Meeting 883 "The Ekka"

It was Ekka week in Brisbane, so of course the theme of our meeting was The Ekka.   Toastmaster Dave kept us entertained between meeting segments with interesting snippets of information about the Ekka, which is the popular name for the Royal Queensland Show.

Toastmaster Dave

We were pleased to welcome 6 guests. Robert, Peter, Ben. and Ralph, whom we had met at the Einbunpin Festival, also Janelle who had been to a previous meeting, and Maureen's daughter, Nicole.

Here are a few photos from the meeting.

Robert in Table Topics

Liz We

Jennine evaluated Table Topics

Sharyn & Lix Wo share a cuppa

Jonathon is a great joke teller

Kylie

Winners

Awards for the evening went to John T (Personal Best) Liz Wo (Best Evaluation) Maureen (Best Speech)

Kylie (Best Table Topic) and Dave (Best Contribution.)

Einbunpin Festival 2012

Thanks to all who helped with our Information Stall at the Einbunpin Festival. It was a lovely sunny day. Many people stopped and  were given information about Toastmasters. We will know just how successful it was when they come along to one of our meetings.

Rhys, Melissa & Elizabeth with inquirers

Jennine, Amanda & Ernie

Robert & Maureen with inquirer



Even Homer attracted attention.



All kinds of people passed by.



Sharyn Rhys & Jonathon packed up.

Meeting 882 "Go for Gold"

President Annette & Area Gov Denise

We were pleased to welcome our new Area Governor Denise to our meeting, as well as our other visitors, Alan, Jack and Pauline.

Liz We

Liz We was Toastmaster for the evening. She kept us entertained with interesting facts about the Olympics.

The theme was "Go for Gold." so John S had chosen the word "Carat,"  which Melissa presented on John's behalf.

To practise for the contests next month, the Table Topics were 2 minutes each instead of our usual 90 seconds. We also had Instant Evaluations after each Topic instead of an assigned TT Evaluator. Table Topics Master Marlene called on Annette, Inge and June to answer her topics, "Pure gold need not fear the furnace," "What is your greatest achievement and what effort did you have to put into it" and "Could someone you know be described as having a heart of gold?" The evaluators were Liz Wo, Kylie and Robert.

Dave presented the next 3 Table Topics and asked Melissa, Sharyn and Kerry, "Which Australian athelete do you think will win at the Olympics?"
"Why is gold so expensive?" and "What makes gold such a desirable object?"  These were evaluated by Ernie, Maureen, and Del.

Amanda

In her Icebreaker speech, Amanda shared some amusing incidents from her life. We loved her humour.

Evaluator  John T had some encouraging comments for Amanda.

Ernie presented a speech "The Voice." which contained a lot of useful tips. It was evaluated by Kerry. It was hard to believe this was Kerry's first evaluation.

Ernie

Kerry

Jennine

Jennine's speech was "Caring for your Handknits." We will know think twice before throwing all our woollies into the washing machine! It was her 4th speech and was evaluated by Annette.

We all took time to fill in a Moment of Truth Survey.

Moment of Truth

Grammarian Maureen commented on word usage throughout the evening and Del summed up the meeting in her General Evaluation.

Marueen

Del

Annette wins raffle

Kylie's raffle (golden candles, etc.) was won by Annette.

Annette presented the evenings awards to Jennine (Best Speech,) Amanda (Personal Best,) Liz We (Best Contribution,) Kerry (Best Evaluator - tied with Annette) and Sharyn (Best Table Topic.)  Sorry, forgot to get Annette in the photo!


Remember there will be three weeks till the next meeting, since there are 5 Tuesdays in July. Next meeting 14th August. The theme will be "The Ekka."

It's Magic - Toastmasters Speech

What is magic? There's more to magic than just the "razzle dazzle".

To some people, it can mean Harry Potter or pulling a rabbit out of a hat, but through the eyes of a 6 year old child, there can be magic in almost everything.

Meeting 881 Winter

Kylie

It was the first meeting of our new Toastmasters Year. (1 July 2012 - 30 June 2013.)

We were pleased to welcome our guest, Jenelle.

Maureen, our new Sergeant at Arms, called the meeting smartly to order and handed control to new President, Annette.

Toastmaster Kylie  promoted the winter theme with a collection of beanies and scarves. She also had a supply of winter jokes.

Elizabeth proposed a toast to "Warmth."

Robert introduced the word "Antarctic" and it was used by some during Ernie's Round Robin. Ernie asked the question, "What would you do if you had gills?" This led to some creative answers.

Time keepers were Inge and John T. The first time for both of them in that role.

Dave

Maureen's Table Topics all related to winter. "A favourite memory of winter," "The first time you saw snow,"  "The coldest place you've worked in," and "A favourite winter meal."
Jennine, Robert, Harry and Del answered the Table Topics and were evaluated by Dave.

The raffle, donated by Annette, was an attractively wrapped mystery prize in a basket. Trish produced the winning ticket with a shriek that set Robert's guide dog barking.

