North Shore Toastmasters Club Meeting
October 25th, 2004
Gerhard Rentsch has grown very
comfortably into the role of Chairman. There was no question
that he was in control of this meeting, and his friendly
enthusiasm set the tone for the evening, making us all very glad
to be there.
We had some interesting innovations introduced in this meeting.
Although they didn’t always quite ‘hit the mark’, it is
stimulating for all of us when members experiment with a variety
of ideas. Pushing our roles a little ‘out of bounds’ can be a
challenge for both the initiator and the audience. One of the
joys of Toastmasters meetings is having the freedom to practice
in front of an audience; to find out what works and what doesn’t
by actually ‘doing’. This is what happened this night. :
First the Inspirator, Kathryn Kennedy, tried out an inspiration
that was interactive with the audience. It was an excellent idea
and the audience wholeheartedly responded when she coaxed
feedback. The catch is learning how to factor in ‘timing for the
unknown’; to allow enough time for both the inspiring message
you want to give and the difficult-to-gauge time it takes to
interact with your audience. This was an especially difficult
feat to accomplish in the two minute time period allotted but
Kathryn actually pulled it off … with a very anxious eye on the
Timer’s hand which was on the bell. This was a worthwhile
exercise from which we all learned. We know it can work – it
just takes practice.
Then we were entertained by Dave Stewart’s approach to ‘The Word
of the Evening’. Usually ‘the word’ which is introduced is one
which could easily be used in speeches and everyday
conversation, but because it is not as familiar as synonyms we
use more frequently, it enhances/enriches our vocabularies as we
make a point of trying to use it (practice with it) throughout
the evening. Dave had fun with us by introducing the palindrome
(a word which reads the same backward as it does forward – ie
Wow!). In practice, this fun idea was a great challenge not only
to the participants, but also for Dave, whose job was to keep
track of them – they weren’t easy to recognize in the natural
flow of speech! As Gerhard pointed out, Dave has a knack of
taking a perfunctory job and making it an occasion. Keep it up,
Dave!
Li Ying Kao, as Toastmaster, had us eagerly anticipating hearing
our Speaker, Ruth Sol, and Ruth didn’t disappoint us. Her speech
was from the manual ‘Speaking Humorously’. The object of the
project was to learn how to warm up an audience by beginning
with a humorous anecdote which leads right into the message the
Speaker is hoping to get across. Ruth’s anecdote about the
hazards of gift giving fit hand in glove with the speech that
followed. Question: Which came first – the joke or the idea for
the speech? The answer doesn’t matter … they worked beautifully.
Congratulations this week to Gil Hardman who won the ribbon for
Best Table Topics with his delightful description of the
imaginary ‘greatest Canadian female entertainer’, Mitzi Kafoofoo!!
Stay tuned for another great evening on Nov. 1st – Halloween
Dinner @ Cheers.
Club 1085
