Hats off to everyone who attended this meeting, and a special
tip of the hat to Neville Cohen, for pulling off such a
successful event! ‘Bug season’, final papers, and exams may
have diminished our numbers (Ruth Sol’s pithy description was –
It made us ‘short staffed’.) but this did not stump our Vice
President of Education. He pulled a ‘Grab Bag’ from his
magician’s hat and passed it around. Our Agenda for the night
magically transpired as each of us read out the role we had
drawn from the bag. An “Impromptu Night” was in the works!
Pam Elliott drew Chairman and immediately got everyone thinking
about the theme: Individuality. Everyone who came to the
lectern had an opportunity to briefly tell us one thing that
made him/her a unique individual. The answers were as unique as
the individuals they reflected – they ran the gambit from an
‘up-&-down’ appendix scar’ (as opposed to the more common
horizontal), to hugging lonely-looking teddy bears.
Jim Sinclair
drew the role of Wordsmith and Wizard of Ahs. After reminding
us of his ‘pit bull mentality!’ for catching errant words, he
then magnanimously offered us an unheard of Bonus: ten cents for
every time we used the Word of the Week - Astute. We quickly
took advantage of this generous opportunity – especially those
of us who are still mastering control over our ‘ums and ahs’.
(A tip about how to overcome these little blips is coming up
later…) In fact, when Report Time came around, he declared that
the calculations were beyond him. “You do the math!” he
declared. Ruth Sol (who drew General Evaluator) commented that
though Jim’s reports are often delivered with fun and humour, we
always still end up having to pay the piper (or in our case…the
pig).
Neville had
arrived prepared for every possible eventuality, so was not at a
loss when he drew the Joke. It was a good one, too … If you
haven’t yet heard the one about the gambling Irishman, be sure
to ask him – it’s worth it!
Ana-Maria
Lovrich drew a role she had never tried before, but with Ruth by
her side she kept us well n cinch, on time, and gave perfect
explanations and reports
Don Ekroth,
‘instant’ Table Topic Master, was delighted to be handed a
ready-made list of Table Topics prepared by Neville. Don,
astutely using this list as a guideline, adapted the topics to
his own design. Everyone in the room but the topics evaluator
was given a chance to speak, while Don expertly bridged between
them with humour and appreciation.
Dave Stewart
had a bit of fun and learning while delivering his Table Topic
Evaluations this time. As you know, our Open House is next week
and we are hoping to have a Guest Speaker who will be giving us
pointers on the proper use of microphones. Dave (another
magician!) was able to procure both a microphone and portable
sound box for the coming presentation. Meanwhile, he had
brought them to this meeting ‘to check them out’. He actually
did use the microphone to begin his evaluations, but soon put it
down, having discovered that it was a bit trickier than it
appeared. But while he was experimenting with the microphone,
he was expertly evaluating the table topic speakers with his
always-at-the-ready sense of humour to praise and suggest. Don
summed him up with words such as “one of the pinnacles and
pillars of our club”.
The second
part of the meeting was not the ‘Grab Bag’ variety. We could
tell right away that this session was going to be well prepared
and well run. The Toastmaster, Veronica Marshall, opened with a
Toast to Individuality and Uniqueness. As Ruth said, “There was
a real story line to her Toast.” It was based on the strong
impression made on her by one of the actors in Storeum, who in
his role as a native soldier in WW 11, was talking about the
importance of individuality. He compared individuals in our
society to the many varieties of trees in a natural forest:
“Every tree is different, as are we. Our society, like a
forest, needs a variety of people, or tree, to thrive.”
Veronica had
the pleasure of introducing Joanne Renfer, one of our newer
members, who was giving her first speech debut – The Ice Breaker
– where she tells us a little bit about herself to help us get
to know her better. Based on the title “Mother and Builder”,
Joanne began by humorously taking us through the antics and
tribulations of raising three children, and then telling us
about the rewarding point she has reached in her entrepreneurial
career running her own general contracting company. Ruth picked
up and repeated many of the vivid pictures she had created for
us. Her stories were so funny that everyone (not just those of
us who are parents) could relate to and laugh.
Don Ekroth
began his speech evaluation by pointing out something many of us
have noticed – “Joanne has naturally engaging eyes that connect
with everyone in the audience.” He went on to elaborate on her
other natural speaking qualities. As usual, his suggestions
were illustrated as only Don can do. Ruth pointed out that “Don
uses great gestures in his evaluations – that’s not always
easy! And have you noticed how he never uses unnecessary
words?” Both good examples we can all work towards.
Ruth’s General
Evaluations were positive and educational. In fact, although we
learn from everything we see and hear in our meetings, this
night we had two stand-out educators:
Much of what
Ruth taught us has already been mentioned, but she also had a
timely reminder for us on protocol. She made us aware of how
our protocol has slipped a bit, and when this happens a meeting
can look a little sloppy. It is so important for the lectern
never to be ‘empty’, for the Introducer at the lectern to always
lead the clapping, and for all of us to be sure to address their
Introducer and the audience. Little things that mean a lot.
The other
person who had a good point for us to take to heart was Dave
Stewart. He wanted us to remember the essence of telling a good
story – The Details. “Getting from the abstract to the details
is much more effective. A little story with good details is a
story we will remember.”
This meeting
was definitely memorable
Our Next
Meeting – February 27th –has the promise of being
especially memorable. It is our OPEN HOUSE night, with our
GUEST SPEAKER who will be giving us tips on how to use a
microphone in her presentation: “The Secret Life of Mr. Mike”.
We
are hoping you will all be there and that you will be bringing
guests to join in the fun.
Club 1085
