Meeting 1153 "Changes"

"Changes" was an appropriate theme chosen by John for the meeting, because we are nearing the end of our Toastmaster year and will soon have a new Executive team. We also had some unexpected changes to our meeting programme. 

S.A.A Helen called the meeting to order and President Gail opened the meeting.

Helen

Gail

Toastmaster of the evening John had some inspiring quotes to start the meeting on a high note. 

Tracey presented the toast, "Embracing change and endless possibilities."

John

Tracey

Wordmaster Peter had a new challenge for us - to avoid the word "learnings" with a penality of 2 points if used and 1 point gained for using the words "lessons" "learned" "insights" and "wisdom."

Peter

Russell

Russell presented the Round Robin warm up session with the question, "Who would you like to change places with for one day?" Some of the answers were, Shakespeare, Helen Keller, a Tour Guide, Taylor Swift, David Attenborough, and Jonathon's cat George.

In the absence of two prepared speakers on the programme, John rose to the occasion and presented one of his humorous speeches from a past meeting, "How John Saved Brighton" and Helen gave an impromptu speech on "Changes."

John

Helen

John's speech was evaluated by Will. (Will's first time as Evaluator) and Helen's speech was evaluated by Gail H. 

Will

Gail H

Marlene presented an Educational Session on "When you are Table Topics Master."

Her main points were: 

Keep the topic questions brief. No more than one simple sentence.

Give topics to member without a meeting role or with a minor role before calling on those with a major role.

Have easy topics for new members.

Arun was the Timekeeper.

Arun

Raffle Master Will offered a generous voucher for a meal at The Full Moon Hotel and was kept busy selling tickets during the supper break. 

Thanks to Peter for the delicious supper.

Helen & John enjoying supper

Peter provided supper

This was followed by a Table Topics session run by Amy (Her first time as TT Master.) 

Amy

Her topics were :

"What childhood trend or fashion would you like to bring back?" Narelle

"What childhood superstition or belief did you have?" Marlene

"Advice to your younger self" Peter.

"What in your childhood do you wish you could make come back?" Gail H

"What is a favourite childhood memory and what makes it special?" Tracey

"What was the most embarrassing thing you did as a child?" Will

"What did you do as a kid and wish you could still do?" Jonathon

Can't remember what Arun's topic was.

Tracey

 

Arun

Will

Jonathon

Peter

The Table Topic Evaluators were Gail W and Helen.

Gail W

Helen

Jonathon gave a thorough evaluation of the entire meeting.

Jonathon

The lucky winner of Will's raffle was Arun.

Marlene conducted a quiz to see how well everyone had been listening during the meeting. 

Award winners of the evening were Helen (Best Speech,) Jonathon (Best Table Topic,) Amy (Most Improved,) and Will (Best Evaluation.)

Award Winners 11 June 2024

Next meeting on the 25th June will be our Changeover meeting when the new club officers will be inducted. Instead of a dinner this year (because we recently had one for our 50th Anniversary) we are going to have a longer supper break with pizza.
 
Club Officer Training will be held on the 13th July at the North-East Baptist Church, Nundah. 

Meeting 1152 "Laughter is the Best Medicine"

 We always  have a laugh at our meetings, but this one was especially dedicated to laughter. Our Toastmaster of the evening Chris had chosen the theme "Laughter is the Best Medicine." He was equipped with plenty of jokes and funny stories.

Chris

Marlene proposed a toast to "The gift of Humour."

In the absence of our Word Master, Rosie came up with the word "Eloquence" (not "elephants" as someone thought she had said) and it was eloquently used at least once by most members. Trish managed to use it 14 times!

There were more laughs when Marlene introduced the Round Robin, inviting everyone to share something that had made them laugh.

Rosie

Trish

George

Gail W presented an amusing speech titled "Hutcheson Street." As she described them, we could easily picture the characters who had inhabited the street where she grew up. This speech completed Level 1 of the Presentation Path that Gail is working on. It was evaluated by Peter.

Gail W

Peter

John's speech "The Perils of Long-Haul Flights" was another laugh provoking action filled speech.

It was the " Know Your Sense of Humour" project from the Motivational Strategies path.

Paul evaluated John's speech.

John

Paul

The timekeeper was Carmy. 

Carmy and Paul

John provided the raffle, consisting of  a bottle of Rosette wine, Chocolates, Scratchit Tickets and a book on Public Speaking  by Ralph Smedley. The lucky winner was Jonathon.

Supper provided by Arun and Tracey was enjoyed by all.

Supper (Gail & Trish in foreground)

A short Business session was held by President Gail H to ratify the new executive members and to elect a President for the coming Toastmaster year. (1st July 2024 - 30th June 2025)

Helen was elected as President.

