Peninsula Toastmasters, Meeting review  - 26 November:  It’s a lovely Thursday evening.  I am attending the meeting as a panelist on Ana Garcia’s assignment.  The meeting can be described as intimate, yet productive.  I think I count around ten people in the room, which bodes well for the recess as there would be food for more than that and I am starving!

The barman recognises my silhouette as I walk in through the bar.  He reaches for a tall beer glass and three Cokes, bypassing the ice bucket.  In a blur of hands as I walk by him R30 is exhanged for this heavenly mother’s milk (at least my Coke habit isn’t likely to kill me anytime soon…).  I am set for the loyal toast.

I shouldn’t be too surprised to be greeted by a blue-eyed, blonde lady speaking German to me as I sit down.  This is the German club, after all…  But no, this is none other than Jazzmin Hecht from Germany, visiting South Africa for a few months for the n-th time.  I think she must be psychic; how can she know I speak German?  Simple, really.  I am still wearing my Lufthansa ID tag. German club, German airline.  Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, must be a duck…

Evadne comes running around the table to give me her usual warm welcome, and I go down on one knee so that I can hug her properly.  Such a friendly and happy club, this…

Donna Maclagan and her Triple Crown Award

As I’m chatting to Jazzmin I spot my vic… I mean, evaluee, Donna Mclagan walking in.  What is it that people find so intimidating about having their assignments evaluated by the Division Governor?  If you prick me, do I not bleed?  Donna is doing her “Accepting an Award” speech from the Special Occassions Speeches manual.  She has her Triple Crown Award which she will be accepting, but no one to present it!  Never fear, the Division Governor is near!  After a quick huddle with Evadne, doubling up the Sergeant at Arms role  with that of Toastmaster Of The Evening, I organise a slot to present Donna with her Triple Crown Award.  Nothing like throwing a bit of realism into the mix.

During her opening, Ana says she is looking for a volunteer to do the meeting review.  In a flash of I-don’t-know-what-the-hell-I’m-getting-myself-into-but-it-sounds-like-it-could-be-cool my seemingly springloaded sucker-hand shoots up.  I start taking some notes so that I can remember all of this for later.

Craig gives us the word of the day – Thanks, in the spirit of Thanksgiving (why do we care about American holidays when we have enough of our own…?).  He makes a valid point, that we don’t say thanks often enough.

Lois starts the C&L proceedings with a CC7 presentation called Awakened With a Kiss.  It’s about the story of the story of sleeping beauty (no typo!).  She also tells us the original version of the story.  “The prince went into the castle, found Sleeping Beauty, fell in love, and …”  HE DID WHAT?!?  I don’t shock easily, but Lois sure manages it.  I now know where Tarantino gets it from.

Funny guy Thomas Bowman

Thomas Bowman is up next.  He’s speaking from the Humorously Speaking manual.  He’s a good lad, is Thomas.  His mother told him not to jump out of an aeroplane in New Zealand.  She never said anything about throwing himself off a bridge with a rubber band attached to his ankles.  He listens to her.  Afterwards he phones her to tell her all about it.  What a guy!  He says he’s not funny.  I beg to differ.

La Presidenta Ana Garcia (who is getting married as I type this! You read it here first…) brings out the big guns to be her panelists for her panel discussion assignment from the Facilitating Discussion manual.  Lois Strachan, Immediate Past District Governor, Distinguished Toastmaster, soon to be Distinguished Toastmaster Times Two.  Craig Strachan, District Governor, Distinguished Toastmaster, hot on his wife’s heels.  And me, Division Governor and a mere Advanced Communicator Silver.  I am successful because  I surround myself with successful people, I remind myself.  The topic is starting multiple new clubs in Area D3.  The outcome:  There’s a lot of potential for new Clubs in the City Bowl area, which will fit in with the District’s goal of growth, but let’s not just start clubs for the sake of starting clubs.  Quality, rather than quantity.

The panelists: Lois Strachan, Craig Strachan and the author, Francois Rossouw

The snack break ensues, and there is a marked inprovement in the offering from the month before.  Again, I thank the gods for a small meeting.  More for me.  I give a good account of myself.

Table Topics is presented by Frau Hecht, nothing like jumping in there with both feet, Jazz!  Tonight’s is interesting.  Everybody writes down one of their secrets with their name on the top.  Jazzmin randomly picks speakers and tells him or her that, for example, someone in the audience wants to be a rock star.  The speaker has to tell us who and why.  No one gets the person right.  Everyone’s secrets remain safe.  PS, I’m the one who wants to be the aerobatics pilot!  Gut gemacht, Jazzmin!

