Meeting Snippets (for 2004)

See also meeting snippets for 2007, 2006, 2005, 2003 or 2002.

30th November 2004

Believe it or not. That was the theme weaved through today's session by our Chair (Glen). He provided amazing bridging between speakers with a series of interesting and obscure questions, which involved heaps of audience participation. Warren (our Table Topics Master) asked club members to act as journalists and provide insights into these issues:

Chris had to explain how to deal with chatterboxes Warwick had to give tips on managing neat tidy people Tonia gave us the low-down on Know-it-all people Norm gave excellent advice on how to overcome shyness.

Then we had two exceptional speeches today. Mike's s5 entitled A family curse gave a humorous and personal insight into his life and future aspirations. Jayne's s9 Nothing changes if nothing changes challenged us to make those small changes in our lives that will lead to the big changes.

And that's it for the year folks.except for next week's Christmas party at Lone Star. See you all on the 25th January (ie the day after Wellington Anniversary weekend!!!)



23rd November 2004

Hi BBC members Just a reminder that there is only one meeting left this year (apart from the Christmas function). ..And great speeches and speakers still continue to feature at our weekly meetings. Alan K (today's Chair) ran a well organised and entertaining meeting. We had a fantastic S3 from Helen called Coincidences of Presidential Proportions. She gave some amazing facts and figures about the similarities about two American Presidents, Lincoln and Kennedy that were hard to believe but true!! Then John gave an entertaining overview of the recent Toastmasters conference in Auckland where he was a finalist in the Humorous contest. Though he didn't place in the top three, he was able to display a video of the winner and use it as a basis for an impromptu educational about humour.

The tabletopics session (hosted by Norm) was demanding, topical and resulted in Phil explaining why nurses needed a pay increase Jayne expounding on the virtues of immigration to fill the employment shortages in NZ Chris lost his way explaining why the quick fix isn't necessarily the best way Mike promoting Wellington as the place to be.



16th November 2004

2 Meetings to go!!! And Chris (The Chair) suavely ran a thoroughly entertaining and informative meeting.Clive (Table Topics Master extraordinaire) took us all through the 8 methods for tackling Tabletopics.This resulted in:

John tackling A Man's role by referring to the past, present and future Warwick talked about Poverty locally, nationally and globally. Jayne gave us a balanced point of view about Housework Chris entertained us with a point/reason/point technique on Discipline for children Helen held a debate about Cats make better pets than dogs Norm ran the 6 W's (Why/What/Where/When/What/Who) through their paces by having dinner with a famous person of his choice - Robin Hood Leanne trialed the goal/obstacles/solutions method on The perfect lifestyle Henry used the 3-things of note methodology to explain A memorable night on the town

And to top that off, Henry completed his Advanced Toastmaster Bronze qualification today with a 10 minute after-dinner speech to recognise his grand-mother's 90th birthday.



2nd November 2004

Who moved the cheese? That was the theme of today's meeting and it was an excellent choice by Alan T. For those of you not in the know - there is a very famous book called Who moved my Cheese? and it is based on how people handle/cope with change. So the theme of change and cheese was proliferated through today's session.

The thing I love about Toastmasters, is going to a session and being totally amazed at the quality and caliber of speakers.and that's what happened today.The Tabletopics session run by Alan K was brilliant. Members were asked to talk about changes they might/have experienced in their lives.

Rod told us about his ideal job and surprised the club by telling us he is leaving for China in the next few weeks to start up a non-profit organisation.Warwick was asked to take the stand as a potential candidate for the US Presidential elections and lobby the audience for votes. Unfortunately his bid to move to an autocracy did not go down well!!! Then Clive bought tears to everyone's eyes as he recounted the memorable moments of his horse's life before winning the Melbourne cup. Finally Mark gave us a memorable rendition of leaving his job (as a self-employed person) to find a new one. His memorable quote of the day was He looked backwards at what was, then turned to the future to see what could be.

And then we had three F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C speeches.

Warwick took us to India with his S3 called Outside the Square - an example. Jayne took us on an amazing adventure with poster size, POST-IT notes in her S8 called K.I.S.SAnd Glen educated us on how to give the ultimate Educationals Its meetings like this - that makes me leave the session on a high. Thanks everyone for a great meeting.



