Meeting 1118 - "Did you hear the one about ..."

 

Unquestionable, Paul didn't miss the opportunity to tell us Dad jokes - some more appropriate than others...

Like the Facebook post promised: "Paul will surely lead us through an evening with a lot of laughter - just think tall tales times three!" Did we ever laugh so much and hard?

The meeting was called to order by Sergeant At Arms Gokul who shared with us how important optimism is in our outlook in life and how we can turn any situation into positive - just by looking at the positive side of it.

Paul opened the meeting and had the privilege to induct our two new members: Sam and Rosie. What a joy it is to be remembered of the Toastmasters promises.

Paul then handed to the Toastmaster of the evening - himself :).

He then called on Gail for program changes, followed with her toast to "all those who fail, but don't give up".

Word Master John gave us "incredible" and "incredulous".

The Round Robin was started by Christiane who made it an "unfortunately"/"fortunately" story by starting us off with: "Sandgate Toastmasters has joined other clubs camping at Wivenhoe dam for the district conference." Fortunately, our members are incredible with coming up with ideas. Tony's gesture of "coming out at both ends" will certainly stay in our memory. John was able to get all the members onto their feet and repeat far-fetched rhymes after him.

Paul then called on our interpretative readers:

• Hazel read the first chapter from "Crystal's vision"
• Christiane read the nursery story "Billy Goats Gruff"
• Marlene read a portion of "Anne of Green Gables"

All three readings were group evaluated led by Gail. Gail pointed out how members were able to develop marvelous vocal variety when they were not trying to remember the words of their speech. Jonathon was able to remind us of how stance can change tone. Tony pointed out how the five senses were stimulated with the stories.

Then it was time for Hazel to sell the best (most awe-inspiring) raffle of the year. Jonathon in his general evaluation pointed out that Hazel used "linguistic programming", especially by double closing with the help of Paul.

Hazel started off by giving us a problem we might face (not being prepared for Christmas), followed by her giving us the solution (she went shopping for us) and emphasize why it would be helpful. She also promoted more hype by giving us a bonus item ("but wait there is more") and a special offer. As the photos show, there was a constant line up for buying raffles throughout the supper break.

Gokul gave us an extraordinary timers report which also advised us that we were running early in the meeting.

In the supper break which followed, we were able to exchange skeptical facts, reflect on absurd requests and share outlandish stories. Supper was supplied by Christiane and John.

The meeting was called back to order by Gokul who started the second half with a quiz - and stunned some members.

Paul was able to remind us what "Tall Tales" are all about before giving the floor to: 

 

 

 

 

Peter with "The Ghost with no feet" - what a improbable twist at the end!

John with "Incredible Toppo" - incredulous magic tricks galore

Marlene with "Snip, snip" - the cringing of the audience should be enough insight how preposterously hilarious the speech was

Gail led another group discussion on the tall tales starting off by giving us the judging criteria on the contest rules.

It would be an absurd Toastmasters meeting without Table Topics, so Arun as Table Topics Master made sure we were given some scenarios to finish the story:

"While walking my dog one day, I noticed some movement in the bush. When I looked closely what I saw", Rosie finished with a woman weeing

"I was lonely one night, staring at the stars and suddenly one star started talking to me and said", Jonathon finished with "You are not alone"

"I was not scared of challenges in life until the day", Paul finished with personal reflection of him joining Toastmasters

"There are always two sides of a coin, I learned when", Sam finished with his encounter of a bully

 

The Table Topics were evaluated by Tony.

Jonathon was our General Evaluator who congratulated us on the fabulous vibe, the convincing Toastmaster of the evening, the credulous evaluators (praising Gail on her intuition to bring in time in the second group evaluation since she noticed that we were running behind) and the outstanding presenters in all the other segments.

 

Timer Gokul gave his final timers report, before it was time for Paul to draw the raffle (won by Gail). The Toastmaster then handed back to the President who reminded us of our upcoming Christmas Dinner on December 13 (in lieu of our normal meeting) at the Sands.

The awards of the evening went to:

Best Table Topic - Sam

Best Presentation - Marlene

Most Improved - Sam

(Tony won the Best Evaluator award in our hearts being the only evaluator of the night, i.e. we don't count group evaluators)

 

We will have our Christmas Dinner in lieu of the next meeting, then take a break over the Christmas season and return for our first meeting in 2023 on January 24.