Blog for Meeting of Friday 4 April 2014

But first, a reminder that the next meeting is planned for Wednesday 16 April, in room 2C7, due to the Good Friday holiday.
The meeting got off to a mixed start due to unplanned absence of the Sergeant at Arms, who was injured in an accident.  His colleague, who brought the box of "stuff", inadvertently left the timer, name tags, gavel etc behind, which had been removed from the box.  Nevertheless, the meeting went ahead as planned.  Overall we had 10 members and visitors present.  With 10 current members we meet the TI requirement for club membership. Unfortunately we have lost experienced member Leona, who is directing her energies to another club. Nevertheless we still have a number of experienced members, which is great for training new members.
The first speaker was absent.  Keiko gave a very moving advanced manual talk about Atomic Bomb victim Sadako and the 1000 paper cranes.  Very poignant for me, as I took my family to the Hiroshima peace park and museum last holidays, where we saw many tales of bomb victims, and the statue of Sadako.  With no first speaker, new member Nicole was able to run a longer Table Topics session.   Again we had some fantastic topics - I wish I could come up with such thought provoking topics.  Peter H. was asked what he thought about fashion.  Visitor Baran was asked whether experience was more important than knowledge, given that many University graduates cannot find jobs.  Lili was asked which country she would most like to visit, and why.  (An easy question for her, as she hasn't been home for three years.)  Geoff was given the scenario that  he had a contract with God giving him superhuman powers, but that if used them to assist find Malaysian Airline flight 370 he would lose the powers.  He was asked if would he use the powers to assist find the missing flight.  He argued that he would not use the powers to assist find the missing flight.  Linda was asked what she would do about scarce resources.  Keiko then directed a topic at Nicole - "I am interviewing you for a job.  Tell me why I should hire you".
It is great to see that the new members are already showing improvement.  Indeed feedback to me is that I have shown great improvement over the last 18 months.

Benjamin Toastmasters meeting of 21 March 2014 at University of Canberra

This meeting was again a small ome - nine present, including three visitors.
Geoff stepped up to act as Toastmaster.  Leona replaced the no-show first speaker with a great introduction to speaker roles - targeted to visitors and new members, but also illuminating for me.
Ianon gave an informative speech on High Performance Leadership - based on the six dimensions of leadership:
 - Vision and values
 - Direction
 - Persuasion
 - Support
 - Development
 - Appreciation
Ianon focussed on the last two dimensions.

Dom was Table Topics Master.  He provided four thought provoking topics.  Peter addressed the question as to whether too much is spent on sport, and if sport has lost its connection with the community.  Karina spoke to 'if you could sing, who would you be?' - an easy one for her since she turned out to be a singer.
Lili addressed accent/communication issues, and Nicole spoke about what she might like to change (or not change) about her childhood.
The speech evaluations from both Peter and Karina were great, and great models for future evaluators.

All in all another fun meet.  :)

Benjamin Club hosted the Belconnen area speaking contest, 15 March

As you know, from the post two-below about our internal club 'International speech' contest, Toastmasters clubs hold competitions to find their best speakers.

The six clubs in the Belconnen area, ACT, competed on Saturday 15 March at University of Canberra's Retro Cafe to find the best speakers to represent our 'area' in 'International speech', and also in 'Evaluation' - two separate competitions.
Our club, Benjamin, was the host, making all the arrangements (thanks to our capable and very experienced President, Ianon). Judges for these contests are invited from across the district to ensure impartiality; all the competing clubs also contribute volunteers to fill the various other leadership roles laid down in the formal guidelines for running Toastmasters contests.

The International speeches tackle topics that are inspirational or thought provoking. The audience of about 40 at Retro Cafe heard a smorgasbord of very good speeches, each lasting between 5 and 7 minutes. There was: how public speaking helps a person frame how they address controversial topics even within the family (Dominic); everyone is capable of good and bad or unexpected behaviour (Tami); the inspiration of a mother overcoming enormous challenges to raise five sons (Tony); awkward colleagues can be found in all types of workplaces (Mike); how little we really know about coffee and its background until we research the fine print (Chris); and some life-changing experiences in Cairo (Angela).

After a tea break, we heard from 'target' speaker Sangeeta, whose speech was then evaluated by the six contestants in the Evaluation contest. Sangeeta benevolently discussed features we have all noticed in the various generations we belong to. In particular, we heard how Gen Y differs from older gens, and there were a good many 'ah-ha' moments! Each contestant made notes during the speech. Then they were ushered to another room, given a few minutes to refine their thinking and notes, and brought back one by one to speak their unique 2-3 minute evaluations.  

The afternoon concluded with announcements of the winners of the two contests (in both, Dept-of-Immigration Club = First; Kippax Club = Second), presentation of certificates and the winners' trophies (personal and perpetual), and the drawing of the contest raffle.

Benjamin Club is very grateful to UC's Coop Books and also to UC's Mizzuna Cafe, which between them generously donated four of the much-desired raffle prizes.

*The ultimate winner of the various levels of the contest (club - area - district - division) will represent NSW and ACT at the even-higher-level contests overseas for the ultimate title of World Champion, later this year. (That's why it's called 'international'.)

