The first nip of winter caused our members to huddle closely around the heater, as we gathered in the Taradale Community Rooms. This meeting was possibly our last at this temporary venue, as we hope to be back in the Greenmeadows rooms in June. With eight apologies and no guests attending the meeting there were a few seats to spare but what we lacked in numbers was surely made up for in talent!
Toastmaster Peter welcomed everyone, ran through the apologies and thanked Colin for stepping in at the last minute as Table Topics Evaluator.
Chris read out the Mission Statement and General Evaluator Christine clearly explained her role and introduced:
Table Topics master Steve introduced us to some startling new careers, asking each speaker to define why their job appeals to them and to describe the benefits. Steve’s choices certainly gave members free reign for their imaginations!
Wayne, on his first day as a Skyscraper Window Cleaner, waxed lyrical about his awesome job, which he anticipates will help him get over his “slight” fear of heights. Wayne’s great use of body language and hand gestures may be a “slight” disadvantage to him when clinging to the ladder!
Table Topics were ably evaluated by Colin and Wayne. This duo gave specific commendations to each speaker and made some sound recommendations as well.
Netta introduced the first scheduled speech of the evening, clearly outlining the objectives. Entitled: Growing up in a world of Sheep, this was Kate’s second speech from the Competent Communicator Manual.
Truly an “awesome” advocate, Kate skilfully used the analogy of sheep and “going with the flock” to deliver a moving and complex speech based on her personal experiences, in which she explored themes of identity and security, negative peer pressure, bullying and depression. Using sobering statistics to back up her personal narrative, Kate’s eloquence led us to ponder what our choice of friends says about us, as she asked the question “Who defines who we are?” Kate concluded that true wellbeing comes from allowing our colours to show, rather than “dying our wool white” to blend with the crowd.
In her warm and thoughtful evaluation, Netta commended Kate on her clever angle, clear message and organisation, combined with clear, concise vocals, eye contact, use of pauses - and all without relying on notes! The specific recommendations Netta gave will assist Kate in developing her speaking. Netta finished by saying “Kate’s strong opening, body and conclusion all transitioned to make the perfect speech.”
Our next “awesome” advocate, Craig, was ably introduced by Graeme. If Graeme’s calculations are correct, this must have been Craig’s 100th speech given from a Competent Communicator manual! How awesome is that?!
In his absorbing speech entitled “1km per hour will help” Craig delivered a compelling message about our ability to mitigate outcomes of potentially fatal road accidents by individually dropping our default driving speed by as little as 1km per hour. Engaging our attention with a story, Craig skilfully used his varied voice tone, gestures and the use of inclusive language such as “we” to emphasise his main points. Craig urged us to re-examine our attitudes as “compliant” drivers, using statistics and quotes about collective impact to back up the case for voluntarily lowering our driving speeds. He concluded by asking us to reduce our speed by 1km per hour. A highly convincing argument indeed!
In evaluating this speech, Graeme confirmed that Craig had met the set objectives exceptionally well. He was impressed by Craig’s voice clarity, his body language when used and the way Craig’s use of visuals and questioning tactics kept us engaged and on track. Giving Craig a couple of useful recommendations for future speaking, Graeme concluded that Craig’s speech delivered a very strong message, with such a simple and effective solution.
Chris then facilitated our business session:
Craig reported on the awesome District Convention held in Rotorua, with contributions from other attendees. Among the highlights were some excellent and inspiring guest speakers and a most unusual twist to the Impromptu Speech contest; the winner gave his speech entirely in rhyme! Craig finished his report with a positive quote from guest speaker Bill Potter, who declared “I can until I can’t!”
Discussion was held on a suitable venue for the Awards Dinner, to be held in July
The election of officers for the 2016/17 year was held and results are as follows:
Sincere thanks go to the departing officers for their generous service to the club and to the incoming officers for ensuring its continuation.
Christine (General Evaluator) gave a skilled appraisal of the Evaluators’ feedback and the business session and praised the full and well delivered Report. She also commended Toastmaster Peter on his flexibility and his sincere and thoughtful comments which created a smooth transition between items.
Grammarian Wayne and Timekeeper Rachael gave clear and concise reports. Colin narrowly edged out Craig as the most prolific user of the word “Awesome” and Wayne identified some great terms and phrases used during the evening:
- “Colours” used by Kate, with reference to showing who we are;
- “Hand on heart” and “Collective Risk” used by Craig, in his speech;
- “I was getting a taste and the taste was good” used by Graeme in his evaluation of Colin’s speech
Peter thanked those members who had “stood in” to fill roles at short notice and commended Chris on his high level of preparation leading to a smooth election process. He congratulated the winners of the evening.
Awards were:
Although we were small in number, the quality of the meeting was…
AWESOME!
- Timekeeper Rachael, (a most capable “sole operator”) who explained and demonstrated the use of the lights and bell and;
- Grammarian Wayne, who defined the word “Awesome” for our use throughout the evening.
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Wayne, on his first day as a Skyscraper Window Cleaner, waxed lyrical about his awesome job, which he anticipates will help him get over his “slight” fear of heights. Wayne’s great use of body language and hand gestures may be a “slight” disadvantage to him when clinging to the ladder!
- Tracey’s initial confusion about her job as a Fake Book Reviewer quickly dissolved as she warmed to her task. Tracey realised that a great advantage of reviewing fake books was that she wouldn’t have to read them first and could just sit back chuckling at the discomfort of those fools who searched the bookshops for them in vain!
