"WHAT A GIFT THAT WAS!"

Thursday 10th December, saw Pania Toastmasters having their last meeting of the year, and what a 'gift' of a meeting it was, being the last meeting it was as usual run by the President Helen, who performed her role admirably, Helen was the only 'official of the day' keeping time as well!!

'HELLO WORLD"

“Hello World” was the speech that kicked off our last meeting. Darryl told us about some challenging times he was trying to speak different languages around the world. He found the French were intolerant of foreign speakers, and once a French chef made him repeat his order correctly three times before he could get his food! A good choice of topic for a speech from the Humorously Speaking advanced manual.

"THE POWER OF RESOLUTION for WATER EXPORTS"

Another great meeting of Pania Toastmaster's today capably overseen by Toastmaster of the day Jane, who had a well constructed programme that allowed everyone to speak and to finish on time.

"HAVE THE LAST LAUGH"

That was the title of the first of the two great speeches that kicked off our last meeting on Thursday 19th November.

"WHO DO WE COME FROM?"

This was the title of Helen's Test speech for the Club's evaluation contest on Thursday 12th November. Evaluation, as we as Toastmasters are all aware, is the KEY which UNLOCKS our potential as speakers and confident beings!

"REMEMBER, REMEMBER the 5th NOVEMBER"

This was the email sent out the day prior to Pania Toastmaster's latest meeting by Toastmaster of the Day, David. He produced a clear a precise agenda for the day with the theme of Guy Fawkes being eagerly accepted by the members present. He was able to intertwine facts about Guy Fawkes in between presentations- most interesting and informative.

"PANIA WORLD CUP FINAL"

Toastmaster of the day, Wendy McNaught put together a cleverly themed meeting as it was all based on the rugby world cup.

"Labour Weekend Meeting"

The Meeting started on time.   Thursday, 22 October 2015 with a good attendance in view of the four day holiday weekend looming!

'PERSONALITY plus PASSING OF A SOCIAL SOCIETY"

"Personality plus passing of a social society"

These were the titles of the two speeches at today's meeting of Pania Toastmasters. Linda chose "Personality Plus" which was project 8 relating to visual aids and what a thought provoking speech it was - read more.

'ASSERTIVE GOATS & GENERAL GRUFFNESS"

ASSERTIVE GOATS AND GENERAL GRUFFNESS

It was a sense of deja vu as I sat at our Pania Toastmasters meeting this week.  The last time I was General Evaluator, Carol was also speaking.  And, as it turned out, Carol was performing the same project speech again.  An unusual situation.  However, I get ahead of myself.

'IN PURSUIT OF ADVENTURE'

What a  wonderful way to start October , with a warm , inspiring Toastmaster's meeting .

 

Helen was our Toastmaster for the day , she welcomed us all and explained the changes in the programme.

"THE NEXT PANIA MASTER CHEF!"

Master Chef was Toastmaster Carol's theme as she prepared to cook up a
storm. While it was wild and wet outside, inside everything was cut and
dried at the meeting on Thursday 24th September.

The entre was served up by Darryl who introduced Mike Coombe who had
prepared the first course. It was all about Adolph Sax who invented the
..Saxophone. And cool as a cucumber Mike played a few bars. Not a visual
aid...  an audio aid! In his subsequent evaluation Darryl found much to
praise and a few quibbles to nibble over,eg which Bill played the
saxophone. Gates or Clinton.

The following course was cooked up by HelenWright. The year of the first
toastmaster club, 1924, was the platter on which various tit bits which
happened that year were served up to us. They were a smorgasbord of
tasty events which left her evaluator Graeme replete and contented.

Table Topics was a platter of amuse boches( to amuse the mouth) from
Barbara. Wendy, Jane and Ian were all given morsels to play with on the
theme of newspaper advertisements. Noel evaluated them with a grain of
salt so no one was sauteed.

Linda as Timekeeper knew that the proof was in the pudding so we
finished on time.
Now we're cooking on gas!

Best Speaker Mike Coombe
Best Evaluator Darryl Baxter
Best Table Topic Wendy McNaught
Raffle Winner Wendy McNaught

Thanks David for cooking up this report, it has been 'well done'.

'MACBETH SAYS THAT LIFE BEGINS at 80!"

Another great meeting of Pania Toastmasters on Thursday 17th September when we heard all about 'Macbeth's' efforts to be King and that apparently "life begins @ 80!" so read on and be inspired to live that long.

"IMPROMPTU SPEAKING EXTRAORDINAIRE"

What a great meeting at Pania on Thursday 10th September when we held our annual Table Topics Contest and we had nine participants! In this contest speakers all have the same subject which on this occasion was "If you were granted one wish , what would it be and why?". Contestants draw for speaking order and once that happens all but the first contestant leaves the room, out of earshot!

