Florida Toastmasters learn to adopt and adapt to changes
For many of us, Zoom has become the new conference room
Adapting to change is what keeps us relevant, valuable and at the forefront of the competitive edge. It’s a leadership choice to remain current, but doing so doesn’t change who you are at the core.
On Tuesday, 2 June during their online meeting, the Florida Toastmasters Club explored ways to stay competitive in today’s environment, which warrants not only the skill and will to adapt to change, but also the foresight to anticipate it.
During this meeting, the Club members ensured that they complied with the regulations regarding the Covid-19 pandemic, and they held their annual general meeting as well, in order to exercise good governance.
The normal Club meeting was held as soon as the formalities of the business session were completed, and president Robert de Kramer called the meeting to order, creating a warm, welcoming environment to stimulate participation.
Toastmaster Dawn Hemming set the tone for the meeting with a quote from John F Kennedy, “Change is the law of life ? and those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future”. The Toast to Toastmasters International was proposed by Mandy Gobisang, followed by the Toast of the Evening, ‘Courage and Imagination’ proposed by Karen Gray.
For many of us, Zoom has become the new conference room and there are three things that you need to master to deliver a speech over video call, including structure and focus, and it needs to be succinct. This was highlighted by Ntombi Phaledi who, during the Educational Session, demonstrated some of the subtle differences between the Zoom apps on a desktop vs mobile. “Always look for the funny side of things,” said Tim Knights in his speech entitled ‘My funny Life’. Tim’s, father was a schoolmaster who taught English and he had a love of puns. One evening, when Tim was doing his English homework, his father looked over his shoulder and said, “You should put a comma in there; son, you need much more comma sense”.
His mother was a giggly lady and enjoyed having a giggle with her sisters and close friends regularly. To this very day he very often remembers the words on the plaque she had hanging on the wall which said, “Give me a sense of humour Lord, Give me the grace to see a joke, to get some humour out of life and pass it on to other folk”. Kevin Naicker’s speech entitled ‘The fourth Industrial Revolution: How did we get here?’ took everyone back in time, and he explained what happened during the first, second and third industrial revolution, and how it shaped the future for the fourth one.
“The fourth Industrial Revolution is a worldwide economic one, based on helping people to take advantage of the marvels in their everyday lives. Just 300 years – ten generations ago an ‘Iron and Steel Age’ began. The world needs a Fifth Industrial Revolution like a new Renaissance age to bend the focus back to humanity, and it is high time we embrace it.” Robert, the Evaluation Chair, suggested that when giving evaluations, one should approach each speech with honesty while remaining positive, and he said, “Pay attention to the speaker’s goals for self-improvement. Evaluate what the speaker does not who the speaker is.”
The newly elected Club Officers for 2020/2021 who will be taking up office on 1 July, were also announced and congratulated.
- Tim Knights was elected as President, and Vice President: Education
- Chris Ntlama was elected as Vice President: Membership
- Dawn Hemming was elected as Vice President: Public Relations
- Mandy Gobisang was elected as the Club Secretary
- Ntombi Phaledi was elected as Club Treasurer
- Matthew Knights was elected as the Sergeant at Arms
- Robert de Kramer was elected as the Immediate Past President
For information about the club’s meetings, contact Dawn Hemming (Vice President: Public Relations) at gaildawnh@gmail.com or call her on 082 330 9215 / 063 736 028213
