Instead of addressing the masses as an anonymous third-person voice from the sky, I figure I should put a name to the voice that has little magic to report this week. Do you remember the reference in the previous post to Ryan Pearson, that guy who was building up for his second speech? That's me. The writing of my speech was something of a cathartic exercise and delivering the speech to the best of my ability was to be an emphatic full stop. Sadly that meant that my mind was everywhere but blogging mode, but nonetheless some moments of genius lodged themselves in my mind.
The evening started off with a buzz as Sanjit Joseph took to the floor as Table Topics Master, and he was feeling particularly menacing with his Table Topics as he dished out a number of riddles to solve. Now who doesn't love watching people squirm for two minutes, particularly when they're baffled and confused before they've even started? And even when you're the one squirming, who doesn't love it? It's just like eating a whole chilli pepper: it feels like a fiery abyss where death is surely imminent, but afterwards the endorphins kick in and you feel like you could slay a giant. Of course there are those occasions where the speaker doesn't squirm, and you just have to sit back and admire the smooth sailing towards the Table Topic prize. The smooth sailor this week was Colin Donald, one so serene with victory that no photo was required. Rest assured that if I ever win Best Table Topic I will be pasted here in all my schoolboy glee.
The prepared speeches brought a mix of entertaining speeches, humorous speeches, and what for me was the funniest account of Risk Management I'll ever hear! Having lifted the lid on my inner Thespian the floor was open to three advanced speakers. Sanjit crossed off the second speech of his Entertaining Speaker manual, Stuart Beattie crossed off the third speech of his Technical Presentations manual, and Rivka David took the Best Speech prize having nailed the penultimate speech of her Humorously Speaking manual with tales of flat-pack renovations and DIY's favourite companions: multi-tools and lumpy-headed screwdrivers.
The grey matter is beginning to falter, which is in stark contrast with that of Gwendoline Alderton's multitasking dual-evaluating whipper-snapper mind, for which she is duly grateful having taken the Best Evaluation award. As we can see she still likes to bask in glory, and who can blame her?
What a short account of the evening. Fear not, because intertwined with her own blog Rivka has some interesting Toastmasters delights to share, here and here, which more than make up for my lack of story telling.
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| Rivka David and Gwendoline Alderton Basking in Glory |
