Meeting 1146 "Eye of the Tiger"

Put on the spotlight: What we connect with "Eye of the Tiger" might be different for all of us, but Toastmaster Elizabeth chose the theme because it reminded her of having courage and grit to achieve anything if you set your mind to it.

The word "Adversity" was also brought in as reflection of the song.

Sergeant at Arms Helen called the meeting to order, welcomed our returning guests Tracey and George as well as Area Director Suzanne. She also read us the mission statement.

Gail Horne opened the meeting by reminding us of the upcoming events as well as congratulating our executive for attending the Club Officer Meeting. Having 5 executives attend, meant that we have received another point towards our Distinguished Club Program and saw us achieving six out of ten points.

Toastmaster Elizabeth started her segment with music playing - yes, "Eye of the Tiger" -  and also had some boxing moves ready for us.

Vice President of Education Liz gave us the programme changes.

Carmy had two consecutive roles: First, she toasted to "All Toastmasters over the world" because those display courage and grit. Secondly, she also gave us the word of the evening "focus" - to be used as noun or verb.

Liz gave us all a chance to aim our attention towards "focus" when she asked us to share "How determined are you?"

Peter started by sharing that he is resolutely working towards retirement.

Other members mentioned getting their life affairs in order (including super and weight loss), needing a report card to motivate them (if people tell you you can't, just do it!) and spoken in general about personal development.

You might call it stubborn or single-minded, but there was even mention of aligning grand-babies in the same way as your own babies - for a collage. (Good luck we say!)

 

 

The prepared speeches were next:

1.  Shaun's target with his speech "Feeding the Monster" (Visionary Communication, Level 1, project 3: Introduction to Vocal Variety and Body Language) was for us to consider what our hobbies and addictions might cost us. Since he brought a multitude of examples and props for those, see if you can see yourself in some of them. Arun evaluated Shaun's speech.

2. In her speech "Theresa killed the radio" (Persuasive Influence, Level 3, project 1: Understanding Conflict Resolution), Christiane concentrated to share how she is growing in personal conflict situations. It was evaluated by Helen who suggested to have a stronger call-to-action.

It was time for Liz to give us an update on the Pathways development: Toastmasters International will reduce the different paths to six (the most popular ones). Their focal point is easy access, so they are trying to make Basecamp (the website for us accessing Pathways) mobile friendly as well as possible to share straight to social media.

Watch this space: The launch is expected to be in 2024.

Since we hadn't seen enough of Liz yet, her next segment was the raffle, where she sold us on garden items and a bottle of wine to relax after the yard activities.

Timekeeper Peter kept the meeting running smoothly and reported that we were running ahead of time for the first half.

This allowed for a longer break: We were able to buy raffle tickets, sample the treats which Rosie and Christiane had provided, inquire about membership, catch up and yes, pose for the camera person.

 

The second half started off with Table Topics. Table Topic Master Narelle called on:

1. Paul with "Is the 'Eye of the Tiger' a good song to bang out in the car? Why or why not?" - It's an oldie, but a goldie and has great lyrics.
   
2. Rosie with "Have you ever injured your eye?" - Yes, if you count laser surgery.
   
3. Marlene with "What's the best eye colour?" - First was jealous of brave cousins brown eyes, then met "somebody" (special) with blue eyes; nowadays it is her cats' green eyes.
   
4. Arun with "Tigers, love them or hate them?" - LOVE, if they are in a cage or seen on a safari (i.e. he is not in danger)
   
5. Trish with "When have you been described as a 'Tiger'"? - Her husband has seen her transformation from pussy cat to tiger (but still prefers unicorns).
   
6. Tracey with "What's your favourite big cat (lions, tigers, cheetahs, pumas)?" - Tiger since she used to have a small cat with similar patterns.
   
7. Carmy with "Is overcoming adversity important?" - YES, every little step is: leaving the house, attending Toastmaster meetings regularly...
   
8. Suzanne with "Is overcoming adversity in reality TV shows too commercialised?" - YES, only other real people in your life help you overcome adversity. Her 5-year-old granddaughter is an inspiring example to her.
   

The Table Topics were evaluated by Gail W and Gail H - it was going to happen that both Gails got subsequent and similar tasks. We just had to focus, focus, focus...

While Helen collected the votes, Toastmaster Elizabeth called for jokes. Both George and Shaun rose to the occasion.

Even though it had been a while that Sandgate Toastmasters had a business meeting, Paul chaired the business meeting expertly through four motions.

Carmy congratulated all attendants of concentrating through the evening to use "focus" at least once. Helen became runner-up to Trish's 22 times.

It was on Trish to give us the general evaluation, in which she gave us excellent feedback: 

• Helen's calling to attention and her use of a strong voice has everybody paying attention

• For evaluations:

• Don't take pens to the lectern

• Don't introduce new points in the conclusion

• When trying to be persuasive, be really careful of the words used ("I suppose" supposingly doesn't cut it)

• Trish explained the significance of the gavel in the business meeting: it shows who is in control of the meeting

Liz asked guest George to draw the raffle and Helen could take the gardening items home.

Peter's final timers report showed we were running overtime, so Gail's closing was short and sweet. She asked our guests for feedback and both decided to join us as members.

The awards went to:

• Most Improved - Carmy

• Best Table Topic - Trish

• Best Speech - Shaun

• Best Evaluation - Helen

After the meeting was finished, hard work was made light by many hands: Sandgate Toastmasters and (last time) guests were bringing the RSL Club back to order.

Our next meeting is on March 12.