Meeting 877 "Magic" & Elections

Congratulations to our newly elected Club Officers, who will take on their new role from 1st July.

President: Annette
Vice President Education: Marlene
Vice President Membership: Liz We
Vice President Public Relations: Jennine
Secretary: Sharyn
Treasurer: Kylie
Sergeant at Arms: Maureen
News Bulletin Editor: Melissa
Parliamentarian: John S
Web Site Coordinator: Marlene

The theme of the meeting was "Magic." Maureen proposed a toast to the Magic of Toastmasters.

Trish presented the club with two new ribbons to attach to the club banner, one for attending the District Convention, and one for achieving Distinguished club status by April.

Nicole's word for the evening was "Illusion" She gave some examples of illusion, including the fact that if you cross your index and middle fingers and rub your nose, it gives the illusion that you have two noses. Of course, some people had to try it out.

Rhys continued the theme in his Round Robin, asking us to speak alternately on the positive or negative aspects of magic. This evoked many unusual topics, ranging from the syzygy of the moon to the Federal Budget. 

 It was a very full programme and Dave proved to be an efficient Toastmaster of the evening, keeping things moving along briskly, but still slipping in interesting information about magic.

Sharyn's Table Topics were a challenge for her victims Jennine, Marlene, John T and Amanda. "With a little bit of Magic I could...," "Shazzam, just like Magic!" "Starlight, Starbright, first star I see tonight," and "A Magical piece of Music, Movie, or Book."

Table Topics Evaluator Liz We had encouraging comments for all participants.

There were three speeches. Inge presented her Icebreaker speech, which was a moving account of her early years in Germany, when the war interrupted her happy childhood, and some members of her family were killed and others sent to prison camps. Inge ended her speech on a happy note, telling how she met and married her husband.

Melissa's speech was "Urban Myths and the Illusion of Everybody." It was her third speech.

Trish's speech was also topical. "It's Magic." Trish is an advanced Toastmaster and is working on yet another Communication and Leadership Manual.

The speeches were evaluated by Leesa, Kylie and Harry. 

The Business Session was chaired by John S, who kept firm control and insisted that any remarks be addressed through the Chairman.

Ernie told a joke about Van Gogh's Family Tree, which includes a dizzy aunt, "Verti Gogh," his brother who ate prunes, "Gotta Gogh," Grandfather from Yugoslavia, "UGogh," a bird loving Uncle,"Flamin Gogh," a Disco Dancer, "Go Gogh" etc.

Grammarian Annette commented on the Ums & Ahs, also the use of  "and" as a filler. She commended Melissa on her use of words in her speech. 

Elizabeth's raffle was won by Liz We. It was a bag of assorted items, perfume, scented candle, tea towel ...and packets of cold water jelly.

Time Keeper Del warned that we were running overtime, so Jonathon was concise with his General Evaluation, but still managed to cover everything, and make constructive suggestions.

President Sharyn presented the evening's awards to John T (Best Table Topic,) Trish (Best Speech,) Kylie (Best Evaluation,) Inge (Personal Best,) and Dave (Best Contribution.)

Next meeting we will have our Interpretive Reading and New Speaker Contests.

District 69 Convention

It was very disappointing that the Humorous Speech Contest was changed from Saturday to Sunday.  Sharyn, Annette, Leesa,  Nicole & I were only able to attend on the one day. Besides the Humorous Contest, there were only the four hours (!!!!) of  Business and Elections. Sharyn attended the President's Breakfast.

Trish, Sharyn, Annette, Marlene

The Humorous Speeches were funny and entertaining. Sorry, we didn't bring the trophy home. The competition was just too stiff. The winner was very very good and deserved to win. The second and third place getters were also very good.

                                                               

Phew, the contest is over!

 2 long term members. Annette & Betty Smout

. We were delighted to meet & talk with Betty Smout from the Adventurers Club. Betty has been a Toastmaster  for 37 years. Her husband (who passed away last year aged 105)  was Arthur Smout, the brother of well known local identy, Ted Smout.                                                                                                                      

Meeting 876 "Anzac"

Asoki

We were glad to have acting Area Governor Asoki at our meeting. Asoki inspired us with her presentation about the Toastmasters motto, "Toastmasters, where leaders are made."

There were also three other guests, Narelle, as well as John T and Terry who had been before.

It was the eve of  Anzac Day, so there were many references to the sacrifice & bravery of our soldiers who have fought for our country.

Toastmaster Liz, shared some history and interesting facts about Anzac Day. Wordmaster Leesa, challenged us to use the word "Courage."

While introducing her Round Robin, Inge told how her family in Germany had suffered under the Nazis and invited us to share stories & memories of the war. Nearly everyone spoke over the allotted 30 seconds.

