Bright and shiney award

There is only one word for our club – FANTASTICABULOUS (lucky there is no grammarian around!)

There is humour, great speaking, teaching, and as one of our fabulous guests said : “You have a lovely way of presenting communication.”  As always a fun-filled evening.

Evadne set us to order and effeciently opened the meeting. Then our smiling president welcomed all and set the wheels for a great evening in motion.

Tim Wagner had a theme that was definitely not soccer! It was about tourists – shame!  He kept us glad that we were locals and not gullible tourists!

After telling us that tourists thought that there were elephants roaming the streets, he proceeded to explain all the functions and structures of the evening. I am sure the guests appreciated it. And with the wet winter Cape rain hurtling down outside, we began the speeches.

ADELIN NDUWAYO did his CC1 and introduced himself with flair! His evaluator was our very own SARGE – Evadne. His title was MY HISTORY AND AMBITION. A very funny speaker who explained he was a linguist through sheer number of countries he had been in! And his ambition was to be president of Burundi. One of his great jokes was that he was looking for a J O B (which stands for Just Over Broke!)  An important message from the speech – : Take any idea and keep pressing it – and people will accept anything.  A great opening speech ADELIN.

"President" Adelin delivered his ice-breaker

Next was RICHARD PERKINS who spoke about ALL ABOUT ME in his “Ice Breaker” Evaluated by Money man Mr Strachan. Richard was introducing himself – again~!  An advanced speaker of many speeches, he is going through the beginning process to hone his skills. In his speech he talked about attendingf 13 High schools – he was well schooled! And he joined the Navy – referring to it as PUDDLES OF WATER! There was the tale of girlfriend number 1 of …. 13!? He processed milk at Clover and enjoyed the creamy fruits of sucess with milkshakes! And now he is a teacher – brave man wielding red pens!  A great speech and we learned even more about you – thank you RICHARD!

Last but not least was PULENG doing her CC3 (Getting to the point) With her title WHERE IS TECHNOLOGY GOING IN THE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM. Her evaluator evaluator was Our President Ana.  In 1901 a man fell asleep and dreamed he was in the 21st century. He was amazed to see technology – the travel system, money – using plastic cards! Even child birth was easier – you could choose how to have the birth or the sex of the child. The only thing that had not caught up to technology was the education system. If we are to educate youngsters in the 21st century in a way they understand, we have to use the technological tools available.  Thank you Phuleng for a very thought provoking speech.

Then after some tasty snacks, the evaluators did an excellent job of giving points of encouragement and points of improvement. The level of evaluations in our club is very high – keep up the good work!

Then the turn of Craig to Turn the tables on us at Table Topics. His topic was Places.

First speaker was TOM (me) who was asked where he was born and if he would like to return there. I said that on a point of order I was born in my moms tummy and would not like to return there. Then I said I was born in JHB and was now definitely a Capetonian and proud of it!

Next was GERDA who had the choice to live anywhere – and she chose not only to be president of but also own – VENUS! Creating the rules – of love! And creating hotels and resorts. Sounds like a fun place to see!

Then ADELIN who decided he wanted to visit RUSSIA because there was great vodka, muscular women to carry your bags and … bears?  Scary!

TIM told about his worst holiday experience when he was 14 in West Africa where small bush fires lit the way on the runway and there was a very unique self-help baggage retrieval system! And then he had a banana split – literally!

EVADNE was asked she would never like to go to. OUDTSHOORN – Sun is too hot there, and nothing changes. The pictures of the place from years before are still the same!

And finally PULENG spoke about her best holiday experience – a picnic holiday – which is only 1 day in her culture – where she fed men and made faces while looking for soul mates using a borrowed car!

Finally Ana implored us all to think about serving on the committee as we have positions still unclaimed!

Congrats to the Winners

Best Speaker: Puleng!
Best Evaluator : Evadne!
Best Table Topic: Puleng!

Remember next month our next new committee will be induced … er … inducted!  Be there!

Puleng receives her well-deserved awards from Ana

Thanks to Tom Bowman for the review, and Craig Strachan for the photos.

