St. Petersburg Toastmasters

05/18/2026

What an incredible way to close out the final District 48 Toastmasters Conference! 🎉

This year’s conference was filled with inspiration, laughter, learning, and the amazing fellowship that makes Toastmasters so special. From dynamic educational sessions and keynote speakers to unforgettable contests and networking opportunities, the event truly celebrated the power of communication and leadership.

A very special congratulations to two outstanding members of St. Petersburg Toastmasters Club 2284 for bringing home FIRST PLACE honors! 🏆

👏 First Place – Table Topics Contest - Mary Jorgensen

👏 First Place – Humorous Speech Contest - Adency Start

Another special congratulations to another outstanding member, Elizabeth Koda, who gave an outstanding workshop to conference attendees!

Your talent, courage, preparation, and passion made our club incredibly proud. You represented St. Petersburg Toastmasters with excellence and heart!

Thank you to everyone who participated, volunteered, competed, and supported this memorable final District 48 conference.

Accolades belong to Greg Mathis and Alex Ruberti for your outstanding leadership and representation.

A very special shout out with deep appreciation goes to Jeannette Sweeney, DTM, a true servant leader, and the greatest supporter of us all here at the “greatest club on earth!”

The friendships, encouragement, and growth we experienced together will continue long after the conference ended.
Here’s to continuing the journey of becoming better speakers, stronger leaders, and supportive friends. 💙💛

05/01/2026

Flash back to our April 21st meeting's theme "It's My FIRST time!" - From learning how to drive a car, to running a new business, to SPEAKING in public... EVERYONE knows how uncomfortable it is to anything for the first time. At our meeting, we discussed how necessary it is to push through the uncomfortable and let the GROWTH take place.

Congratulations to our winning speakers!
Best Table Topics - Nicky Bruger
Best Evaluator - Jane Strong
Most Improved - David Matoes
Best Speaker - Jeff Thomas

We are also THRILLED to have inducted our NEW CLUB MEMBERS!!

05/01/2026

May DAY May DAY!!! It is T-minus 13 days till our District 48 Spring Conference!! https://district48.org/ Get your tickets ASAP - This is an event you do not want to miss! Come cheer on our very own

District48 Servers the Greater Tampa Bay area in Florida. The Toastmasters organization is divided into several geographical Regions and Districts in order to help govern and support local clubs be as successful as they can be.

04/19/2026

At our Tuesday evening meeting on 4/14, we discussed SUMMER VACATION as led by our TME of the evening David Mateos!

Congratulations to our winning speakers!
Best Speaker: Alex Ruberti
Most Improved: Stephanie McLaren
Best Table Topics: Nicky Bruger
Best Evaluator: Marika Laneau
Ice Breaker: Stephanie McLaren

04/19/2026

At our Tuesday evening meeting on 4/7, our theme was WHERE CONFIDENCE BLOOMS AND LEADERS GROW - as led by our TME of the evening Jeff Thomas!

Congratulations to our winning speakers!
Best Speaker: Christina Cherian
Most Improved: Fallon Burger
Best Table Topics: Marvin Shepherd
Best Evaluator: Mary Jorgensen
Ice Breaker - new pathway: Jane Strong

04/02/2026

At our weekly Tuesday evening meeting, we explored ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE - "AI" as led by our great speaker and friend Bisi Mengo!

Congratulations to our winning speakers!
Best Speaker: Elizabeth Koda
Most Improved: Olivia Jones
Best Table Topics: Bill Caraker
Best Evaluator: Fallon Burger
Ice Breaker for 2nd Pathway: Olivia Jones

03/26/2026

Yesterday, at our weekly Tuesday evening meeting, we dug deep into topics and tales relating to “Transformation” (our word of the day) which stemmed from the Theme of the Evening - Color Your World: From Black and White to Living in Color

Congrations to our winning speakers!

Best Speaker: Marika Luneau
Most Improved: Jake Murphy and Alex Gaca
Best Table Topics: Olivia Jones
Best Evaluator: Jane Strong

03/18/2026

So what happens when our weekly meeting falls on St. Patrick’s Day?

We celebrate the theme! Tonight we were Irish in spirit as we shared stories of good luck and green beards (ask Jeff and Greg) and many members wore green.

Congratulations to our winning speakers!

Best Speaker: Marika Luneau
Most Improved: Marvin Shepherd
Best Table Topics: Bisi Mengo
Best Evaluator: Olivia Jones

03/11/2026

We had another inspiring meeting this evening! Our theme was “Spring Forward” We had great table topic questions and answers as well as impactful speeches!!

Our members Jane Strong and Thomas Harrison were awarded recognition pins as well.

Congratulations to our winning speakers!

Best Speaker: Adency Start
Best Table Topics: Marvin Shepherd
Best Evaluator: Mary Jorgensen

03/04/2026

What a great meeting we had this evening!

We started with a powerful interactive workshop called “Evaluate to Motivate” given by our Distinguished Toastmasters, Jane Strong, and Jeff Thomas.

We learned so much!
For example: Why are evaluations important and who benefits?

** Toastmasters; without them, members won’t grow as speakers.

** Everyone benefits from evaluations: the speaker (immediate feedback), the evaluator (listening skills + quick “mini-speech” delivery), and the audience (learning what works and what to try).

** Evaluations apply beyond Toastmasters (workplaces, leadership, and other settings where feedback is needed).

(more tips from tonight‘s workshop will appear in our monthly newsletter… Let us know if you want to be added to the e-mailing list.)

AND…. We all had the honor and privilege of singing, happy birthday to Jeannette Sweeney, DTM, who goes above and beyond for our club and district members near and far!!

Happy birthday Jeannette and thank you for all you do!