And that’s a wrap!

Chaired by Angela, the last formal meeting of the year had four speeches, table topics and interesting evaluations.

Grammarian Dieter’s word of the day “Gratitude” and Dieter reported back at the end of the meeting how many times the word or its derivative had been used.

Table Topics by Sarah had the theme “Memories”, where each speaker had to choose ab object from the basket and talk about it.

Katina – chose a book “The bear hunt” – This book has special memories for Katina, for she must have read this book a gazillion times, to young children, and said it was always fun to let the kids take over and tell the story in their own way.

Dieter – a Christmas Stocking – Dieter said it brought back memories of setting up the Christmas stockings on Christmas Eve and looking on Christmas Day to see what was in the stocking, Christmas still had the magic, it was exciting and fun and surprising as a youngster.

Susie – Christmas tinsel – Susie loves Christmas, and has just started thinking about all the decorations and her first Christmas with a baby, she is on a mission to get the whole house decorated and her workplace as well.

Angela – a shell – this was chosen because it brought back memories of walking up the beach with her son looking for special twiry-whirly shells.

Darrell – a map – Darrell debated the whole concept of maps now versus days gone by, nowadays we use smartphones and gps, but the old paper map causes dissention because one person has to read and interpret it for the driver.

Evaluator Jacqui said she loved the topics where everyone had to pick an object from the basket, she saw smiles, enthusiasm and the memories coming alive as everyone spoke.

Speech 1 by Dale from the Motivational Strategies pathway called “What’s your Dot?” was introduced and evaluated by Mike. This was an informative speech about communication styles developed by New Zealand research journalist David Dickson on “precognitive communication”, otherwise known as “Dickson’s Dots”. It is a practical communication methodology developed by New Zealander David Dickson. It’s a simple yet effective tool that removes stress from the work environment. Dale used visual aids with coloured dots to explain the four communication styles preferred by most people. Evaluator Mike said Dale’s use of props was fantastic along with the vocal variety and timing was impeccable. There was awesome audience engagement at the end bringing everyone in to decide what their dots were.

Go to https://www.amyscott.co.nz/ to learn more.

Speech 2 by Megan was introduced and evaluated by Janine. This was a Visionary Communication pathway Level 3 project called “My Comms Plan”. It was an informative speech about setting up a project plan for an HR project to launch a new competency framework – skills and knowledge you need to do your job. The change will affect 120 staff with 32 roles, and the competencies will be added to their job descriptions. Megan outlined the steps to creating the comms plan and the rollout to all staff and some reflections on the learnings from this activity. Janine thought that it was a fantastic speech because Megan answered the question that was in Janine’s mind about what a comms plan is.

Speech 3 by Kathy was introduced and evaluated by Ron. “The guru that wasn’t” was a humorous speech about her experiences with an appointed guru to help her with a specific job, and expressed her disappointment with the result. Ron was impressed with Kathy’s speech and the level of humour used in the stories and how she delivered her speech online with great effect.

Speech 4 by Paul “And that’s a wrap” was introduced and evaluated by Darrell. Paul opened with “I have had a dream since I was 17 years old and that is to pastor a church but I have a problem – I hate people and I hate talking to people”. Suddenly Paul’s lifelong dream was becoming a reality and he didn’t want it. But eventually after joining Toastmasters he have decided to follow his dream after gaining more confidence in his abilities. Next year he will be living his dream when he moves his family to a new city to start a new life as a pastor of a church. Paul thanked Spinnaker Toastmasters for helping him to live his dream. Evaluator Darrell expressed his delight and privilege in evaluating Paul’s speech because it completed the picture of who he is. Darrell thought Paul was inspirational and an outstanding testament to getting involved in Toastmasters and realising his dream. And he wished him well in his new ventures.