Meeting 896 "Easter"

Liz Wo was presented with 25 yr badge

Congratulations to long serving member Liz Wo, who received a badge commemorating 25 years in Sandgate Toastmasters Club. Annette presented the badge at the beginning of the meeting. Liz has served in most of the executive positions at least once, competed in contests and mentored new members. It was because of Liz that I joined our club. She was Vice President Public Relations at the time and it was through reading Liz's articles in the local paper, telling what went on at the meetings, that I realised that this was a club that had fun and would welcome ordinary people like me.

John T

And our last meeting was fun! Annette had decorated the tables with small Easter eggs - enough for everyone. Toastmaster John T really entered into the spirit of Easter and arrived wearing his Easter hat. He kept the meeting lively with appropriate Easter jokes and a lot of information about the origins of  many Easter traditions. It was John's first time as Toastmaster.

Our new member Ron proposed the Toast, reminding us that Easter is a time of hope, and Inge read the Mission Statement.

Annette conducted the Round Robin, asking "What does Success mean to you?" There were some light hearted answers such as "waking up in the morning still breathing" and some more profound, eg "Leaving the world a better place," "Being happy with what you've got." "Being married to the right person." Interestingly, no one mentioned wealth or fame.

Elizabeth

Table Topics was another lively session. Liz Wo's topics were
"What do you remember about Easter as a child?" 
"Do you believe in the Easter bunny?" 
and "Why are Easter Buns hot and cross?" 

Elizabeth had also prepare three topics -
"The tradition of self discipline during Lent," 
"How do you feel when you see the full moon?"
 and "Is the Australian Bilby a suitable substitute for the Easter Bunny?"  

Del

The topics were answered by Liz We, Leesa, Sharyn, John S, Marlene and Inge. The Evaluators were Annette and Del.

Our first speaker was unable to attend the meeting, but Jonathon filled in with an entertaining session on how to answer a Table Topic by telling a story. He used the white board to write the formula.

Start with a situation -
"Once upon a time -  create issue.
"And everyday" - problem.
"So one day" - resource.
"Because of that"- benefit.
"And then finally - resolution.
"Ever since." - happily ever after.

Jonathon

Dave presented a speech from the "Speaking to Inform" Manual. The title of his speech was "Ouch!" and
was a fascinating history of the development and use of anaesthesia in medical practice.

Dave's speech was evaluated by Terry.

Dave

Terry

Sharyn

Sharyn conducted a "soopa doopa" Educational Session on Evaluation. Some of her main points were,
"Be specific - with feedback,"
"Acknowledge - what is good."
"Speak for your self - personal opinion"
"Build self esteem of the speaker"
"Stretch your Evaluation vocabulary - use descriptive words. (eg soopa doopa!)
"Your opinion matters."

Robert

Leesa

Robert had some more trivia about Easter in a brief "Did you Know?" spot.

Leesa read a short inspiring poem by Leo Marks, "The Life I Have is all that I Have"






Some of us were caught out and fined during June's Listening Quiz.

June

Liz We's Raffle, a book and a bottle of wine, was won by Terry.

Liz We

Terry wins raffle

John S

General Evaluator John S had some good advice and commendations. He demonstrated how to write on the white board from the side, to avoid turning away from the audience.

Guests Nick and Jim said they had enjoyed the meeting. We were sorry to hear that Rhys is taking a break for 6 months. We will miss him & look forward to the time when he comes back.

The evening's awards went to Dave (Best Speech,) John T (Best Contribution,) Terry (Best Evaluation,) Marlene (Best Table Topic,) and Ron (Personal Best.)

Metro Division Conference 2013

Annette 

Six from our club attended the Metro Division Conference last Saturday. John S, John T, Annette, Leesa, Liz We, and me.

Annette competed in the Evaluation contest and came second. I felt I learned more from Annette's evaluation that any of the other evaluations, because she had a good point for improvement that none of the others mentioned. Anyway she did our club proud.

The speeches were of a high standard. It was good to see former International President of Toastmasters,

Gavin Blakey

Gavin Blakey chair the International Contest. Another distinguished guest was Jock Elliott, who was World Champion speaker in 2011.

I was challenged by the session conducted by  keynote speaker Kevin Ryan. 

One of his memorable quotes was, "Everything great you'll ever achieve will happen outside your comfort zone."

He challenged us to pair up with someone in the room who we didn't know & tell them what commitment we had made to step outside our comfort zone. I found myself talking to the lovely young girl in front of me, and I rashly committed myself to entering the Evaluation Contest this year. 

Oh dear, what have I done!!

Meeting 895 "Getting Involved"

Annette & Denise

We were happy to  welcome our Area Governor, Denise to our meeting. Denise brought a special treat - two large cartons of books for anyone who wanted them. They were eagerly snapped up.

Other visitors were Christiane, Nick, Bev and Kerryn.

Two new members, Peter and Ron were inducted by Annette. Annette used our new modified Induction Ceremony, which includes the Mentors Promise. Liz We will be  Peters mentor and Dave will mentor Ron.

Annette inducted Peter & Ron

Jonathon

Toastmaster Jonathon kept the meeting moving along and injected  it with some inspiring quotes about getting involved. 

Robert proposed the Toast and Del read the Toastmasters Mission Statement, which has recently been revised,
"We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth."

Inge & guest Christiane

Round Robin Master Inge invited us to tell about our hobbies.To start the ball rolling, Inge had brought some of the brooches and stones she had painted. We were able to see them more closely during the supper break.

