Meeting Snippets (for 2003)

See also meeting snippets for 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004 or 2002.

Tuesday 2 December, 2003

Merry Christmas Fellow Toasties

And in the spirit of BBC we ended the year on an innovative and unique Toastmastering experience.

We began the meeting allowing people to have a 1 to 2 minute mini speech about Toastmasters - what they had learnt and found the most enjoyable. After the break we came back to open all our presents and this gave everyone another 1 to 2 minutes impromptu speech based upon the content of their gift.

What a memorable and entertaining way to end another great year at BBC.

Tuesday 25 November, 2003

To all Club Members and Guests

We had a marathon event this week, with 4 great speeches being presented.

Lewis spoke with sincerity (S2) on a topic dear to his heart (and family) - the confiscation of ancestral land

Norm primed us with some serious questions about how we would/could be spending our retirement during his S2 entitled Options.

Amanda asked us how we could give 20 years of life back to a person - and then proceeded to share the secret with us in her S3 speech.

Henry shared a very personal story with us regarding a business crisis he has recently survived as part of his Advanced Story Telling Manual.

Tuesday 18 November, 2003

ONLY 2 MEETINGS TO GO FOR THE YEAR!!!!

Hi all - I hear that Lewis arranged an interesting and varied meeting today. Members were treated to two entertaining speeches from the ladies of our club - Jayne and Patrice. Jayne had the audience is stitches with her tale of her CONE collection. Patrice had the audience in stitches about her puppy (Eric) and his life (including puppy school and his animal behaviorist).

Don't miss next week's exciting episode.

Tuesday 11 November, 2003

Salutations ToastMasters!!!

A BIG THANK YOU to all the members who attended our 10th Anniversary Celebration on Tuesday evening. A great evening was had by members (old, current and future). We were treated to two fabulous speeches from John O'Donnell (2nd Club President) and Clive Bickerstaff (10th Club President). We also had an amazing round of Tag Table Topics. This involved the speaker selecting a topic for the next speaker. The diversity of topics was astonishing - Waffle-man Ink-spot Ollies Why is Christan Cullen not in the All Blacks and What is a Best Boy. But the fun didn't stop there - an extremely large contingent of Toastmasters then descended on Tulsi to dine. What happens when you get 20 Toastmasters together for dinner and drinks? MAYHEM!!!

Tuesday 21st October, 2003

E-X-T-R-A-O-R-D-I-N-A-R-Y

That was the theme of the meeting today and it certainly lived up to expectations.

Lewis (back from his exams) - put our members through their paces in Tabletopics by asking them to apply certain theories to explain common household objects. This resulted in Konrad using feminist legal theory to describe the use of a squash ball. Craig tried cognitive psychology on a pink peg. And Glen used keys to illustrate discrete mathmatics.

But it didn't stop there.Alan (our Scotsman) had the audience in stitches with his S4 speech called The Test, where he described his first experience of an All Black test. He went dressed in his kilt to support Scotland accompanied by his children all decked out in black-kit to support NZ (must to his distress).

The climax of the session was a massive BULLRUSH with 16 people contributing to the topic of a DIWALI CHRISTMAS.

6 meetings left in 2003!!!!

Tuesday 14th October, 2003

Greetings Toastmasters

I hear that Rod (The Chair) arranged an entertaining and enjoyable agenda for you all this week.

Jol (as Tabletopics Master) provided the Table topics speakers with objects for them to spin a tale about.Chris turned his piece of driftwood into a door handle for a Lada, Mark took his counterfeit coin and tried to convince the audience that it was kosher and Henry explained what a funnel could be used for in your bedroom!

Then we had a smorgasbord of prepared speeches Jayne broke the ice (and her time limit) with her first speech about her life and her penchant for fine wine. Brian put the hard word on us all with his s2 speech about getting us to walk more and take our cars less. Craig had us chuckling (with his s5 speech) about the ups and downs of his people management experiences.

Tuesday 30th September, 2003

BRING IT ON

And that's what happened at today's meeting. 3 prepared speeches. 3 Table topics. An UMMM counter and a Grammarian's challenge. Pretty impressive for just a 1 hour meeting.

Glen had the club in stitches with his investigative report (S8) on the Business Breakfast Club tea break. He managed to outline the issues associated with having a 5 minute break AND convince everyone that the answer lay in having 7 minute breaks and zones in the kitchen-area to streamline the refreshment process. GO GLEN!!!

