Earlier this month, the four winning speakers from the Trinityhouse Inter-house Public Speaking contest held on 8th September 2016 had another opportunity to improve their public speaking and other communication skills at Florida Toastmasters club.
President Tim Knight extended a warm welcome to District Director, Sandra Cooper and guests.
Toastmaster Elize Ellis set the tone for the meeting with a famous quote from Olaf, the snowman character from the movie Frozen – ‘Some people are worth melting for’. “Some days,” she said, “Craig (her husband) melts my heart and makes me love him even more.”
First up from the school was Grade 4 learner Bohlokoa Mokoena, who said that if you don’t do your homework, you may want to find an excuse, so that you don’t get punished. “There are a variety of excuses from ‘My dog ate my homework’ to ‘Oh, I think I was absent when the homework was given out’. After using all these excuses, perhaps it’s time to pull out your trump card – the truth. Simply be honest. Make the right choice and tell the truth,” she said.
“Failing to prepare is preparing to fail,” said Grade 5 speaker, Anais Taljaard, who shared some ideas on how to successfully fail your exams. “Flick through the study material briefly, check what’s happening on Facebook, stay up late chatting on social media, sleep in because you deserve it and make sure you arrive late. Learning is for losers,” she said.
According to the Grade 6 speaker, Max Naude, parents tend to have a few go-to lines that are heard daily. “These range from ‘I’ll think about it,’ which means there’s a slight chance that with a bit of time and consideration your parents might give you what you want, through ‘Maybe,’ which basically means ‘I don’t have time to deal with the argument that will come from this,’ to the worst, which happens when you’re driving in the car with your mom and dad and they decide there’s a couple of groceries they need for dinner. No big deal? You’ll likely be dragged from shop to shop for at least 45 minutes,” he said.
Grade 7 speaker, Connor Smith, said that if Donald Trump makes it to the Presidency, partying will be his top priority. He has apparently promised to build a lavish White House ballroom to entice all the celebrities. “If those walls could speak you would probably hear, ‘Excuse me, sir, can I help you?’ followed by, ‘Well, sonny you sure can – I’ve lost my toupee and I’m trying to find it before Miley Cyrus arrives to break down the walls with her Wrecking Ball’.”
Sandra Cooper presented each speaker with a Toastmasters certificate in recognition of their achievement.
Caroline Clifford said that it was incredible fun sharing the experience of going on holiday with her brother whom she had not seen for quite some time, but she was relieved when the plane touched down on the tarmac in Gauteng. “Holidays with family can be hard work and there needs to be a lot of compromise, from where you stay, to where you eat,” she said.
Tino Chadyiwa believes the path to success has an intention at the beginning, to get the ball rolling, and then comes lots of commitment, tenacity, determination, belief and planning to maintain that initial intent.
“If you don’t have a plan,” he said, “that intention will go the same way as hundreds before it”.
“Even though many sales people dread it, the simple truth is that cold calling is an absolutely necessary part of the sales process, and it pays,” said Craig Ellis. “Yet, it is the weakest part of many sales people’s skill-set and routine. Sales people who excel at cold calling have an important quality that separates them from those who struggle with cold calls. They have the courage to fail and recognise that rejection can transform failure into a powerful tool.”
The Table Topics session was presented by Kevin Loader. Among the speakers in this session was Willie Els, who loves the idea that the camera adds a certain sheen to things. “Something about being frozen in time really makes things sparkle,” he said.
Vivien Katzan had some thoughts on getting an increase in salary: “Do unemployment reports have you frozen in fear? Sometimes there just isn’t money or if there is, they just don’t want to give it to you – budgets are frozen or money is allocated for other purposes,” she said.
Michael Glencross told the audience that working on something you did not have a chance to save can become a very frustrating experience, especially if the new software made your computer freeze.
The trophy for the Best Prepared Speech was awarded to Craig Ellis; Barry Nelson won the trophy for Best Speech Evaluator, and first-time guest Vivien Katzan was the proud recipient of the trophy for the Best Impromptu Speech.
Robert de Kramer was presented with a certificate for completing his Advanced Communicator Gold assignment.
Join the club for a life changing experience every 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each month at the Huguenot Restaurant, located near Entrance 1 to the Flora Centre, on the corner of Conrad and Ontdekkers Road, Florida Park.
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