What do decluttering your house, gamifying your personal life, music, changing a flat tyre, and getting rid of the atom bomb have in common?
Well, they all made an appearance at this week’s Boaters Toastmasters meeting.
Our theme for the morning was “Game Changers”, with Toastmaster Aaron Webb getting us thinking about the people and events that have changed our outlook on life or influenced the way we live.
And there were certainly a few interesting answers.
A little less stuff, a little less stress
Our first speaker, Ying Xia, tackled a surprisingly familiar source of stress: stuff.
Her speech, Declutter for Wellbeing, explored how owning too many objects can contribute to stress and how the clutter around us can have a bigger impact on our wellbeing than we might realise.
Ying even shared some eye-opening statistics around family arguments caused by misplaced items, dirty dishes and clothes left in the wrong place.
So perhaps the next time someone complains about the dishes in the sink, don’t take it personally.
They’re simply trying to improve the family’s wellbeing.
Turning life into a game
Our second speaker, Malvin Adichya.
With a busy schedule and plenty going on in his life, Malvin explained how he has gamified his personal tasks and spending habits.
The concept is simple: complete a personal job and you earn a certain dollar amount. That money then becomes available to spend during the week.
It’s an interesting way of turning the less exciting jobs in life into something resembling a game: complete the task, earn the reward, and perhaps even make yourself a little more motivated along the way.
Who said doing the chores had to be boring?
Turn up the music!
Erika Andrews, our Table Topics Master came flying in hot with music blaring.
Adding the music, it was a small change, but it completely shifted the atmosphere in the room and was a great way to engage everyone and set the tone before the questions began.
And there were plenty of questions!
Louise Landess was asked what she would change to improve Toastmasters as an organisation. Her answer focused on getting back to the grassroots of what Toastmasters is really about, something that no doubt sparked some thoughtful discussion.
Then came a slightly more practical question for Christian:
Would you rather change a nappy or change a flat tyre?
The answer was an easy one: a nappy.
Less time, less administration, and generally a much quicker job to get out of the way. Apparently, even changing a nappy can be efficient if you approach it with the right mindset. But the question was evidently too good to waste.
After hearing Christian’s answer, Stuart Lyons decided to abandon his own Table Topics question and answer the same one instead. Stuart had a particularly relevant story to tell, and his response turned into one of those unexpected moments that make Table Topics so entertaining.
And then there was the atom bomb.
We were also lucky enough to have Fernando Del Moral, a District Manager, join us for the meeting.
Fernando gave us a brief bulletin updating us about things going on within the toast masters organisation and then jumped into the Table Topics action himself.
His question?
If you could get rid of one thing from the world, what would it be?
His answer was certainly ambitious:
The atom bomb.
A fairly difficult one to argue with.
Welcome back, Lucie!
It was also great to have Lucie Harrison back from her overseas holiday.
Lucie brought her usual energy to the meeting while introducing Malvin, and it was clear that she had been missed.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Benton took on the role of General Evaluator for the first time.
The General Evaluator role is arguably one of the tougher jobs in a Toastmasters meeting keeping an eye on the whole meeting, listening to the various roles and speakers, and then pulling it all together at the end.
Jeremy made it look easy and for only being a member of toast masters for such a short time it was inspiring!
He absolutely aced it.
An exuberant morning
Our Grammarian, Stuart Lyons, gave us the word of the day: “Exuberant.” And perhaps fittingly, it was a pretty good word to describe the meeting.
There was music where there normally isn’t music. Unexpected answers to unexpected questions. A returning member bringing her energy back into the room. A first-time General Evaluator making a difficult role look effortless. And, somewhere along the way, we managed to solve the world’s problems by removing the atom bomb.
That’s probably what makes Toastmasters so enjoyable.
You arrive at 7am expecting a normal meeting.
And you leave having learned something about decluttering, gamified personal finances, organisational change, and of course improved speaking & communication skills.
Now that’s a game changer.
Blog By: Christian Trousselot