Sandgate Toastmasters Blog: May 2021

Thursday 27 May 2021

Meeting 1084 "Laughter is the Best Medicine"

It was laughs all the way last meeting. Sergeant-at-Arms Dan opened the meeting with a funny joke, which set the mood for a meeting full of fun and laughter. Dan was also Toastmaster of the evening and kept everyone laughing.

Dan

President Leanne inducted our newest members, Arun, Ted and Narelle (who wasn't present last meeting). Leanne also presented membership badges to Dana, Narelle, JP and Josh.

Dana, Narelle, JP, and Josh

Narelle told a funny story about her young son, and proposed a toast "To people who make us laugh."

Narelle

Word Master John gave us the word "amuse" with its forms "amusing" and "amusement" to use during the meeting. As usual, Trish outstripped everyone with her use of the word.

John

JP presented the Round Robin, inviting us to tell what movie star we would like to see brought back from the dead. There were many amusing responses - even Lassie (the dog) was mentioned.

There were four entertaining speeches. John demonstrated his speaking skills by speaking impromptu on two topics that were chosen by Gail, who evaluated his speech.

John

Gail

Dana presented her first (Icebreaker) speech with great humour, and explained why people sometimes think she is a "Rude Bitch." It was evaluated by Leanne.

Dana

Leanne

Hazel explained the difference between various leadership styles in her speech entitled "To Lead and How to Lead, that is the Question." It was evaluated by Gokul.

Hazel

Gokul

The fourth speaker was Darryl with his funny speech "Bamboozled by Algebra." It was evaluated by Trish.

Darryl

Trish

Time Keeper Josh reported that we were 5 minutes behind, so our supper break was shortened to 10 minutes. This still allowed us to enjoy the delicious food provided by Gokul and to buy tickets in Peter's raffle which consisted of a book, chocolates and wine.

Josh and Gokul

Ted, Christiane and Peter

Gokul and Dan

Table Topics Master Peter called on Ted, Leanne, Arun, John, Narelle and Darryl to speak impromptu on the topics he had chosen, and there were some very funny responses.

Peter

Ted - Favourite TV comedy

Leanne - "Funny if not serious"

Arun - "What makes you laugh"

John - "Sing, tell joke or recite."

Narelle - "Laugh or Cry"

Darryl - "The jokes on me"

The Table Topics were evaluated by Christiane and Hazel.

Christiane

Hazel

Grammarian Monica displayed her listening skills by commenting on many colourful expressions used during the meeting.

Marlene delivered a general evaluation of the meeting.

Monica

Our guest Kylie was asked to draw the raffle and was astonished when she drew out her own number.

Dana and Kylie

The evening awards went to Darryl (Best Speech,) John and Darryl (Tie - Best Table Topic,) Trish (Best Evaluation,) and Narelle (Most Improved.) Note the new trophies!

Award winners 26 May 2021

The meeting finished right on time, thanks to the management of our VPE, Toastmaster, Timekeeper and everyone who kept to their allotted time on the programme.

Next meeting 8th June will be the final one before our Change Over Dinner which will be held on the 22nd June at The Belvedere Hotel, Woody Point. You will need to register if you are coming.

Friday 14 May 2021

Meeting 1083 "Mothers Day"

We delighted to welcome back previous guests Ted and Arun and to be informed that they are both joining our club.

President Leanne welcomed all to the meeting and passed control to Toastmaster of the evening, John.

Leanne

John

John gave us some information on the origin of Mother's Day.

JP proposed a toast to "All mums."

Hazel's Round Robin created some laughter as we were asked to speak about "The worst Mothers Day gift."

There were three prepared speeches. Josh presented his Icebreaker speech titled "I Quit, I'm out of Here!" He used a map as a visual aid to show where he and his wife had gone when they quit their jobs and travelled around Australia.

Josh

His speech was evaluated by Dan.

Dan

The second speaker Tony told how his job as an "asbestos hunter" took him deep inside the Reserve Bank and he became "Nearly a Billionaire."

His speech was evaluated by Peter.

Tony

Peter

Marlene completed Level 2 of her Presentation Mastery path with her speech, "Some Things My Mother Taught Me."

It was evaluated by Hazel.

Hazel

Dan who had been on called on to provide a raffle at short notice, produced a bag of goodies, including a bottle of gin and a scented candle called "Sitting on the Couch doing Nothing." It proved to be a very popular raffle and was won by Gail.

Timer keeper Leanne announce that the meeting was running slightly behind time so the supper break was shortened, but still allowed us time to enjoy the delicious food that Trish had provided.

Gail was Table Topics Master and called on Josh, Peter, Tony, Dan, Marlene and Trish to deliver an impromptu 2 minute speech.

Gail

The topics were (paraphrased)

1. How do you know your mother loves you?

2.What was your mothers favourite music?

3.What is one thing you could do to make your mother smile?

4. If your mother was a cartoon character who would she be?

5. What was the hardest thing you had to do as a mother?

6. What do you do to thank your Mum for being your Mum?

The Table Topics were evaluated by Darryl and Carmy.

Darryl

Carmy

The Business Session followed chaired by Gail which included the Election of the new Club Officers for the coming Toastmasters year, (1st July 2021 - 30th June 2022.)

The elected officers are

President - John

Vice President Education - Marlene

Vice President Membership - Tony

Vice President Public Relations - Leanne

Secretary - Trish

Treasurer - Peter

Sergeant-at-Arms - Josh

Parliamentarian - Trish

Immediate Past President - Leanne

Grammarian Trish said there had been some filler words such as "Um" during the meeting and commended some of the members for their descriptive words and phrases.

Monica presented a General Evaluation of the entire meeting.