Jazzmin Hecht puts Mapaseka Vryman through her impromptu speaking paces

The evaluations are of a good quality, as much as the speeches were of a high standard.  As the Division Governor this pleases me.  People are meeting their goals and Peninsula signs up another member.  They have a conversion rate that is right up there.

How do they do it?

Champagne appears as if by magic, and we drink a toast to Ana Garcia who is getting married on Sunday, 29 November. Felicitaciones por el gran día, Ana. Que todos tus días juntos se llena de alegría, felicidad y amor! Para siempre!

Chalk up another successful meeting.  Thanks, Peninsula ROCKS!

Thanks to Francois Rossouw for this review.

If you would like to break the inertia in your club, you could try what we did in Peninsula for our October’s meeting: a Back-to-Front meeting.

Yes, it is as insane as it sounds!

I should have run home when I was asked to stand up to open the meeting by saying: “I hope that you have enjoyed this meeting …” or was it the look on the faces of our brand new guests which was making me think “how on earth are we going to put this right!?”. But the human mind is an incredible tool: very soon into the madness, we all knew what to expect, what to say…and the fun really started! (Don’t take my word for it; you have to experience it yourself!).

But stay with me…

It all started with Gerda van der Merwe’s (club’s VPE) magnificent idea of doing a “Lucky Draw” for those individuals whose names were mentioned and had their CL books with them. Craig Strachan was the winner (for the second time running!?… this smells fishy…) and then Gerda went on to challenge all the club members to bring their manuals to all meetings. Way to go!

Then Evadne Kortje created a “Talk Backwards” Table Topics theme; we only had time for two speakers, and Craig Strachan and Francois Rossouw were them. According to Francois, he “was going to miss a party because he was going to develop a headache after eating cheese and other snacks” and Craig confused us all by “ordering diet water because he was dirty, and double whisky because he was thirsty”. Yes, I know it was a Backwards meeting but surely, Craig, a little help here!?

Lois Strachan, Toastmaster of the Evening, masterfully confused the pants out of all of us by just about the middle of the meeting. She clearly knew what she was saying and how she was saying it! But I did point out to Craig that if she could keep that cross-wired train of thought so impeccably (un)clear during the whole duration of the meeting, I felt sorry for him whenever he needed to get into a discussion or debate with her, which I am sure it must happen on a regular basis!

But it was only when I lifted my head, turned round (I was busy writing evaluations and this review, among other things) and saw Thomas Bowman wearing his jacket backwards when I realized that there was no escape. We had done it. The mad-house was in full bloom… and it was nothing to do with a Full Moon!

The Evaluations were not any better: Richard Perkins talked a fuzzy, fizzy, watered message within a lot of gibberish… with a great imagination. Ana Garcia spoke a crazy, crossed-wired evaluation where she got to the conclusion that since Vanessa was a CC07 and almost an advanced speaker, surely her speech was going to be very good, and in the end all that mattered was to get her CC and half point for the club, and we were all looking forward very much to getting totally lost by the end of her speech.

We both won Best Evaluator for the evening. I am glad to see that people have a sense of humor in our club!

Gerda van der Merwe could have fooled us as her evaluation made perfect sense (or was my mind gone by then and I couldn’t tell the difference?). Kirsten Pearson started with a clever “In conclusion” statement and Craig Strachan spoke totally backwards, just in the spirit of the evening.

Sergeant at Arms, Evadne Kortje, asked us all not to return to the meeting, or was it to switch our cell phones off in the middle of the meeting? I don’t know any more; my brain was on overload by then!

Then into the Speeches: Vanessa Clark’s CC07 “The Seventh Mass Media” was very interesting. Hard to believe that in 7 billion in the planet, there are 4 billion mobile phone users… some of whom sleep with their precious gadgets! (Not me… yet!). Well done on winning Best Prepared Speech of the evening! (Or was it the least insane one?)

Thomas Bowman gave us in his AC01 the 2nd chapter of his previous (and very funny) “The Reluctant Chef” true story: To debone a chicken. I thought he was actually telling us an epic story, he was so immersed in it all!

Andries Viljoen did his CC06 with “Brave Enough to Start” and he showed a great leap in confidence and an array of speaking skills in his conversational, story-telling tale. But next time he stands up to speak I will hide under the table, just in case he decides to ask me more questions I can hardly think the answer for! And by the way, someone get those door hinges oiled! Well done Andries for ignoring the creaking noises… twice! during your speech.

