Welcome to Guests

Guests are encouraged to attend club meetings, held on the second and fourth Tuesday of the month at The Full Moon Hotel in Sandgate, at no charge. Meetings start promptly at 7pm, so please arrive by 6:45pm so we may welcome you beforehand. Further details can be obtained by contacting sgatetmATgmail.com  (replace "AT" with @ )

We will be in recess until 24th January 2012. See you then!

Meeting 868 "Travel"

Toastmaster Liz Wo welcomed us on board and guided us through a fun filled meeting with the theme of "Travel."

Marlene presented the word for the evening, "peregrinate," which means to travel.  Everyone managed to use the word at least once during the evening.

Round Robin Master Dave asked us to each speak for 30 seconds on  where we would like to travel next.

June's Table Topics were also travel related, and asked Kylie, Liz We, Inge and Rhys to speak about the 7 wonders of the world, hot air balloon, travelling back in time, and a "TRAVLR" number plate.

The Table Topics were evaluated by John.

Robert presented his 5th speech, "Homer's Peregrinations" and told us what is involved in travelling with a guide dog.

Trish's speech was about her love affair with books. She displayed some of her favourite books, including the one she has had published, "Learning can be Fun." 

The speeches were evaluated by Kylie and Annette.

There was time for a second Round Robin. Leesa asked us each to talk about things that had gone wrong while travelling. There were many funny stories and nearly everyone spoke for more than the allotted 30 seconds. It was good to see our guests Andrew and Leonie taking part.

Rhys's raffle, drinking water bottles and a chiropratic treatment proved to be popular. It was won by June.

The evenings awards went to Kylie, for Best Table Topic and Best Evaluator, Liz for Best Contribution, and
Robert was Best Speaker and Personal Best.

This was our last regular meeting for the year. Our Christmas Break Up Dinner will be on the 13th December. If you haven't already done so, please contact Sharyn or Marlene  for payment details.

Meeting 867 Flower Power

We were pleased to have guests at our meeting - Roslyn and Alan from Carindale Toastmasters, and Greg from Bunya Toastmasters.

In the absence of our Wordmaster, Harry rose to the occasion and presented us with the word "Rubicon," He told us of Julius Ceasar's army crossing the Rubicon River and how the phrase "to cross the Rubicon" has come to mean passing the point of no return. A few people managed to use the word during the evening.

In keeping with the theme of the meeting, Round Robin Master Liz (also filling in at the last minute) asked "What is your favourite flower?"

Kerry also used the theme for her Table Topics, "What is your favourite perfume?" "Powerful Flower" (can't remember the exact topic,) "Childhood Memory of flowers" and "Roses are Red..." These were answered by Leesa, Jonathon, Dave and Nicole.

Jonathon presented his 5th speech, " A Strange Dream." The object of this project was to use gestures & facial expressions etc to convey the message, which Jonathon did extremely well.

Our second speaker was unable to be at the meeting, so Dave filled in with two entertaining poems, "The Lion and Albert: and "The Return of Albert."

Liz Wo presented an Educational Session on Impromptu Speaking. You can read most of the information Liz gave us in the excellent article she wrote last year for our blog. "Table Topics made Simple."

Toastmaster Annette followed this up with some extra Table Topics for her lucky victims, Jonathon, Liz, Harry and Dave. The topics had all been used for past contests and were, "If the shoe fits,"  "By Fair Means or Fowl,"  "Every which way but Loose," and "Through the Eye of a Needle."

 In the "Your Choice" segment, Inge read some inspiring quotes from Goethe and Helen Keller and explained what they meant to her.

Marlene's raffle (two books) was won by Sharyn and Dave.

General Evaluator Del found it hard to find points for improvement for the meeting.

New member Michelle was presented with her badge.

Award winners were Dave (Personal Best,) Jonathon (Best speech, and Table Topic)  Sharyn (Best Evaluation,) & Annette (Best Contribution.)

Next meeting will be the final one before our Break Up Dinner. Could everyone please bring their payment for the dinner to the next meeting.

Photos from Area 8 Conference

Atomos - The Story Of The Atom - Toastmasters Speech 2

Which Statement Is True?

"The Entire Human Race Could Fit Into The Volume Of One Sugar Cube"

OR

"I Am Superman"

Is this a trick question?

The Seriousness of Clowns - Toastmasters CC Project 2

This is SERIOUS! Clowns Are No Joke ...

This was speech 2 from the competent communication manual which is about organising your speech.

Meeting 866 "Speech Night"

We are a "Select Distinguished: Club!  In the past year, our club earned enough points to become "Select Distinguished."  Immediate Past President Marlene presented President Sharyn with a ribbon to display on the club's banner.

This meeting the emphasis was on speeches. Dave, as Toastmaster, kept things running smoothly, aided by Timekeeper Leesa.