Then Jol appealed to our NZ pride with his S2 speech Problems in Pavlova Paradise. He gave us a timely reminder that if we do not get involved in our country's growth, then we are all personally responsible for any associated undesirable economic and social outcomes.

Norm completed our trio of speeches with his Ice Breaker. Picture this - Norm dressed in Black Leather carrying a teddy-bear dressed in a pink negligee and a sun-hat!!! He left us with his motto - Grow old disgracefully. GO NORM!!!

Tuesday 23rd September, 2003

Salutations Toastmasters

Question: WHAT DO SPURIOUS, MACADAM and EIGHT-SIX have in common?

Answer: They all make great Table Topics. Jol made a spurious attempt at explaining its meaning, Jayne almost had us convinced that Mac Adam was the village idiot and Lewis was spot on with his rendition of what an 86 was!!!

Then we were very lucky to have a wonderful line up of talented speakers today, an Ice Breaker, an S10 and an Advanced speech.

Amanda broke the Ice with Life's too short to drink bad wine. Tonia completed her S10 by posing the challenging question - Are you living your life to meet your obligations or to indulge your passions? Congratulations to Tonia - by completing her S10 she has acquired her Competent Toast Master Award and joins our BBC Hall of Fame members on the website. John completed the line-up with an inspiring toast to the Business Breakfast Club itself - in which he recounted the highs and lows of the 10 years of our club's history.

Tuesday 16th September, 2003

Hello Toasties

What an amazing meeting delivered to us today. Hats-off to John who stepped up to the challenge of starting the meeting while waiting for a delayed Chair. But then Hats-off to Glen (The Chair) who took control of the remaining programme. Glen demonstrated both poise and confidence as he introduced and bridged the speakers.

Brian introduced and delivered the table topics from a range of diverse props. First up was Kim with a bicycle who drew from personal experiencea daredevil ride.ending in disaster at the age of 8 (She would recommend having brakes). Mark received a wood carving of some loving pigs that instantly transported him back to camping in the fiords ... and he recommended not interrupting pigs while so engaged or otherwise be able to run like the wind and climb trees. Jayne chose a porcelain model toilet - with but just a moment of hesitation she was able to engage the audience with a collectors view on its value ... she was able to recommend that the value would be around $1000 for this 18th century example... turned out to be Brian's tooth brush holder!

Clive presented his 4th speech from the Advanced Toast Masters Storytelling manual (Telling a story to create emotions) Drawn from childhood memories Clive created a simple adventure for himself and his friend - learning the lessons of overcoming obstacles, laughter being the elixir of life and the value of a cuddle from a good woman...And then we were inspired and privileged to hear Wayne Buck present his Humorous speech as representative of Area E2 at the Divisional Conference coming up. Entitled the 40/20 rule Wayne had us chortling, laughing and sniggering as he compared and contrasted the life styles of a 20 year old to a 40 year old. It is always very motivating to observe speakers of this calibre and gives members a benchmark to inspire to. Good Luck Wayne!

Tuesday 9th September, 2003

Yet another fantastic, fun-filled, fabulous session!!!!!

Phil really had the place rocking on Tuesday with a jam-packed agenda. There was no time to ruminate (Word of the Day).

John (as Table Topics Master) set the pace with a serious of challenging quotes. Lewis, Chris and Andrew all responded with well structured, entertaining impromptu speeches.

Then Patrice captured the audience's attentions with her S5 speech about her $650 pair of shoes!!!!

Rod shared a personal and moving story with us about his brother's cancer.

Alan inspired us with his S3 tale about his business partner who went from an illiterate fisherman to a successful entrepreneur through following an idea that people said would never work.

Tuesday 2nd September, 2003

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone for helping to host such a professional E2 Area Table topics contest.

A number of our guests commented on the venue, the catering, the competition and the contestants. And what a contest it was!!! A true battle of the best. 7 of the finest speakers in the E2 Area in one room challenged to share with us The most important lesson in life.

3rd place went to David Crisp from Capital Breakfast (His lesson was to live life to the fullest) 2nd place went to Ian Halliday from Capital Breakfast (with his very funny speech about the 5th rule - not taking yourself seriously) 1st place went to Stu Marshall from Harbourside (His lesson was to live your dream).

The audience (made up of club members, contestants, judges and supporters) were then treated to a BULLRUSH led by Chris. He told us a tale about some people eagerly awaiting the announcement of the All Black team. Everyone then had their opportunity to have 20secs of speaking time and add to the story. The outcome was hilarious and greatly enjoyed by all.

