"HAPPINESS IS A GLOW AHEAD"

"Happiness" is "Glow Ahead"
These were the intriguing titles from our two speeches today but before elaborating I want to mention the excellent effort made by our Toastmaster Wendy.  Wendy not only had a special program clear, concise, colourful but also a theme relating to what has happened during the month of March. Read more.

Wendy gave encouragement to all those taking part today and also ensured the meeting ran to time. Well done! 
Our first speaker today, Patrick presented an excellent "Ice Breaker" (this assignment is the first one a speaker gives when they join Toastmasters). Basically it is an opportunity for the speaker to tell the audience about themselves. Patrick chose "Happiness" as his title and what a speech it was!  Helen introduced and evaluated Patrick. Thank you Helen for making Patrick feel good about himself and offering two very good suggestions for next time.
Craig was our next speaker.  His speech was one of persuasion.  The title "Glow ahead" related to the Waitomo caves.
Craig obviously enjoyed the experience and wanted all of us to do the same. Mike introduced and evaluated Craig. Another very good evaluation. Mike quickly highlighted the strengths shown. He also provided a good balance emphasizing praise along with suggestions for improvement.
A standout feature for me today was the standard set by everyone.
Wendy to begin with, followed by two excellent speeches. Then we had two top class evaluators.  The table topics session ran by Barbara was also of high calibre.  Participants were given a date ie 1978 and told it was 38 years ago. They then had to relate the 38 years to someone in their family and speak about that person for one minute.
Carol, Linda, Anna and David were our speakers and what a great response from all of them.
Graeme our table topic evaluator provided comment to those taking part, awarding best speaker to Carol.
Timekeeper Russell then gave an excellent example on how his report should be given.  It was good to note Russell did use the bell several times (that tells the speaker they are over time). 
Graeme concluded the meeting with his General Evaluator's report. Graeme praised everyone for maintaining such a high standard (something we always try to do) as well as providing feedback to the evaluators.
Best speaker:  Craig         
Best evaluator:  Mike
Best table topics:  Carol