“We enjoyed ourselves immensely; we were very relaxed and
comfortable group tonight.” “Storytelling became almost a theme
through the meeting.” We heard stories in the Inspiration, the
Joke (which was a true story), in many of the Table Topic
responses, and within our main Speaker’s Ice Breaker.
The actual theme was Wisdom. The introductions that were given
for all of the participants on the agenda reflected enlightening
and thought-provoking words of wisdom for us from their personal
experiences. For instance: “I loved the theme introduction for
Karen, that only through following your heart do you learn to
recognize what following your heart feels like. This really
resonated with me.”
Introducing these participants was Pam. “Her commentary directly
correlated to the theme, and the various sayings that she
included spurred us to thought and set the tone very effectively
for how the whole meeting progressed. She clearly prepared
thoroughly and meticulously for the role, and her introductions
were very sincere and insightful in the responses given to her
question. Pam is really animated and dynamic in her presence and
delivery. Good bridging too! A genuinely good performance!” “She
was really organized and cheerful as always,” and “her
‘housekeeping’ before the meeting was much appreciated.”
“Great Word of the Week!” This word was ‘Sagacious’, a perfect
pairing with the theme, sagaciously chosen by the Wordsmith.”
“Elena chose an excellent and very appropriate Word of the Week
for the theme of the meeting. It’s clear that her vocabulary has
grown considerably, as has her command of English generally. She
has obviously gained a lot of benefit from our club, and it
shows in her self-confident delivery. The word was used
extensively, and people clearly enjoyed it in their
presentations tonight.”
“Wendy always impresses me with her calm, smiling demeanor. She
is obviously enjoying every minute.” “Wendy did well tonight as
Wizard of Ah’s. She listened intently to all the speakers.” “She
was very impressive in this role.”
“Kate’s interesting, funny, thoughtful Inspiration was a
highlight – I enjoyed it.” “Wow! What a wonderful inspiration
based on a student’s experiences.” “I really liked the
Inspiration. There is nothing like a personal experience story.”
“She provided an excellent Inspiration based upon her experience
with a grade nine student, his maturing, and gaining of wisdom.”
“I loved Jan’s hilarious and ‘racy’ joke!”
You will find that the word ‘challenge’ is used positively and
extensively in the following responses: “The thought provoking
Table Topics kept us thinking, provided humour and thoughts on
life.” “Stuart presented an exciting array of distinct topics on
the ‘wisdom’ theme.” “His Table Topics were great – very
intellectually challenging.” “It is commendable that all the
contestants all rose to that challenge and handled them
expertly”. “Stuart’s bridging throughout this session was very
good.” “The Table Topics, with their unique challenges, were
broad enough in scope that people could approach them with
various, often personalized perspectives that made us think and
often re-evaluate our notions and positions on the issues.” “It
is commendable that all the participants rose to the challenge
and handled them very expertly!” “There were some tough Table
Topic questions dealt with extremely well. For instance, Neville
did a fantastic job responding to the difference of Morality and
Wisdom.” “Neville deserved the award for Best Table Topic
Speaker! He handled his topic with skill and aplomb!” “Neville
handled a difficult Table Topic very cleverly and with ease.” “I
especially appreciated his observation that one must have a
greater understanding of the diverse cultures in the world.”
“Ruth’s Table Topic, as well as Li Ying’s and Neville’s were all
really good, with barely an ‘um’ or ‘ah’.” “Liked Ruth’s
observation that wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age, and
enjoyed her analysis of the battle between gut and brain in
tense situations.” “Loved Li Ying’s energetic delivery of her
Table Topic on the different wisdom of men versus women and the
value of compromise.” “I liked Elena’s observation that only
through making mistakes can we truly achieve wisdom.” “Enjoyed
Jan’s continued insights into George Bush’s ‘wisdom’.” “Kudos to
Kate for doing a Table Topic presentation well, as usual.”
“Jim’s Evaluation of the Table Topics was superb and showed
masterful use of the sandwich technique. Jim is a seasoned,
effective, and thorough evaluator, who uses humour at the
appropriate moments.” “He used great gestures during his
evaluation”, “and gave really useful, constructive comments as
Table Topic Evaluator.” “Excellent evaluation!”
“A first time for Karen to host the important role of
Toastmaster. She did a professional job in her introductions and
bridging.” “Karen has a lovely pendant that on one end reads
‘wonder is the beginning of wisdom’, and on the other end reads
‘wisdom is the beginning of wonder’ – either way “these words
spark curiosity and imagination. Her Toast was based on this
sagacious thought”. “It was very well done and was especially
appreciated because although the overall thought intrigued us
all, it was also personal.” The Speakers she introduced were
Hilary and Don:
“We had a lively and humorous Ice Breaker (first speech) by
Hilary.” She was personally relieved there were no guests
present for a change: “I liked delivering my first ‘tender’
speech to just us.” “It’s good that Hilary introduced herself to
the club. She has a tremendous amount to offer us. She used no
notes, which is very commendable for a beginner.” “Hilary’s
first speech was a very personable story.” “Her speech should
definitely be highlighted – the inner turmoil of her life
dichotomy.” “Hilary gave a delightful Ice Breaker – very unique
and interesting style – a pleasure to listen to her speech.” “I
adored her honesty and humour. She made herself very accessible,
and I totally relate to her inner battle of introvert /
extrovert.” “I particularly liked the way we got to see another
side of her – great stories to get to know her better.”
“Ruth gave an excellent evaluation of Hilary’s speech. She
covered all the essentials! She gave terrific suggestions for
improvement, and her approach was very sincere and
professional.” “She said that this unique speech was a gift to
us. It was!”
“Don’s Educational Moment on the Club Role of Wizard of Ah’s was
thought-provoking and eye-opening about a role of which I had
underestimated the value.” Don told us that “When a reader’s
eyes get tired, the mind wanders if there aren’t breaks I the
text. Editors recognize that and put in pictures & spaces that
give the eyes a rest and the brain a chance to keep up. This
technique is called ‘a judicial use of white space’. The same
technique applies in verbal communication. Instead of ums, ahs,
buts, and ands to keep the flow going, we need to allow some
‘white space’ into our conversations and speeches. In other
words, we need to stop…pause…and then go onto the next thought.”
“I will take to heart Don’s suggestion of adding ‘white space’
to my speeches – this is especially useful for me!”
“Excellent General Evaluation by Jill.” “This was one of her
most thoughtful evaluations – some excellent suggestions.” “This
General Evaluation was quite different from her previous ones –
a lot of improvement.” “Her approach was to analyze the meeting
as a whole, first. This has been done before, but the way Jill
did it was by far the most effective I can remember. And then
she zeroed in on individual performances. To top it off, she
gave us all the sagacious advice to always ‘Have a speech in the
bag!’ so that if a speaker cannot come at the last minute there
will always be someone to fill in that space.” “I enjoyed a lot
of Jill’s evaluation this night – she had a lot of comments and
suggestions for everyone.” “Glad she won the Best Evaluator
ribbon – it was well deserved ”
“A very enjoyable evening all ‘round!”
Our next meeting will be March 5th. The theme will be “Unique”.
As usual, guests are always welcome and encouraged to come.
Looking forward to seeing you then.
Club 1085
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