Well the competition season is over. There are only 14 meetings left till we stop for the Christmas break. So let's get cracking with some speeches

Tuesday 26th August, 2003

Congratulations to Alan ( a first time Chair) for a splendid meeting on Tuesday.Who can forget his opening line Its better to appear an ass than open you mouth and remove all doubt!! Having set that standard, Alan proceeded to run the meeting in a very professional but fun way.Tabletopics was fantastic. Blair asked Andrew about the WORST holiday he had been on, Jayne had to tell about her most adventurous holiday and Norm had to talk about his most raunchy holiday.John's educational covered ideas of choosing a topic. He recommended drawing on your experiences for inspiration particularly those that were Exciting, Embarrassing, Scary, Passionate or Outside your normal limits.

First speeches came from Lewis - informed us why he was in fact Superman and Joel give an entertaining re-view of his life todate. Superb efforts and a commendation to them both for the confidence and passionate delivery.

Tuesday 19th August, 2003

Today there was a cast of thousands - spring must be in the air!!! And spring into an action packed session - is what Clive (the Chairman) orchestrated today.

Dreams were the theme that Warren (our Table Topics Master) picked today. Jol had to explain what teeth falling out signified, Norman got landed with the topic of cars and Lewis wrapped it up by explaining the relevance of dreaming about people.

Tuesday 12th August, 2003

Hi Toasties

What an incredible meeting. Yet another session where everyone at the meeting got an opportunity to speak. Patrice the Chair, ran a fantastic meeting and managed to fit in 3 speeches as well as a round of Tabletopics!!!! Leanne as Table Topics Master played The Game of Life with her victims. Using cards from the game, she asked them to tell a story based on the following facts: -Phil to be a teacher, who lived in a split level home and had just earned $150,000 from a new invention -Kim to be a salesperson, who lived in a beach-house and had just discovered a new planet. -Jayne to be a policewoman, who lived in a mobile home and set the new mile record. The stories were hilarious and extremely innovative.

Alan had us thirsting for more with his S2 entitled The best of Scotland (MALT WHISKY) Craig had us wanting to purchase financial services from him with his s3 entitled Business Decisions And Konrad literally blew us away - with his s5 in which he told us what it was like to fire a gun at a real person (in the course of doing your job).

REMINDER: The Area E2 Humorous competition is next Wednesday 20th at 7am at Chartered Chatterers. Leanne is representing our club and any support you can give is very welcome.

Tuesday 5th August, 2003

Fellow Toastmasters

What a grand event Konrad (the Chair) staged for us this week. It was a truly spectacular meeting. Craig the Tabletopics master coloured our world by asking Tonia what she would do with a blaze orange house, then he asked Glen in what circumstances would he wear a canary yellow suit and finished it off by quizzing Jol on why he would buy a camouflage green vehicle.

Warren achieved his Competent Toast Master award in style. His speech, with the simple title S10 encapsulated all the benefits that Toastmasters has added to his life and career. A fantastic achievement for a wonderful speaker. But there was more....Andrew had us in stitches with his S4 speech entitled Snake Hunting. He had the audience spellbound with his tale of time capsules, garden forks and an 8 year old boy's dream of catching a snake.

Tuesday 29th July, 2003

Greetings all

We had a dynamic, lively and speech-packed session today. Everyone got the opportunity to speak - and that is an awesome achievement for our Chairman - Blair.

Phil got things moving with a series of Tabletopics based on movies. Andrew told us what rating he would assign himself if he was a movie. Lewis told us what type of movie he would be and Patrice told us what sort of virtual movie character she would choose to be.

Rod then took us through Deep Space on his S5 voyage to bring his 4th son into this world (during the season finale of ER)!!!. John wowed his audience by doing a 5 minute impromptu speech. His topic was Miss Universe's Acceptance Speech. It truly was inspirational and I don't think any of us will call him Pretty Boy again.

And then, Blair started a Bullrush. This is like a tag-team speech. The topic was based on a Private Investigator hot on the trail of a suspect. Needless to say the suspect led the PI on a merry trail through Courtney Place, into the Embassy Theatre, got involved in putting a dog down, went and bought a Harley. Changed into an alien, then a politician, had martinis at Hummingbird and then went home in a taxi. Life is definitely not dull when Blair organises the meeting.