Jennine's Table Topics, which also related to Anzac Day were more of a challenge. Rhys,  Leesa,  Dave and Nicole rose to the occasion.

Melissa

Melissa evaluated the Table Topics in great detail. It was her first time as evaluator.

Dave

Nicole presented her 5th speech, titled "The Thief." using a appropriate gestures to make it come alive. It was evaluated by Dave.


Visiting Toastmaster John T evaluated Harry's speech, "Business Proposal."

John T

Marlene

Marlene presented the speech she will be using in the Humorous Speech Contest at the District Convention, and received a group evaluation with some helpful suggestions.







Trish recited two poems, Anzac Day by D Hunter, and For the Fallen by Laurence Binyon, with the familiar & well loved verse,

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:

 Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,
We will remember them." 

Amanda's raffle was won by Maureen (First Prize) and Ernie. (Second Prize.)

Del reported on the Ums & Ahs used during the meeting.

The General Evaluation was conducted by Asoki.

Timekeeper John reported that most of the segments had gone overtime, but somehow, miraculously our meeting finished almost on time.

The evening's awards went to Melissa (Personal Best,) Harry (Best Speech,) Nicole (Best Table Topic,) John T (Best Evaluation,) and Liz (Best Contribution.)

 Officer Elections next meeting. Please consider taking on an executive role. It's a wonderful opportunity to develop leadership skills.

"You are the person who has to decide 
Whether you'll do it, or toss it aside. 
You are the person who makes up your mind 
Whether you'll lead, or linger behind. 
Whether you'll try for the goal that's far 
Or just be contented to stay as you are. 
Take it or leave it, here's something to do, 
Just think it all over - it's all up to you."

--Edgar A. Guest.

Meeting 875 "Easter"

 

Attendance was low because of the Easter weekend, but spirits were high at the meeting.
We welcomed into our club new member Maureen who was inducted and Ernie who had transferred from another club.  We also had a visiting Toastmaster, John T.

Sharyn

Sharyn was Toastmaster and kept us entertained with some fascinating facts about Easter.
Ernie read the Mission Statement & proposed the Toast. Dave introduced the word "Syzygy," meaning an alignment of 3 celestial objects eg. sun, moon & earth, such as happens at full moon.

Round Robin  Master Amanda asked each one to speak for 30 seconds about a favourite Easter memory. This evoked memories of Easter Egg Hunts, flying model planes, having friends to stay over, scout camps, taking grandchildren to a playground, toy bunnies & chooks. The least favourite memory was of breaking up concrete.

Table Topics Master Robert continued the Easter Theme and called on Inge, Ernie, Liz, & Melissa to speak about Memorable Easters, a weekend in Sydney, and the significance of the the Easter Bunny to Easter.

The Table Topics were evaluated by Dave.

Kylie presented an  information packed speech titled "The World we Live in." She spoke about the effect chemicals in products have on our health.

Kylie's speech was evaluated by Trish.

Maureen's joke about a hospital patient was appreciated by all.

A business session was competently chaired by Del. Topics under discussion included the change of programme for the District 69 Convention and a suggested Interpretive Reading & Novice Speaker Contest. The session was evaluated by Parliamentarian John. John commented on the need to have a hard copy of the minutes at business sessions and a run sheet for the Chairman.

Grammarian Liz commented on our word usage.

Visiting Toastmaster John T conducted a Listening Quiz and asked some questions that would reinforce our memories of important matters as well as trivial subjects.

Leesa's Raffle of Easter Eggs & Scratchit ticket was won by John S. Trish won the mystery second prize. I think it was Body Wash etc.

The meeting was Evaluated by Marlene.

Thanks to Jennine's Timekeeping skills, our meeting finished on time and  awards were presented to Sharyn (Best Contribution,) Trish (Best Evaluation,) Liz (Best Table Topic,) Melissa (Personal Best) and Kylie (Best Speech.)

COMING UP: Officer Elections will  be held on the first meeting in May. Please consider taking on a role, or who you would like to nominate. Being a member of the executive is a fulfilling experience. Talk to any of the current Executive if you would like to know what is involved. More info here. http://www.toastmasters.org/clubofficers.aspx

Interpretive Reading and New Speaker Contests 22nd May. The Interpretive Reading Contest is open to all members. Time 4- 6 minutes.
 The New Speaker Contest is for members who have completed less than six speeches. Time is 5 - 7 minutes.

Meeting 874 Academy Awards - Movie Night

Annette congratulated Kerry

Kerry was greeted with rousing applause last meeting for her victory in the recent State Election.

Leesa

Toastmaster Leesa kept the meeting running smoothly.

John introduced the word  "STARTLING." Later in the evening, he showed us what was startling about the word. By dropping one letter each time  can become:
STARING
STRING
STING
SING
SIN
IN
I

Harry stepped in as Round Robin Master and asked each of us to give a mini  "acceptance speech" for an Academy Award. This brought some laughs.

