'WEDDINGS, FALLS & FUNERALS!"

"Weddings, Falls and Funerals".
Yet another very interesting and entertaining Pania meeting. The wedding theme was set by Toastmaster Helen, as it was her 21st wedding anniversary. The theme was maintained by Graeme with his wedding related Table Topics. 1) Why do women have a shower and men don’t? 2) Why doesn’t the bride marry the best man? 3) The term Maid of Honour is misleading. Answered by Marc, Carol and Craig repectively.

Linda gave a comprehensive evaluation of Table Topics with good observations and recommendations and awarded the best to Carol for her excellent answer.

In the business session Craig presented the Competent Communicator award to Patrick for completing his first 10 speeches and to Linda and David for participation in the Humorous and Table Topics contests.

The first speaker was Stephanie who gave a very informative speech titled “Falls and Older People”. The speech had lots of relevant facts and figures. Stephanie fooled everyone by hobbling to the lectern with the aid of a walking stick. Implying that she had experienced a fall. She revealed after her presentation that the walking stick was just a prop and not personally needed.
Jen gave Stephanie a warm and positive evaluation, although there was scope for some recommendations, such as listing the source of the data used.

The next speaker was Laurel, who gave a largely unrehearsed speech titled “Going, Going, Gone” about why we should plan our own funerals. A very well presented speech, without notes, with lots of persuasive reasons for DIY funerals. Darryl gave an excellent evaluation with commendations for speech rate, eye contact and side to side movement to include all the audience. He recommended that audience interruptions were kept to a minimum, as he felt that they detracted from the speech.

Mike was the General Evaluator (welcome back Mike after your OE!) and managed his report with much umming and laughter from all but got there in the end (away too long!!) and was assisted by
Jane as the Grammarian with Facetious as her word of the day. In her report, Jane listed the people who had used the word. Recommendation: Include a brief report on word and grammar use during the meeting.

Sandy was the timekeeper for the first time and gave a good report.

Best Table Topics; Carol
Best Speaker: Laurel
Best Evaluator: Darryl
Best Ummer:  Mike