Tuesday 22nd July, 2003

Salutations all

I think Craig (this week's Chairman) did an amazing job at arranging a F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I -C meeting. I don't know what happened, but someone must have put a jinx on him. He had every single speaker AND the Tabletopics Master become unavailable at short notice. Did this cause any stress to Craig? No!!! Instead he bought all his ingenuity and cunning to the fore and devised an agenda that was stimulating and entertaining.

Patrice, once again, dealt out some challenging Tabletopics based on weird laws in America. She had Phil explaining why wearing a hat and dancing was illegal in Idaho. Rod explained the vegetarian law for why lassoing fish was forbidden in Tennessee and Blair skilfully avoided all mention of why you had to disassemble your car if a horse approached you in New Jersey!!!!

Mark drove home the importance of KNOWING YOUR AUDIENCE in an informative Educational session. And for the first time in club history we had an impromptu Toastmasters debate. The affirmative team of Clive, Phil and Glen goaded the negative team of Lewis, John and Chris to justify if Bush and Blair were right to go to war. To top all this off, Alan gave a memorable first Table Topics Evaluation. A highlight was when he told Rod that giving him any recommendations would be like teaching his granny to have babies.!!!!

Tuesday 15th July, 2003

Howdy all

Andrew displayed his versatility and adaptability to cope with adversity as Chair yesterday. He adroitly handled a series of unexpected hiccups to deliver an excellent meeting. This is what it is all about folks - learning to handle the unexpected on the fly - while looking completely in control. Congratulations Andrew - you managed well.

We were treated to an Ice Breaker from Brian Fisher called The Life of a Fish - which exposed us to the range of outdoor activities he is involved in. Well done Brian - we're looking forward to the sequel.Glen took the opportunity with his S7 to educate us about his company LANSmart and how it has grown from a concept to a successful enterprise.And the meeting was well rounded off with a challenging series of tabletopics.

Tuesday 8th July, 2003

Hi everyone We had a cast of thousands this week for our Evaluation Contest. Our guest speaker presented a very humerous and entertaining speech entitled One of the lesser known risks associated with taking your children overseas. A long title but an intriguing speech. Our 5 contestants provided some stimulating and insightful evaluations. And the results... 3rd place....Clive 2nd place...John 1st place....Leanne Leanne now goes on to represent the club at the E2 Area competition on the 1st August. Whilst the evaluators were preparing their speeches, Chris (the Chair) gave some entertaining topics based on the topic of SPOOFING. Glen and Phil kept the audience in stitches with their perception about what SPOOFING was. For those of you, mystified by the term SPOOFING, it is a gentleman's coin game.

Tuesday 1st July, 2003

Thank you Iain for a compact and fulfilling meeting. Toastmasters is all about getting people to speak and we weren't let down today. Everyone got involved. Congratulations to our TableTopics Master Andrew for some great topics all around the theme of time... and there were 7 topics ! Our attention then focused on the two ICE breaker speeches being delivered: Alan gave an entertaining (and an all to brief for the audience) speech, on some of his life adventures - travelling back to the UK from Bahrain on a motorbike - going through Iran and its historical and religious sites .... His work has taken him to many countries but his home is New Zealand. So much information. Glen in his evaluation suggested Alan may have enough material to take him through to S100?! That would make Alan a CTM 10 times over! Kim gave an inspirational speech explaining that even from an early age she has been competitive and driven to success and this is reflected in her personal and work life. She invited us to take a journey with her and experience a taste of her efforts. She has represented New Zealand and continues to set goals for physical challenges (Coast - Coast), she meets and exceeds educational goals and is currently looking to master her communication and leadership qualities....John in his evaluation commented that Kim is already well on her way to becoming an exceptional speaker. Both speakers presented with no or little help with notes - Awesome!

Tuesday 24th June, 2003

A big THANK YOU to Warren for organising such an excellent social event and competition last night. We met at Crank Cafe for our annual Humorous Speech contest. Blair kicked the evening off with Tabletopics by presenting various members with Hot Water Awards. The challenge was to accept the award gracefully and with dignity. What can I say? Clive was Frodo (and stepped up for the occasion). Chris as Van Diesel made a spectacular entrance (demolishing the lectern in the process). It's the first time I've ever heard the Tabletopics Evaluator make a recommendation about having less violence in the speech!!! Leanne kungfued her way to glory as one of Charlie's Angels. Warren (as Mr Smith from the Matrix) let us in on a few secrets about the Making of the Matrix. Phil strutted his Goldmember as Austin Powers. And John took his award shaken but not stirred as James Bond 007. Then it was time for the competition.Leanne had them guffawing in the aisles with her speech about her Baby B rother,John had them chortling in their chairs with his speech about understanding menAnd Clive had them waving their hands above their heads like beacons!!!! (don't ask) with his DYI show. And the Winner was Leanne who goes forward to the Area competition on the 13th August.