We had two speeches. John T revealed a great sense of humour in his  Icebreaker speech, "My Passions" had us laughing all the way through.

Harry

Harry's speech, "The Powers of Presentation" was packed with useful information and demonstrated his excellent use of body language.

Evaluators Del and Jonathon had some encouraging remarks and points for improvement for John and Harry.

The Business Session was conducted by Liz We. It was her first time in this role and she was well prepared. The main items discussed were the upcoming Executive Training Sessions and our information stall at the Einbunpin Festival.

Trish

Trish evaluated the Business Session. She explained why all comments need to be made through the Chairman.

One of our speakers was absent with flu, so Marlene introduced an impromptu Role Playing Session, and called on several members to practice giving information to the "inquirers" at the Einbunpin Festival.

June collected some fines with her listening quiz.

The General Evaluation  was performed by Marlene.

President Annette presented the evening's awards to Kylie, (Best Contribution,) Jonathon (Best Evaluation,) Jennine (Best Table Topic,) Harry (Best Speech,) and JohnT (Personal Best.)                                        

Meeting 880 Change Over Dinner

Theme - Black & White  -  Books

New Executive Team

Welcome to the new executive for 2012 - 2013. They are, from left to right, Jennine (VPPR,) John S (Parliamentarian,) Melissa, (News Bulletin Editor,) Kylie (Treasurer) Sharyn - almost hidden (Secretary and IPP) Annette (President,) Marlene (VPE,) Liz We (VPM,) and Maureen (SAA.)

The Change Over Ceremony was inducted by incoming Division Governor, Ranjeet.

Ranjeet inducting  new Treasurer Kylie

Ranjeet

It was a thrill to see Leesa  acknowledged as "The Most Extraordinary Toastmaster." for her outstanding effort, helpfulness, and dependability.

                                     

Most Extraordinary Leesa

Toastmaster of the Year
Trish and Annette

Trish and Annette shared the "Toastmaster of the Year" award.

100 Percent Attendance. Leesa and Dave.

Leesa and Dave received an award for 100 percent Attendance.

Since it is the National Year of Reading, the theme was "Black and White, with a touch of "Read."

The Round Robin and Table Topics had a Book theme.

Jonathon

Harry

Trish

Rhys

Trish conducted a Book Trivia Quiz. Raffle Prizes were bundles of books. (Everyone had donated a pre-owned favourite.)

Incoming Area Governor Denise shared a joke with our out going president, Sharyn.

Denise and Sharyn

Melissa
Our News Bulletin Editor is keen to get started.

Next meeting 10th July.

Meeting 879 "Australian Pioneers"

Kylie CC

Congratulations to Kylie on obtaining her Competent Communicator award.

Kylie delivered her 10th speech, "Fabulous" and received a standing ovation from the club.

Annette 

Another achiever was Annette, who presented an informative Educational Session on Mentoring. This completed the requirements for an Advanced Leader award. Well done, Annette!

Jennine

Toastmaster for the evening was Jennine. It was her first time in this role, but she handled it with great aplomb, explaining each role so that our visitors Terry, Sarah and Danni could understand what was happening and challenging us with pictures of Australian Pioneers  to identify.

It was fascinating to see Robert read the Mission Statement from braille before he presented the toast.

Harry

Inge presented the Word "Tapferkeit,"  a German word meaning "Valour." It was used by some members during the meeting. 

Round Robin Master Trish asked us to imagine we were Australian Pioneers and to tell what three things we had brought from home and if we had needed them. This elicited some amusing answers.

Liz We

Amanda continued the Pioneer theme in her Table Topics. She asked  her "victims" to tell how they each met an Australian Pioneer at a Charity Ball and what they said to them. The pioneers she chose were Charles Kingsford Smith, Edmund Hamon Hargreaves, William Charles Wentworth, and Dame Mary Gilmour. Robert, John, Harry and Liz rose to the occasion with wildly imaginative and entertaining stories.

 They were evaluated by Nicole. 

Ernie wins raffle

There were two Raffles. One was presented by Jonathon  ( a book and "smelly stuff") and another by Inge (tea, coffee and mugs). Inge's raffle was won by Ernie. Forget who won the other one!

The Business Session was efficiently chaired by Leesa. Items for discussion were the Change Over Dinner on the 26th June and Club Officer Training on the 21st July.

Grammarian Harry commented on good word usage, and reported that the um's and ah's, had increased during the second half of the meeting -  probably due to the business session.

John S

In his General Evaluation, John S commended Jennine for her excellent introductions in her first time role as Toastmaster,  Amanda for her imaginative and well presented Table Topics, and Annette for her easy to read visual aids. Commenting on the business session, he reminded everyone to address the meeting at all times and not just one person.

President Sharyn presented the evening's awards to Kylie (Best Speech,) Nicole (Best Evaluation,) Liz We (Best Table Topic,) Amanda (Personal Best,) and Jennine (Best Contribution.)

Next meeting will be the Change Over. If you haven't indicated if you are coming and paid for your dinner, please contact Sharyn right aaway.