Boaters Toastmasters

Jeremy took out the Toastie award this week! 🏆

Presented by Lucie for his role as General Evaluator at Friday’s meeting — no small task when you’re keeping an eye on the whole room!

Jeremy did a fantastic job of bringing everything together, acknowledging the contributions of everyone who took on a role, and offering thoughtful tips and encouragement along the way.

Evaluation isn’t just about feedback — it’s about helping each other grow, one meeting at a time. After all, that's what we show up for. 💪

Roll on, August! 🎉

Some Toastmasters meetings are impossible to explain... this photo is one of them! 🤭

Curious? Come and experience it for yourself this Friday at Boaters Toastmasters.

📍 Imagitech Theatre, Ara
⏰️ 6:50am for a 7:00am start

Earlier this month, club president and one of our seasoned Toastmasters, Louise, challenged us to throw the agenda out the window and embrace the unknown! 🎩

Instead of our usual meeting agenda, every member drew their role out of a hat as they arrived... including speech assignments!

At 7am on a Friday morning, that meant thinking on your feet, stepping outside your comfort zone, and trusting yourself to give it a go. Boaters really embraced the word of the day "Spontaneous!" and as always, our members rose to the challenge with plenty of creativity, laughter, and encouragement along the way.

A new Toastmasters year is underway! 🎉

Friday morning's meeting was a special one as we celebrated both the start of the new Toastmasters year and Matariki.

We were also delighted to welcome Lovey to Friday's meeting as our new Southern Division Director. She shared a beautiful Matariki waiata during her bulletin, and it was a lovely way to acknowledge the occasion.

Congratulations on your new role, Lovey! We're looking forward to seeing you throughout the year.

With Matariki this Friday, we'll be taking a short break, so there'll be no meeting this week. We hope everyone enjoys the long weekend, and we'll see you back at our next meeting, Friday 17th July.

Mānawatia a Matariki ✨

June seems to have disappeared in the blink of an eye! While we've been busy behind the scenes at Boaters, another member blog has made its way onto our website. ❄️

Winter is Coming is a reflection on one of our recent Toastmasters meetings and the lessons we can take from the changing seasons. You can check out the link in the comments.👇📖

🙏 Big thanks to our committee members, and volunteers at Boaters, for keeping our website up to date with member stories, and club details.

A full house and plenty to celebrate this morning!

Our Club President, Lucie, presented Ben, Karis, and Jillian with their name badges as they officially joined the Boaters whānau. Judging by the smiles, they're already settling right in. 😁

Did you sign up to Toastmasters expecting that one day you'd be moderating a panel discussion?

Last week, long-standing member Louise completed a Level 5 project from the Motivational Strategies Pathway by moderating a panel discussion titled Different Spaces, Places and Faces.

The discussion explored the speaking opportunities our members encounter through their professional careers, highlighting the many ways communication skills can be applied beyond the Toastmasters meeting room.

Ka pai, Louise, on delivering an engaging and thought-provoking discussion! And to everyone in attendance, taking notes and asking great questions. We're already looking forward to the next one.

🍞🏆Congratulations to Cyrus on receiving this week's Toastie Award, presented by, last week's recipient, Ben.

As Grammarian, Cyrus introduced the word Authentic and shared how it connected to our theme, Finding Your Voice, delivering a thoughtful and engaging mini-speech along the way.

Our weekly Toastie Award celebrates a person, a moment that stands out, and Cyrus's contribution certainly did just that.

Ka pai tō mahi! Great work to both Cyrus and Ben —we're glad to have you in the Boaters waka.

Despite the chilly theme, “Winter is Coming”, there was nothing cold about the energy in the room at Boaters this morning! ❄️🔥

Our Word of the Day, Grit, was woven throughout the meeting as members embraced a spirited 20-minute Table Topics session and challenged themselves to think on their feet.

We also heard from Tsarina, and Jessica. Both delivering revised speeches, thoughtfully incorporating previous feedback while making great use of the room technology with imagery to enhance their presentations. Topics explored :
✨ Will more money make us happy?
✨ What makes a high five so impactful?

A fun morning of laughter, learning, and encouragement. Proof that even in winter, our members continue to bring the heat. 👏

This past Friday we celebrated Kent’s Icebreaker speech, “Who Am I”! 👏

The power of the Icebreaker was on full display as Kent overcame his nerves, shared a meaningful message, and connected with the audience in a genuine way. His effort and courage earned him this week’s Toastie Award! 🏆

Well done, Kent, we’re looking forward to seeing your Toastmasters journey continue!