Meeting 1141 "The meeting with no Theme!"

There always needs to be a first and this time we had two: it was the first time that Will was Toastmaster of the evening as well as our meeting having no theme - which did not stop us of having fun! Will did an amazing job of keeping us on track with the next segments as well as summarising the previous segment, you would have never known he was only assigned the role on the day.

Sergeant at Arms Helen called the meeting to order, repeated the safety instructions to the two returning guests George and Daniel and read us the mission statement.

President Gail H had two pleasurable duties after she opened the meeting:

1. She congratulated John, Christiane and Gail W for representing Sandgate Toastmasters at the Area 8 conference. She was also very proud that Sandgate had brought along its banner (as the only club) as well as that our timing lights were used to help the contestants.

2. Gail H had the honour to induct our new members: Paul B and Jean-Paul. Their mentors are Jonathon and Paul H, respectively.

Toastmaster Will welcome us all with a brief history how he became our Toastmaster for the evening (Vice President of Education Liz had a tough job with last minute apologies). He then introduced Will for the toast - himself - which brought more laughter to the meeting.

Will toasted to "the individual Toastmasters", i.e. the members of Sandgate Toastmasters.

Word Master Jean-Paul gave us the word of the evening: Coriaceous, meaning of or like leather. Tough word (see what I did there).

Round Robin Master Paul B introduced the segment with "Remember, remember, the 5th of November" - Guy Fawkes Day. He then asked the members to share an annual celebration we enjoy the most and why. The responses went from Christmas, birthday (even of family members), Diwali, Easter, peak storm season, Chinese New Year back to Guy Fawkes Day (and childhood memories of fireworks).

We had four prepared speeches on the night:

1. Helen put the thinking cap on our head with "Using Critical Thinking in the Workplace" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 2, project 2: Understanding Your Communication Style) with an acronym of RISK as well as new terminology of chunking up/ chunking down. (She announced it was going to be a series of speeches - more to come and learn from.) The speech was evaluated by Gail H.

2. Gokul's speech "My Recent Adventure" (Engaging Humour path, Level 2, project 2: Connect With Your Audience) shared his not so great, good and amazing aspects of his 100 km Cooloola Great Walk. It was evaluated by Jonathon.

3. Arun challenged us in his speech "Why Would I listen to You?" (Strategic Relationships path, Level 1, project 2: Writing a Speech with Purpose) to think about exercising power or authority as well as our active listening skills. John had the delightful task to evaluate the speech.

4. Christiane gave her first speech in her High Performance Leadership project (Persuasive Influence path, Level 5, project 1) which was her vision of the 50 years since chartering Sandgate Toastmasters celebration and how we would "Celebrate in style". As evaluator Gail H rightly picked up, it was a call to action for all members to get involved in the planning of this event.

Raffle Master Helen had a treat for us (in absence of member Dan) and brought us not one, but two alcoholic packages (ice bucket with prosecco and two bottles of wine).

Timer Michael reported that we were running slightly behind for our first half of the meeting.

 

In the supper break, we were able to purchase tickets for the two raffle prizes, sample the big spread of goodies provided by Shaun and Michael and catch up on the news of apologised members as well as find out more information of the speeches.

The second half started with two quick jokes by Sergeant at Arms Helen after she called the meeting back to order.

Table Topic Master Shaun gave us a nice introduction why Table Topics are important and how we could answer them, before he called on:

1. Michael with "If only I knew" that the night in Santorini would lead me to become a father.
2. Jean-Paul with "I want to" present to an audience (and get a better response than my talk to prisoners).
3. Daniel with "The perfect day looks like": getting lots of things done, mum not being angry as well as having a smooth public transport journey.
4. Paul B with "I remember when" I saw the advertisement for coming to Australia and that's why I ended up here.
5. Jonathon with "The world is better off since" I was able to have work, rest and play today.

The topics were evaluated by Paul H.

While Helen collected our votes, Will was able to recite

In his second report as Word Master, Jean-Paul congratulated us of using the word nine times during the evening with Helen and Jonathon tying for first place.

Marlene presented the general evaluation and reminded us all that we should never leave the lectern unattended.

In his final timing report, Michael humorously blamed himself for running slightly behind.

Raffle Master Helen asked guest Daniel to pick the two winners: Gail H and Will were able to take a package home each.

In closing, Gail reminded us of the District Conference on 3-5 May 2024 and early bird registration being open as well as the date for the Division Conference being 10 March 2024.

She then presented awards to:

• Best Speech - Arun

• Best Evaluation - Jonathon

• Best Table Topic - Jonathon

• Most Improved - Will

Come and join us for our next meeting on November 28 with the theme "Honouring our Veterans".

