Meeting 1071 - Near Misses

 Excellent organisation and management skills were demonstrated by President Leanne when threatening thunderstorms curtailed the scheduled "in person" Meeting and a total Zoom Meeting was arranged. Leanne also has organised the "on line" event for the Area Conference on 7th November. All Members will be able to watch the Contests live on line on that day. Details to follow.

Vice President Gail provided the updated roles for Members, and control was handed to Toastmaster Jonathon. He reminded us that in October 1962 the Cuban Missile Crises was indeed a Near Miss, probably for World peace.

Jonathon

A Toast to "Taking Advantage of Opportunities" was presented by Gail.

Gail

Wordmaster Leanne provided "Stupendous", meaning amazingly large or good, and Trish used it at every opportunity, followed closely by Jonathon, plus many Toastmasters throughout the evening.

Leanne

The Round Robin segment was presented by Monica and Toastmasters were asked to relate their near miss tales. It was very interesting to hear the varied responses - some tall tales and true, some totally fiction.

Monica

Speeches:

Evaluator Leesa introduced Dan's Speech "The Healing Power of Sport".

Leesa

Dan

Evaluator Darryl introduced Hazel's Speech "The Manipulative Tactics of Some Real Estate Agents" which was a follow on from the original speech, taking on board feedback.

Hazel

Darryl

Third Speech was by Jakob "Solving the Right Problem" and was evaluated by Trish.

Jakob

Trish

Gokul did an excellent job with the timing effects and provided concise reports on all segments.

Gokul

The "Virtual Raffle" provided by Monica was not surprisingly won by Monica, as no tickets were sold!

Table Topics presented by Chris D provided further opportunities to expand on the theme.

Chris D.

Liz Wo. spoke about a near miss she can never forget.

Liz Wo.

Marlene

Darryl's topic was "Saved by the Bell".

Jonathon spoke about a near miss that could have ended in embarrassment.

Gail gave her thoughts on "A Second Chance".

Marlene was asked "What usually goes through your mind after a near miss?".

Monica's topic was about any near misses that could have cost her or her family dearly.

Evaluators for Table Topics were Trevor and Christiane.

Christiane

Trevor

The Business Session was chaired by Liz Wo. and dealt with a motion for subsidising the cost of the Christmas Meeting meal. The motion was carried.

Grammarian Marlene provided excellent feedback, including the clever use of Triads by 3 of the speakers. Triads are a set of 3 words or phrases, or 3 questions, or 3 sequences. 

General Evaluator Liz We. (weirdly appearing out of the window of the local Church like some haunted house) provided good suggestions for improvement as well as the areas which worked well for the on line Meeting.

Liz We.

Awards:

Best Speech - Hazel. Best Evaluator - Trish. Best Table Topic - Gail and Marlene tied for this honour. Most Improved - Hazel.

Next Meeting (weather permitting) will be held at The Wellness Hub in person and on-line via Zoom.

Meeting 1070 - Table Topics and International Speech Contests

 This Meeting was conducted once again via Zoom and in person, which enables all Members to be part of the event.

President Leanne opened the Meeting and welcomed first time guests Anna, Cassandra and Sonya. She also welcomed the guest judges (on line) - Jenny, Denise, Jim, Debbie, David, Mark, Darren and Kimberley.

Gokul's Toast was to the "Contestants".

Gokul

The Table Topics Contest was chaired by Jonathon. He gave the Table Topic "The Day I Met My Hero".

Jonathon

Contestants were Paul, John T, Darryl, Christiane, Leanne and Dan.

Paul

Dan

Place Getters: First Christiane, Second Leanne and Third, Darryl.

Darryl, Christiane and Leanne

After a short supper break, the International Speech Contest began. Contest Toastmaster was Peter, who did an excellent job as his first time in the role.

Contestants were Christiane, John T, Leanne and Darryl.

Place Getters: First Leanne, Second Christiane and Third Darryl.

Christiane, John T, Leanne, Darryl and Peter

Congratulations to all participants. The Winners will take part in the Area Contest on 7th November.

A big thank you for the Judges and the great job they did. Also the Members who took on roles of Tally Counters, Timers and Sergeant at Arms.

Hazel and Chris D.

A reminder that the next Meeting on 27 October will be held at the Brighton Wellness Hub. It will also be available via Zoom.

Meeting 1069 - Holiday Feelz

 The holiday mood was obvious with reduced numbers present, but whilst small in number it was a dynamic Meeting. It started with Dan telling of his favourite holiday activities and reading the Mission Statement.

President Leanne congratulated Chris H for completing Level 1 of his Pathways Innovative Planning Project. This makes 4 Members who have achieved this milestone. Members were informed that Gail is not well and a card wishing her well was distributed to those present to sign.

Chris H.

Peter

Chris H as Toastmaster set the scene by wearing an Hawaiian shirt, and offered snippets of holiday activities that everyone could enjoy. He welcomed return Guest Peter.

