Meeting 1122 - "Love"

We certainly cherished the love (quotes) Peter gave us during the meeting. 

We might have not been familiar with the 6 different Greek words for LOVE which Peter introduced us to, but that we attended a Toastmasters meeting on St. Valentine's Day must have you wondering which of those words we should use to express the feeling towards our club.

And wonder we did: Sergeant At Arms Gokul pondered why we came together tonight before he called the meeting to order. President Paul opened the meeting and welcomed our guest Gail.

Peter cultivated a warm feeling while introducing us to the theme with Gail supported the smooth running of our meeting by giving us succinct program changes and an update on the program template changes. Stay tuned for the next one to be amazed!

Sam honoured the special day in his toast by having us toast to "Saint Valentine and love".

Gail presented the word of the evening (picked by Trish): "cherish" and we were able to appreciate not only the meaning, but sample sentences as well.

As our Round Robin Master, Tony nurtured us to use our five senses while answering the question: "What food do you love?" 

It certainly cultivated all members to use more gestures to describe the smell, taste, look as well as the crackling (sound) and texture (feel) of childhood food reverberating our fond memories as well as collecting saliva when imagining a fresh-baked loaf of bread flaking on our tongue or the many different shapes and flavours chocolate is available nowadays.

We moved into our prepared speech section. Both speeches were from Level 5 of the Pathways learning series (which is the highest level):

1. Arun spoke about leadership directed towards the followers "What's in it for me?" with his project being from the Dynamic Leadership path, Level 5, project 1: Lead in any situation. It was aptly titled "WIIFM" and asked difficult questions. The speech was evaluated by Gokul.
2. John's speech titled "Happiness and the Good Life" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 5, elective project: Prepare to Speak Professionally) took us on a philosophical journey treasuring Socrates' insight into the matter and fostering the GREAT AIMS principles of happiness in us. Gail evaluated John's speech.
   

Tony instilled admiration in us by presenting the raffle with lots of humour and not enough chocolate to share (according to his wife).

Hazel kept us on time during the whole meeting and gave us a timers report in which we learned that we would have supper early.

Supper gave us time to catch up, congratulate our speakers, buy raffle tickets and enjoy the mouthwatering treats provided by Jonathon, Gail and Marlene.

 

The business session followed and was chaired by Dan who expertly led us through some treasured procedures.

The impromptu speech segment was led by Chris giving us the inkling that the topics to answer might have something to do with St Valentine's Day or love or both. Chris called on

1. Hazel - What is your favourite way to celebrate St. Valentine's Day? Treating herself to heart-shaped chocolate.
   
2. Tony - Do you consider yourself a romantic? Trying hard for his pearl anniversary.
   
3. Gokul - Tell us about your first date with your spouse. The story went from the first spark in the restaurant and was left open-ended with the scene of being on the beach at midnight.
   
4. Dan - What is the best gift you've ever received from your spouse? Even though there are even some gifts from his spouse in the regift cupboard, the stylish bags make up for that.
   
5. Christiane - Which is the better Valentines gift: chocolate or roses? Neither: a cheese platter or plants/seeds are a much better option.
   
6. Jonathon - What is the weirdest food you've ever eaten to impress your date? The 6-hour investment of eating chocolate cake with rotten eggs ending not well overnight, but resulting in 26 years of marriage bliss...

The Table Topics were evaluated by Marlene and Paul.

Gail's report on the word usage of "cherish" was guarded since the usual contestant was an apology. She congratulated our guest on using the word during the Round Robin as well as the members who were able to use it up to three times.

Christiane as our General Evaluator exposed all the satisfying moments of the evening as well as gratifyingly giving pointers where some caution might be required. Overall, the improved gestures were evident and the supporting structure of evaluations was idolised.

After a final timers report, our guest drew the winning raffle ticket with the raffle going to a smiling Christiane.

Paul closed the meeting by reminding us of the Division Conference as well as the District Conference being open for registration before awarding:

Best Speech - John

Best Evaluation - Paul

Best Table Topic - Jonathon

Most Improved - Sam & Arun

Meeting 1121 - "Back to School"

We might not all remember the warm milk or the slates and chalk (we do have some senior members it seems), but once upon a time we all went  to school. So when Marlene rang the bell for the lesson to start, we all sat up straight and listen to the teacher.

Before the lesson went on the way, we had our Sergeant at Arms Gokul call the meeting to order and our Acting President Gail open the meeting. Since Gail is also responsible for our program changes as our Vice President of Education, she went very efficiently through those varieties.

Then it was time for Toastmaster Marlene to share some school stories between the segments.