Area 8 Conference - "Journey Together"

It was a rainy Sunday, when eight Sandgate Toastmasters joined many other Toastmasters to celebrate the club's bests to compete with each other. Area 8 comprises of 6 clubs: Bracken Ridge (BR), Healthy Chatterers (HC), North Lakes (NL), Peninsula (Pe), Powerlink (Po) and Sandgate (S). There were 4 contests and 12 trophies up for grabs.

The registration and raffle table were manned by North Lakes Club who were kept busy.

Before the actual contests went on their way, there was a few procedures beforehand: Sue called the meeting to order as our Sergeant At Arms, before handing to James who was our Conference MC for the day.

It was Suzanne's job as Area 8 Director to open the Conference and honour all the dignities in the room. She then went on to the Area Council Meeting where she was supported by Parliamentarian Trish (our member) and Secretary Barbara.

Our first contest was the Evaluation Contest, hosted by Peninsula Club, chaired by Nick. We first heard a test speech by Ian titled "Design Matters". It was evaluated by the five contestants which were Kris (NL), Cheyenne (HC), Monica (Pe), Heidi (BR) and Christiane (S).

 

 

 

 

 

For the awards (with sadly one time disqualification), Nick announced:

1. Heidi
2. Christiane
3. Cheyenne

 

 

 

 

Next on the agenda was our guest speaker Jock Elliott who gave as some very good pointers how to win the World Championship of Public Speaking.

We then had our first break: morning tea, which we took to catch up between the clubs and the news.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next contest was hosted by Healthy Chatterers Club and chaired by Barbara. In the Table Topic Contest, she called on Monica (HC), John (S), Allan (Pe), Heidi (BR) and Hope (NL) with the topic: "If I could try again...".

 

With no time disqualifications, Barbara awarded:

1. John
2. Allan
3. Heidi

 

 

 

 

Next, we heard from Moreton Division (which Area 8 is a part of) Director Suresh who invited us to three upcoming events: Club Officer Training on February 17, Moreton Division Conference (where the winners of the four contest are going to next) on March 10 as well as District 69 Conference on May 3-5 (with registration being open now here).

District 69 (which Moreton Division and as such Area 8 are a part of) Director Denise thanked all members for District 69 receiving Distinguished District last year and being on a very good projection to do so this year as well.

It was time for our lunch break and more catching up time.

After our bellies were full, Conference MC drew the (first and not the last) raffle prize and it was won by Denise.

The Humorous Speech Contest was hosted by Sandgate Toastmasters and chaired by Jonathon. This also meant, he had to brief the contestants. The contestants' speeches were timed by Gail H and Trevor. The Sergeant At Arms was Christiane and the Ballot Counters were John and Marlene.

Jonathon called on Monica (HC) with "Fit For Nothing", Gail W (S) with "Puppy Love", Jonathan (NL) with "Have Kids They Said", Heidi (BR) with "A Bird In The Bush" and Kris (Pe) with "Let It Go". 

 

 

 

Unfortunately, Jonathon had to announce a time disqualification before placing the winners:

1. Heidi
2. Monica
3. Jonathan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had a short afternoon tea break before the final contest: International Speech. It was hosted by Bracken Ridge and chaired by David.

David called on John (S) with "Lessons From a Small Nation With Big Ideas", Allan (Pe) with "The Candle Of Love", Heidi (BR) with "A Steep Lesson" and Jenny (HC) with "Something About Mary".

With no disqualification, he awarded:

1. Heidi
2. Allan
3. Jenny
   

Before closing the conference, Barbara had a plug for Persuasive Toastmasters Club (in formation), Suzanne had various helpers drawing the remaining raffle prizes and thanking the judges and other helpers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sandgate Toastmasters would like to congratulate the two people going on to Moreton Division Conference next year [Allan (in place of John) and Heidi] and wish them good luck in a tough competition.

Meeting 1140 "The Month of October"

 Michael took on the role of Toastmaster for the first time and handled it with great aplomb. He chose the theme "The Month of October" and shared some interesting facts about the history of October.

Michael

President Gail H welcomed our guests Area Director Suzanne, and returning visitors George, JP and Paul. 

Elizabeth proposed the toast, “to well wishes” - with regards to celebrating special occasions like Toastmasters International turning 99 this month and Gail W, Christiane and John progressing to the Area Conference in November. 

The word of the evening chosen by Marlene was "Quotidian" meaning everyday, usual or routine.  Most members managed to use it at least once or twice.

Our prepared speakers all used exemplary body language to convey the emotions in their speeches.

Shaun presented his Icebreaker speech, using a unique approach with different body positions to illustrate his speech. 

"I don't know"

"I think I know"

"I know what I have to do"

Paul gave an insightful evaluation of Shaun's speech.

