2005 Toastmaster Convention -Tauranga

Earlier this month, a Varisty Toastmasters contingent attended the 2005 convention in Tauranga.... and.....

Jassvir has Won!
Congratulations to Jas for winning the NZ Toastmaster international speech competition!
He wooed the audience with his red rose, stripper pants and PVC pants.
Now he's busily preparing his next speech for the world competition in Toronto.
Unfortunately I won't be able to make it because I'll be in Europe doing the OE thing.
However I wish Jas well on his journey in becoming the world champ!

Aside from Jas routing the opposition, we had a entertaining road trip. We did the L&P bottle thing and spent a relaxing afternoon in the Mount Manguanui Spa... just the break I needed from study :)

Twilight Talkers - Auckland

Twilight talkers meet once a fortnight in the Vodafone building. My first impressions are that they are a highly charged bunch of young-ish professionals . What really impresses me about this club is that their club rooms are so organized. It gives a real professional impression to visitors. The club has a high proportion of women, which makes table topics that much more interesting.

The night Varsity club attended, I presented my "Live your Dream" speech, and our Club President presented Twilight talkers with "Beary". "Beary" is a tool used to promote inter-club visits by the following means (source http://www.varsitytm.org/trophy.html)

A club can only present Beary to another club in one of two ways. They can either:

1. visit Varsity Toastmasters and bring to our meeting three or more guests.
2. visit any other club in Auckland and take to their meeting five or more guests.

If clubs follow this approach, more members will visit other clubs and gain new ideas on how they can run their clubs more effectively.

Varsity Toastmasters - Auckland University

Varsity Toastmasters... It has a unique place in the cultural spectrum of Auckland Toastmaster clubs. Consisting mainly of graduate students and young professionals, Varsity's just-in-time meetings are peppered with the humor that makes it one club that you must visit.

When I first joined Varisty, I did it through a Speechcraft course. I was initially surprised at how fluid the meetings were. However, I soon appreciated the experience it gave me in impromptu speaking and the wide range of roles I could undertake.

The first half of this year, I held the secretary role in the club executive. It gave me an insight into the work involved in running the club. The organizational effort needed to get contestants to competitions and the running of speechcraft.

I highly recommend everyone visit Varsity (http://www.varsitytm.org) to experience what I have experienced and meet a hilarious bunch of people :)

Post Zero

Welcome to Pieter's Toastmaster traveling blog.

This blog has two main themes:

1. The first theme will be "Pieter's experiences" as he travels from Auckland->Singapore->Malaysia->Europe.
2. The second theme of this blog will be "Toastmasters", as I intend to visit as many toastmaster clubs as I can while I travel the world!

Why Toastmaster clubs? Toastmasters is much more than a group of people who practice public speaking, it is a worldwide network of friends who all are all waging the same battle against their fear of public speaking. Having a common interest means that you can turn up at any Toastmaster meeting in the world and be warmly welcomed.

So, in the coming months I will share with you my thoughts on the clubs & countries that I have visited, their culture, the people and most importantly pictures!

I always love to hear comments from readers, so don't hesitate to email me of a place you think I should visit, activity I must do, people I must see or culinary delight that I must eat.

Regards,
Pieter.