"ON YOUR BIKE!!"

It was a small, but enthusiastic group of Toastmasters who braved the cooler temperatures to attend today’s (11th May) meeting. However, we soon warmed after joining in the meeting programme. We were ably looked after by our Toastmaster of the day Craig who had to negotiate a few changes to the program. He kept us entertained by a variety of interesting dates and events as well as finding time to prepare a last-minute speech.

I enjoy the grammar component when we have time in the programme and Laurel, our grammarian of the day, presented us with the very pertinent ‘prattle’ as our word of the day.

Graeme introduced Craig’s speech which required the use of visual aids. Craig then took us on a virtual bike ride along some of his favourite rides from among the 200km long bike pathways of the local area. By giving us a map to follow as he spoke and personal examples, I am sure there will soon be more riders from TM joining him on the pathways in future. 

Graeme’s evaluation was masterful with a re-iteration of the objectives, lots of warm praise for the speaker and 3 useful recommendations.

·         Give sources of facts for increased credibility, use large visuals to avoid talking to the board and stay on topic. 

This type of feedback not only assists the speaker, but it also serves as a useful reminder for other members to observe when they are preparing their own speeches.

The Club Executive Election was then held run by President Helen and the following committee was elected to oversee the running of the Club from 1st July to 30th June 2018.

President; Marc

V/P Education; Craig

V/P Membership; Helen

V/P Public Relations; Patrick

Treasurer;Carol

Secretary; Linda

Sgt-@arms; Graeme

Many thanks to Anna & Jen for their input over the past 12 months and until 30th June 2017!!

Table topics by David was cleverly aimed at specific speakers and the destinations that they had experienced, but the topics were also broad enough to allow all members to think of their own travel stories. It was good to have the chance to hear from a range of excellent speakers.

·         Jen started us off by enthusiastically talking about a very special trip to New York. With her memories of wonderful food, warm people and things to see, it sounds like a ‘must see’ destination.

·         Marcus waxed lyrically about Christchurch in winter, albeit from behind glass and accompanied by the warmth of the sun, to enjoy frosty vistas, clear blue skies and avoid the smog.

·         Laurel recounted her experiences of culture shock when working in Fiji, and not as a tourist in her bikini on its sandy beaches. Group cultures are a challenge that often confront the Western traveller and this reminded us of the rewards of engaging in a culture rather than judging it by our own cultural standards.

·         Helen is a B & B hostess with the ‘mostess’ and she outlined the business model which supports her establishment and how it feels from personal experience when things aren’t tailored for visitors comfort.

·         Carol recounted her memories of growing up in a large family on a dairy farm. Feeding the chickens, collecting eggs, checking the baler for ‘critters’ and slipping in gumboots through mud with her townie friends, bought back memories for me too.

Darryl gave warm feedback to all participants, which was well-deserved, as they all gave excellent responses to their topics. With such good talks that it was not surprising that Darryl struggled to give recommendations.

Thanks goes to our team, Graeme, Ian, David and Craig who set the room up for us each meeting. 

Warmest wishes for Craig as he competes in the Evaluation contest in Wellington.

Best Speaker: Craig

Best Evaluator: Graeme

Best Table Topic: Jen

General Evaluator: Linda reported well on the meeting and was assisted by the Timekeeper, Carol and Grammarian Laurel, who did not prattle on!!