Lowdown – 23rd of July 2008 meeting
Howzit Toastmasters!
Theme
Wednesday night’s meeting was truly “lekker” with its own special South African flavour. We opened the evening with the sharing of our favourite colloquialisms and some of the Toastmasters really had us giggling with their descriptions of our amusing local lingo. Some of which included the term “clutchplate” which is apparently the name given to some of the residents who live on the other side of the “boerewors curtain”. Another one we all are using quite frequently these days is the word “eish” in order to express our displeasure at the rising fuel prices and interest rates. There are those of us who have had the experience of baffling an Englishman over the use of our phrase “see you just now” which is understood by us as “see you soon” but on closer inspection really sounds more like “see you this instant”. What a strange bunch we are!
At the start of the meeting
Richard Riche, our toastmaster for the evening, provided us with some of his favourite uniquely South African additions to the English language. The words “bra” or “bru” refer to a male friend. If someone is behaving unfashionably we may refer to that person as a “chop”. Take care not to confuse the locals if you are overseas by referring to your swimming attire as your “cosy”, and if these locals tell you an interesting story, you may get a confused look if you respond with the words, “Is it?”
It was great to have our president, Andrew Timberlake, back with us after a month long sojourn in London with his family. Nice to have you back, Andrew!
Flicka Steenberg, our grammarian for the evening, provided us with an exceptionally interesting word which I doubt many of us had ever heard before. The word is “Coprophile” which means fossilized dinosaur excrement. Other variations of this word are “Coprophilial” and “Coprophiliac”.
Sharad’s first speech!
Our first brave prepared speaker for the evening was Sharad Mistry who shared his life story with us in his CC1 titled “How Times Have Changed”. Sharad grew up in the small town of Lenasia in Johannesburg South. He told us what it was like to live in a house with six other family members and only one bathroom! The challenges of high school, the joy of arcade games and the rat race of the IT industry have all played a significant part in his journey. He reminds us to slow down and live for today. This was an excellent CC1 indeed.
Isobel on Weddings and Funerals
Isobel Joubert presented a meaningful CC3 entitled “Weddings and Funerals” about the importance of making time for our extended families in our busy lifestyles. She gave us a thorough game plan of exactly how to go about creating a memorable occasion that enables all family members to feel part of the day. She reminds us that we really shouldn’t wait until a wedding or a funeral in order to reconnect with our families!
Kendal Hunt on the Law of Attraction
Kendal Hunt certainly got our attention with her CC5 entitled “The Law of Attraction”. An ancient “Secret” is revealed to a disappointed housewife and as a result her life is changed dramatically. She discovers that her thoughts actually create her reality and by a change of mindset she can attract good things to herself. When asking the universe for
her desires and believing that she has already received them, a powerful frequency is emitted and her desires are manifested.
Danie Roux on Self-Deception
Danie Roux presented a serious CC8 and had us all captivated. His speech entitled “Self Deception” taught us an important lesson in honoring oneself as well as others in order to build stronger relationships. We should help others freely and willingly instead of sitting back and believing that it is our right to receive, which only results in creating a “box” of self deception.
Graham Nicholls on Audacity
Our final prepared speaker for the evening, Graham Nicholls, provided us with some very practical and useful information in his ACS7 titled “Toastmasters and a Little Technology”. Graham demonstrates how we can use a simple digital recorder in order to rehearse our speeches and to record our speech ideas while we are driving. Alternatively, download the free software “Audacity” from the net to enable you to record and edit your next speech. What a great idea!
