Johannesburg Toastmasters Club

Introduction

Wednesday 5th July was the first meeting of the Toastmaster year that starts from 1st July 2023 until 30th June 2024. The Word of Day for the Johannesburg Toastmasters was “Prowess”.

Di Sharp proposed the Toast of the day to the incoming Club Officers.

We had many guests at the meeting.

Duren Reddy was the Toastmaster of the day and he guided us through a successful and enjoyable meeting.

We had three successful prepared speeches:

1. L1P31 by Jude titled ‘Life Travel, Embrace the Journey’ and evaluated by Duren.
2. L3P2 by Des titled ‘Management’ and evaluated by Zaina.
3. L3P1 by Di titled ‘Reaching Consensus’ and evaluated by Duren.

The table topics were chaired by Des Smith on Topics in the News.

The installation of Club Officers followed:  President – Duren Reddy, Vice President Education – Zaina Limalia, Vice President Public Relations – Jude Legrand, Treasurer – Des Smith, Secretary – Di Sharp.  Congratulations and best wishes to these Club Officers for Toastmaster year 2023/24.

The Grizzly Bear was awarded to Di Sharp for an excellent speech with a difference.

Johannesburg Toastmasters Club: Where Leaders are Made.

Introduction

Johannesburg Toastmasters Meeting started at 7pm Wednesday, 15 February 2023. This was the first meeting to be conducted in a hybrid format, via Zoom and in person at the Johannian Club.

Start of the meeting

The meeting began with the welcoming of our guests for the evening. Each guest gave a short introduction of themselves where the club got to know each guest a little better.

The word of the evening is intended to expand the vocabulary of the members. The word of the evening, presented by Odette Livshitz , was gratitude: Readiness to show appreciation and kindness.

The toast of the day was presented by Di Sharp and was dedicated to the Johannesburg Toastmasters as the club celebrated stepping into its first hybrid meeting where members joined via Zoom and, for the first time since the pandemic , at the Johannian Club.

Following this, the toastmaster of the evening, Duren Reddy, guided us through a wonderful and inclusive evening.

Prepared Speeches

Things got interesting when the audience was treated to various speeches, each with a unique message, from the speakers as highlighted below. Each speech was delivered successfully and met the requirements of the speaker’s respective project. Relevant feedback was given to the speakers from the evaluators to assist the speakers in taking the wonderfully-said speeches to the next level.

1. L1P1 Jude ‘Ice Breaker’ evaluated by Zaina
2. L1P4S1 Ntsako ‘4 Stages of Habit Formation’ evaluated by Di
3. L1P3 Godswill ‘5 Days in Limpopo’ evaluated by Des
4. L3P3 Christoff ‘My Wedding Speech’ evaluated by Duren

Table topics/Educational

One of the long-standing traditions of toastmasters is table topics which intend to help members to develop their ability to quickly organize their thoughts and respond to an impromptu question or topic for two minutes. Guests and members were challenged to engage their minds as the table topics master, Lindiwe, gave out topics. Well done to Lindiwe on presenting her first set Table Topics.

Grizzly Bear Award

The Grizzly Bear Award, the grizzly bear being the mascot for the Johannesburg Toastmasters Club(aka the oldest toastmasters club in the southern hemisphere), is awarded to a member who spoke well or contributed significantly to the outcome of the meeting. The Grizzly Bear Award was awarded to Christoff Krige for delivering an excellent Wedding speech. Well done! We wish him all the best!

General Evaluations

The guests of the evening kindly shared their views of the club meeting and expressed how much they enjoyed it and also shared their appreciation for the structure of the meeting, the speeches, and table topics.

Highlights for the next meeting

We have a few members and guests presenting their speeches which we look forward to. The next meeting will be held on the 1st of March 2023 at 19:00pm, via Zoom or at the Johannian Club.

Introduction

Johannesburg Toastmasters Meeting started at 7pm Wednesday, 21 September 2022, via Zoom.

Start of the meeting

The meeting began with the welcoming of our guests for the evening. Each guest gave a short introduction of themselves where the club got to know each guest a little better.

One of the perks about our meetings is the introduction to new, unusual and amusing words that adds a little spice to one’s vocabulary. The word of the evening, presented by Johara Naidoo, was perspicacious: Having a ready insight into a lot of things; discerning.

The toast of the day was presented by Di Sharp and was based around Heritage Day( formerly known as Shaka day, named in honour of the Zulu king- Shaka Zulu) and the opportunity this day provides for different cultures to be recognized and appreciated.

Following this, the toastmaster of the evening, Duren Reddy, guided us through a wonderful and inclusive evening.

Prepared Speeches

Things got interesting when the audience was treated to various speeches, each with a unique message, from the speakers as highlighted below. Each speech that was delivered successfully met the requirements of the speaker’s respective project. Relevant feedback was given to the speakers from the evaluators, to assist the speakers in taking the wonderfully-said speeches to the next level.

1. L1P1 (Icebreaker speech) by Mbongeni Mtshali -evaluated by Johara Naidoo
2. L4P1 by Zaina Limalia (“Zoom-in”)- evaluated by Michael Gibbons
3. L1PL3 (“The Hitch Hiker”) by Des Smith- evaluated by Duren Reddy.