"THE CITY OF LIGHTS"

Great to have visitors join into the meeting, Gail an accountant from Crowe
Horwath and Elyse an experienced Toastmaster from Palmerston North.

Barbara, as meeting Toastmaster, had a very manageable agenda which flowed
along nicely.

"THE MEETING WENT AHEAD ANYWAY!!"

Our Thursday meeting was ably chaired by Cheryl who found herself in the unenviable situation of a speaker pulling out and having to fill a fairly long spot in the programme, however as we all knew she could/would Cheryl put together an alternative programme at fairly short notice.

"MOTHERHOOD- MAKE IT HAPPEN"

 These were just two of the intriguing titles of our FIVE entrants in the Pania Toastmaster's Humorous Speech Contest held on Thursday 20th August. What a marvelous turnout for what is traditionally a contest few in numbers!

'ASSERTIVELY HUMOROUS"

This weeks meeting was a combination of an educational session on how to give a humorous speech and a project speech on being assertive.  As a result we all left with a confident smile on our faces.  Though that is a common result of attending the Pania Toastmasters meeting.

The meeting was well run by Toastmaster of the day Graeme.  We also had some guests who were potential new members just immigrated from Christchurch, Alan and Varna.  They were introduced by Helen who has also brought along her husband, Ian, another fellow Toastmaster.

First up was the education session by Helen.  With the upcoming humorous speech contest she provided some techniques and inspiration for creating humorous speeches.  She began by saying that a humorous speech needs to have the standard speech structure of opening, body and conclusion.  In addition it needs to have a purpose.  With this in place the humour is “sprinkled on top” using vocal variety and pauses to add emphasis.  (As they say, the secret to good comedy is … timing).  Helen suggested making our humorous references - short, simple and special.  Finally, Helen rounded off by recommending we allow time in our speech for the expected audience laughter, guffawing, and chortling.

Next was Carol.  She was presenting a project from her Advanced Communication book - Interpersonal Communications.  This was project 5 about “Asserting Yourself”.  Carol provided a good structure for asserting ones needs - stating the problem, telling feelings, specifying the solution and the describing the consequences.  In addition Carol had a few good tips - speak up immediately, be direct, be pleasant, and be calm (all tough in stressful situations, I’d say).  To demonstrate these suggestions Carol performed a role-play with Barbara where Carol tried to use her assertiveness techniques to get her plumber (played by Barbara) to repair some faulty work performed in the past.  Well done Carol for coming up with such a real-life situation, and well done to Barbara for being such a formidable subject.  (I hope the real situation with your plumber went well Carol!).  Mike evaluated Carol’s presentation with his usual thoroughness.

Table Topics was run by David who asked people to provide a one minute introduction of themselves.  Always a good skill to have in this world of networking and social interactions.  Our guest Ian ably presented his life in three key points - the “Nui”, grandmother and the sergeant major.  All which influenced how it is today.  Jen told a tale of wayward girl made good with a variety of careers around the world.  Finally Linda left the Hawkes Bay to become “lost” overseas only to discover herself in Iran teaching English and now finding herself back in the Bay - quite an adventure.

In the general business session we were warned about the humorous speech the following week (this week now!).  And Barbara was awarded her Advanced Communicator Gold (AC(G) certificate - well done Barbara! 

Finally, Darryl presented the General Evaluation session, awarding Carol as Best Speaker; Mike as Best Evaluator and Ian as Best Table Topics.=

Thanks to Darryl for this week's report.

"DECISION TIME; IT'S NEARLY SPRING!!!"

SPRING FEVER IS UPON US!!

Toastmaster Craig welcomed us to the Pania meeting on 6th August and a very energised meeting it was!
Darryl the grammarian for the day introduced us to a Finnish word, "kalsarikannit'. Luckily he suggested that we didn't have to use the word as it meant "drinking at home alone in one's underwear". He did not offer an explanation as to how this word had come into his vocabulary!!

"INSPIRING LANGUAGE TALES"

It was a chilly Napier day as we all arrived at the meeting room for the weekly lunchtime meeting of Pania Toastmasters. Inside the greeting was like the room temperature- warm and inviting. Unlike all other weeks that I can recall, Ian was not present to perform his role as greeter and that did feel a bit odd. We look forward to your return Ian!

Toastmaster of the day was Jen who started the meeting on time. There were a few changes to the program and the roles but these were quickly explained.

