Susquehanna Icebreakers

09/08/2026

🔥 Susquehanna Toastmasters – Meeting Highlights (9/1/27)

What an energizing night at Susquehanna Toastmasters! Our 9/1/27 session was packed with practical speaking tips, fresh ideas, and plenty of laughs.

Members dove into strategies for creating clean, impactful PowerPoint slides and explored how to develop a strong, authentic speaking voice. We also had a fun discussion on attention‑grabbing openers—rhetorical questions, surprising stats, quick anecdotes, and memorable quotes—all designed to spark the attention of an audience from the very first line.

We shared club updates, chatted through a few Zoom quirks, and enjoyed some friendly conversation that reminded us why this community is so special.

The spotlight of the evening belonged to Russell Kulp, who delivered a humorous prepared speech full of clever attention getters and perfectly timed self‑deprecating humor. His performance was a great example of how Toastmasters helps speakers grow in confidence, creativity, and connection.

Overall, the night was a win for anyone looking to sharpen their public speaking skills and have fun doing it. If you’re looking to improve your communication, meet great people, and enjoy supportive learning—come join us!

10/05/2024

09/18/2024

Are you working on a presenting a speech for a special event, school, or wedding?

Are you interested in improving your confidence to stand up in front of a crowd and speak without your knees knocking or your throat going dry?

Are you needing to improve your skills in public speaking so you can ace that job or network with people?

Do you want to start a podcast or social media channel, but are not sure you can talk to a camera or microphone without sounding/looking like a novice?

TOASTMASTERS IS FOR YOU!!!!

You can learn more about Toastmasters at https://www.toastmasters.org/.

INVITIATION REQUEST:
If you would like to attend one of our meetings, please reach out to us by requesting an invitation via DM or at via the Contact Us section of https://sib.toastmastersclubs.org/.

We offer both in-person and online meetings.

Our Hybrid Meetings are held in one of the Community Rooms at the GIANT Store on Trindle Road in Camp Hill, PA.
Zoom is offered for this meeting, but we encourage you to attend in person if possible.

Our second Tuesday meetings are solely online, and no face-to-face option is available. Please contact us for an invitation.

09/18/2024

Member Quick Tip: Word pictures - vividly create imagery in the listener’s mind, making your
speech more engaging and memorable. They produce clear images, capture attention, explain complex ideas, and
evoke emotions. For example, instead of saying, “The sunset was beautiful,” you might say, “The sunset painted the
sky with hues of orange and pink, like a masterpiece on a canvas.” For more tips see: Word Pictures & the Art of
Storytelling at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/word-pictures-art-storytelling-hank-boyer/

09/18/2024

Member Quick Tip: Word pictures - vividly create imagery in the listener’s mind, making your
speech more engaging and memorable. They produce clear images, capture attention, explain complex ideas, and
evoke emotions. For example, instead of saying, “The sunset was beautiful,” you might say, “The sunset painted the
sky with hues of orange and pink, like a masterpiece on a canvas.” For more tips see: Word Pictures & the Art of
Storytelling at

Each one of us sells other people on our points of view, opinions, and ideas. Word Pictures are a powerful element of storytelling that engage others emotionally so they can visualize themselves in our situation.

06/06/2024

Susquehanna Icebreakers TM Club 9945
Meeting Minutes from 6/4/2024
Hybrid Meeting at Camp Hill GIANT and via Zoom

Sergeant at Arms: Emily
Toastmaster: Keith
Word of the Day: Spontaneous
Definition(s): momentary impulse, automatic, instinctual, occurring by ones own accord without force or cause

1st Speaker: Chris
Speech Title: Pieces of Me (Icebreaker Speech)
Chris brought three items: a barber's hair clipper/shaver; a tablet computer; and a power tool (impact driver). These three items were used by Chris to share that he has worked as a cosmetologist, sound engineer (DJ service/sound company), and a handyman.
Being that this was one of Chris's first speeches, he did a splendid job of sharing things about him that we didn't know. This not only improves his speechcraft, but also helps him to meld into the group.

2nd Speaker: Roger
Speech Title: High Performance Leadership
In his speech, Roger covered the first part of what is to be a multi-part speech regarding what he feels are the qualities of a leader.
Roger touched upon his experience within his own ministry, sharing how he would entrust his students with increasing levels of responsibility as they learned how to envision, prepare, and accomplish goals.

Table Topics Master: Wayne (Russell)
Topic: National Donut Day on June 7th
Russell was to be our Table Topics Master for the evening, but was unable to fill the role, due to scheduling issues. So, Wayne agreed to step into the role. Wayne engaged volunteers with many different questions that Russell had prepared. Many of the responses were exciting and humorous.
The section ended with the strong desire for donuts!
Highlights included hope of a finding a scrumptious PB&J donut and a brief introduction to an Icelandic twisted pastry called Kleinur.

Evaluation of the evening was overseen by Merrick.
According to his, and others report, there were no major issues. The meeting kept on time and all members that participated, including our guest, presented themselves in a professional manner with excellence. Overall, the meeting was well conducted and resulted in a satisfactory evening.

Speaker Quick Tip: Move toward your audience.
Reference: "How to Give a Speech..." by Gary Genard

Next Meeting: June 18th, 2024 via Zoom only.
If you want to attend our next meeting and or sign up for a role, please visit our main website https://sib.toastmastersclubs.org/.

Let us help you achieve your public speaking and leadership potential! We meet twice a month on the first and third Tuesdays at 7:15 p.m. EDT. To drop in for a visit to our Virtual Meeting - send us an email!

05/08/2024

2015 Toastmasters Champion
The Power of Words

Toastmasters public speaking champion.Mohammed Qahtani's winning speech, titled "The Power of Words."

05/03/2024

Do you want to know what Toastmaster role fits you?!
Here is some information about our meeting roles.
Come early to a meeting, or contact us ahead of time, and ask to volunteer for a role!

04/17/2024

In this fun, instructional talk, communications expert Graham Shaw demonstrates how a few adjustments to your drawing technique can leave you with an effective new presentation tool as well as an outlet for your creativity.

04/17/2024

2024 District 38 Annual Conference Friday, Saturday & Sunday — May 3rd May 4th & 5th Delta Hotels by Marriott Allentown Lehigh Valley When founding Toastmasters International 100 years ago, Dr. Ralph Smedley was quoted as saying: “We learn best in times of enjoyment.” Come to the District 38 A...