Last week, we were delighted to return to our familiar and cosy home – the Imagitech Theatre on the ground floor of the Rakaia building. The vibe was instantly welcoming, and the energy was high as we kicked off another fantastic Toastmasters session.
Our Toastmaster for the meeting, Helen, chose a theme that had everyone chuckling and cringing: “Food Failures – Misadventures in Food Preparation.” It set the perfect tone for a warm, humorous morning filled with shared stories and a few culinary disasters.
One such tale came from our Sergeant at Arms, Haley, who confessed to a memorable (and fiery) mishap – overcooking 2-minute noodles by 20 minutes after a night out. The result? A charred saucepan and a smoky lesson in late-night cooking!
Richard, our Grammarian for the meeting, added a poetic touch by opening with two haiku – one of his own creation and one courtesy of ChatGPT. After a quick vote, the group agreed that Richard’s poetic flair outshone the AI – human creativity wins again! He also introduced the Word of the Day: “sizzling”, which perfectly summed up the session.
We had two inspiring prepared speeches. Hannah delivered Part Two of her Evaluation and Feedback project, officially ticking off Level 1 of the Presentation Mastery Pathway – go Hannah! 
Following her, Felipe returned with Part Two of his How to Train for a Marathon speech. This time, it was personal – he’d actually completed the marathon! His focus on vocal variety and body language really brought his journey to life.
Our Table Topics session was longer than usual, thanks to Louise, who tackled the Active Listening project from the Motivational Strategies path. In this session, the Table Topics Master not only prompts spontaneous speeches but also evaluates each speaker on the spot – an impressive feat Louise handled with skill and style. It’s no surprise she took home the Toastie Award, both for her Table Topics session and her ongoing contribution to the club.
And finally, a huge congratulations and thank you to Lucie Harrison and Dean McLeod, who were officially voted in as our incoming Club President and Sergeant at Arms for the 2025–2026 Toastmasters year. We’re thrilled to have such enthusiastic and capable leaders stepping into these roles.
Member blog by Laura Cornall.