"TOP THAT AND DO THE RIGHT THING!"

Top That and Do the Right Thing!

 Our Sergeant at Arms Welcomed our TM for the day, Craig and meeting was declared open on time.

Craig advised there was to be last minute changes to the program and after reading of mission statement, welcomed the Table Topics Master, Julie who shared with us “an interesting experience” we were about to experience as we were invited to “play a game.”

And as Julie read out an example, she invited Marc to be the first participant to exaggerate his truth (or not) and tell a story to ‘Top That’

Marc shared some antics from his family dinner last night and the subsequent plumbing/ drainage issues. Leaving us to wonder whether his sink is fixed and kitchen drains now work or not. More to follow on this topic, no doubt.

Michael’s “top that” story was his experiences with the number 7. Lucky or not so lucky, the truth or not the truth. Perhaps Michael should have put his money on 7^th place not so much, horse #7.

Israel used his “go to” story for being late … and then added a bit of flare. Or rather flames and police and a tin hat! Great imagination.

Leigh  shared her “beginners luck” experience of tramping and deer hunting with her partner, staying in the orange DOC hut. True story this one I think.

Sahar shared of her wintery woes in Dunedin and first experiences of NZ and how her husband told her they were moving to NZ which she thought was a joke initially. No joke, they’re happy living in Napier now.

Benita had 3 stories of the biggest fish catches by her family members. With each fish caught on separate occasions, taking away a trophy and/or cash! This was clearly a case of the biggest one didn’t get away.

Patrick took us on a journey of his relationships and how they weren’t going so well until he met his now wife, Liz. Loved the happy ending with news that Patrick is due to become a father later this year.

Craig lead us to believe that he was a jockey in his youth. Then clarified he only raced once in an amateur horse race and took the win, finishing his career and table topic on a high.

Julie concluded the table topics session handing back to Craig who shared that in America Toastmasters, they have a session on “tall stories”. We certainly were entertained with a couple of those today.

Laurel educated us with exactly what Lou’s objectives were to be for her speech titled “Make the Right Decision” and we were instantly delighted and educated even more about the impact that plastic is having on our environment and recycling system.

Lou shared some great tips for how we can take personal responsibility in making the right decision to reduce plastic use, waste and ingestion. Backing up those tips with education on the recycling guide and how we can be more prepared by using mesh bags for our veg (over plastic) and looking for products that have less plastic packaging.

During Laurel’s evaluation, we were asked for feedback on who was going to make at least one change and/or implement at least one of Lou’s tips from here talk and I noticed majority of hands were raised. Nice work Lou, meeting objectives of an influencing speech which were clearly articulated during Laurel’s introduction and evaluation.

Thank you to Laurel for demonstrating consistency as an evaluator as you follow the TM system/ formula. It works so well and you continuously make the role look easy. (which it is not)  

Graeme took up the task of evaluating all the table topics and what a great job he also did. Personally noticing each person’s strength and acknowledging that during the evaluation. Graeme very gently encouraged each TT speaker to stretch themselves a little further next time. It was so gentle and in such an inspiring way perhaps not everyone noticed. (Unless I was having another rose tinted glasses moment 😊)

Best Speaker Award: Lou

Best Evaluator Award: Graeme

Best Table Topic: Leigh with special mention of her improvement