Helen - Our incoming President

Other positions are: 

Vice President Education - Christiane

Vice President Membership - John T

Vice President Public Relations - Marlene

Secretary - Gail H

Treasurer - Will

Sergeant-at-Arms - Narelle

The merriment continued with Table Topics selected by Jonathon for Marlene, Tracey, Peter D, Gail W, Rosie, John T, Paul and Trish.

1. What is the funniest thing you've ever heard a child say?

2. Describe the funniest thing you have seen on social media.

3. Imagine you've just been involved in a funny incident at supper tonight. Tell us about what happened.

4. Brisbane council has decreed that all residents must laugh out loud for 5 minutes each day. Are you for or against this and why?

5. If you were a stand up comedian, what would your act be about?

6. You've been granted a comical super power. What is it and how would you use it?

7. Sometimes a catastrophe is funny after the fact. What's something that went horribly wrong for you , that hindsight has made amusing?

8. What is the most ridiculous fashion trend you've ever tried?

Peter

Gail W

Rosie

Jonathon

Trish

They were evaluated by Arun.

Arun

 Helen  presented an evaluation of the entire meeting. She reminded us to stay at the lectern to hand control to the next speaker and demonstrated this by staying to hand control back to Toastmaster Chris.

President Gail presented the awards to the winners for the evening: Tracey (Most Improved,) Arun (Best Evaluation,) Trish (not in photo - Best Table Topic,) and John (Best Speech.)

Award Winners 28th May.

Next meeting: Tuesday 11th June.

Meeting 1151 "Brothers and Sisters"

 We have had a slight change of venue. The RSL Sub Branch Hall is being renovated, so the RSL have kindly allowed us to use their main hall next door.

RSL Hall (on left) next to Sub Branch Hall
12 Burnett Place, Sandgate

We had no trouble finding our new temporary meeting place this week. Seating arrangements were a challenge, resulting in a poor vantage point for the photographer, but we will improve next time.

President Gail inducted our two newest members, Tracey and George.

Tracey & George inducted

Gail also presented John T with a Triple Crown badge for completing 3 education awards in a single year. ( I think this is his third Triple Crown!)

Another Triple Crown for John T

Peter

Toastmaster Peter had chosen the meeting theme "Brothers and Sisters" and had some entertaining stories for us.

Gail W

Tracey

Gail W proposed a toast to "Brothers and Sisters."

New member Tracey presented the word for the evening - "Kinship" and explained its meaning and origin.

In Amy's absence Gail H introduced the Round Robin Warm Up session with Amy's suggested topic, "Share a fond or forgettable memory you share of your brother or sister growing up." There were some amusing anecdotes.

There were 2 prepared speeches. In Shaun's speech "Chasing the Dream" he spoke about about his passion for storm chasing. His voice and emphatic gestures portrayed his enthusiasm.

It was evaluated by Chris.

Shaun's speech

Evaluator Chris

Jonathon's speech "HELP" was about mentoring.  One of his points was that as well as the mentor offering and giving advice, the mentee needs to ask and be willing to receive it.

Jonathon's speech was evaluated by Arun.

  

Jonathon

Evaluator Arun

Marlene provided a raffle which consisted of  a boxed set of body lotion & handcream, 2 paperback books and a tea towel. It was won by Will.

President Gail surprised Marlene by making a presentation of a plaque to commemorate her 30 years in Toastmasters.

Gail presented Marlene with 30 year plaque

This was followed by supper supplied by Will and George - and  a most delicious cake made by Christiane to commemorate Marlene's 30 year membership.

Cake made by Christiane

A business session was chaired by Gail H. The main business was the election of Club Officers for the coming Toastmaster year. (1st July 2024 - 31st June 2025) The following nominations had been received.

President - Still vacant

Vice President Education - Christiane

Vice President Membership - John T

Vice President Public Relations - Marlene

Secretary - Gail H

Treasurer - Will

Sergeant-at-Arms - Narelle

As there were not quite enough members present for a quorum, the positions will be ratified at our next meeting.

Chris conducted a lively session of Table Topics, all related to the theme of the meeting.

1. Do you have a nickname for a brother or sister? - Arun

2. My family is crazy.- Narelle

3. Do you have a brother or sister who is smarter than you? - Marlene.

4. When and where were you proud of your family? -Tracey.

5. What was the longest trip you took with your family? - Carmy.

6. How did you rebel against your parents? - Gail H

7. Which family member would you choose to be with on a deserted island? - Shaun.

8. If you made a movie about your family what genre would it be and who would you choose to play your part? Gail W.

Table Topics Evaluators were Marlene and John T. 

Will gave a report on the times.

John T

Will

Carmy gave an evaluation of the entire meeting. (Her first time as General Evaluator.)

Carmy

Winners for the evening were Jonathon (Best Speech,) John T (Best Evaluation,) Tracey (Most Improved,) and Narelle (Best Table Topic.)

Award winners 14 May 2024

Next meeting will be on Tuesday, 28th May.