at all and I had the perfect amount of wrapping paper. That morning, Mom and Dad got to work on making that favorite Christmas entree, Turkey Balls. They were done by the time I was awake and I got to taste test a couple of them. As always, they were good. 

Cross training other people on tags gives them experience and gives us a break from doing the same thing. Some people may welcome change, while others don’t. This opens the door for me in the future to make a visit to the Beaver Toastmasters Club. They meet the same night as Greensburg and it’s the first and third Wednesday as well. I’m currently looking at a Spring visit, in April or May. 

It was a Toastmasters night in Greensburg, and our newest member gave her ice breaker speech. 

After the speech, it was time for Table Topics and our Topicsmaster led a wonderful session. The theme was tied to Christmas movies, and it was up to us to sell the movie we were given. Why was this movie the greatest holiday film of all time? Die Hard even made it into the mix. If I came up, I bet I would have been asked to plug Christmas Vacation or A Christmas Story. 

My speech wasn’t going to be ready in time. If I did speak, I would have reflected on 20 years since my graduation from Slippery Rock. 

Finally, New Year’s Resolutions are silly. No one ever keeps them. But, I have a few mind for 2026. I’ll be approaching my 15th year in Toastmasters. These resolutions center around that and could have a positive impact on my club experience. 

• Understanding the new Pathways enhancements. These additions bring me back to the manual days. We were required to give canned speeches for advanced leader and speaker awards. 
• Giving myself more time to prepare my speeches. This is a bad habit I’m guilty of. I commit to speaking and then I don’t put anything. Do I resort to note cards or cancel. I want my clubs to have a great agenda. Part of that success begins with me. 
• Lastly, investing in equipment to aid in my online experience. I want to be more involved in doing more videos and become more confident behind the camera. A tripod would aid in that and it would help me take better pictures. That’s been lacking on the socials and I’d like to change that in 2026.