Meeting 1124 - "New Caledonia"

It might be a triviality, but don't expect great coffee in New Caledonia. 

Hazel shared many more facts and history tit-bits about the country she recently visited. Those attended are considering those lithium shares from there.

Our stand-in Sergeant At Arms Chris read the mission statement and then amused us by giving us "French" jokes.

Stand-in President Gail H opened the meeting and welcomed guest Hayley. She also had the pleasure to hand a new name badge to Rosie.

Hazel gave us the reasons of selecting New Caledonia and told us also about the convicts' history.

Gail H firstly gave us the program changes, then presented the toast to "People of New Caledonia and the Pacific Islands".

Trish presented the word of the evening as being "Cliché". She told us that the word has French origins and its meaning plus encouraged us to avoid clichés during the evening. In the following, all clichés will be in italic if they couldn't be avoided.

The Round Robin led by Rosie gave us ample opportunity to incorporate platitudes (both in word as well as making them) and the fortunately/ unfortunately story went from kite surfing over packing your travel bags to planes going down. There was lots of laughter as we discovered who not to go on journeys with.

Afterwards, we moved into the prepared speeches:

1. Narelle revisited her imposter syndrome and shared with us how short- and long-term goals help to overcome it in her speech titled "Success inventory" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 2, project 1: Understanding your communication style). The speech was evaluated by Christiane.
2. Arun's project (Dynamic Leadership path, Level 4, elective project: Managing a disruptive audience) was not so much about the speech as to demonstrate how to keep your audience engaged and deal with distractions (phones, comment interjections as well as gossiping). Arun managed well to encourage us to "Be a lifelong learner to stay relevant" in spite of many hard stares and call outs. Trish congratulated Arun for dealing with the rowdy members (which themselves felt out of place since Toastmasters meetings are a place of listening and respecting the speaker).

Paul made connections in his raffle to New Caledonia in that it was French and his items had some loose relation. He sold us.

Chris gave us a succinct timers report (and kept us on our toes during the whole meeting).

We used the supper break to buy raffles, consume the cake and dips provided by Trish and Arun, respectively, as well as catch up what has happened in the last fortnight.

The Table Topics were given by John. He called on:

1. Helen - Did you know that I once ... lived overseas, went to school to Malaysia and endured the smell of a durian

2. Paul - If I gave you $1000 and told you that you had to spend it today, what would you buy? Piece of jewellery (for his wife) and a nice dinner for both of them

3. Rosie - If you could be a famous person who would you be and why? Legal secretary Donna (from a show) because she is so confident

4. Gail W - If there was a biopic about your life, would it be a comedy, drama, action or romance and what actor would play you? Action movie since it would play how she became a ballet teacher; Gail W would play herself

5. Peter - If you knew that you could not fail, what would you want to do? Become the prime minister to stamp out tax avoidance

6. Tony - If you were a piece of paper, how would you like to be used before you are being disposed? Canvas for a talented(!) painter

The impromptu speeches were evaluated by Tony and Marlene.

While our Sergeant at Arms collected our votes (for the awards at the end of the night), Hazel gave us nine facts we should be aware of before visiting New Caledonia.

Paul presented on his executive role as President and told us of his leadership responsibilities. He also conveyed the many rewarding privileges the role gives him which he promptly demonstrated: He inducted our two new members into the club and had Helen and Gail W repeat after him their obligations. Mentors for the new members are John and Christiane, respectively. Welcome Helen & Gail W - we hope you will embrace the Toastmasters culture and enrich our meetings (see above, they both did already)

Gail H also presented on her executive role: Vice President Education. She listed the many benefits of her role and reported what she has learnt over the year. (It is the third time she is carrying out this role).

Christiane presented a new segment: Two truths, one lie. She recounted three short adventure stories, but was busted by many members.

Trish reported on the word usage and encouraged us again to think about the buzzwords we use without even realising.

Peter gave us a concise general evaluation since we were running overtime.

After Chris' final timers report, Paul asked Hayley to draw the raffle. The prize went to Helen.

