"1,2,3 OFF THE BEATEN PATH WE GO!"

"1,2,3,Go!" "Off the beaten path" these were the titles of two very interesting speeches at Pania's meeting today. Great turn out & so good to have Ian back again.  Two guest's as well!   Marc and Kerry, Toastmasters recently moved from Christchurch.


Jen had the meeting under control at 12.10.  Mission statement almost word perfect from Darryl (without notes). Grammarian's word of the day from Linda was 'Delectable' & very popular it was too. Read more.

Craig introduced Emma giving both project 3 objectives & personal background. The "1,2,3,Go!" speech was aptly named & presented. Full of action as one would expect from a triathalon. Hard to believe this was only Emma's third speech! The standard was very high, the word pictures fantastic, the visuals most appropriate. I was exhausted well before the finish line!
Craig's evaluation was thorough as always. He was able to draw on his experience to clearly identify the strengths that Emma has. His suggestions for improvement as he said, were "probably only minor ones" and it was easy to understand why he felt that way. I'm sure everyone else would have had similar feelings. Well done Emma!

Table topics from Patrick was fascinating.  Patrick explained what he was doing & gave each speaker two options to choose from.
There were four speakers 
Anna spoke about Vincent van Gough & did it very well
Carol took a moment or two to get under way & cleverly chose both options.
Russell also liked that approach with cycling & Abel Tasman.
Marc spoke about clogs & NEVER had to go to the second choice.
The table topics were evaluated somewhat differently & this one sure caught most of us by surprise (except Darryl).
I think he was trying to uphold the "family" name. All of it was in rhyme! He must have made a big impression because everyone else tried to join in but were hopelessly outclassed.

Highlight of the business session was the awarding of a Advanced Communicator Gold certificate to Jane .
Well deserved Jane you did yourself proud!

Mike introduced David who was also presenting project 3 & believe it or not virtually the same topic as Emma! Exercise! Nice warm introduction Mike.
David soon had us up on Napier hill. He gave us 3 alternatives. One could detect it was giving David a certain amount of pleasure, but not as much as the aptly named "bust a gut" segment. The whole speech took on quite a different meaning. Well told David.
Mike gave a concise, in depth evaluation touching on both praise and suggestions for improvement. David would have gained great benefit. Thank you Mike.

A very good Grammarian's report was given by Linda. It highlighted the benefit we could gain from this on a more regular basis.

Barbara gave her timekeeper's report in her usual professional manner.
General Evaluator Graeme, unfortunately did not have time for his full report, but succinctly covered the main points.

Thank you Jen for your role as chairperson. Well done. Up to your usual high standard.

Best table topic   Marc
Best Speaker       Emma
Best Evaluator    Craig