International Speech Contest - and then some!

What an interesting and fun night it turned out to be.

Seventeen members plus seven guests, including two from the previous meeting, who have now joined Napier Toastmasters, looked forward to an interesting evening of Table Topics and the clubs annual International Prepared Speech Contest.

The meeting was ably and quickly opened by the Toastmaster Steve assisted by the Grammarian Campbell and Time Keeper James, followed by Emma after the break (thanks for stepping in at the last minute James and Emma). Steve also ended up stepping up to fulfill the roll of General Evaluator due to a non appearance of the member rostered on. One thing Toastmasters teaches you is learning to be flexible! Guests were introduced and made welcome, then onto the Speech Contest chaired by Area Director Christine.

Four members who met the entry criteria put their hands up to take part and drew for speaking order. The audience was treated to four very different speeches, showing us what diverse sources of material there are for a speech.

First up was Ian with his speech titled "The Importance of Women". This wasn't a "dig" at men or a lobby for/against equal pay, but an acknowledgement that mothers play an extremely important part in bringing up their children. Ian presented us with lots of anecdotes from his childhood about the effect his mother had on his life. There was something everyone in the audience could relate to.

Next up was Kerry - "Racking my way to Longevity". The title had this reporter trying to guess what was meant by "racking" and how was it spelt. It wasn't until later in the speech that Kerry spelt out "Racking - Random Acts of Kindness". Her speech revolved around an incident in her early 20's as a single mother that had a life long effect on her when a close friend helped her out of a financial hole that could have adversely affected her young daughter. Another way of saying "pay it forward". An encouragement and message for all of us.

Our third speaker Amy has been known for her dramatic and entertaining speeches. "Hold Onto It" was a presentation around the values associated with collecting and holding onto something special. In Amy's case it was feathers and each feather she presented represented something special to her. A special and meaningful message to us all about the need and benefits personally and spiritually of collecting and holding onto something in our fast paced lives.

Layeeq. "Poor Layeeq....!" "Falling in Love again." Had trouble keeping girlfriends until he realised the problem lay with his "egoistic" mind. Brilliant use of a flower, pulling off bunches of petals to symbolise the loss of each girlfriend, he wove an interesting and humorous story about his love life. We hope belonging to Toastmasters will equip him better for the future.

After an enjoyable break providing the opportunity for members to chat to the guests and each other, Sarah bought us back into reality with her Table Topics session. This time she had a theme around the recent Valentines remembrance day. She had done her research and came up with a list of wacky Valentines Day song titles. Titles such as "Don't drop the Soap", "Rock Lobster"', "Everytime time I see veges I think of you" and "Don't eat stuff off the sidewalk" provided a lot of humour for the audience with everyone called on stepping up to the plate, although some of the titles were challenging. The meeting was rounded off with the Club Business session conducted by President Craig and then the big announcement - the Winner of the International Speech Contest was ....... AMY. She progresses to the next round to be held on the 16th March in Hastings. She is looking forward to a heap of support from her fellow club members. We had the General Evaluation of the meeting headed by the General Evaluator Steve, assisted by Grammarian Cambell, who had given us the word of the night to use - "Infatuate". Our other stand in Timekeeper Emma, gave us a run down on our speaking times and our Table Topics Evaluators Graeme and Peter came to an agreement the best Table Topics speaker was Brenda. An opportunity to offer closing comments was offered to the guests who were unanimous in their praise for the evening. Meeting was closed by Toastmaster Steve who reminded us of the quote on the bottom of the programme - "If it doesn't challenge you, it won't change you". A very apt quote for Toastmasters who thoroughly endorse "learning by doing".