She called on Trevor to give us the toast. Since he will celebrate three new years within a couple of months (Australian, Chinese, Thai), he toasted us to "Happy, Healthy & Prosperous".

Sam as our Wordmaster had selected a challenging word with "Melange". He gave us an assortment of example sentences.

The Round Robin was led by Trish and asked us to share "one memory of our school days". The answers were a medley of funny memories and the finest anecdotes. Although it is questionable if the truth was recalled, especially which end of the paper the idiot was on...

 

Our prepared speeches were from a mixture of Pathways paths and projects:

1) Christiane's speech titled "If at first you don't succeed" (Persuasive Influence path, Level 3, elective project: Focus on the Positive) told us about the journey of humble beginnings of all the blessings in her journal.

2) Gokul's speech titled "Dear Evaluator" (Engaging Humour path, Level 2, project 1: Know your sense of Humour) gave us justifications (important!: not excuses) how a speech is crafted in a short time.

3) Tony's speech titled "Leadership in Action" (Effective Coaching path, Level 2, project 1: Understanding Your Leadership Style) gave us a glimpse into the works of an area director and the decisions which need to be made during the (planning of the) area conference.

Marlene kept up her recollection of school times during the evening (and showed us how she learnt letters).

Gail enticed us to buy raffle tickets for a chance to call a hodgepodge of goodies ours. She was kept busy during the break selling tickets.

Jonathon was our time keeper of the evening and kept us on time with his succinct timing reports.

The supper - or as Marlene called it: little lunch - was kindly provided by Gail and Trevor (without photos because we were enjoying the dips and crackers and sweets and strawberries too much).

In the second half of our lessons/ meeting, we were ready for those Table Topics. Jonathon had prepared a potpourri of topics relating to learning. He called on:

1) Tony - "Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education." (by Martin Luther King Jr) Is there anything about this quote that strikes a chord with you? => No, since Tony disagreed with the quote and said that true education is how to apply wisdom.

2) Marlene - Think back to your first day of kindergarten. What did you want to be when you grew up? => teacher

3) Gokul - What was your favourite subject at school and why? => history because of the stories and language courses because of the application

4) Hazel - Who was your favourite teacher at school and why? => Mrs Saunders due to her elegant outfits

5) Trevor - What important things should they teach kids at school, but don't? => financial education (and relationships)

6) Sam - What advise would you give your younger self when you had just finished school? => Consider an apprenticeship rather than study (since there wouldn't be a HECTS debt) plus to go out more

The speakers were evaluated by Carmy and Gail.

For her Show & Tell segment, Hazel brought along a nostalgic tin in which her dad had kept all the important documents of his life. She posed an interesting question with it: Did life get more complicated? 

Sam reported on the usage of "Melange" and it was a miscellany of being used in the right context and just repeated several times... The conclusion was that there was no real winner this time which was a dog's breakfast.

Our General Evaluator brought structure though by going through the segments which hadn't been evaluated yet. He congratulated our evaluators of demonstrating the improvement point to make it clearer.

Then it was time for our guest Ana to pick the winner of the raffle - it went to Trevor -, closing reminders of the Club Officer Training and speeches as well as the awards presentation.

Gail presented the awards to:

Best Speech - Gokul

Best Evaluation - Trish

Best Table Topic - Tony

Most Improved - Gokul

Our next meeting is on February 14 which is 3 weeks away.

Meeting 1120 - "Summer Beach Party"

Here it is:

The good - even the bigger room at The Sands Social was filled with laughter

The bad - not everybody got a Table Topic

The ugly - some grandchildren will just miss out playing Yahtzee with grandma

 Nevertheless, with Leanne as Toastmaster a great evening was to be expected!

For our last meeting of the year 2022, president Paul had organised a 2-course meal at The Sands Social. The room quickly filled with members and guests - and the first laughs were heard. The table for the Secret Santa presents and the table for the hamper items filled fast as well.

 

 

 

 

 

Sergeant At Arms Gokul not only brought the Toastmasters gear across to the alternative venue and set up, but also got the first laugh from the crowd with a joke, then read the mission statement.

President Paul opened the meeting and welcomed Moreton District Director Mark and Area Director Suresh. He then welcomed our other visitors: Diane, Ola, Peter, Fiona, Peter S and Sandy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Toastmaster Leanne didn't disappoint by opening her segment with a song.

She then called on Gail for program changes: Sadly, Trish couldn't make the meeting, but had given her Christmas Trivia Quiz to her husband.

