Meeting review: Education, education, education
Toastmasters meetings are “ah ha” pleasant experiences. Different levels of speeches and a specific learning component makes up the fun-filled evening. But, more about the learning later.
Speeches
Fellow Toastmasters showcased their skills in their speeches
Greg Marsh‘s icebreaker was like an advanced speech. You are a hard act to follow Greg – I still have to do mine.
Jaco Strydom demystified the intricate world of high finance. I now understand more about share indices.
Andries Viljoen figuratively cut up a cow and showed us pictures of the cooked beef. The excellent visual aids accurately supported the content.
And Tim Wagner’s advanced assignment of “The End” was a speech of many, many diverse skills. I loved the brevity of his personal eulogy and the motivational component running throughout. It remains a wow for me.
Learning slot
Craig Strachan eloquently explained the purpose of the Education Slot at our meetings. It is a learning workshop enabling new members to understand & learn how a Toastmasters meeting is run & to provide a “going back to basics” for old members.
The topic for this meeting was Meeting Roles, which covered all the roles, requirements and skills of each role. The roles are summarized here. More info is found in the Communication manual.
The Toastmaster is the MC for the meeting who needs to apply the essential, critical skills of how to run a meeting.
The Sergeant at Arms performs logistical and administrative functions, ensuring that the meeting runs smoothly.
The various Speakers cover topics to illustrate the required skills for their respective levels.
The Evaluators provides constructive feedback based on the demonstrated skills.
The Table Topics Master evaluates the skills of thinking on one’s feet, being creative, entertaining and talking within an allotted time. The purpose of table topics is to get people up on their feet & talking.
The General Evaluator gives feedback on how we are doing
The Timekeeper controls the time allocated for speakers by pressing the coloured lights indicating the time left to speak.
The Grammarian evaluates if the desired message was clearly understood by the audience, paying careful attention to use of word choice, metaphors, grammar and intonation.
My personal impressions
Learning the roles & rules gives one the opportunity to enjoy all the speakers, their own presentation styles and wide skills base.
I was initially distracted by the procedures especially at the October 2009 meeting where all the processes happened in reverse! Thomas Bowman even wore his jacket back to front! But after this education slot my fog index is much lower as a new member.
Education slots should occur more frequently. These are the valuable building blocks to effective & competent communication & leadership.
Fellow Toastmasters please continue to share of yourselves in the very human manner in which you are doing.
Thank you to Sandra Arendse for this meeting review. Looking forward to your Ice breaker!