APRIL 2016
TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NO MAN
KEEP
ROLLING...
PRESIDENT’S INTRODUCTION
For me, time and tide wait for no man means that we can’t stop the
clock and should not delay doing things.
I was new behind the Wainuiomata Toastmasters steering
wheel. Beyond the steering wheel is
the motor, but without wheels, the
motor and steering wheel will achieve
nothing. Sincere thanks to my welltuned motor (committee members).
THIS MONTH
UPFRONT
1 Family and friends—
President’s
introduction
3 Khorshed’s corner
3 Grammarian's
challenge
It took a bit of time to get my head around the complexities of Toastmasters and its
activities. I would therefore like to extend my sincere appreciation to those who have
helped me along the way.
You, the members, are the wheels of the club. Without members, we cannot function
and achieve our targets. The car will not move without wheels. I can steer, the engine
will provide the necessary momentum but without wheels, it will go nowhere. We have
to have well balanced wheels.
OUR CLUB
6 News and schedule
7 Club events
I enjoyed the way members stepped in when we sometimes were unable to fill roles at
our weekly meeting. Some of you even took more than one role to assist when
sufficient members were not around. Our members also stepped in to assist other
clubs.
SPEAKING
4 Fluctuations
5 Speech techniques
A big thank you to the Isherwood’s. Prior to each and every meeting, they prepare the
room for our weekly meeting. Their dedication to this club is beyond the call of duty. I
relied heavily on them for assistance and advice, and I am sure that they will continue
their support to the club. Continued page 2
JOIN US
8 How to join
Try us out.
Wednesday 7:00-8:30pm.
Wainuiomata Community
Room.
FLUCTUATIONS OF LIFE
We all have ups and downs in our lives. At times we soar like an eagle in flight then we
slip down into a deep valley, only to slowly
climb back up. There have been times
Toastmasters —
when we have looked at the mountain in
always a step
front of us and thought “I can’t do that, it’s
ahead?
impossible”.
Jan Ashford once said “There is no such
thing as can’t, only won’t’! All it takes is a
burning desire to accomplish, to make a
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Continued page 4
PRESIDENT’S INTRODUCTION CONT
OUR ACHIEVEMENTS
In terms of achievements for the year, I wish to
mention the following:

Competitions held – speech and evaluation
(first club in our district off the block)

