"OUR COMPANION- CONCUSSION!"

Pania held their Evaluation Contest today and an extremely interesting and very well presented speech by Napier Toastmaster, Karen entitled "Our Companion-Concussion" was the 'test speech' for the Evaluators to work on.

"LET'S GET EDUCATED!"

A small turnout of members and one guest attended Pania meetings today and Education was the order of the day!

"BEFUDDLED & MUDDLED!"

Although we had a number of apologies we still had a great turnout for Pania's meeting today with our numbers bolstered by four guests, Israel (3rd time),Sabine (Toastmaster from Christchurch) and husband Matt and also Liam, a colleague of Julie & Jenni.

"SHOW THE WAY WITH BANJO PATERSON"

This week was Paula’s first time to run the Toastmasters meeting, and she did very well! The room temperature was perfect, the setup nice and clear and Paula’s intro was as enthusiastic and energetic as it can get.

Today we did welcome 2 new guests and 1 returning guest: Barbara, Susie and Israel.

First up was Marc to introduce Craig and he did set the expectations high because he referred to Craig’s long and lasting Toastmaster experience, extensive knowledge and his all-encompassing speech skills. Marc’s introduction was short but all-inclusive, humorous, friendly and to the point.

Craig’s speech , entitled "Show The Way"was about his Leadership Style and is part of his Leadership Development Pathways program. To start off his speech Craig referred to his impressive employment history including different high profile leadership functions in various companies and also mentioned his Toastmasters plaques for Division Governor of the Year, Area Governor of the Year and his Certificate of Leadership Excellence.

After his majestic intro Craig did tell us about the all different requirements for Leaders and all the ways they are able to demonstrate their Leadership qualities.

And, humble as Craig is, he also mentioned all the boxes he ticks: Honesty + Integrity, Committed and Passionate and he is able to demonstrate this because he: Leads by Example, to be himself and takes responsibility.

Craig’s presentation did give us very good information about what Leadership is and how it manifests itself in how Craig is and how he acts.

This was an impressive presentation without being over the top.

In Marc’s evaluation he did confirm Craig definitely did meet his goals and also exceeded the already high expectations. Marc also commented Craig for the way the information was presented and his pitch, volume and expressions next to a few minor recommendations.

In our General Business session Marc mentioned there will be a Special AGM about the  slight increase of the Fees for Pania, the Education speech of our guest Sabine next week and Craig’s educational the week after, and Marc also presented two Pathway Level 1 certificates Craig & Patrick.

Our Table Topics session this week was presented by Graeme, and to be sure this time he would not be accused of embarrassing the speakers with impossible topics, he asked them to pick a number corresponding to one of the ‘my first...’ topics he selected.

Sandy was first up to tell us about her first Holiday. Her first holiday by herself was as a volunteer to the High Sea/North Sea Bird Station and she did elaborate about the different birds, even the tiny little birds, forest and the work she did during her holiday.

Jenni told us about her first “murder house”, well, the first time she did visit the dentist. And that was in primary school. Everyone in school did refer to that building as the “murder house”. That was the best horror story ever in 1 minute and 37 seconds.

Our last Table Topics was for Israel about his first time to a dance. And what a confession that was! Even with the perfect culture in Mexico, where he grew up, with all the passionate dances all around, playing all day, like the cha-cha-cha, rumba and samba, he did never dance! He even blamed his two left feet as the cause for not to be able to dance.

In the Table Topics Evaluation Lou explained to our guests how this evaluation works and did an excellent job in her commendations and recommendations for every Table Topics speaker.

Anna introduced our next speaker Carol and did give us a very extensive and detailed introduction to poetry. This was almost like a short Educational about poetry! Anna also mentioned the objectives of Carol's presentation. And the very enthusiastic intro from Anna made the perfect platform for Carol's  poems.

Carol first introduced the writer of her poems: Banjo Paterson and that she had been reading his poems from when she was 9 years old, so these poems are very personal for Carol.

The first poem Carol presented was ‘Clancy of the Overflow’.

Link: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/p/paterson/ab/man_from_snowy_river/chapter4.html

And the second poem from Banjo was ‘The Man from Ironbark’.

Link: https://ebooks.adelaide.edu.au/p/paterson/ab/man_from_snowy_river/chapter14.html

In the evaluation Anna thanked Carol for her choice for a different presentation and especially the presentation of POEMS! In her evaluation Anna expressed her knowledge about poems and how important it is to match your pronunciation, speed, tone and depth of your voice to present your poem. With that Anna did give some descriptive pronunciation examples that were very hilarious, and even more informative.

Anna also offered her knowledge to any Pania Toastmaster speaker if they would like to present a poem but would prefer some support.

Patrick, summed up the meeting very well as the General Evaluator assisted by the Timekeeper?Grammarian, Darryl who had some wonderful new words for us to utilise and we finished on time, well done Paula!(ED)

At the end of our Pania Toastmasters meeting Paula asked our guests if they would make a short comment about how they experienced the meeting and they all were very pleased and mentioned to look forward to come back again. Next week  we have an extended meeting with lunch and do not forget the ART DECO theme!!

This weeks Awards go to:

Best Speaker: Carol

Best Table Topics: Israel

Best Evaluator: Anna