Tuesday 10th June, 2003

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The winner of our Club International Speech contest for 2003 is Clive Bickerstaff with his speech Shoulders.Clive will go on to represent Business Breakfast at the Area Contest on the 28th August. Please join me in congratulating Clive on his achievement. It was a hard fought battle against worthy competitors - John Woolston with The Living Dead, Mark Waters with Moral Warrior and Leanne Gibson with Working Mum.

We were also treated to a fantastic TableTopics session hosted by Patrice targeted at Strange Laws in the USA. Phil had us in stitches with explaining why strapless gowns could not be worn by men in public in Miami Iain explained why it wasn't such a good idea to hold up a bank with a waterpistol in Indiana. And Wayne (a visiting judge) left us smiling with his explanation of a scrubfest in Virginia.

A BIG THANK YOU to the Contest Chair, Glen Houlihan, who ran a professional showcase competition. A number of the judges commented on the superb organisation of the contest and the high calibre of the speakers.

NEWS-FLASH: Rod's wife has given birth to a 9lbish baby boy, making 4 boys in total. He's getting to the point that he could charter a Toastmasters Club on his own as he only needs twenty members!!!!

Tuesday 3rd June, 2003

Hi Toasties Another jam-packed, fun filled, riveting meeting. Tonia took us down memory lane with her selection of Tabletopics focused on Childhood Memories. Aidan shared his summer holiday with us, Phil told us of his favourite toy and Patrice revelled in telling us the gruesome story of having kidney stones at the tender age of 14!!!

Blair took us on A Journey with his S3 speech - all the way to Waioru Army Camp and his days in the Army.

Patrice captured our attention with her rendition of American Idol and other Reality TV shows as part of her S4.

John taught us all a thing or two with his Educational on Judging.

Next week is our club INTERNATIONAL competition. This is the equivalent of an American Idol final. Four contestants - Mark, Leanne, Clive and John will battle it out at the lecturn. But there can only be one winner. Don't miss out on this!!!!!

Tuesday 27th May, 2003

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Leanne Gibson gained her ATM-Silver qualification today. Leanne achieved this award by presenting a speech from the Special Occasions manual entitled MANAGER OF THE YEAR.

We were also privileged to hear a splendid oratory from Glen about Freemasons. He was quick to dispel the myths associated with this secret society and decisive in outlining the benefits of membership.

Mark guided us on a voyage of discovery in an Educational focused on Leadership and resolving conflict.

Chris Lee, in his own indomitable manner, set some challenging topics for club members such as selling yourself at an interview, explaining your job to 7 year olds and things to say at a school reunion.

Patrice (as Chair) ran a model meeting and has thrown down a challenge to other club members to do the same.

Tuesday 20th May, 2003

There is only one word to describe our Table Topics Competition on Tuesday

F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C

9 contestants slugged it out for the 2003 Table Topics Club Champion A stunning venue A professionally run contest (all credit to Tonia Joy) Yummy food

The topic was .....If you were on Mastermind - What would be your speciality topic and WHY And the results.......

Third place: Leanne Gibson specialising in twins Second place: Clive Bickerstaff specialising in Leadership Club Champ: Phil Ruthven with an awesome speech on electronic games.

Phil will now go on to represent our club at the Area Finals on the 19th August. Please join me in congratulating Phil on his win and let's do all we can to support him going forward to the competitions.

Tuesday 13th May, 2003

Hi Toastmasters

My greatest good fortune was to chase and defeat my enemies, conquer his lands and people, and share his riches.(Genghis Khan)

And that pretty much sums up the theme of Tabletopics today - courtesy of Craig. Famous quotes from Gengis Khan were the order of the day. We saw Chris defending the stance that there was no honour without victory, Clive taking the mantle of leadership (as opposed to horse herder) and John reminded us that greatness was our own responsibility.

