CONCORD WEST TOASTMASTERS MEETING No: 1130 – Tuesday 12th June 2012

S@A Paul called the meeting to order.

Presidents Welcome – John welcomed 2 Visitors; Sanga and Alan (from California) who turned out to be Glen H’s brother home for a visit.

Apologies – Tanya, Marlowe, Peter, Brett, Sam, Bernard, Leo and Reno.

Chairman for the First Session – John

Reading of the Mission of the Club – Angela

Introductions – John asked Members to reflect on their impressions of an Australian winter.

Word of the Day – Dai Fei challenged us to use – Intrinsic – as the Word of the Day.

Agenda Update – Kimberley.

Leadership Manual Evaluations – Philip.

Glen H as Toastmaster introduced Mark with speech number 3 from the Entertaining Speakers Manual A Humorous Story entitled; “Don’t Miss the Obvious” in which Mark shared some very personal episodes from his past which had us all laughing and relating to how he had ‘missed the obvious’. Mark’s anecdotes where delivered with great timing and skillful pauses which added great impact to the humour.

The second speaker was Dai Fei delivering another Interview scenario. This time a TV interview. Paul acted the role of Interviewer and Dai Fei responded a polished presentation discussing various aspects of tertiary education and how non-English speaking students can be assisted within the curriculum. A requirement of this presentation was again to ensure that the Interview is videoed and John assisted Dai Fei in this endeavour.

Mark was Evaluated by Kimberley who carefully linked the speech back to the key objectives providing some very minor recommendations to what she deemed to be an excellent speech in both structure, objectives and purpose.

Dai Fei was Evaluated (visitor) Alan from a Toastmasters Club in the US and demonstrated how the Toastmaster formula of Evaluation is without boundaries, providing carefully observed praise, improvement, praise.

Paul brought the meeting back to order following the Break and handed the meeting over to Philip as Chairman for the second half of the meeting.

The Toast was presented by Paul who focused us all on the role of the Volunteers with a very poignant tribute to the sacrificial service that many people play in our service, with a Toast to: “Volunteers.”

There being no second group of speakers the Chairman handed the meeting over to Lyndal to be the Table Topics Master. Lyndal made the topic a very personal one seeking from each speaker; “Some Marriage Guidance Advice”. Speakers were provided with some very specific topics related to ‘the big day’ resulting in some very helpful, riotously funny and quite profound advice. A very creative Table Topics.

The Evaluators: John and Glen H provided both specific and broader observations and advice to the participating Speakers.

Daniel gave an account of the evenings Ums and Ahs.

Dai Fei presented the Grammarian’s Report and acknowledged those who had utilised the Word of the Day.

Meghan provided a very analytical summation of Big Ears.

Mark had marked up the Timers Report.

Paul provided some astute observations in the presentation of the General Evaluation.

Forward Planner – Kimberley

Guests Comments – We received some helpful and complimentary feedback from our Guests.

President’s Closing Remarks – John presented Philip with an Award for completing yet another Competent Communicator Series and reminded the meeting of the upcoming Changeover Night and the planned arrangements.

Meeting Closed – Just a few minutes early.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday 26th June – Normal Meeting (Final Meeting for the 2011-12 Year)

Tuesday 10th July – Annual Handover Meeting (with extended Break)

Tuesday 24th July – Normal Meeting

CONCORD WEST TOASTMASTERS MEETING No: 1129 – Special 5th Tuesday 29th May 2012

John called the meeting to order in the absence of our S@A.

Presidents Welcome – John welcomed everyone to this a 5^th Tuesday meeting and thanked the assembled group for making the effort of being there.

Apologies – Tanya, Philip and acknowledged VPW Kimberly for diligently dropped off the Agendas on her way home from “one of those days”.

Chairman for the First Session – Dai Fei

Reading of the Mission of the Club – Rino

Introductions – Dai Fei asked us to recount a ‘most memorable experience’ extracting some very interesting snippets from members lives.

Agenda Update – Meghan stood in for VPE Kimberley.

Leadership Manual Evaluations – Brett & Daniel shared the duties. An interesting thought for the future.