19th October 2004

7 Meetings to go A small but fun meeting was held by the BBC Toast Master crew this morning. Warren welcomed everyone with his usual energetic manner. In table topics, Clive told us all about his perfect baby, Henry shared with us his views on how little we use our brains - 5%. Glen continued the table topics with his cure for wrinkles - eating more! Tonia decided that no sense is worth losing and should be avoided at all costs. With table topics drawing to a close, John roasted Clive, thereby completing another step in his Toastmasters career. This particularly humorous speech was both interactive and seemingly 'completely off the cuff'. Finally, Clive Bickerstaff, our very own area E2 governor shared his experience in his role. The meeting attendees walked away with a great deal of knowledge and understanding of what goes on behind the meetings we all enjoy. A BIG thank you to Clive.



12th October 2004

TOP SECRET!!! That was the theme of today's meeting set by Mark (the Chair). He proceeded to pepper the session with TOP SECRET information about the latest, greatest scientific explorations. Jayne enhanced this theme (as Table Topics Master) by inviting SuperStars to come and share their TOP SECRETs with us. Phil (as a heavily disguised Tom Cruise) told us why he has such poor self esteem Alan T (also in heavy disguise as Kiefer Sutherland) explained why he was in Wanganui Helen (as Libby Taylor) held a press conference on her favorite Wellington shopsand Leanne (as Peter Jackson) shared his beloved eating spots in the Eastern suburbs. Then Mike gave a terrific S3 called My Boy My Boy in which he described his role as a father to his 5-year old son. And Warwick really showed us how to push the limits, in his S2 entitled The Square.



5th October

What better way to celebrate the start of Daylight saving than with a fun filled and vibrant ToastMasters meeting? President Lee (as he is affectionately known), was the Chair for the day and did a superb job at keeping energy levels and humour high. Clive as Tabletopics master used a game-show theme to get three contestants to compete for the Tigger Award. Each contestant had to demonstrate bounce and zest for their nominated topic. Leanne explained that she couldn't do enough to get a Mallowpuff. Phil explained why mornings were not good for him and Chris compared himself to the Lord of the Jungle (the Lion). Warwick broke the Ice this morning, and gave us a synopsis of his journey from Tapuhi (I think) which was 160km from the nearest takeaway shop!!! to Scotland to Wellington. Warwick was a natural storyteller and we're looking forward to hearing further episodes of his life. Then Jayne gave her S7 (called Daylight Robbery) in which she gave us all the facts and figures regarding daylight savings. She questioned the validity of Daylight Savings for the 21st century and urged us all to reject turning our clocks backwards next year. Finally, Glen pulled himself out of his sickbed to keep his commitment to give an Educational entitled Keeping the Commitment. It was a timely reminder to all of us, to put in the effort to do our speeches and attend club meetings given that there are ONLY NINE MEETINGS LEFT THIS YEAR. The Club also gave a standing ovation to John Woolston, who is the Area E2 Humorous Speech Champion. He will go on to compete for the National title in Auckland this November against the regional finalists. John bought the house down with his speech entitled What was I thinking and we hope he does it again in Auckland.



Tuesday 28th September

Hi all Norm (the Chair) ran a veritable TalkFEST today, and packed Tabletopics, 2 prepared speeches and an Educational all into an hour. Rod (Table Topics Master) with help from his son selected Kids TV programmes as the theme for today's session. This meant that Glen shared his thoughts on the ZOIDS with us, Andrew introduced us to the POWDER-PUFF girls and Warwick did his first tabletopic on SPONGE BOB SQUARE PANTS. We had two motivational speeches today. An S7 from Phil about giving something back to your local community and an Advanced speech from Henry called Facing Your Fears the 'Robert Kiyosaki Way. Then John gave an Educational on Working Without Notes.



Tuesday 21st September

Ladies and Gentlemen, We had another entrant to the BBC Hall of Fame today - Alan Kirby. Alan obtained his CTM today with a fascinating speech about Cassius Clay (aka Muhammad Ali). Alan reminded us that not only was Ali the greatest heavyweight champion of all time, he was also a highly vocal and eloquent advocate on black civil rights issues. Well done Alan - your CTM journey started in June 2003 and hopefully your ATM will begin in Oct 2004.

Norm also gave us an entertaining S6 speech on Belts - gun belts, karate belts, chastity belts, leather belts, Western belts, fan belts. Lewis (as Tabletopics master) provided some provoking topics - Clive shared his dream with us - 2000 Toastmasters in the Wairarapa, 200,000 in NZ!!! - Henry got lucky by picking up 5 cents in a lift (in order to make his first million) - Amanda as fashion-queen extraordinaire, bought back leg-warmers as a must-wear item - John shared his views on fighting for the important things in life (like your share of fish'n'chips with 5 brothers) - Alan as Big Al Capone gave us a tip on shopping for suspenders.



