Celebrating the youth and unity
Internal distractions can be overcome by preparing for a meeting in order to listen carefully and take notes.
The West Rand Toastmasters’ 466th meeting was held online on Thursday, 18 June and had 11 attendees, three visitors and one guest.
The visitors were Farhana Hassim, Lesogo Nhlapo and Bonny Matlala, and Felicia Esami was the evening’s guest. The theme was ‘The Youth’ and the word of the day was ‘unity’. There were three prepared speeches, and the speakers’ well-researched topics ensured everyone was kept interested and entertained.
Farhana delivered a speech entitled The Professional Seminar, and she gave a slide presentation. She spoke about the importance of leaders being good listeners. She identified listening barriers as external distractions, internal distractions and level of focus, and explained the rebuttal tendency, using the example of a speaker being interrupted and not able to convey his/ her message. “We can fix external distractions by switching off our phones and also seeking a quiet location.
Internal distractions can be overcome by preparing for a meeting in order to listen carefully and take notes. We need to focus and concentrate in order not to be distracted,” she said. She also explained non-verbal clues, which could be facial expressions and body language, saying, “It is important to maintain eye contact. We need to listen in order to respond positively, and use empathy and understanding to show that we care. Critical listening is required in order to evaluate a speech.”Michael Glencross delivered a speech entitled Competition or cooperation ? A false dichotomy. Michael informed the attendees that the founder of Toastmasters, Ralph Smedley had said that he was allergic to selecting the best speaker each year. However, times have changed, and thousands of Toastmasters are speaking in contests. Competition is everywhere and this has a negative effect which creates self-doubt, hostility and greed. If we want to advance ourselves, we need cooperation, which means working together in small groups that creates leadership decisions, and this can increase production. “People enjoy being part of a team in Toastmasters, and we have cooperation between our clubs.
In summary – competition is pervasive and less emphatic. Cooperation has long-term benefits for society.” He also coined a new word, which is ‘co-oper-tition’.Bonny delivered a speech entitled Simple rules to success, saying that success is defined in many ways. What do we want to be? The basic steps to success are simple. Firstly, choose one thing and do it well to become the best in your field. Some of us want to do so many things and become a jack of all trades.
He said, “Once we have chosen our vision, we need to work on it and not be distracted. Secondly, we must not be clock-watchers. We must forget about time, work on our goal and become addicted to our goal. Working on a goal needs patience and focus. Plant a seed and wait. Thirdly, never give up. Ralph Smedley started Toastmasters in 1905 and he finally saw Toastmasters coming together in 1941. He never gave up and we now have over one thousand clubs worldwide.”
Lesogo chaired the Table Topics and ensured the five impromptu speakers had a variety of topics to choose from. They included Tiffany Lee who spoke about how she spent Youth Day; Glen Campbell spoke about her goals she had as a youth; Thato Mojela spoke about the meaning of Youth Day to him; Stephanie Watkins gave some sound advice to the youth of today; and Malcolm Harris said every day should be celebrated, not just Youth Day.
During the meeting, Glen received her Toastmaster of the Year award, and Thato was honoured with the Most Improved Toastmaster award. The next meeting will be on Thursday, 2 July. For more information about the West Rand Toastmasters Club, contact Glen on 073 538 9560 or send an email to glencampbell@telkomsa.net.
