It was a special evening wasn’t it? Our president opened it giving an overview of the clubs development. Growing step by step Mannheim International helped its members to grow themselves. JP pointed out that besides people improving their skills lots of us became friends and are really enjoying the time together. The following round table showed a broad variety of our Toastmasters experiences – the cheerful atmosphere, delivering the icebreaker speech, being part of an international community.
Jeff as led through the evening with professional introductions and smooth interactions. Thomas presented the word of the day – in a humorous way: „esurient“ means being hungry or greedy. Who is able to go wherever he wants with his vehicle – a tram driver or a cyclist? Mauro told the joke of the day and finally made everyone laugh. The thought of the day was given by Stephan, the consideration why computers will take over the world some day.
Then it was table topic time. Alexander invited four people to explain barely known words. But Gaetano, Greg, Rolf and Arne managed to illustrate the meaning of „fastidious“, „supplicate“, exegisis“ and „epigone“ – well done!
The jubilee went on with four (!) speeches. Li talked about stereotypes people from China are often confronted with. Now we know that table tennis isn’t that popular and dog meat not one of their favorite dishes. With a good punching line he made everyone giggle about competing with a Korean in a beer drinking contest. Then it was Martin’s turn. Strongly he showed how the use of affirmations can be a good help in your everyday life. Three points are important, to accept yourself, to repeat a personal mantra and to have an emergency mantra. Awais was our special guest from Karlsruhe Toastmasters Club. He presented the touching story of David. This child suffered from spasticity. But his father faced the long and difficult struggle to provide a better life for his son. Our last speaker Arne explained the core principles of the Harvard Concept. We gained an interesting insight into his work encouraging people to talk to each other and making things happen. All the speakers received some useful feedback. Perrine, Jeff, Greg and Martin presented the evaluation speeches.
Even if it took more time than expected thanks to almost 30 participants, a colorful decoration and lots of enthusiasm it was an evening worth to mark this special event.