Chairman, Stuart Manning,
opened the meeting with a few cogent remarks on the “Mountaintop
Experience” theme. He invited us to weave the topic into our
speeches and that we could use it either in its literal or its
symbolic context.
One of the Mountaintop Experiences we enjoy at Toastmasters is
inducting new members. It was with great pleasure we inducted
Anne Marie DeLuise into our club. As a guest she has already
demonstrated she can hold her own in front of the group but to
cement her position as a regular member she tied (with Marlene
Finlayson) for best Table topics speaker. We are looking forward
to Anne Marie’s icebreaker to find out from whence all that
pizzazz, confidence and energy springs.
Our Inspirator, Gerhard Rentsch, using war-time Germany as his
example, took us back to a time when the young men of that
country were preoccupied with guns, planes and tanks. He
compared that with the now-reining Pope, Benedict 16th who
entered the priesthood in that same country at the same time.
Miraculously, he became a man of peace in a time of war. His
message reminds us that we need to follow our hearts and not be
swayed in our ultimate search for ourselves.
Toastmasters (in particular new members) are often a tad nervous
at the beginning of a meeting. There is nothing like a good
laugh to ease tension. Veronica Marshall’s joke was the epitome
of animation, balance and timing. The punch line “restores hare
with permanent wave” was met with thunderous approval and went a
long way towards easing any tension there might have been.
The word of the day (Exhilaration) was chosen by our Wordsmith
(Marlene Finlayson) for its appropriateness to the theme. That
it was used by a good number of our speakers was an indication
of just how fitting it was. There was the added incentive that
use of the word would offset the fines levied for the odd faux
pas they may have uttered (ably tallied by our very competent
Wizard of Ahs, Joyce Soti). Marlene also made a very thorough
report of the vivid word pictures used in tonight’s speeches
indicating she had listened very carefully throughout the
evening.
Table topics took on a more literal interpretation of the theme
as Jill McCormick’s challenging questions took us to the
mountaintops. We learned from our contestants about hiking in
Sri Lanka, swimming Lake Placid, how to be prepared for hiking
in the backcountry and even a few tips on how to protect
yourself from bears - a very lively session, indeed. Our Table
topics evaluator, Li-Ying Kao provided well-balanced and
perceptive comments for all. We can always count on Li to give
us some Toastmaster tidbits to take home and munch on later.
Kathryn Kennedy’s toast to our own “Personal Peak Experience”
led the way into the more formal part of the evening when the
manual speeches are given. In introducing Simon Russell’s
Icebreaker, Kathryn invited him “to come share yourself with us”
– and share, he did. Weaving a story of his “Life so Far”, Simon
regaled us with stories about his education, work experience and
family, and how the number “4” was intricately entwined in his
life. Congratulations on delivering your first 4-mal
Toastmasters speech. We are 4-tunate to have Simon’s infectious
humour in our club.
Neville Cohen’s speech “VIP” was a project from the ATM manual
“The Entertaining Speaker”. It was rich in the stories and
anecdotes we have come to expect from this respected veteran.
His speech dealt with the modern blessing/curse of the cell
phone. In evaluating his speech, Dave Stewart announced:
“Neville, I have some really good news and some really bad
news”. With that he launched into an evaluation that eventually
won him the ribbon for Best Evaluator. It is important for us to
remember that at Toastmasters we need to encourage speakers by
pointing out the positive aspects, but it shouldn’t be at the
cost of not providing constructive feedback on suggestions for
improvement. Evaluators must resist the temptation to whitewash
speeches as it robs that speaker of an opportunity to learn. (We
all took home a valuable lesson).
Our gentleman evaluator, Gil Hardman, gently, kindly,
thoughtfully and methodically evaluated first the major roles
then the minor ones. So thorough were his comments that he
warned us “I don’t care how many lights you shine at me I’m not
going to stop”. He nearly made it in his time allotment, but
ultimately had to retreat from a barrage of bell and applause.
That the meeting ended right on time is testament to the role
Omar Hung performed as Timer. It is a demanding job whose
significance is often underestimated. Accurate timing is
critical for keeping our speakers on track. Well done, Omar.
Our theme next week is “Expand Your Horizons”. Come on out and
enjoy…….
Club 1085