Last night I went along to join the Cape Communicators Toastmaster’s Club’s monthly meeting. They have a crafty tactic whereby if you are a guest and want a speaking slot, you are required to bring along an evaluator.

Tim Wagner, from Peninsula, was presenting the first of his advanced speeches and invited me along to see what the club is all about. This is a club with a bit of a difference as it’s for speakers working on one of the Toastmasters advanced programmes. Typically these speeches are longer than the average 5 – 7 minutes, and it can be difficult for busier clubs (such as Peninsula) to always accommodate the longer slots and still give all their members a chance to present regularly. Most of Cape Communicator’s members seem to belong to more than one club. They stay a member of their home club and then join Cape Communicators as well to rack up those advanced speaking credits.

The types of presentations you can see include keynotes, brainstorming sessions, after dinner talks and motivational speeches. I also found the evaluations to be more extensive than what I am used to. It’s definitely a good place to go as an observer to see some great speakers and evaluators in action.

I was asked to evaluate Craig Strachan‘s high performance leadership presentation on his goals for the district this year in his role as division governer. Craig has some pretty bullish goals in place – so watch this space.

On the one hand it was pretty daunting for me as a CC5 (this means I am half way to achieving my competent communicator status) to be evaluating THE most senior toastmaster in southern Africa, and such an advanced speaker in general. Fortunately the club was so welcoming, and the environment so relaxed, I only really thought of this later (gulp!). I hope I gave Craig some useful feedback on his superb speech and I earned a credit towards my competent leadership track (thanks Sarah Rossouw).

Tim did extremely well presenting his keynote address. The jump from 7 minutes to 20 minutes must be quite a task.

If you have just completed your CC or are interested in finding out more about the advanced course – do yourself a favour and go along to one of the Cape Communicators Toastmasters Club meetings. They meet on the third Monday of the month in Pinelands. Contact Francois Rossouw, the vice president of education (VPE) to attend as an observer or get on the programme.

PS – mention this blog post and see if you can get a free glass of wine out of Francois!

Enjoy – you can read the speech here.

Ana spoke about Peninsula Club as a home for Toastmaster Adventurers.  She talked about how applying creativity to the club would make it a thriving club and about the legacy that Toastmasters can leave.

As Toastmaster of the Evening, Ana warmly welcomed the new guests in attendance to the meeting.  She noted that this was an evening of beginnings and endings, with a CC1 and CC10 on the same evening.

Prepared speeches for the night included:

• Kirsten Pearson introduced herself to the club, doing her CC1 icebreaker,  A pot of gold.  Evaluated by Gerda van der Merwe.
• Andries Viljoen presented a poetically rendered, Facing the Giant.  Evaluated by Abdul Kamaldien.
• Congratulations to Maya Naumann, on achieving her Competent Communicator status, presenting her CC10, The Fountain of Youth.  Evaluated by Evadne Kortje, who commended Maya for inspiring us to make peace with the aging process.
• Tom Bowman elicited belly laughs from the audience, delivering his AC1, Do you smell the Smoke? District Governor for Southern Africa, Craig Strachan evaluated his speech, calling his humour Monty Pythonesque.
• Evadne Kortje entertained us with a Folk tale, The Hen and the Hawk’s Lost relationship, her AC24. Lois Strachan evaluated her speech, remarking on the magic, intrigue and imagination, which Evadne had evoked for us.

Cornel Dannhauser delivered the Timekeeper’s report.  He also amused us with his extended efficiency, when he timed Andries Viljoen’s explanation of the Table Topics.   Andries provided a challenge to those who presented Table Topics, asking them to raise the bar when proposing a toast and provided them with some interesting scenarios to toast.

Table topics:

• Alan proposed a very sincere toast to his son, ‘Peter’, to wish him well as he embarked on his university degree.
• Gerda van der Merwe wished her daughter, ‘Denise’ a happy 21^st Birthday in what also transpired to be a dramatic send off for ‘Denise’ into her Pop career.
• Craig Strachan then toasted his old buddy, Richard, on the birth of his twins. Craig’s novel approach was styled as a beer-to-beer man talk.

