People were confessing right, left, and center as members
disclosed their “Honesty in Friendship” secrets. Most were
little white lies to save people’s feelings, but one or two
members had learned hard lessons from them, too. Gerhard
Rentsch’s special word of the evening, “ameliorate” (meaning ‘to
make better’; ‘to improve’) was an ideal thematic fit. The theme
also inspired a wealth of word pictures which Speakers
‘colourfully used’ as embellishments.
Li Ying Kao kept spirits high with her comfortable, animated
presence as Chairman. Opening with a personal story about how
the theme affected her life, she brought the meeting full circle
at the end when she summed up the conclusion with which everyone
agreed: Yes, honesty still is the best policy.
Following up on that note, Jen Reed-Lewis’s very first
Inspiration was memorable. She reminded us that the place to
take risks and personally improve our lives is in the company of
good friends who we know will be honest with us.
We had a number of personal anecdotes as people introduced the
agenda roles they were performing. Neville Cohen’s personal
story illustrated the importance of staying within our time
limits. He recounted an experience to which we could all relate,
about “…how boring some people who go on, and on, and on can
be!”.
Omar Hung wasn’t stumped for a minute when asked, just as he
arrived, to be our Wizard of Ah’s. Broadly smiling he cautioned
us that we should always “be aware of The Watchdog”. Some of us
just can’t help ourselves in this area …It’s a good thing many
of us had prolifically used the Word of the Evening to offset
our fines!
In his first time as Jokemaster, Simon Russell showed us that he
really does know how to tell a good joke: it was a well told
anecdote that ended with just the right suspenseful pause before
the punchline
We had two especially good bits of fun this evening, beginning
with our novice Table Topics Master, Anne Marie Deluise. She did
an excellent job in this role. Using the theme, which ‘is near
and dear to her heart’, she creatively began her topics with a
quote. She used skills in this role that many of us are still
working on. Particularly noted was her use of bridging between
each Speaker – she really did listen to us.
Hamish Marshall then disarmed and motivated the Speakers by
choosing the right words and phrases in a sincere delivery: ie.
“It’s a continual amazement to me that people can …(positive
comment)..,”, “…very engaging…”, “…is a greatly effective way of
buying everyone in..”
When it comes to hosting the formal part of the evening, Marlene
Finlayson suits the role to a ‘T’. She integrated her thoughts
with the members’ comments on honesty and friendship to deliver
a heartfelt Toast, followed by the promised ‘second good bit of
fun’. Jill McCormick started us off with the beginning of an
impromptu tale which snaked its way around the room, gathering
steam along the way. We each had to incorporate into this tale
an animal and a superlative. At the end, Jim Sinclair gave a
general evaluation of the way we managed this fabrication and
was impressed with how smoothly it flowed – “sweet and quick
which was just as we’d hoped!”
Quick as well was Pam Elliott’s overview of the Distinguished
Club Program (DCP).
If you missed it, or would like to have a fuller idea of what it
is all about, check the club website toastmastersnorthshore.org
under ‘Educational Tidbits’ later this week. Our club did very
well this year, once again earning a Select Distinguished ribbon
for our banner. Over the years we seem to have ‘effortlessly’
attained at this distinguished (or higher) level through our own
members’ own intrinsic motivation.
People often join our club because they know right up front that
they can go through the program at their own rate with no
pressure from the executive. That means that both the seriously
goal oriented members, and those who fit in what they can when
they can, all have the freedom to move along at their own paces.
Stuart Manning wrapped up the evening with very good General
Evaluation comments and suggestions for us all
“Books and Storytime” will be the Theme for our meeting Monday
June 13th.
Looking forward to seeing you all there. Guests, of course, are
always welcomed.
Club 1085