Puleng Molahlehi spoke to us about “Journey with Inspiration” by the end of which we were totally sold on the idea. “We are thirsty for inspiration, but we don’t really know how much we are until we drink of it”. She insists that inspiration is something you work on and she gave us several tips, among which were keeping a journal and listening to inspiring music and words. She maintains that “being a living dead is cheap as you save in funeral costs” but that living with inspiration creates opportunities and opens up your life. It’s worth the try, don’t you think?

Hans Pleysier did his Icebreaker. Born and raised in Belgium, he came to Cape Town in 1997 and fell in love with it. He extended his holidays of 2 weeks up to 6 months until Home Affairs had to kick him off the country… only joking! He decided to come back and stay. He set up a restaurant in Kloof street (and sold it a couple of years ago – shame, I was going to pop in for a free coffee!) but then he sold the restaurant and went to Business School in Los Angeles. However, his aching heart brought him back here after only 5 months and he is currently busy setting up an import-export business. He quoted Forrest Gump – I am not sure if it is because life is always unexpected or because he likes chocolate! If you want to keep updated of Hans’ new ventures, visit www.2xist.co.za

Thank you and well done to our new member and Timekeeper for the evening, Jaco Strydom. Not easy to give a timing on a 7 to 5 minute speech, is it?

By now I had the headache of the century and as President of the club, had to close the meeting. “Have we all gone mad?” I asked “No, this meeting is not going to be the result of insanity, but an exercise on cross-wired thinking. And it comes to show how much cac (lots of laughs here…) one must come up with when one has to address an audience and is challenged to make some sense; or worse, still, not make sense at all! Really, I don’t drink alcohol, but I think I should have one tonight!”

Thanks to Peninsula’s President, Ana Garcia, for this review.

Thursday, 30 July 2009 saw Ana Garcia, the newly inducted President for the Peninsula Club, setting the tone for the evening by addressing the club on creativity.

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.

Thursday, 25 June 2009 saw the Peninsula Club celebrate its 30th birthday with a slightly different agenda for the evening. Instead of the usual post meeting snacks we were treated to a delicious sit down meal and an after dinner guest speaker, at the usual venue of Tafelberg Tavern.

Newer members (myself included) got a taste of some of the formalities such as an Invocation and pre-dinner Toast, that we don’t always experience.

Prepared speeches for the night included:

• Gerda van der Merwe doing her CC3, Get to the point, and evaluated by Jason Sandler (a visitor from Chuckle and Chat in Somerset West).
• Vanessa Clark presented her CC4, How to say it, and was evaluated by Paul Jensen (visiting from Taverners). You can read her speech "We’ve come a long way" here.
• Tim Wagner presented his CC9, Persuade with power, and was evaluated by Lois Strachan. Tim went on to complete his competent communicator the following week at Tableview – CONGRATULATIONS!
• Congratulations also to Nic van Schalkwyk achieved his competent communicator presenting his CC10, Inspire your audience, evaluated by Ana Garcia.

After timekeeper for the evening, Tim Wagner, delivered his report, Deirdre Pluke presented the Invocation on the subject of being grateful. Toastmaster Craig Strachan had warned us that it is customary to hold your applause after the Invocation, in order to contemplate the message delivered. Difficult not to applaud though after Deirdre’s well-delivered, thought-provoking Invocation.

Jason Sandler then entertained us with the story of how Peninsula Club was formed 30 years ago. It was appropriate that he shared this story with us, as his father was instrumental in setting the club up.

The after dinner guest speaker, Graham Williams, is the author of the book The halo and the noose, and shared with us a fascinating presentation on the power of story telling and story listening in business life.

Finally the new club officers were inducted. The Peninsula Club’s committee for 2009 – 2010 is as follows:

President – Ana Garcia
Vice-president Education (VPE) – Gerde van der Merwe
Vice-president Membership (VPM) – Tim Wagner
Vice-president Public relations (VPPR) – Vanessa Clark
Secretary – Lois Stachan
Sergeant-at-arms – Evadne Kortje
Immediate past president (IMM) – Craig Strachan

In closing, here is a link to Ana Garcia’s acceptance speech – have a read to find out what exciting things are upcoming for Peninsula Club.

PS – We wish Craig Strachan, immediate past president of Peninsula Club, all the very best for his tenure as District Governor for Toastmasters district 74 (Southern Africa). Read about what Craig has to say about the honour here. I am sure Lois will have a few tips for you from her experiences as last year’s District Governor.

PPS – A huge thank you to Evadne Kortje (incoming Sergeant-at-arms and outgoing Area Governer) for arranging such a fantastic feast. The chicken pie lived up to all expectations

Thanks to Vanessa Clark for the report on the June 2009 meeting.