Del continued the  theme with her Table Topics and asked Robert, Ernie, Maureen & Terry & Steve  (guests)
to speak on topics such as "How to accept an  award," Why should you recieve an award," "How to choose a winner," and "Are Academy Awards worthwhile?"
The Table Topics were evaluated by John.

Annette

Jonathon presented an inspirational speech, "Are you on the Right Bus?"  It was competently evaluated by Harry.

Dave

Dave entertained us with a spirited recitation of Lewis Carroll's "Jabberwocky.


             






Annette had every one's  attention as she  presented an Educational Session about "Meeting Roles."

One of our speakers was away, so a visiting Toastmaster, Terry filled in with a review of the movie "Heist."

Elizabeth

 Elizabeth presented some interesting information about "Lighting." 

Liz conducted a lively listening quiz.

Award winners for the evening were:

Leesa Marshal (Best Contribution)
Jonathon (Best Speech)
Harry (Best Evaluation AND Personal Best)
Maureen (Best Table Topic)

Metro Division Contest

Leesa, Annette and I attended the Metro Division Conference. The standard of the  contestants was very high, particularly in the International Contest.

We had a good day and came home with the Humorous Speech Contest Trophy.

Marlene receiving Trophy from Division Governor Deb Smith

Meeting 873 "Ireland - Going Green"

Welcome to our newest member Amanda, who was inducted into our club by president Sharyn. We also welcomed three guests, Marie, Ernie and a past member, David A.

With St Patrick's Day coming up, our meeting took on an Irish flavour.

Annette was Toastmaster and had plenty of Irish Jokes. Some of them were funny!
Robert introduced the Word of the Day, "Unicorn" then realised he meant "Leprechaun" so we had fun using both words during the evening.

Round Robin Master Liz We asked us to tell what we knew or imagined about Ireland.

Harry had some challenging Table Topics for Liz We, John, Marlene and Leesa. They were "The Luck of the Irish," "What's at the End of the Rainbow" "Murphy's Law" and "Holiday in the Emerald Isle."

They were evaluated by Liz Wo.

Jennine presented an interesting speech about David  Attenborough. Trish's speech was  "Taking the Fear out of Speaking."

The speeches were evaluated by John and Leesa.









A second Round Robin, conducted by Marlene, took the form of a continuing story. It began with Paddy digging in his potato field and took many amazing twists as each person added to it.

The Business Session was conducted efficiently by Nicole. It was her first time as Chairman.

Grammarian Dave congratulated members who had succeeded in avoiding the use of "Ums & Ah's" and commented on some good uses of words.

Jonathon's Listening Quiz was fast moving, with many fines collected.

June's raffle prize of a torch and green bags, was won by Leesa.

Sharyn evaluated the meeting then presented the awards for the evening, which went to Jennine (Best Speech,) John (Best Evaluation,) Nicole (Personal Best,) Marlene (Best Table Topic,) and Annette (Best Contribution.)

We almost didn't fit into the photo and the camera wasn't on the right setting - but our new banner looks good!

Meeting 872 "Success"

"Success" was the theme and it was a successful meeting. Harry was Toastmaster for the first time and kept the meeting running  smoothly.


June injected a touch of humour in her Toast.


Word master Jennine introduced the word "cantankerous."  It  was used by quite a few people during the  evening.


Round Robin Master John asked everyone to speak about the successes they have had.

Liz

Kerry's Table Topics were varied - Nicole was asked to  speak about her favourite season, Jennine topic was about overcoming obstacles, Robert's was about speaking a second language and Liz Wo spoke about a favourite pet.




The Table Topics were evaluated by Jonathon.


Leesa presented an entertaining speech about  a  trip she had made to New Zealand.
Liz We's speech was very topical. "What is Success."


They both had the full attention of their audience.

The speeches were evaluated by Dave and Marlene.


During a refreshing break, we enjoyed the supper provided by Robert 

Elizabeth conducted a second Round Robin and asked "Who in your life has mostly influenced your success?"


Grammarian Nicole congratulated those who had demonstrated good word usage and avoided  "Um's & Ah's" 


Our listening skills were tested in a rather chaotic session conducted by Trish.

Sharyn was the triumphant winner of the raffle donated  by Kerry. It was a block of chocolate  and a bouquet of sunflowers.

Annette

The meeting was competently evaluated by Annette, who had some helpful suggestions. 

President Sharyn congratulated Del on completing her Advanced Manual and presented her with her "Advanced Communicator  Bronze" badge.

Successful award winners for the evening were Jonathon, (Best Evaluation) Harry, (Best Contribution) Jennine (Best Table Topic) Liz We & Leesa (Tie - Best Speech) and Leesa (Personal Best.)

