Dieter chaired our 16 September meeting with the theme “change is in the air”. We also welcomed three guests and had three speeches.

We also voted in our latest new member Priyanka and Dieter presented her with a membership certificate, pictured below.

Grammarian Ash’s word of the day was “radical” and he invited speakers to try and use the word in their speeches.

Table Topics run by Jinny was a “this or that” theme, where speakers had to choose between two options. Some topics were “eating out or eat at home”, “fun filled activities or relaxed vacation”, “minimalism or maximalism”, “morning or night person”, and “do ghosts exist or not”. Each speaker managed to choose one aspect and stick to the topic, which made an entertaining and interesting table topics session.

Speech 1 by Dale was an educational on the upcoming Table Topics and Humorous speech contests. Dale used powerpoint and the judges forms to outline the rules, and gave some tips how contestants can prepare. Evaluator Junior said the speech was informative and engaging.

Speech 2 by Megan was on “communicating change to teenage daughters”. She opened by saying school holidays started this Friday and she was wondering how to entertain them for 16 days or 264 hours. She had some suggestions, some rules and let them decide the rest. Evaluator Mike thought Megan had excellent use of vocal variety, was engaging and humorous.

Speech 3 by Dirk was also on communication, entitled “Year of Communication”. He had asked his wife what his communication style was like, he was working on communicating with toddlers, and was trying to communicate with this friends to organise an event. Evaluator Jacqui loved how Dirk played to the theme and the audience reaction to his jokes was excellent.

General Evaluator Angela praised our South African chairperson for waiting 1 hour 47 minutes to mention “that game!” She loved Junior’s introduction of Dale in the Samoan language, reminded Mike to give all the information about a speech in his intro, and noticed Jacqui started with “a sigh”. Dirk was awarded the best speaker of the night.

If you want to be part of Spinnaker Toastmasters, learn how to speak in public, and engage with an audience, then join us at our next meeting on Tuesday 7 October. It’s contest day, so you’ll hear our club’s best table topics and humorous speakers. Contact us on spinnaker@toastmasters.org.nz.