A 'fresh' evening

On a decidedly 'fresh' evening our club held it's regular meeting at the Greenmeadows Community Hall. Our Toastmaster for the evening Greg set things off to a good start with a hearty welcome and some light-hearted banter.

Then it was on to the business at hand. Our General Evaluator for the evening Tony explained his role and introduced his team, Mondie (Timekeeper) and Jan (Grammarian). Jan gave us the word 'Racket' to utilise during speaking. As the word actually has 3 separate meanings this was a great choice.

First up we had a Table Topics session presented by Steve so the club members could practice their impromptu speaking. Steve gave us a book title and then asked a member to imagine they had authored the book and explain why they chose that particular title. The range of titles given included such humdingers as 'Everything I Know About Women I Learnt From My Tractor', 'P.S. Your Cat is Dead', and 'The Purpose of Being a Wallflower.' This gave our speakers the chance to be creative and everyone made the best of the opportunity to do so.   

Next up we had our first prepared speech of the evening which was given by Roz, and introduced by Jan. Roz's speech was titled 'Keys to The Club'  and she delivered an engaging and inspirational talk about using 7 key methods  to help develop our club. This was timely as Roz is due to begin her term as our Club President next month.

Following that we were treated to an evaluation of the Table Topics speakers by Graeme. As per usual Graeme presented this in his own inimitable style and who are we to disagree?

Following a brief supper break we commenced the second half of the meeting with a prepared speech by Joyleen. Joyleen was introduced by Craig and proceeded to regale us with a true classic Joyleen tale of her appreciation of her mother (who had just turned 90). The warmth and humour throughout Joyleen's speech radiated out and had the audience laughing along with her.

We then had the evaluations of Roz's speech by Jan, and Joyleen's speech by Craig. Both evaluators delivered insightful and positive feedback for our speakers including some valuable recommendations for them to help develop their public speaking skills. This is a key part of the Toastmasters journey and we are lucky to have such skilled evaluators.

The Business session was presented by Craig, during which Tony was presented with his completion awards for Levels 1, 2, and 3 of his pathway - yes, all in the same night (how is that possible you may ask)?

Last up our General Evaluator Tony delivered his report for the evening, and awards were presented.

Best Speaker - Roz                           Best Evaluator - Jan

Best Table Topics - Jan                     Best Contribution - Joyleen

NEXT MEETING; MONDAY 11th July 7.00pm, Toastmaster - Jan