In closing, Paul reminded us of the upcoming Division Conference on Sunday.

He presented awards to:

Best Speech - Narelle

Best Evaluation - Trish

Best Table Topic - Tony

Most Improved - Helen

Meeting 1123 - "Travel"

A mouse which travels, a bear which startles and a cockroach which scares were all part of the wandering coddiwomple.

Our Toastmaster of the evening John led us through the program with many sayings, anecdotes and statistics about travelling. He also explained the difference of being a tourist and being a traveller.

Our stand-in Sergeant At Arms Chris read the mission statement and followed in the footsteps by giving us a joke in a riddle: What is grey, has 4 legs and a trunk? (Answer see above)

President Paul opened the meeting and welcomed our returning guests Helen and Gail. He then handed control to Toastmaster John.

John firstly listed the benefits of travel (of which there are many), then called on Gail for the program changes. Gail handled the changes sailing smoothly.

(In the following, you don't see double - or triple) Marlene was called for the toast and she proposed it to a "Safe Journey". She then went on as our Word Master and presented us with Coddiwomple which is the purposeful travel towards a vague destination.

Marlene was then able to encourage us using the word of the evening in the Round Robin she led which Peter D had passed on to her. We shared experiences of recent travels which involved a lot of coddiwompling around. This roaming around involved a description being startled by a bear and caught with your pants down.

It was time for the prepared speeches of the evening:

1. Chris developed a strong connection with the audience by giving helpful tips how to sleep smarter in his speech titled "The Magic of 8" (Innovative Planning path, Level 3, project 1: Present a proposal). The speech was evaluated by Narelle.
2. Hazel's speech titled "Fear, Phobias, Consequences" (Innovative Planning path, Level 2, project 2: Connect with your audience) had the audience squirm in their seat while they thought about how they deal with fear. We learnt that Hazel's irrational fear leads her to wishful thinking of all cockroaches being terminated. Paul evaluated Hazel's speech.

 

Afterwards, Christiane presented the raffle which was filled with items to help us on travelling: being identified by being Australian, learning to eat with chopsticks as well as being kept occupied by playing Sudoku.

 

 

In Paul's timers report we learnt that we were running a few minutes ahead and therefore could have a longer supper break to enjoy the snacks provided by Christiane, exchange more news and buy raffles.

The second half of the meeting started with Table Topics presented by Carmy. She called on:

1. Marlene - You have won a 7 day All Expenses Paid Trip Around The World. Who would you take and why? Also where will you go? After some debating with herself, she would take her daughter-in-law (to England).
2. Paul - When you travel for work or pleasure, what mode of transport do you like to use? If it is for pleasure a plane to somewhere overseas, so his SIM card doesn't work.
   
3. Helen - What city or country do you want to travel to and why? Since there are too many on her list to explore new cultures, she will be just happy with anywhere where the pin drops. As long as she is touring, she is happy...
4. John - Describe a holiday from hell that you have been on. Although there were challenges with globetrotting with his backpack in his youth, he recently enjoyed a river cruise in Europe.
   
5. Gail - If you had unlimited funds who would you take on holidays? Gail was certain that trips would involve Canada (to see her granddaughter) and she would take her son and family to Canada as well as bring her daughter and family from Canada out to Australia.
6. Christiane - Tell us about an interesting holiday you have taken with your husband, using 3 modes of transport. All members knew where this one was going: Plane to Germany, train to visit family and get to the Netherlands, riding a push bike through the Netherlands. As an extra (for those planning inter-generational holidays), she mentioned her boat tour through the Netherlands with her grandfather (89) and niece (8).
   

The Table Topics were expertly evaluated by Jonathon and Hazel who looked at the various structures used by the participants and analysed why the structure of comparing, redefining or "flagpoling" the answer worked.

Gail followed with an update on the Distinguished Club Program which is a way of Toastmasters to track how successful the clubs are. There are 10 goals each year (July - June) and we currently sit on 6 - making us "Distinguished".

Marlene's report on "Coddiwomple" was very encouraging: Nearly all members and both guests had utilised the touring word. To noone's surprise, Trish was named the winner.

