25 people – 17 club members, and 8 visitors – attended the meeting, met by Monika and Vardeep in Meet and Greet.
Some members had attended early to prepare the room and equipment.
Kayvon opened the meeting as Sergeant at Arms and welcomed attendees as club President.
Carl stepped in at short notice and played the Toastmaster role in enthusiastic and humorous style.
Mike the Area Director was unfazed by a sudden technical failure and gave a lucid and informative educational talk Getting Started in Your Path in Pathways.
James gave his Innovative Planning #2 speech entitled Fireworks, incorporating theatrical effects.
Simon S led a practical exercise on Mindfulness as part of his CC7 speech Sceptical headspace.
George S as Mike’s Evaluator gave an upbeat review, spiced with good humour.
Monika as James’s Evaluator commended his speech structure and delivery style and gave some tips.
Crispin as Simon B’s Evaluator gave many commendations and some suggestions to develop further.
Kayvon emphasised the need for members to notify attendance in advance on easy-Speak and to volunteer early – and often – for meeting roles. He then led a live session in which members logged in using their smartphones to confirm their attendance at the next meeting.
~ Members, visitors and guests chatted during the 15-minute break. ~
Vardeep as Topicsmaster led an imaginative Table Topics session. 9 attendees gave 1 to 2-minute impromptu speeches on the theme of An Ordinary Day. Mark began with a pre-breakfast park boot camp, Sam, Mo and Alex followed, Crispin continued adventurously in the zoo, then George W, Brendagh, Monika and Ben completed a day of thrills and spills.
Simon B as Topics Evaluator provided a rich diet of specific commendations and angles to work on.
Alex as Timekeeper kept the meeting on track throughout. Brendagh as Vote Counter focused on collections, sorting and accurate counting.
Brian as Grammarian commended several present on their use of the word of the day: vivid.
He then highlighted attendees’ good use of English, especially concise phrases using vivid language.
Mel as observant General Evaluator gave informative commendations and recommendations.
Kayvon challenged members to consider doing something unusual to develop the club, especially at the forthcoming ‘fifth Thursday’ event.
Mike encouraged members to attend the Division ‘A’ Autumn Conference in Winchester on Saturday 24 November.
Kayvon as President announced the winners of the evening’s awards and Mike the Area Director presented the ribbons: -
- Best Table Topics Speaker: Mo.
- Best Evaluator: Simon B.
- Best Speaker: Simon S.
Kayvon then closed the meeting.
Afterwards, members and visitors chatted and one enquired about membership.
For some, reflection, knowledge sharing and convivial conversation followed in the BAWA bar.
Division ‘A’ Autumn Conference: To be held in Winchester at St. Paul's Church, on Saturday 24 November 2018 at 10:00 – 16:00. The day would feature morning Educational Workshops and afternoon Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests. Details at this link:-
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/toastmasters-d91-division-a-autumn-conference-tickets-51383066134
Next meetings: Three club evenings remained before Christmas, each in BAWA, 589 Southmead Road, Bristol BS34 7RF at 19:15-21:30:-
- ‘Fifth Thursday’ event on 29 November
- Thursday 6 December
- Thursday 20 December 2018.
Ø Members: please click here to confirm attendance at the next meeting and sign up early for roles.