Review of Meeting #945 – March 28, 2012
Overview:
Theme: Spring Fling
The room was packed with 30 members and guests. It is always a pleasure to see so many familiar AND new faces!
Prasad presented a toast to Mark Twain – a remarkable adventurer and story teller, who earned his pen name by studying 2000 miles of the Mississippi river for his steamboat pilot’s license, had an honorary membership in the secret society of scroll & key at Yale University and was a close friend of the inventor Nikola Tesla.
Let the Spring Fling set you on a journey of adventure! And as Mark Twain said ‘ Do the thing you fear most and the death of fear is certain!’
Geoff Smith had us cracking up with his creative Table Topics – with a selection of two words that needed to be used in conjunction with Spring Fling. Our guest Franco’s musings on ‘Hunting Easter Eggs’ or our member Homayoun’s repartee about who he saw with Geoff at the Florida beach had us all chuckling!
Homayoun graced us as our GE extraordinaire and did a splendid job!
The unofficial portion of the meeting continued at the Fox and Fiddle pub. Everyone is welcome to attend this portion of the meeting.
Congratulations to the Head Table
Toastmaster: Prasad
Table Topics Master: Geoff Smith
General Evaluator: Homayoun Sadighpour
The Speeches
Biswajit Das (Competition Speech, 5 – 7 mins)
“No is not an option”
Biswajit spoke about trying out bungee jumping to impress a girl, though he had a fear of heights. The life changing moment occured when he almost chickened out from taking the leap, until the guide/instructor at the site advised him that no matter what choice he made in life he must learn to live with it. This struck a chord with Biswajit and he took a leap of faith to bungee jump — the act setting him free from fear and making him fall in love! (with the girl, not bungee jumping). The speech was full of positive energy and laughs.
His speech was evaluated by Round Robin.
Tony Digba (Competition Speech, 5 – 7 minutes)
“Why Not”
Tony talked about transitional life experience and challenges – when he moved from the UK to Nigeria and back to the UK, and how he found the inner strength to overcome any obstacles in his path. Filled with humor and emotion, Tony’s speech touched all of us since we too face such blocks in everyday life and he inspired us to follow our heart and believe in ourselves through this life journey
His speech was evaluated by Round Robin.
Roman Loza (Project #5 from the Competent Communicator Manual, 5 – 7 minutes)
“Childhood dream come true”
Roman took us on a road trip from Toronto to Pittsburgh- his first foray into America- a land he had only dreamed of visiting in his childhood. Along the way he highlighted his encounter with border agents, navigation systems, backroads, ‘are we there yet’ syndrome until he and his friends arrived in Pittsburgh (a choice made at random, though Roman had us laughing when he acknowledged that it perhaps is not America’s best known city) and partook in what the city had to offer.
His speech was evaluated by Ralph Czychun.
Andrew Mathange (Project #3 from the Competent Communicator Manual, 5 – 7 minutes)
“Stop Thinking!”
Andrew made us think when he asked us to stop thinking! In his inspiring speech, Andrew quoted Ken Robinson who said that the educational system is burying creativity and forcing us to use the body from the neck and above. He shared stories from his personal experience as well as others (the kid in the classroom that could draw god) that related to his message. Andrew also highlighted the need to learn to embrace our mistakes instead of faulting ourselves about them. His message was to
- Feel from the gut
- Stop thinking
- Re-learn to make mistakes.
His speech was evaluated by Noelle Hamersley.
And Finally
Our club members Tony Digba and Biswajit Das will be competing at the District Level in the International Speech and Evaluation contest. For more details about the District 60 spring conference / contest (Apr 18 – Apr 20), please go to http://www.toastmasters60.org
Important Info
April 2012 is Grosvenor Toastmasters 45th year celebration. Our meeting dates are Wed, Apr 11 and Wed, Apr 25. RSVP is must for guests / alumni. Please RSVP through the link http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/NC7K6G8
This meeting summary is also available at https://grosvenortoastmasters.com/memories
Do you have any comments, corrections or suggestions about RELIVE THE MEMORIES, please let me know.
Prasad, Past President, Grosvenor Toastmasters
Grosvenor Toastmasters 