Tuesday 14th September

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS!!!!....and that's exactly what this week's meeting was, thanks to the energy and passion of the Chair Amanda. The Table topics (devised by Mark) appeared deceptively simple but ended up proving a challenge. A series of pictures were provided and club members had to speak to them. This resulted in Phil - a child's fairytale (from a photo showing a man with blue paint on his head) Chris - personal hygiene (from a photo with a lady balanced on a man's head) Norm - the FABULOUSA bar - (from a photo of a bull fighter) Henry - Peer pressure on Men - (from a photo of men's underpants) Jayne - Giving up smoking - (from a photo of 2 women smoking Then Tim surprised us with his S4 entitled Life is full of surprises. And we welcomed Blair to the Club's Hall of Honour when he gave his S10 speech on The Crisis in the Sudan. The club now has 9 CTMs, 2 ATM-Bronze and 1 ATM Silver



Tuesday 7th September

Hi all, Tim (a first time Chair) arranged an awesome meeting on Tuesday. The theme for Table topics was Nightmares or Fantasies. Mark's nightmare was a motorcycle accident at the age of 15, Chris' fantasy was of his first kiss and Phil told us how he always got the blame regardless of whether he was responsible or not.

Then Jayne gave us some great pointers on employing staff with her s6 speech You're fired. Andrew followed that up with an excellent s7 speech on safety tips for the home and work.and who could forget his memorable statistic..100% of all accidents are not intentional.

Finally, John practiced his speech for the International - A Man Thinkth. Well practice makes perfect and as you will have heard, John won the Area E2 International speech contest today and will go forward to the Division E Conference on the 2nd October. An excellent outcome for a fantastic speaker



Tuesday 24th August

On behalf of the committee, I just wanted to thank all the teams who assisted with the contest today. We had an awesome turnout - we filled the Hall. The FOOD TEAM (Chris, Jayne, Amanda, Glen) excelled. 60+ muffins (from the Muffin Man) went within 60 seconds!!! Followed closely by the disappearance of the marshmallows!!! (Do you know the Muffin Man)? THE JOKER TEAM (Chris, Phil, Jayne, Alan, Blair) warmed up the audience beautifully for the contestants. THE CONTEST TEAM (Henry, Clive, Mark R, Tim, Andrew, Glen and Amanda) performed their roles with distinction. THE VENUE MANAGEMENT TEAM (Norm, Allan K, Rod and Phil) turned out a great venue. The above teams in conjunction with the Greeters (Mark Patrice) set the stage for an outstanding Area Competition. I heard numerous comments about the quality and standard of the event. OUR CONTESTANT - John's speech was fantastic today. He set the standard for the other competitors with his speech - What was I thinking. It was a tough battle today and John did the club proud by gaining second place. Thank you all for making today's event a showcase



Tuesday 17th August

Confabulation - The art of familiar talk; easy, unrestrained, unceremonious conversation And that pretty much sums up our meeting this week. Alan (the Chair) packed the meeting with speaking opportunities for all. There were 8 Tabletopics, an S2 about Debt from Mike and a bull-rush which involved everyone. By my count - 16 people got to confabulate in just 1 hour. Not bad!!! NEXT WEEK OUR CLUB IS HOSTING THE AREA HUMEROUS SPEECH CONTEST. IT IS IMPORTANT THAT EVERYONE TURNS OUT TO HELP.



Tuesday 10th August, 2004

Lewis our Chair ran an upbeat and jam-packed agenda today. Our Tabletopics Master (Rod) had an interesting challenge for club members. They were given quotes from Oscar Wilde and asked to incorporate them into an entertaining speech.

Chris got Experience is the name everyone gives to their mistakes and proceeded to share his mistakes/experience with us. Clive got Women are meant to be loved, not to be understood - and he heartily agreed. Alan got A true friend stabs you in the front and explained to us all that fighting fairly was a good trait to have. And Andrew got We are each our own devil, and we make this world our hell - he expertly wove this into a movie review.

We then had 3 enjoyable speeches. A S9 from Alan K regarding the pros/cons of purchasing a concrete house. A S5 from Jayne called Material Girl which gave us some valuable insights into the materialism culture of our lives.And a S5 from Norm called Mary Bird's Van which was an entertaining collection of boyhood stories which helped shape his character.