- Colin, the Clinical Trials Tester (aka guinea pig) took a moment to gather his thoughts about this “interesting and varied” job. He concluded that sampling all the coffee was the greatest “perk” and he mixed this with sampling sleeping pills and pillows, for a true Ying and Yang effect. This could get messy.
- Kate assured us that despite the possible demonic origins associated with her job of Famous Psychic she doesn’t really want to look inside our heads. True to the gypsy tradition, her main specialty is foretelling the future.
- Chris meets a lot of different people in his job as a Furniture Tester and actually identified some of his customers in the audience. Specialising in chairs, his job has similarities to Colin’s job, as he tends to sit down and fall asleep!
Table Topics were ably evaluated by Colin and Wayne. This duo gave specific commendations to each speaker and made some sound recommendations as well.
Netta introduced the first scheduled speech of the evening, clearly outlining the objectives. Entitled: Growing up in a world of Sheep, this was Kate’s second speech from the Competent Communicator Manual.
Truly an “awesome” advocate, Kate skilfully used the analogy of sheep and “going with the flock” to deliver a moving and complex speech based on her personal experiences, in which she explored themes of identity and security, negative peer pressure, bullying and depression. Using sobering statistics to back up her personal narrative, Kate’s eloquence led us to ponder what our choice of friends says about us, as she asked the question “Who defines who we are?” Kate concluded that true wellbeing comes from allowing our colours to show, rather than “dying our wool white” to blend with the crowd.
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| Speaker Kate |
In her warm and thoughtful evaluation, Netta commended Kate on her clever angle, clear message and organisation, combined with clear, concise vocals, eye contact, use of pauses - and all without relying on notes! The specific recommendations Netta gave will assist Kate in developing her speaking. Netta finished by saying “Kate’s strong opening, body and conclusion all transitioned to make the perfect speech.”
Our next “awesome” advocate, Craig, was ably introduced by Graeme. If Graeme’s calculations are correct, this must have been Craig’s 100th speech given from a Competent Communicator manual! How awesome is that?!
In his absorbing speech entitled “1km per hour will help” Craig delivered a compelling message about our ability to mitigate outcomes of potentially fatal road accidents by individually dropping our default driving speed by as little as 1km per hour. Engaging our attention with a story, Craig skilfully used his varied voice tone, gestures and the use of inclusive language such as “we” to emphasise his main points. Craig urged us to re-examine our attitudes as “compliant” drivers, using statistics and quotes about collective impact to back up the case for voluntarily lowering our driving speeds. He concluded by asking us to reduce our speed by 1km per hour. A highly convincing argument indeed!
In evaluating this speech, Graeme confirmed that Craig had met the set objectives exceptionally well. He was impressed by Craig’s voice clarity, his body language when used and the way Craig’s use of visuals and questioning tactics kept us engaged and on track. Giving Craig a couple of useful recommendations for future speaking, Graeme concluded that Craig’s speech delivered a very strong message, with such a simple and effective solution.
Chris then facilitated our business session:
Craig reported on the awesome District Convention held in Rotorua, with contributions from other attendees. Among the highlights were some excellent and inspiring guest speakers and a most unusual twist to the Impromptu Speech contest; the winner gave his speech entirely in rhyme! Craig finished his report with a positive quote from guest speaker Bill Potter, who declared “I can until I can’t!”
Discussion was held on a suitable venue for the Awards Dinner, to be held in July
The election of officers for the 2016/17 year was held and results are as follows:
- President: Craig Robinson
- VP Education: Steve Tutbury
- VP Membership: Kate McDonald
- VP Public Relations: position currently vacant
- Secretary: Emma George
- Treasurer: Christine Tutbury
- Sgt at Arms: Graeme Valentine
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| From Left: Sgt. At Arms Graeme, VP Mem. Kate, Treasurer Christine, President Craig, VP Education Steve |
Sincere thanks go to the departing officers for their generous service to the club and to the incoming officers for ensuring its continuation.
Christine (General Evaluator) gave a skilled appraisal of the Evaluators’ feedback and the business session and praised the full and well delivered Report. She also commended Toastmaster Peter on his flexibility and his sincere and thoughtful comments which created a smooth transition between items.
Grammarian Wayne and Timekeeper Rachael gave clear and concise reports. Colin narrowly edged out Craig as the most prolific user of the word “Awesome” and Wayne identified some great terms and phrases used during the evening:
- “Colours” used by Kate, with reference to showing who we are;
- “Hand on heart” and “Collective Risk” used by Craig, in his speech;
- “I was getting a taste and the taste was good” used by Graeme in his evaluation of Colin’s speech
Peter thanked those members who had “stood in” to fill roles at short notice and commended Chris on his high level of preparation leading to a smooth election process. He congratulated the winners of the evening.
Awards were:
- Best Table Topic: Kate
- Best Speaker: Kate
- Best Evaluator: Graeme
- Best Contribution: Wayne
Although we were small in number, the quality of the meeting was…
AWESOME!
Robyn
What a tremendous report from Robyn (you could even say 'awesome'!), well done to all at the meeting and to the Host/Reporter, Robyn.
ReplyDeleteAnother very entertaining evening. Well done to the speakers and evaluators. even the elections were entertaining!!
ReplyDeletePeter
Awesome report. Thanks Robyn
ReplyDelete