06/11/2026
🏛️ Wordsmiths Toastmasters Meeting Recap: Frank Lloyd Wright Night
This week’s meeting had an ingenious theme: Frank Lloyd Wright — architecture, originality, confidence, and the courage to build something distinctive.
A big thank-you to Tom Polachek, our Toastmaster, for guiding us through an evening inspired by one of America’s most iconic architects, and to Paul Parins, our General Evaluator, for leading the evaluation team.
🎤 Meeting Highlights
Nick Niewinski delivered an educational presentation, “Evaluate to Motivate,” reminding us that great evaluations do more than point out what happened — they build confidence, encourage growth, and help speakers take their next step.
Erica Anderson gave her Ice Breaker speech, “Monsters,” sharing a warm, personal, and memorable look at her family, including her three children and a few beloved bonus pets.
Our Table Topics session, led by Jason Inouye, challenged members and guests to think like architects — answering questions about rules, creativity, confidence, ego, design, and what we would build if our personalities became structures.
We also enjoyed thoughtful evaluations from Anne Fredrickson, Leo Smith, and Keith Hardy, along with strong reports from our meeting roles. Keith even tested our listening skills with a fun quiz that proved people really were paying attention!
👏 A special welcome to our guests Aparna and John Libby, who helped bring energy, curiosity, and thoughtful contributions to the evening.
Next week, we meet at Merriam Park Library with the theme Summer Vacation and Word of the Day Sabbatical.
📍 Merriam Park Library
615 Fairview Ave N, Saint Paul, MN
Intersection of Fairview and Marshall
Wordsmiths continues to be a place where speakers practice, stretch, laugh, learn, and build something stronger together — one meeting at a time.