Tuesday 3rd August, 2004

Scruples - that was the name of the game (or the Table topic) this morning!!! Amanda our Table Topics Mistress arranged the following situations:

Rod - had to decide whether he would continue patronage of a restaurant that exploited immigrant labour. Clive - had to decide whether he would accept an escort agency role in order to get money Phil - had to decide whether he would return $20 found on his couch after a party with friends Jayne - had to decide (as a famous athlete) whether she would endorse a useless product Norm - had to decide whether he would point out a checkout error to the sales assistant John - had to decide (as a teacher) whether to flunk a kid who had really tried. Needless to say - we now all have a better understanding of these club members!!!!

Mike (our first time Chair) had arranged a veritable smorgasbord of speeches today. On top of the Table topics session, we had an S3 on Alcohol from Tim. Remember Moderation in Moderation. Also an entertaining Educational from Glen on Exciting Speech Openings in which he had the audience chanting Dam@ Right Houli!!!



Tuesday 27th July, 2004

WOW!!! What an extraordinary meeting today. Despite being one of the coldest, wettest, darkest mornings of the year, we had a huge turnout of club members and a fantastic variety and standard of speeches. Mr Lee (The Chair) had an action packed agenda starting with IF Table topics from John. Phil's topic was IF ONLY I HAD. and then he explained that there was nothing he really needed in life - just to live it fully. Wise words from our reigning champion. Tim's topic was IF ONLY I GOT THAT BREAK. and he told us about his lucky breaks in life. Mark's topic was IF I COULD HAVE.. and he explained to the audience that he wanted the best memory in the world so that he wouldn't forget things and could spend the rest of his life in deep contemplation.

And then we were treated to three truly entertaining speeches: An S6 from Andrew called Beyond 2000-I'm not impressed. He had the club in stitches with his view of living in 2004 - it definitely doesn't measure up to the Jetsons. An S8 from Blair called My hammer and tools - where he had the audience riveted while he displayed the tools of the trade for a Private Investigator. An Advanced Speech from Henry called The Bungy where we all joined him as he took the plunge off the edge of the platform into the swirling river below (or at least it felt that way).

It was a truly entertaining hour and a great way to start the day.



Tuesday 20th July, 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The winner of our Club Humorous Speech contest for 2004 is John Woolston with his speech What was I Thinking. This was a fantastic speech and had the audience in hysterics. John will go on to represent Business Breakfast at the Area Contest on the 18th August. Please join me in congratulating John on his achievement. It was a hard fought battle against worthy competitors, Mark, Norm and Warren. Runner up was Mark Waters with Pets-we love them. A big THANK YOU to the team that organized this contest - Tonia, Amanda, Leanne and Clive. 42 people attended this contest and we received numerous comments on the superb organisation of the contest, the venue and the high caliber of the speakers.



Tuesday 13th July, 2004

Good evening all.. Even though I was unable to attend this week's meeting, I am told that Warren (as Chair) masterminded an excellent session that included three challenging Table-topics inspired by the Story telling manual: 1) Tim had to explain how he was found at the airport wearing pyjamas 2) Tonia explained how she wouldn't be any good at selling insurance but would be an excellent social worker 3) Clive had to contend with a DEVICE party - apparently it's not the same as Tupperware!

Two formidable speeches were presented. An S8 from Alan entitled Post cards from America and how this inspired him to talk about the proliferation of plastic credit cards, their dangers and hints on what to avoid. Also an S9 from Rod How strong is your suck where he gave an expos of what to look for in buying a vacuum cleaner and offered up his personal experience in persuading us to investigate the Dyson - Phil is seriously interested as a result.

Congratulations to everyone who attended this week's meeting. We know that it's cold and dark but you know it's worth it in the end!



Tuesday 6th July, 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The winner of our Club Evaluation Speech contest for 2004 is Leanne Gibson, second place went to Warren and third place to John. A BIG THANK YOU to all the people who contributed to the successful running of the contest. With a special mention to the Contest Chair, Glen, who ran a showcase competition.



Tuesday 29th June, 2004

Fellow Toastmasters I would like to welcome Amanda Simpson to the BBC Club Honors List for the acquisition of her 2nd CTM today. Her speech Candy Floss was inspirational. She expressed her feelings, thoughts and beliefs about a topic dear to her heart - children. And in doing so, drove home the message about how important children are especially for showing us how to love and laugh. Please join me in congratulating Amanda for achieving such a fantastic outcome over 9 months!!!!

