"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

"FLYING WITH A CELL-PHONE!"

Pania Blog – Thursday 1 August 2019

Quatro Stagioni for lunch!

Anyone who has enjoyed an authentic Italian Pizza in Italy, would know that it means ‘Four Seasons, with each season being represented by the topping synonymous with each season.  So too did our Toastmaster of the Day, Carole, represent each of our seasons throughout the meeting by providing not only a bright and colourful agenda, but also a sprinkling of interesting facts and details as a perfect topping!

"ORDER OUT OF CHAOS!"

This week was the  first time as a Toastmaster for our Toastmaster of the day: Sahar. She did a wonderful job and she made an exceptional well designed double sided agenda with a lot of historical information and a Persian poem from Hafez Shirazi.

"MANAGING YOUR ASSETS with DIVERSITY & INCLUSION"

These were the topics of the two speeches we had today at Pania Toastmaster's weekly meeting, extremely well organised and run by Israel, with his first time as Toastmaster of the day. He had an excellent program, which ran to time and his enthusiasm and comments kept the audience well involved.

'"THE EVOLVING HOME OF HAPPINESS!"

Anna was the Toastmaster for the day, with a well-organized and run meeting infused with humour. We all read the mission statement together and apologies were accepted. The theme of the day was Story Telling.

"THE PYGMALION EFFECT ON EMOTIONS & CHOICES!"

Graeme set out the room today in a different way which was very inviting.  Michael read the mission statement with gusto. 

Lou introduced our first speaker Tamara whose speech was entitled What are you expecting?  All about The Pygmalion effect.  What you expect you will get.  She told us about an experiment done on University students that has since has been implemented with various groups around the world and the results are the same - giving someone a great reputation to live up to will result in this happening.  Tamara used great props and this was a very informative speech about different leadership styles.  Six styles: Authoritative, Coaching, Democratic, Affiliative, Pace Setting, Bureaucratic which Tamara explained each one in detail and advised that a good leader will apply all of these at one time or other but will lean towards one or two more commonly.  Lou gave very good feedback to Tamara and commented on what a clever use of the subject matter whilst tying it to the objectives.

Julie introduced our second speech and told us of her knowledge of Paula and her enthusiasm for what she does and how she motivates others. Paula's speech was on Emotions and Choices.  She used the stage and her hand gestures to emphasis her points. She told us that we are in charge of our emotions and how we choose to show these in any given situation.  We all have a choice and we all can choose at any time.  When we make conscious choices we can be more in control of what the outcome will be.  Your mission if you choose, is to be aware of what choices you are making and start to notice what your unconscious choices are making.  Julie evaluated Paula and gave some great recommendations as well as commending her on her use of great facial expressions. 

Craig gave us general business and reminded us of the leadership training happening  Friday 19th July 6.30pm-9.30pm.  Craig also acknowledged the previous executive committee and welcomed in the new executive committee.   Graeme went through next week's programme with glee!

Israel introduced Table Topics and removed the lectern and owned the stage.  Great voice modulation and great pace - exuding confidence!  Israel wanted everyone to convince him on why he should employ our Table Topic participants in his new make-believe company.

Sandy spoke about how NOT to take her on as the CEO of any companies that you may be starting in the near future! Michael spoke about what his colleagues would say about him and that he's easy to get along with and knows how to get people to feel comfortable about new initiatives or plans for the business.  Leigh was asked about why she was leaving her previous role and she told us that she wanted to pursue new opportunities, improving her communication skills and show how passionate for is for his new company.  Sahar was asked what would be her leadership style and she considered this quickly and decided it was coaching style as she likes to see people try and support them in as they learn. When it comes to conflict, Mehran likes to be the facilitator of resolving conflict and likes staff to try to resolve their conflict before he needs to be involved. Craig told us he's a great communicator and let Israel know he should employ Craig over other candidates - namely because he can talk his way out of a paper bag!

In the end Israel decided to employ himself!  Well done and of course you will pay yourself handsomely for this new role Israel!

Sahar evaluated Table Topics for the first time and gave commendations and recommendations for each person - well done on following the CRC method for your first time Sahar!

Jen  keep time during the meeting and we finished right on time to venture out into the rain again!!

Table Topics - Sandy

Best Evaluator - Sahar

Best Speech - Tamara

'"THE HAPPY PRINCE @ 20,000 per DAY!"

20th of June 2019

"The Happy Prince @20,000 a day!"

Jenni was confident, friendly, welcoming and well organised as Toastmaster, linking in fun facts over a variety of topics including the 1987 world cup.