 Del, Terry, Maureen and Rhys were called on to answer Marlene's Table Topics with a "Getting Involved" theme -

"Tell us how you came to be involved in one of your favourite organisations."

"Your neighbour's teenager has a wild all night party while his parents are out of town. Do you tell his parents when they return?"

"You are driving alone at night. A desperate looking person tries to flag you down. Do you stop?"

"You suspect a neighbour is abusing his or her children. Do you notifiy the authorities?"

Del

Terry

Maureen

John S

The Table Topics were evaluated by John S, who pointed out their strengths & how they could improve.

Jennine

We heard three excellent speeches. Jennine's was "For the Love of Water."  She used great word pictures and explained how sea creatures are endangered by rubbish that finds it way into the ocean.

John T

John T's speech was "Winning the War of the Word." It was a very humorous look at the way "New Speak" is taking over our language.

Liz We

Liz We's speech "How Long is a Foot?" was a fascinating account of how the size of the human foot has increased over the years. She used charts and pieces of wood to demonstrate.

Evaluators were Amanda, Annette and Nicole.



During the supper break, we were able to inspect the chart John S had made of the history of our club.

John,  Leesa & Amanda

Liz Wo

The Business Session was chaired by Liz Wo. Parliamentarian John S congratulated  the club on the professional way the meeting was conducted.

Grammarian Dave commented on the colourful word usage during the meeting and gave examples.

Kerry's raffle (stationery) was won by Liz Wo.

Kerry

Sharyn was General Evaluator. She had encouraging comments and suggestions for all, and said she was particularly impressed with the quality of the evaluations.

Maureeen revealed herself as the Mystery Toastmaster.

Sharyn

It was a tightly packed programme, but thanks to the efficiency of the Toastmaster, Chairman and co-operation of everyone by not going over time, Timekeeper Harry was able to announce that we had finished 2 minutes early.


Winners of the evening's awards were Annette (Best Evaluator,) Maureen (Best Table Topic,) Jonathon ( Best Contribution,) Jennine (Best Speech,) and Amanda (Personal Best.)

Award winners

Remember, next meeting is the deadline for our semi annual fees.  If you prefer to pay online, please contact Nicole for details.

Meeting 894 "Rain"

Del

Toastmaster Del had chosen the topic "Rain," which was very appropriate because it had rained all week. In spite of the weather, we almost had a full house, and had to add extra tables. (Which made us a bit late starting the meeting.) We also welcomed 8 guests - Ron, Peter, Jim. Nick, Bev, Shane, Christiane, & Joel.

We were thrilled to hear that one of our members is having a baby in August - and another member is going to have a Jack Russell pup at the end of April.

VPE Marlene was happy to report there were no programme changes, as everyone on the programme had turned up.

June proposed a toast to "Rain."

Round Robin Master John S asked us to tell us of an experience we'd had with rain. This resulted in many stories of rain, floods and storms.

Terry

Terry's Table Topics were "Why did Noah take two mosquitoes into the ark." (That's something I had always wondered, but Annette informed us that they slipped in by riding on the elephant's back.)  "At what stage does rain become a pain," (answered by Harry,) and "Why are they called apartments when they are stuck together. (answered by Leesa.)

Liz We

 John T's topics were "How do you spend a rainy day?" "How do you go through life without letting things rain on your parade?" and "Are our weather patterns changing?" These were answered by Liz We, Maureen and John S.

Liz Wo

Amanda

Liz Wo and Amanda evaluated the Table Topics.

Harry

Harry presented his 7th speech, "Clever Corvus," He gave us some fascinating information about crows, how they like to have fun, the way they use tools and how they can be trained.

Marlene and Robert shared the role of evaluator for Harry's speech.

Nicole

Maureen

Nicole also presented her 7th speech, which was about "Childhood Heart Disease." Nicole's little boy has recently had heart surgery, so she was familiar with the topic.

Nicole's speech was evaluated by Maureen. This was Maureen's first evaluation and she was a credit to her mentor Sharyn.

Annette presented an inspiring speech about volunteering. It was the 10th project in the Competent Communicator Manual.
It was evaluated by Leesa.

Annette

Leesa

Inspired Audience

June

June's raffle was a book to curl up with on a rainy day and an umbrella.

 It was won by one of our guests, Bev. 

John S read a poem that he had written. (John has recently had a cochlear implant.)

"HEARING

Like darkness slowly descending

The creeping loss of hearing extending

To the point of silently pretending

All words and conversations comprehending.

With assessments made and cochlear impending

Can we hope for complete understanding?

John S

With cochlear correctly implanted

We approach switch on day still tormented.

But under Karen’s guidance all questions answered

Overcoming the need for words repeated 

Six months on we remain elated

Professor Clarke you must be congratulated."

Liz Wo revealed herself as the Mystery Toastmaster. 

Time keepers Jennine and Inge advised that we were running late, so Rhys and Monica generously offered to forego their short segments. 

Dave gave  encouragement and suggestions in his General Evaluation.

Dave

The evening's awards went to Harry (Best Speech,) Liz Wo (Best Evaluation,) Amanda (Personal Best,) Del (Best Contribution,) and Annette (Best Table Topic.)

Award winners

Don't forget, if you are attending the Metro Division Conference, You will need to send your payment to Nicole as soon as possible.

And Semi Annual fees will need to be paid either next meeting or the meeting after.