Well this meeting was so good it demanded to have a report.  What a fantastic night, everyone was firing on all cylinders. An oddly unsettling start for the evening with a few things in disarray, unlike Victoria Quay.  However a great opening  from three of our members to get the tone of the evening ticking along nicely.  from Tim with his Inspiration on his Daughter breaking her arm, Table Topics from Glenis on childhood memories and Gwenda with her tonic on where she was when she learnt JFK had been assassinated.

Then we entered project speech territory.  Wow what four great speeches and what a spread of topics.  First we had Christine Bonser who told us of the shortage of Technicians where she worked at a Truck sales business.  She put out a plea for help on how to attract and hold people within her business in the face of the mining, oil and gas boom here in WA.  She asked a question at the end and created a general discussion which proved her speech had impact.   Colin Hughes was the next one who stepped up front and gave a very informative but humorous speech on achieving the goals to reach the DTM Award.  His speech has inspired quite a few in the club to  achieve.

Richard Strickland gave us his speech titled Cougar.  A very funny speech on younger men and the older woman.  It appears Richard’s wife is a bit older than him and his very funny speech informed us of the benefits of being the younger man in the relationship.  One of my highlights, due to its oddness, was that Richard told us his wife, because she is the older woman, doesn’t mind talking to him about his Foot Fungus when he gets home.  Weird but funny.   David Nicholas (did I mention he just achieved his 6th DTM) gave us a very moving speech on pain both physical and emotional telling us of the time he lost his sister to illlness in 1954.

Everyone else performed their jobs with skill and commitment which made it just one of those special evenings that just comes together on the night.  Good work from everyone.

Well done everyone.

Peter

A Sunday Meeting

It was a special meeting in several ways.

• We met on Sunday afternoon, rather than the regular Wednesday evening
• We met at a member’s house
• Colin Hughes presented his Advanced Communication Workshop, completing his Advanced Communicator Gold Award
• It was a Speakathon – with 6 speeches delivered and evaluated

And it was a great meeting.  Colin’s workshop on Leadership went very well.  Glenis had prepared a specially adapted script for Colin which he delivered very effectively.  David handled the display of Powerpoint presentation slides.  The 12 participants, including 3 visitors, took an active part filling in their Workbooks and participating in the discussions.

The Workshop

The Workshop came from the Success Leadership Series, Developing Your Leadership Skills, Leadership Part II.  It dealt with

• the characteristics of effective teams
• the establishment of a contract between the leader and team members
• the stages of team development
• Victor Vroom’s Expectancy Model of Motivation
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Creating and maintaining a positive environment
• Using rewards effectively
• Coaching
• Redirecting behaviour

The Speeches

Peter Law

Heljo Cameron

Peter Law spoke on X-Ray, the first speech from the Speaking to Inform Manual.   He outlined the original discovery by Roentgen in 1895 which revolutionised medical diagnosis, its early uses with many deaths resulting from radiation illnesses, through to sophisticated low dose treatments today.  Peter confessed he had had numerous X Rays, and handed around a recent one when he fell off a ladder and broke his wrist.  Heljo Cameron evaluated Peter’s speech.

Paul Reilly

Robyn Richards

Paul Reilly exhorted us to Go with your Heart, speech 3 from the Competent Communicator Manual.  Paul compared the benefits of reason and emotion in making life changing decisions like buying a house or choosing partners, and came down strongly on the side of emotion as the best guide.  He told us an entertaining story of how on impulse he bought a 47 foot 15 ton river boat and took it up the Swan and Canning River as far as the Riverton Bridge, passing by our meeting place on the way.  He owned it for 10 years before other responsibilities took his attention.  Robyn Richards evaluated Paul’s speech.

Joe Fry

Paul Reilly

Joe Fry inspired us to Plan – then do it, speech 9 from the Competent Communicator Manual.  Joe is delivering a 45 minute presentation to a major conference of mining company leaders in a week’s time.  He gave some insights into how his company plans major projects and applied it to our situation in our lives and Toastmasters.  Paul Reilly evaluated Joe’s speech which completes his Competent Communication award.
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Robyn Richards

Glenis Nicholas

Robyn Richards read us The Highwayman, speech 2 from the Interpretive Reading Manual.  She read the Alfred Noyes poem with drama, enthusiasm and passionate intensity.  No wonder it is the most popular narrative poem in English.  Glenis Nicholas evaluated Robyn’s speech.