Table Topics
Richard Riche involved us all in the formation of some very creative Table Topics:
Graham Nicholls – Reik Neethling in an abattoir who clicks his pen a lot
Danie Roux – A proctologist in a cemetery who refuses to ask for directions
Karen Geyser – Nelson Mandela in Alaska who snores
Christa Roux – A toilet cleaner in Jacob Zuma’s office with a negative attitude
Courtnall Machanick – A professional bokdrol spitter at a buffet eating with mouth open
Kendal Hunt – An accountant in a bar who keeps touching the pc screen
Flicka Steenberg – An animal artificial inseminator in Jacob Zuma’s office
Our very thorough evaluators provided the speakers with valuable feedback:
Evaluation Session
Kirsten Long evaluated Sharad Mistry’s speech
Andrew Timberlake evaluated Isobel Joubert’s and Kendal Hunt’s speech
Kirsten Long evaluated Danie Roux’s speech
Sue Munro evaluated Graham Nicholls speech
Christa Roux kept track of the time taken by the prepared and impromptu speakers as well as the evaluators.
General Tips
Sue Munro gave us some useful general tips to remember for our next speech:
If you are speaking use and own your space and stand back so you can easily see everyone in the room. Also, dress one up from the audience in order to acquire authority and gain credibility.
Hark Master
Christa Roux, our Hark Master, caught some of us out with her questions:
What was Richard’s South Africanism?
How does one stay “out of the box”, according to Danie?
What did Ronda call the “Law of Attraction”, in Kendal’s speech?
Message from the District Governor
Graham Nicholls, our District Governor, had a message for us:
We are a “President’s Distinguished Club” (second year in a row), which puts us in the top band of clubs in the world! The use of our CL manual is crucial to obtaining this status again. We are awesome!
On a Point
Kendall Hunt made a special point of acknowledging the committee members for their fantastic effort in keeping our club running as smoothly as it does!
Wishing you all a weekend of braaivleis and beer to the tunes of Kurt Darren! See you all at the Humorous Contest on the 4th August!
Karen Geyser
4th Dimension Toastmasters
Public Relations Committee Member
Meeting Monday 7 July
A NEW BOARD, NEW GOALS, STUNNING SPEECHES, NEW IDEAS
Ten words that sum up the 4th Dimension Toastmasters Meeting on Monday 7 July 2008.
EVENING THEME : GOALS
The absence of our President and Treasurer challenged Kirsten Long, to stand in as both President and Treasurer, but also enabled her, as VP for Education, to take the first step towards achieving her goals for the year by challenging us the members to set our goals.
Members were asked to tell us about the goals they had achieved, very inspirational until Sibu said she wasn’t into goals, many of us probably secretly agree with her!
Kirsten made a significant contribution towards helping everyone achieve their Toastmaster Goals by circulating the meeting schedule for the year and asking members to confirm the dates, she had inserted, for CC speeches. She also explained the CL programme and gave out a schedule to help us all complete the leadership programme.
THE TOAST IS TOAST
In her Toast Karen Geyer presented a fascinating history of the origin of “The Toast”. It literally started because Romans dipped charred bread into their wine to reduce the acidity, later it became customary for the king to take the first sip to prove the wine wasn’t poisoned.
THE SPEAKERS
David Black
David fascinated us with his CC1 titled “Dates and Two Continents”. He highlighted the key dates in his life spent moving from his birthplace, Glasgow, at the tip of Northern Europe to living and working in many countries in Africa.
His parents mixed marriage, a Catholic married to a Protestant living in Scotland, strongly influenced his education but may also account for him carrying on the tradition of mixed marriages by marrying a Greek, which ensured he was a player in his own Big Fat Greek wedding and now, in Christian name at least, has two Greek Children.
His work proved as mixed, an engineer by profession, saw him arrive in South Africa, but later employment as Business Development Manager for MTN ensured he worked in a fascinating range of countries to the North of us.
We listened spellbound and really felt we got to know this man who hadn’t lost the accent from his country of birth, despite the many intervening dates he quoted.
Jaco Strydom
Jaco’s CC2 Speech, entitled “The Right Mind” revealed three sides to Jaco, firstly he is already an excellent public speaker, secondly a golfing fanatic and thirdly his secret for success, which applies as equally to a our lives as it does to his game of golf.
