West Rand Toastmasters holds 464th meeting

On Thursday, 6 June, the West Rand Toastmasters held their 464th meeting, which was made memorable by laughter and participation. The meeting was called to order by Sergeant-At-Arms Ernest Watkins.

The theme for this meeting was ‘Dreams’, which was chosen by Lynnette Harris, who encouraged all the roleplayers to speak about their dreams and goals. Ernest Watkins, who is took on the role of the Grammarian, chose the word of the evening which was ‘Milieu’.

President Esther Dreyer welcomed the guests and presented apologies, while Glen Campbell welcomed a guest and hopefully new member Rixon de Vos from Roodepoort. The meeting was then handed over to Lynnette, who was the Toastmaster of the evening. A toast was proposed to South Africa by Stephanie Watkins.

Lynnette was the Joke Master for the evening and Jacqui Motaung took on the role of ‘Um’ counter.

Heather Coaklin kept the guests entertained with her Table Topics, asking various questions which the impromptu speakers answered.

The meeting consisted of three prepared speeches, the first of which was delivered by Innes Leal. She gave a humorous speech, entitled “You can’t always get what you want” which lifted the spirits of those who attended.

The second speech was delivered by Michael Glencross who focused on how to become an expert in any area of our lives. He said people would need to spend 10 000 hours, meaning working eight hours a day for three years, including weekends.

The third prepared speech was entitled “Effective Salesperson” and was delivered by Thato Majela. Thato called on Alwyn to assist as a roleplayer as he tried to sell his product.

A number of awards were presented for various categories. The best speech was awarded to all three participants because they were all of a high standard and deserved to win. This was presented by Esther, who is stepping down as President.

Rixon de Vos, the guest from Roodepoort, won the best table topic/ impromptu speech, while the best evaluator was awarded to Max Kaan.

Lynnette won the best contributor category and also received an award from Toastmasters International for Leadership Excellence.

The next meeting will be held on Thursday, 20 June, at 6.30pm at the Discovery Bowling Club. The meeting will incorporate the induction of the new Committee and also new members.

For more information about the West Rand Toastmasters Club, contact Glen Campbell on 073 538 9560 or glencampbell@telkomsa.net.