Mark & David

Peter Law

Mark Richards and David Nicholas combined in a double bill from the Communicating on Television Manual with the title New Clubs in WA.  Mark was the host presenter for Toastmasters TV (Project 3), interviewing new clubs expert David Nicholas (Project 2).  As an additional highlight the interview was recorded on David’s iMac and will be available to members after some editing.  Peter Law evaluated both projects.

Mark Richards was the Timer for the meeting.

Glenis Nicholas prepared the afternoon tea.

Overall, it was a very informative and very entertaining meeting.

Story by David Nicholas DTM
Webmaster & Toastmaster for the afternoon

The Vic Quay Blog. What happened on Wed 24th Nov 2010?  The usual, good speeches by all. Not our usual large group but 15 attendees is a good turn out for many clubs.

Alex Anastasakis was our first time Toastmaster. No problems there Alex, very comfortable in running the show and having it all tick along quite nicely. Alan gave you two thumbs up. Well done.  David Nicholas kicked off with the inspiration and basically explained how important each role in TM was – yes we know David.

Paul Reilly provided us with his table topics based on words that he liked. He gave a word and you gave the story. David Nicholas (Chestnut) he learnt to ride on a Chestnut horse. Lee Syminton (Garlic) Eats a clove when she feels a bug coming on (or a vampire) . Mark Richards (Champagne) Lesson learnt at a young age on home made champers. Alan Smith (Boat) Swapped a red sports car for a catamaran. Janet McNie (Lawnmower) Just like vacuuming the lawn. Denis Sullivan (Pizza) Hot Cheese burns in the mouth. Janet Mcnie then gave us the tonic on special Gins (alcohol that is), my recommendation Janet is we should all have been given a tipple to oil our vocal chords.

Project Speeches: Me first, spoke about daughter’s achievements in India, Bangladesh and Sudan (yeah I’m very proud blah blah blah). Mark Richards and David Nicholas then gave us a double act, The TV Interview with a discussion on the new District 17. David was a hard interviewer but Mark ploughed on never-the-less. Denis Sullivan finished off with his speech on the Pearl Harbour Memorial in Hawaii and the USS Arizona which is at he bottom of the harbour. We are now all keen to see it.

Another good night, slightly down on numbers which meant more cake and bikkies for the good guys.

Cheers!

Peter

Heljo Cameron was our experienced Toastmaster for the evening and got the meeting crackling along from the very start and we didn’t look back.   Janet McNie gave us her inspiration and we have now been informed that Hedgehogs not only run but they can swim.

Jo Kramme took on the role of  Table Topic Master, and  had everybody hanging on their seats waiting for a crack at an impromptu speech. The Theme was You have Just won $20M. Gary had to pick a car, he chose the biggest bomb around but with a powerful motor to blow the young bucks off at the lights. David had to explain to a judge what happened after he won the money, he travelled eveywhere but like a Seinfeld episode it was much ado about nothing. Monique had to chose where to go and she is off to Latvia of all places. Mark R had to give his to charity and it went to the men of the trees. Mark W had to chose his five fantasy dinner guests, Barak Obama and our own David Nicholas made the cut.

Then our main speeches started with Barri Quigley giving us an icebraker speech on how he went from working at a plumbing suppliers to college to study Computer Science and in his own words become a nerd. Good first speech Barri. Andrew Bond gave us the four steps to Eat What You Like and stay thin. There were a couple of us eataholics hanging on every word.    Paul Reily told us about past lives and Deja Vu – have we all been here before? Greg Madden gave us all a mathematical formula that will make us all rich if we apply it (no secrets let out here, so you had to be there). After this lot I think I’ll become a rich nerd millionaire who can discuss his past lives.

My highlights for this meeting were Barri’s icebreaker and Janet’s inspiration. Well done all and if you are reading this and haven’t been to a Toastmasters meeting – You Are Missing Out. Cheers!

This was a usual Vic Quay meeting night, Good.  Our first Time Vic Quay Toastmaster for the night, Greg Madden,  set us all on a roll and held it all together for the rest of the night.  Well done Greg.   Meeting 753 then  followed a music theme starting with Table Topics from Lee Syminton based on musical memories.

Genevieve Morrissey spoke about childhood music memories of Roy Orbinson and the Hollies but somehow, because she lived in the country, completely missed the early  Beatles era, too racy apparently.  Ty Brydon was asked if he had met any famous musicians; no was his answer, but his mate plays the guitar and sings at a pub sometimes. Paul Cunningham thought that he was into cool music at High School with AC/DC but he was deflated by his  Dad when he mentioned he listened to AC/DC when he was in High School too (are the band really that old now)? Mal, a guest from Brisbane for the night talked about going to some oddly named alternate band concert with a workmate he didn’t like. Turns out Mark and Robyn Richards’ couples song  is Elton John’s ‘I guess that’s why they call it the blues’. We also found out  Joe Fry was a one off karaoke legend because he  secretly practised with his childrens’ sing -a-long game when no one was around – bit sad.

