Meeting 16. April 2013, Report by Kevin Boomsma

Nicola von Lutterotti, Vice President Membership, opened the evening and after welcoming our guests for the evening, reminded all of us to register for the Toastmasters Division E Spring Conference that takes place on April 27th in nearby Zollikerberg. More information is available at http://tmspringconference2013.wordpress.com/.

Former Area Governor Celine Horan announced that our club officer committee elections are coming up on the 14th of May and reminded us that serving the club as an officer is a great way to not only learn leadership through experience but also a chance to give back to the club.

Hui Mei Liew Kaiser (evaluated by Kevin Boomsma) opened the speaking session of the evening with her 4th speech in the Competent Communicator track entitled “Malaysians flying home to vote” in which she shared a personal story of how she and other Malaysians abroad go out of their way to make it back home for elections. Just as impressive were the efforts made by Malaysians in their homeland to help those abroad return home for the elections. Hui Mei’s speech was a source of inspiration to go that extra mile for the benefit of of the collective, whether they are our countrymen or fellow club members.

Ben Nordemann (evaluated by Martin Hahn) introduced us to an alternative approach in medicine in his 9th speech in the Competent Communicator track entitled “Biophotons – a better way?”. Ben introduced us to the realm of biophotons by first explaining what biophotons are and from where they emanate. He then described the current methodology of utilizing biophotons in the emerging field of biontology for diagnosing and treating disease through administering light therapy as part of a holistic approach. The topic captivated the audience and initiated an impromptu Q&A session immediately following the speech!

Nicola von Lutterotti delivered a Table Topics session that will go down in the books as one of the most encouraging sessions ever. Contestants had the opportunity to elaborate on something that is or was their favorite. I believe that I even saw a show of hands for the opportunity to be called on next! Even two of our guests tried their hand at the 1-2 minute speech. Guest Toastmaster from the TM Club of Budapest Csaba Kötcsei told us how his favorite occupation would be bus chauffeur. When asked about his favorite activity in retirement, guest Barry Wynter told us not only his favorite activities but also shared some Jamaican wisdom on living well by stating, “We get up early in the morning so we have more time to relax.”

The winners of the evening were Martin Hahn for his speech evaluation and our guest Barry Wynter for his Table Topics speech (and tip on how to relax).

 

Meeting 19. March 2013, Report by Celine Horan

Last night we had a great meeting full of great speeches!

Noah Pikes gave his Ice Breaker speech: “Cries, Roars, Songs, and Words.” He opened by making us feel relaxed with his calm, honeyed tones. He shared about his book, The Sound of the Voice, and took us on a journey back to 1941, to the Blitz and a special letter his mother wrote to him. In the middle of his speech, he grew very excited when he talked about the man who had inspired him, author Roy Heart, and enlightened us with the information that the human voice has an octave range of six.

Even though this was his first speech, he showed no nerves and was brave enough to give us a vocal demonstration. Noah’s Ice Breaker was eloquent and wonderfully enthusiastic, and he even managed to include the word of the day: elucidate. Well done, Noah!

Konrad, our second speaker, gave us insights into student life in his speech “Give a Chance,” and he talked about his dad. To illustrate his points, he used slides with great ease and to great effect. He adhered to the simple rules of one-idea-per-slide and the-more-visual-the-better. He achieved this very well, making his well-prepared, detailed speech very easy to follow and enjoy. Well done, Konrad!

Adrian Engler evaluated Konrad and pointed out the simplicity of Konrad’s slides and his strong connection with the audience. He gave a detailed and balanced evaluation in his own inimitable style, and we enjoyed his evaluation very much. So too did Michelle Sabatini give an enthusiastic and balanced evaluation of Noah’s first speech, encouraging him to continue the work he had started in her usual gentle, humble manner, with the radiant smile we have all grown to love.

Both evaluations were excellent, given that neither had even the luxury of the dinner break to consider their points in more detail. This shows how flexible Toastmasters can be and how they do their best work under pressure. Congratulations to you both!

David Ermen hosted the table topics and asked a fun question about dreams that inspired some very weird and funny answers.

Nicholas Allen told us about his friend who can never stay awake on a train and who always ends up far from home (more often than he cares to admit). Thomas Koetzsch told us about his maths teacher at boarding school who yelled “Yawn with your mouth closed!” Guest Sonja talked about a depressed hamster, Thomas Portenseigne told a story about something chasing him through the African bushes, Henrik warned us to be afraid of cornflakes, I talked about a monkey and a Louis Vuitton backpack, and last but not least, Georgio revealed how Harry Potter got the philosopher stoned, to roars of laughter from the floor.

Listener Christian Funke decided to take the strange things that were uttered throughout the evening out of context, which made for interesting listening and caused us all to laugh out loud.

We were not even in our new home, Blue Monkey, but this did little to dampen our spirits. Although a number of guests did make mention that they preferred the Blue Monkey over our temporary abode, even having said that, they all agreed that they had a great time and were impressed with the speeches and structure.

I must say that I too was impressed with the guests, who all did a great job in the table topics portion of the evening, so much so that our guest Sonja, together with Thomas Koetzsch, won best table topics. Kudos to you both!

Thanks to Kevin Boomsma, Toastmaster of the evening; Michelle Sabatini, Sergeant at Arms; and David Ermen, Acting President, for your enthusiasm and flexibility under the many last-minute changes, nevertheless creating an evening that was fun and enjoyable for all. To all of you, well done!

Here’s to our next meeting.

Table Topics and Humorous Speech Contests

Table Topics Winners: 1st, Marc Suter; 3rd, Fiona Wallace-Mason; 2nd, William Horan
Humorous Speech Winners: 2nd, Nicholas Allan; 1st, Marc Suter

We started with Table Topic hosted by Ilka Gehlhar. Each contestant was asked to promote his/her own new book titled “Our Iceberg is Melting”. Henrik Karlsson started off by bringing up the seriousness of environmental issues we had on our planet. Marcel Cattin diverted the topic from “iceberg melting” to “ice breaker” as in an opening for a speech introduction. Fiona Wallace-Mason gave an energetic “I love iceberg!” start and connect icebergs to childhood memory. Adrian Engler gave a “matter of fact” stand and urgency about the topic of climate change. William Horan made a hilarious presentation on showing us a run-down of “don’t believe anything-anyone says” chapters on the book. Cameron Roy took the “two PhD doctors searching for answer” proof on global warming. Nicholas Allan expanded on “luggage-carrying” pinguins on the cover of the book. Finally, Marc Suter opened with some serious questions, continued with some fuel facts, and ended with sense of urgency to promote people to act.On Oct 2, we had our club’s Table Topic and Humorous Speech Contests. Tonight’s format is a bit different from our usual meetings. First, the speech order is drawn by lot on the day. Second, we have no evaluation, only ranking and results for the speeches. Not to mention our first two winners for both categories will be representing our club at the Area Contest on Oct 13! Talk about pressure!

On our second half of the meeting, after an introduction from our club president Olivia, we started with humorous speech contest. Nicholas Allan kept us entertained in “Sleepless in Transit”, with tales of his own traveling experience on long-haul flights and stories of his friend sleeping through stops and managed to keep missing his stop in one drunken evening. Marc Suter showed us some powerful techniques on how to stop losing things with “Count & Bundle”. Unfortunately, Fiona Wallace-Mason was disqualified due to timing.

Congratulations to all the winners! Wish you best of luck and success in the Area Contest!