Opportunity for Florida Toastmasters
Fear fades in an environment of this kind.
‘Opportunity’, centering on famous quotes from Thomas Edison, Winston Churchill, Sun Tzu, William Arthur Ward and Bruce Lee, was the theme for last month’s Florida Toastmasters meeting.
Toastmaster Paul Muller opened the meeting by explaining there is always a clear cut difference between the successful and the unsuccessful.
Toastmaster Paul Muller opened the meeting by explaining there is always a clear cut difference between the successful and the unsuccessful.
“Success has elements attached to it from hard work, determination and perseverance. It goes beyond the desire to be successful and reaches into taking action to make a difference,” he said.
“Success has elements attached to it from hard work, determination and perseverance. It goes beyond the desire to be successful and reaches into taking action to make a difference,” he said.
Various members of the group spoke on a number of subjects. For instance, Yousef Tilly believes that understanding your personal value helps you to live an authentic, happy life.
Various members of the group spoke on a number of subjects. For instance, Yousef Tilly believes that understanding your personal value helps you to live an authentic, happy life.
“Also, as you move through life, your values may change. For example, when you start your career, success – measured by money and status – might be a top priority. But after all, when you define your personal values, you discover what’s truly important to you.” Yousef drew our attention to the disparity between the poor and the rich in India. “We are not born equal and not all of us can compose like Mozart or paint like Michelangelo. Without a good concert hall, it would be hard to recognize Mozart, without a Sistine Chapel to paint, Michelangelo’s skills may not have been so visible. Everybody knows that there is a chasm between the rich and the poor,” he said.
“Also, as you move through life, your values may change. For example, when you start your career, success – measured by money and status – might be a top priority.
But after all, when you define your personal values, you discover what’s truly important to you.” Yousef drew our attention to the disparity between the poor and the rich in India. “We are not born equal and not all of us can compose like Mozart or paint like Michelangelo. Without a good concert hall, it would be hard to recognize Mozart, without a Sistine Chapel to paint, Michelangelo’s skills may not have been so visible. Everybody knows that there is a chasm between the rich and the poor,” he said.
‘Living without limits’ was the title of Mandla Nxumalo’s speech. He said the basic rule for success is for you to continually remind yourself that you are where you are, and what you are because of yourself.
“If you want to go somewhere else or be someone else, it’s totally up to you to make the choices and decisions today that will eventually get you there. If you want your outer world to improve, you must go to work on improving your inner world. And there are no limits,” he said.
‘Your vision of who you want to be is the greatest asset you have’, was the title of Craig Ellis’s speech.
“No one loves an alarm clock,” he said, “but if you’ve missed more than a few morning meetings, been stuck in the traffic and are feeling stressed, creating a compelling vision of the life you really want is actually one of the most effective strategies for achieving the life of your dreams. If you really want to be rich, learn to build a business,” he said.
Tim Knights kept everyone in suspense with a classic story entitled The Dowry, which was written by Guy de Maupassant. “It tells the tragic story of the marriage of Maître Simon Lebrument, a handsome stylish man, to Jeanne Cordier, a graceful, fresh-looking girl and one to be desired. After a few days, they decided to take a short trip to Paris. Maître Lebrument had taken as his motto ‘Everything comes to him who waits’. Before leaving, he told Jeanne,
“We must forget nothing, so ask your father to have your dowry ready.” He insisted that they take the omnibus drawn by three big horses. One at a time, all the passengers disembarked, until Jeanne suddenly found herself left alone, completely alone. The conductor cried “Vaugirard” no less than three times, and then went on to explain to her that they had passed the Boulevard des Italiens, which was their destination, a long time ago. “Where is my husband?” Jeanne enquired.
“He got off at Madeleine”, said the conductor. With only 2 francs in her pocket, where could she go? Suddenly she remembered her cousin Barral, who subsequently explained that her husband had disappeared with her dowry and was well on his way to Belgium. Seems that love and marriage do not always go together like a horse and carriage,” he said.
Thabo Malefane, winner of the Division S Humorous Speech contest, celebrated his birthday on 1 August, and to crown the celebration he received an invitation to attend a Toastmasters meeting at one of his favourite clubs. We all know that first impressions can be influenced by what we wear. so, as most people do, he put his best foot forward and decided to wear his power (red) tie.
However, he discovered that the zip of his trousers was stuck – the teeth just would not meet. His natural instinct was to twist and wriggle until he managed to zip the trousers up, not realising the challenges he would meet with later that evening when he needed to use the Gents in a hurry.
He demonstrated that it required some nifty moves and nimble footwork, almost as if he were emulating some of those sensual, suggestive moves from the movie Dirty Dancing. “Very often, friendships need to be ‘zipped’ (worked on),” he said.
“We need to make time to see our friends. Friendships are special graces because they don’t only teach us what love is – the teach us what it isn’t. Even if change separates us from friends who were once close to us, they remain forever as teachers of the heart.”
The Table Topics session was presented by Kevin Loader.
Jaya Govender said that sometimes, you get lucky and opportunity just drops into your lap, but most of the time opportunity is the result of hard work.
Taelo Mokhabela used examples to illustrate the difference between a pessimist and an optimist. “If the optimist is cut off in traffic, instead of getting angry or upset, he will simply downgrade the importance of the event by saying something like ‘Oh well, I guess that person is having a bad day’. The pessimist on the other hand, has a tendency to take everything personally. If the pessimist is cut off in traffic, he will react as though the other driver has deliberately acted to upset and frustrate him.”
“Chaos is natural,” said Craig Ellis, who believes how you handle chaos will determine your success or failure. “If you look at the world, chaos is everywhere. Life is unpredictable and will bring many different emotions and mind states that will be challenging and difficult, and even unbearable at times, but beneath all the drama, distractions and problems chaos means opportunity!!”
Alex Muller said we are surrounded by opportunities and ideas every day. “All we need do is to grab opportunities in order to take advantage of them. Most of us wait for the right opportunity to come and while waiting we have lost the already available opportunity”.
“You can wait for luck to send you opportunities or you can make your own'” said Elize Ellis. “The opportunities are the ones you create for yourself. To create opportunities for yourself you must be willing to take risks, surround yourself with people who are smarter than you, work to evolve your ideas, and communicate often. You have to be the architect of your circumstances. The absolute best opportunities are the ones that we create ourselves.”
The Trophy for the Best Prepared Speech was awarded to Alex Muller. Elize Ellis won the Trophy for the best speech evaluator and the first time guest Taelo Mokhabela was presented with the Trophy for the Best Impromptu Speech.
Well done and hearty congratulations to all!
If you want to change your life and overcome your fear of public speaking, take action!
Join the Florida Toastmasters for a life-changing experience every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Huguenot Restaurant, near Entrance 1 of the Flora Centre, on the corner of Conrad and Ontdekkers Roads, Florida Park.
Fear fades in an environment of this kind.
For information about the club’s meetings, contact Paul Muller on 082 929 7981 or via e-mail paulthomasmuller@gmail.com. Alternately, contact Tim Knights (President) via e-mail to timknights@telkomsa.net or call 082 894 7542. For more details about the club’s activities, you are invited to visit their website at https://florida.tmclub.co.za.
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