Evaluations .....

Greetings Fellow Toastmasters and Guests

A big welcome to all of our guests on Monday night. Claudia, Julie, and Rob were first time visitors and Cory and Wayne were returning for a second visit.  Fantastic to have so many guests along and we look forward to seeing you all again in the near future.

Also a big thank you to our guest toastmaster from the Bay City Club, Barbara McPherson.  Barbara was our speaker for the Evaluation Contest.

Our meeting was capably chaired by Toast Master Chris Heath.  Chris was well prepared and facilitated the meeting format well.  

We commenced the evening with our annual Evaluation Contest.  Ian Wright, did a fantastic job as Contest Chair, providing clear, confident direction and was very professional and thorough.  We had five participants enter in the Evaluation Contest.  Well done to Wayne, Amy, David, Paul and Danny for all having a go.   After the introduction of rules and initial organisational proceedings were completed, Barbara gave an enlightening and informative speech on “Infection Prevention Is The Key”.  The Contestants each had their turn to present an Evaluation and they provided a great range of well rounded commendations and recommendation for Barbara. 

Congratulations to Amy Edwards who was the contest runner up and Danny Mills who was our Evaluation Contest Winner.  Great job Danny. Danny will go forward to represent the Napier Club on the 15th March at the D2 Area Council Meeting.  We wish you all the best!

After the conclusion of the Evaluation Contest and a brief recess, the usual meeting format recommenced.  Steve was our General Evaluator and provided a concise explanation of his role, then introduced his team.  David and James K were our dynamic time keeping duo, and Paul gave his introduction to his role as Grammarian with a lot of ALACRITY.

Amy made her debut as our energetic Table Topics Master, with each participant selecting an envelope containing a topic, a phrase and a prop that needed to be incorporated into their speech.

 

-       James Ward spoke on advantages of being Male or Female and needed to incorporate the pjrase "well that was completely random” and use a wooden spoon. 

-       Wayne spoke on things I can’t do without, and needed to incorporate “I told them it was dangerous” and use a roll of toilet paper.

-       Christine spoke on if she ruled the world and incorporated the phrase “I turned around and it was gone” while using a gollywog as a prop.

-       Sheryl spoke on what’s down the back of the sofa, incorporating the phrase “if I could wave my magic wand” while using a coat hanger for a prop.

A great Table Topic session, Amy, well done.  Having the 3 aspects to leverage off in an impromptu speech was very helpful.  Table topics were evaluated by Netta and Graeme, provided an overview of the session, including commendations and recommendations for the participants.

We had no formal speeches, but we were treated to two outstanding Educational presentations.

First, Sarah presented an Educational project from her Advanced Leader Bronze Manual, which was appropriately “Evaluate to Motivate”.  Sarah, assisted by James K, highlighted that some of the keys to a motivating evaluation are in the preparation, showing you are interested, personalise your language, evaluate the speech not the speaker, use language to encourage and inspire, use the CRC method for feedback and speak in the 3^rd person.   Many thanks Sarah for a fantastic and useful presentation – there were many timely tips for us all.

Christine did an awesome job of presenting an Educational where she clearly explained the International Speech Contest structure, rules and requirements to participate. A very thorough presentation Christine, thanks so much.  Christine is going to be the Chair for next meetings International Speech Contest, so I hope you are all busy preparing yourself for these.

The Business Session was presented by Sheryl:

• the club achieved Super Six award by having 6 roles represented at club officer training on the 14^th February.  We will receive a banner and two complementary registrations for May or Nov Convention.
• Reminder: D2 Area Council Meeting is on 15^th March at Baptist Church Lounge, 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Area finals for Evaluation Contest and International Speech Contest will be held this night.
• On the 25^th March members of the Hastings Club will visit Napier Club and participate in our meeting.  Agenda/Programme to be finalised and distributed.
• Reminder: Division D Conference is on 13^th April.
• Reminder: Convention in Wellington is 10^th May to 12^th May.
• A Spirit of Success Certificate was presented to James Kan.
• James Ward let member know sub invoices would be distributed at the next meeting, due for payment by 25^th March.
• Bay City Club requires an extra Judge for their International Speech Contest on 6^th March. Chris and David volunteered and I am sure they will get alot out of the experience.

Steve provided a very thorough, yet concise analysis of the meeting in his General Evaluation.  With time against us, James K, returned to give a time keepers report and we were scolded for over-runs!.  Paul gave a summary of word usage and specifically commented on the use of slang, fillers and crutches like “I mean”, “You know”, and with a tally count of a massive 57 ums and 15 Ahhs!.  I think there are some signs there that we all need to work a little more on our pauses and timing.

The Awards for the night went to……

Best Evaluator: Steve Tutbury
Best Table Topics: James Ward
Best Contribution: James Kan

Congratulation to all our winners for the evening.

 

Have a great fortnight everyone and look forward to seeing you on the 11^th March!

 

Sheryl

VP Ed