Meeting No.763 'Airplanes'

A well attended meeting, but one that featured only two speakers, Arun and Yours Truly.

David our Toastmaster for the night also adopted the role of Sergeant at Arms.

Welcome back to Daniel after a few weeks overseas.

Arun was the stand-in Table Topics Master and his theme reflected the meetings Theme of the Night: Aeroplanes.  To me the most notable aspect of the meetings Table Topics was that one of our five Guests, the first-time Harshal, volunteered to tackle a question. As we all know, standing in front of an audience for the first time is a daunting experience, but Harshal exhibited excellence self-control and delivered his thoughts with confidence and with a strong and measured voice. Well done Harshar, a difficult task delivered with aplomb.                                                                           

Arun treated us to an impromptu, but well delivered speech around air flow affecting modern aircraft, the what and why of air pockets and turbulence and the latest intention of Sir Richard Branson to build and put in service a high speed airliner that will cut the trans-Atlantic travel time to around three and a half hours.

Second time Guest David volunteered to be Timekeeper for the night ….. usually a role conducted by an experienced member. And it was an amazing thing to see someone so new to Toastmasters accept this key role. Thanks Daniel and well done on handling the role so well.

 Yours Truly spoke on the dangers of Global Warming to all of us and what each of us can do to help not only Planet Earth, but in the final analysis, ourselves.

This was my eighth speech toward the Competent Communicator level.

The speech called for the inclusion of an audio-visual component. Normally I follow the good practice of rehearsal, in this instance I was not able to prepare as comprehensibly as usual and my presentation reflected that.

Hopefully the shortcomings of my speech, notably in the area of incorporating audio visual aids, will aid others when preparing a speech. Learn from my experience and rehearse, rehearse and when you’ve done that, rehearse again.

In addition to Harshal and Daniel we again welcomed Ramya,  Vick and Ross and the first timer, Peter.

Ross, Daniel, Ramya and Vick, all advised their intention to become members, so it will be good to see all four formally inducted at the next meeting.

In summary another good meeting and thanks to all that stepped-up to the re-allocated roles on the night.

Paul von Harder 

Meeting No.762 'Aim for the Stars'

Elena our President‘s sad loss weighed heavily on Members during our meeting number 762.

Atinder was an apology, which meant we could not access the storage cupboard, so we had to conduct the meeting without the timing equipment, the lectern and gavel etc. Worst of all, I had to endure the tea-break with only green tea to drink!! I did console myself however, with the thought that 1.3 billion Chinese can’t be wrong!

Udana carried-out the Toastmaster role with aplomb and confidence, David did extraordinarily well as Sergeant at Arms, minus the attention gaining gavel. 

 Arun did an amazing job of juggling the Timekeepers role (with no electronic aids)as well as General Evaluator and any other job that no-one else wanted. Magnificent work Arun and an inspiration to us lesser mortals!.

It was very pleasing to see EIGHT Guests. Welcome to Christina, Martin, Daniel, Vick, Ramya, Bol, Mangar and Juma hope you enjoyed last evenings meeting and we’d love to see you again.

Theme for the night was Aim for the Stars and Arun provided a complimentary WOD = Aspiration. Without meaning to blow my own trumpet (well, not much anyway) I believe I took-out the most usage of the WOD by using it at least 50 to 100 times. OK, OK, I exaggerate, but I’m writing this and I’m awarding myself a degree of creative licence!!!!              . Hmmmmm.

Winner of the Table Topics category was Chih who treated us to a highly imaginative tale of how he wore a wheelbarrow on his head in order to ward-off sunburn. Well done Chih, can I recommend my Psychologist !!!LOL

Speakers were David, Hiren and Chih and Evaluators were Wendy, Arun and Bruce ……. definitely a hat-trick of Evaluation excellence.

The Best Speaker award was a tie between David and Chih.

New Member Jacqueline did her best to disrupt the meeting with a coughing fit and managed to take herself out of the room just as I was about to call an ambulance.

In all, I think it was a productive meeting despite our hearts being understandably heavy.

Again, I ask all members to remember that Toastmasters is not a destination, it is a journey. Please make every effort to attend meetings ……… you know you will enjoy and benefit from it.

Thank you to all attendees and remember that if you are listed to carry out a duty or role on the meeting of the 16^th, please advise Udana if you are unable to attend.

Paul von Harder

Meeting No.761 'Aha Moments'

A sparsely attended meeting, but a good and lively one.

We welcomed guests Ross and Jacqueline.

Our President, donated a wonderfully creamy and succulent cake on the occasion of her 25^th birthday ( er, hummmm)….. because of the low number of attendees, we really had to apply ourselves to the task of consuming it, but consume it we did!

Sara gave her Icebreaker speech with nary an er or ah, and was awarded with Speaker of the night. Well done Sara on overcoming your nerves and on completing this important first step for all persons new to Toastmasters.

Wendy treated us to a presentation speech on Evaluation and what better person to talk on the art of Evaluation than the master, or should I say Mistress, of Werribee Toastmasters evaluation.

I was given the daunting task of evaluating Elena’s speech, this was my 1st formal evaluation and much to my surprise was awarded Best Evaluator.

Elena formally inducted our newest member Sara, into Werribee Toastmasters.

Good luck Sara on your Toastmasters journey, we know you will find it a personally rewarding experience.

David carried-out the important task of timekeeper and summarised his allotted task with his inimitable flair and of course precision.

Chih stepped-up to the role of Toastmaster with his ever-reliable enthusiasm and ability, but I have to say his effort was marred by his forgetting to bring Elephant to the meeting. LOL.

I’ve found the Werribee TM’s Guide to Meetings Handbook invaluable in clearly defining the various roles we are sometimes asked to perform, sometimes at short notice, and highly recommend reading it.

Can I remind everyone (in the nicest possible way of course) that Toastmasters is a journey not a destination. I firmly believe that no matter how experienced we are, our journey continues, with many personally rewarding benefits along the way.

Thank you to all that enthusiastically contributed to the meeting on the XX XXX.

Paul von Harder