Alan (the Chair) ran a model meeting today. There was an action packed Table topics session with Henry making up excuses to policeman, Chris as Clive Woodward apologizing to the Queen, Glen as David Beckham explaining his part in the loss, Jayne as Helen Clarke justifying her expenditure on armored carriers, John was the mayor of Athens and promoted track and field events on a rugby field and finally the reigning champ (Phil) explained why he was not speaking to any Table Topic!!!

And then Tim did a thought provoking S2 called People. Did you know that there are 6.4 billion people in the world? And that in order to preserve traditional energy sources for future generations - we need to only use 5% of what we currently utilize.



Tuesday 22nd June, 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The winner of our Club International Speech contest for 2004 is John Woolston with his speech A Man Thinkth. John will go on to represent Business Breakfast at the Area Contest on the 2nd September. Please join me in congratulating John on his achievement. It was a hard fought battle against worthy competitors - Mark Waters with A Gift to a friend and Leanne Gibson with Class of 1980.

A BIG THANK YOU to the Contest Chair, Clive, who ran a professional competition. A number of the judges commented on the superb organisation of the contest and the high calibre of the speakers. Clive also treated us to an unusual TableTopics session centred on leadership. Through a variety of speakers, we found out the purpose (Tonia), the plan (Tim), the people (Mike) and the process (Henry) to follow in order to achieve greatness. And..Clive also made us all Snickernoodles for breakfast!!!



Tuesday 15th June, 2004

Hi all

What a great meeting Clive hosted today. As the General Evaluator (Glen) commented - Clive was a man of many talents today - Chair, Tabletopics Master, Propman and he also became a NZ citizen yesterday!!!

Everyone got to speak at today's meeting. We had a marathon Table Topics session where we had to do a past/present/future structure while practicing staging. The highlights were Alan Kirby talking about lifestyle in Scotland/England/NZ, Patrice discussing fitness ballet/karate/yoga pilates and John discussing his brothers together as kids/apart as young man/and now making time to be together in later life.

Tonia gave us an educational on the Toastmasters Promise. This can be found at this link http://www.toastmasters.org.nz/index.cfm/About_Us/Mission.html

NEXT WEEK IS THE INTERNATIONAL CONTEST. CLIVE IS THE CHAIR AND HE WILL SEND ANOTHER NOTE OUT. Can we ask for full attendance as this is the crme de le crme of the contests and we need an appreciative audience for our four contestants - John, Amanda, Leanne and Mark.



Tuesday 8th June, 2004

Ladies and Gentlemen, Boys and Girls.the winner of our Club Table Topics contest for the second year running is Phil Ruthven. Phil took out the title by telling us about his dream job when auditioning for a reality TV show - making and playing with toys (particularly lego and cars)!!! Henry came 2nd by telling the judges he wanted to be a coach and John took out 3rd place by stating he wanted to be a reality TV kids host.

This means Phil and Henry progress to the E2 Area competition to be hosted by our club on the 24th August.

I would like to congratulate Tonia on being an AMAZING chair today. The contest was AWESOME. The judges commented on the participation (9 contestants), the organisation, the energy and the morning tea.

I would also like to thank the 9 contestants today - you really made this competition special. I know we all enjoyed listening to the variety of dream jobs you described. I hope you all enjoyed the adrenalin thrill that only a contest can give.



Tuesday 1st June, 2004

Hi all

Today we celebrated an important achievement within the Club - Clive got his Advanced Toastmaster Bronze Award. He completed his 10 speeches with a moving tale from the Story Telling manual of The Great War (1914) entitled Going over the top. He transported all of us back through time to the moment before Dingles and Freddie took up their arms and went to fight in the battle that killed 100,000 men. As our current president - it was an inspiring speech, for a number of reasons:

- Clive has achieved his ATM Bronze in a very short time through being focused and committed to delivering quality Advanced speeches

- Clive has set the standard for the upcoming International Speech contest - which aims to encourage members to deliver significant/motivation speeches

- By the acquisition of his ATM Bronze - Clive has ensured that Business Breakfast Club will get 9 of the 10 Distinguished Club Program Goals, thus ensuring that we will get awarded President Distingished Club status for the 2003/2004 year.

Please join me in congratulating Clive on the acquisition of his ATM-Bronze and for the leadership he has displayed as our president.

