Sunday, October 16, 2011

CONCORD WEST TOASTMASTERS MEETING No: 1114 – Tuesday 11th October 2011

We welcomed back a number of Members who have been away on holidays and had another well-attended meeting.

Meeting commenced at 7:17pm
Presidents Welcome – John welcomed 2 Visitors Nick and David as well as Bernie Fisher current President of Erskenville Toastmasters and a member of RPA Toastmasters. Bernie is also better known as the audio genius who wires up Contestants at Division Competitions.
Apologies – Natasha, Chris, Philip, Meghan and Paul V.

Chairman First Session – Mark
Reading of the Mission of the Club Bernard.
Word of the Day [Smackdown] Glenn D (Grammarian)
Introductions – For the Topic of the Introductions we were asked to consider the comparative significance of both Isaac Newton and Steve Jobs. It provoked some astounding and didactic responses but one of the most insightful observations came from one of our Visitors, David who drew the link between the 2 men as being – the apple!
Agenda UpdateKimberley
Leadership Manual Evaluations – Kimberley had only about 5 Manuals to complete for participants in the evenings Leadership roles.

First Speech Session was led by Glen H as Toastmaster and introduced Daniel with his assignment – How to say it – with a speech entitled: My Favourite Books. Daniel very enthusiastically embroiled us in the drama, intrigue and violence of a famous Australian crime writer’s series of icon Australian crime novels.
Glen then introduced Paul M with his speech assignment – Get to the Point with a Speech entitled: Culture Shock in which Paul took us on a roller-coaster ride of moving overseas for work and adapting to local customs both domestically and professionally.
Bernard Evaluated Daniel’s speech with great incite and ever increasing confidence providing praise and points for improvement.
John Evaluated Paul’s speech using the Praise, Improvement, Praise formula applied to what he observed, what he heard and how he responded to an excellent speech. 

Break

Chairman Second Session  – Katrina
Toast – Bernard presented a timely Toast to the Socceroo’s and their current involvement in the World Cup qualifiers.

Second Speech Session was led by Sam as Toastmaster and introduced Juliet presenting
a very uplifting speech entitled: Change. Juliet revealed the need for change when you take the huge step of immigrating to a new country, settling in and finding work and adapting to the significant and sometimes subtle changes you have to deal with along the way.
Kimberley then took up the challenge of delivery a ‘standby’ speech fulfilling the assignment – Your Body Speaks – with a speech entitled: Around the World in 8 Days. Kimberley took advantage of very recent personal experiences in relating the humour, frustration and drama of travel, transport and car hire in Germany.
Juliet was Evaluated by Brett providing both well considered praise points as well and some minor points for improvement while demonstrating how Juliet’s speech and subject matter was a great model for addressing the specific nature of the speech objectives. 
Glen H Evaluated Kimberley’s excellent speech, which by its structure, delivery and level of development, defied the fact that it was virtually an impromptu presentation. Glen utilised his dry sense of humour in relating to his travel plans to the same region in Europe in a very short period of time.

Table Topics – was presented by Paul M who presented each speaker with a different Ink Blot and challenged them to present a response that included what they thought it was – and how it made them feel.  
The Evaluators were our Guest, Bernie and Mark for the odd and even numbered speakers provided careful observation, advice and encouragement in their Evaluations. Bernie being an old hand reminded the Speakers that it is important to listen to – and respond to the question put by the Table Topics Master in order to both respond appropriately and to assist with making your response easier.

Umms and Ahs – Edmond
Grammarian – Glenn D (with record number of people using the Word of the Day)
Big EarsGlen H
Timers ReportEdmond
General Evaluator – Peter C
Forward Planner – Kimberley
Guests Comments – David, Nick and Bernie all provided some very positive comments and observations of the evening’s proceedings and we look forward to seeing them at future meetings.
Announcements – Combined with Closing Remarks
President’s Closing Remarks – John reminded the Executive of the meeting to follow and encouraged all members to plan their speeches and put their names down for the Forward Planner. We have just 4 more normal meetings to the end of the year.
Meeting Closed – A little bit overtime at 9:25pm.

