A recap on the great fun in meeting #292

DreamBelieveAchieve! – Our very new member, Amr, kicked us off with a truly inspiring inspiration!


Tech Savvy Emma

Technology saved the day as Emma stepped in at the last minute as table topics master. A $10.95 Toastmaster App provided us with a host of random table topics and two of our newest members had a go at impromptu speaking.

Ming had to be an animal and she made the magnificent choice of being a Koala as they sleep for 20 hours, waking only to eat and they get to wear the best fur! Meanwhile Mathew had to choose a day of the week to do anything he wanted. Monday would be a day of rest, relaxation and detoxification. No family interruptions, no study just recovery from a big weekend in PJs.


Ming and Mathew answering TT question

4 great project speeches for the night:

  • First, we have Maksud to appeal to noble motives and inspire the audience! He shared with us his journey to becoming a competent toastmaster. Our very own Chandana offered encouragement and praise in his very first evaluation of Maksud’s utterly silent table topic. Surprised by such praise 92 meetings ago Maksud returned, found his voice and nailed project 10 from the CC Manual. An inspiring story and a valuable lesson for us all – to get the very best out of people give praise. We will all get more with honey than we do with vinegar!

Check out the map of NZ behind Lionel.
  • As always Lionel entertained us with exuberance and zeal in his CC2 Holidaying in NZ: Snow, Sea and Sulphur. He has missed his call in life and needs to be selling holiday packages to New Zealand! In a perfectly timed 7.01 minutes we were given a brief geography lesson and warned in advance he was not swearing but sharing a must visit location Whakapapa (pronounced phuck –a – papa). Using the entire stage we were shown the most stunning images on a Samsung tablet (not apple) and given a perfect succinct overview of just a handful of must see locations in stunning New Zealand!
  • Dennis ramped up the speed in his CC8 Flying on Wheels. Sharing with us his true passion for motor cycle riding, we learnt his choice of bike was a fast, lean road machine. We also learnt his choice of bike was not inspired by the speed or danger or freedom. Rather his ability to look cool and pull the chicks! Despite the fact it kills his back hunched in a perfect aerodynamic position one should never compromise comfort for style!
  • Julia proved to be a true expert on stainless steel cookware in her CC8 speech having been a purchasing officer for 6 years for global cookware company. Through the use of paper slides technical information was presented in a user friendly manner. We know now how to get more bang for our buck when it comes to purchasing cookware. Riveted handles are also a must over the spot welded variety. The entire audience were full pot on pots by the end of her riveting talk.


John answering TT question while Josh keeping an eye on the time

Near the end of the meeting, John had to buzz Josh as he went 51 seconds over in a wonderfully entertaining timing report. When passing comment on others going over time one needs to learn to lie about his own time on reporting!

Fabulous Meeting! To end this post, check out the highlight for the night:


Can you guess who is on the postie bike??

— Vanessa