We almost cancelled! The fog was thick, accidents clogged the
roads, but in the end every expected member made it, as well as
three guests who received very warm welcomes.
The meeting was exceptionally well run by a Chairman and
Toastmaster who were practicing these roles for the very first
time.
As Chairman, Omar Hung chose “Anniversaries” as the theme. His
excellent preparation gave him the confidence to relax in this
role and really enjoy the meeting. It is often difficult to
bridge between Speakers when you are attempting a role for the
first time, but Omar’s bridges were ‘right on’. For example, he
sincerely said of Anne Marie: “Your Inspirations are always
motivational and powerful.”
Anne Marie’s Inspiration had wise words about Weddings and
Wedding Anniversaries: Two of these were: “To celebrate a
partnership.” “I don’t want a perfect Wedding, I just want a
perfect marriage.”
Though the Word of the Evening was too familiar to be used as a
‘vocabulary expander’, it definitely was appropriate for the
theme. It’s what we do for most Anniversaries … we “Celebrate”!
Jill McCormick has been listening to us with a keen ear for many
years and while she only has few occasions to find corrections
for poor grammar, she always finds positive quotes from our
speeches to reinforce memorable and visual words and
descriptions she has heard in our speeches.
Gerhard Rentsch, prepared for any needed last minute role,
immediately jumped up to the ‘mike’ to give us a joke. It was a
cute one, and led us along a bit of a windy path.
The members and guests alike were grateful to have Andrea Clarke
in charge of the Timing. She made sure that all three of our new
guests had a chance to actually see how the timing lights work.
The Speaker also appreciated her flexibility in the timing
lights for her speech – a little different than usual, but
perfect for the presentation.
Most Fun were Veronica Marshall’s Table Topics. Her topics were
not restricted to the more usual Wedding and Birthday
anniversaries, oh no. Her topics may have been contained in a
can, but definitely were not confined inside a box. She gave us
the fun (and challenge) of explaining “Silly Anniversaries”.
These were ‘real’ anniversaries, but also really very silly
ones! Imagine “Eat What You Want Day” and “Bubble Wrap
Appreciation Day”!!! Speakers drew a silly anniversary out of a
can and then had to use their imaginations to tell us about this
‘momentous’ occasion. It was a great idea! Veronica clearly
explained what she expected and then let the Speakers draw their
topics and be the stars of the show. This didn’t diminish
Veronica’s star, though, she set the bar a little higher for the
rest of us.
Gerhard’s Table Topic Evaluations were done very well. His
comments were personable and many of his suggestions were
pertinent to the whole audience, not only the Speakers. One key
pick-up we should all keep in mind: “It’s tempting to hold a
paper in your hand while you are speaking but it limits your
gestures and can also be distracting. Leave the papers behind
and let ‘free association’ rule you. Just let it happen.”
Jim Sinclair was equally as confident and well prepared as Omar
for his first time role as Toastmaster. His Toast, like Anne
Marie’s Inspiration, was memorable with more quotes than can be
printed here, but let this gem suffice: “Events like
anniversaries do not just happen; people make them happen.” We
Toasted “To the Best of Them”. Jim introduced the Speaker, Pam
Elliott, who gave a capsule “edu-taining” talk based on Albert
Mensah’s keynote and workshop at a Toastmasters District
Conference several years ago. “How to Give a Winning Speech?
Keep Them on the Bus”, by constantly connecting with the
audience so they are with you for the whole ride.
Li Ying Kao gave Pam some very practical suggestions that will
definitely be helpful to her the next time she gives this
presentation (and most likely in other presentations as well).
Her comments were well sandwiched and well taken
So were Neville Cohen’s comments in his General Evaluation. He
began on a positive “Members and Guests all stimulated good
feelings that got the evening off to a great start!” The
executive had voted to try to streamline our meetings a little
more and so cut this evaluation in half. Neville was first to
attempt this and he did a very good job of it!
Congratulations to Neville and Li Ying who tied for Best
Evaluator.
Next meeting will be Monday Nov. 28th and we are looking forward
to seeing you all there. Remember – we love having guests any
time.
Club 1085
The meeting was exceptionally well run by a Chairman and
Toastmaster who were practicing these roles for the very first
time. 