Our guests Amanda, Maureen and Terry said they enjoyed the meeting. Amanda and Maureen are going to join our club. Terry expressed an interest in joining later on. Proof that the meeting was a success!

Meeting 871 St Valentine's Day

Thanks to Sharyn for this write up. 


The first February meeting luckily landed on Saint Valentines Day!  Our Sergeant at Arms was busy, helpful and welcoming.  Toastmaster for the night, moi, had a few classic Valentine poetry pieces to share eg "My Princess  Life was always quite normal and sane...Now we've met and it's weakened by brain"   Karl Fuchs


Welcome to guests, Terry, Ernie, Maureen and Matt.


The word for the night was 'obfuscation'. Try saying that three times quickly....

Del

For our first Round Robin, Inge, gave us background on Saint Valentine and asked us to share who had offered encouragement in your life.  Marlene  was mentioned as a great source of encouragement for our members.


Table Topics challenged the participants and the speeches were engaging.

Liz We

It was great to see Racheal, June and Meriel at the meeting.  Harry was Chairman for the Business Session and did a marvellous job, our Parliamentarian John's feedback mentioned Harry's flamboyant way with banging the gavel - it is very important to receive constructive feedback.Grammar wise, the minimisation of Ums, Ahrs, Yeah and 'you know' is improving.


All members were VERY attentive with their listening and they HAD to be with the quality of Leesa's questions.  The raffle, a romantic pot pouri of gifts and treats.......You had to be LUCKY to win that !!!


Del gave a thorough general evaluation of the meeting and the awards for the night went to Inge (Best Table Topic) Rachel (Best Evaluation) Harry (Personal Best) Trish (Best Speech) Sharyn (Best contribution).

Kylie we need you to give us another quick course on tips to improve photography skills. 
 Our thoughts and best wishes are with you Jonathon.


Looking forward to seeing you all at the next meeting.

First meeting 2012

It was such a wet night, it's a wonder anyone turned up for our first meeting of the year. Some members were prevented by flooded roads, and a few arrived late because of transport problems, but about 14 managed to get there. We even had a visitor, Amanda.

As it was 2 days before Australia Day, the theme was "Australia." Nicole, in her  first time role of Toastmaster, kept the meeting running smoothly with interesting information and quotes between each segment.

There were many programme changes, with people enthusiastically volunteering to fill in where needed. 

In the absence of our Wordmaster, Harry rose to the occasion and gave us the word "Perspicacity" which means "shrewdness" or "clear insight." 

We had two Round Robin segments, where each member spoke for 30 seconds.

Annette's question was, "What part of Australia would you like to visit?"

In the second Round Robin, Robert asked, "What would have happened if Captain Cook hadn't made it to Australia?" Everyone found them both easy to answer. A couple of perspicacious people even managed to use the word of the evening.

Our Table Topicmaster was away, but Dave quickly thought of some appropriate topics for his victims, Marlene, Jennine, Leesa and Elizabeth. His topics all had something to do with Australia day or bad weather.

There was time for extra Table Topics, so Marlene called on Kylie, Robert, Harry, Annette and  Liz We to make up a story about the origin of Australian Song titles. "My Boomerang won't come back,"  "Tie me Kangaroo down," "The pub with no beer," "The road to Gunagai," and "The Pig Catcher's love song."

Dave filled in for the one of absent speakers by presenting an amusing poem "Old Sam," by Stanley Hollaway. This was evaluated by Annette.

A good Toastmaster is always prepared. There was another vacant speaking slot, which Harry filled in with an entertaining speech he'd had prepared for the following meeting. "The Zombie Apocalypse."  Liz We evaluated Harry's speech.

Sharyn's speech was titled "How to Attack." She surprised us by talking about how to put a large jigsaw puzzle together. It was evaluated by Marlene.

Liz Wo's raffle was very appropriate for the theme of the meeting. It was a folding chair with an Australian flag symbol on the back, a packet of lammingtons, a bowl and napkins with the flag symbol on them and ginger beer. Dave won the raffle. (Not fair - I had bought extra tickets!!!)

Jennine was Grammarian and Liz We filled in as Listening Master.

The meeting was finally evaluated by Kylie, who had some helpful suggestions.

Award winners for the evening were, 

Best Speech, Sharyn and Harry. (tie)

Best Table Topic, Annette.

Best Evaluator, Marlene.

Best Contribution, Nicole.

Personal Best, Harry and Nicole.

(Someone please correct me if this is not correct. I didn't write it down.)

Sharyn encouraged everyone to attend the Officer Training Day. This is open to all members, you don't have to be a club officer. Contact Treasurer Liz  if you would like to attend.

Don't forget there are 5 weeks in this month, so it is 3 weeks until our next meeting on the 14th February.