He's back, he's better and he told us. Yes - Phil hasn't done a speech for over a year so he decided to entertain us with his S6 tale of a Russian wedding and how to obtain a Coca Cola.

On top of those 2 fabulous speeches - Tim set some challenging Tabletopics today. Denise (our guest) - explained why the Budget should have included free haircuts to all NZ citizens. Peter Barlow (our guest) - told us why he thought the new proposed rugby league team (The Southern Orcas) was a bad idea. Mark shared his views off NZ music week with us - (there were gasps from the audience when he admitted to having an LP collection!!!)

Next week - we have our Club Tabletopics contest. Tonia will be sending out a separate note detailing competitors and helpers. Please come along and support those people who are competing. Its no fun without an audience!!!



Tuesday 18th May, 2004

Its all good.thanks to an excellent meeting chaired by Phil.

He managed to fit 3 Tabletopics, 2 CTM and 1 ATM speech, general business and morning tea into 70minutes!!!!

Woolly did an amazing job today with Table Topics. He got the club to focus on using a structure of past, present and future. Then Lewis discussed CDs, Glen reviewed energy drinks and Henry pondered the usefulness of neck-ties.

Amanda then had us spell-bound with her S8 called Postcards to All You Fabulous People!!!!

Alan gave us a different slant on Saddam's rise to power in his S7.

Mark dressed us all up in Cat-in-the-Hat attire and then entertained us with an advanced speech from the Storytelling manual.



Tuesday 4th May, 2004

Ladies and Gentleman.I am pleased to announce that we had a successful AGM today and have elected a new committee for the 2004/2005 Club Year. The new committee is:

President- Henry, CTM VP Education - Leanne, ATM Silver, CL VP Membership - Tonia, CTM VP Public Relations - Amanda, CTM Treasurer - Glen, CTM Secretary - Roelien Colonel at Arms - Alan K

The new committee starts their term on the 1st July 2004. A big thank you - to all the club members for a great turnout on such a dark, rainy morning. We also had two great speeches this morning. Norm completed his s4 entitled Little Red Bantam and gave us an insight into why he is so passionate about motorcycles. Roelien gave an emotionally charged S5 called Home is where the heart is. It was a heartfelt speech about her feelings for her homeland South Africa.



Tuesday 27th April, 2004

Hi Toastmasters Today Jayne (the Chair) poppy-ulated the meeting with an ANZAC theme. She started the session by leading us all in a rousing rendition of the NZ national anthem, she then provided interesting ANZAC trivia as bridging between speeches and gave us ANZAC biscuits for morning tea. And the quote in the agenda was a suitable tribute to those men that gave their lives for our country.They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old: Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning - We will remember them.

Tabletopics proved challenging and entertaining (thanks to Tonia the Tabletopics Master) Phil explained the benefits of buying a day-glow pink car (something about being safe!!!) John tried to convince the audience that beige was a much better colour for a house than day-glow orange. And Rod explained the concept of environmental clarity to us - which was another description of luminous green!!!

We then had three very different and interesting speeches

Mark's S2 entitled Save the Students gave a personal insight into the impact of Student Loans Roelien's S3 entitled The Silent Killer was a though provoking piece on psychological abuse Amanda's S7 called Bounce or Blame challenged us to question the way we handle set-backs in our lives.

Next weekits AGM time. So come along prepared to hear about your Committee's efforts over the last 12 months and vote in a new Committee.



Tuesday 20th April, 2004

Hi all

Today was a TALKFEST packed with 3 prepared speeches and an educational. Glen (the Chair), did an awesome job at keeping the meeting moving at a cracking pace (and he even threw in a quiz along the way)!!

Alan was first off the blocks today with his s6 entitled Heroes and Villains.

Close on his heels was Rod with an s8 on all you ever need to know about data-storage tapes.

And last but not least was Henry's Advanced speech on Gandi.

Tonia tied it all together with a very enlightening session on mentoring.



Tuesday 13th April, 2004

Happy Easter everyone.

A big thank you, to all those that braved the weather today to attend this morning's meeting. It was well worth it!!!

John the Chair had a jam-packed agenda. The Tabletopics session by Roelien focused on current events. This gave Glen the opportunity to share his views on feminism with us. Leanne gave examples of where political correctness had got extreme in NZ. And Henry held us enthralled with his diatribe regarding sensationalism and the media.

Then we had an Ice Breaker from Tim. He told us about the three things that have helped shaped his personality and traits - the outdoors, education and his friends and family. An awesome Icebreaker - can't wait to hear more.

