'AND A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO YOU TO!"

Well, we have reached the end of another Calendar year and Pania Toastmasters is still going strong! 13 members attended our final meeting on 12th December and all  brought gifts along for the HB Today Christmas Gift Appeal.

"IS YOUR SCHOOL SHAKING?"

It shouldn't be after Noel's speech today at Pania Toastmaster's meeting, it was entitled "E.S.G" and you guessed it! related to the "Engineering Strategy Group". Noel who works for Opus is part of a very important 3 man team whose focus is to assess whether schools throughout New Zealand meet up with the criteria associated with Earthquakes.

'CHALLENGING BEHAVIOUR v A BEATING HEART"

Eleven members and our guest,(but not for long!) Carol enjoyed Pania's meeting on 28th November well run by Toastmaster David and right to time with assistance of Timekeeper Cheryl. Two great speeches were heard and a 'different' but enlightening Table Topics session filled the programme.

"RIDE THE MAGIC CARPET IN ZONE"

Read on and find out what this is all about! Pania's meeting on 21st November was ably controlled by Toastmaster Jen, she did a great job and kept the meeting moving along accompanied by shortbread goodies and chocolate nibbles- Who could ask for more??

EVALUATION WAS THE KEY!!

Our meeting on 14th November consisted mainly of the Evaluation Contest and a brief Table Topics Session. We were pleased to welcome three Guests, Carol (back for a second visit)  Steve T from Napier and Bay City Clubs, who was a guest Judge and welcome back to  Past member Jan who was 'arm twisted' to act as the Chairman for our Contest . Only nine members attended, which is fairly typical for a Contest meeting, but those who did I believe enjoyed the occasion.

During a brief business session,  Craig gave us a quick rundown on the Convention in Palmerston North last weekend , which was attended by three current (Craig, Graeme and Laurence) and three past members of the Club (Jan, Viv and Mary) . By all accounts it was a well worthwhile event to attend with a very high standard in the Key Note speakers, organisation and also the Contests. The Table Topics Contest was won by Division 'D' representative John Twaddle from Whakatane with the Topic "We are losing the art of Oral Communication" while the Humorous Contest was won by Dave Young from Christchurch. Our representative in the Humorous Contest was James Kan from Napier Club and he performed extremely well to finish in third place of the nine contestants. Next Convention is in Christchurch next May.

The Evaluation Contest (the winner of which could well be in Christchurch next May) had three Contestants evaluating an excellent Test speech given by Sue McM. The title of the speech was "Absent Friends" and Sue spoke about the dolphins at Marineland and wondered why, when they are kept in captivity overseas, we could not continue to do so here! It was a well presented speech with excellent us of word pictures and gestures, although read, Sue maintained very good eye contact with the audience and imparted information about her personal experience with dolphins both here and in England and factual information about the species. A great speech for the Evaluators to work on and Barbara was chosen by the Judges as being the best, and will now represent the Club at the Area Contest early next year. Congratulations Barbara!

While the Judges deliberated (and it did not take long) we had Table Topics provided by Chairman Jan. David was asked "what he is going to eat on Xmas day"- answer, generally so stuffed with nibbles by lunchtime not room for much else but probably "chicken, spuds and lots of gravy"!
Carol (our guest) was asked "what she was going to eat on Boxing Day" if she survived Xmas day it would be leftovers. Wendy -three days after Xmas-hopefully Crayfish and Snapper which is like having Xmas for a week! Darryl -Xmas Eve- finish work early-wander down to the County Hotel, have a couple of wines and nibbles and then Thai on the way home.
All answered well and made the audience hungry! Well done to Carol on her second attempt at a Table Topic- she seems a natural!

Jan closed the meeting at 1-00 sharp and we will see you all next week , when the programme will be back to 'normal' with Toastmaster Jen.

Spare a thought for our member Brenda, she comes from the area worst hit in the Philippines by the recent storms and has family still there, she is awaiting news on some family members survival. We do all pray that her family members will all be safe, it must be so devastating being so far away and being able to do so little. We can at least donate towards the assistance of these poor people!

"FIT FOR LIFE WITH THE THREE LITTLE PIGS!"

What an excellent meeting on 7th November, Barbara was our Toastmaster and put together an excellent programme. Last minute changes were handled very competently.
Today's meeting was special, not only was Laurence back from 3 months study but Darryl also achieved his Competent Communicator Award by completing his No. 10 Assignment 'Inspire Your Audience' with a speech entitled "Fit For Life" He fully deserves recognition having tackled all projects with enthusiasm and meaningful comment.

"Those Were The Days of Goblins & Gouls!"