Chris reflected how quickly 2022 had gone by for him and his family to toast to "Time - where does it go".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Liz We certainly had us thinking and celebrating by telling the group our biggest achievement in 2022 (and yes, we were allowed to speak of the negative ones as well).

 

 

 

 

 

Dinner was three different roasts with veggies, followed by an alternative drop of dessert.

After dinner, Gokul called us back to order with another Christmas pun before Leanne introduced Peter S to conduct the Christmas Trivia Quiz. His first question of how many reindeers are there in the song had cut the participating group already into half, but he needed to read out a few more questions until it was down to the last three: Jonathon, Sandy and Carmy. Jonathon won the quiz.

 

Then it was time for the Secret Santa segment to begin: Marlene explained the rules while helper Rosie distributed the lucky order numbers. One of those rules allowed to "steal" an already unwrapped present - up to three times.

In summary, we witnessed lots of unwrapping, insider trading as well as the failed attempt to appeal to the heart strings.

In detail, Arun was lucky first (and his present got stolen several times, so you see him unwrapping multiple times).

The bottles were expertly analysed by Rosie, see picture.

For the record, here are the presents which were stolen several times: bottles of various content, Yahtzee game, plant pot, ceramic bird feeder and yes, the clock was also stolen off Carmy.

Since Christiane with ticket no 27 stole Jonathon's wine, he was the last to unwrap a present.

Sadly, the several times "promised" mankini was nowhere unwrapped - or was it just purposefully left in the wrapping/boxes?

"The Incredible Troppo Toppo" followed: John first demonstrated his powers by being able to work out which day of the week members were born. He then went on to write down the sum before asking for numbers for the audience. Thirdly, he was able to "feel" the object that Dan had picked while John was out of the room. Finally he left us with a riddle what he likes and doesn't like - only a couple of people were able to join him (the rest didn't work it out yet, but we have until the next meeting to ask John if we got it right).

Sandgate Toastmasters couldn't have a meeting without Table Topics, so we had a few as well: Carmy was the first to answer the topic given by Leanne who then asked John who then asked Tony who then asked Christiane who then ask Chris etc. (you get the picture)

The excitement was drawn to the raffle draws: Tony and Christiane had packed the goodies into 3 boxes kindly brought along by Narelle. Winners were Paul, Suresh and

After a group photo, both Leanne and Paul closed the meeting and 2022 meetings.

Sandgate Toastmasters is finishing a successful year on a high note. We wish you all a Merry Christmas.

We are meeting again on 24 January 2023.

Meeting 1118 - "Did you hear the one about ..."

 

Unquestionable, Paul didn't miss the opportunity to tell us Dad jokes - some more appropriate than others...

Like the Facebook post promised: "Paul will surely lead us through an evening with a lot of laughter - just think tall tales times three!" Did we ever laugh so much and hard?

The meeting was called to order by Sergeant At Arms Gokul who shared with us how important optimism is in our outlook in life and how we can turn any situation into positive - just by looking at the positive side of it.

Paul opened the meeting and had the privilege to induct our two new members: Sam and Rosie. What a joy it is to be remembered of the Toastmasters promises.

Paul then handed to the Toastmaster of the evening - himself :).

He then called on Gail for program changes, followed with her toast to "all those who fail, but don't give up".

Word Master John gave us "incredible" and "incredulous".

The Round Robin was started by Christiane who made it an "unfortunately"/"fortunately" story by starting us off with: "Sandgate Toastmasters has joined other clubs camping at Wivenhoe dam for the district conference." Fortunately, our members are incredible with coming up with ideas. Tony's gesture of "coming out at both ends" will certainly stay in our memory. John was able to get all the members onto their feet and repeat far-fetched rhymes after him.

Paul then called on our interpretative readers:

• Hazel read the first chapter from "Crystal's vision"
• Christiane read the nursery story "Billy Goats Gruff"
• Marlene read a portion of "Anne of Green Gables"

All three readings were group evaluated led by Gail. Gail pointed out how members were able to develop marvelous vocal variety when they were not trying to remember the words of their speech. Jonathon was able to remind us of how stance can change tone. Tony pointed out how the five senses were stimulated with the stories.

Then it was time for Hazel to sell the best (most awe-inspiring) raffle of the year. Jonathon in his general evaluation pointed out that Hazel used "linguistic programming", especially by double closing with the help of Paul.

Hazel started off by giving us a problem we might face (not being prepared for Christmas), followed by her giving us the solution (she went shopping for us) and emphasize why it would be helpful. She also promoted more hype by giving us a bonus item ("but wait there is more") and a special offer. As the photos show, there was a constant line up for buying raffles throughout the supper break.

