An evening to remember

Meeting started on time at the temporary venue. Chaired by Steve at the last minute due to apologies, the meeting served out to be a memorable night for all.

Jane, as the grammarian of the evening, presented the word axiomatic.

Table topics was presented by Ashley in the context of conducting a job interview. Each participant was asked to draw out a "Person" card and a "Job" card, where the "Person" has applied for the "Job" and the speaker was asked to provide a job reference for the job applicant.

What a challenge!  The key to its success depended on how the first person chosen reacted to what was asked of them.

Layeequlla - Beyonce applying to work at an ice cream parlour

Some memorable combinations picked by the participants include:

• Peter Burling applying to be a prison guard
• Michael Jordan applying to be a pool cleaner

A very good session enjoyed by all, which followed by a succinct evaluation given by Amy. Praises and recommendations were given to each of the speakers as well as the table topics master.

The remainder of the evening was filled with three excellent speakers, three fantastic evaluators,  along with a thought provoking Educational session on what to look for when presenting speeches.

Peter introduced Kate who did her "Your body speaks" project with a speech titled "Advocate for change". A well-balanced introduction outlining the objectives plus some personal aspects to lead into what was to come. Well done Peter. 

Kate gave us an in-depth look on what it takes to be a qualified social worker. This was a very well researched topic and up to Kate's usual high standard. Kate was keen and enthusiastic to share her findings with each and everyone of us during her speech delivery, giving us insight as to the degree of preparation and involvement needed to serve such an important role in today's workforce. Kate showed passion for the subject while maintaining very good eye contact and using appropriate gesture to emphasise her point of view.

Peter's evaluation clearly showed how well he had appreciated Kate's efforts, especially that of achieving the objectives and the interest she had created. A well reasoned response along with two suggestions in terms of extending her body language.

Emma introduced Craig who was presenting his tenth assignment for the 13th time (that meant it was his CC 130th speech - amazing)! This was an "Inspire your audience" talk titled "The needs we are here for". A very thoughtful and encouraging approach from Emma which helped set the scene particularly well.

Craig's opening certainly attracted attention of the audience and was a very natural path for what was to follow. Experience certainly came through as he explained Maslow's theory with its five pathways. People would have appreciated the explanation given on each item so there was no misunderstanding. In the later half of the speech, Craig gave us a glimpse on what the next two or three years holds for us as we enter a new way of learning. Quite inspirational!

Craig - Inspiring the audience with how Toastmasters have changed lives

Emma's evaluation echoed her appreciation of Craig's speech with numerous well-deserved praises. It also contained two thoughtful observations (that of holding onto glasses as being a slight distraction) also the difference between saying something with notes as against those without - very good thoughts and most helpful.

Steve introduced James who was also presenting his tenth assignment (for just the first time). The speech was titled "How often does your child get out to play?" A thorough introduction from Steve covering all aspects very well - made it easy for James to follow on from there.

James took on different roles i.e. that of parent, child or adult with an impeccable timing. This allowed the audience to sit back and appreciate each and every word while allowing James to enjoy what he was doing - particularly that of being able to relax and remember exactly what he was wanting to say. The term transactional analysis was very apt when it came down to explaining this type of presentation. Word pictures were a key feature of this assignment.

James - On his way to completing his 10th speech from the CC manual

Steve provided very good feedback for James.  He provided three suggestions for improvement under the following headings -  Itemised, Order, Jumped around with an explanation on each one; clear, simple, and easy to understand.

Educational from Christine was very interesting and most appropriate, where it was about providing an insight on what to look for when preparing a speech.

Christine - Presenting an Educational topic

Christine involved the audience quite frequently and it was good to see members from the audience taking advantage of the opportunity offered. As a number of new members have joined the club recently, the timing of the presentation could not have been better.

During the business session, Craig extended his appreciation to this year's committee members for their respective roles. Special mention must go to Craig himself for the time and energy that he has spent in providing leadership to Napier Toastmasters club.

Presenting parting gift to the 2016 committee members

The evening concluded with general evaluation. Jane demonstrated her astuteness as the grammarian in her report, where praises were given for creative word pictures while "you must not do it again" suggestions were given out (a speaker uttered "lies, lies and d*mned lies" during his speech; it was not Craig).

• Best Speaker - James
• Best Evaluator - Steve
• Best Table Topics - Emma