Well here we are Thursday 31st October, Halloween, and that was the theme put forward by Toastmaster Craig for today's Pania meeting, 13 members attended and two guests, Justin, a first time guest, bravely tackled a Table Topic (hope this did not put him off) and the other guest was our esteemed Area Governor, Ian Wright from Hastings, who was on his first 'official visit'.

'THE PAST FOUR WEEKS HAVE BEEN A SUCCESS!

What an excellent attendance , 13 members plus one guest ,Carol, and she was awarded the best Table Topics! well deserved, what a great start!!
The attendance was also worthy of mention, this is Hawkes Bay show week (not known in the past for people coming to enjoy our meetings  before the long weekend) Well done everyone!

"MY LIFE"

Pania's meeting of the 17th October was attended by 11 members and was well run and kept to good time by the Toastmaster Ian and Timekeeper Mike.
Ian produced a clear and concise program and connected the relevant items with his usual dry humour and professionalism it was also excellent to welcome back Jane & Russell who have been away for several months.

"FEEDING OF CREAKS AND ACHES"

The meeting on 10th October was all about "Local Bodies"-Elections that is!, Wendy our Toastmaster's theme was in her usual bright and breezy style, lots of colour and ingenuity-Well done, Wendy-most enjoyable!
Sue McM was our first speaker with an attention grabbing title "Creaks & Aches", it was all about Arthritis, which made for compelling listening especially as it effects all ages. This was a Project seven assignment 'Research your Subject' and Sue did a marvellous job giving a well balanced view point and hope for those who suffer from this deliberating illness. Darryl, her Evaluator gave both praise and suggestions for improvement. Darryl continues to show great promise, his first Evaluation was only in July and he goes from strength to strength.
Our second speaker, Graeme gave a 'Persuade with Power' speech entitled "Food for Thought". Graeme gave three examples on relatively current events which he saw as cause for concern. Ian gave  insightful comments , which would be of great benefit to Graeme.
Table Topics followed with Cheryl, she chose a 'vote for me' theme which tied in very nicely with Wendy's theme for the day.
Ian was asked his opinion on parking wardens handing out lollipops instead of fine notices, Ian was in full cry when he suddenly stopped and asked "how much time do I have?" Darryl had to put his spin on putting 'ratbags' into stocks (in a Public Place) so people could throw things at them, Darryl left us in no doubt as to where he stood and did it all in 36secs. Isaac gave his thoughts on people being allowed to light bonfires on the beach  while having a picnic. He gave a thought provoking answer which included throwing all sorts of things on the bonfire-a chance to let off steam perhaps? sure took us by surprise!
Graeme was asked his opinion on rock climbing, which he thought was a good idea, providing no ropes were used! As you can tell Table Topics allowed the participants to use a lot of imagination and we all had a fun time. Thank you Cheryl.
General Business included that the V/P Education would provide a new forward programme on 17th October, mention was made that Barbara is representing Area D2 at the Divisional finals on Saturday in Rotorua in the Table Topics Contest, Good Luck Barbara.
Members were invited to Napier Toastmaster's Demonstration meeting on 14th October and asked to give it their support. There could be a spin off for Pania Club as well.
Noel as General Evaluator showed his expertise and experience in giving very good advice, such as Evaluators using 3rd person approach with their feedback. Thank you Noel for your well reasoned comments, Pania is fortunate to have someone with your experience.
Jen gave her Timekeeper's report which clearly showed she had listened well.
Before closing mention must be made of the Programme that Wendy had, they are always worth a mention and today's was no exception.

A great meeting-lots of learning and laughter. Our meetings reinforce why Toastmasters are so special-well done everyone!
Best Speaker was Sue McM;
Evaluator; Darryl and Table Topics; Isaac.

and a special thanks to Graeme for writing this report in the absence of Craig or Jan.

"COMPUTE THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT ON THE MOVE"

The Evolution of mobile computers and The Phantom of the Opera were the ingredients served up by our two speakers at Pania's meeting on 3rd October. Darryl (Toastmaster for the day) served up an excellent fare with some extremely interesting 'internet acronyms' to fill in between items.

Ever thought of doing one?

This was the question posed by our first speaker, Darryl, today.  He was referring to a life review, in this case a task he often undertook while a Volunteer in a Hospice.

"CATS GETTING CROSSFIT??"

Another in the long run of great Pania Toastmaster's meetings held today where 12 members and two guests (Diana & Simon from America) enjoyed a excellent programme with a "feline" theme well arranged and run by Toastmaster Jan.
Yes, Cats, were the subject of the day and Jan interspersed the items on the programme with some 'catichisms' !!! witty comments about cats ending up with a catalogue of 'cat sayings' from catacombs to cataracts, catamarans to catchments and its was all very catching with fortunately no catastrophes.

"Face Your Fears..."

