Toastmasters using the power of their words

The West Rand Toastmasters were in for a surprise on 6 February, when nine guests walked through their doors. Meeting number 477 had so many attendees that the group needed to make extra seating arrangements at the last minute.

Before the Sergeant At Arms, Jeffrey Nkhwazi, called the meeting to order, Malcolm Harris announced the theme of the evening (Word Power) and Glen Campbell announced the Word of the Day (conflate).

Jeffrey handed the gavel to the West Rand Toastmasters’ President, Lynette Harris, who then welcomed the speakers and their guests.

The prepared speeches saw Alwyn Assa enlightening the group on personalities, listening, and physical and mental health. Next up was Thato Majela, who interestingly spoke about managing fear; keeping the listeners engaged with his vivid description of how bungee jumping helped him face his fear of heights.

Michael Glencross then took to the lectern for his prepared speech, using a PowerPoint presentation to show the Toastmasters common images that were unrecognisable once they had been zoomed in on.

A short adjournment was called to allow the evaluators to reflect on the prepared speeches before the group rejoined for the Table Topics session.

The Table Topic Master for the evening was Ines Leal, who brought a bag full of objects that the speakers would need to talk about. One of the impromptu speakers was Lebo Pilane, who hilariously spoke about how her chosen item (a garlic crusher) can be used for a lot more than just crushing garlic.

After the Table Topics, awards were presented to the most impressive Toastmasters of the night. Malcolm Harris took home the trophy for Best Contributor, Lebo received the award for Best Table Topic, Glen Campbell was the Best Evaluator, and Michael took home the award for Best Speech.

The next West Rand Toastmasters meeting will be held on Thursday, 20 February. To find out more, contact Glen Campbell on 073 538 9560 or email glencampbell@telkomsa.net.