Trish was called up to give us the evaluation of the whole meeting. She started by calling our President and Vice President of Education forward to present them with the "President Distinguished" (reaching 9 out of 10 goals, see above).

Trish congratulated us on a really organised meeting with really great segments and learning opportunities.

Paul followed with the final timer's report before John was asked to draw the winning raffle (the raffle went to Carmy) and President Paul was closing the meeting. He was elated to learn that both our guests had decided to join.

Paul then presented the awards to:

Best Speech - Hazel

Best Evaluation - Jonathon

Best Table Topic - Christiane

Most Improved - Hazel

Meeting 1122 - "Love"

We certainly cherished the love (quotes) Peter gave us during the meeting. 

We might have not been familiar with the 6 different Greek words for LOVE which Peter introduced us to, but that we attended a Toastmasters meeting on St. Valentine's Day must have you wondering which of those words we should use to express the feeling towards our club.

And wonder we did: Sergeant At Arms Gokul pondered why we came together tonight before he called the meeting to order. President Paul opened the meeting and welcomed our guest Gail.

Peter cultivated a warm feeling while introducing us to the theme with Gail supported the smooth running of our meeting by giving us succinct program changes and an update on the program template changes. Stay tuned for the next one to be amazed!

Sam honoured the special day in his toast by having us toast to "Saint Valentine and love".

Gail presented the word of the evening (picked by Trish): "cherish" and we were able to appreciate not only the meaning, but sample sentences as well.

As our Round Robin Master, Tony nurtured us to use our five senses while answering the question: "What food do you love?" 

It certainly cultivated all members to use more gestures to describe the smell, taste, look as well as the crackling (sound) and texture (feel) of childhood food reverberating our fond memories as well as collecting saliva when imagining a fresh-baked loaf of bread flaking on our tongue or the many different shapes and flavours chocolate is available nowadays.

We moved into our prepared speech section. Both speeches were from Level 5 of the Pathways learning series (which is the highest level):

1. Arun spoke about leadership directed towards the followers "What's in it for me?" with his project being from the Dynamic Leadership path, Level 5, project 1: Lead in any situation. It was aptly titled "WIIFM" and asked difficult questions. The speech was evaluated by Gokul.
2. John's speech titled "Happiness and the Good Life" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 5, elective project: Prepare to Speak Professionally) took us on a philosophical journey treasuring Socrates' insight into the matter and fostering the GREAT AIMS principles of happiness in us. Gail evaluated John's speech.
   

Tony instilled admiration in us by presenting the raffle with lots of humour and not enough chocolate to share (according to his wife).

Hazel kept us on time during the whole meeting and gave us a timers report in which we learned that we would have supper early.

Supper gave us time to catch up, congratulate our speakers, buy raffle tickets and enjoy the mouthwatering treats provided by Jonathon, Gail and Marlene.

 

The business session followed and was chaired by Dan who expertly led us through some treasured procedures.

The impromptu speech segment was led by Chris giving us the inkling that the topics to answer might have something to do with St Valentine's Day or love or both. Chris called on

1. Hazel - What is your favourite way to celebrate St. Valentine's Day? Treating herself to heart-shaped chocolate.
   
2. Tony - Do you consider yourself a romantic? Trying hard for his pearl anniversary.
   
3. Gokul - Tell us about your first date with your spouse. The story went from the first spark in the restaurant and was left open-ended with the scene of being on the beach at midnight.
   
4. Dan - What is the best gift you've ever received from your spouse? Even though there are even some gifts from his spouse in the regift cupboard, the stylish bags make up for that.
   
5. Christiane - Which is the better Valentines gift: chocolate or roses? Neither: a cheese platter or plants/seeds are a much better option.
   
6. Jonathon - What is the weirdest food you've ever eaten to impress your date? The 6-hour investment of eating chocolate cake with rotten eggs ending not well overnight, but resulting in 26 years of marriage bliss...

The Table Topics were evaluated by Marlene and Paul.

