TERRIFIC TOASTMASTER’S TOOLS and COOKING
MAGNETS
No, this is not the title of a new cooking show although if
it was, we have the ideal host for it! These were the titles of the
presentations delivered by Patrick and Jen today. Intrigued?
And so you should be! As we entered the meeting room, it was
obvious we were in for a treat. Jen had already laid out her demonstration
table, so we knew we were in for an entertaining, yet valuable
presentation.
The room was immaculately set up as we have come to expect,
thanks to Craig and helpers who were acting as stand-in sergeant-at-arms.
Stephanie, our Toastmaster for the day, was already prepared and waiting for
us. This was Stephanie’s first attempt as our Toastmaster, acquitting herself
with flying colours! A few rookie moments of course but with guidance from
others she immediately made adjustments – showing she learns and grows with
feedback. Her agenda was clear and well laid out. Little hints of colour added
interest, timings were clearly listed and all necessary details were given.
Apologies from Anna, Wendy, Graeme, Ian, Barbara, Kerry and Marc were given.
The Mission Statement was enthusiastically read by Helen with everyone joining
in with the final words – I almost leapt to my feet and saluted!
Darryl was invited to introduce our first speaker, Patrick.
Darryl proficiently covered the detail of Patrick’s assignment, #9 from the
Competent Communicator Manual, ‘Persuading with Power’, titled ‘ Terrific
Toastmaster’s Tools’. Darryl explained the specific objectives of the speech and
the timing, then followed with a warm personal statement of
introduction.
Patrick is our newly elected VP Publicity and wasted no time
in presenting ideas for on-line publication of our programme agendas though the
use of a member's App. He explained the benefits for us and asked us to consider
whether this was a valid option, what it might look like and what it could do to
streamline our programming by improving the ability to accept/delete or change
allocated roles. It looks like Patrick’s ideas, skills and enthusiasm will be a
real asset to our members, both present and potential. Any thoughts you may have
on this suggestion should be sent to Patrick please.
Helen then introduced Jen in her usual professional way,
covering the assignment details, # 2 from ‘Speaking to Inform’ advanced manual,
titled ‘Cooking Magnets’. Helen also added a warm, personal introduction and
invited Jen to deliver her presentation.
Jen has already shown us how effective she is at providing an
entertaining and practical demonstration to get her message across, but I was
not prepared to see her place her hand on the business end of a hotplate! This
was all part of an effective demonstration of how safe we are when we use
induction cooking. She showed us many safety features - placing paper, plastic,
hands, utensils,and even Ice Cubes, etc on it. She showed how fast a pot of water will boil and how
easy it is to clean. For the dollar conscious she explained that costs, although
high now will quickly come down as more and more update their products. As
someone who very recently spent a week gradually scraping a plastic bag off my
still hot ceramic hob, I for one will be trying out a freestanding hotplate.
Should be good for the power bill too!
Next on the agenda was Noel, who had rummaged through his
recycling for our table topics! Speakers were asked to select an item and sell
the original content to us. All speakers were up to the task and
enthusiastically sold us on the merits of their product. Noel wrapped his
session in a great introduction and a succinct close.
One her last day as our President, Helen quickly
informed us of the next day’s committee handover meeting as we move into a new
TM year. She also gave an inspiring report on the success of an event held by
Havelock North Toastmasters who hosted three young people representing Hawkes
Bay in the Agricultural/Horticultural speech contest finals. The club used this
opportunity to develop their evaluation skills by allocating three evaluators to
each speech with Helen providing feedback to the evaluators. This is an example
of opportunities that would help our members – they only need to be sought out –
ideas for the incoming committee maybe?
Not sure who our officers are? Check out the bottom of our
forward programme!
Darryl began his evaluation of Patrick’s presentation by
thanking him and reminding us of the objectives. He then effectively
demonstrated his analytical skills as he reviewed each objective. He commended
with examples, offered a key recommendation for Patrick to get to the point
earlier in his presentation and commended Patrick’s confidence.
In her evaluation of Jen’s presentation, Helen demonstrated
her listening skills by explaining how Jen met her objectives. She followed this
by recommending that Jen keep eye contact with her audience while demonstrating
and use a little more emphasis when making key points. Helen then summarised
very nicely.
Jane evaluated our Table Topics speakers, beginning with a
nice acknowledgement of their efforts, She then gave each speaker good
commendations. As General Evaluator, I recommended that Jane find at least one
recommendation for each speaker to help them continually improve.
Carol presented a succinct time report. Up to this point, we
were running very well to time until the General Evaluator (moi!) blew it!
Recommendation to self to get on top of time control and breathe a sigh of
relief that the time report is done before the GE report!
Stephanie briefly and effectively closed the meeting –
congratulations Stephanie for a job done well! Best Table Topic; Carol
Laurel Francis, DTM – General Evaluator
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