...and do it anyway.  This was the title of Barbara's speech today. We know she doesn't like flying - add enclosed places and earthquakes and you have the heart of her speech. She had to take a lift to the 17th floor, in Wellington where the conference was held.  She'd travelled by plane too so they (the fears) all came at once. And she dealt with them.

'A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ....!"

.....today at Pania Toastmasters. We staged our Humorous Speech contest and enjoyed two highly entertaining speeches.

" I HAD A DREAM!"

Pania Toastmaster's meeting today had a 'dreamy' theme but not all the speakers were dreaming, some of the recollections actually did occur, these were enjoyed by 14 members and our latest member Isaac Kearse , who joined up today, welcome Isaac.

WEDDING WITH A DIFFERENCE

Sorry about the delay in this post, but first I forgot and then I ran out of time! Just as well our meeting participants were not in the same boat or the "Wedding event" would not have gone ahead as planned.
The meeting on 22nd August was well attended by 13 members and a guest Isaac , back for his third look.

What would you do with a chance..............

" Describe an occasion when you took the chance of a lifetime ".
This  was the question posed to contestants in today's Pania Table Topics Contest.

Contestants: Barbara, Jen & Darryl

"SMILE FOR THE CAMERA or THE EXCREMENT WILL HIT THE ROAD!!"

What an excellent meeting Pania had yesterday will run by Jen, our Toastmaster of the day, with a full and interesting programme based around the Chinese lucky number of EIGHT( it was the 8th of the 8th). Jen even arranged a lucky number raffle (no money required) and the winner enjoyed(in fact shared with us all) a box of chocolates. Mmmm......

"MEETING WITH A DIFFERENCE!"

Pania's meeting on 11st August was a meeting with a ' difference'.
Two reasons 1. Craig and Jan were unavailable.
                     2. Our programmed speakers were either unwell or had work commitments.
So what happened?? Luckily our Toastmaster was Wendy and she make improvising look easy.
Did you know that all horses had birthdays on the 1st of August? (in the Southern Hemisphere anyway, in the North it's the 1st January) Wendy does and she used that as her theme for the programme, which was up to her usual high standard.

"CHANGEOVER FOR AN ICEBREAKER"

While numbers were slow to build up, with a few latecomers, we ended up with 12 members and a young guest at Pania's meeting today. Hannah, who is Barbara's eldest Grand daughter, said she enjoyed the meeting, as I am sure that the other members that attended did also.
Graeme was our Toastmaster for the day and he handled the meeting with his usual professionalism, covering the several programme changes that were required and getting us through a full meeting to finish at 1.01pm.

"Macbeth brought to life!"

Today's meeting heard an assignment we rarely hear - a monodrama. Main thing for the speaker to achieve is NOT to look at the audience! This is something most Toastmasters have a problem with as we are always taught to maintain eye contact with the audience.
But Mike's assignment, The Monodrama, called for us to 'overhear' words by the speaker. Mike chose two soliloquies from 'Macbeth',  and performed them very well. (He just needed a kilt!) Noel had difficulty finding a recommendation for Mike, who we, suspect, has now found another talent!

The Silent Language of a Hairy Tale

Well, the heavens had opened for over 24 hours, but the sun came out about 1 hour before our meeting today and this allowed 13 members and a guest to enjoy an excellent fare and not get wet getting in and out!

"2 + 2 = Blue"

This was the intriguing, enigmatic title of our first speech today. Darryl was the speaker and he proceeded to give us the information required from No 7 assignment from the CC manual, Research your Topic. Jan introduced and evaluated and fascinating speech on 'synaesthesia'.

The 'Perfect' Word or The Peter Principle?

What another grand meeting of Pania Toastmaster's Club today, a cool day outside but warm in our meeting environment and a great way to spend your lunch hour!
14 members and a guest Graham, joined Toastmaster Craig for the meeting with a full programme of two speeches and a Table Topics Session. Opening on time we started with Table Topics run by Jen , and what an interesting range of topics we had to answer.

"DEAREST MOTHER"

Dearest Mother,

This was the title of Brenda's speech yesterday, a very personal letter written on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of her mother's death. Brenda inspired us with her words, and also used her delivery skills extremely well. her voice was used as we have not heard it before helping to make an impact on the audience. Well done, Brenda. You will have leaned so much from that assignment.

The Crumble Connoisseur

12 members attended another excellent Pania meeting today, well led by our Toastmaster Barbara, who started on a sweet note by handing out chocolates all round, to celebrate “National Week for School Support Staff” off which she is one!

DAD AND THE DUCK

Hello Everyone.

Darryl presented a speech today with this intriguing title. “ It was a speech,” said Evaluator, Graeme Valentine, “designed to illustrate vocal variety.” It certainly did this, with much quacking and water ( not literally) flying around.  I wonder if anyone else almost missed the punchline?? Graeme had several suggestions for Darryl for another time, as well as lots of commendations for a speech with a difference.