Cheryl introduced Linda who was presenting the first speech entitled "Inspiring Language Tales". Linda has been quickly progressing through the Competent Communicator manual this year and was on Speech Six, Vocal Variety.Her subject about her adventures with language in a very different culture to ours was very interesting as well as entertaining. The topic allowed for many options for vocal variety- whispering, shouting, and phrases in an assortment of foreign tongues. In her evaluation Cheryl commended Linda for her interesting subject and suggested that more exaggeration could have been used for emphasis and entertainment.

Next up was David introducing a reading from Helen, who had been scheduled to make a speech but as sometimes happens life- got in the way! Helen read an inspiring article from a recent Toastmaster's magazine, about a person who was interested in wildlife photography and who joined Toastmasters to become better at public speaking to enhance her presentations on her photographs. As a result Toastmasters provided further opportunities and other paths in her career have come about. It was interesting to hear how we all need to see opportunities and then take them; both steps are required. While David did not need to evaluate Helen's 'bard' reading he did comment favourably on her speaking style but lamented that she was unable to make a speech, even if it was not the one planned.

Our Table Topic's master at the meeting was Carol who challenged us to recall TV shows from many years ago. Those who were 'lucky' were given a phrase from an old TV show and asked to incorporate it into our one minute speech. First up was David with "Sit on it" from the comedy "Happy Days". Initially David couldn't recall the show but then it all came flooding back to him until he saw the red light and decided to go back to his seat and 'sit on it!' Helen was also called up and provided a brief and to the point response to her phrase'(that I cannot recall-that was not the phrase he just could not remember what it was!!) but it probably raised more questions than answers. Carol the asked Mike to recall the 'Ministry of silly walks' from Monty Python. He obliged with some enthusiasm and a great amount of energy. Finally Barbara was asked to include the phrase 'this tape will self-destruct in 5 seconds' from "Mission Impossible" into her short speech. She came up with a tall tale (I suspect) of her wanting to keep secret her computer work by pressing a button that will cause it to self-destruct (warning her with the phrase in question). Very creative Barbara.

The business session covered a number of topics including the next meeting's agenda, discussion about the plan for the raffles at up coming meetings and the activities of the committee.
Finally Darryl coordinated the evaluation portion of the meeting calling on Table Topic's evaluator (Mike being awarded the "Best Table Topics") the timekeeper's report and then his own General Evaluation. In it, Darryl commended Cheryl's well structured evaluation of Linda's speech but suggested that the introduction could have been shorter. He also made a suggestion about having the Club President or Toastmasters of the day manage the business session to ensure it runs to time and flows well.

A good meeting, food for thought and always entertaining.

Thanks Darryl for your very full report!

"AUTISM & HISTORY"

These were the subjects of our two Prepared speeches at Pania's meeting on 23rd July, an interesting and varied program well controlled by the Toastmaster of the day , Darryl, who produced an excellent program that showed he shared his birthday with some 'other' well known people i.e. Amelia Earhart,Bindi Irwin, Anna Paquin and Alexandre Dumas. Is he not in great company?

"THE WEEK THAT WAS"

This weeks Pania meeting, whilst low in numbers was warm, fun and informative.

"SINGLE MALT WHISKEY"

Great Team Work may well have been the theme for the Pania Club's,Thursday 9th July meeting, as we all came in from a very cold day to a warm room and  a very warm welcome. Thanks you Ian & Graeme, as usual they looked after us. Craig welcomed us all further in his capacity of Toastmaster of the meeting.

"GETTING TO KNOW YOU- MAD MICK THE LEGEND!"

As you can tell (from the heading above) Pania's meeting on Thursday 2nd July was one with a difference!  Thanks to Ian for organising and Chairing such an interesting programme.

'DON'T TELL ANYONE about THE RHYTHM OF LIFE"

Two excellent presentations at Pania Toastmaster's meeting this week on Thursday 25th June overseen by the Toastmaster of the day (standing in for an absent member) Graeme who had a well defined program arranged and linked the items smoothly.

"MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS"

This was the title of Barbara's speech today at Pania Toastmaster's weekly meeting presided over by Toastmaster of the Day Cheryl. This was all about husband ,Steve's business from 1978 until April of this year.

"'WHERE DO YOU FIT for THE BLAST OFF?"

Interesting titles to the two prepared speeches at today's Pania meeting attended by 12 members and under the control of Toastmaster of the day, Laurence.Speakers were Helen and Graeme and the speeches certainly lived up to the interesting titles!

"YOUR CODE OF RIGHTS!"

This was the title that Laurence chose with his Project Two Speech from the "Public Relations Manual" at Thursday's meeting of Pania Toastmasters presided over by the Toastmaster of the day Graeme.

"HOUSEHOLD ITEMS- GREAT TO TALK ABOUT!"

