A toast for the masters
Porirua toastmasters shone at a major contest in Upper Hutt recently.
Toastmaster clubs from the lower North Island competed to find the best speakers to represent them at the biannual national convention in the Bay of Islands this month.
Iwan Tjhin from the Porirua Central Club was judged the best humorous speaker and Gary Nicholson, from the Spinnaker Toastmaster Club in Plimmerton, entertained the audience with a two-minute table topic, telling them why New Zealand’s capital should be Auckland.
He was judged the best table topics speaker.
Meanwhile KapiMana@Tawa and Newlands toastmasters clubs are to celebrate the 90th anniversary of Toastmasters International at an open meeting next week, with guest speaker Lorraine Banks, managing director of Laurel Associates.
Ninety years ago, when Toastmasters founder Dr Ralph Smedley held the first meeting in the basement of a YMCA in California, only a few people attended.
Now, with membership exceeding 313,000 in 126 countries, Toastmasters International continues to build on Smedley’s foundation of teaching public speaking and leadership skills.
Mark Christian, president of the Kapi-Mana@Tawa club, said toastmasters clubs provided a supportive and positive environment where members had the opportunity to develop their communication and leadership skills.
After hearing from Lorraine Banks, members and guests will enjoy a regular Toastmasters meeting that will include prepared speeches, impromptu speeches and evaluations.
Members from the KapiMana@Tawa and Newlands toastmasters clubs will participate.