TOUGH LOVE - WITH A DIFFERENCE

After a chilly start our meeting today warmed up as we went along and some excellent Toastmastering was demonstrated! 10 members attended and our Toastmaster Viv had a varied program lined up for us and set the ball rolling with the Mission Of a Club. To warm up, Viv showed excellent body language during her reading of the Mission Statement with plenty of movement and enthusiasm!

Terrorists in Paradise Playing Plane Sports

Hi all you Pania members,

Well, what a panic on a Thursday morning! as most of you will know by now the Council, at its meeting on Wednesday night, decided after viewing a structural report they had commissioned to be done on the Memorial Square building, that the building had to be closed forthwith due to the danger of an Earthquake striking and the building collapsing!!! (with us in it at a meeting).Apparently it was only deemed to be at 12% of the standard required , when the minimum in the interim is 33%. Christchurch has a lot to answer for-or perhaps for us to be thankful for!!!

Pania Toastmasters - Where Leaders are Made!

Hi,
An excellent meeting today, a little different to normal but still interesting and educational. Jen was our Toastmaster (her first time after many months with the Club) and she ran the meeting particularly well with some well constructed comments between items and keeping the meeting to time with the assistance of Timekeeper Noel. A great effort Jen.(Jen had an excellent Tribute to Anzac Day ,poem, on the back of her program, written by a family member google “with their hair a little whiter, they step not quite so sure” and read it.)

Give it a Go!

Hello Pania members
Another busy and absorbing meeting today, with 13 members present, including our newest member, Pip Green, who will be inducted into the Club next week.

Girls Can Do Anything

Apparently that’s right!! and particularly so if you have “The Perfect Shot” at it?

Hi to all Pania members and others reading this email, our meeting today was another great example of what Pania  Toastmaster’s Club does week in and week out, education, entertainment and enjoyment in great “mouthfuls".

Red Red Wine

Good afternoon everyone.

We had another stimulating, and from this person’s  point of view, very enjoyable meeting today.  Ten members attended, with copious apologies. Are people preparing early for the Easter break?

Speed your way to be Victim or Aggressor!

Hi,

What a fantastic meeting we had today, a great attendance, 14 members and two guests Pip(3rd time) and Graham (2nd visit). I believe that Pip has joined, great to have her on board!

Toastmaster was Barbara, and she ran the meeting very efficiently, with an excellent program and a lot fitted into the 50 minutes available.

Creating a General Evaluation

Hello Pania People

Twelve attendees at the meeting on 14th March, and with the introduction of Pip Green, we have reached the magical 20 members. This means, of course, that all achievements
for the Distinguished Club Programme can be recognised.  And it means that Club Members are achieving their goals.

Yes- I was Shot At

What a tremendous meeting we had at Pania today, a great turnout with 15 members present and also two guests. Brenda brought along a workmate Pip (who visited us once last year) and Noel a workmate in Graham. Both seemed very keen and hopefully will be signing up in the near future. This filled the room and made for a fantastic atmosphere and what followed was evidence of the atmosphere, the fun and the entertainment.

Getting to the Point

The meeting was attended by 11 members, and chaired by Ian Levingston (who, by the way, read the Mission Statement at the opening of the meeting).  We had 2 great speeches – Darryl Baxter doing Speech Number 3 Get to the Point, and Laurence Bacchus doing Speech Number 9 Persuade with Power.

International Speech Contest

An excellent meeting was held today under the Leadership of Craig (not that he did much!) when we held our International Speech Contest. Graeme organised the agenda and the Contestants, of which there were four and all spoke well on their various and wide ranging topics.

Valentines Day

Another beautiful HB day as we gathered for the regular meeting on Thursday.  Twelve members attended.

Cats

Hi,

 

Another excellent meeting on Thursday, well run by Toastmaster Jan, who kept us all to task and was assisted by the Timekeeper Jen, which enabled us to finish on time at 1.00pm. Again the room was well set up by Graeme & Ian, who do an excellent job behind the scenes every week setting up and dismantling the room, so that when the majority of members walk in it is already to go.

Human Robots

Greetings Pania People, for the beginning of 2013. We welcomed Jane and Russell back from the extended break.

Apologies were received from Sue Atkinson and Craig Robinson.

Thirteen members met this week, for the opening meeting of the year. Laurence was going to be late so Graeme stepped in and began the meeting. He also installed Ian as Timekeeper. Thanks to you both for short-notice obedience!

Happy New Year

Hello and Happy New Year to all Pania members, Must be the long Holiday break, but I almost forgot to send out the weekly meeting report for last Thursday, particularly to keep those that were unable to attend up-to-date! Held Thursday 24th January, our first for the new year, with 12 members in attendance.