The theme of the October 13 Toastmasters meeting was “Prepared, Unprepared.” Our toastmaster Esther kicked the meeting off by telling us some short anecdotes about how prepared she is. She stressed that it’s important to prepare for the unexpected.

We were treated to hearing speeches from two seasoned speakers from our club. John was the first speaker. His speech was not from our required Toastmaster manuals, so his evaluator Bing had flexibility in evaluating more components of his speech.

John’s speech was titled “The Silence Between Two Thoughts”. It was about broadening one’s perspective. The main focal point of John’s speech was a painting called “La mulata” by Diego Velázquez. John’s eloquent delivery was noticed by all of us. Nice speech John, and great constructive evaluation Bing!

Click here to view John’s speech on YouTube.

During the speech, John deciphers the meaning behind a painting called “La Mulata” – to view the painting, click here.

Distinguished Toastmaster, Ram followed with a five minute pitch he wanted to present as a candidate seeking to be a member of the Canadian Diabetes Board. Ram will be travelling to Alberta to make this pitch to members across the country from the diabetes community, and last week’s meeting was a great opportunity to practice the pitch. John K was his evaluator and provided Ram with some great tips. We wish Ram good luck!

For the unprepared Table Topics segment, speakers were asked to recall a time they were unprepared and what they did about it. We heard some really interesting and humorous accounts from Arvind, Ram, Andreea and John K. Andreea’s recollection of being unprepared during her high school years garnered the coveted opportunity to touch the stuffed Tiger. Great job!

Overall the night got high praises, especially from our guests, who are more than welcome to visit us again.

Hope to see you at the next meeting!

–Michelle