Meeting 1133 - "Toastmasters"

You might wonder why Marlene chose the theme of Toastmasters at a Toastmasters meeting. She was very thoughtful: She explained that she wanted us to think about how we will answer the question "What is Toastmasters?" on this coming Sunday at the Einbunpin festival. We had ample opportunity to reflect why we came to Toastmasters and why we stayed - ready to be grilled by the festival visitors to find out more about Toastmasters.

For the first time, Sergeant at Arms Helen called the meeting to order and read us the mission statement.

President Gail H was on fire with her to-do list:

• Opening meeting 

• Report on Club Officer Training
  

• Welcoming first-time guests Daniel & Shaun (have you ever seen anybody be so excited as Rosie to introduce our guest?) as well as returning guest Will
  

• Presenting member badges to Gail W and Helen
  

• Presenting the secretary certificate to Chris
  

• Inducting Michael officially into our club

 

 

 

Marlene introduced us to the theme with the explanation above.

She called on Liz We for program changes - just one small change.

Hazel cross-examined Toastmasters core values of integrity, respect, service and excellence. She toasted to "Toastmasters Core Values and especially Integrity".

It was time for Narelle to present the word of the evening: Toast. Not sure if she was aware, but every time we handed back to Madame Toastmaster, she had to add a tally for each person...

Gokul led us in the Round Robin with "The one thing you love most about Toastmasters" - bringing toasty responses from hype to confidence to learning while having fun. Even our guests were fired up to give their opinion.

 

The three speeches of the evening were presented by:

1. 

   Arun - "What got me here" (Dynamic Leadership path, Level 5, project 1: Reflect on Your Path) received a standing ovation because Arun has completed a path. His take home message was to get out of your comfort zone and put up your hand. The speech was evaluated by Helen.
   
2. Trish - "Meetings - What, Why, How" (Motivational Strategies path, Level 1, project 4 - Researching and Presenting) took us on a journey where meetings originated and how not to hold them. In her evaluation, Christiane pointed out the humour which was used to convey the preparation into setting up a successful meeting.
   
3. Liz We - "Easy: Easy speak as a club management tool" (Visionary Communication path, level 4, project 1 - Communicate Change) which introduced the club to the new program scheduling and how to request roles. Paul commented in his evaluation that although it might be a challenging software, Liz We presented the advantages.

Trying to persuade us to buy raffle tickets, Gail W presented the perfect dinner for two prepared: her secret Bolognese sauce with fresh pasta, parmesan cheese, garlic bread and red wine. Our taste buds were sizzling.

We learnt from Timer Michael that we were running slightly overtime, so the supper break was shortened.

We still managed to buy raffle tickets, prepare a hot drink, stuff our faces with non-toasted items provided by Paul and Liz We as well as catch up with members and guests.

 

 

 

After the break, we went into Table Topics (those impromptu sparks were flying). Gail H asked:

1. Michael - What made you decide to join Sandgate Toastmasters? Improve in speaking to media on daily basis.
2. Rosie - What made you decide to come back to Sandgate Toastmasters? Good place, great people, good training
   
3. Narelle - What have you found to be the most useful about being in Toastmasters? Giving me the confidence that it is ok to make a mistake
   
4. Christiane - Do you really enjoy being in Speech contests? YES, bring them on (since they let you grow)
   

The Table Topics were evaluated by Chris and Hazel commenting on reviewing structure to bring the Table Topic to the next level.

During the collection of our votes by Helen, Marlene was able to impart some more knowledge of her nearly 30 years with Toastmasters.

Narelle gave her summary report of how we used the word "toast" not only within Toastmasters, but also toasty, being toast and having no burned bread within a meeting. The winner was Trish, closely followed by Arun and Helen.

General Evaluator Jonathon commented about the vibe, especially pointing out the double sell strategy by Gail W and the executive call by Gail H to cut down Table Topic questions before he moved into commenting about the evaluations and how to redefine parameters to suit our listening skills.

Rosie kept us on our toes with the Listening Quiz' questions about what we heard and seen tonight. We passed with flying colours - the amount collected was very minimal.

Gail W asked our guest Daniel to draw the winner which was a very happy Paul.

In closing, Gail H asked the visitors for feedback, reminded us of upcoming events (contests, August 29 meeting and Area conference) as well as presenting the awards:

Best Speech - Arun

Best Table Topic - Rosie

Best Evaluation - Paul

Most Improved - Michael

Our next meeting will be on August 8.