“What an enjoyable meeting all ‘round!” “The incredible number
of guests and their positive comments at the end of the evening
regarding the warm and positive atmosphere of our club was very
reaffirming. It is good to know that outsiders experience the
same thing we insiders do!” “I found this a very welcoming and
well organized meeting. I especially appreciated restraint in
calling on a terrified newcomer (guest) for Table Topics. (note:
we always ask before the meeting so no one feels put on the spot )
I was impressed by the quality of speeches and the commitment of
the members.”
“As the Chairman, Neville’s opening commentary pertained
directly to the theme and approached the whole subject of the
theme of procrastination with his own ideas, insights, and some
encouragement about how such an addictive quality can be
handled. The upbeat and positive opening set the tone very well
for the entire meeting.”
“Christine’s Word of the Evening (to abstain) was well chosen
and well used.” “Li Ying is a very sharp listener.” “Her
passionate and cut-throat Wizard of Ahs performance will be a
hard act for the next Ah Counter to follow!” “Kate gave an
intriguing, balanced, sincere and enthusiastic Inspiration that
not only inspired us, but also added some levity to the meeting
with the underlying humour.” “Kate, the ‘Happy Procrastinator’.
An excellent performance – very good voice, direct to the theme,
humour well used … very well done. Yes, it can be good to
procrastinate.” “I really enjoyed Pam’s story (the Joke) – she
was so bright and cheery telling it.” “It was quite funny, and
elicited a good response with the punchline. Good work!” “Nahid
may have been thrown a bit in her initial explanation of the
role, but she excelled at the most important part of all: she
did a Great job of actually Doing It and should be
congratulated. This looks like the easiest role on the agenda
and in truth is one of the most difficult.”
Once again the Table Topics session shone: “Dave F.’s
introduction to his ‘diabolical’ topics should be highlighted. I
enjoyed his relaxed demeanor and humour, as well as the
interesting research he put into the theme of ‘procrastination’.
His topics elicited some humourous and surprising responses.”
“This session went very smoothly and al the topics were
generally easy to handle.” “They were very well prepared; very
well thought out.” “He appeared to be very comfortable as a
first time Table Topics Master. He had great bridging between
speakers, and should be complimented on this because it takes
most of us more time to reach this level.”
“All the speakers had a good time.” One of our guests had the
most compliments from the audience: “Pamela’s confident, chilled
out and entertaining performance lines her up with
well-practiced stand up comedians!” “Her Table Topic about being
‘a procrastinating go-getter’ was great! Confident, varied voice
range, good ‘motion-repetitions’.” “Fun speech by Li Ying, whose
husband came home and discovered her dirty bathroom.” “She could
have a show of her own! Hilarious, intriguing improv.” “Kate’s
speech was fortuitous in that she managed to extend her
Inspiration into new territory. Very good verbal imagery!”
“Pam’s funny way of putting things cracks me up!” “Enjoyed her
comedic and enthusiastic Table Topic about post-party clean-up.”
“Don’s sincere speech was without a doubt one of the Highlights
for me.” The Winner for Best Table Topic Speaker this time went
to Kate.
“Stuart gave an excellent Table Topics evaluation.” “As usual,
he made astute observations in his role as Table Topics
Evaluator.”
“On last minute notice, Pam did a fine job as the Toastmaster. I
especially appreciated her thoughtful bridging between the
speakers.” Special thanks to Elena, who was ill and not able to
stay for the meeting but came in spite of that to make sure we
were given her excellent script. “Elena’s Toast, inspired by
Sire Edmund Hilary and delivered in her absence by Pam, was
truly inspirational.”
“Both speeches were informative and interesting, and both of the
Speakers had ‘dressed for success’. I felt motivated to get
involved in Africa, which speaks to Jan’s effectiveness.” “His
speech about the situation in Africa and what he and his
community are doing to help was inspirational and persuasive. He
had a wonderfully logical way of explaining complex situations,
and created great word pictures. I especially enjoyed his
truism: ‘Civil servants are hard workers, but slow
decision-makers’!” “His speech was topical, controversial, full
of wisdom and poignant insights.” “We had a short version of
this speech before, and tonight, hearing the long version, I
really admire his ‘crazy old man’ achievement!” “Hilary’s speech
‘Why Aren’t I Manifesting?” was very informative. I had heard
bits and pieces about ‘the Secret’, but her speech tied together
all those little threads of information to give me a more
complete picture of mind / body consciousness. She truly
encouraged us to listen to our bodies.” “I so admire Hilary’s
ability to speak without notes!” She herself appreciated being
in a place where people “listen while I learn. It was useful to
give a speech that I had actually prepared. I realize that the
topic was too large for 5 – 7 minutes and it was hard to
organize it, but I’m glad I did it.” I included Hilary’s written
comments that highlighted the evening for her, particularly
because so many of us are hard on ourselves, especially when we
are just starting out. Her observations and experience will be
encouraging for other new members, because every one of us has
had trouble paring down a topic into the allotted time for our
particular speech projects. The exercise of editing a speech
over and over again until it does fit into the given time frame
is an invaluable lesson. We find that in the end, generally what
is left of the speech is the essence of what we want to say. It
is worth it.
“We had two very good Speech Evaluations tonight.” “Jill’s
evaluation of Jan covered all the essentials.” “She really
listened to the speech and paraphrased the high points.” “Jim’s
evaluation of Hilary was very professional. It was masterful and
full of excellent points about her strengths and areas which
could be improved.” “He provided a good summary of Hilary’s
speech, with suggestions she will find very useful.”
Don won the Award for Best Evaluator for his excellent General
Evaluation.
Apologies go to our Award Winners of the meeting last week.
Their recognition was not recorded in the Highlights. As you may
remember, last week the Table Topics speakers were so amazing
that it was difficult to choose a winner. However, the novelty
of Hilary and Don ‘duking it out’ in ‘the great debate’ tipped
Don into the Winner’s Circle. Hilary vows revenge .
The Winner of the Best Evaluator award went to Ruth Sol, who had
the enormous pleasure of evaluating this session.
“One of the highest points of the meeting for me was finding
that the theme (procrastination), which could have been ‘a
downer’, was instead elevated to a most uplifting, entertaining
2 ½ hour experience!”
“Gratitude” is the theme for our meeting next Monday (April
30th). We will be incredibly grateful if all of our members are
able to come, and if we have at least as many guests as we did
last night.
Club 1085
)
I was impressed by the quality of speeches and the commitment of
the members.”
