Pakuranga Toastmasters

Meeting 774 – 30th April 2007 was a wonderful and fun evening. The theme of the evening was “Mad Hatters Night.” Andrew Day DTM was our Chairman for the evening. Dheeraj Chawla was the Grammarian.

Beth Jobin was our Toastmaster for the evening. There were two speakers during the evening. First up was Don Harford with his speech – “The Various Hats That I Have Worn.” His speech was the Icebreaker from the communication and leadership manual. . The final speaker was Warren Frazer with his speech “The Quest.” He also spoke from the same manual with his number two speech.

Don was evaluated by Michael Stevenson and Warren was evaluated by David McArthur.

Manissha Allabadi led the fun part of the evening as the Table Topics Master. The Table Topics Evaluators were – David Johnston and Alun Chisholm DTM.

Reports of the evening were given by Dheeraj Chawla – as Grammarian, Ilona Bors – Um Ah Counter and David Parker as Timer.

Christine Alcott ATM-B/CL was our Master Evaluator and evaluated the meeting as a whole as well as the roles which had not been evaluated.

Prize winners for the evening were:
Best Prepared Speech – Warren Frazer
Best Table Topics – Ilona Bors
Best Role Holder – Beth Jobin
Best Actor – Caroline Luey

Meeting 775 – 14th May 2007 was a most interesting evening. The theme of the night was “Elections” Alun Chisholm DTM was our Chairman for the evening. The Grammarian for the meeting was Manissha Allabadi. The word of the night was “Political”.

Andrew Day DTM was our Toastmaster for the evening. There were two prepared speeches this evening. The first speaker was Beth Jobin with her second speech from the Communication and Leadership Manual. The title of her speech was “Cork it or Screw It.”. . The second speaker was Alun Chisholm doing his number 2 speech from the “Technical Presentations” manual.” The title of his speech was “The Ametiville Horror.”

Beth was evaluated by Patty Leigh CTM and Alun Chisholm DTM was evaluated by David Aiken.

Kevin Brown led the Table Topics session. The Table Topics Evaluators were – David Parker and Warren Frazer.

Reports of the evening were given by Manissha Allabadi – as Grammarian, Don Harford – Um Ah Counter and David McArthur as Timer.

Jan Blyde CTM/CLL was our Master Evaluator and evaluated the meeting as a whole along with the roles which had not been evaluated.

Leah-La Hood was voted in as a new member. We extend a warm welcome to Leah as a member of Pakuranga Toastmasters.

Meeting 775 – 14 th May 2007 was also Pakuranga’s Annual General Meeting. There were new officers elected for the Next Toastmasters Year 2007/08.

The new Officers are:
President – Jan Blyde CTM/CL
VP Education – Manissha Allabadi
VP Membership Beth Jobin
VP Public Relations – Carolyn Luey
Secretary – David Parker
Treasurer – David Aiken
Sgt at Arms Ilona Brown (nee Bors) CTM/CL – assisted by Warren Frazer


Educational

SURVIVAL GUIDE TO TABLE TOPICS

1 When you first hear the topic, smile. This will help you feel good and look confident.

2 Immediately decide if you strongly like or dislike the topic. Go in that direction, your emotion will fuel your thoughts.

Don’t sit on the fence- watching someone sit on a fence is boring, but watching them jump into the corral and wrestle with a bull is very entertaining.

3 Begin by stating, “There are 3 things which come to mind about this topic” – even if you can’t think of three things when you start. As you speak you will be searching for these three key ideas. This helps give your response apparent structure. If you run out of time to list all three, announce that you will explain more another time.

4 Try the pro/con method. State the pros then state the cons. This may be confusing to the audience about where you stand on the topic. To clarify your position, support one side more than the other. You could even make light of the opposite side but be careful. Sarcasm turns people off and can even turn them against you.

5 When your mind goes blank and you don’t know what to say next, smile, look at the audience and then pause. They will review your last words and reflect on how profound they were. The brief pause is powerful, and it gives you time to plan your next words.

6 If the pause and smile don’t get you going, repeat the topic or your last point in a different way. You could even repeat it more than once. This is like revving your engine. Your thoughts collect, and then suddenly your mouth engages again.

7 Look for a lesson in the word, relate it to a book you’ve read, a TV show, a movie, the daily news, a community project, your work or your hobby.

8 Bring your family into the topic. It is the universal way to relate to people. When you talk about your family, be sure to use their names. It creates a stronger emotional picture for the audience.

9 Use the topic as a pathway to your main message. Politicians do this all the time. Make the transition smooth and the audience will go with you.

10 Use humour. When the audience laughs with you, they relax and so do you.

 BONUS TIP:

Speak slowly – it gives you more time to think!!!