Then we were also treated to 3 excellent speeches A s9 by Warren entitled NZ Men are Wimps A s4 by Konrad called My first flight A s9 by Tonia about Americas Cup Funding

Next week is our club TABLETOPICS competition. Be there or be square!! We would like everyone (other than the people listed below and guests) to compete.You joined because you wanted a challenge and an opportunity to speak. What better way to take a risk than in a supportive environment like the Club.

Tuesday 6th May, 2003

Today we held the annual AGM and elected a new Committee for 2003/2004. They are:

President: Clive Bickerstaff VP Educ: Leanne Gibson VP Membership: Tonia Joy VP Public Relations: Chris Lee Treasurer: Glen Houlihan Secretary: Patrice Murfitt Webmaster: Iain Halliday

A big thank you to all the new committee members for volunteering their time and ideas. A big thank-you to the outgoing committee members who have left the club in excellent shape and on target for achieving President's Distinguished Club honours. The new committee starts on the 1st July 2003.

Following today's AGM, Chris Lee led an interesting and topical Tabletopics session. Aidan gave a eulogy to Possum Bourne, Patrice shared her thoughts and ideas on power savings, John debated whether we should mount another America's Cup challenge, Glen told us how he would deal with the drink/driving problem in NZ and Konrad pondered on whether Steven Fleming should have declared or not.

Tuesday, April 29th, 2003

CONGRATULATIONS AIDAN for obtaining your Competent Toastmasters Award this week.

Your 10th speech about achieving your dreams was awesome and really inspirational to those members who aspire to get their CTMs. Our club now has:

2 Advanced Toastmasters (Bronze) 5 Competent Toastmasters 2 Imminent CTMs 2 Imminent ATM (Bronze) 1 Imminent ATM (Silver)

The club was also treated to an Advanced speech from Mark. The speech was from the Persuasive Speaking manual and focused on the masterly art of Selling.

DON'T FORGET - next week is our AGM. This is your opportunity to see what happens behind the scenes. You have all received the AGM agenda. So come along and question the outgoing committee about what they have done for the club!!!!

Tuesday, April 22th, 2003

Abracadabra

That's a magic word used for casting potent spells. And that's what the Table Topics Wizard (Clive) laid down as his challenge today. Budding sorcerers and witches were asked to concoct spells such as MOUNT, DEEPPOCKETS, FABRICATE and ENSNAREMENT. The hilarity and inventiveness of club members was fantastic today. (Great practise for our Tabletopics contest on the 20th May).

Andrew then highlighted a true 21st health issue for us all - Sleep Deprivation. Did you know that we are getting 2 hours less sleep a night than our counterparts did - 10 years ago?

As part of Leanne's Advanced Speech, she awarded Clive the Toastmaster of the Year Award for 2005. Let's hope he uses some of that magic from the Tabletopics session, to make some of her predictions come true!!!

The Evaluators did a fantastic job today. Their recommendations and commendations were spot-on and useful. Thanks everyone for a truly magical meeting.

Tuesday, April 1st, 2003

Hi Toastmasters Today we were honoured to have our Area Governor (Peter Scholtens) visit our club. He commented after the meeting about the professionalism of the club, the high calibre of speaking and the atmosphere of fun and humour. Well done to the Chair (Rod), who ran a model meeting today. Roelien gave an extraordinary S2 speech today about The War. She asked us to consider some very pertinent questions about the right of the United States to be in Iraq. Leanne gave Chris a Roasting with her Advanced Speech from the Special Occasions speech manual. Club members got into the swing of the speech and gave Mr Lee a good-hearted ribbing.Clive gave an entertaining educational on the difference between Minotaurs and Mentors. I'm sure everyone was keen to be a Mentor after this speech. Minotaurs didn't feature as a popular thing to be!!!!Patrice selected some fantastic topics for our Table Topics speakers today based on the April Fools theme. Konrad was asked to tell us How April Fools Day came to bePeter Scholtens explained why it was OK to be a fool Chris told us why he wanted to be the Hurricanes Court Jester

Tuesday, March 25th, 2003

Hi all A little bird told me that you had an interesting time this week. Tabletopics focused on reviews on topical sporting issues - cricket, yachting and rugby Then John encouraged the audience to heckle and challenge him as part of his Advanced Speech programme. Mars was big on the agenda with Konrad. I was told that Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the seventh largest. It is 227,940,000 km from the Sun and has a diameter of 6,794 km and a mass of 6.4219e23 kg. Amazing what sort of facts stick to little birds!!!!!

