Dear Fellow Toastmasters,
The 'official' last meeting precis...
A charming misunderstanding quickly morphed into a wondrous night at BTM last night. Being locked out of our normal room only led us to be more resourceful, holding the event in the more intimate surroundings of the foyer, sitting on comfy couches and surrounding by pot plants of all descriptions, featuring Verga’s punker wheatgrass display.
The great thing was that with the smaller space, and the subsequent enthusiastic applauses, 11 actually made a wonderful crowd (the enthusiastic clapping, conducted by Miranda, adding to the fanfare and human spirit).
An agenda packed with speakers of a variety of levels meant that we made the rare exception of not having table topics. Being a fan of this session, I was pleasantly surprised that the night flew by without me noticing it. This was simply because the variety and content of the speeches were right on the button.
I commend the brave and admirable Icebreakers (look mom, no notes!) from Jonathan and Firman – you’d think they’ve been doing this for years: keep coming back for more guys!
Adi, as usual, probed us with philosophical quandaries that even Jenny couldn’t answer, all backed up with beautiful blue brain diagrams.
You couldn’t deny that Verga’s wondrous wheatgrass was not only well-researched and applicable to anyone who cares a toot about their health: instant weight-loss and a kilo of veges in a glass of healthy juice – I think you can understand why his flyers were ripped out of his hand at the end of his speech.
Strong then embarked on his speech marathon of 20 minutes, accepting the challenge of the full time allowance that was offered to him, to discuss new strategies for attracting potential Toastmasters members. It was role playing time and this was where the real fun started…
There were interrupters, chatterers, talkers, arguers and those with internal personality conflicts. Everyone rose to the role, keeping Strong on his feet at every moment possible. He handled the situation calmly and efficiently, often with a wry smile, especially when the class clown, Vaug-han, brought up the suggestion of ordering pie susu for snacks at break time! I think that we even came up with some serious suggestions in the end - let's look forward to welcoming more members...:)
Evaluations, on the whole, were apt, encouraging, constructive and within the time limit, except for Vaug-han who by this stage was finding it hard to shake off the ‘talker’ role from Strong’s speech…
Best Speaker went to the ever-modest Jonathan and Best Evaluator was Adi.
Next meeting promises to be even funnier, and I suggest checking out ‘Whose line is it anyway?’ on YouTube for a bit of inspiration:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gaFQyJySGJ4
Wondrous moments at a wondrous meeting – toast!
Vaughan 'Kiwi' Hatch
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