Icebreaking and Parenting on 17 October (meeting 1033)

At this meeting we heard speeches about how events of your childhood can shape who you are, and how parenting philosophies can applied across the board and help shape children and adults alike.

This was another HUGE meeting.  We had 12 attendees again.  Welcome to Amelia who attended as a guest.  Regular guests and members John Burge, Lili, Jacky, Nicole, Esther, Peter, Nick, Karina, Linda, Geoff and Nicolette also attended.

We learned a bit more about our new member Esther as she spoke about how events of her childhood shaped who she is today for her Project 1 Icebreaker.  Growing up in a rapidly changing China she shared everything with her family and later she shared with 7 girls in modest quarters.  Though these experiences she learned to share and have sisterhood spirit and not material possessions.  She also learned to be passionate about food and other resources.  We were all impressed that Esther presented her Icebreaker without notes!

Karina then followed with her Project 3 speech, Why Parenting Does Not Stop With Children.  She introduced her own version of triple P parenting – Positivity, Proactiveness and Parameters.  She explained how we need to look after one another and look out for each other.  Also that we get out of people what we put in, including ourselves.

Table Topics was again entertaining.  Nicole gave us an interesting range of topics to speak on.  We heard about social networking, money vs emotion, planes and pollution and a futuristic house design.   John and Geoff demonstrated the structure and confidence of speaking experience and Nick and Nicolette entertained us.  We even had a chance to hear our guest Amelia speak.

Finally, John Burge (Area 17 governor) gave us some direction and advice on the future of our club.  We are aiming to increase the membership of our club and his advice was that we should aim for 20 to 25 members (that’s about double!) and have weekly meetings.  Hopefully by then we will be able to locate a bigger meeting room that is as nice as the one we already have.

The fun all starts again at the next meeting on Friday 31^st October.  This will be the special 90th Anniversary Meeting (and also Halloween).  Don’t miss out!

A Huge Meeting on 3 October (meeting 1032)

I have been away for a few weeks, and wow, what a difference!  The meeting on 22 August was very quiet, and this one was nearly a full house!!  We had special guests John Burge (area 17 governor) and Dee, as well as members and regular guests Ann, Keiko, Karina, Dominic, Esther, Peter, Lili, Ianon, Jacky and Nicolette.

The meeting started with Jacky presenting word of the day, which was “Kangaroo”, a word which was to be used as often as possible in the following speeches.  After explaining the regular meaning of the word, he explained the original aboriginal meaning was “I don’t understand you”, which neatly illustrated that white Australians also faced a language barrier long ago.

The first speaker of the meeting was Ann, who presented her Project 3 – getting to the point, with a speech called "Everyone can be an Ecologist".  She explained that being an Ecologist meant being observant of the environment around you and how we can all do it in our everyday lives.  We can notice patterns, interrelationships and sequences, occasionally getting those “ah-ha moments”.  Doing this would improve our observational skills and free and open our minds.

The second speaker was Dominic, who was presenting his Speaking to Inform project from the Advanced Communication Manual.  His speech was a collection of reflective epiphanies inspired by “Top Five Regrets of the Dying” by palliative care nurse, Bronnie Ware.  These were:-

      1.      I wish I had lived true to myself – not given up on my dreams without good reason.

      2.   I wish I hadn't worked too much – missed kids growing up and developing relationship with partner.

      3.      Being true to feelings – being nice to others

      4.       Staying in touch with friends – you don’t remember things, you remember people

      5.       Happiness is a choice

Finally we had Table Topics where Peter described his first car which was a Ford V8, Nicolette told us she doesn't garden and prefers a natural setting, Linda expressed there are times for both quiet and crowded, noisy occasions in her life and Jacky explained the secret to the work/life balance was to work efficiently and then forget work outside work hours.  Also Ianon told us the greatest global challenge of our times is war and that when we are at war everything else cannot be managed, and John gave us a very dramatic explanation of why lowering speed limits does decrease fatalities.

The meeting ended with a formal presentation to Peter Herbert of his Toastmaster of the Year award. Congratulations Peter!!

A great time had by all.  The next meeting will be Friday 17^th October.  See you all there!