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!
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