'FOOLING AROUND'

Fooling around

Two days until April and there’s no fool like an old fool! Craig , our Toastmaster for today's meeting made the coming April Fool's day his theme and Linda, the Grammarian and Mike the Table Topics Master picked up on the theme. I ask why not theme Eric Clapton or Celine Dionne who both had their birthdays today?

Enuff grumbling. Splendid programme however. Linda's word of the day was “flummoxed”. First speaker Russell  was introduced by Darryl and gave us a Status Report on “Water Management in Hawkes Bay”. And he confirmed our suspicious that all is not well (haha) behind our taps. Darryl's evaluation was comprehensive and perceptive with a number of good recommendations, eg. don’t rely so much on the script.

Anna’s education presentation was a treat. It was about tailoring your speech for the audience. She used Carol to demonstrate audience analysis is about putting yourself in their shoes. This speech means Anna is now an Advanced Communicator Silver. No wonder the speech shined!

Mike based Table Topics on fantasy. He provided the first sentence of some fairytale fantasy and participants were asked to put themselves in the story. Kerry flew in a forest, Laurel had a King crying and Jen somehow got trolls and birthing in the same scene. Beam me up Scotty! Carol gave a useful evaluation and revealed that April 1st is her birthday. But she didn’t say what number.

Laurel came up with the goods (was I nagging?) and gave us a useful guide to Impromptu Structures.

In the wrap up Linda told us how eloquent we are and Helen tick ticked off our timing. David gave a truncated General Evalauation, time was agin him!

Best Speaker, Anna

Best Evaluator Carol

Best Table Topics, Jen

"LIFE IS COMPLICATED BUT OUR JOURNEY IS OUR OWN!"

"Never trust a women" and "Life is complicated but our journey is our own!" intriguing words spoken by Marc and the Title given by Stephanie, our two speakers at Pania's meeting on Thursday 23rd March.

"WHAT'S AT THE END OF YOUR FISHING LINE? debate"

The meeting opened on time and our able toastmaster Craig set the scene by offering us several reminders about the upcoming District Conference , he offered to collect registrations and post them , an offer accepted by many .A really good initiative to get as many along on April 8th as possible .If you were not at the meeting feel free to contact Craig who can furnish you with the necessary info .

'WHY IRAN if I had ONE MORE DAY!"

Two very interesting speeches today at Pania Toastmaster's weekly meeting under the professional guidance of the Toastmaster of the day, Laurel, who ran a very tight program following an excellently set out Agenda with smooth transitions between items.

Laurel celebrated the 58th Birthday of the Barbie doll and wondered why we do not see 58year old Barbies being made today???. Some people may of course have a 58 year old Barbie! Most in our Club are not old enough , but if you have, it could be valuable.

The first item on the program was a prepared speech presented by Linda, introduced by Mike. Linda was working from an Advanced Manual the specific assignment being "The Abstract Concept". This is always a tricky one to know what to talk about but Linda handled the task extremely well with a speech entitled "Why Iran?". She spoke of a recent trip to Iran (she has dual citizenship as she lived there for many years and used to teach there) and explained in very clear terms how the abstract concept of the brain is enhanced through travel. So when you hear the saying 'travel broadens the mind' you can believe it! A very well presented and interesting speech, also giving much insight into the pitfalls of travel to that particular country, if you are thinking of it! Excellent Linda.
Mike gave a strong evaluation , praising Linda for 'exposing' herself to us through the many commendations that she deserved for the speech and also finding 2/3 worthwhile recommendations for Linda.

Next up was Darryl, introduced by Helen, Darryl was also working from an Advanced Manual with the assignment "Speaking in Praise".Entitled "One More Day" Darryl spoke fondly of his father who passed away in 2009 and included parts of the Eulogy he gave at the funeral with additions. An excellent example of this particular assignment and extremely well put together and presented by Darryl, not an east task but  very well handled.
Helen in her Evaluation commended the many good points that Darryl made and confirmed that he certainly achieved the objectives ,she advised that he certainly gained "leadership from his father".

Table Topics was run by Marc and four members, (Craig, Jane, Jen & Graeme) were requested to give min-icebreakers in 90 secs so that the newer members could learn a little of their background.
Kerry, evaluated Table Topics and commended all the speakers while also finding a worthwhile recommendation for each one as well. Great effort Marc and Kerry, one could almost have felt this was an 'impromptu session!'

International Speech Contestants were given their certificates and Mike also received a "Spirit of Success" certificate for completing another Advanced Manual recently.
Don't forget to support Mike & Barbara at the Area Contests tomorrow night in Hastings!!!

Ian gave us the Timekeeper's report, Russell gave a brief (time was running out) General Evaluation
and Laurel wrapped up the program succinctly.

Best Speaker; Linda
Best Table Topic; Graeme
Best Evaluator; Mike

See you all next week when the Toastmaster is Craig.

"THE PAIN OF ROAD RAGE!"

Pania Meeting 2 March 2017

Carol was in the Chair and had prepared a colorful Meeting programme with Hawkes Bay Horse of the Year theme. Throughout the meeting she passed on interesting snippets of information about HOY.

It was a well run and enjoyable meeting.

As part of the meeting preliminaries, our visitor Alistair read out the Club Mission Statement.

First speech was Kerry whose assignment was Vocal Variety and the topic she chose,Road Rage, was appropriate, as was the title “What the beep beep you’re doing!!” And that was just her passenger. We learned alot about aggression and stress. Her advice to us was “let it go, let it go ...”

Graeme her introducer and evaluator was mightily impressed with Kerry's experiences and suggested that she slow down her delivery. Not so much that she annoy other drivers though!

Second speaker was Jen. The goal of her speech “A pain in the proverbial” was to explain an abstract concept. She has suffered chronic pain for many years enriching the “Pain Industry”. Pills, potions, gadgets, health providers ... you name it Jen has spent a fortune with not much to show for it. Great visual aids: she tossed them one after the other into a waste basket. She says that so far the best relief was the simplest, a back support, $70.

Barbara introduced and evaluated Jen. She commended her for sharing her experiences and recommended she lay out the visuals on a table for better emphasis.

Impromptu Table Topics were presented by Craig based on current news headlines. Mike described how a rotating apartment tower on Bluff Hill would result in all day sunshine for the occupants. Laurel enthused over banana smoothies. Helen has cracked getting service from Call Centres. Stephanie has no interest in politics and prefers humour.

Table Topics were evaluated by Jane. She commended the speakers on their presentations, she awarded the Best Table Topic to Mike.

Business session with Helen. “Area Contests this Friday (10th) Salvation Army Rooms, Cnr  Avenue & Warren Streets, Hastings starting at 6.45pm. Carol reminded us subs due by 20^th, $95.

The report on time was read out by Noel and David wrapped up with a general evaluation. He shamelessly copied the Oscar awards by giving Carol his shopping list to read out. He then announced that the Best Speaker was Kerry and Best Evaluator, Graeme.