Grant, our Chairman for the evening, took the lead in evoking history. No one guessed that the reason for the choice of this theme was that the day was the Ides of March.
Grant’s lead was followed by other Toastmasters quoting from famous people in history, including Shakespeare, Plato, Da Vinci, and Bacon amongst others.
Tina, the grammarian, showered “compassion” on us all. Michael, the Ah-Counter, in all probability showed compassion on us, not counting too harshly. Celia did likewise, making the Timer’s report concise and to the point.
Anji ‘s Smile Story referenced hilarious events on this day in history.
Later, Linda demonstrated a fine touch as Table Topics Master, asking speakers to describe what they were doing on, for example, the day Princess Diana died; on the day the World Trade Centre was bombed; when the new millennium dawned; on their first day at work; or on their first date.
Heather, Mohamed, Liz, Ivy and Steve were up for the challenge of speaking off-the-cuff. In addition guests Jacky, Kataraina, and Erika acquitted themselves exceedingly well holding the audience of 30 strangers in thrall at their ability to talk on a topic at a moment’s notice.
Prior to Table Topics the Toastmaster, Clement – whose name he reminded us is synonymous with compassion – provided pertinent and detailed introductions to the evening’s five speeches.
Hazel presented a moving personal account for her project from the Storytelling manual, involving around three months on a Red Cross ship which went to a war arena in 1982.
Victor gave an absorbing speech from the Pathways manual describing how his love of books developed, concluding with a recommendation that each of us read a book a month.
Kevin presented a professional, persuasive promotion for the Waipuna convention on 4-6th May which you will not want to miss.
Brett had everyone’s attention as he dissected the merits and misapprehensions around Kiwisaver with a knowledgeable power point presentation.
Ted intrigued and amused the audience with a speech from the Entertaining Speaker manual in which he pointed out the benefits of copyrighting our most prized possession, our name.
By which time we were in need of the sumptuous supper awaiting us.
Afterwards speech evaluators Chris, Gretel, Lakshman, Fakir and Bles provided speakers with thoughtful feedback that was ‘gentle enough to nourish growth’.
For the business session Magda and Kevin regaled us with details of upcoming events, including a Table Topics workshop on 14th April, before Mohamed was inducted as the club’s newest member.
Our three guests commented on how well organised the meeting was, and what high quality the speeches were; how relaxing and humorous the meeting was; and how the warm welcome and clear understanding of what Toastmasters provides were helpful
To wrap up the evening Martin provided a general evaluator’s report of scintillating wit and perspicacity which no amount of words here could do justice to. He singled out Table Topics evaluator Raymond for his compassion and courage. Indeed Martin congratulated all concerned for the constructive, enlightened and inclusive nature of the club which contributes to such eminently enjoyable evenings.
