U-CAN-SPEAK [LIVE] Video Conferencing links the antipodes: our guest Erik joined our Toastmasters meeting in Christchurch from as far away as Stuttgart, Germany. Not enough, we also met on a Tuesday night due to the public holiday on Monday, we tried out a conference table layout, and we enjoyed very engaging Table Topics. Sitting in front of his laptop computer in Stuttgart, Erik introduced the Word of the Day, jolly. Directly afterwards, VP Education Timm ran a scientific (?) experiment to find out how jolly members of the U-CAN-SPEAK Club are. The warm up was an introduction to Laughter Yoga, something none of us had come across before. After a spontaneous attempt to segue from artificial laughter out of no reason to authentic laughter, we got professional support from a Laughter Yoga Trainer. This YouTube video excerpt featuring a “Laughter Encyclopedia” did indeed stimulate global laughter – from Christchurch to Stuttgart. Our first two speakers, Andy and Tania, already completed their third CC project after having joined the club just a few weeks ago! Timm and Jono both completed their second-last CC project. Overall, the speeches on vampires, milk, rethinking thoughts and recipes to happiness were of very high quality, as confirmed by the speech evaluators and Erik. Erik also kicked off Table Topics with an introduction of his life as a student in Stuttgart, his interest in studying maths and his passion for fencing. Everyone had great fun with the impromptu speeches of the night, including Topicsmaster Ross, who couldn’t hide his amusement when asking questions like “Is that lipstick on your cheek?”, “Do washing machines eat socks?”, “Is our Club President attractive?”. Needless to mention that Table Topics successfully generated lots of laughter. Members will be pleased to learn that Andy decided against cloning the VP Education, even despite his attractiveness, that Erik observed due to Timm’s clothing style. Later it turned out that attractiveness can become a real curse, when Timm gets kissed by a strange girl while shopping with his girlfriend. Will the same happen to the Sergeant-at-Arms, who from now on is expected to dress up in a proper uniform, maybe even a military one? Everyone who walks to our meetings on foot should be advised that for Julius safety is paramount, and hence all pedestrians are recommended to wear hi-viz clothing and helmets. If that offers sufficient protection when Tania is speeding at 120 kph? Erik’s summarising comment on our meeting:
Overall, I liked the atmosphere of the meeting. Friendly people who treat each other nicely and smile a lot. However, the club needs more female members! I was impressed with the timing. Initially I found it quite ridiculous to have an agenda with times detailed to the minute. I was even more surprised to see that everything kept perfectly to time! Thank you very much for letting me join your meeting. That was something very special to me. I felt very welcome as a guest to your meeting.
U-CAN-SPEAK 