Christmas dinner

Committee members attended all committee
training programmes

Screening of International contest from LA

Donated money to candidate to take part in
Internationals in LA

July – held our humorous contest

Area Director visit

Area contest held in our club

Famous Isherwood BBQ

Workshops – hosted by Neville

Petone Fair, Round the Bay, Home and
Garden show

Provided judges for many clubs

Francis Chandrahasen represented us –
was placed in top 3 at Dannevirke
Conference
We are well on the way to our Distinguished Club
membership for the ninth time since charter of this
club.
CONTINUE YOUR SUPPORT
COMMITTEE CHANGEOVER
I must point out that without the wheels and motor, the
steering would not have worked. So I congratulate you
all in making this club the best ever.
I would like to mention my Committee by their names
Vice President Education- Sheena Spiers and
role taken over by Neville Isherwood when she
resigned due to family commitment.
Vice President Membership – Kerry Godfrey
Vice President Public Relations – Diane
Isherwood
Secretary – Anna Cramp
Treasurer – Retha Brandt
Sergeant at Arms – David
Smith resigned in April
Please continue your support. We can then continue
doing the things that we do best, and win the
Presidents Distinguished Club award in years to come.
The baton will be passed on in due time, the steering
wheel must steer in the right direction, the motor needs
to be properly tuned and in top condition, and we
mustn’t lose track of the wheels.
Wheels come and go and have to be replaced once in
a while as they become worn out. New ones move in
and work with others to keep us rolling.
The new committee has been
elected and I sincerely
congratulate them on this
milestone.
At the end of the day, we all need to work together for
the success of the club.
Thank you.
President - Kerry Godfrey
Vice President Education - Anna Cramp
Vice President Membership - Ann Swaby
Vice President Public Relations - Neville
Isherwood
Treasurer - Rose Wyse
Secretary - Lynne O’Brien
Sergeant at Arms - Louise Houpapa
Mano Ram
President
We meet every Wednesday
7:00pm to 8:30pm
2
Khorshed’s
corner
A
dyed in the grain Toastmaster's
journey is without end. This is the
time of the year when there is
feverish activity among
members. We pitch in to keep the
all-important Prepared Speech
Contests running smoothly.
Our Club members went to the
Division levels for judging, tally
counting, giving test speeches for
evaluations.
When all of these roles had been
accounted for, there was one more to be present at the contests to
cheer our favourites, to applaud and
share their joy when they win.
The Division J6 Contest was at
Dannevirke on the 16th April. A
mini-bus drove ten of us up to the
venue in the morning, with an
early 7:00am start. There wasn't a
dull moment on the three-hour
ride. I got to exchange views with a
fellow toastmaster, younger than me
by a good many years. The
speeches at the Contest were of a
“cheer our
favourites,
...applaud and share
their joy when they
win”
high calibre.
It was a proud moment for the father
and daughter team of Francis and
Clarissa Chandrahasen, who won
third and second places
respectively. Though Francis chose
Grammarians challenge
Answers to last month’s quiz
1. Answer: Who
2. Answer: an / a
3. Answer: Clauses
4. Answer: I
5. Answer: two or more words that share
the same pronunciation but have different
meanings
6. Answer: on
7. Answer: abstract nouns
to stand from another Club, we
proudly claim him as our
own. Congratulations to both you
achievers!
The three winners in the Evaluation
Contest did justice to an informative
and interesting test speech.
What next? The Convention at
Rotorua of course, and it is my
regret that I won't be giving an eyewitness account of the event. The
Isherwoods will fill us in with what
we, the unfortunates, have missed.
On the home front, we had a new
Committee voted and sworn in. The
reins of office were handed over to
some new faces; fresh to what was
required of them, but anxious to
learn and do their best. Our Club is
in good hands, so may it remain. I
leave you with this thought.
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Quiz continued:
8. Microsoft announced ________
releasing a new product next week.
it is
they are
itself is
she is
9. We need three _______ and two
_______ for the soup.
fungi / potatos
fungus / potatoes
fungis / potatoes
fungi / potatoes
10. Adverbs can modify:
nouns
adjectives
pronouns
sentences
11. The boy _______ threw the ball was
blond.
himself
that
which
who
12. Those are all prepositions, except:.
upon
from
so
like
FLUCTUATIONS OF LIFE — A SPEECH
CONT FROM PAGE 1
BY NEVILLE ISHERWOOD
change. Go forward, go backward.
Whatever it takes! But you can't
blame other people or society in
general. It all comes from your
mind. When we do the impossible
we realize we are special people."
three years of not carrying any
weight at all. This period was very
educational for me—I learnt to
walk again, and I discovered I
had a great talent for language
that my mother disapproved of.
There have been two occasions in
my life when I have been in that
deep dark valley and here I will tell
you about both of those times, and
the slow climb back to the sunlight
Perseverance all those years ago
has allowed me to stand here
tonight. Perseverance will always
allow us to climb back up from
those dark valleys
Nearly 60 years ago, a diagnosis of
a disease in my hips coupled with
experimental double dislocation of
both hips, meant I lost the use of my
legs, both my legs, for three years.
Fast forwarding 30 years, I fell
into a dark abyss caused by four
things; the loss of two people who
were very close and dear to me, a
marriage on the rocks, financial
problems, and an addiction to
coke. Not the drug, the drink.
Imagine how an energetic six year
old felt being confined to bed for 18
months, both legs in traction, and
then having his legs encased in
steel caliphers for another 18
months. The grave concerns about
the outcome of the radical treatment
