“What a pleasure that we had such a superb turnout tonight!
Included in that turnout were 4 Guests, one who applied for
membership at the end of the meeting, and one who was Inducted
as a brand new member ”.
“Don Ekroth was given very special recognition. Chairman of the
night Jim Sinclair, and club President Omar Hung presented him
with the Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award, for his
multi-faceted mentoring of the club executives and all of our
members, as always going above and beyond his executive role as
our Educational Vice President. This award was especially
meaningful for the club to give, because we so much appreciate
the manner in which he mentors: through a combination of warmth,
humour, and experience.” “The acknowledgement Jim gave to Don
for his contributions to the club was proper.”
“Jim gave a super smooth and well prepared performance.” “His
opening commentary on the theme, adversity, was very well
researched and constructed – it set us up well for the evening.
Enjoyed the suspense (drama / comedy!) of what ‘the most
adversity-troubled group’ would be.” Surprise! It was “the
downtrodden element of society of country and western singers
and their ‘hurtin’ music’!!” “He used a lot of verbal imagery
which enhanced the impact even more!” “He did a superb job: not
only in introducing each individual person but also in clearly
explaining each of their roles for the benefit of our Guests.”
“Excellent and thorough Introductions,” and “excellent
of-the-cuff bridging”, as well.
“Stuart’s thoroughness in his Wordsmith report was refreshing
and educational!” “He caught some excellent word-crafting from
various members ”.
“He had a lot of pick-ups, both good ones and ones with
suggestions for improvement – well done.” “Dave A.’s Wizard of
Ahs explanation was exemplary! I can’t recall hearing better.”
“Excellent exacting but also humorous Wizard of Ahs report! I
especially liked the great feedback he gave on where our um’s /
ah’s tended to occur: Whether in our scripted or non-scripted
segment. This is surprisingly useful to those of us whose um’s/ah’s
are focused in one area more than another. Thanks, Dave!” “Loved
his wording, ie. ‘filling the silent holes’, ‘a mercy rule’,
‘you hear the footsteps…’. “An interesting Inspiration by Jan,
who used no notes and stood right in front of the lectern to
connect directly to us. A powerful message conveyed with
directness and conviction.” “I was very interested in Jan’s
insightful, face-based claim about the middle class. This adds
value and makes me glad I came.” “Nahid’s Joke was very good –
nice delivery.” “It was obvious that her joke was a hit with the
audience!” “Especially loved the ‘twist ending’!” “Right on!
Dave F. The Agenda was fully-packed and you made sure we stuck
to it!!”
“Interesting and different Table Topics session.” “Table Topics
were very appropriate for the theme in that people in sales
typically encounter adversity on the job.” “I really enjoyed the
Table Topics; a fresh approach to the ‘same old’.” “The props
were very effective, and conducive to intriguing, entertaining
antics!” “Her Table topics were fabulous – I almost wanted to be
up there myself!” “You did it again, Kate! Liked the novelty of
objects for sale.” “Great bridging!” “Congratulations to all of
the participants. Their efforts and creativity in the role of
salespeople of mystery items were a Highlight of the evening!”
“All the Speakers were awesome. Atta did a great job; very
humorous.” “Don definitely had fun this evening. He was very
humorous and set the tone for everybody right from his
lighthearted table topic.” “Loved ‘giant’ Don’s attempts to use
‘a very tiny jumping stick’, and the tiny lunch box Pam was
persuading us would be excellent for people on a diet!” “Elena
has an incredible imagination … and the expression was
priceless!” “Elena’s ‘It has no applications, but you have to
have one!’ was hysterical!!!” Anne Marie and her numerous
applications of an ‘easy button’, were the winning combination
for the Best Table Topic award. “Hilary covered all the key
points and had an excellent variety of suggestions and pluses
for each of the Table Topic Speakers.” “I made her astute
observations as Table Topics Evaluator one of my Highlights.
Well done!”
“I really enjoyed Omar’s inspirational Toast based on Robert the
Bruce and his observations of a tenacious spider.” “His Toast
was an example of the positive side of how we take adversity.
‘The kite rising against the wind’; ‘Never give up!’ Well put.”
“’Never give up!’ I’ll have to frame that saying.” “He gave a
good anecdotal preamble for a short, succinct Toast.” “Any
Speaker is lucky to have Omar introduce them: he knows how to
set up an audience and create a comfortable atmosphere at the
lectern.” “He gave excellent and thorough introductions as
Toastmaster, and had very good bridging.”
“Good speeches!” “Karen just keeps getting better.” “She chose a
perfect topic with which to practice the project on gestures.”
“Really liked her unique speech about learning to communicate
with our dogs. Excellent use of humour and gestures in
delivering a clear, interesting, and informative speech. I
especially enjoyed the anecdotes of her experiences
communicating with two dogs.” “Her speech was fantastic! Even if
you don’t have a dog you still can appreciate the topic.” “The
very unique speech from Ruth was a Highlight. As an experienced
Toastmaster, she worked from a specialized manual and delivered
a speech ‘under fire’; a speech which aims to offer public
speakers the opportunity to speak to a hostile audience and
answer questions from the audience in a professional manner
while still backing the persuasive position / stance taken in
the speech.” “Very well presented and persuasive.” “Ruth gave a
very believable presentation – as though she really believed her
point.” “I thought she did particularly well in the way in which
she answered questions from the audience. Ie. She both began and
ended her response to Neville with ‘You’re right.’ and then went
on to explain why he wasn’t completely right!” “I thought Jill
gave a very perceptive evaluation of Karen’s speech – it
clarified how Karen was able to connect with the audience.” “I
liked Jill’s use of humour in her Speech Evaluation.” “Don did a
good job of evaluating a very unique speaking opportunity by
Ruth.” “It was expertly done. He used the ‘sandwich technique’
very well.” “Because this speech project is one we are not
familiar with, he very wisely first explained to us what he was
looking for in his Speech Evaluation. Then I liked his wording:
‘She was believable, and I’ll tell you why.’ And then he
numbered off the reasons. Good evaluating!”
General Evaluator, Dave S., won the Best Evaluator award for
this meeting. “Excellent General Evaluator: thorough,
perceptive, delivered with style!” “Well rounded and incisive.”
“Something for everyone and astute to boot.” “Great! Spot on for
everything.” “I liked Dave S.’s giving us permission to speak on
speech content when evaluating, as long as the observations are
pertinent to the speech project and helpful to the Speaker. And,
of course, to prove we did pay attention.” “I was impressed with
the way Dave fielded the correction from the audience with
honesty and aplomb. He’s right – evaluators are only giving
their personal impression of what they saw and heard.
Occasionally they miss or misinterpret things, and sometimes
when they are giving their personal opinion not everyone in the
audience will agree. It’s unfortunate he was interrupted, though
it was a good opportunity for him to clarify the role, which he
did well and with humility.” “As usual, superb overall
evaluation of the meeting by Dave, delivered with warmth and
humour! A great way to end our evening! ” “His evaluation was
lots of fun! It is an event that actually wrapped up the
wonderful night just nicely.”
“There was a lot of humour tonight. I laughed a lot, which made
it a very enjoyable evening.”
“We hope that you all have many opportunities to laugh and have
fun over the long, Victoria Day, weekend. We will not be meeting
on Victoria Day – May 21st. Our next meeting will be Monday, May
28th. Looking forward to seeing you then. Remember – we love
having Guests.
Club 1085
”.