Meriel's  Round Robin question was "What do you do to calm down before giving a speech?" The answers ranged from helpful to hilarious, eg "Imagine the audience naked" "Prepare thoroughly" "Practise" "Focus on the audience" etc.

Table Topicsmaster Rhys also used speech related topics, which were answered by Elizabeth, Annette, Meriel and Robert.

Trish presented a very informative Educational Session on "How to Organise Your Speech."
Trish likened it to taking a train journey - you need to know your destination. Decide what is your message or aim.

Use three main points in the body of the speech, using the PREP method.. (Point, Reason, Example, Point.)
Summarise in the conclusion and end with a call for action. She made it sound so easy!

The speakers for the evening had evidently used this method when preparing their speech, because all gave an excellent presentation. Melissa gave an amusing talk on "Procrastination." Liz spoke about "The Cube" Jennine's speech was about Clowns and Harry explained the Atom.

Evaluators were Kylie, John, Jonathon, Marlene and Annette

Inge's raffle (a cushion) was won by Trish, who gave a shriek when her ticket was drawn and set Robert's guide dog Homer Barking.

Awards for the evening went to Harry (Best Speech,) Melissa (Personal Best) Annette ( Best Table Topic as well as Best Evaluator,) and Dave (Best Contribution.)

Meeting 865 - My Family Tree

The theme was very popular last meeting. Everyone seemed keen to talk about their family tree during the Round Robin.

June presented the word of the evening "Nucleus" and said her little grandson was the nucleus of her family.

Leesa's and Robert's Table Topics continued the theme of family trees and were answered by Kerry, Liz, Annette and John.

(These photos won't go where I want them!)


Trish was kept busy, filling in as Toastmaster as well as Chairman for the business session.

Elizabeth talked about her family origns in her Ice Breaker speech, and displayed a chart showing her family tree.

Jonathon presented his 4th speech, "I Wish They'd Taught Us That at School." (see video below.)

Marlene's speech was about writing down memories. It hadn't been rehearsed and was not nearly as good as usual. (I can say this - it was my speech! It was a good demonstration of what happens to Toastmasters who think they don't need to practise their speech.)


Raffle Master Dave modelled the scarf that his wife Sandy had made for our raffle.

The evening's awards went to Trish, (Best Contribution.) Liz Wf ,(Best Table Topic) Jonathon, (Best Speech) Elizabeth, (Personal Best) and Liz We (I think) Best Evaluation.



Don't forget, the Area Conference is on  Saturday, 5th November in the Eventide Auditorium, Brighton.  Registrations close this Friday.

Toastmasters Speech #4 - I Wish They'd Taught Us That At School

Speech No. 4 - How To Say It

The objective of speech number 4 from the competent communication manual are to:

• select the right words and sentence structure to communicate your ideas clearly, accurately and vividly
• use rhetorical devices to enhance and emphasize ideas
• eliminate jargon and unnecessary words and use correct grammar

While the focus of this speech should be on word choice, it should also incorporate a strong organizational structure and have both a general and specific purpose as outlined in projects 2 and 3.

Meeting 864 - Holidays

Sometimes, when our group is smaller and there are a lot of programme changes, it turns out to be a dynamic meeting. That's what happened last time. There were numerous impromptu fill- ins and it was wonderful to see our members rise to the occasion.

New Members, Michelle and Inge were inducted into the club by Sharyn.

 The holiday theme was carried through the meeting, beginning with Liz's Round Robin "What is your favorite kind of holiday?"

 Jonathon filled in the Table Topics Master's role & called on Sharyn, Chelsea, Liz and Jennine to speak on Holiday themed topics. June and Harry evaluated the Table Topics - it was the first time as Evaluator for both of them.

 New member Melissa presented her IceBreaker Speech, "What's my Label." She spoke about various labels that could describe her and finished with the conclusion that she was "indefinable."

 Dave gave an Interpretive Reading of the poem "Ullysses."

 Marlene filled in the Speech 3 slot with a creative session, & had people using their vocal variety skills to portray emotions - eg anger, amazement, sadness, joy, & mysteriousness. Sharyn carried this idea further when we still had some time at the end of the meeting and got everyone to try some of the exercises from the "Your Speaking Voice" booklet.

 As another "fill in" Jonathon spoke enthusiastically about his plans to put club videos on YouTube.

 New member Elizabeth bravely took on a role at short notice and told a couple of short anecdotes from her childhood.

 Chelsea introduced us to a new word "Schadenfreude" which means to find amusement in another's misfortunes. Inge, having come from Germany, was able to correct our pronunciation. Four people managed to use the word during the evening.

 Awards for the evening went to John & Jonathon, (tie - Best Contribution) Melissa, (Best Speech and Personal Best) and Chelsea. (Best Table Topic.) Jonathon was also Best Evaluator.