Spinnaker Toastmasters Club’s 1 July 2025 meeting was epic! We welcomed five new members to the club, and also acknowledged our incoming President Dieter.

The new members joined the club having completed our recent Speechcraft course, and we were thrilled to vote them into the club and present New Member Packs.

Speechcraft Coordinator Ron was also presented with a certificate as Speechcraft Coordinator, having run a successful course. This project is required for him to complete his Distinguished Toastmaster Award. Congratulations Ron!

The theme of the meeting was “Canada Day” with the grammarian Quentin choosing “syrup” as his word of the day.

Table Topics run by Mike followed up with a travel theme, where speakers were asked various travel questions, such as “short or long trips”, “travel alone or with others”, “the trip you would most like to take”, “unlimited resources trip to where”, “upgrade hotel room or flight”, “favourite thing about travelling”, and “most difficult part of travelling”. Evaluator Ron acknowledged how confident all the speakers were, with a good set of gestures and eye contact. He awarded Quentin with the Best Table Topic Award.

Speech 1 by Dale on “My Role as VP Education” was delivered as an icebreaker, introducing herself and her role in the club. Evaluator Megan thought it was perfect timing for this speech at the start of the new Toastmasters year. Megan was awarded Best Evaluator by General Evaluator Lin.

Speech 2 by Junior, was also an icebreaker, entitled “I am”, he opened by saying “I am Samoan, and I am a traveller”. He described where he was born and grew up in Samoa, how he emigrated to New Zealand with his family, and his extensive travels around New Zealand and Europe. Evaluator Vicki said he spoke in a calm voice, his emotion drew the audience in, and it was an amazing first speech. He was awarded Best Speech by General Evaluator Lin.

Speech 3 by Ash was called “The Baby Tiger”. He opened with “I want to talk to you about A.I. It’s there, and it’s sneaking up on us!” He continued to point out the potential of AI, the risks, and how it will impact us all in the future. Evaluator Dirk thought it was a good reminder about something most of us had heard of but didn’t know much about, and he commented on the scary words used like “nuclear”.

Speech 4 by Zi was a structured speech on the Samoan culture. He related his thoughts to the Samoans he works with, and told us about how Samoan culture is organised, mutual family interdependence, a strong sense of respect for elders, and how hospitable Samoans are, especially when it comes to sharing food. Zi’s evaluator Jocelyn thought that Zi loosened up while he was talking, especially about the Samoan Week lunch he and his colleagues enjoyed.

If you are interested in visiting Spinnaker Toastmasters club to see what we do and how we operate, just contact us on spinnaker@toastmasters.org.nz to arrange it. We’d love to welcome you to our club and show you how much fun and learning we have every meeting.