Then we hit the project speeches. Andrew Bond provided us with a history of popular music and how it changed the world, starting with Chuck Berry singing and playing the ‘Devils Music’. Colin Hughes then gave us a history lesson on one of his favourite bands U2. Seems he paid for the most expensive U2 concert tickets he could get because it is worth it. Mark Williamson broke the music theme for the night by telling the ancient Hindu story of Rama and Sita and how Hanuman the monkey helped get them back together a few thousand years ago.

Paul Reilly, one of our newest members, gave us a tonic on why architects should be working harder to stop world climate change and I provided an inspiration on when my son saved a house from burning to the ground.  Thanks to all the others that assisted with the roles that make a meeting flow.

The club continues to grow and I believe we may have just won a Smedley Award as one of the fastest growing clubs in WA.  I really look forward meeting visitors and seeing new members every meeting.  All is good at Vic Quay and we continue to go from strength to strength.

Good communication skills are the key to being successfull in what ever you do in life.

Cheers!

Pete Law

Tonight was the first of our contests for the year with the Table Topics competition. We had four contestants, Joe Fry, Andrew Bond, Shane Manns and myself. The question was ” Do You Like Suprises and Why?” We all had a fair shot at the topic and the competition was close. I was lucky enough to pull off a win on the night. The thing about Table Topics is that sometimes you can crack a subject that suits you and sometimes not. You can head down the wrong track and get stuck during your speech and sometimes it just flows. Well done to everyone that stepped up to the challenge.

Tonight we also had a couple of first timers. Jo Kramme stood out the front and gave us an excellent mouthwatering topic on food and wine which ended with the statment  “Eat drink and be merry for tommorrow you may die(t)”. Well done Jo you are already on your way to being a confident speaker.

Timothy Neo gave his Ice Breaker speech. He spoke on his life and what his family meant to him. He broke his family life down into Committment, Love and Pain and how they all wove together to give him a fulfilling life. Well done Timothy, we look forward to many more speeches.

Tim Mcnamara then gave us a speech on his obsession with time and watches. Seems ever since he scored a fob watch as part of his Grandfather’s estate at the age of 11, he has been obsessed with time ever since. Apparently his wife believes he is obsessed to the point of freakness.

Other members took up the roles to ensure a good meeting was had by all. Well done Neville for timing again. Next week is the Humorous Speech Competiton. We have six starters so it should be good.

Keep on Talking (with Purpose).

Cheers!

Pete Law

Tonight went exceedingly well and included five  visitors. Shane Manns was our first time Toastmaster for the evening conducting the night with great confidence, excellent job Shane.

May Pye set off the evening with her inspiration on why she left her job and took up her dream of studying psychology. Glenis Nicholas provided a workshop on Moments of Truth, this is where the club members look at how they think their club is tracking. I look forward to the stats.

Table Topics Master for the evening, Neville Simmons, got us all thinking with some challenging topics. Sai, one our guests for the evening defended the Comb Over Hair Style and somehow ended up frying an egg on his head. Tony told us why Sun Tsu was the greatest leader of all time (at least in his computer game world anyway).  Allan gave his policy for the Raving Mad Loony Party and Mark told us why the Vuvuzela should be used in every government department each day to arouse all public servants. Richard discussed how to integrate Aliens (from Mars) into our society whulst Arjun, another guest, talked about introducing a new Day Dreaming Public Holiday on 1st of Mar each year.

Timothy Neo gave us some thinking time by providing us with his tonic, apparently he backed his car into his wife’s best friend’s car.  Not Happy Timothy.

Project speeches were next with the first speech being provided by me titled Don’t Stress, hopefully I got my message across even with my attempt at humour. Next was Ty Brydon with his speech titled Solution Man. This was where Ty gave an insight on how to refresh ouselves by taking time off and going on holiday. I’m hearing you Ty.  David Nicholas then gave a speech on Oscar Peterson the famous jazz pianist and obviously David’s musical hero.

One of the key elements of the night are the evaluations we all recieve. This is a key part of our meetings and enables us all to improve and grow as Toastmasters. Thanks to all those that evaluated and provided the other support roles for the evening.

Victoria Quay Toastmasters Club is a supportive and learning organisation and we look forward to hosting any visitors who are interested in attending to see what we do. Remember Toastmasters is an organisation the focuses on self improvement for the  individual.

Regards

Pete Law