Kickstart Toastmasters Club

After fending off procrastination last week, we got into gear this week and "accelerated" under some great momentum from Toastmaster Angela. Three speakers today - including first up an Icebreaker Speech from Paul - who we learned made a good career choice with accountancy; then Stephen who got our attention with a provocative question; and finally Xena - freshly back and fizzing from a 40th birthday holiday in South Asia - and a sparkling ring on her finger. We also took the opportunity to welcome our newest member Ben to the fold. Sorry folks, a bit light on the photos this week as I was multi-tasking - apologies if your starring moment was missed.

GE Xena's verdict on today's meeting: 'good connection, real sense of community; and a heavy focus on what went well.' Much thanks to the able organisation and direction of stand-in Toastmaster Stephen, whose theme of "procrastination" spurred us along and allowed us to breeze through the hiccoughs. Two engaging speeches on offer this morning: reflective rumblings from Kathy Colville on some physical challenges she's faced in life; followed by the discovery of a surprise new talent from Lawrence as a successful sour dough bread baker - who had his neighbourhood lining up at his gate every week. Fill-in time was amply covered with some personal tributes to our ailing life member Keith; while Ollie aced table topics by ensuring no-one missed out on a speaking opportunity. Well done Kickstarters for rising to the occasion yet again!

Plenty of spare seats today, but we still managed to have a very cheesy meeting all the same - with our AGM thrown into the mix as well. Between them Toastmaster Michelle and TTM Vince gave us a heady (and sometimes smelly) taster into the world of cheese, including a vivid description of an original Kiwi pizza. One speech today (from Kickstart "staple" Sam reflecting on his challenging year behind him) kept us wanting more, with the extra time filled nicely with a an extra-cheesy burst of table topics. Members will be pleased to hear that the present committee was re-elected en masse - and the invitation remains open for anyone new to still come on board. Nice to welcome Will as a repeat guest this morning - and see him brave a table topic.

"We were off to great places, today was our day" - as we embraced Dr Seuss and his timeless wisdom, thanks to Toastmaster Kathy, who admitted she has been hooked ever since her first encounter as a youngster. Three very different speeches today: Ande, with a tale of how she made a big decision that's paid off for her; Vicki, who gave us a visual starter episode from the 'Royal Forest of Dean' - more to come; and Ollie, inspiring us with a story of Stanislav Petrof, the man who averted World War III with a well-timed gut feeling. Greg followed with suitably targeted table topics, and we coasted to an on-time finish with some on-point evaluations and a final reckoning from GE Dani.

It might have been "End of the World Day", picked by Toastmaster Sam from his ragbag of daily anniversaries - and we were invited to use any form of "cataclysm" by Grammarian Vicki - but we still managed to avoid the real thing as we built up a head of steam for our highly enjoyable meeting. Three riveting speeches came out of the bag today: Ingrid, showing us how to think and solve our problems with the kind of long walk she did in the weekend; Vince introducing us to the concept of "negative space" with a selection of mini-stories about what he has had to give up in life; and Donna with a humorous "lost in translation story" that featured naked Chinese men in her attempt to get a massage at a Chinese spa. TTM Kathy gave many of our newbies a chance to get on their feet, before Sam's assistant TM Raphael took over the reins and we coasted to an on-time finish for once - after an enthusiastic first-time as GE summing up from Lawrence.

Terrific energy at today's meeting. Maybe it was to do with the "great outdoors" theme from Toastmaster Dani, and our efforts to "forage" for inspiration? Definitely top shelf speeches today: first, an icebreaker from Raphael, who introduced us to his many guises with the line "I'm a ham - and a Toastie"; then Renee with her story the "10 Days" (and more) personal ordeal she went through just before Xmas last year; and Michelle, whose tale of how she and her family survived Covid times by "just doing what you have to do". Lawrence did the honors as table topics master; and we were under the gun to get finished on time - leading GE Ingrid to cut short her finale but still praising us for another super vibrant Kickstart meeting. Good to see ex-member Ben back in the audience today as a guest.

Thanks to Toastmaster Ingrid, this morning we had the chance to "play grown ups" (or not) - and to "pretend" (as our word-of-the-day). After Opener Avril set the scene, Two amazing speeches were on the bill: first up Eli with his Icebreaker speech about a 21st-birthday visit to Vietnam with his dad; then Stephen invited us to consider what our dream was, and regaled us with his own story of being a comfort-loving biker who took a piecemeal approach to riding the 3000km Aotearoa Trail. Keith filled the third spot with a pre-recorded Educational with plenty of tips on "How your body talks" before it was Michelle's turn as table topics master. Then came time to welcome 3 new members to the fold: Urmas, Sally and Paul. Two more guests sat in this morning; all up a very satisfying helping of our usual Kickstart fare.

"Bloopers" were on our mind today as Toastmaster Xena entertained us with notable "slips" and malfunctions from her colourful life. Anna picked up on the theme for her story speech about an embarrassing lesson when she took a skate in Lambton Quay one day; Dani revealed how she has discovered her golf passion and is now on a mission; and Angela, recently returned from Africa, shared how she has found her spark again in producing art that "feels" rather than just looks good. We were under the pump to finish on time before being evicted for the next event. But wonderful to welcome four guests, three of whom are in the process of signing up as members.

Switch it over, Switch it up, switch it off. TM Marie certainly made a BIG switch today, switching the room from front to back.
Another switch was a 10 minute slot to gather feedback from our members about the way our club is progressing.
Two fabulous speeches today;
Lawrence regaling us with his adventures from "High Seas to Hollywood Hills" and Avril sharing her wisdom "It costs more to stay silent than it is to tell the truth ".
We learned 2 things about Avril today - she is a scuba diver who can't swim, and she married a random guy who lived on the other side of the world.
TT were enlightening today:
Kathy's granddaughter rules the roost, Paul (a guest) pivoted back to Toastmasters, and Stephen's workplace has 'No Un**es Friday's "
Last words from Marie "you're all a party waiting to happen "