Toastmasters Newsletter Edition #2
Welcome to the second edition of the Toastmasters Newsletter!
We commenced the month of June very well with several new faces present at our club. Whilst this has been good news, we have actually capped our membership limit until August this year. This has unfortunately meant that we’ve had to turn away several attendees from becoming members 
Nevertheless, we’ve encouraged them to continue attending as guests, or to attend alternative Toastmasters clubs. Some of the feedback from our guests have been extremely positive. Tej (a Guest) commented, “I can say I was impressed with how everyone tried to help each other and were very welcoming to guests, and also with the feedback mechanisms to help people improve.”
Obviously these are some of the key aspects of Toastmasters: to help improve each other’s public speaking skills in a very supportive environment, whilst becoming more confident with our own public speaking abilities. These were some of the themes covered at the annual Metropolitan Division Club Officer Training (District 73) titled ‘Exceed Expectations’ on Monday 28 June, which was attended by Jess Cerejo, Caitlin McMahon, Tania Wilson, Maya Kawashima and Kevin Mitchell, held at the Australian Post Office Centre on Bourke St. Bert Naik the Division Governor charismatically delivered the Welcome Address. He emphasised on the importance of collective decision making in order to come to an agreeable consensus, and how always sticking to one’s own point can be dangerous and counterproductive.
We then broke into our respective Vice President Groups. My group (Vice President Public Relations) spoke about how to better promote Toastmasters to the wider community and how each of the clubs could increase the membership rate. Whilst we at the ‘ANZ Talk of the Town Toastmasters’ have capped our membership, Jess and I believe this is a good opportunity to grow as a group internally, where members can get to know each other better. Some of our suggestions to faciliate this include:
- Organise trivia nights
- Give feedback and suggestions on this newsletter – whilst I write this newsletter, remember this is YOUR paper – I am open to hearing what else you’d like to see on it
- Create a Linkedin group (more on this to follow) – Keep updated on events pertaining to Toastmasters District 73 (covers VIC, WA, SA, and TAS): http://www.d73.toastmasters.org.au If you have any other ideas, please let Tania, Jess, Ajit, Pallavi, Hugh, Kevin or Maya know – we would be delighted to hear from you!
Toastmasters Mon 21 June, 2010
There were over 20 members in attendance. Chris Greig was the Chairperson for the evening, and started by delivering JKF’s famous quote, “Ask not what the country can do for you, but what you can do for your country.” Chris then asked us to think of powerful quotes ourselves, to which none of us could match Chris’! The Word of the Day was ‘Temperament’.
Frank Chan delivered the Round Robin topic, which was, “We spend too much money on buying things that we don’t need in order to impress people we do not like.” Many of the women and men in the audience laughed and related well to that saying, with (both) gender admitting to doing this on a regular basis because either a) the items were on sale, b) they wanted to impress the opposite sex, or c) because of peer pressure. Others took a step further – one Guest cynically commented on doing this all the time, particularly at after-work drinks where they buy drinks for those whose names are almost instantly forgotten and whom the Guest would never see again.
Ajit delivered the Table Topics for the evening and selected the following people:
Jess – “If you could design an Australian flag, what would it look like?”
Tej (Guest) – “What does the colour of peace look like to you?”
Grant (Guest) – “What is the worst lie you have ever told?”
David – “What are the lyrics of your favourite song?”
Nikkho – “How do you explain to your partner that running your car into the garage was a good idea?”
Chris – “Why did the chicken cross the road?”
Jess spoke eloquently of a picture of an Australian flag that she drew in primary school, which consisted of the Ayers Rock with the Southern Cross stars above it. Tej described multiple colours that reflected peace and also different types of moods. Grant wryly reminded us that ‘lying is an integral part of us’ and how we (mainly) lie to protect other people from knowing what we really think of them and vice versa! David spoke passionately about his love of lyrics by Bob Dylan and Robert Hunter. Nikkho pictured a scenario where he won $20M on a Germany-New Zealand soccer bet, and how running his car into the garage was a good idea after all. Lastly, Chris asked rhetorically, “My question is not so much why the chicken crossed the road, but what was it doing there in the first place?”
For the ice-breakers, we had Maya Kawashima, Ashish Khurana, Jim Tan and May Mei. Maya spoke of her upbringing in Japan and Serbia, her current life in Australia, and some of the lessons learnt along the way. Ashish passionately spoke about his upbringing in Singapore and aptly described this metropolis. Jim delivered a humorous speech on his upbringing in Malaysia, and how he moved to the ‘money jungle’ of Australia in order to find his ‘money honey’. Lastly, May gave us a picture of her acupuncture study in China.
VOX POP with…Jessica Rose Cerejo 1
) When did you join Toastmasters and why?
I joined in January 2009 to perform well prepared speeches with more impact, and to rid of any slurring.
2) What aspect of Toastmasters do you find particularly rewarding?
Self development opportunities and meeting people. I particularly like how most high profile management positions across the world acknowledge and respect the Toastmasters organisation; and the fact that Toastmasters isn’t JUST about speaking – the leadership component is a great way to grow my leadership skills in a professional setting.
3) What is your most memorable speech given?
Last year at the humorous contest – I learnt so much despite being 5 minutes over time and I had an absolute ball!
4) What is the greatest fear that you have overcome? (aside public speaking!)
Singing in public. I have a terrible signing voice so I joined a choir for 5 sessions last year to overcome this fear. Maybe that could be my next speech!? I am yet to overcome my fear of ball sports! I am still scarred from my childhood. When I was 10 years old I was watching the boys playing football. I quickly learnt that standing near the goals posts wasn’t a wise move. I thought I was nearly dying, when in fact I got winded (lungs deflated) by the football. I’ve signed up for volleyball but haven’t gone to a game yet!
5) Who do you most admire and why?
My mum. For her resilience, strength and determination.
6) What are your interests/hobbies?
Giving things a go. My hobbies and interests always change as I’m always trying new activities. My main interests are eating scrumptious food, crazy dancing, adrenaline activities,appreciating the little wonders and everyday magic of the world, travelling, music, arts, culture and my number one: laughing.
7) Something about you that no one really knows?
“I am your father” I eat chocolate – every day, probably more like every 2 hours! Sub orbit the earth (or into space if i can afford it) for my 50th birthday. Clowns scare me.
Next meeting
Monday 5 July ANZ Buiding Level 4, 100 Queen St, Melbourne
**See you there!**
