Jotter 940 Mar6, 2018
18 attended including 3 guests.
Overall.
Three speeches were delivered clearly and confidently without microphones or notes. John had 8 interesting Table Topics prepared. Respect to Mark, a guest on his very first visit, who when thrown the topic ”Who do you compare yourself to?”, stood up and spoke very creditably for nearly a minute. Another guest, Lachie, served as Um Ah Counter (for his first time ever) and I suspect … um … learned a bit … ahh … about himself in the … um … process. Sympathetic chuckles around the room signalled that we’ve all been there.
Timing is improving.
James was our punctilious Timer and his record sheet – annotated in red ink! – told its story in one glance!
The good news is we finished on time at 9pm, having still enjoyed a 15 minute supper. This was thanks to members being ready to leap to their feet or up onto the stage to speak, and keeping their remarks brief. However, with one exception, the Evaluations (both Speech and General) went overtime, as did the VPE Remarks at the beginning and President Remarks at the end. (Sometimes there is more to say and then the program should allow for this).
If we all aim for conciseness, we allow the meeting to expand in other areas. So, for example, we allow the Toastmaster to be more creative, and all members to speak longer in Warm Up and Hats Off, and of courseTable Topics can be extended.
Pathways. Pulling ourselves up by the bootstraps!
In the Pathways system the club President, VPE and Secretary are the “Base Camp Managers”. However as VPE Base Camp Manager I feel a bit of a fraud. It’s as if I’m standing amongst the tents of base camp, peering through binoculars at a scattered line of solo climbers making their way up the snowy slopes. Narelle is in the lead, having completed 5% of Level1 (according to records), so when I’m asked how to do something online, all I can say, “Ask Narelle”. Anyway, one way or another, we’re getting there.
Next meeting: Mar20. Barbara is Guest VPE and the theme is “painters and paintings”.