Program changes were extensive but efficiently adjusted, which showed obvious previous consultation and willingness of Members to step in. Well done all.

Round Robin was conducted by Gokul, with the theme "When someone says Holiday, what is the first thing that comes to mind". Everyone had happy memories to contribute.

Gokul

Timer for the first half of the Meeting was Dan, (taking the holiday theme too far by looking so relaxed) and during the second part Timer was Darryl.

Dan

All transitions between the "virtual" and "real" went very smoothly, a credit to the technical people who seem to have this pattern sorted well.

Speech 1 by Peter, entitled "Getting Things Done" was evaluated by Marlene.

Peter

Marlene

Speech 2 by Liz We, about Project Management, was evaluated by Paul.

Li We.

Paul

Speech 3 by Darryl "You Decide" was evaluated by Christiane.

Darryl

Christiane

Raffle Master and well travelled Christiane provided a "mystery" prize which consisted of items from 3 different countries, and the only hint was that they could be used in the kitchen and dining room. The winner was Peter and he revealed the Cook Book from Germany, Sheep salt and pepper shakers from New Zealand, and Coasters from Switzerland. 

Following a delicious supper provided by Leanne, the Speech Fest continued.

Speech 4 - Leanne presented her speech "Missing Out" which was evaluated by Annette.

Leanne

Annette

Speech 5 - Trish spoke on "Purposeful Body Language" and gave excellent examples. It was evaluated by Darryl.

Trish

The General Evaluation was presented by Liz Wo.

Liz W.

Awards: 

Best Speech, Leanne, Best Evaluation, Paul, and Most Improved, Peter.

Peter and Leanne

Meeting 1068 - Memories of Sydney Olympics

 Sergeant at Arms Dan once again opened the Meeting, and gave a vote of thanks to the Full Moon Hotel for obliging with the Meeting Room. President Leanne, duly attired in Green and Gold, welcomed Members, then presented J.P. in person with his Membership badge.

Leesa and Leanne

 

JP and Leanne

Toastmaster Leesa set the theme with her Green and Gold outfit, including Gold Medal (borrowed from her Son). She led the Room with an "Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, Oh Oh Oh" and those on Zoom joined in. Leesa asked John T to introduce Guest Peter. Another guest was Philomena, who has attended previous meetings.

The Toast by Liz We. was about being Competitive.

Liz We.

WordMaster JP gave us "Blaze", and this word was used by many throughout the segments all night.

JP

Liz Wo. started the Round Robin with the question - Tell about your most vivid memory of the Opening or Closing Ceremony of the Sydney Olympic Games. There were many and varied responses, including Jonathon who did not recall one single thing about the event, as he was off trekking in Nepal.

Liz Wo.

Speeches:

Speech 1 by Marlene, entitled "The Water Thief" was evaluated by Carmy.

Marlene

Carmy

Chris H.

Speech 2 by Chris H, entitled "Who doesn't love the Granite Belt" was evaluated by Liz We.

Chris D.

Chris D. provided an update on the times very efficiently.

Table Topics by Gail were all "Olympic Games" themed - Dan told of the Olympic Rings, Trish about the Torch Relay, Paul commented on the Medal Ceremony, Peter gave his theory on the motto "Faster, Higher, Stronger", Leanne told us about the Importance of Participation and JP spoke of the Mascot.

Gail

Dan

Peter

These topics were evaluated by Christiane and Jonathon.

Christiane

Jonathon

The Raffle was provided by Trish, one of her Books, which I am sure is not as blurry to read as the cover, and was won by Leesa.

Trish

Speech 3 by Hazel titled "The Manipulative Strategies and Tactics of Real Estate Agents", was evaluated by Trevor.

Hazel

Trevor

Speech 4 by John T. "Weapons" was evaluated by Paul.

John T.

Listening Quiz was short and sharp by Peter, as time was the enemy.

Leanne presented the Grammarian segment, noting highlights like Weird Wide Web, and areas to improve, noting the correct pronunciation of Granite.

The General Evaluation by Darryl gave a good wrap up of the proceedings, again condensed owing to time limits.

Darryl

Awards:

Best Speech Hazel, Best Evaluator Paul, Best Table Topic Trish, and Most Improved Chris D.

Chris D. and Paul and Leanne

Before closing the Meeting, JP wished to advise that he will be leaving the Club, we wish him well whatever he pursues in the future.

Meeting 1067 - Contests

Unfortunately, the original blog post with details of this meeting  has mysteriously disappeared.

It was a hybrid meeting, thanks to The Full Moon Hotel, who allowed us to conduct the contest in their room, since our new meeting place is currently in lockdown. The contestants attended onsite with the rest of the club attending online. 

Darryl won the Evaluation Contest and John won the Humorous Speech Contest. Here are a few salvaged photos.

Welcome - Covid style

Gokul and J.P.

S.A.A. Dan

V.P.E Gail

President Leanne

Contest Chairman John with winners of Evaluation Contest