Gail's report on the word usage of "cherish" was guarded since the usual contestant was an apology. She congratulated our guest on using the word during the Round Robin as well as the members who were able to use it up to three times.

Christiane as our General Evaluator exposed all the satisfying moments of the evening as well as gratifyingly giving pointers where some caution might be required. Overall, the improved gestures were evident and the supporting structure of evaluations was idolised.

After a final timers report, our guest drew the winning raffle ticket with the raffle going to a smiling Christiane.

Paul closed the meeting by reminding us of the Division Conference as well as the District Conference being open for registration before awarding:

Best Speech - John

Best Evaluation - Paul

Best Table Topic - Jonathon

Most Improved - Sam & Arun

Meeting 1121 - "Back to School"

We might not all remember the warm milk or the slates and chalk (we do have some senior members it seems), but once upon a time we all went  to school. So when Marlene rang the bell for the lesson to start, we all sat up straight and listen to the teacher.

Before the lesson went on the way, we had our Sergeant at Arms Gokul call the meeting to order and our Acting President Gail open the meeting. Since Gail is also responsible for our program changes as our Vice President of Education, she went very efficiently through those varieties.

Then it was time for Toastmaster Marlene to share some school stories between the segments.

She called on Trevor to give us the toast. Since he will celebrate three new years within a couple of months (Australian, Chinese, Thai), he toasted us to "Happy, Healthy & Prosperous".

Sam as our Wordmaster had selected a challenging word with "Melange". He gave us an assortment of example sentences.

The Round Robin was led by Trish and asked us to share "one memory of our school days". The answers were a medley of funny memories and the finest anecdotes. Although it is questionable if the truth was recalled, especially which end of the paper the idiot was on...

 

Our prepared speeches were from a mixture of Pathways paths and projects:

1) Christiane's speech titled "If at first you don't succeed" (Persuasive Influence path, Level 3, elective project: Focus on the Positive) told us about the journey of humble beginnings of all the blessings in her journal.

2) Gokul's speech titled "Dear Evaluator" (Engaging Humour path, Level 2, project 1: Know your sense of Humour) gave us justifications (important!: not excuses) how a speech is crafted in a short time.

3) Tony's speech titled "Leadership in Action" (Effective Coaching path, Level 2, project 1: Understanding Your Leadership Style) gave us a glimpse into the works of an area director and the decisions which need to be made during the (planning of the) area conference.

Marlene kept up her recollection of school times during the evening (and showed us how she learnt letters).

Gail enticed us to buy raffle tickets for a chance to call a hodgepodge of goodies ours. She was kept busy during the break selling tickets.

Jonathon was our time keeper of the evening and kept us on time with his succinct timing reports.

The supper - or as Marlene called it: little lunch - was kindly provided by Gail and Trevor (without photos because we were enjoying the dips and crackers and sweets and strawberries too much).

In the second half of our lessons/ meeting, we were ready for those Table Topics. Jonathon had prepared a potpourri of topics relating to learning. He called on:

1) Tony - "Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." (by Martin Luther King Jr) Is there anything about this quote that strikes a chord with you? => No, since Tony disagreed with the quote and said that true education is how to apply wisdom.

2) Marlene - Think back to your first day of kindergarten. What did you want to be when you grew up? => teacher

3) Gokul - What was your favourite subject at school and why? => history because of the stories and language courses because of the application

4) Hazel - Who was your favourite teacher at school and why? => Mrs Saunders due to her elegant outfits

5) Trevor - What important things should they teach kids at school, but don't? => financial education (and relationships)

6) Sam - What advise would you give your younger self when you had just finished school? => Consider an apprenticeship rather than study (since there wouldn't be a HECTS debt) plus to go out more

The speakers were evaluated by Carmy and Gail.

For her Show & Tell segment, Hazel brought along a nostalgic tin in which her dad had kept all the important documents of his life. She posed an interesting question with it: Did life get more complicated? 

Sam reported on the usage of "Melange" and it was a miscellany of being used in the right context and just repeated several times... The conclusion was that there was no real winner this time which was a dog's breakfast.

