Meeting 888 "Practice Makes Perfect"

Possums

No, this photo has nothing to do with Toastmasters. But it's the reason I was late for the meeting. The possums that had been living in my ceiling had been trapped & I had to wait until after dark before setting them  free. I just had to show you because they are so cute!

So I missed the beginning of the meeting & arrived during the Table Topics. Monica had chosen some excellent topics - they were brief, no long introduction needed and could be answered by anyone. (At least in theory.)

The topics were, "I should have known," "They were wrong," "It's going to take time," and "It's the best option for me." They were answered by Terry, Robert, Dave and Anne.

Amanda

Amanda evaluated the Table Topics. It was her first time as evaluator and she handled it very well.

A lot of our members were absent.  Some were ill, some on holiday and a few had studies. It was good to have our guests Jaya and Christine back again as well as Anne, a first time visitor.

 Toastmaster Rhys kept the meeting running smoothly.

Maureen presented her second speech, entitled "Holiday Times" and had some helpful suggestions to make holidays stress free.
John T's speech, his second also, was "Australia - Where to Now?" with a lot of tongue in cheek humour.

The speeches were evaluated by June, another first time evaluator, and Leesa.

In preparation for the Area Conference, Annette delivered her contest speech, and was given a group evaluation, which was led by Liz Wo. We wish Annette success in the  speech contest, as well as the evaluation contest. Also Dave in the table topics contest.

The business session was also conducted by Annette. The main business was the position of treasurer, as Kylie is taking an extended break from Toastmasters, because of other commitments.  We were unable to elect a new treasurer at the meeting, but don't worry, someone has come forward since to take on the position. Stay tuned!

Grammarian Kylie commented on the ums & aahs as well as some good word usage during the meeting.

Robert's guide dog Homer took control of the lectern for a few minutes.

John S was General Evaluator. He suggested putting "6.30 pm for 7 pm" on the programme, as quite a few members had turned up right on 7 pm. He also stressed the need to have a copy of the minutes at the business session and for executive members to send a report if they could not be present.

Annette closed the meeting & presented the evening's awards to Anne (Best Table Topic,) John T (Best Speech,) Leesa (Best Evaluation,) Amanda (Personal Best,) & Rhys (Best Contribution,)

Sorry, I didn't get a photo. My battery had gone flat taking photos of possums & I forgot to take a spare one.)

Don't forget there are 5 Tuesdays in this month, so it will be an extra week till the next meeting on the 13th November.

Meanwhile, see you at the Area Conference on Saturday.

Newsletters

Sandgate Toastmasters Newsletter

Congratulations to Melissa, on producing the club Newsletter! She has also put it online. Go to http://issuu.com/toastmasterssandgate/docs/august

You will find it easy to read online if you click where it says "Click to read." so that it comes up bigger. Click again to make it larger still. You will find arrows at the side to turn to the next page.  To get back out of full screen, press the "Esc" button on the top left of your keyboard.

Well done, Melissa!

Meeting 887 Eval & Speech Contest

Congratulations to all our contestants in the Evaluation and International Speech Contest. You were all great!
And the winners are....

Evaluation Contest  Sharyn, Annette & Dave

Annette & Ke

EVALUATION CONTEST
 1st Annette
2nd Sharyn
3rd Dave
INTERNATIONAL SPEECH CONTEST
1st Annette
2nd Kel

So Annette will represent our club in both the Evaluation Contest and the International Speech Contest at the Area Conference on the 3rd November.

Dave is going to represent us in Table Topics.

Thanks to Mark from Pines Toastmasters Club who acted as Chief Judge. Other judges were from our club - Leesa, Marlene, Rhys & trainee judge June.

Dave and Liz Wo were very proficient Contest Toastmasters.

Our guest speaker was Terry,  who is a new member to our club, so none of our competitors had heard him speak before.

Dave

Terry was interviewed by Liz 

We were delighted to welcome Monica back after a long absence and John S with his new bionic ear, as well as Annette and Sharyn, who had returned from their travels.

We were also pleased to welcome back guests from a previous meeting - Allan, Jaya and Christine, and also Gio who visited for the first time.

Don't forget to bring your registration fee for the Area Conference to our next meeting so Kylie can make a bulk booking for our club. Let's support our contestants and help to make it a great day.

Click to enlarge

Meeting 886 "School's Out."

Three new members were inducted last meeting. Terry and Kel, who have been previously been Toastmasters in other clubs, and Ralph, a brand new Toastmaster.

Ralph's first assignment was to present the Toastmasters mission statement. The toast was proposed by Leesa.

Jonathon

Jonathon's Quote for the evening was one from Dr Suess,
"You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer
yourself any direction you chose....."

Round Robin Master June asked us to tell what talents we possessed. We discovered that our club consists of people with many varied and amusing talents.

In keeping with the theme, Liz We's Table Topics were all school related, eg  "What was your school motto?" "Describe your last day at school." and "What was your favourite holiday break?" Robert, Jonathon and Leesa came up with entertaining answers.

Kel's Table Topics were a bit more involved. He presented the scenario of a road trip and asked Marlene, Kylie and Jennine to speak about  "A road trip from hell, " Who would you like to listen to on the car pod" and "What genre of music" would you like to listen to?"

Nicole (great to see her back.)

Terry

The Table Topics were evaluated by Nicole and
Terry.

Harry

 Harry's speech, using vocal variety was "The Amazing Human Brain."  and was full of fascinating information.

Kel presented his Ice Breaker. He is working through his second Competent Communicator Manual.

Ernie's speech was "The Best Advice I Ever Had." Ernie demonstrated some French polishing and passed his work around for us to inspect.

Kel

Ernie

The speeches were evaluated by Rhys, Dave and Jonathon.

Dave's raffle was a beautiful shawl that his wife Sandy had made. Dave called on Inge to model it. It was won by Terry, who was delighted to have something he could use as a gift.

Robert told a funny story about falling into a hole when out walking with his dog.

Inge gave us some interesting information on coffee in a "Did you know?" session.

Timekeeper Amanda warned that the meeting was running behind time. (This was not Amanda's fault.)

Jennine was Listening Master and her clever questions managed to collect  many fines to help fill the coffers.

The General Evaluation was presented by Kylie, who had some helpful suggestions.

Awards for the evening went to Kel (Personal Best,) Jennine (Best Table Topic,) Harry  (Best Speech,) Jonathon (Best Evaluation,) and Marlene (Best Contribution.)

Next meeting will be our Evaluation and International Speech Contest.