Meeting report for 26 January 2023.
Meeting Chairperson, Nishika, chose LOVE as the theme for the meeting, and with her opening words gave us an eloquent reminder to love not only others but also ourselves. This proved to be ‘’conducive’’ to a constructive coming together of people from different backgrounds and different parts of the world. Nishika, who was chairing the meeting for the first time, is to be congratulated on inspiring members and guests to share their perspectives on love.
It felt as if the energy generated was bouncing from person to person during the prepared speeches segment of the evening which was effortlessly conducted by Toastmaster Steve. It then found added expression during the Table Topics session chaired by Edward who was taking on the role for the first time.
“Conducive” was indeed the word of the night chosen by the Grammarian, Joseph, who additionally stood in for the Um-Ah counter whose absence was … um… noted. The Timekeeper, Xiyin, was another first timer at her role ensuring that speakers did not overshoot the mark by much, if at all. Daisy lighted up the mood before the prepared speeches by telling us about a perceived wedding invitation typo that she believed she had noticed.
Club members who gave prepared speeches were Greg giving his Icebreaker + about a wayward youth, and Les confessing to the audience about his ‘addiction’. Then Santiago gave a speech that resonated with most of us, aiming to persuade us to interact more with each other and less with machines, and Kevin advised us how to effectively maximize our holidays. After refreshments the prepared speeches were given perceptive evaluations by Ratul, Liz, Michael and Sarah respectively.
Edward introduced the off-the-cuff speaking segment of Table Topics with probing questions about Love which Stephanie, Greg, Ratul, Randulla, Jay and Richard did their very best to answer compassionately. Edward made a point of congratulating each speaker on their response.
To wind up the meeting the Table Topic evaluators Jie and Liz gave helpful feedback, the Timekeeper and Ah Counter gave accurate readings and visiting DTM Jay gave a succinct summary of all the positive vibes during the evening.
