Another fun and well-attended meeting at which we welcomed
two visitors
(Amber and Leanne) and two returning members. Shridar and
Sashi
However, a quorum was not attained so no meeting minutes
were recorded.
As usual, apologies necessitated a raft of changes to the
published Agenda, but all those who stepped-up on short notice to fill required
positions acquitted themselves admirably.
Chih assumed the role of Sergeant at Arms and kept the
meeting to its key time frames.
Word of the Day was ‘persuade’, the art of convincing
others.
May W. provided the Thought of the Day ………. ‘If I could think as slow as a tortoise
walks, I could run as fast as a cheetah’.
I’ve paraphrased May’s words but I’m sure my memory is pretty close to
the actual.
Elena was kept busy changing various hats by taking on the
roles of Toastmaster, Round Robin Master as well as her role of President.
As President she inducted new members Hiren and Nilesh.
Five speeches were scheduled but absences reduced the number
to three, Chih, Hiren and yours truly. Hiren spoke on Passive Income
opportunities, Chih on the basics of fitness regimens and me on awareness of
Local Government.
Chih’s speech was his eighth, which required the use of
audio visual aids. We all felt for him in his attempts to set-up the projector
…. none more than me when I recalled my same struggles on the occasion of my
eighth speech (a total disaster!!!!)
This weeks speech was my tenth, taking me to Competent
Communicator level, and I felt a huge and rewarding sense of achievement and I
heartily recommend to all new members to set their sights on getting to Competent
Communicator level, and beyond. It’s well worth the effort.
The demanding and critical roles of Evaluators were
carried-out by those master Evaluators, Wendy, Julie and Daniel, who as usual
made the job look easy …… we all no it is not! So well done youse blokes!!
(Please excuse my jocular departure from good grammar).
Sridhar was the Meeting
Evaluator and showed that despite an absence, he has not forgotten his skills.
Well done Sridhar and welcome back, it was great to see you.
Sashi took-on the role of Timekeeper and provided an
excellent report on the individual time elements of the meeting.
One point or tip, or observation, that I feel is worth
passing on: My speeches number eight and nine missed my objectives by a mile
and were efforts I’d rather forget. But I’m sure those personal disasters
spurred me on this week to a speech which I believe was my best to date. Maybe
my inbuilt competitive spirit helped, but to me the most important part was
that I gave myself a competitive advantage by ‘Power Dressing’. I love dressing-up (I try to avoid skirts,
high heels and tights of course!!) and when I’m in a business suit I FEEL good
and my confidence improves.
I’m sure those aspects assisted me to bounce back this week.
Can I suggest to our male members to experiment, by wearing a suit when the
occasion demands and see if what I’m saying holds true.
Finally, just a reminder;
Werribee Toastmasters is a journey, not a destination, none of us will
‘arrive’, but each meeting missed is a lost opportunity to improve in so many
ways.
Good luck and good speaking.