meant that all my family was very
stressed for a long period of
time. After three years, I had to
learn to walk again.
Winston Churchill once said
"Success consists of going from
failure to failure without loss of
enthusiasm." And I admit I had
many, many failures during this relearning period.
Many was the time I kissed the floor
as my spindly legs gave way after
I became very close to a nervous
breakdown, but retained enough
sanity to put myself into the
psyche unit at Wellington hospital.
They say things happen for a
reason. On hitchhiking from
Naenae, the first ride I picked up
was going to Newtown. They
deposited me at the hospital front
door—no time to change my
mind!
For the next ten days, no drugs,
just reflections. I had time to look
within myself and to realise that I
was in charge of my journey
They say that time is a great
healer and in those 10 days I
realized that the
only person that
could get my
life out of that
black abyss
was me. I was
responsible for
my life, nobody
else could live it
for me.
What can we
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do when we slip down into those
dark valleys?
We need to remove ourselves from
those atmospheres that are forcing
us down. This can at first seem to
be a task beyond our capabilities,
but as with any task, if we break our
journey into small steps, then that
insurmountable mountain can easily
turn into just a gentle slope.
Every journey starts with a single
step, and with every step we take
on that journey, we get closer to the
top of the hill. Closer to being able
to bask in the sunlight.
One thing I have learned through
my two dark periods is that no
matter how bad I felt, how low I felt,
there was always someone worse
off than I was.
Once I realized that fact, my
darkness didn’t appear to be quite
so dark. It seemed like there was a
very faint glimmer of light at the end
of the darkness. Out of the depths
of darkness does come light.
Getting knocked down is a given in
our lives, but getting up and moving
forward is a choice.
Will you make that choice the next
time you find yourself in a dark
valley?
SPEECH TECHNIQUES
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Writing for reading is very different to writing for speaking.
Words that fit well on a page might not have the same effect
when spoken.
Let’s first look at the words. How should we emphasize
important words - and how do we choose what are the
important words?
LIFT YOUR VOICE NATURALLY
What do you do if you don’t have a sing-song voice, in fact
veering on the monotone? You want to be able to lift your
voice yet still sound natural. When you talk your voice
naturally rises on keywords, and this is what you want to
achieve when speaking.
When you talk imagine a necklace with beads on it. You
have small beads, then every so often there is a
large pearl. This pearl is the one you
want your audience to remember; it
Let the
forms part of your key message.
You want your audience walking out
the door after your speech with their
own pearl necklace. Help them
absorb your key words and take your
message home with them.
audience
absorb your
key words
The other words, the smaller beads, are there to run you
along to the pearl. The small beads add value and meaning,
but their main purpose is to lead the audience to your
important word, the pearl! The pearl can be anywhere in the
sentence; at the beginning, middle or end. Lift your voice on
the pearl; let the audience subconsciously absorb the
importance.
SOFT….
OR HARD
In a recent
speech I wanted
a sentence to link
my introduction
to my first reallife story about a
young girl. This
was my initial
sentence, “This was happening to my friend’s daughter”
The sentence worked in our club room, where you could
speak, didn’t have to project your voice too far. The
sentence did not work in a large hall; I needed more
impact and easier words to enunciate.
The start of the sentence has “this”; the sound is soft.
Trying to project “happening” was almost impossible.
What about “my friend’s daughter”? The ‘f’ in friend
is a soft sound, not easy to emphasize or lift. Will the
audience grasp whose daughter? I didn’t want them
to hear only “my….daughter”.
CHANGE THE SENTENCE
Look at this corrected sentence, “Consider what
happened to my daughter’s friend” .
“Consider” is clear, and starts with a firm, hard sound. It
is also a very positive way to gain attention. Take a small
liberty with the speech; swap the friend/daughter around.
“My daughter's…” has a double hard sound, very clear to
pronounce and emphasize. Follow with friend which has
now been given a strong introduction and won’t be lost
between two hard sounds.
HELP OR OI—CONSONANT OR VOWEL?
Vowels are generally easier to pronounce e.g. would you
cry out “help,” or shout “Oi”? “Oi” is hard, clear, cuts
through the air and gets attention. Use this same
principle in your speeches.
PEARLS...
You now have defined your pearls, yet what happens if a
pearl, your important word, is a tricky word to project
clearly, to emphasize, to lift your voice on? Maybe it's fine
as a small running bead but not for landing on?
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Find your pearls. Consider
the sound; if soft, look at
replacing it with a hard
sound. Look at reordering
your sentence.
Run along those beads.
When you land on a pearl,
clearly lift your voice!
CLUB NEWS AND SCHEDULE
SCHEDULE
Ann Swaby
Anna Cramp
David Coxon
Diane Isherwood
Francis Chandrahasen
Kelvin Deginder
Kerry Godfrey
Khorshed Irani
Lynne O'Brien
Louise Houpapa
Mano Ram
May Coxon
Neville Isherwood
Retha Brandt
Rose Wyse
Bruce Roberts
Visiting Club - speaker
Visiting Club - Evaluator
OUR COMMITTEE
President
Mano Ram
419
420
421
422
18-May
25-May
TTM
1-Jun
8-Jun
TTE
SP3
SP2
GR
VP Education
Neville Isherwood
GE
Chair
VP Membership
Kerry Godfrey
EV1
TTM
Educ
Chair
TK
EV2
Edu EV
Host
GR
TTE
SP2
GE
SP1
SP3
GE
Host
SP2
TTE
EV3
TK
EV1
Chair
GR
SP1
EV2
TTE
TTM
Host
EV1
EV3
GE
GR
Chair
EV3
SP3
SP2
TK
SP1
Host
TK
EV3
SP1
EV2
EV1
TTM

