Electricity and Fireworks! on Friday 3rd July (meeting 1047)

At this meeting we were treated to a speech by Toastmaster of the Year, Peter Herbert.  He spoke of his passion as a Power Systems Engineer – the history of electricity in Canberra.  His passion is a treat to the audience, although a little surprise as we did not know the topic before he started, and neither did Linda who introduced him!  Well done, Linda for thinking on your feet and for an honest and constructive evaluation at the end.  We all learn from a good evaluation of an experienced speaker.

Table Topics by Geoff were wide and varied.  Linda told us that Canberra needs more fireworks, not less (how can there be too many?).  Ianon told us what community gardens are good for and Peter told us that safety is one good reason to be late. “Better late than dead on time!”  Dom told us that Australia is not the ‘lucky country’ anymore as we have made many mistakes.

The next meeting is 17^th July, but we will NOT be holding our Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest at this meeting, but we may well set the date.  See you all there!

Table Topics on Friday 19th June (meeting 1046)

Table topics was the focus of today’s meeting. The club’s table topics speech contest is fast approaching, so this extra practice was well timed. Each of us were given two table topics run under contest conditions. The questions were pieces of wisdom that Ianon found, and were long and complex, perfect for us to use as practice for the upcoming contest. We all gained feedback on the things that we could improve on, especially thinking on our feet, one of the main objectives of table topics. I just hope the contest question is easier than these questions were!

Making an Impression on Friday 5th June (meeting 1045)

The word of the day was “Impression” and what an impression was made by Linda and Dominic in their two fabulous speeches in the meeting of 5^th June!  The meeting was opened with the first speaker, Linda, speaking about first impressions.  Her speech was entitled Moments of Truth and she spoke about the key ways to run a successful club in an informative and thought provoking speech.  At the end we were all encouraged to give our own input by the next meeting.

Dominic then presented his Speech 1 from Speaking to Inform.  His speech was not only very well structured and informative, but very persuasive.  It left an impression on the audience, and I, for one, am and remain completely convinced that we should have light rail in Canberra.

For Table Topics, Geoff chose a range of questions about long weekends in preparation for the Queen’s Birthday weekend coming up.  Linda seemed to be looking forward to riding her bicycle and Dominic seemed to be looking forward to watching soccer on TV.

The next meeting is 19^th June.  I will be away, but will see you at the following one on 3^rd July.