There was a good turn-out at the 976th Benjamin Toastmasters meeting held on the 18th of May 2012 (also the 33rd meeting at the University of Canberra) - with 11 members and guests attending (Peter I, Peter H, Ianon, Carmen, Dat, Julio, Dominic, Tom, guests Iain and Jim and visitor Geoff), and apologies from Ann, Keiko, Robyn, Ele, Bernice, Yuyu and Claudia.

The meeting got underway with a speech by guest Iain titled "A Toastmaster is born". Iain gave an interesting view of how, when employed as a political candidate and attending a rural show to spread the word of the party, he was asked (or, more to the point, told by local organisers) to give a short speech on the party’s policies, etc. Iain described how with only a short time to prepare he had to organise and then deliver a speech to a large audience. Being placed in this situation, Iain sought a forum to help develop his public speaking skills, and hence a new Toastmasters member was ‘born’. I think everyone can attest to a time when we have been required to deliver a speech at short notice in front of an audience. Having an organisation like Toastmasters affords us the opportunity to build confidence and speaking skills.

Next up was Ianon. Ianon gave a very useful speech on "How to use your Competent Leadership manual", thus meeting one of her own required leadership-manual tasks. For me, as a new member myself - and I'm sure others are in the same boat - gaining a better understanding of how to use the manual and progress through its tasks and projects was of great help. For a new member, browsing through their manual without thoroughly reading the requirements, it could seem a daunting task to get all the required roles completed for each project. Ianon helped clear up some misconceptions about the requirements of the manual, for new and old members alike.

Moving on from the speeches, the next item was Table Topics. Dat was Table Topic Master for the day and had obviously planned ahead with his theme "What it means to be an Australian". Being a club which has people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds, there was a range of responses to Dat's questions. In all, four people had the opportunity to give their impromptu responses in regard to what it meant to be Australian.

Evaluations followed. Peter H evaluated the first speech of the day by Iain. Peter highlighted the strengths in Iain's well thought-out and delivered speech, and provided some useful feedback in relation to body language which I'm sure was useful to all of us. Julio then provided a good appraisal of Ianon's speech, similarly highlighting the strengths, while also providing useful tips for using props in a speech.

Carmen gave a good review of Table Topics questions and speeches, usefully summarising the topics and the speakers' individual strengths and weaknesses for future reference. It was then over to our experienced guest Jim to provide a general evaluation of the meeting. Jim highlighted some take-away points for future and gave a good assessment of the overall meeting. Dominic then gave a breakdown of the timings for all components and speeches throughout the meeting. Tom provided the "Um"-"Ah" count and in doing so gave himself a few extras for good measure, but as Peter H later said to us all, it’s better not to pressure yourself if you make a mistake, but instead use it as a tool to make yourself a better speaker in the future.

Finally the meeting was wrapped up on time (not a bad effort considering we were a little late in starting).

The next meeting will be held on the 1st of June

Until next time!

Peter I
(SAA elect)