It's a Girl!!

STOP PRESS

Damian and his wife Colleen have a new little daughter, Amika Alana. Congratulations Damian and Colleen!

A future Toastmaster?

Meeting 833 "Great Achievers"

The most thrilling moment last meeting was when we heard that Jonathon's little girl Sophia had improved enough to go home from hospital. Sophia had been critically ill since Easter and we had all been anxiously following her progress. Sophia and her Mum and Dad are truly "Great Achievers"

New member June presented the word for the evening  "Dexterity." It was used by quite a few people during the evening.

Asoki, our Area Governor attended the meeting and presented a most inspiring address.

President Meriel with Area Governor Asoki.

Meriel, Kylie & Tony

Tony was Toastmaster for the first time, and handled the job with dexterity.

Kylie presented her 3rd Speech. "What I learnt, I learnt in Kindergarten."

Jacqui's speech was cleverly presented like a debate. "To be busy at home is to be Queen of the House." It was her 9th speech.

For his Soapbox segment, Robert gave a very interesting talk about Braille and the man who invented it. He even had samples for us to feel.

I remembered the camera this time & took photos of the award winners at the end of the meeting.

Kylie & Sharyn tied for Best Table Topic

Best Evaluator- Rose

Best Speech - Kylie

Best Contribution - Liz

Encouragement Award - June

Meeting 832 Stepping out of your Comfort Zone

 All three of our scheduled speakers had dropped out last meeting. John and Jacqui saved the day (or evening) by each stepping out of their comfort zone to deliver a great impromptu speech. John was given the quote, "He that plants a tree loves others beside himself." and turned it into an amazing well crafted speech.
Jacqui rushed home to get a couple of props and spoke about "Secret Baskets" which is a product of her mobile beauty business "Pink Pampers."
We also had an educational on "Selecting a Topic."


This was also our Election of Club Officers meeting. The results were:
President: Marlene
Vice President Education: Sharyn
Vice President Membership: Trish
Vice President Public Relations: Kylie
Secretary: Jacqui
Treasurer: Tony
Sergeant at Arms: Rhys
Parliamentarian: John
Bulletin Editor: Kylie
Website: Marlene 

I forgot to get a photo of the new executive, but managed to take one of Monica speaking during the Round Robin. That's Jacqui's "Secret Basket"  in the foreground.

District 69 Convention

John, Trish, Meriel and Leesa attended the District 69 Convention which was held at Caloundra during the May Day weekend.

 Meriel, our club president was proud to carry our banner in the banner parade.

They all had a wonderful time.

Meeting 830 "Anzacs"

Anzac Day is not far away (25th April) so our theme last meeting was "Anzacs."  A special guest was Rose's "Digger" bear, who proudly stood at attention throughout the meeting.

New member Damian was inducted.

Toastmaster Trish presented us with information about Anzac Day and handed out  the recipe for Anzac biscuits.

 ANZAC BISCUITS

• 50g Plain Flour
• 75g Sugar
• 50g Dessicated Coconut
• 50g Rolled Oats
• 50g Butter
• 1Tablespoon Golden Syrup
• 1/2 Teaspoon Bread Soda (Bicarb)
• 2 Tablespoons Boiling Water

Preheat oven to 180C. Mix flour, sugar coconut & oats together. Melt butter & golden syrup together. Dissolve soda in boiling water & add to the melted butter & syrup. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients & add the liquids, mixing well. Roll teaspoonsful of the mixture into balls & place on a well greased baking tray. Flatten slightly with a fork dipped in water. Bake 15-20 minutes until brown. Allow to cool slightly on tray before transferring to wire cooling rack.

SPEECHES

In his speech titled "Terra not so Firma" Dave showed us how land masses are formed and why earthquakes occur.

John spoke about "Poor Performance." The reasons for poor performance, he said were often:

• Poor selection (of employee, etc)
• People who don't know what the job is
• People who don't know how to do the job
• Someone or something preventing them from doing the job.

 -  all of which are results of poor performance of the boss.

NEXT MEETING  will be close to Mother's day, so our theme will be "All in the Family." We are looking forward to a visit from Asoki our Area Governor, and hearing speeches by Damian and Kylie and Asoki and an Educational Session by Sharyn.

Combined Meeting - Easter theme

Happy Easter Everyone!

Easter was the theme for our extra meeting last week. (There were 5 Tuesdays this month, so we took advantage of the extra Tuesday.) Our friends from Peninsula Toastmasters joined with us for a fun filled meeting.

There were plenty of Table Topics, with even our guest Damian joining in.

Chris and Hayden from Peninsula Club each presented inspiring speeches. Chris spoke about "Being a Friend" while Hayden's speech was "Roses and Marshmallows."

In his speech "Show Me," our own member Michael told how he enjoys his role as Sergeant at Arms.

It is time for everyone to start thinking what role they might take on for the coming Toastmasters year. Elections will be held at our first meeting in May. I'll send out a nomination form soon.

CONTEST NIGHT

Meeting 828 gave members the opportunity to raise their performance by participating in a contest.

Firstly, the Interpretive Reading Contest which requires reading text expressively and using gestures to involve the audience. Our members listened to a humorous poem and text from books. Liz won with her brilliant rendition describing a hilarious travelling experience and Marlene obtained second place.

Secondly, the New Speaker Speech Contest, both presenters entertained the audience. Their use of props, the organisation of their speeches and the usage of expressive tones and volume of voice, was impressive. Mark won and Tony obtained second place.

Lastly, important evaluation skills were honed by our members acting in the judging roles. This meeting was very productive in increasing all our skills.

Meeting 827 - "The Wearing of the Green"

We celebrated St Patrick's day at our last meeting. It's a pity we couldn't have kissed the Blarney Stone before answering some Jonathon and Kylie's challenging Table Topics.

Michael won "Best Speech" with his fascinating history of the Osborne Hotel, which was actually the forerunner of "The Full Moon." He used a novel approach, and spoke as though it was in the present. 

 Meriel and Sharyn also presented very informative speeches.

 Guests Louise, Liz and Leonie came for the first time, and Maithri, Chris and Jessica came again. Chris and Jessica have decided to join our club.

Club Officer Training

Meriel, our President, Sharyn, VP Membership and Marlene, VP Education attended one training session in the city. Mark Hunter presented an interesting and thought provoking session which led to Monica managing to persuade Trish to stand on a table (beside a young muscle bound man) on a group of balloons. Toastmaster training is quite challenging.

Speaking Under Water

Toastmasters can talk under water. Liz and Sharyn walked under the Brisbane River in the Clem Jones tunnel and managed to talk allll the way......