Meeting 1136 - "Cats or Dogs"

There are exceptions to any rule, but Paul gave us ample examples of his comrades at home: a dog and a cat. We also learnt why you should set an alarm clock when patting a cat and how loud a dog can snore.

 

 

The meeting was called to order by Sergeant at Arms Helen, who not only gave us the mission statement, but also a circus joke.

President Gail H opened the meeting and was honoured to induct our three new cronies to the gang: Will, Liz A and Shaun. Their mentors will be Paul, Liz We and Arun, respectively.

Toastmaster of the evening Paul welcomed us to the meeting by describing a nightly routine at his house.

When he called on Vice President Education Liz We, she was happy to report that we shouldn't have any changes (unfortunately we had to cut one speech in the end).

The toast to "Cats or Dogs" was delivered by John who gave us a choice to toast to just one. There were some loud voices toasting only to one of them, but the majority liked both.

Our new comrade Liz A was up next being the Word Master. The word of the evening was "companion" which Liz A explained was a suitable word since pets can be chums, mates and pals.

Round Robin Master Will posted the question to us: Cats or dogs - what is your preference and why? 

This brought out striking replies with the majority voting for dogs (eight to one), although it must be said that Trish, Helen, Liz A, Gail H and Liz We have no clear preference and had both types as friends in their household. The mob went wild when Trish did use the word of the evening a dozen times.

It was time for our prepared projects:

1. As part of her Question-and-Answer Session (Innovative Planning path, Level 4, elective project), Gail H presented first a speech titled "Making a Project Linus Quilt". After giving us background information about the society, she presented some of her own work and then let us ask her questions about the presentation and topic. It was a highly engaged Q&A with Gail being relaxed while answering. The project and speech were evaluated by Christiane.
2. Trish's speech "Biggest Communication Myth" (Motivational Strategies path, Level 2, project 2: Understanding your Communication Style) made us all think about how we address certain cliques at boardroom meetings. She commented that there is no wrong communication style, but some might work better with the differences between the sexes. (It was taken on by Toastmaster Paul later in the meeting when he gave us the explanation why he prefered dogs over cats because of his cat)
   Shaun evaluated her speech.
3. Marlene presented her speech "Don't Look at the Dog" (Engaging Humour, Level 3, project 1: Engage Your Audience with Humour) with a twist in the story: Her neighbour got her good. Not only did the story fit perfect into the theme of the evening, but made us all laugh when Marlene impersonated her neighbour's dog. We were all amazed on the flip card Marlene used to remind her of the next segment of her story. It was evaluated by Helen.

Since our fourth speaker was stuck at work, Liz We was ready to step in as Table Topic Master to call on:

1. 
   Crony Carmy - Would you spent the money to bring your pet to Australia? Carmy gave us a clear negation, but told us about a time she brought a puppy to Thursday Island for her son. She concluded her story with the sad Good-Bye: when they left Thursday Island three years later, she left the dog behind because of the associated travel cost.
   
2. Ally Will - Would you dress up your animal? Will gave us the suggestion of having a parade of Linus quilt dressed up dogs and cats, but decided that his favourite on his dog was a super-hero outfit.
3. Accomplice John - Which animal would you like to be? After going through options and pros and cons, he arrived as a childhood memory, so settled for golden retriever.
4. Playmate Trish - Which kind of cat would you like to be? Trish expanding our thinking when we hear cat and settled on panther or cheetah.
   
5. Aide Helen - Tell us about a camping holiday with a pet of yours which caused disruption. Helen took her dog to cold Lithgow. Her protector only had to sleep the first night outside the tent.
   

Paul called on Timer Rosie for the Table Topic evaluations and stumped her. He was after the timing.

Afterwards, Carmy presented her raffle: making us laugh by regifting Toastmasters' gifts on the theme of "Tea or Coffee".

 

We used the supper break to purchase tickets (note the notes to see how popular the raffle was), write our well-wishes for Chris (he is currently in hospital with a compound fracture after a motorbike accident), sample some goodies provided by Liz We and exchange news.

The second half was a shorter part with us voting for our awards while Paul told us about his vet sagas (differences between his cat and dog), Liz A reporting on eight associates using the word (with Trish being the winner), Rosie giving us her final timing report and Carmy asking John to draw the raffle (with Trish being the winner).

 

 

 

 

To conclude the meeting of our fraternity, Gail reminded us about the next meeting being contest night as well as handing awards to:

Best Speech - Marlene

Best Evaluation - Shaun

Best Table Topic - John

Most Improved - Will

 

 

Our next meeting on September 12 will be our Humourous Speech and Table Topic contest night.

Meeting 1135 - "Showtime"

The Royal Brisbane Show, affectionately known as "The Ekka", was on last week, so dazzling Toastmaster Liz grandly took the opportunity to give us impressive statistics about its wondrous beginnings and the remarkable journey onwards.

