Every Toastmasters’ meeting is unique. The primary reason is guests. With a new officers team in place, the second meeting of the new toastmasters year was off to a great start. Our Toastmaster of the Evening, Manuel brought the theme „Liminal Experiences.“ A phenomenon of leaving behind the old identity. The theme came out great right off the bat when Geetha, our newest member, shared the „Thought of the evening“. She shared her personal shortcomings in the past and her efforts to overcome them. These past experiences have shaped the person she is today. Thus planting the thought to persevere through hardships. The spontaneity of the club continues to run through the veins of the new members too. Diana, another new member, jumped right into the timer role on the spot.
Karl started off his ice-breaker by greeting the Toastmasters and guests in 5 different languages. He used the stage to introduce himself to the club by presenting the results of one the personality assessment tests he had taken. The two facets: personal behaviour and team roles served as structure to his speech with relevant information about his characteristics and intent as a corporate professional.
Ram, as the second speaker, used several personal anecdotes and rhetoric questions to make the audience think about how sustainability starts at home. We all know the fairy tale of how the forest fairy helped the woodcutter find his axe. This enabled the woodcutter to continue to make a living. Ram brought a new perspective on the forest fairy‘s intent. She is considered to be the protector of the forest. Why did she help the woodcutter to fell the trees? With this example, Ram portrayed the kind of paradigm shift required in our thoughts about sustainability.
Toasts, figuratively, form the base of Toastmasters. During the table topics session, speakers toasted to a best friend‘s wedding. There were toasts bidding farewell to annoying colleagues. And to top it all off, there was a toast for a successful heist. Full points on creativity for all the speakers who took to the stage! The evening ended on a high note as we had many happy, motivated guests and toastmasters looking forward for the next meeting.
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