His opening “Think like a man of action, act like a man of thought” caught our attention, which he held with his step 4 formula for success namely:
- A positive mental attitude
- Visualise what your want to achieve / where you want to be
- Focus on what you want to achieve – do not be distracted
- Follow through on your commitment
He illustrated this, even for non-golf addicts, with wonderful pictorial examples from the game of golf and the experiences of world class golfers.
Christa Roux
Knowing Christa and her quirky sense of humour we should have been alerted to the fact that her speech titled “Of Men and Dogs” would compare and contrast the benefits for women of dogs over men!
She had us hooked from the first sentence a “Dog is a man’s best friend but Diamonds are …”
Examples of similarities – men and dogs are both grumpy when sick, they are both territorial and want to impose their dominance
One of the differences is that dogs can be trained but this doesn’t work with men!
We are persuading Christa to repeat this speech at our humorous speech contest, so I will say no more but suggest you come on 4th August to learn her philosophy that “if you have to choose between a man or a puppy, the puppy is more fun!”
TABLE TOPICS
Isobel Joubert presented 6 thought provoking goals orientated topics:
| David Black | Dreams – your magnet to success |
| Kirsten Long | If you fail to plan you plan to fail |
| Matthew Hindley | You get what you are prepared to settle for |
| Jaco Strydom | Only 20 % of tasks give you 80% of value |
| Sibu Mntambo | Your focus determines your outcome or destination |
| Barbara Poultney | Is your dream a burning desire |
| Sue-Anne Joe | Is what your are doing now giving you what you want |
These speeches highlighted the positives and negatives of each topic for example would Martin Luther King’s dream be reincarnated in Obama?
Sometimes factors outside your control prevent success despite all your planning.
Confidence is the key to ensure you get what you deserve, not what you are prepared to settle for.
Apply the 80:20 rule by ensuring you fish where the fish are!
Sibu made us remember that we are all human and despite the later remorse sometimes we just need to opt out!
Passion for what we want will ensure we achieve more than we could have dreamed was possible if we didn’t have that passion.
Sue-Ann, our timekeeper, who isn’t even a member yet, concluded that yes what she was doing would ensure she got what she wanted.
EVALUATIONS
The evaluation team of Danie Roux and David Hardingham, headed by Richard Riche, provided sound developmental feedback to all our speakers.
GRAMMARIAN
Sibu’s word for the night was circumspection, used 5 times but interpreted as weighing up the pros and cons before making an informed decision
She provided sound feedback on our errors of grammar and told us that there had been 47 “Um’s” BUT almost 50% came from just one member, I didn’t catch but would love to know the name of this prolific Um’er!
TIME KEEPER
Sue-Ann Joe was an efficient timekeeper.
HARK MASTER
Danie aimed to increase club funds by requesting silver of bronze coins for those of us who hadn’t listened or remembered the events of the evening to his satisfaction. A real challenge, but most were forewarned and ensured they had no coins to hand!
THE RAFFLE
Won by Christa who must now ensure she brings next month’s prize.
ON A POINT
Contests
Coralie asked the meeting to diarise the humorous speech contest on 4August and to please take part.
She also asked that every member take part at Club level in at least one of the following contests the Prepared Speech, Impromptu Speech and Evaluation Contests, scheduled during the first quarter of 2009 .
Life After CC10
Members were urged to move on after their CC10 to the challenging Toastmaster assignment still ahead
Your VPPR apologises to all our speakers and participants for any poetic license that she may have taken, but correctly interpreting all that was said, while focusing on the assignment of Toastmaster was a little mind blowing!
Lowdown – 18th of June 2008 meeting
Tonight’s meeting was an exciting one! We had visitors from Rivonia Toastmasters (more on that later), two ACB speeches, handshake demonstrations and an educational.
Tiaan Otto delivered the toast of the night. Tiaan started of unintelligibly, advanced to pure silliness and ended up with a solemn toast to: Words. Tiaan brought it to our attention that at some stage thousands of years ago, there were no words. Tiaan then told us about new words that are created every day. We were in stitches with phrases like “the pen is mightier than the sword and a lot shorter” and “the tongue is the mightiest of them all, and a lot wetter”. Tiaan then made the toast to Words, which allow us all to communicate.