CONCORD WEST TOASTMASTERS MEETING No: 1113 – Tuesday 27th September 2011

An unusual meeting that was well attended despite the unusually large number of regular members that were absent.

Meeting commenced at 7:15pm
Presidents Welcome – John welcomed our Area Governor Vanessa and explained some of the reasons behind the large number of absentees and thanked Paul M (in his absence) for coming in earlier to set things up despite not being at all well and then needing to head home to recoup.
Apologies – Kimberley, Philip, Natasha, Chris, Peter, Brett, Jane, Juliet, Glenn D, Paul V and Paul Martin
Welcomed – Area Governor Vanessa from Yaralla Club
Chairman First Session – Sam
Reading of the Mission of the Club Mark. Who it should be noted was just one word off attaining Philip’s challenge of reciting the Mission of the Club from memory. A feat that has a nice bottle of wine on the offer from Past District Governor Philip. Well done Mark!
Word of the Day [Didactic] Meghan (Grammarian)
Introductions – The Topic of the Introductions was ‘Are we a Nation of Whingers?’ prompting some very didactic responses from all members present.
Agenda UpdateJohn
Leadership Manual Evaluations – Glen H had only about 5 Manuals to complete for participants in the evenings Leadership roles.

First Speech Session was led by Daniel as Toastmaster and introduced John doing his 2nd Speech from the Advanced Communicator Manual – Story Telling – with a title – The Story of the Old Man who made withered trees to blossom – in Japanese – Hanasaka Jiisan.
John provided some background of how Japanese Folk Tales have been retold and illustrated in children’s storybooks and gave an overview of the underlying themes employed in these tales. John using the storybook John retold this unusual tale filled with intrigue, greed, envy, murder and mayhem.
Meghan Evaluated John’s speech in one of her first Speech Evaluations, demonstrating both keen listening skills and analytical observation, with advice for improvement.

Break

Chairman Second Session  – John
Toast – Mark

Second Speech Session was led by Sandra as Toastmaster and introduced Edmond presenting his Ice Breaker Speech No 1. Edmond tackled a seemingly straightforward topic in a highly informative and original manner talking about why he joined Toastmasters he took us back to high school science presentations and the fears we could all relate to. Edmond’s first speech caught everyone by surprise with what was a polished and well-prepared speech that was presented with surprising confidence and finesse. A great job!
Edmond was evaluated by Bernard who provided an excellent Evaluation of an Ice Breaker offering tremendous encouragement and sincerity in responding to such a fabulous first speech.
Table Topics – was presented by Josh who challenged each participant had 60 seconds to expand upon the notion of being the ‘World’s Best…’ in the nominated field, activity or pursuit he presented to them. We had everything from the world’s fastest to the most flexible and everything in between. The results were as diverse and surprising as the challenges themselves.   
The Evaluators Glen H and Vanessa for the odd and even numbered speakers provided excellent observation, advice and encouragement in their Evaluations.

Umms and Ahs – Mark
Grammarian – Meghan (with about 4 people using the Word of the Day)
Big EarsJosh
Timers ReportEdmond
General Evaluator – Daniel
Forward Planner – John
Guests Comments – Area Governor Vanessa thanked the Club for its efforts in hosting the recent Area Humorous and Table Topics Competition and announced the dates for next year’s Area 6 International Speech  Contest on Tuesday 13th March 2012.
Announcements – Members were reminded about replacement Name Badges
President’s Closing Remarks – John encouraged Members to keep track of their Leadership manual Evaluations
Meeting Closed – A few minutes after 9:15pm

UPCOMING EVENTS
Tuesday 11th October – Normal Meeting
Tuesday 11th October – Executive Meeting to Follow Normal Meeting
Tuesday 25th October – Normal Meeting
Wednesday 14th December – Area 6 Combined Christmas Party