by Tulia Lopes, M.E.A.T. VP-Membership
Nothing can make a gathering of people more enjoyable than good energy and high
spirits. Especially in these challenging moments we are all living in since 2020 we all need
a good boost of energy, motivation and support (more often than before, I would say) in
order to keep going, chest up, and with confidence.
And THAT is what we all got last Saturday in our M.E.A.T. meeting!
For start, the theme of the morning was “In the mood for some Fasching!”
In other words, “in the mood for some Carnival.”
With costumes on (real or virtual) our members and guests were welcomed by our
Toastmaster Of The Morning, Claudia Pichlmeier, directly from a (virtual) Ballroom in
Vienna with the sound of one of Johann Strauss Polkas. What a great surprise!
The energy continued high because following the opening I was super excited to present
to the members the new initiative – Speakers Series – that we, M.E.A.T. Officers’
Committee, had prepared to support our advanced members to boost their skills even
further and beyond Toastmasters’ borders.
The level of energy was kept high with Mikaela Gallon’s Table Topics Karaoke style. The
challenge was, we had a topic and then we had to follow some images she was
presenting randomly, and adapt on the spot our story to what we were seeing.
Challenging and fun!
The TT volunteers, Steve Miller and Navin Chuugh, were both guests from other
Toastmasters clubs. Steve Miller took the plunge in Mikaela’s Karaoke, and took us to
Brazil, to Buzios, a beautiful town in the coast close to Rio de Janeiro, which became
famous in the 60s because of Brigitte Bardot. While Navin, took us from an outer to an
inner journey.
By the time the prepared speeches were ready to be presented we were all warmed up to
listen carefully to what Esther, Bence and Hector would bring to amaze us, and we didn’t
fall short. My take home notes from each of their speeches were:
Esther: With the topic of creating a podcast – “In order to reach people with your
creativity, you have to create reach first.”
Bence: With the topic of time management – “Your head is not to store ideas, it is to
create ideas. Prioritize and schedule. Define what you should, could, and must do.”
Hector: With the topic of skills – “Get out of your head and get back to the pleasure in
what you do.”
All of that skilfully wrapped up with constructive feedback from the evaluators, Claudia,
Karla, and Ratna (a guest from North Bucks Toastmasters in the UK). At M.E.A.T. we all
know that the evaluations are the strong pillars at the core of any successful club.
A true Fasching spirit. Full of energy, fun, and precious learning experiences.