Meeting no. 1017 - 7 March 2014

This meeting began in a rather dishevelled manner, as the two scheduled speakers were unable to speak, and we had five visitors. Nevertheless, the meeting was quickly turned into a fun, productive meeting. In place of speeches Leona (I hope my recollection is correct about the organiser of this) arranged a round-robin talk. This was surpisingly fun. Our new member Karina was Table Topics Master, and came up with some great topics, including some on-the-fly to fill in time because of the missing scheduled speakers. Karina's topics were: 1.Learning from our elders helps avoid making mistakes in our lives. Give an example of advice given to you by your parents that turned out to be wrong, or a mistake they made that helped you learn to avoid making the same mistake. 2. They say that the problem with elections is that whoever you vote for, you get a politician. Can you think of an alternative? 3. What is your ideal getaway and how do you deal with day to day stress? Any stress-busting tips? 4.Some compare having a pet with having a child. In what way is this true or not true? 5.Once the National gallery displayed 3 black paintings as modern art. What is the purpose of modern art? Does it make the world a better place? 6.What does home mean to you? 7.Competition. Is it healthy? Keiko's table topics evaluations were as usual informative, incisive, and a valuable model for us to use in the future. Thankyou. Overall, I was pleased that we had a productive meeting, despite the unexpected problems at the start. VPPR.

International Speech Comp

Friday 21/2/2014 was the Benjamin International Speech Contest. A few members had other commitments, so turnout was relatively low. Geoff gave a fantastic speech on why people should get back into gardening ( ;) ) . Dom however won the day with his moving speech on why he joined Toastmasters, and how improved communication skills helped in broader family communications. Our special thanks to the judges who gave up their valuable lunchtime: Jim Arnold (Chief Judge) and Linda Merrin. Table topics was used as the filler during administration of the competition. New member Karina gave a good description of how to use an older style camera, while visitor Lili gave an interesting verbal description of links between the features of spider webs and the WWW. Other members present also contributed. Next meeting to be a standard meeting!

First meeting in new room at UC room 7A51

First meeting in our new room The new meeting room we have been assigned (7A51) is much larger than the Boardroom at Building 15, and at the moment this part of Building 7 is quiet during our meeting time. Most of us found the room before start time of 12.30, and once everyone was present there were 12 of us. We had three visitors: Ward Penman, as well as Karina and Linda. Ward explained the purpose of his visit. He is a Toastmasters Ambassador at present, one of several who are going to all clubs to outline a new program currently being devised. Its designers aim to deal with new (and old) challenges noted with the current first-stage program and its dual streams of ‘competent communication’ and ‘competent leadership’. So many Toastmasters now carry everything on their tablets and phones that the new program is being adapted for use on them too! However, non-tablet-savvy people will be able to use the printed manuals if they choose to. We also enjoyed two speeches by club members. Dominic tackled a controversial topic in a non-controversial way, through talking about reactions to the pros and cons of gay marriage as discussed within his own family. By distancing us, the audience, because we are not in his family, he was able to outline a range of personal, community and extreme responses that can crop up when this topic is raised, without generating any heated reactions in this room. The talk was well structured and fluent, used good presentation techniques (gestures, stance, vocal range, eye contact, etc.), and left us with something to think about. Sandy’s 7 minutes were devoted to a practice version of a longer speech she must give soon to an influential audience. Sandy was fortunate that Ward, an extremely experienced Toastmaster, was her evaluator. His comments will be very helpful as she prepares her actual presentation. There was time for just five table topics questions, posed this week by Carmen. They were all interesting questions. These were: Which is worse, failure or never trying?, Telling little white lies is OK?, Remember the the first time you ever used a computer?, Would you break the law to save a loved one?, and , what would you do differently if you knew nobody would judge you? Such interesting topics make the meeting interesting. Next meeting, 21 February, will be our internal club contests, assuming we have more than one contestant for the two sections: International Speech, and Evaluation. See you there.

2+0+1+4 = 7, the number of the building we meet in this year

Happy new 2014, Toastmasters!

We are meeting this year in Building 7, level A, room 51, and we look forward to having many visitors and new members from among the university staff and students. 

The meetings are on Fridays, fortnightly from 24 January. So the next on is on 7 February, and at 12.30 - 1.30 as usual. 

At the first meeting on 24 January, although it was a few hours before the start of the Australia Day long weekend , most of our members were present. We welcomed two guests: Karina and John, both of whom have been or are members of other clubs. There were two speeches and a thought-provoking collection of table topics, with Dominic as Table Topics Master. Word of the day, appropriately enough, was 'goals' - and Peter didn't mean the soccer type. 

Keiko is working on the storytelling manual, which is one of the advanced series. She told us (as is often the case with her stories) a tear-inducing tale. It involved one person's good turn coming back in full measure or more, 25 years later. Keiko is a wonderful story teller. She speaks from the heart, wastes no words in painting a complete picture, and her pauses give amazing power to the story as a whole. 

Geoff then gave us a hilarious account of bureaucratic inconsistencies, with numerous examples, all different, of situations where you might expect, logically, the government officer to do one thing, but something quite different happened. There were nods of agreement around the table, between laughs, as we remembered similar occasions in our own lives. 

The table topics really made us stop to consider, before answering. One example: Do we want our kids to be totally obedient or do we want them to be independent thinkers? What a question! All the topics were like that, and everyone had a topic. 

Carmen evaluated the table topics - the first time she has been an evaluator - offering us valuable points for improvement.

This was a very happy meeting - which is normal for Benjamin - and we look forward to a great year. 

Contests: 

Benjamin's internal contest for International Speech and Evaluation will be at the meeting on Friday 21 February.  Everyone is welcome, whether club member or visitor. 

Our club will then be the host of the Area 17 contest, which will be on 15 March, a Saturday. The Area contest is between all six Belconnen clubs, and all our club members will be needed to help with the various jobs needed to run this level of contest.

Next meeting: Friday 7 February, 12.30 - 1.30, Building 7, room A51. 

Building 7 is at the top left of the map (see the 'Meetings of..' page), and room A51 is on the Ginninderra Drive side of the building, on the ground floor.