A small, but perfectly formed group of dedicated Toastmasters met this Tuesday evening to practise their speaking skills and to meet up with a great bunch of people. Chairperson Gary had chosen a wintery theme for the evening and peppered interesting and obscure facts about snow throughout the proceedings.
Grammarian Johanna gave us a challenge – we admit, we had never even heard of ‘pot-valor’! However, we valiantly tried to include the word of the day into our speeches.
Table Topics Mistress Dale had an extra-special challenge for us and encouraged us to practice for our possible career as YouTube stars. What we did was actually answering very pertinent questions, e.g. “What are the benefits of being a member of Toastmasters?” and “What aspect of Spinnaker Toastmasters do you like best?” Other questions were quite specific, for example, “How do you prepare a speech?” and “How does being a member of Spinnaker Toastmasters help you in your leadership skills?”
The answers to these questions will be published on the Spinnaker website, do check the recordings out!
We also had a couple of great speeches, showing the trajectory of learning and practice. One speech being given by a relatively new member, the other one by a highly experienced member. Both speeches and their evaluations showed how we all have the opportunity to progress and how this can look.
Andrew told us about his favourite holiday place on the island of Forteventura and Jacqui gave us an insight into her approach to retirement.
As always, a fun night, a great way of spending time, learning and being social. The supper was pretty good, too, thanks to our dedicated Sergeant of Arms. Looking forward to the next meeting.
(By Katina)
Spinnaker Toastmasters Club, Plimmerton, Porirua, New Zealand 