Gokul gave us an extraordinary timers report which also advised us that we were running early in the meeting.

In the supper break which followed, we were able to exchange skeptical facts, reflect on absurd requests and share outlandish stories. Supper was supplied by Christiane and John.

The meeting was called back to order by Gokul who started the second half with a quiz - and stunned some members.

Paul was able to remind us what "Tall Tales" are all about before giving the floor to: 

 

 

 

 

Peter with "The Ghost with no feet" - what a improbable twist at the end!

John with "Incredible Toppo" - incredulous magic tricks galore

Marlene with "Snip, snip" - the cringing of the audience should be enough insight how preposterously hilarious the speech was

Gail led another group discussion on the tall tales starting off by giving us the judging criteria on the contest rules.

It would be an absurd Toastmasters meeting without Table Topics, so Arun as Table Topics Master made sure we were given some scenarios to finish the story:

"While walking my dog one day, I noticed some movement in the bush. When I looked closely what I saw", Rosie finished with a woman weeing

"I was lonely one night, staring at the stars and suddenly one star started talking to me and said", Jonathon finished with "You are not alone"

"I was not scared of challenges in life until the day", Paul finished with personal reflection of him joining Toastmasters

"There are always two sides of a coin, I learned when", Sam finished with his encounter of a bully

 

The Table Topics were evaluated by Tony.

Jonathon was our General Evaluator who congratulated us on the fabulous vibe, the convincing Toastmaster of the evening, the credulous evaluators (praising Gail on her intuition to bring in time in the second group evaluation since she noticed that we were running behind) and the outstanding presenters in all the other segments.

 

Timer Gokul gave his final timers report, before it was time for Paul to draw the raffle (won by Gail). The Toastmaster then handed back to the President who reminded us of our upcoming Christmas Dinner on December 13 (in lieu of our normal meeting) at the Sands.

The awards of the evening went to:

Best Table Topic - Sam

Best Presentation - Marlene

Most Improved - Sam

(Tony won the Best Evaluator award in our hearts being the only evaluator of the night, i.e. we don't count group evaluators)

 

We will have our Christmas Dinner in lieu of the next meeting, then take a break over the Christmas season and return for our first meeting in 2023 on January 24.

Meeting 1117 - "Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen"

Who knew that X-Rays have a wavelength ranging below 10 nanometers? Only our Toastmaster of the evening, since Christiane looked it up beforehand to tell us interesting facts about Mr Röntgen as well as X-rays and their use nowadays.

 

The meeting was called to order by Sergeant At Arms Gokul who also spoke of trusting his intuition (about Rode mics) before reading the mission statement.

Gail opened the meeting as Acting President and welcomed guests Helen and Linda. She also had the honour to hand out a Level 1 achievement to Peter.

Toastmaster Christiane opened the meeting with some interesting facts about Mr Röntgen before handing back to Gail for program changes (of which there was one - which speaks highly of Gail's planning skills as our Vice President of Education).

Carmy joined us via Zoom and gave us the toast which was to Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen. She cited some biography events of his life.

Wordmaster Hazel set us up with her favourite word "Engineer" which we learnt is a noun and a verb. (It was frequently used throughout the evening and Hazel found it too hard to announce a winner, but thanked and congratulated all for being able to embrace it into their speaking segment(s).)

Jonathon managed to have us laugh tears during the Round Robin where we shared "the silliest thing I ever did". It ranged from purple shampoo, shaving cream deo and lots of accident prone stories to blowing holes into walls with a shotgun. Chris later surmised that it showed that "we are all humans".

The prepared speeches of the evening followed:

1) Trish's speech titled "I'm Not Good Enough" (Motivational Strategies path, Level 1, project 2: Evaluation and Feedback) spoke about her doubt into her abilities and the so-called imposter syndrome. The speech was evaluated by Peter who serenaded us into the evaluation with a sing-song poem.

2) John's speech titled "Move, Groove and Improve" (Visionary Communication path, Level 3, elective project: Effective Body Language) had the audience exhausted from laughing too hard at his extensive concoction of exercises. The speech was evaluated by Marlene who recommended a punchier (pun intended) conclusion.

3) Leanne's speech titled "Stone Soup" (Presentation Mastery path, Level 3, elective project: Inspire Your Audience) directed us to think about the common good by narrating the folk story. The speech was evaluated by Jonathon who praised Leanne's ability to use a current event to bring along the audience. By using common language, followed by a story, Leanne was able to buy into something bigger and have a call to action at the end of her speech.

