PAUSE – And welcome Helen grammarian to the stage. Instead of a word this week we were re-introduced to the power of the pause.

We love a pause. Scrambling for time? Not you!  Need to check your notes? Never! Actually, your pause is deliberate, it’s not empty space but a time to settle, convey calm, confidence and control. Well even if it isn’t the crowd doesn’t know that so embrace the pause.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We travelled from Libya to the Gulf of Thailand with Ben who had no shortage of material when it comes to adventurous stories. He recounted a few of his years working on oil rigs, his outgoing spirit and dedication to bonding with the locals was obvious with him recounting how he persevered through confusing phones calls and awkward squatting situations (IYKYK).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We were brought back to NZ with Warrens Pepeha, grounding us into his icebreaker “Defined by the decades”. What do Diary Farms, Super Yachts and Real estate all have in common? Well not much… but Warren managed to master all 3 within a few decades which is pretty astounding if you ask me, also he has a friend who is a pirate so I think Warren will be my first pick when I’m off sailing…

And then there was Richard. Table topics master indeed, we went from mountain lion sized mice to Huhu grubs for breakfast, what a wide range of topics and such a wide range of people! 8 in fact, more than our usual numbers which is a testament to our Toastmaster, Tsarina who was sharp, on time and in control. Maybe it was the fist bump jewellery she adorned that had people keep to time… Well-earned Toastie Award Richard, both a confusing and hilarious time.

Tsarina, Rich & Aaron

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dan and Christian had great feedback for speakers. Christian used a framework I didn’t formally know as “Commend, recommend Commend” which was and excellent way to set up a evaluation. Vocal variety, movement and slowing down were all comments I took note of.

Dan highlighted Warrens great use of Pepeha and how if connect the speaker to the audience, giving context and commended Warren on great visuals from his presentation slides.

To wrap it up, Aaron took on general evaluator duties while dividing the room into crunchy and smooth peanut butter – Rachel offended at the lack of equal opportunity for both textures.

Great time had by all – and I encourage you to think about how many mice sized mountain lions you could fight… all 100?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog By: Karis Prendergast