Glen H as Toastmaster introduced Meghan with a very informative and highly relevant Speech entitled: ‘Social Anxiety Disorder – Are You a Candidate?’ in which with the use of sheeted visual aids Meghan clarified the various manifestations of the condition and gave some very pertinent advice on how to recognize and deal with the issue. We were particularly impressed with how capably Meghan can – read upside down.

The second Speaker was John with a speech from the Advanced Communicator manual – Bring history to Life – with a speech entitled: ‘The Boats That Flew’. John provided a well-researched account of Sydney’s Second International Airport that was the Rose Bay Flying Boat Base. From where Sandringham Flying Boats connected Australia to the rest of the world nd took us to the eventual closer of the facility in the late 70’s.

The third speaker was Peter with another Advanced communicator speech – ‘The Customer at the Centre’, where Peter drew on his work role to deliver a very succinct and motivating presentation emphasizing not only the importance of putting the customer at the centre of such dealings – but also how to do it.

Meghan was Evaluated by Bernard who carefully linked the speech back to the key objectives.

Daniel Evaluated John’s speech, paying tribute to the detail of the research and the use of a PowerPoint presentation support that brought the story to life.

Peter was Evaluated in customary detail by Lyndal demonstrating extensive listening and retention skills.

John officiated calling the meeting back to order from the Break and handed the meeting over to Peter as Chairman for the second half of the meeting.

 In keeping with the abridged format of this 5^th Tuesday meeting Peter handed over to Dai Fei as Toastmaster

The first speaker was Marlowe with her Ice Breaker – ‘A Fish Tale’ in which Marlowe vividly painted a picture of growing up in the central Canada Prairie and the great yarn about her Uncle who was a bit short with the rules in an annual fishing contest. A refreshingly different approach to the traditional Ice Breaker.

The second speaker Ua also presented his Ice Breaker entitled ‘Growing Up in the Cook Islands’. A tale of being disenfranchised from the place of his birth New Zealand and the family requirement to relocate to his homeland of the Cook Islands with his Grandfather namesake when he was a mere boy. A story that built to a happy ending, as Ua became part of his new environment with a renewed respect and sense of belonging and how he has now resettled into family life in Australia.

Marlowe was Evaluated by Mark with a good balance of praise and some insightful recommendations for ongoing improvement.

Ua was Evaluated by Glen H who acknowledged Ua’s surprisingly strong and confident delivery with what was a very emotive recollection of his youth.

The Chairman then called on Glenn D to provide a Timers Report in order that the Speakers and Evaluators could be aware of their limitations.

Chairman Peter then passed the meeting over to Immediate Past President and Area Governor (Elect) Brett to conduct the Election of Officers for the 2012-13 Club Executive. After calling out the current Executive in attendance and formally thanking the outgoing Executive, Brett sequentially called for Nominations:

1. President – Philip B.
2. VPE – Meghan V.
3. VPM – Mark L.
4. VPPR – Rino D.
5. Secretary – Glenn D.
6. Treasurer – Paul V.
7. Sergeant at Arms – Leo G.

There being no second nominations in any category, Brett declared the above people elected and wished them all well.

Outgoing Club Executive LtoR: Secretary–Glenn D, VPM–Bernard L,
Immediate past President-Brett S, President-John H, Treasurer-Sam S.
Absent was VPE-Kimberley C and VPPR-Philip B and stand-in S@A-Paul V.

Forward Planner – Meghan, standing in for VPE Kimberley and acquainting herself with her new role.

Guests Comments – There being no Visitors.

President’s Closing Remarks – John added his thanks to the current Executive and encouraged the new Executive to always seek advice and assistance for the previous Executive. John also acknowledge both the privilege of having yet another member of Concord west Club holding the position of area Governor in the new year and encouraged the Members to throw their support behind Brett in the coming year. Finally a brief closing reminder regarding the upcoming changeover night.

On a final note Members extended their best wishes to Peter who was celebrating his birthday on that very day and John who was turning 60 the following day. 

Meeting Closed – On time.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Tuesday 12th June – Normal Meeting

Tuesday 26th June – Normal Meeting

Tuesday 10th July – Annual Handover Meeting (with extended Break)