Marlene presented the raffle with 3 different "games" to improve our speaking abilities which gave Dan's raffle a run for his money. She was surrounded by people trying to buy raffles in the supper break.

Arun gave us the timer report for the first half in which we slightly went over program timing.

 

 

 

The scrumptious supper was  provided by Peter and Narelle. The supper break gave us time to reflect on the speeches as well as catch up on the planners and operations.

After the supper it was again a quick forth and back: Gokul called the meeting to order before handing to Toastmasters Christiane to hand straight back to Gokul who was the Table Topics Master.

Gokul called on

1) Peter - "Best engineering product" (paper & pen)

2) Trish - "If I ever win a Nobel prize" (it would be for reading and owning the most books)

3) Chris - "Did you ever have an X-Ray? If so, when?" (Once, shoulder and ankle)

4) Helen - "I am a home engineer." (yes, she can pull the strings in her house)

5) Christiane - "Are scientists or engineers moody?" (Not all, certainly not her as a biomedical engineer)

6) Arun - "Artists are ingenious engineers of my style" ("Artist can see something that normal people just can't.")

The Table Topics were evaluated by Hazel and Narelle.

We were treated to an educational on "Tall Tales" by Gail who told us why tall tales are nearly a cult following in America. It is an exaggerated story which makes the protagonist look good with super-hero abilities. You will also need to include an antagonist, a problem, climax and morale in the short story. (We will hear a few at the next meeting)

Chris gave us the general evaluation (or the evaluation in general) and caused us to laugh when he re-created the segments of the evening.

 

 

Rosie drew the raffle which went to Peter who will certainly enjoy the games.

In closing, Gail congratulated Narelle and Christiane for their participation in the Area conference before inviting us to our Christmas dinner on December 13.

She then presented the awards to

Best Speech - Leanne & John

Best Evaluation - Jonathon

Best Table Topic - Peter

Most Improved - Narelle & Peter

Our next meeting is this coming Tuesday, November 29 with the theme "Interpretive Reading & Tall Tales".

Thank you Marlene for providing the majority of the photos.

Area 8 Conference - "Teamwork is the key to success"

Ten Sandgate Toastmasters members gave up their Saturday to attend the Area 8 Conference.

The meeting was called to order by Suzanne who also read the mission statement. 

Our Area 8 Director Suresh welcomed us all warmly.

Our MC for the day was James who we had heard of before the meeting by singing.

Before the contests started, we also heard from Chris Whiting, MP about his plans for the region.

But then, we were ready to cheer on our contestants in the 4 contests.

The first contest of the day was the Humorous Speech Contest. It was hosted by Bracken Ridge Toastmasters Club, chaired by Mamta.

Contestants were from the following clubs:

Bracken Ridge (Heidi) with "A Hair Raising Experience"

Peninsula (Madonna) with "Breakfast was Public Speaking"

Sandgate (Narelle) with "BBF"

Healthy Chatterer (Peter) with "What a Blast"

North Lakes (Kris) with "Let It Go"

 

The judges awards went to:

1) Kris

2) Heidi

3) Madonna

The Table Topics Contest was next. It was hosted by Healthy Chatterers Toastmasters Club, chaired by Di.

The topic of "My concern for the future is" was answered by Barbara, Ben, Christiane, Heidi and Ian.

The trophies went to:

1) Barbara

2) Heidi

3) Ian

 

 

The Evaluation Speech Contest followed. It was hosted by Sandgate Toastmasters Club and chaired by Liz We. The timers were Gail and Hazel, Sergeant at Arms Chris and Paul and Ballot Counter Arun.

We first heard a speech from Brendan titled "Stick And Stones".

It was evaluated by Barbara, Ben, Christiane, Heidi and Nick.

The winners were:

1) Heidi

2) Nick

3) Barbara

 

 

 

Last, but not least, the International Speech Contest was chaired by Mark, since it was hosted by North Lakes Toastmasters Club.

The contestants were

Kris with "Disturb the Sounds of Silence"

Heidi with "The Story Within"

Christiane with "Not Fair"

Madonna with "Not Quite So Normal"

The winners were:

1) Madonna

2) Christiane

3) Heidi

 

 

 

Afterwards, Suresh thanked the judges (you might spot Trish and Tony among them).

In closing, the 13 raffle prizes were drawn. The Raffle selling (and registration at the start of the day) was organised by Peninsula Toastmasters Club. 

Sandgate Toastmasters members did win several prizes.

 

Sandgate Toastmasters would like to congratulate all winners and wish them all the best for the Moreton Division Conference on March 19, 2023.

Thank you to Kris & Hazel who provided most of the photos.