Amanda then took us from Point A to Point B with her S6 speech. In it, she explained her reasons for not holding a current drivers license and had us all in stitches with her views of other drivers (especially those with Weetbix licenses).

Then Clive gave us the crme'de'le crme of after-dinner speeches. He had his audience is stitches with a tale about an evil communications consultant who wanted $1500 to teach people to speak in just 5 days. This evil consultant insulted Toastmasters, so Clive personally took him on and put him in his place. Go Clive.



Tuesday 6th April, 2004

Mark (The Chair) said PARTY was the theme of the meeting and PARTY we did!!! We had a HUGE turnout today and were all eligible for a party treat - CHOCOLATES compliments of Mark. It was the best meeting of the year so far and to quote a number of club members - IT ROCKED.

Tonia (The Table Topics Master) got Chris, Tom and John to tell us of memorable parties they have either had (or wanted)!!!

Chris reminisced about his last 0-birthday in Kenya.

Tom dreamed of wearing a toga at his 21st party in a town-hall

And John wanted to take 50 of his nearest and dearest friends to party on the International Dateline for New Years Eve.

Then we were treated to a real TALKFEST.

Jayne's S4 was about Change. She shared the secrets of a managing a change event successfully in a business environment.

Lewis' S5 was about his most embarrassing moment - which was in a supermarket in Waitara.

And we have another Competent Toast Master for our club - Glen Houlihan. Glen completed his CTM today with an outstanding S10. His speech reviewed his progress through the 10 speeches over the last 19 months and the discoveries he has made over that time about himself and others. Well done Glen - an awesome achievement!!!

This now makes a total of 9 CTMS, (Including 3 CLs) and 2 ATMs for BBC.



Tuesday 30th March, 2004

ENTHUSIASM - that was the tone of the meeting set by our Chair (Henry) today and enthusiasm was what he got.

Amanda (the Table topics Master) ran a recruitment drive for a night-porter. She assembled 6 likely candidates and then proceeded to drill them with questions they might encounter at an actual interview. The result was that Henry got the job for his enthusiasm and his desire to mix'n'mingle with the in-crowd.

Then we had two astonishing speeches.

Mike did his Ice Breaker. He started off by telling us all the excuses that he had given Henry in order not to speak. He then blitzed the audience with the tale of his life and the reasons that had driven him to enroll at Toastmasters. Wow. And Roelien followed that speech up with her S3 entitled Not a simple life. Her point was simple. Women are expected to be super-human these days - have a career, raise a family, socialize, study and contribute to the community. She posed the question - that maybe it was a simpler, better life when society supported and encouraged mothers to stay at home with their children. Food for thought!!



Tuesday 23rd March, 2004

Chock-a-block!!! That describes this morning's meeting. Speaking opportunities abounded.

Chris (The Chair) dished up a jam-packed agenda.

Alan Townsend (The Table-topics Master) served up famous slogans for club members to build an advertisement around.

Tim - Made himself heard

Glen - Coloured his world

Phil - Did Something Different in his own inimitable style

Then Mark wowed the audience with his Ice Breaker entitled I survived. Like a cat, Mark has managed to get himself out of some interesting situations and gave us all a great insight into his life.

For his S3, Norm told us of some of the special times he has shared with his son.

And John presented Chris with an award for Leanne for Toastmaster of the year. This was as part of his Advanced speech manual and he even provided a professionally produced certificate to mark the occasion.

On top of all that - the Chair still managed to fit in a houli and finished close to time.



Tuesday 16th March, 2004

Visual this.a dark morning, very early, a warm, friendly room filled with eager Toastmasters ready to launch themselves into speeches. And that's what the Chair (Blair) challenged us to do today.visualisation!!!!

Lewis led the way by prompting members to share their first-time experiences with us. Clive told us about his first date (literally). He remembers spitting it out and asking for a banana!!!! Mark enthralled us with the first time he drove a car over the Rimutakas (at the age of 11)!!!Glen took us through his first-birthing experience and painted a vivid picture of the moment.

Then we were treated to 3 excellent speeches

Alan's Ice Breaker - which was a fantastic expose of the similarities/differences of our life and bacteria in a fridge!!!

Amanda's S5 entitled - Nightmare on Coronation Street. She showed us a slice of life in an English pub.

Henry's Advanced Storytelling speech - which focused on the themes of life and death. I think it made a lot of us think long and hard about the way we are living our own lives,



Tuesday 9th March, 2004

SAY WHAT!

