Change with us!

Chaired by Angela, tonight’s meeting had the theme of “change” with the word of the day being “Minutiae” meaning trivial details of something.

Dale ran table topics with the theme of “Headline – you tell the story”.

Angela: You are on holiday on the Gold Coast and Cyclone Alfred is thundering towards you – what would you do?
Angela said she had two children in the path of the cyclone, and while she would be in the supermarket, she took time to call the kids who said “mum take a deep breath!”. Evaluator Dieter loved how Angela tied the headline to a personal story.

Mike: Three foods to never eat on an empty stomach.
Mike said its important to have something nice and light after breaking a fast, and to be gentle to yourself. Evaluator Dieter was impressed on Mike’s 37 hours fasting progress.

Ron: How to use your mobile phone to protect yourself.
Ron came up with a range of options – SOS, hit someone, call for help. Evaluator Dieter said Ron used lots of action and body language.

Katina: Mice with a human gene mutation start ‘talking’.
Katina asked why are we messing around with genes, who figures this stuff out anyway? Evaluator Dieter loved the way she used the topic to get her point across.

Our guest Quentin: Travelling solo – my top destination.
Quentin used his own experience to go to Adelaide and was initially terrified, but actually enjoyed his trip. Evaluator Dieter was also impressed his top destination is the local dairy for milk.

Jacqui: 3 tips to stop staying up late at night.
Jacqui said its more exciting in the lounge than the bedroom (oops!!!); maybe the Netflix and good movies are the problem; but you must shut out the world, concentrate on your own world, and plan for tomorrow. Evaluator Dieter thought Jacqui deserved the best table topics award.

Megan: The most indulgent gift to give someone who already has everything.
Megan said her husband is really hard to buy for because his birthday and Christmas are in the same month. Evaluator Dieter loved how Megan made it personal and had lots of ideas. Hmmmmm!

Speech 1 by Ron introduced by Megan called “Humour me!”. Ron is working on the Speaking with Humour Pathway and told us of the ways he intends to use humour in his speeches, and gave some examples. Evaluator Megan thought Ron’s opening was humorous right off the bat, and he used personal stories into the speech added to the overall humour. But she also recommended Ron knows when to stop and don’t introduce new irrelevant stories, stick to the one that is the main theme.

Speech 2 by Dale entitled “Speechcraft 2025” was an outline of the forthcoming Speechcraft course to be run by the Club in May and June. She was seeking support from the club to join the educational and mentoring team and to sign up for regular meeting roles as well. Evaluator Jacqui said we needed the minutaie of the programme so we all know what’s going on, and promised to sign up tonight.

Speech 3 by Dieter called “How my wife and I decided to move to New Zealand” opened by saying “Moving countries is the most stressful thing you can do”. He described how he was looking to do something different, the changing evironment and living conditions in South Africa, what they left behind. He said they definitely wanted to move to an English speaking country that they could beat in sport, so chose New Zealand! Evalator Mike said Dieter used plenty of body language and gestures, and he loved the use of pauses and transitions.

General Evaluator Katina loved the word of the day, it was unusual but usable. She said there were three types of speeches tonight: An informative, inspiring and humorous speech. She enjoyed Dieter’s table topics – a polished and detailed evaluation which was positive and encouraging.

Evaluator Megan gave a nice analysis of the speech with recommendations, and Evaluator Jacqui honed in on the purpose of the speech and explained the structural minutaie of the speech. Evaluator Mike’s evaluation was positive, observant, used the CRC method.
Katina awarded the Best speaker award to Dale and the Best evaluation to Mike.
That’s a wrap for our meeting report for 4 March. If you would like to have a go at Toastmasters, then contact us on spinnaker@toastmasters.org.nz and arrange to visit our next meeting. You’ll be most welcome.