Tuesday, March 18th, 2003

Hi all Congratulations to Glen for Chairing an amazing meeting on Tuesday. We had a fantastic set of war-theme Tabletopics from Aidan Then Warren illustrated the use of props for us in his s7, by showing us his Chinese Lion Dance costume and entrancing us with the tale of how lion-dancing evolved. But there was more - an educational on how to Select a Topic when you might be experiencing topic-burnout. Then we had an entertaining speech from Mr Waters about his idea for Friends of the IRD. This involved a whole different approach for IRD employees which appeared very popular with the audience.

Tuesday, March 4th, 2003

Kia ora Toastmasters Today we were treated to a wealth of speaking opportunities. Aidan (The Chair) had arranged a Table-Topics-a-thon. The two Table Topics Mistresses (Roelien and Leanne) set the scene for some interesting and diverse speeches. The first scenario was based on an archaeological find of common household items from 2003 in the Year 3003. Who can forget Mark with his blue-tack wad solving the building problems of the future or Blair who intrigued us with the theory that his lump of wood (with a hole in it) was the missing mast from the Team NZ Challenge!!!! Then fortune cookies were distributed. Phil imparted his words of wisdom on enemies and friends, while Konrad shared the meaning of change with us.

Clive then did an Advanced Speech from the Storytelling Manual. It was a story about his first dog Suzi and the special role she played in Clive's life as his best friend.

Anthony a first-time Table topics evaluator, did a superb job at providing feedback to the Table-topics participants today.

Tuesday, February 25th, 2003

Greetings fellow Toasties

An inspired backward going forward table topics session mastered by Glen. He actually gave feedback to the table topic person before they had given their topic?! The individual giving the table topic then had to build upon the evaluation in their delivery. Good effort by Glen to push the envelop of Table Topic Mastering! Well done to the individuals delivering the topics to take on the challenge.

We then had three S2s; Andrew and Blair struck a similar theme with the Americas Cup but Andrew gave a convincing argument as to why funding should be capped. Blair focused on the teams and their personalities, questioning their patriotism. Anthony gave an excellent balanced speech, using the white board on the taxation system and asked are we paying too much tax?

Judging workshops are coming up Thursday 20th March ... Check out the educational.

Tuesday, February 18th, 2003

Hi all WOW. What a meeting!!!! Warren orchestrated an amazing session on Tuesday.

We were treated to a moving Ice Breaker from Roelien about Motherhood. I know a number of members had to surreptitiously wipe their eyes during the speech. Well done Roelien - we can't wait to hear your S2. Konrad chose an excellent topic for his S2 speech - State Highway #1. I guess it sounds a bit bizarre until you heard the angle Konrad was promoting. A toll road from Wellington to Auckland, that was straight and could cut 2 hours off the journey. Konrad - I think you may have a career in politics (or marketing!!)

Patrice really got Tabletopics humming with - Clive's First Experience with love - Leanne's Ideal Valentine's day - Chris' thoughts on the two losses in the America's CUP - John's impressions of Russell Coutts defection and Ken told us about what he would give his wife for a first wedding anniversary gift.

Tuesday, February 11th, 2003

Hi all Can you believe that we're half way through February already? The great thing about Toastmasters is that you're never quite sure what is going to happen at the next meeting. And Iain (the Chair) - kept us on our toes today!! Tabletopics were centred on the Selling Words used by real estate agents in their adverts. Konrad was sold on The kids will sleep in.... Ken (a first time speaker) rose to the challenge with Space to grow.... And Clive wrapped it up with Start Smart. Then Patrice took us on a journey with her S3 - all the way around the 4th leg of the Round Taupo Race. We were also treated to a superb educational on How to give great evaluations by Clive. I know that a number of members were delighted to have the mystery of CRC finally revealed.

Tuesday, February 4th, 2003

Hi Toasties

HAPPY NEW YEAR and what an awesome way to kick it off. We had a cast of thousands. Clive (the Chairman) had arranged a full and entertaining agenda.

Philip got us fired up about RECYCLING and I was particularly taken with his description of Clean Rubbish Glen had us in stitches with his humorous anecdotes about his son's under-5 rugby team. Leanne did a speech in honour of Henry's 40th birthday.

Chris as Tabletopics Master - got Tiri talking about the joys of motherhood, John on the importance of New Year's resolutions and Warren on NZ cricket. Chris also took the opportunity to give his own lengthy thoughts on NZ cricket (not quite kosher for the Tabletopics Master!!!!)