Toastmasters District Convention May 2010

Toastmasters in New Zealand have just celebrated the first of two District Conventions for the year 2010. This weekend some 360 Toastmasters from District 72 (NZ), and two visitors from Australia, gathered in our erstwhile capital, Wellington, to be educated, entertained and inspired into the new Toastmasters’ year.

Four members from our club in Palmerston North (some 150km north of Wellington) scrunched our cases and carcasses into Keren’s Subaru on Friday night and headed south. We checked into our hotels and then reconvened at the Duxton Hotel, where we garnered our welcome packs and caught up with comrades from past conventions.

Contrary to popular misconceptions, Toastmasters do not stand around all day proposing toasts and guzzling grog, rather they focus on the somewhat serious business of the practice and performance of public speaking. For instance, one of our tenets is taking the terror out of talking!

Ordinary people join Toastmasters International for many reasons that include reducing their fear of public speaking, increasing their skills in the areas of entertainment and humour, use of body language and vocal variety, through to developing their ability to inspire and motivate the audience beyond their expectations. We emerge as extraordinary people who are willing to take the floor at a moments notice.

I am always amazed at the wide variety of personality types and professions represented in Toastmasters meetings. Amongst our number are teachers and truck drivers, lecturers and lingerie sellers, doctors and dustmen. As we convene we find a common camaraderie in watching the top performers from District 72 strut their stuff on the stage.

In particular this weekend our small group watched with pride as brilliant Barb, our evaluation expert, competed with other experts from around the country. Her performance was one of the best in our eyes although she was not placed. Such are the vagaries of the judging system. We were delighted with her performance all the same and feel thrilled that yet another of our club members is of national standard.

During the weekend we attended Educationals, sessions in which senior Toastmasters with specific skill sets share their knowledge and experience with us. We all felt suitably enlightened by these experiences.

Besides becoming better acquainted with three of my fellow club members, I have gained further insight into how masterfully a speech can be presented, which words to use and why, how the Toastmasters Leadership system works and what our club can do better to retain members. All four of us, Val, Barb, Keren and I, have a wealth of material to share with our fellow club members next week.