"SPRING HAS SPRUNG!"

On a big wave into spring!

Spring is nature’s way of saying, ‘Let’s party’! This was the motto Julie, our Toastmaster of the day, welcoming us to the meeting: We could choose cheerful glittery items from a box to dress up for the spring party theme. Julie led us through the meeting in her jovial manner, and leading from one topic to the next by acknowledging each speaker in her personal warm way. She interspersed the meeting with fun facts about spring.

Craig started with an educational for the upcoming table topics contest: he informed us on what to expect on the contest evening, and gave tips on how table topics can be mastered regarding timing, structure and content. Craig’s educational was supported by many humorous examples, and was very encouraging, emphasizing that the participation in a table topics contest is a great opportunity in terms of learning from others as well as just giving it a try! I hope many toastmasters of our club participate after this inspiring educational.

Graeme introduced Sahar and explained the objectives of her speech ‘Hawke’s Bay has got it’. He read an introduction on the background of the speech that Sahar had provided.

Sahar talked about natural hazards in Hawke’s Bay, the fault lines, tsunami risks and sea level rise. She smoothly operated the TV from her laptop and gave visual examples to each of her points. Sahar concluded with practical information where to find information on properties, so everyone can find out about their risks – hopefully before insurances do!

Graeme’s evaluation of Sahar’s speech was covering all the important points of a speech’s components, and offered commendations and helpful recommendations to content, structure and appearance of Sahar as a speaker. He particularly commended Sahar for her ability to remain in eye contact with the audience despite running the laptop for the visual support of her speech. Graeme mentioned Sahar’s fast speech rate and recommended to check if the content fits into the allocated time of a speech, as with too much content one tends to rush through speeches.

Leigh, our Table Topics Master of the day, enhanced the positive spring vibe by inviting speakers to tell us about their ‘favourites’.

Leigh prompted Mehran to tell us about his favourite holiday destination, and he explained why a trip to Indonesia would be his first choice: we could almost feel the warmth he was looking forward to in Indonesia’s climate, contrasting the cold New Zealand winter we are just coming out of.

Lou was asked to talk about her favourite animal or pet, which turned out to be a donkey! She provoked much laughter in the audience by describing the quirky behaviour of donkeys she had as a child in her family and why they are adorable.

Leigh chose Michael to tell us about his favourite game or hobby, and he surprised us with the revelation that he picked up guitar lessons as an adult and acquired so much enthusiasm and skill that he plays in bands now and enjoys observing the crowd dance and cheer!

Paula’s topic was her favourite season, and she explained why spring was her preferred one: She described vividly the buds and flowers, the fragrances of spring, the temperature change to warmer weather, and the cute lambs and calves – who would not love spring after that?

And finally Craig got the chance to describe his favourite Sunday morning. He revealed he was not much of a morning person, nor one for big breakfasts and doing nothing seems good to him. But in the end it turns out to be quite an active morning, reading the newspaper, going for a bike ride and then having a scone afterwards, relaxation well-deserved.

Jen evaluated the Table Topics session in a very humorous and entertaining way, sprinkling in commendations and recommendations for every speaker. Out of the 5 very entertaining Table Topics speakers she picked Lou as the best one of the day!

Time Keeper Pedro and Sandy as General Evaluator wrapped up the cheerful spring meeting.

Best Speaker: Sahar

Best Evaluator: Graeme

Best Table Topics: Lou