Chatswood Early Risers Toastmasters

This week's meeting theme was FRIENDS, but another theme emerged in
the speeches - music!

The word of the day fitted in with the meeting theme, and presented by
Davida: BENEVOLENT (actively friendly and helpful; charitable). Many
people used the word in their speeches.

Julie gave us an entertaining story which involved the power of music
to relax and refocus. Did you know that Julie once played in a concert
band? Julie spoke about the ebb and flow of Pachelbel's Canon in D and
how she played this piece in her band.

Juma continued the musical theme and used his "Research your topic"
skills to inform us of the power of music for relaxation and learning.

Victor presented his second manual speech and spoken about organising
a volunteer day for tree-planing - a most benevolent activity.

Table Topics was run by Lucy who challenged us with questions about
qualities of friendships, personal attributes and resolving a damaged
friendship.

Next week's meeting theme is DREAMS.

Today is the 21st birthday of Chatswood Early Risers Toastmasters.
This morning we had a party to celebrate this auspicious occasion.

Jill proposed a toast to the club, followed by Jan (a charter member
of the club) cutting the cake and saying a few words.  Stephanie had
organised the cake and balloons.

Today was Marina's last day at the club as she is moving to the
Central Coast. Marina told us a blonde joke and said a few words
at the end of the meeting after we presented her with a farewell card.

We had three speakers this morning - Davida and Darin
gave their icebreaker speeches and Henry gave a Number 7 speech
on using research.

Davida's speech was titled "The Reluctant Toastmaster" and we heard
about her journey to becoming a member of the club.

Darin told us about his life journey inspired by Paulo Coelho's
allegorical story, The Alchemist.

Henry gave us some statistics and information about the Taxation
office, deductions and tax audits.

It was great to see two past members join us this morning for our
celebrations - Kim and Louis.

                     

Click here to download:

Our_clubs_21st_birthday_party_.zip (825 KB)

Reaching one’s 21st is regarded by many as a significant milestone.
Unlike the madness and mayhem of the 18th, the 21st is somewhat a
milder affair as 21 is normally associated with the term, ‘maturity’.

In our neighbouring country Fiji, one has to reach 21 before being
considered mature enough to vote, while in the US, the purchase of
alcohol is prohibited to anyone less than 21 years of age. As you can
see, the value some place on the digits 2 and 1 stuck together is
staggering.

Chatswood Early Risers turned 21 today. I asked a few of the older
members who have seen the club through its years to share with us some
of the highlights as well as lowlights, their views on how the club
has maturated since adolescence, plus their hopes for the future of
the club. Here is what they had to say...

“I believe the biggest challenge we faced in the early years of the
club, was the loss of our superb corporate (room with a fantastic
view) and free meeting venue. We came down to earth at the Dougherty
Centre where we have happily met every since.”

“Like all similar organisations, Early Risers may find it difficult
to recruit members for executive roles. Many members have extremely
busy lives and are reluctant to take on additional responsibilities.”

“I think the core culture of the club has matured but the nature of
the club keeps changing; a culture where 99% of members carry out what
they have been scheduled for. This gets passed down from the
experienced members to new members, while practices and ideas get
adapted and adopted with the result that the club is constantly
changing.”

“Our club is unique I think in that a lot of other clubs are more
corporate and stickler's for rules but although we do observe these we
have accommodated our own particular style of a relaxed, friendly
atmosphere.”

“My hope for the future is that we attract more young members!”

“I very much hope that our younger members will continue to take on
leadership roles to contribute not only to themselves but to the
greater good of the group as a whole.”

“I hope that our club becomes well known in the Chatswood area and an
important part of the community.”

As you can see from the responses, we newbies have big shoes to fill
as they have high hopes in us. In my next post, I will be profiling
some of the newer members of the club.

---

Article by Davida

Eileen has now achieved the educational award of Advanced Communicator
- Silver. She was presented with a Toastmasters cap at the meeting
this week.

Eileen completed the "Speaking to Inform" and the "Special Occasion
Speeches" manuals each containing 5 assignments. She also conducted
two programs from the Better Speakers Series, “Creating an
Introduction” and “Selecting your Topic”.

Congratulations Eileen!

Last night's Area 34 speech contest at the Green Gate hotel
was a lot of fun. I was pleased to see so many members from
our club attending the event. I am sure you were entertained
and inspired by the variety of speakers.
 
The Table Topic was "A Health Watchdog - Do we need it?"...
not easy! The contest was won by Terri Nixon from
Chandos Challengers.
 
Eileen did a great job with her talk about becoming a volunteer
with Legacy. The contest was won by Emily Gao from
Yes Optus club with a hilarious tale about her neighbour's cat
named Indiana Jones.
 
Those winners will compete at the Hawkesbury Division contest
on Sunday 27th September at the Roseville Memorial club
starting at 1.30pm.
 
The next club speech contest will be the INTERNATIONAL SPEECH
CONTEST and the EVALUATION contest. These will be held
much later in the year or the beginning of next year. Dates
are to be determined.

The first meeting of September was well attended and ran smoothly with
Lucy in charge of the agenda. Jill warmed up the meeting with a joke,
then Charles presented an educational session, "How to lose your fear
of Table Topics and master impromptu speaking". More time was
available for the Table Topics session as the second speaker was
unable to attend due to business reasons. This allowed more members
and guests to participate in Table Topics.
 
Clare was the stand-in Table Topics master using questions prepared by
Ian (who had to leave early) on the theme of ENVIRONMENT. Clare added
some further impromptu questions of her own. The Yak Yak award went
to Helen who entertained us with stories of stickers placed on fruit.
 
Melanie was an excellent first time Toastmaster and it was Davida's
first time as timer. Our weekly meeting schedule allows newer members
to participate in a variety of roles and become comfortable in the
meeting procedure.

Lesley, a relatively new member of Chatswood Early Risers won the
people's choice
award of the best Table Topic for today's meeting. The meeting theme was BABIES
and Lesley commented on the trend of young mothers dressing their babies in
fancy designer clothing.
 
Well done Lesley!

Today's meeting theme was BABIES which resulted in some very interesting
and unusual Table Topic responses.
 
We had two speakers this morning. Melanie presented her ice-breaker speech
and we learnt about her life in South Africa and Australia, her career in IT and
travels (including very cheap lobster in Mozambique). She showed us a selection
of photos to illustrate her varied, busy life.
 
Marina presented her fifth speech from the Competent Communicator manual
which has the objective of developing body language. Marina spoke about her
"Sacred Monday" with a group of very keen walkers. As well as physical activity,
and coffee afterwards, Marina spoke of the inspiring stories of her
fellow walkers,
many of whom are MUCH older.
 
Thank you Melanie and Marina for your speeches this morning.

The club humorous speech contest was held today. 4 contestants
entertained the club with tales of university students throwing wild
parties in rented accommodation, how to choose a restaurant, being a
volunteer to avoid buying charity badges and taking train trips as
amusement park rides.

 Shown in the photo is chief judge Ros Deller (Area 34 Governor
2007-2008), Juma Martella (1st place), Eileen Chee (2nd), Charles Cave
and Estelle Renard.

   

Click here to download:

Humorous_Speech_Contest_2009.zip (250 KB)

During the 2008 - 2009 Toastmasters year under the guidance of
President Julie Macken, the club achieved 8 out of 10 goals of the
Distinguished Club Program. These goals relate to membersc
completeting education programs (Competent Communicator, Advanced
Communicator), membership growth and submitting reports on time.
 
Shown in the picture is Julie Macken proudly displaying the ribbon
sent by Toastmasters headquarters. This will be attached to our club
banner for prominent display.