All in all it was a very creative evening, with humour, stories and inspiration making repeat appearances during the course of the meeting.

Congratulations to:

-       Maya Naumann on achieving Competent Communicator status.

-       Tom Bowman for delivering the best prepared speech of the evening.

-       Craig Strachan on being the Evaluator of the evening.

-       Our guest, Alan, on delivering the best Table Topic of the evening. Well done!

Thanks to Kirsten Pearson for the report on the July 2009 meeting.

THE FIRST

Words tumble out as thoughts tumble in
trying to write a speech adds paper to the bin!
Planning, practice, hours of toil -
it almost makes me want to boil!

The big night comes and many applaud
as I head up front feeling put to the sword!
The butterflies flood my pounding chest
and the words begin – here goes my greatest test.

As smiling faces receive these heart-felt words
and confidence grows – my butterflies begin to fly like birds.
These Toastmasters really care that you do well!
Madame Toastmaster – my conclusion rings clear as a bell!

I stepped up and delivered my first,
and now I have developed a great thirst!
A thirst for speeches, fun, friendship and caring!
Soon the news headlines will be blaring -

TOASTMASTERS IS THE BEST!!

Jurgens Pieterse awards the Toastmaster of the Year trophy to Ana Garcia

Congratulations to Ana Garcia, Peninsula Club’s president, on being awarded the Division D (Western Cape and Namibia) Toastmaster of the Year award for 2008/2009. The Toastmaster of the Year is awarded to the member who inspires other Toastmasters, in their personal capacity, with their commitment, diligence and growth in Toastmasters.  The five nominees  for the Toastmaster of the year award were: Michael Fawcett, Ana Garcia, Brian Gowans, Dawid Katerere and Jurgens Pieterse.

“Ana Garcia has achieved Advanced Communicator Bronze (ACB), Silver (ACS), Competent Leader (CL) and finished her high performance leadership in one year. She has been a tremendous force within the entire Toastmaster’s community. The way she assisted and participated in especially the areas D2 and D3 has been extraordinary. She managed to develop a mentoring program that successfully assisted the members of the Peninsula Club.

“Her drive and passion for Toastmasters is beyond compare. She also managed to be the coach of Pinelands club and is currently their president. She is also a member of Talking Heads Toastmasters club. Her ability to lead has made her so successful that she won the election of the 2009/2010 Area governor D3. I believe that this lady is a true icon within the toastmaster’s community and she is plainly said just great,” said the judges.

“I found Toastmasters quite by chance and it soon became my soul family in a foreign country where I hardly knew anyone. The personal development that I underwent by working through the program and with the help of my Toastmaster colleagues was so dramatic that my soul purpose became clear and it involved to inspire, motivate and ignite others to shine forth with their own light.

“Toastmasters became the vehicle for my message. For two years I worked insanely hard at meeting all my goals and a week ago, out of the blue and as a great surprise to me, I received notice that I was nominated for the Toastmaster of the Year award, which I won! So it is obvious that someone is paying attention! But seriously, I will always cherish it and I hope it is but the first stage of great things to come!” said Ana.

Ana joined Peninsula Club in May 2006. This year, as well as being Peninsula’s president, she is also president and club coach for Pinelands Toastmasters, as well as area governor for area D3 (Cape Town).

It’s certainly going to be a busy 12 months for this Toastmaster of the Year. Her goals are to: work towards her Advanced Communicator Gold (ACG), attain club coach requirement at Pinelands Club and Area Governor’s points towards her Advanced Leader Silver (ALS).

Ana has a PhD in Metaphysical Sciences specialising in Transpersonal Counselling and a Masters degree in Education and Languages. She is a soul coach, metaphysical author and inspirational speaker. Her main speaking subjects are:  emotional energy, control dramas, metaphysics and coaching on personal development.

You can read Ana’s inspirational speeches and more Toastmaster’s news here.

Congratulations again on this well-deserved achievement.