Relive the Moments – Grosvenor Toastmasters Meeting September 26, 2012
Last Wednesday we held our annual Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest. It was a night filled with laughter, fun, and good story-telling.
I (Noelle Hamersley) was the Contest Chair. The theme for the night was "i5 vs. S3 – war of worlds" an epic battle between two tech giants, Apple and Samsung (aka Google). The fierce competition for smartphone world domination got the competitive juices of our contestants flowing – but hopefully without the billion dollar patent lawsuits.
Club President, Geoff Smith, started off the night by giving us some very helpful, funny tips on how to give a humorous speech.
Ralph Czychun, who was the Chief Judge, also led a warm up round of Table Topics, asking the audience to share their views on cell phones and technology.
Table Topics Contest.
We had six (!) contestants, including three brand new members who bravely volunteered last minute to enter their very first contest. The contestants were asked: if you knew you were going to die tomorrow, how would you spend your last 24 hours here on earth?
The contestants were Kendrick Doll, Clive Hannah, Prasad, Michael Ilyasov, Biswajit Das, and Jefferson Mesidor.
Each provided their own unique, humorous, and insightful response to the question.
Humorous Speech Contest
The first contestant was Jefferson Mesidor. In his speech, "How Ridiculous", Jefferson shared the five most ridiculous stereotypes that people have about each other. Stereotypes include the belief that all Canadians love hockey (true!), all Asians know kung-fu, black people love fried chicken, and white men can’t dance. Jefferson’s speech also left us with an important message that underneath surface differences, people are basically the same.
In his speech, "Everyone Loves Beer", Biswajit Das told us how he contributed to the delinquency of a minor by giving a six year old beer. While looking after his young nephew Bis had a beer (the little one had milk). When Bis was not looking, the nephew helped himself to Bis’s beer. Pleading and a $500 bribe not to tell his mother did not work; and Bis’s reputation as a corruptor of children lives on today.
And finally, Prasad in a speech titled, "I.D.", questioned whether he should rely on Idiot Guides or Books for Dummies to change the way Toastmasters should be. Why not use "sex" to sell Toastmasters? Change Table Topics to Table Dancing, and change Toastmasters to Hot Lips. And according to Prasad, we should not shy away from talking about religion and political incorrectness to re-make Toastmasters into something brand new.
The Judging Results
The results of the judging were:
Table Topics Contest: #1 Prasad, #2 Biswajit Das, #3 Jefferson Mesidor
Humorous Speech Contest: #1 Biswajit Das
Congratulations to Bis and Prasad! They will represent Grosvenor Toastmasters at the Area Contest, which is being held on October 10, 2012. Unfortunately the Area Contest falls on our next regular meeting date. If you do choose to go to the Area Contest, Bis and Prasad would greatly appreciate seeing friendly faces in the crowd. For those of us who will attend our regular meeting, we will be there in spirit supporting them all the way.
Also, a hearty congratulations to all our contestants! It is a big, nerve wracking step to compete in a club contest, especially for Kendrick, Michael, and Clive who competed in their very first toastmasters contest ever.
Thank you to all our contest helpers: Ralph Czychun (Chief Judge), Geoff Smith (for his introductory remarks), Naomi Hamersley and Wayne O’Brien (Timers). Smruti Das was the Ballot Counter, and Homoyoun Sadigpour was the Sergeant at Arms.
Another bonus for Grosvenor Toastmasters? Our Area Governor, Don McKellar, was on hand to present our club with a beautiful banner in honour of our 11 years of being a President’s Distinguished Club! See the picture of a smiling Geoff receiving the banner.
And please give a warm welcome our newest guest-turned-member who joined at last week’s meeting: Anum Khawar!
Until next week,
Noelle Hamersley
Club Secretary
Grosvenor Toastmasters
Grosvenor Toastmasters 