It is difficult to remain
effervescent during the dark and dreary days of January, but the
theme, Optimism, reminded toastmasters to focus on the full cup
rather than the alternative. The evening started off well and in
spite of the Federal election distractions, was reasonably well
attended. Joanne Renfer’s introduction of the Chairman, Don
Ekroth, was warm, personable, and on time. In his opening
remarks, Don shared some tips how he, personally, copes with “40
days and 40 nights” of rain and the drudgery of short winter
days with all too little sunshine. He then proceeded to weave
their personal tips for optimism into his introductions.
Ana-Maria Lovrich, in her first role as a new member of our
club brought the word effervescent into her role as Wordsmith.
That it was used a good number of times during the evening is
testament to the care with which the word was chosen. The
chairman commented that speakers should also try to use the word
“seamlessly” in their speeches, rather than yielding to the
temptation of exaggerating or otherwise drawing attention to the
word in order to ensure credit for its use.
Ruth Morse, another new member, explained her role with
confidence and a delightful smattering of humour. Her listening
skills were evident from the detailed final report she gave on
the club’s verbal faux pas.
Wendy Trusler, in a very well thought out and delivered
message as Inspirator, gave us three personal tips to ‘give your
attitude a boost’ – get up early, try something new, and make
time for play. Her quote by Wilhelm Humboldt reminded us that
the key to happiness is within ourselves. “Our happiness or unhappiness depends far more on the way we
meet the events of life than on the nature of those events
themselves”
Omar Hung’s joke about the Optimist and the Pessimist
children was certainly appropriate for the theme and drew
well-deserved praise from the General Evaluator for his animated
delivery.
It was obvious the Table Topics Master, Jill McCormick, came
well prepared for this role. The topics seemed almost “tailor
made” for the contestants, allowing even the newest members the
opportunity to use the full time limit. Her smooth bridging
between speakers followed by the in-depth evaluations by club
President, Gerhard Rentsch ensured the meeting flowed
efficiently into the break. (In her first time back after a long
illness, Anne Marie DeLuise is still on top of her game, walking
away with Best Table Topics honours).
In the second half of the meeting, Ruth Sol’s recognition of
Our Elected Representatives was, if not completely on theme, an
appropriate toast in light of the election-night happenings. As
the General Evaluator noted, later, it was given with ‘no notes
and was obviously heartfelt”. The one speaker of the evening,
Dave Stewart, gave us a demonstration many in the audience would
find particularly helpful. Entitled PowerPoint 101, he walked us
through the dos and don’ts of this new age mode of communication
and followed it with a short Q and A session. It was presented
in the usual, laid back, humorous style we have come to
appreciate from Dave’s speeches. Dave has kindly offered to let
members use it for future presentations. It is great to have
this equipment available to our club and thank him for his
generosity.
Stuart Manning’s observations and suggestions for improvement
provided Dave with a superbly balanced evaluation of his
presentation and earned him a muchly-deserved ribbon for Best
Evaluator.
The evening was ably recounted and evaluated by our General
Evaluator, Li-Ying Kao, who, in addition to the previously
reported remarks, had positive comments for all as well as
constructive suggestions for many to take home and digest.
That the meeting proceeded smoothly and ended right on time
is testament to Parvaneh Bahrami’s efforts as Timer. It is a
demanding job whose significance is often underestimated. Well
done, Parvaneh.
The chairman’s closing comments summed up his feeling on the
evening very appropriately:
“It is said the future of society rests with its children. In
Toastmasters, the future of a club resides in its new members.
After witnessing the fine performances of our new members,
tonight, I am optimistic about the future of North Shore
Toastmasters”.
Club 1085