On a beautiful winter's day, 12 members of Pania Toastmaster's Club held their regular weekly meeting and enjoyed a varied and generally interesting program overseen by Toastmaster of the day, Craig.

"TRAVEL SAFETY & LUCKY TO BE HERE TODAY!"

These were the titles of the speeches at Pania Toastmaster's meeting on Thursday 21st May, the meeting was overseen by Toastmaster of the day Carol and the standard right through was extremely high.

'MAGIC MOMENTS when TOASTMASTERS UNMASKED"

Members who attended Pania's meeting today were privileged to hear two good speeches and an excellent Table Topics session under the guidance of our Toastmaster of the day, Barbara.

"MY LIFE FOR ONE MONTH while ROASTING DB"

What a hilarious and entertaining meeting we had today at Pania Toastmasters attended by 12 members who I believe thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it, I know I did!

"WALK ON WITH TECHNOLOGY!"

Pania Toastmasters meeting today had two interesting and very diverse prepared speeches, one covering the technology of the kitchen the other the feat of walking 15kms.

'WOMEN'S SUFFRAGE LEADING THE WAY!"

This was the title of the speech today at Pania's meeting by Laurence, the presentation was from the 'Storytelling Manual' ,Project 5 "Bringing History to Life" and what a speech it was!

"SLEEP IS NOT OPTIONAL!"

"Sleep is Not Optional" was the very intriguing title of our first prepared speech on Thursday at Pania's meeting attended by 13 members and a guest past member Jan and well controlled by toastmaster Graeme.

"FIRST TO SEE THE SUN"

A very interesting meeting at Pania Toastmasters on Thursday with Noel giving us a fascinating insight with regard to the Chatham Islands. Not only was this speech from personal experience but the pictures shown clarified what Noel was telling us.

"SUPERCALIFRAGILISTIC START TO OUR NEW VENUE"

Pania Toastmasters met today in their brand new venue for the very first time(Blind Foundation Buildings,65 Thackeray Street) and what a great meeting we had under the guidance of Toastmaster of the day, David.Not only did he run the meeting but he provided 'home cooked' (by his own hands) Hot Cross buns to mark the occasion.Well done David!

'KITCHEN TECHNOLOGY 101'

This was the title of David's speech at Pania's meeting on 26th March, his objectives from one of the Advanced Manuals were to organise technical material into a concise presentation and tailor it to the audience's needs, interest and knowledge levels, what a challenge!

"FEEL THE FEAR AND TAKE A WALK A DAY"

Two very intriguing speeches at Thursday 19th March's meeting of Pania Toastmasters were overseen by our Toastmaster of the day Darryl, who kept the meeting running along nicely with a very full program to complete. The speech titles of "A Walk a Day Keeps Madness Away" and " Feel The Fear and Speak" made for an excellent meeting attended by 13 members.

"PIRATES- NOT IN A MONTH OF SUNDAYS!"

These were the intriguing titles of the prepared speeches at today's Pania Toastmasters meeting, Toastmaster of the day was Cheryl  and she ran an excellent meeting with the two prepared speeches and Table Topics session.

'"WHERE IS IT?"

Well, we certainly found out where it was at Pania Toastmaster's meeting today as David told us where to find it in his speech, entitled "Where is it" from the Technical Presentations Manual.

"COULD YOUR LITTLE GIRL CHANGE THE FUTURE?"

This was the title of Jeanette's speech at Pania's meeting today and it provided the material for an extremely interesting and well presented speech that had a lot of structured argument to persuade us!

"Everybody Hurts" but "Is this A Cure?"

These were the intriguing titles that we had for the contestants in in International Speech Contest held at Pania's meeting today. 12 members attended along with a guest (Past member Jan) and although only two entered the Contest it was a case of "quality not quantity"!

"CIRCLE OF LIGHT"

This was the intriguing title given to an Ice Breaker Speech for our newest member Linda at Thursday's Pania Toastmasters meeting. The 'Ice Breaker' is the first speech that new members present and is designed to introduce themselves to their fellow members.

"GET ANGRY EVERYDAY AND GO FOR A WALK-IT'S GOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH!"

Believe it or not that was one of the messages we received from Pania Toastmaster's meeting on Thursday 5th February! two excellent prepared speeches told us about the benefits of 30 minutes walking daily and how to curb our anger (if you find that necessary).

JANUARY 2016- WHERE WILL YOU BE?

"29th January 2016" was the intriguing title of Jeanette's Project 2 Speech assignment at today's Pania meeting. Then she asked "What will you be doing?" followed by four further questions, "will you be in the same job?" "in the same house?" in the same suburb or town?" "or at a Toastmaster's meeting?" well that sure got me thinking!