A trip to China, Tomoe River paper & a Washing line

Our Toastmaster of the evening, Tony, got proceedings underway very promptly tonight; in fact, 3 minutes before 7.00pm.  I assume Tony just couldn’t wait for what was going to be a very exciting and interesting night.  With apologies received, amendments to the well laid out program, Tony told us how August was littered with animal ‘International Days’ with the 8th being for cats, and the 26th for dogs.  Roz also introduced our guest, Michelle.

Ian provided an outline of the General Evaluator role, and introduced his lovely support ladies. Poppy, a regular visitor to the club, was our last minute stand in grammarian, and introduced the word ‘articulate’. Kiri, being our first time timekeeper, also explained the importance of the role, and explanation of the green, amber and red lighting system.

First up, was a speech by Song relating to her recent trip to China. Song was clearly excited to be back, but more importantly recanting her travels back in China.  Boy has things changed in the larger urban cities, with the phone being the means to pay for items. This allowed (or did it) for Song to tell and show 3 items from her shopping spree of 30 goods!  So much power, and I guess you literally pay for it later! Song not only was enthusiastic and bubbly, but so descriptive. As recounted by her evaluator Greg, it felt like we were there and part of the journey.

Second speaker was Jan providing the 3^rd part in her tri series of speeches relating to fountain pens, ink and now the last component, paper.  It was not just any paper, it was her favourite and the very special Tomoe River paper and blotter. Jan made what could have been a pretty boring topic into something exciting as she exudes about the whisper thinness of this crafted paper. To conclude, Jan encouraged us to take up the fountain pen challenge and revel in all its majesty.

Our third speaker, Craig, provided an educational session. Tonight, the topic was around the structure of a speech.  While Craig used the OBC (Opening, Body and Conclusion) framework he also used a wonderful visual aid to reinforce his message – a simple washing line. And out from his bag of tricks were items that complemented his story. These were :
A sock – in your opening, sock it to us; grab our attention; be expressive
Some underwear – reminds us to be brief, keep to time, don’t wonder off
A dish cloth – keep the speech clean; no religion, etc …you know what I mean
A nightie – the body of the speech; 2 or 3 key points, which you then expand on
A bra – those main points should be balanced, and to see things from both sides
A tie – as part of the conclusion, tie everything you spoke about together
Craig concluded with the 4 P’s; Preparation, Practice, Practice and Practice

Patrick provided our Table Topics for the evening taking ordinary kiwi sayings from the Dinkum Kiwi Dictionary by David McGill. A great idea, and something that had real potential to get a yarn or 2 from the participants. Some of the sayings were challenging to say the least e.g. Up the Boohai Shooting Pipis with a Hayrake, but all of the participants; Ian, Nic, Arsh, Kiri and Christian took up the challenge and provided some interesting tales. Good practice for the upcoming Table Topics Contest.

Each of the evaluations were of a very high standard. Greg, used words like indescribable exuberance, great hand gestures, lots of vocal variety and all those word pictures which allowed us to be part of Song’s trip in China. 

Likewise, Graeme provided nothing but praise for the way Jan presented such an unexciting topic - paper.  Why; because Jan was polished, methodical in her presentation and flow, and most of all turned it into a great learning experience. But was Jan convincing enough and will Graeme take up the fountain pen challenge!

Most memorable was the evaluation of Table Topics by Roz. Roz provided positive commendations, with a recommendation to assist all of the participants. Roz then lifted it up a gear, and got excited with the word articulate; expanding it to speculate, triplicate, and anything else ending in ..ate.  This quickly became our (unplanned) second educational, in how to introduce excitement (vocal variety) into a speech, strut onself around the floor (gestures) and the all important eye contact with the audience.  Well done Roz.

Our General Evaluator Ian provided the appropriate praise to Tony for a well run meeting. Tony has this calm, pleasant voice and nothing seems to phase him.  He is so well prepared and likewise turn our August meeting date as an opportunity to recognise the many International Days for animals in August.

Poppy commended all the speakers who used the word articulate, and also commented on the dreaded ums and ahs, which were more prevalent in Table Topics.  Breath in and pause instead of those filler words – great advice Poppy.

Kiri, our first time timekeeper, provided timings for all of the items on the program and ensured we were tracking to time, with comments like we were 2 minutes ahead at that point, and then later, we were 4 minutes behind.  A timely reminder especially to GE Ian!

Best Speaker : Song                Best Evaluator : Greg
Best Table Topic : Ian             Best Contribution : Craig

Well done Napier Toastmasters - another great evening