Hazel's report on the District Conference

Hazel

If you want to move forward with your public speaking skills, attending the annual Toastmasters Conference is a great way to do it. Why? Because seeing how the expert speakers do it is a powerful way to learn.

And as a bonus, the event is entertaining, inspiring and great fun! Take a look at our slideshow to get a feeling, and I hope to see you at the next conference, which its rumoured is going to be held in Fiji. A good excuse for a follow-up beach holiday maybe?

And here's the slideshow link:

Meeting 1105 - May Day

 A hybrid Meeting was opened by acting Sergeant-at-Arms Dan and Trish welcomed all Members.

Toastmaster Arun was very knowledgeable about May Day throughout history and delivered snippets between segments.

Arun

A Toast by Gokul to "Festivals That Bring People Together".

Gokul

Gail conducted the Round Robin which asked "How do you usually celebrate May Day".

Wordmaster Dan gave the word "Flexible" which was very appropriate with our current Meeting.

Dan

Hazel and Christiane delivered a brief overview of the District 69 Conference they attended in Cairns earlier this month.

Hazel

Christiane

Speeches:

Evaluator Liz We. introduced Chris H, with a speech about plasma donations, entitled "Lifeblood".

Chris

Liz We.

Marlene's speech was introduced by Evaluator Monica. It was Pathways Level 3, Inspire your Audience, and the title was "The Speech I didn't Hear".

Marlene

Monica

Timing was shared between Paul and David, and their reporting was concise and kept us on track.

David

The Raffle was provided by Paul, and his reference to Elections was an excellent twist. The winner was Gokul.

Paul

Club Officer Election was conducted by Trish, but owing to lack of nominees was adjourned until next Meeting.

Trish

Dan presented the Table Topics, which were related to work experiences, and participants were Gail, Hazel, Christiane, Chris H., Trish and Gokul.

Marlene and Paul provided excellent evaluations for the presenters.

General Evaluation of the evening was presented by Liz Wo.

Liz Wo.

Awards:

Best Speech: Chris H.; Best Evaluator: Liz We.; Best Table Topic: Gail; Most Improved: Arun.

Chris H., Gail, Arun and Liz We.

Meeting 1104 "Anzac Day"

The youngest visitor we've ever had at our meeting is Sophie, the 12 day old daughter of  proud father Josh. Josh was still able to carry out his duty as Sergeant at Arms by calling the meeting to order and treating us to a couple of his "Dad" jokes. 

Josh and Sophie

Another welcome guest was Warren, from Maryborough Toastmasters Club.

Warren

President Trish opened the meeting and handed control to Toastmaster Monica, who kept the meeting flowing with information about Anzac Day between the segments.

Shane proposed a toast to "The Anzacs - all service personnel, past and present."

Shane

In the absence of our Word Master, Hazel offered the word "Biscuit," which was appropriate for the meeting theme, because a popular icon of Anzac Day is the Anzac Biscuit .

Word of the day - "Biscuit"

Round Robin Master Marlene asked everyone for parenting tips for Josh. Some (I hope) were helpful, some amusing suggestions involved the use of biscuits.

Leanne

The Table Topics session was conducted by Leanne, who called on John, Shane, Christiane, Tony, Warren and Narelle to draw a topic from a box and speak about it.

Topics (paraphrased) included:

 "Would you rather meet your Great Great Grandparents or your Great Great Grandchildren?"

"If you could change your name, what name would you choose?"

"In which city in the world would you like to spend a weekend?"

"What is the most beautiful place you have seen?"

"If you had a million dollars to give away, which charity would you support?"

The Table Topics were evaluated by Hazel and David.

Hazel

David

With Club Officer elections coming up next meeting, an explanation of the roles of Secretary, Treasurer and Sergeant at Arms was given by Hazel, Peter and Josh. 

 Raffle Master Marlene offered the prize of Scratchit tickets. It was later won by Tony.

Marlene

Time Keeper Gail reported on the times taken for each session and announced that the meeting was running on time.

Gail

Narelle & Christiane

 Supper time (food provided by Christiane and Narelle) was an   opportunity for a cuppa and chat.

Peter

John & Arun

There were three prepared speeches during the second half of the meeting.

Arun's speech about Mentoring completed Level 2 in his Dynamic Leadership path. It was evaluated by John.

Arun

John

Christiane's amusing speech "Ring, Ring" was about telephone etiquette. It was evaluated by Narelle.

Christiane

Trish spoke from personal experience with her speech "Mind Set Lessons from an Introverted Speaker." It was evaluated by Tony.

Trish

Tony

Carmy summed up the meeting in her General Evaluation and made some helpful comments.

Carmy

The evenings awards were announced by President Trish.

Best Table Topic: Narelle

Best Evaluation: Tony

Best Speech: Trish

Most Improved: Arun

Best wishes to Tony who is competing in the Table Topics and Evaluation Contests at the District Conference in Cairns this weekend. Also to Darryl who is representing the Leading Edge Club in the International Speech Contest.

Next meeting & Club Officer Elections 10th May.

Meeting 1103 - Different Perspectives

 Another Hybrid Meeting which was opened by Josh with a joke. President Trish welcomed guest Karen, who was introduced by Christiane. 

Josh

Trish carried out the induction of David as a new Member of our Club, with Dan becoming his mentor

David

Control handed to Toastmaster Paul, giving a little background about Different Perspectives.

Paul

A Toast to "Divergent Thinking" was proposed by John T.

Wordmaster David gave the word "Empower" and promised to take note of its users as well as grammar and good word usage.

Timers were Christiane and Peter D.

Shane conducted the Round Robin very well, with both on screen and venue Members. His topic was "How would you spend your first day as Prime Minister". It provided lots of humourous answers.

Shane

Speeches:

Arun spoke from Level 2 Pathways on Effective Communication, and the Speech was evaluated by Josh.

Arun

John T. gave a speech from Level 2 Visionary Communication on the topic of "Different Perspectives on Leadership". This was evaluated by Trish.

Trish

John T.

A Show and Tell segment by Monica gave insights into General Sir John Monash, as depicted on a DVD that she had watched recently. 

Monica

The Raffle was provided by Gail which included wine glasses and a bottle of red wine. Winner was Arun.

Gail

After the break, the Business Session was chaired by Gail. Hazel joined on Zoom to participate in this part of the Meeting. 

Table Topics were on the theme and presented by Christiane. Participants were Shane, Leanne, David and Tony. Evaluators were Liz and Carmy.

Christiane

Carmy

Liz

In view of upcoming Executive elections, VPM Tony and VPPR Leanne explained the role and urged Members to take on an Executive position.

Leanne

Tony

General Evaluator Dan gave a comprehensive wrap up on the entire Meeting.

Dan

Awards:

Best Speech - John T, Best Evaluator - Trish, Best Table Topic - David, and Most Improved - Arun.

David, John T., Arun, (Trish not present)