Welcome
Bruce Roberts has now been voted in as a new member. Welcome!

Meeting write-ups
The Chair will now write notes on how the
meeting went. Pass the write-up to VP
Public Relations for publishing on our
website.

Mentoring
Diane completed an extensive piece of
work as part of her Toastmasters project
on mentoring. This is now available for
members. Please contact Diane.

Schedule
New updated schedule on our website.

Visiting clubs
Each club will send a speaker and
evaluator to another club. Our club will go
to Hutt Valley on Monday 13 June.
All vector images are from www.freepik.com.
Page 1: Car with no wheels by Poster Boy NYC via Compfight cc
Page 3 from stockvault.com
Page 6 and 7 courtesy of Toastmasters
All other images from FreeImages.com
Treasurer
Retha Brandt
Secretary
Anna Cramp
NOTICES
Newsletter Images:
VP Public Relations
Diane Isherwood
Sergeant at Arms
TBA
CLUB SCHEDULES
Please note that if you are not available to fulfill a
speaking role, try and swap with someone who has a
speech the next week.
Swapping will ensure that you get your speech within
that scheduled round; if you just pull out there is no
guarantee that you will be able to get another slot.
Remember to bring both your Competent Communicator
6 Competent Leader manuals.
and
CLUB EVENTS
OUT AND ABOUT
You can’t keep a “better than good”
toastmaster from going on the
prowl.
Here is our Area Director, a
Consummate Toastmaster, making
use of her spare time in netting
potential toastmasters.
She wasn’t only promoting Hutt
Lunchtime Toastmasters, a new
club in the offing, she was in it for
all clubs in the Hutt Valley.
Remember as Toastmasters we
are all necessary ingredients in
the mix.
DID YOU KNOW?
ACL is an advanced Toastmasters
club based in the Lower Hutt region
of Wellington. Their focus is
to progress existing skills
in communication and
leadership skills. They provide
opportunities to:



Deliver and evaluate
advanced type presentations
Offer a unique Toastmasters
program and experience
Socialise and network with
experienced leaders in the
Region.
They value the right attitude over
experience.
Join ACL at the Meeting Room of
the Petone Library, 6:30pm to
8:30pm, every second Friday of the
Month. Parking is available behind
the Library.
DIVISION J CONFERENCE AT DANNEVIRKE
LOOK TO OUR YEAR AHEAD
Awards
Francis Chandrahasen came third at the
Division J International Speech contest.
Congratulations!
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JOIN US — WAINUIOMATA TOASTMASTERS
Toastmasters provides the tools that enable you to become
an effective communicator and leader both in business or
professional life, and your personal and community life.
Toastmasters can help you:

develop self-confidence when speaking in public

give effective presentations to all types of audiences

speak off the cuff on a variety of topics

conduct effective meetings.
You'll enjoy the fellowship of
Toastmasters as you learn how
to:
research, prepare and deliver
speeches on a wide variety of
topics

design and use visual aids to
enhance your message

Why Join Toastmasters?
You will learn in a club environment, amongst friends.  host and speak at family and social occasions.

You will receive ongoing feedback and
encouragement.
If you are interested in seeing or joining Wainuiomata
In your working life, you'll be able to:
Toastmasters please fill in the form below. One of our

hone your management skills
customer representatives will contact you to arrange a
visit.

work better with your colleagues and customers


Visit our website:
http://wainuiomata.toastmastersclubs.org
develop and present ideas clearly.
In your personal life, you'll be able to:

offer constructive criticism

accept criticism more objectively
Wainuiomata Toastmaster Club Meetings are held every
Wednesday starting at 7.00pm - Wainuiomata Community
Centre Meeting Room, Queen Street, Wainuiomata
ENQUIRIES FORM
Please circle
Please contact me to arrange a visit to a meeting
I would like to join Wainuiomata Toastmasters
Please email me more information
Last Name / Surname / Family Name First Name / Given Name Middle Initial / Name
____________________________________________________________________________
Home Phone Number Mobile Number Work Phone Number
Please email me more information
____________________________________________________________________________
EMAIL
WEBSITE
Join us on
[email protected]
wainuiomata.toastmastersclubs.org
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