'It’s only difficult the first one thousand times, mate.'

Sarah H. - Reporter for the Evening

‘It’s only difficult the first one thousand times, mate.”

New Plymouth taxi driver

What a fantastic Napier Toastmaster’s meeting we had last night – full of education, fun and frivolity.  A warm welcome was extended to our guests, Nick (returning for a second time) and Andy (previously a member of a TM club in Australia).  

Netta was our very well-organised and informative Toastmaster for the evening.  As Steve complimented Netta in his General Evaluation, we appreciated Netta’s ‘short, clean and simple jokes’ that were interspersed through the evening.   I think there may some natural talent for stand-up comedy there Netta!

As mentioned, Steve was our General Evaluator for the evening and did a great job, presenting a very thorough and useful report at the end of the meeting.  He was accompanied by Tracey as Grammarian (we all ‘considered’ using her word for the night!) and Wayne as Timekeeper, excellent job Tracey and Wayne.

Sarah L. - Table Topics

Sarah L then proceeded to run a very entertaining Table Topics session, based around The Bachelor t.v. series.  Peter was the batchelor, and Christine the winning batchelorette.  Thanks to all the participants for some very funny responses, and thanks to Sarah L for a creative and inspiring Table Topics session.  The Table Topics session was ably evaluated by Peter and Sarah H.

Sarah H. & Peter

The only formal speaker of the night was Martin, delivering his second speech titled ‘Have you got a sales mindset?’.  A very informative presentation with interesting recommendations for all in the marketing arena.  I particularly liked the suggestion that professionals like doctors (and dentists) should create a premium service by increasing their prices!!   I will implement your suggestion in the dental practice this week Martin, the sooner the better I believe J.  Graeme delivered an excellent thorough evaluation of Martin’s speech with some great specific recommendations.

Steve

Steve ably led an Education Session titled Building Club Membership.  He provided us with a list of 200 ideas for building club membership, never again will we have an excuse!  Looking forward to seeing many new members join in the next few months.

Our esteemed President Sarah L led a well-run business session, including items:

-Our TM End of Year awards dinner is approaching in July again.  Please advise Sarah L if you have a preference for a venue.  Please return all trophies so they can be re-issued.

-Club Officer Elections are coming up at our next meeting, 25 May.  Consider putting your hand up to be on the Executive – you basically eat chocolate biscuits and have a lot of laughs!(The secretary’s interpretation). We love seeing new members on the Executive J.

-Our dynamic duo Christine and Steve gave us some wonderful feedback on the recent TM Convention held in Auckland last weekend.

Awards for the night:

1. Best Table Topics: Chris H.

2. Best Contribution: Sarah H.

Things that I learnt from this informative TM meeting:

1. It’s very important to reconsider your pool-owning neighbour’s request to house sit before you decline.

2. Men can answer an entire Table Topics question with a high-pitched female voice.

3. It is very important to have an attention-grabbing opening in your speech.

4. A speech conclusion can be well-rounded by reiterating salient points of the introduction and body.

5. When attempting something new, ‘It’s only difficult the first one thousand times, mate.” J

Look forward to seeing you all at the next meeting, same time, same place. 

Sarah H.