Extraordinary Sergeant at Arms Helen called the meeting to order before reading the mission statement. She then told us a conspicuous Dad joke (or should that be a Mum joke?).

Prominent President Gail H opened the meeting.

Stunning Toastmaster Liz We firstly called on Vice President Education to find out about any changes to the meeting order. For those members who printed the program after 3pm, there were no changes.

The Toast "To our speakers tonight" was held by charming Carmy.

Wonderful Wordmaster Michael gave us "Striking" with a handicap for dynamite Trish to give us all a fair chance.

Afterwards, compelling Gail H introduced us to the fascinating topic of the Round Robin: Which is your most favourite (or worst) ride at a show?

Can you tell, that some members had the same favourite ride?

What was also noteworthy, is the laughs that some responses got when we were reminded of rides long in the past.

It was then time for the impressive prepared speeches:

1. Arun presented his Icebreaker speech titled "I am not there yet" (Strategic Relationships path, Level 1, project 1: Icebreaker) eminently telling us about his journey within Toastmasters and what it meant for his career change. Jonathon evaluated the speech in detail.
   
2. Trish spoke about "Facebook Live Challenge" (Motivational Strategies path, Level 1, project 4: Researching and Presenting) and gave us exceptional tips to re-purpose and leverage knowledge/ words we already have. The presentation was earnestly evaluated by Jonathon.
   
3. Chris introduced us to a medical innovation with his speech "Anti-D" (Innovative Planning path, Level 3, elective project: Using Descriptive Language) by evidently utilising descriptive words. It was carefully evaluated by Christiane.
   

What better raffle price than your own show bag to take home? Liz We enticed us through and through with abundant chocolate selections and a bottle of wine to wash it down.

Telling Timer Helen kept us on time throughout the meeting, so we were able to go into supper ahead of time.

 

This gave us ample time to purchase raffle tickets as well as sample the fascinating goodies provided by Carmy and Trish. 

 

To Reply or Reply all, this is the question: In her soapbox segment, Christiane tremendously made us aware of her two biggest annoyances when it comes to email etiquette: subject line should match the body of the email plus when to use reply (to thank an officer for their report) or reply all (when asked for volunteers for a task).

Gail W ran the Table Topics segment stunningly. She called on:

1. Arrestive Arun - What is the silliest purchase you have ever made? Face cream, but not realising for what it was.
   
2. Telling Trish - What Family Tradition do you still follow? She is intensely focused on Christmas: a different T-shirt on every day in December, full turkey feast on Christmas Day.
   
3. Lofty Liz We - What was the most scary amusement ride you’ve been on? She meticulously told us about a roller coaster ride as well as running after special needs children up the Helter skelter ride (and needing to come back down)
   
4. Compelling Carmy - What is the worst junk food experience you’ve had? Her sister gave her fruit fritters, not realising that it had pineapple in it. Because of her food allergy, she had to assiduously suffer the consequences.
   
5. Jazzy Jonathon - What is your opinion of fireworks and the costs associated with them? Don't allow the magic of fireworks be stopped.
   
6. Memorable Michael - What is your favourite breed of dog and why? After tossing options around reputably, he surprisingly took a raincheck on the decision.
    

The responses were efficiently evaluated by Christiane and Gail H.

Handsome Wordmaster Michael reported that his "right hand was kept busy" during the meeting noting the excessive usage of "striking". Due to the handicap awarded to Trish, Liz We just took the lead by a insignificant margin.

Marlene was our General Evaluator and summarised the meeting prominently, giving outstanding suggestions to various roles.

When it came time for the raffle draw, Raffle Master Liz We asked our guest Daniel (who attended the second half) to draw the winner: Beautiful Helen.

 

In her closing remarks, cogent President Gail H reminded us of the Speak-a-thon next Tuesday as well as of the upcoming contests.

She also asked guest Daniel for feedback, before she awarded:

Best Speech - Arun

Best Evaluation - Jonathon

Best Table Topic - Liz We & Jonathon

Most Improved - Michael

Sandgate Toastmasters is meeting on August 29 (fifth Tuesday) for a Speak-a-thon.

Meeting 1134 - "Change or be Changed"

Learn to transform within an ever-evolving world or you might be "forced to be changed" were the opening words of Toastmaster Arun when he first explained the topic to Sandgate Toastmasters and its guests.

The meeting was called to order by Sergeant at Arms Helen with a slight alteration: she welcomed our first-time guests Liz and Amit as well as our returning guests Will and Shaun.

Upon popular request, she cited half an explanation (leaving us in suspense until after supper) of railway gauges.

Helen then read the mission statement before handing to President Gail H to open the meeting.

Gail H thanked all members who participated at the Einbunpin Festival and was glad to see guests from the stall.

Toastmaster Arun first called on Vice President Liz for the program changes who was overjoyed that there were no mutation necessary.

