“Autumn is the mellower season, and what we lose in flowers we more than gain in fruits”, Samuel Butler
Our Toastmaster of the Evening Jeff flavored the meeting with quotes referring to the beauty of autumn, the theme of the evening.
Again we had the pleasure of welcoming guests – one newcomer Florian, and some regulars Kevin, Harriet and Prince. They were warmly welcomed by our Club President Poorana and supported the club by taking over roles. Kevin functioned as Ah-counter, Prince did the evaluation of the second prepared speech.
The word of the day was chosen by Poorana – ebullient, signifying liveliness and energy of expression. Example: I always feel ebullient when I drink my coffee in the morning. The word was new to most of the members and well used in the course of the evening.
Oliver as Table Topics Master presented five questions adhering to the theme of the evening:
1. Autumn traditionally is the time when you give thanks for the harvest. What are you thankful for in this year? Sybille described difficulties she had to experience and now the situation has eased so that she is able to relax and enjoy the beauty of autumn.
2. Picking chestnuts is a common ritual in autumn. What rituals do you connect with autumn? Florian shares his experiences.
3. Autumn leaves – wonderful or a nuisance? Harriet describes the hazards of leaves on the road for cyclists but also describes the beauty of the colors.
4. Fog frequently appears in autumn. What is your attitude towards fog? Craig vividly depicts various notions about fog in his clear and sonorous voice.
5. The date November 9 pinpoints two historic landmarks – 1938 crystal night and 1989 the fall of the Berlin wall. What do these dates mean to you?
For JP this date is not so prominent in his memory. It is not an official holiday and he was either not born or too young when these things happened.
We had two prepared speeches from our club members. Kala presented her second speech from pathways presentation mastery with the title “The user manual for human beings”. She gave us four levels that are decisive for a joyful and happy life: body, mind, emotions and energy and gave tips how to make the most out of these. Her speech was evaluated by Sybille. Kala gave a strong speech with numerous good personal examples. She might work on more vocal variety and a stronger intro.
Sriram delivered his speech level 3 no 12 of the path presentation mastery with the title “Woody of Jeff – I choose Jeff”. He inspired the audience by describing how to become successful. He mentioned that Jeff has often quoted Woody Allen: “80% of success in life is just showing up”, and told a story about how his son became successful in chess through practicing with diligence over months. He also quoted World Champion of Public Speaking Darrin LeCroix’s well known challenge to always take the opportunity to speak in public: “stage time, stage time, stage time!” For him Jeff is a role model, and concluded by encouraging our club members to come often and take every opportunity to practice speaking. His speech was evaluated by Prince who found that Sriram’s presentation showed many hallmarks of a great speech.
Our grammarian Craig again gave a vivid feedback of the usage of English in the course of the evening. He did it in such a positive and entertaining way which made it easy for the members to remember and enjoyable to listen to. Thanks Craig.
In the award session Craig was chosen as best Table Topic speaker with his speech about fog. The best speaker award went to Sriram. Congratulations.
“I loved autumn, the one season of the year that God seemed to have put there just for the beauty of it” – Lee Maynard.
(Thanks to Sybille for this great recap!)
It was a truly colorful meeting, as you can see from the photo below. Please join us on the 23d of November for our next exciting meeting!
All the best,
Jeff, Mannheim Int. Toastmaster