Table topics/Educational

One of the long-standing traditions of toastmasters is table topics which intend to help members to develop their ability to quickly organize their thoughts and respond to an impromptu question or topic for two minutes. Guests and members were challenged to engage their minds as the table topics master, Di Sharp, gave out topics, based on the theme “Thoughts on questions”.

Grizzly Bear Award

The Grizzly Bear Award, the grizzly bear being the mascot for the Johannesburg Toastmasters Club(aka the oldest toastmasters club in the southern hemisphere), is awarded to a member who spoke well or contributed significantly to the outcome of the meeting. The Grizzly Bear Award was awarded to Mbongeni Mtshali for delivering an excellent Icebreaker speech. Well done!

General Evaluations

The guests of the evening kindly shared their views of the club meeting and expressed how much they enjoyed it and also shared their appreciation for the structure of the meeting, the speeches, and table topics.

Highlights for the next meeting

We have a few members and guests presenting their speeches which we look forward to. The next meeting will be held on the 5th of October 2022 at 19:00pm, via Zoom.

Introduction

Johannesburg Toastmasters Meeting started at 7pm Wednesday, 20 July 2022, via Zoom.

Start of the meeting

The meeting began with the welcoming of our four guests for the evening. Each guest gave a short introduction of themselves where the club got to know each guest a little better.

One of the perks about our meetings is the introduction to new, unusual and amusing words that adds a little spice to one’s vocabulary. The word of the evening, presented by Johara Naidoo, was finicky: one who is fussy about their needs or requirements.

The toast of the day was presented by Christoff Krige and was based around Mandela day, as well as acknowledging that the 20th of July is also known as International Hotdog Day and National Moon Day.

Following this, the toastmaster of the evening, Christoff Krige, guided us through a spectacular and inclusive evening.

Prepared Speeches

Things got interesting when the audience was treated to various speeches, each with a unique message, from the speakers as highlighted below. Relevant feedback was given to the speakers from the evaluators to assist in taking the wonderfully-said speeches to the next level.

1. Ice Breaker speech by Josephine Tsotsti-evaluated by Saloshni Naidoo
2. PL1PL2 (Mindset) speech by Keang Nage- evaluated by Zaina Limalia
3. PL1PL2 (Don’t judge a book by its cover) by Tshiamo Molapisi- evaluated by Johara Naidoo
4. PL2PL3 (Emotional Intelligence) by Judith Lee- evaluated by Christoff Krige

Table topics/Educational

One of the long standing traditions of toastmasters is table topics which intends to help members to develop their ability to quickly organise their thoughts and respond to an impromptu question or topic for two minutes. Guests and members were kept on their toes as the table topics master, Deshanya Naidoo, gave out interesting and out-of-the- ordinary topics to the guests and members, providing an opportunity for everyone to engage.

Grizzly Bear Award

The Grizzly Bear Award, the grizzly bear being the mascot for the Johannesburg Toastmasters Club(aka the oldest toastmasters club in the southern hemisphere), is awarded to a member who spoke well or contributed significantly to the outcome of the meeting. The Grizzly Bear Award was awarded to Judith Lee for delivering an excellent speech. Well done!

General Evaluations

The guests of the evening kindly shared their views of the club meeting and expressed their appreciation for the structure of the meeting, the speeches, and table topics.

Highlights for the next meeting

We have a few members and guests presenting their speeches which we look forward to. The next meeting will be held on the 3rd of August 2022 at 19:00pm, via Zoom.

Introduction

The first meeting of 2022 took place on 19 January 2022 at 7pm, via Zoom.

Start of Meeting

For our first meeting in the new year, the Toastmaster made sure we remained optimistic with the word of the day: “Sanguine”.

Christoff Krige took on the role of the Toastmaster for the evening, introducing the new year as “The Year of the Tiger”, in accordance with the upcoming Chinese New Year. The Year of the Tiger is said to be a year of change and taking new risks.

Several guests joined in this meeting, namely Essence, Lebogang, Mahlogonolo, Jacques and Ncedeka, bring a fresh spark to our first meeting of the year.

Christoff Krige, as the Toastmaster, guided us through a successful and inclusive evening.

Prepared Speeches

There were two prepared speeches for the evening:

1. PL1P2 (Speech for Evaluation) The Beautiful Game by Cecil Koeberg, which was evaluated by Zaina Lamalia.
2. PL2P1 (Leadership Styles) Leadership Styles by Di Sharp, which was evaluated by Saloshni Naidoo.

Table Topics/Educational

Christoff Krige managed the table topics for the evening, asking each individual to dig deep into their imagination to answer his various questions. Questions included “what is a food you like that other people might find odd?” and “what is you favourite summer memory?”

Grizzly Award

The Grizzly Bear was awarded to Cecil Koeberg for his nostalgic and well-delivered speech of the evening. Well done!

Highlights for next meeting

The next meeting will be held on 2 February 2022 at 19:00pm, via Zoom.