David Hardingham was our toastmaster for the night. The theme was “The Handshake”. David informed us about the different handshakes used in cultures all over the world. It included a demonstration of the “gangsta handshake”. The gangsta handshake ends in a body slam of sorts. David unwisely asked Richard Riche to help him demonstrate the gangsta handshake. We all heard crunching noises when Richard’s shoulder connected with David’s!
The first speech of the evening was a CC7 speech by our incoming president, Andrew Timberlake. The speech was evaluated by Danie Roux. Andrew’s speech was very relevant to all of us today. Andrew’s topic was “Hacking your sleep”. Andrew researched optimal sleep and told us all how to “hack our sleep” to be better rested. According to Andrew’s research, we should have a regular time for waking up, take naps that are 30 to 45 minutes long and get up when our alarm goes off. Andrew also told us about a weird alternative to the normal sleeping pattern, called polyphasic sleep.
The next speaker for the evening was Richard Riche. Richard’s speech was evaluated by Roy Kfir, who was a guest from Morningside Toastmasters. Richard did the 3rd assignment from the ACB Storytelling manual. The topic of Richard’s speech was “Slow Poison”. Richard told us the story about Li-Li and her insufferable mother-and-law. We were all convinced that Li-Li would manage to kill her mother-in-law as she sets out to do. In a surprising twist Li-Li learns to love her mother-in-law through her efforts to kill her. Richard then left us with this life lesson: The slow poison is within us, not in the circumstances we find ourselves in.
Our final speech for the evening was delivered by our incoming Vice-President of Education, Kirsten Long. This speech was Kirsten’s final speech in the ACB Storytelling manual.
Congratulations to our newest ACB!
Kirsten’s speech was entitled “The Ugly Hand of Nature”. The speech was evaluated by Keryn House who was visiting from Rivonia Toastmasters. Kirsten had us all move our chairs and huddle around her as she told us the story. Some members even sat on the ground, reminiscent of story time at the crèche.
Kirsten started by painting an idyllic picture of a guy called Luke on a picturesque holiday. We were all swept up by the visual pictures of Luke lazing on the beach. From that high, Kirsten then crashed all our happy thoughts with a 10m wave of destruction. For the rest of the speech we felt the pain of the Tsunami victims and we got a glimpse of how difficult the 36 hours after the wave were. Kirsten ended with this thought: The Tsunami left a scab in Luke’s heart, but with the connections he made that day, hope and love lived on in his heart forever.
Erich Viedge then led an educational session on the different roles that are present in a Toastmaster club. We identified roles that we ought to have and some roles that we could consider. Erich was as always very entertaining and we learnt a lot from this session.
The Table Topics were run by Christa Roux. Christa gave each speaker a song title from the 80′s. This led to some entertaining and creative speeches. David Black had everyone convinced that Sting got his name from wearing a yellow and black striped shirt on the music video of “don’t stand so close to me”!
A big thank you to everyone else involved in the meeting. David Black our sergeant, Tayengwa Masawi our grammarian for the evening and Karen Geyser our timekeeper.
Finally, George has been raided from our club! “George the travelling Gavel” was nabbed by Kathy Kay, Steve Stevenson, Trina McKinley and Keryn House from Rivonia Toastmasters. We did not give them a free raid. We asked Trina to do a quick general evaluation and Keryn was asked to lead the evaluation session and evaluate Kirsten’s speech. However, George sensed that something was going to happen and is currently AWOL. We are confident that he will soon be in the hands of Rivonia Toastmasters, so that we can bring him “home” again!
The visitors gave us some very positive feedback about how to run our meetings and gave us some tips on to to become an even better club. Andrew took back the reigns of the meeting and concluded with ‘On a Point. Our next meeting will be on the 7 July and we look forward to seeing everyone there!
If you do not understand anything about this whole George business, go read up on it at the District 74 website.