Next, Rosie gave us the toast "To Courage" which is the second line of the serendipity prayer.

Subsequently, Chris presented a challenging word of the evening with metamorphosis meaning a profound change of form or structure.

In the Round Robin led by Carmy, we were encouraged to answer the question: "What positive changes have you made in your life?" It shows that the question brought a lot of interest, since all of our guests also spoke on the topic with answers ranging from health (activity level and diet) over household chores and changing taps to marriage and career changes.

In our speech segment, we were treated to an Icebreaker, followed by two speeches.

1. Michael told us an emotional snippet about his own life in his speech "The highs and lows of horse racing" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 1, project 1: Icebreaker) with a few open ends to be closed in his future speeches. The speech was evaluated by Paul.
   
2. Helen finished her speech titled "Humble Beginnings" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 1, project 2: Writing a Speech with Purpose) about the tulip with a question to us all: "How can we idolise a thing?" Rosie evaluated the informative speech by encouraging to spend more emphasis on the opening and conclusion to help the audience remember a speech.
   
3. Christiane's speech "Attracting more... (Fill in the blank)" (Persuasive Influence path, Level 4, elective project: Public Relations Strategies) was a reflection on her public relations plan for Sandgate Toastmasters' social media campaign. It was evaluated by Gokul who was referencing back to his opening segment of which purpose Christiane's speech should fulfill.
   

Arun presentation of his raffle was a very short variation, but he took it with humour when his transfiguration was pointed out.

Throughout the evening, Gail W kept us running smoothly by using the timing lights and giving us brief timing reports.

At the supper break with supper provided by Jonathon and Christiane, we were able to eat, drink, catch up and laugh together.

The second half of our meeting started with the promised completion of the railroad gauges by Helen before it was time for Table Topics.

Table Topic Master Jonathon called on:

1. Gokul - "The greatest discovery of all time is that a person can change his future by merely changing his attitude." Does it strike a chord with you? - Yes, especially for him when it comes to electric cars.
   
2. Narelle - Can you share a time in your life when you chose to change something about yourself? What inspired that change, and what did you learn from the experience? - Cutting six-weekly hairdo expenses for functions helped her to save a deposit for a house.
   
3. Chris - Leaders often are agents of change. Can you speak to a time when you've influenced others to change their thought or behaviours? Or, conversely, when someone has profoundly changed you? - He spoke of his retired work colleague and how Chris has learnt that the fun stuff at work also entails paperwork.
   
4. Rosie - Our tastes in food, music, or hobbies can change as we grow. Can you tell us about something you used to dislike but now enjoy, or vice versa? What prompted this change? - She used to love eating pork (even with poo), but now dislikes it because it doesn't agree with her tummy. She used to dislike oysters, but her husband has introduced her to a delicious version.
   
5. Christiane - Can you tell us about a time when you moved to a new city or country? How did you adapt to the change, and what were the most memorable experiences? - Coming to Australia, firstly standing corrected by her coordinator, then not being able to distinguish between acceptable phrases and trade language.
   
6. Liz A (guest) - Have you ever taken up a new hobby or learned a new skill that changed your daily routine? Can you share your journey and how it made you feel? - Growing up, she wasn't allowed to do sport, because she had to learn how to run a household. With her move to Brisbane, she has taken up Crossfit and loving it.
   
7. Shaun (guest) - Technology is often a driver of change in our lives. Can you share your thoughts on how technology has changed your life, either positively or negatively, and how you've adapted to those changes? - Although he built his own computer when he was 14 years old, he can't keep up with technology. Others made triple his income by sitting in front of a ring light.
   
8. Michael - Have you ever tried to change a habit, either by breaking a bad one or forming a new one? Can you share your struggles and successes with this change? - Changing to a dairy- and gluten-free diet made him feel overall better, but is a challenge when going to fast food eateries with his kids.

The above Table Topics were evaluated by Liz We and Marlene who focussed on the use of descriptive language and personal stories, respectively.

Sergeant at Arms Helen collected the votes while Arun gave us more examples what is required to keep up with the amendments.

The business session chaired by Liz We resulted in a moved motion.

Chris reported on the perceived difficulty to pronounce the word of the evening and declared revamped Rosie as the winner.

In her general evaluation, Gail H pointed out the participation of all members in meetings.

Following this, Arun asked guest Liz to draw the raffle winner and brought a smile to Rosie being able to take a gift card home.

President Gail H closed the meeting by asking our guests for feedback with Will, Shaun and Liz announcing to become members. (No pressure for Amit being very welcome to come back and observe as a guest for another time).

Finally she awarded:

• Best Speech to Michael
• Best Table Topic to Narelle
• Best Evaluation to Marlene
• Most Improved to Michael

Our next meeting is on August 22 with a third meeting in August being on August 29.