Well Toasties and friends, our second official meeting was a rousing success. Last night was a perfect example of thinking on our feet!
Being the first meeting as VPE, I failed in my duties and forgot to create a meeting program. Well, failure would imply prior knowledge ... this job is harder than I thought. However, Stefani Kang our TOM for the evening, pulled it together with flying colors. Thank you Stefani.
Unfortunately, Miranda Suryadjaja was ill, which left some big shoes to fill. We wish her a speedy recovery. Most of us are aware of Miranda's contribution, and I would like to offer her acknowledgement for everything she has done and continues to bring to all the Toastmaster clubs in Bali.
Because of her absence and my lack of completion in my duties, I had the privilege to act as president (and I assure you that it was just an act), general evaluator, and evaluator for two speeches. The best way to learn to swim turns out to be apnée.
Strong led a fantastic table topics, playing his role well and adapting his presentation during Martha's speech to remind us that table topics is about spontaneity, and one can just as easily transition off topic if they have nothing to say about the question. The purpose of Table Topics is to learn to think on our feet; truly the sign of an accomplished speaker.
All speakers showed quick thought, and a clean presentation. Rozi recounted his trials with commercial flight, Igor tempted us with his cuisine de Florence, Alan intoxicated us with his sejourns d’alcohol, and Martha took the prize by jumping into the fire with her joys of sports, and lack thereof.
All the prepared speeches showed a lot of time invested. Angie gave her icebreaker, recounting her childhood in East Germany, and her lessons that Everyone Deserves Respect. Rozi gave his second speech about How To Make A Healthy Home. This was full of good advice about living in this part of the world and how to reduce and eliminate environmental problems in the home due to high humidity. Sri gave her ninth speech, and taught us about neuro linguistic programming, and how we can lead happier lives by taking control of our perceptions and attitudes. And Alan finished off the evening with an advanced speech about an exciting project he is developing to encourage entrepreneurial activity through greatly needed solution oriented business. He will be organizing an event soon, so look forward to an invitation in your email.
The evaluations were thoughtful and encouraging. One of the bests part of our club is how obvious it is that we all want each to grow and develop as communicators.
The meeting ended with what I am sure was a delightful tango lesson. I was unable to stay because of prior engagements.
NOTE : There will be a new club starting in Ubud, and the first meeting is the 19th. Please contact Budi for more information.
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