11th November 2020 - An Evening of Equanimity

Our meeting began on a poignant note as our Toastmaster and Club President Martin referred to the date (11^th November) being the one on which World War One ended.

Martin reminded us about how Toastmasters can empower people to develop their abilities and skills.

Martin then introduced the officers who explained their role for the evening.

Our Grammarian Aisling informed us that the word for the night was ‘equanimity’ which means ‘calmness and composure, especially in a difficult situation’.

Next up was Christoffer who had the role of the ‘Ah’ counter, which means he had to keep a record of the ‘ums’ and ‘ahs’ and other filler words used throughout the evening. Christoffer double jobbed this evening, as he also provided the role of Creative Corner.

Our scribe for the evening was Christine (that’s me – hello!). My role was to provide this account of the evening.

Pat was our General Evaluator for the evening. Pat took over hosting the second half of the meeting and he introduced the evaluators and the officer reports.

Our Timekeeper for the evening was Molly who timed the speeches, evaluations and topics session.

Martin then handed over to Pat, who was the Topicsmaster for the evening. Our topics session then began! Discussions were had about unusual fears, toe fungus (many of us were glad we opted to eat our dinner before tonight’s meeting upon hearing that particular one) and apartment dwelling birds! We were all highly amused with the next part of our topics session which involved distinguishing and identifying the uses of various kitchen utensils!

After the topics session, Martin returned as Toastmaster and introduced the prepared speeches for the evening.

Aisling was the first speaker for the night. Aisling’s speech outlined the value that can be gained from working with a mentor in Toastmasters. Aisling mentioned the three key aspects of working with a mentor. They included learning to be vulnerable, helping increase self-awareness and empowering you to be yourself! It was a very inspiring and motivating speech.  

Next up was Jenny who gave her Icebreaker speech entitled ‘My Toastmasters Journey’. Jenny spoke about her experience with joining Toastmasters some years ago and about how Toastmasters helped her confidence. There was a real story-telling element to Jenny’s speech, as she spoke about her journey through Toastmasters. It was a very sincere and enjoyable speech.

Our final speaker for the night was Frances. Frances’ speech looked at the idea of hypnosis. Frances discussed aspects of hypnosis such as ‘hypno-analysis’, which goes back through a person’s life. She mentioned ‘suggestion therapy’, which can be used to help people change unwanted behaviours. Frances’ speech was highly interesting and very thought-provoking.

It was then time for a break, so the evaluators could speak with the speakers and everyone else could get a cup of tea!

After the break Pat took over as General Evaluator. He introduced the evaluators – Mohammed, Christine and Martin. The evaluators provided feedback to the speakers and had some suggestions for what the speakers could do differently in future speeches.

It was then time for Pat to reintroduce the Ah-Counter and the Grammarian, who provided their reports for the evening.

Christoffer then provided a hugely entertaining Creative Corner by holding up the titles of some of his book collection to tell a story! It was so creative and enjoyable!

Pat then provided his overall evaluation for the evening. This looks at what worked well in the meeting and what could be improved.

Pat then handed over to another Pat so that roles could be filled for the next meeting. Once that was completed, he handed back to our President to close the meeting.

Martin thanked us all for coming and invited those who wanted to know more about Toastmasters to remain on the Zoom call after the meeting.

Next meeting is 25^th November. All welcome.