Florida Toastmasters welcome spring
The Toastmasters did not only welcome spring during their virtual meeting, but a number of guests and visitors as well.
Members of the Florida Toastmasters Club switched on their computers, laptops and smartphones to join in on the virtual meeting held on September 7. This was the Club’s 1033rd meeting.
The theme for the evening was ‘Spring into Success’ and the participants were encouraged to show their spring fever by wearing their favourite spring hats, ensuring the virtual space was filled with chic headpieces from the women as well as sporty baseball caps and elegant bucket hats from the men.
The Club President, Mandy Gobisang, opened the meeting by welcoming the many guests and visitors, and set the tone for the evening by reading a poem by A A Milne, titled Daffadowndilly, where Mother Nature cast off her winter mantel, rubbed the dust from her eyes and opened her paint box wide, ready for the next season.
Dick Hallett proposed the Toast to Toastmasters International and was followed by Dawn Hemming who talked about successful leadership qualities. Tebogo Legodi also used the opportunity to remind everyone about the importance of volunteering by listing its many benefits to fulfil a role at a Club meeting.
The prepared speeches followed, with a variety of subjects including the key leadership qualities needed to be successful, travelling outside of your comfort zone to appreciate where you come from, as well as how to resolve conflict effectively.
The winner of the prepared speeches for the evening was Denisse Torcida with her speech titled Big Dreams. She talked about her dreams she had as a teenager to become a professional basketball player or a lawyer who defend children, but her aunt insisted she finished her studies first. Denisse said, “Sometimes the worst things that happen in your life lead to the best things that can happen to you.”
The Table Topics Master, Molefi Malao, ensured the evening was filled with laughter when he asked the Impromptu Speakers to tell everyone how they would conduct the annual Turkey pardon service to grant them clemency to ride the gravy train to freedom.
Mandy Gobisang, haired the Evaluation session which is the heart of Toastmasters, while Tim Knights provided encouraging feedback as the General Evaluator. Tebogo Legodi was named the Best Speech Evaluator.
For information about the club meeting contact Mandy Gobisang (President) via email: m.gobisang@yahoo.com or call her on 073 547 1229; alternately contact Dawn Hemming (Vice President Public Relations) at gaildawnh@gmail.com or call her on 082 330 9215 / 063 736 0282.
For more details about the club, visit their website at https://florida.tmclub.co.za. You can also like their Facebook page.