Our General Evaluator brought structure though by going through the segments which hadn't been evaluated yet. He congratulated our evaluators of demonstrating the improvement point to make it clearer.

Then it was time for our guest Ana to pick the winner of the raffle - it went to Trevor -, closing reminders of the Club Officer Training and speeches as well as the awards presentation.

Gail presented the awards to:

Best Speech - Gokul

Best Evaluation - Trish

Best Table Topic - Tony

Most Improved - Gokul

Our next meeting is on February 14 which is 3 weeks away.

Meeting 1120 - "Summer Beach Party"

Here it is:

The good - even the bigger room at The Sands Social was filled with laughter

The bad - not everybody got a Table Topic

The ugly - some grandchildren will just miss out playing Yahtzee with grandma

 Nevertheless, with Leanne as Toastmaster a great evening was to be expected!

For our last meeting of the year 2022, president Paul had organised a 2-course meal at The Sands Social. The room quickly filled with members and guests - and the first laughs were heard. The table for the Secret Santa presents and the table for the hamper items filled fast as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Sergeant At Arms Gokul not only brought the Toastmasters gear across to the alternative venue and set up, but also got the first laugh from the crowd with a joke, then read the mission statement.

President Paul opened the meeting and welcomed Moreton District Director Mark and Area Director Suresh. He then welcomed our other visitors: Diane, Ola, Peter, Fiona, Peter S and Sandy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toastmaster Leanne didn't disappoint by opening her segment with a song.

She then called on Gail for program changes: Sadly, Trish couldn't make the meeting, but had given her Christmas Trivia Quiz to her husband.

Chris reflected how quickly 2022 had gone by for him and his family to toast to "Time - where does it go".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liz We certainly had us thinking and celebrating by telling the group our biggest achievement in 2022 (and yes, we were allowed to speak of the negative ones as well).

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was three different roasts with veggies, followed by an alternative drop of dessert.

After dinner, Gokul called us back to order with another Christmas pun before Leanne introduced Peter S to conduct the Christmas Trivia Quiz. His first question of how many reindeers are there in the song had cut the participating group already into half, but he needed to read out a few more questions until it was down to the last three: Jonathon, Sandy and Carmy. Jonathon won the quiz.

 

Then it was time for the Secret Santa segment to begin: Marlene explained the rules while helper Rosie distributed the lucky order numbers. One of those rules allowed to "steal" an already unwrapped present - up to three times.

In summary, we witnessed lots of unwrapping, insider trading as well as the failed attempt to appeal to the heart strings.

In detail, Arun was lucky first (and his present got stolen several times, so you see him unwrapping multiple times).

The bottles were expertly analysed by Rosie, see picture.

For the record, here are the presents which were stolen several times: bottles of various content, Yahtzee game, plant pot, ceramic bird feeder and yes, the clock was also stolen off Carmy.

Since Christiane with ticket no 27 stole Jonathon's wine, he was the last to unwrap a present.

Sadly, the several times "promised" mankini was nowhere unwrapped - or was it just purposefully left in the wrapping/boxes?

"The Incredible Troppo Toppo" followed: John first demonstrated his powers by being able to work out which day of the week members were born. He then went on to write down the sum before asking for numbers for the audience. Thirdly, he was able to "feel" the object that Dan had picked while John was out of the room. Finally he left us with a riddle what he likes and doesn't like - only a couple of people were able to join him (the rest didn't work it out yet, but we have until the next meeting to ask John if we got it right).

Sandgate Toastmasters couldn't have a meeting without Table Topics, so we had a few as well: Carmy was the first to answer the topic given by Leanne who then asked John who then asked Tony who then asked Christiane who then ask Chris etc. (you get the picture)

The excitement was drawn to the raffle draws: Tony and Christiane had packed the goodies into 3 boxes kindly brought along by Narelle. Winners were Paul, Suresh and

After a group photo, both Leanne and Paul closed the meeting and 2022 meetings.

Sandgate Toastmasters is finishing a successful year on a high note. We wish you all a Merry Christmas.

We are meeting again on 24 January 2023.

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.