Rod (The Table Topics Master) made club members work hard today by asking them to explain well known sayings (like Catch-22 and flash-in-the pan). SAY WHAT!!

Then Lewis gave his S4 on the topic of Twisted Testicles - an interesting health topic aimed at the gentlemen in the audience.

SAY WHAT!!!

And Alan shared a moment of truth with us (in his S5) relating to the heart attack he experienced and the subsequent motivation he found for life. This culminated in him running the Kepler Challenge 3 times!!!

SAY WHAT!!!!



Tuesday 24th February, 2004

Hi all - I hear that last week's meeting was a CRACKER Andrew (the chair) had a packed agenda and set a WEATHER theme. Jayne continued the theme into the table topics and challenged 4 club members (and 1 guest!) to test their mental agility and thinking on their feet.

Norm spent some time sharing with the group on how it was him that came up with the song rain drops keep falling on my head.

John The Weather God then shared the many woes, trials and tribulations of being a weather god - we never knew a heavenly call centre could be so useful!!!

Lewis scared many of the audience as he painted an image of him frolicking nude on a perfect sunny day.

Glen then took us through his 'gumboot' story and promised to continue this at a later meeting - time permitting.

Matthew (our guest from a Hutt Valley toastmasters club) proceeded to preach the value of wind power and how we too should endorse this weather harnessing technology.

Kim presented a wonderful S4 speech about her in-flight experience and the passenger who laughed first, but certainly did not laugh last. Next on the agenda was.

Craig who completed his S7 speech with a very sombre message about the true pests of New Zealand's wildlife and how the laws need to be reviewed.

In the general business section, Glen reminded everyone that club subs (to Toastmasters International) were due in Mach. And that these will be invoiced next week. Prompt payment is certainly appreciated.

Andrew closed the meeting with some great advice google is your friend



Tuesday 17th February, 2004

SURPRISE!!!

And that's what today's meeting was full of.

Alan (The Chair) had packed the agenda with an interesting assortment of speakers and speeches.

Mark got the session off to a surprising start by removing his upper clothing as part of his Table Topic. He seemed to think that showing his chest to a Traffic Officer might get him off a speeding fine!!!

Then Andrew shared a cunning plan with us for his s5. This involved taking a shortcut off a track in order to get back to base-camp faster. I'm sure you can guess the outcome for yourself.

Rod followed this with an S7 speech entitled Divided we stand and offered us some thought provoking questions about unity in NZ. And then there was the LION DANCE. Henry entranced the audience with his tale of how a village united their skills to frighten off an ugly ogre. This tale involved a traditional Chinese Lion troop, musical instruments and full participation in chanting LION-LION from the club members. A really rowdy start to a Tuesday morning.



Tuesday 10th February, 2004

Hello Toasties

Most people would be phased by the absence of speakers but being outside your comfort zone and handling the experience is what Toastmasters is all about - Glen pulled together a well structured and talkative meeting supported by Philip as TableTopics Master and Amanda with an amazing 10 minute Table topics evaluation with a twist - inviting Toasties to comment on what they found to be a commendation or to make a recommendation on their speech.

The theme for Table Topics was Top Tens

Everyone who didn't have a role was given the opportunity to speak from Clive singing only you as a top ten reason why he wasn't selected as NZ Idol to Andrew explaining the top ten reasons how he now knows how not to get murdered by watching teen movies.



Tuesday 27th January, 2004

WELCOME BACK EVERYONE

Happy 2004!!!!

Clive (The Chair) hosted a GREAT first meeting today. Clive thought that everyone might be a bit rusty after the Christmas Break so he arranged a major Table Topics session. Jayne (a first time Table Topics Master) really made our members work hard. She introduced the TV One News and then proceeded to call reporters up to broadcast the latest and greatest news headlines. Needless to say, we were treated to a Girl Guide riot at a jamboree in Rotorua, a new species of dog - called a LABRADOODLE, a great new gadget (called an Orgastronic) and much, much more. The session was so popular; I think we'll have to make it a regular feature.

Then Amanda treated us to the first prepared speech of the year - an S4 called Move over Erin Baker. Amanda had us in hysterics recounting her 2002 New Year's Resolution to compete in a triathlon. Then to top it all off - Glen and Henry performed a dual Table Topics Evaluation - something I have never seen before. It was a class act.

And the truly GREAT thing about today's meeting was the energy and creativity that members added to the meeting. Let's have more of it for 2004.