Who: YOU!
What: A public speaking workshop, “Speaking as a Critical Skill for Your Job.” Presented by the Chair City Toastmasters.
When: Noon – 1:00pm Mondays (February 2, 9, 23, and March 2)
Where: Thomasville Public Library, 14 Randolph St. in Thomasville
Cost: $20

This program will enhance your ability to:

• Present with Confidence
• Speak with Authority
• Respond with Poise and Impact
• Relate to your audience and Build Trust
• Improve your Interpersonal Skills

To register or for more information contact: Sharon Hill at 336-687-7324 or SeaNnc1044@aol.com

In our club, each meeting has a theme. Our theme for today was Remembering Anne Frank. Our Table Topics questions always relate to the theme of the meeting.

I thought that some of you may be enjoy these questions as well and want to do a little extemporaneous writing. If so, just post your answers in the comments section below.

1. Anne Frank only lived to be a little less than16 years old. Her diary chronicled just a little over 2 years of her life (June 2, 1942 – August 1, 1944).

   I started keeping a simple list of out-of-the-ordinary events every day back in July of 2002. It’s been a wonderful historical resource for me, doesn’t take much time, and I wish I had been doing it my whole life. I can read those simple sentences and instantly remember much of my life that would otherwise have been forgotten.

   Tell us about your own personal experience with journaling, or not journaling.

2. Anne’s diary was a gift to her on her 13th birthday. When she received the gift, I’m doubtful that she ever expected that it would become such an integral part of her life, and probably didn’t think it would have had such an effect on the world either.

   Back in 1998 I bought a home computer in spite of my wife’s cries of, “We don’t need a $1,500 toy!” Over the years, purchasing that computer moved me out of a career in warehousing and into a career in computers, allowed her to move out of production and into clerical work and now to run our business, and greatly increased both our salaries.

   In retrospect, what one thing, or event, has had a much more profound effect on your life, or the lives of others, than you would have initially expected?

3. Anne’s diary was not actually a diary at all—it was an autograph book she had shown her father in a shop window a few days before her birthday, and she decided to use it as a diary instead of an autograph book.

   Today, we call this “hacking”. Although the term hacking is generally related to cyber crime in the minds of most people, it actually refers to the innocent act of exploring the various uses of something and using things for something they weren’t originally designed for.

   As an example, since I travel a lot, I have to take certain toiletries with me. The only antiperspirant-deoderant that I like is Speedstick Unscented. Unfortunately, it isn’t available in a travel size. I discovered a year or so ago that if I used a regular size until about 1/3 of it was left, I could remove the stick and fit into the travel size container for the Fresh Scent. This has been a quite useful “hack” for me as I travel and seek to down-size.

   What’s one thing you’ve “hacked” in your life to make something work better for you, or that you just explored to see how it worked?