27th April 2022 - Life is Life and Fun is Fun

On a beautiful mild evening we gathered for our fortnightly toastmaster meeting at the Menlo Park Hotel. Our President Eugene, who joined the meeting via Zoom call, welcomed all members and guests. The Toastmaster (host) for the evening was Lachlan. It was his first time hosting a Toastmaster meeting. He started the meeting by calling up the officers - one by one – so that the officers could briefly explain their roles to the audience. The word of the evening was “frivolous” introduced by Grammarian Luke. 

After briefly introducing the officers, the Topicsmaster, Maria, kicked off the topics session. Maria provided the audience with topics that were not only very engaging but also covered a wide range of subject matters. The list of topics included “Earth Day – being more eco-friendly. ”, “Transition back to the office.”, “Describing your favourite Movie/TV show without giving away the title”, “Favourite book and why not to read it.”, “What sport would you like to learn?”, “How do you feel, when you cook or eat your favourite dish?”

The topics session was followed by the main part of every Toastmaster meeting – the speeches.

The first speaker of the evening was Brian, who delivered his “Ice Breaker” speech - entitled “How not to present”. In his speech Brian shared with us anecdotes about his first presentations at work which did not go well. He then walked us through the don’ts of giving speeches especially the lack of speech preparation. Brian concluded his speech by emphasizing the importance of speech preparation and speech practice.

Thomas gave the second speech of the meeting with the title “The last Irish missionary”. Thomas’ speech consisted of three short life stories. The first story was about Sister Agnes, the second one about Sister Margaret and the last one about Uncle Bertie. In all three stories Thomas described the work of the missionaries in Africa, highlighted their purpose in life and willingness to sacrifice their lives for their beliefs if required. He ended his speech with a quote by Beryl Markham:

"…but it’s all so quiet when the goldfish die."

After the speeches, there was a 20 min. break for coffee/tea and biscuits.

The second part of the meeting was commenced by the General Evaluator of the evening – Lorraine.  Lorraine called up the speech evaluators. Aisling, who joined the meeting via Zoom call, evaluated Brian’s speech and Martin evaluated Thomas’ speech.

Both evaluators gave very positive feedback especially regarding confidence, body language and humour.

The creative corner was presented by Frances.  She chose the famous “Sunset Poem” from the drama “Under Milk Wood” by Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

Eli Jenkins Prayer (Under Milk Wood) Lyrics

Every morning, when I wake,

Dear Lord, a little prayer I make,

O please to keep thy loving eye,

On all poor creatures born to die.

And every evening at sun-down

I ask a blessing on the town

For whether we last the night or no

I’m sure is always touch-and-go.

We are not wholly bad or good

Who live our lives under Milk Wood,

And Though, I know, wilt be the first

To see our best side, not our worst.

O let us see another day!

Bless us this holy night, I pray.

And to the sun we all will bow

And say goodbye – but just for now!

After the creative corner Lorraine called up the officers (Grammarian report & Ah-Counter) to provide their reports and then provided her own report of the evening, in which she complimented the evaluators and the officers of the evening. She also highlighted two small things that could be improved – starting the meeting on time and being more aware of the camera when presenting. 

President Eugene closed the very enjoyable meeting with the Irish word for frivolity.