Paul

Gail W and John T presented the speeches they have prepared for the Area 8 Contests and received some helpful group feedback from club members.

John

John

John

Gail

Gail

Gail W

Gokul was the time keeper. He also provided the raffle which was won by Trevor.

Timekeeper Gokul

Raffle

Elizabeth and Arun provided a delicious supper. It was a good time for a chat.

Supper - I should have taken the photo earlier!

Paul Gokul & Michael

Area Director Suzanne urged everyone to attend the Area 8 Conference on the 5th November.

She also presented Marlene with the trophy she had won (Online) in the Area 37 Humorous Contest.

Suzanne

Marlene & Suzanne

Jonathon had some October related Table Topics for Gail, Marlene, Helen and John.

Jonathon

Gail

Helen

They were evaluated by  Arun and Trevor.

Arun

Trevor

A short business session was chaired by Paul.  Some items discussed were our club's 50th Anniversary Dinner to be held on the 30th April 2023, our Christmas Break Up and the Area 8 Conference on the 5th November.

Helen

Paul

General Evaluator Helen had some helpful comments about the entire meeting.

The evening's awards went to Michael (Most Improved) Shaun (Best Speech) John (Best Table Topic) and Paul (Best Evaluator.)

Award Winners 24th Oct 2023

Next meeting will be on 14th November. (In 3 weeks, because there are 5 Tuesdays in October.) No meeting on the 5th Tuesday this time.

The Area 8 Conference is on Sunday, 5th November. Come and support our contestants John, Gail W,  & Christiane.  You will need to hurry up and register.

https://www.toastmastersd69.org/event/area-8-conference-3/

Meeting 1139 - Evaluation & International Speech Contest

This was the second evening, contestants competed in two contests for a place, so they could represent Sandgate Toastmasters at the Area 8 Conference.

The room was set up, the judges organised and the briefing conducted, before stand-in Sergeant at Arms Marlene called the meeting to order. She ran us through the emergency procedure in case of an alien invasion and read the mission statement.

President Gail H opened the meeting and welcomed our returning guests Ashley, Paul and George, our first-time guest JP as well as our visitors to the club which were to remain nameless until the end of the evening.

Gail H also had the pleasure to hand out medallions to John at the start of the evening for his achievements at the previous contest night.

But then there was no stopping: Our first contest was the Evaluation Contest. It was chaired by Jonathon.

Our contestants were Paul, Shaun, Helen and Christiane.

Part of the contest is a 5-7 minutes speech by a guest, a 5 minutes break where the contestants write up their evaluation notes and are then called in one after the other to present.

The test speech was given by Tracey and was titled "Breathe Through Your Eyes". She even had handouts for the audience.

Timekeepers Gokul and Gail H kept the contest running smoothly with no disqualifications.

Sergeants at Arms Trevor and Marlene ensured that the contestants were seated and well kept out of earshot.

Tally counters Gail W and Michael ensured that the right placegetters were calculated.

The placegetters were:

1. Christiane
   

2. Shaun

3. Paul

After conclusion of the first contest, it was time for Elizabeth to present the raffle. Because of the surprising sporting competitions lately, she brought a bag full of edible goodies to celebrate your wins or drown your sorrows. Laughs were heard when she unpacked a car freshener her son added as well as her loved, but nearly dead aloe vera plant (hopefully going to a new home striving there).

Supper was provided by our Contest Sergeants at Arms Marlene and Trevor and the break gave us ample opportunity to sample the goodies, purchase raffle tickets and catch up among each other, but especially with the guests to the club.

The last club contest for 2023 was the International Speech Contest and was chaired by Shaun.

He called on contestants:

1. Christiane - "That Turned Out Better Than Expected" 

2. John - "Lessons From a Small Nation With Big Ideas"

3. Arun - "What Makes You a Leader"

The timing lights were manned by Michael and Gail H.

Tally counters were Gail W and Paul.

The placegetters were:

1. John

2. Christiane
   

3. Arun
   

To finish the meeting, Elizabeth asked guest JP to draw the winning ticket and John can celebrate his win in the International Speech contest with a bag full of goodies.

In closing, President Gail H thanked the judges by offering a small token of appreciation (we hope you win some money). Visiting judges were Jenny as Chief Judge, Suresh, Kirsty, Mark and Chris. Our own member Trish was also a judge.

Christiane (for Evaluation contest) and John (for International Speech contest and Table Topics contest) will join Gail W (for Humourous Speech contest) at the Area 8 Conference in North Lakes on November 5 to represent Sandgate Toastmasters.

Mark this day into your calendar to come and support our contestants!

We will have a normal meeting in-between on October 24.