There’s a crack in everything. That’s how light gets in. Leonard Cohen

Alex, Toastmaster of the Evening, introduced the theme, suggesting that anyone who had been in Paris recently would understand that it hadn’t been “a very nice time.” It had been raining… However, he urged us to look for SILVER LININGS in everything: he is grateful for his luxurious, green garden.

THE (MUSICAL) TOAST: BENOIT

Benoit explained the meaning of the phrase, finding the positive in difficult situations, and suggested that this ability would be useful during table topics! Noting that we all face challenges and setbacks, he pointed out that hope can be found in unexpected places. Brighter days are to come, he announced, as music struck up: “Here Comes the Sun!”

WORD OF THE DAY – YANNIS

From the Courrier International, Yannis raised a giggle when he quoted, “Magic Mushrooms for Menopause – It restored my joy!” – and gave us ethe task of using ‘restored” in our speeches.

Congratulations to Alison, Silvia, and Vicki who used the word.

THE JOKE – MARTIN

The manager of an art gallery phoned one of the artists with good news and bad news. “A client wanted to know if a painting’s value rises after an artist dies. When I confirmed this, – good news! – the man bought your painting.” “Wonderful! Who bought it?” asked the painter. “Ah, that’s the bad news,” said the manager. “He said he’s your doctor!”

TABLE TOPICS – ALISON

The phrase ‘silver lining’ was first used in John Milton’s poetic description of a cloud (1643), Alison told us, before introducing her silver lining subjects –

SILVIA
What opportunity did you miss but discovered that missing it was, in fact, a blessing? In October 2017 Silvia underwent a series of interviews for a post as marketing director, a serious promotion, and was sad when she came runner up. But the timing turned out to be brilliant. The company for which she worked was laying people off, and just as Silvia claimed a redundancy payment, she landed another (and even better) marketing director position!

ASHLEY
A storm cloud follows you around. What silver lining benefit does it drop?
Ashley declared that “the treasure of life” is the silver lining of storms. Having had a bad accident twenty years ago in which she almost lost her life, Ashley spent six months in hospital. In recovering, she discovered, “The greatest treasure is life.”

DEBBIE
In the book Silver Linings of my Journey, what would be your chapter 1?
“I think – no, I know, that the first chapter of that book would be entitled ‘Smile’,” Debbie told us. Smiles give her the most joy, from her husband’s smile in the morning to the smiles exchanged in the street – and now she spends a good deal of time trying to get her seven-month-old granddaughter to smile!

NOOR
Having bought a thousand-euro ticket to the opening of the Olympics, it rained! What was the silver lining?

Noor confessed that she missed the opening of the Olympics. She told us she didn’t see the drag queens who caused such a stir with their tableau representing Dionysus. This was mistaken for the Last Supper and cut from the replays! The silver lining of being at the Olympics, she told us, would have been the chance to see the performance!

VICKI
What personal experience would you plant at the base of a silver lining tree, and what fruit would the tree bear?

Having been in Paris with a young child for several months, Vicki needed an apartment. She had just decided she would give up and go back to the States when she found her current home. Although the garden was filled with junk, she knew that “A wonderful home could be grown there,” and this is where her daughter spent her entire childhood!

Alison thanked everyone, especially the guests, for putting their hearts into this!

PREPARED SPEECHES

“From Youth to Working Life – Beware of Communication Styles!”

While Amelie was constrained regarding the what to say, she was skilled with the how, Josep began. He noted that she looked comfortable throughout. Josep praised the way Amelie interested the audience – talking about her own experiences, both professional and personal, making film references, and using questions. He gave one suggestion for future improvement, that she show the slide at the beginning to allow the audience to familiarize themselves with the different communication styles, coming back later to describe her type.

“Navigating Together”

Vicki opened by praising the way Debbie had started her speech, noting that she and her husband have polar opposite communication styles, but saying that she can now identify these “thanks to Toastmasters.” Vicki noted that Debbie’s sailing anecdote was a good illustration of their styles. Moving forwards, Vicki suggested Debbie should employ more vocal variety and felt that she could work on gestures, for example a sweeping arm could demonstrate just how far the journey had taken.

Yasmine congratulated Siobhan for accepting the challenge of using visuals in this second speech. They highlighted the main points, introducing the problem of the beauty industry today. The slides were clear – for example, limited to numbers on a mirror, and time was allowed to read any quotations. However, Yasmine noted that Siobhan used less vocal variety this time and was physically restricted in order to operate the PowerPoint.

SILVIA’S GENERAL EVALUATION

Silvia noted that it had been a good meeting with a small group of members and many guests. She praised both Benoit’s toast with accompanying music and Martin’s joke. Silvia raised a few questions – The dinner was late: would it be possible to eat earlier? Should reminders be sent out about the new earlier meeting time (7:00)? Is it a good idea to have only one break? – This last point Silvia opened to discussion. There was a mixed response, with some arguing for more social and networking time and others saying this was available both before and after the meeting.

THE EVENING’S WINNERS

TABLE TOPICS: Debbie, Silvia, Noor, and Vicki

SPEECH: Siobhan

EVALUATOR: Yasmine

FINAL WORDS FROM THE PRESIDENT

The next meetings are October 29th

and November 5th

OCTOBER 29 – SPECIAL HALLOWEEN MEETING COME DISGUISED!