There is never a dull morning at Boaters Toastmasters, and our meeting on Friday, 23 October, certainly lived up to that reputation!
With the theme “Working Hard or Hardly Working”, we gathered at Ara Institute of Canterbury for another morning of speeches, evaluations, Table Topics and plenty of opportunities to develop our communication and leadership skills. Little did we know that the morning would involve a little more excitement than we had planned!
A New Toastmaster Takes the Stage
We kicked things off with Jill Tan with crazy amounts of enthusiasm as Sergeant at Arms, welcoming everyone and getting the meeting underway.
This morning’s Toastmaster was Jeremy Benton, taking on the role for the very first time. With a theme like “Working Hard or Hardly Working”, there was perhaps a little extra pressure to make sure we were doing the former!
Jeremy did an outstanding job. He guided the meeting confidently, kept things moving and made the role look easy. A fantastic first outing as Toastmaster!
Roydon Gibbs took on the Grammarian role, keeping an ear out for interesting language, expressions and opportunities to improve our use of words throughout the morning & went with ZEST for the word of the day. “Keen enjoyment, excitement, gusto, or a lively passion for life and activities “
Prepared Speeches – Sharing Ideas and Perspectives
Our first prepared speech / education about advanced evaluation techniques came from our Club President Louise Landess, with the thought-provoking title “Here’s What I Think, What About You?” leading into our Evaluation contest this was the perfect set up.
Next up was Kent Bregente, presenting “Development of AI Awareness – School Presentation.”
Artificial intelligence is becoming an increasingly important part of our everyday lives, and Kent brought this relevant topic to the meeting. It was an opportunity to consider the growing importance of AI awareness, particularly in an educational setting.
During the second portion of Kent’s speech we were rudely interrupted by the fire alarm and had to continue the meeting outside which was quite eventful! Q&A session in the carpark!
The Boaters Bulletin
We were also joined by special guest Lynette (Lyn) Harris-Hogan, who delivered the Boaters Bulletin, keeping members up to date with what’s happening around the club and the wider Toastmasters community.
It was great to have a guest joining us and contributing to the morning. An Unexpected Change of Venue!
Just when we thought the morning was progressing as planned, things took an unexpected turn.
The fire alarm sounded, and everyone was required to evacuate the building!
Naturally, there was a brief interruption to proceedings as members made their way outside. Before long, we had gathered together in the car park, where we were greeted by the arrival of a fire truck.
But if there’s one thing Toastmasters teaches us, it’s how to think on our feet and adapt to unexpected situations.
Rather than letting the interruption bring the morning to a halt we proceed with the meeting outside!
Table Topics –
With everyone safely back inside, the morning continued with Christian taking charge as Table Topics Master.
Table Topics is always a great opportunity to practise impromptu speaking, and after an unexpected evacuation, we certainly had plenty of experience thinking on our feet already!
Rachel McConnachie and Helen McLeod took on the prepared speech evaluator roles, while Natalie Perzylo evaluated the Table Topics session.
Jacqui Anderson stepped into the General Evaluator role, providing an overall perspective on the meeting and identifying opportunities for everyone to continue improving.
Dan Vann kept an eye on the clock as Timer, ensuring our speakers stayed within their allocated times.
The Toastie Award
To round off the morning, Jeremy Benton presented the Toastie Award. Congratulations to Kent on the Toastie Award moment.
Working Hard or Hardly Working?
This week’s meeting was a great example of what makes Toastmasters so enjoyable.
We had thought-provoking speeches, valuable evaluations, opportunities to practise impromptu speaking and, of course, an unexpected fire alarm that gave us a completely different meeting environment!
Whether we were working hard on our speeches, hardly working while enjoying the sunshine outside, or simply making the best of an unexpected situation, there was certainly no shortage of energy and enthusiasm.
A big thank you to Jeremy for doing such a fantastic job as Toastmaster for the first time, to all our role holders and speakers, and to everyone who attended and contributed to another memorable Boaters morning.
Until next Friday. Keep working hard!
Blog By: Christian Trousselot