Anaelle was Toastmaster of the Evening, standing in for Claudia. She introduced the theme, Spring, and the quotation: Spring is Nature’s way of saying, “Let’s party!”
Yannis gave the toast to spring and new beginnings, explaining that there can be a spring in people’s lives as well as in nature – new babies, a fresh start, even redoing an apartment…

WELCOME –
Once again, the meeting was hybrid: we were joined on Zoom by Peter in Paris, Tricia in Rennes, and Lars in Norway. With fourteen visitors, and Josep encouraging everyone to return an
enthusiastic “Good evening!”, the session was off to a rousing start.

OUR GUESTS INCLUDED –
Ava and Richard, who heard of us through word of mouth and found us on Google; Davide, whose colleagues are members here, and who succumbed to [positive] “peer pressure”; Sayyor who attended a TM session in Pakistan, and Simran and Natasha in India; Sebastien coming to improve his public speaking; Florence, who took a few years between finding us and attending a meeting, and Mayumi, who came in 2008 and 2018 (hoping she’ll not wait so long for her next visit!); Karim from Lebanon, who found Toastmasters through reading a classic public speaking book by Napoleon Hill, and who brought his old schoolfriend, also called Karim; Pamela, who has tried several TM groups but feels like “This is the club!”; Joanne from Shanghai, who knows other clubs but wanted to try this one, and Anne, who used to belong to TMP before moving to Avignon and calls TMP “my favorite club.”
Thanks to all of you for helping make the evening such fun!

TABLE TOPICS
Amelie’s animation of the table topics was a masterful combination of
entertainment (a touch of Vivaldi!), explanation (table topics are not to trick but to
inspire), and teaching (e.g., speakers could turn their backs until they are ready to
speak).

Anne : THE SMELL OF THE EATH AFTER THE RAIN –
Anne explained that the South of France is currently so dry you can’t break the
earth with a hammer, and there is no earthy smell. She buys earth in big bags if she
wants to smell it – and she’s waiting to smell the perfume of the plants she is now
growing.
Ava: THE POWER OF COLORS IN OUR LIFE –
Ava asked: “Have you ever taken a bright yellow shirt on a rainy day?”- Color can
shock our system or even help us to control our environment. To overcome routine
or boredom, she advises: Embrace color!
Florence: SPRING FEVER –
Florence suggested that, after the gloom of winter, spring fever is intoxicating,
making us dive into the season with a new sense of life. Nevertheless, it is a doubleedged sword, as there is a temptation to do too much, and the very word ‘fever’
should be a warning…
Sayyor: CULTIVATE YOUR GARDEN (VOLTAIRE) –
Sayyor suggested we need to cultivate our brains as if they were gardens,
strengthening our talents and skills. We need to do this if we want our flowers to
bloom – and achieve greatness!
Natasha: PASSING SEASONS: NOSTALGIA OR EXCITEMENT? –
Natasha explained that at home in the East of India, the monsoon brings relief after
the summer, but the monsoon’s end is welcomed because people are no longer
confined indoors. Here in France, she is now excited to experience different
seasons.

Mayumi: LET’S SPRING INTO ACTION –
Mayumi wants rebirth as a daily experience: every day of our lives should be spring.
We should have. This, she admitted, can be difficult because of the pressure of
daily life in which we are “chased by our tasks.” Nevertheless, she urged us to
consider that “Every morning is spring!”
Peter: DAYLIGHT SAVINGS –
Peter, speaking from experience, argued that daylight savings is a real challenge to
people living in two completely different hemispheres, He noted that this is the case
for many Toastmasters, and twice a year it forces us to do some mental arithmetic!

SPEECHES AND EVALUATIONS

CAROLINE ON JOSEP’S “BOTANICAL TREASURE
Caroline wondered if Josep might have made better use of the space. Otherwise, she had nothing but praise, claiming he had been “a hundred percent successful” in meeting his objective of persuasive speaking. She commended him for a good opening that caught our attention, his use of interesting facts and concrete examples such as dates and bitcoins, and his questioning. She enjoyed that the introductory talk about plants was followed by a teasing, “But I’m not going to talk about plants!” Also worthy of praise, she claimed, were Josep’s gestures and his smile.

VICKI ON ANAELLE’S “AND THE AWARD GOES TO…”
Vicki appreciated Anaelle’s choice of an Oscar acceptance speech, timed to be topical. She
enjoyed the humor, such as the professed desire to be an actress followed by the father’s
suggestion of a back-up job such as welding. Vicki noted that Anaelle’s long list of thanks
showed how insipid this can be, and that the prop – a plastic thermos – was a wonderful
contrast to the speaker’s evocation of a “warm, captive audience.” She also commended
Anaelle’s theme, that although we can’t expect others to love us, we need to love ourselves.
However, Vicki noted that Anaelle had been writing her speech during the meeting(!), and that
her use of notes had distanced her from the audience.

SUZANNE ON SIOBHAN’S “TAKE ME TO YOUR LEADER”
Suzanne commended Siobhan for her energy, use of questions, and call to
action, and enjoyed the incorporation of a joke. Noting that there was a good
deal of information in the speech, she wondered if it might be too much for the
audience to take in, and she also warned Siobhan against a tendency to drop
her voice at times.

THE EVENING’S WINNERS

Anne : Table Topics

Siobhan: Speech

Caroline: Evaluation

Vincent’s General Evaluation

Anaelle did a great job as TME after a last-minute change, especially as she was also speaking.
Amelie’s table topics set “a world record”: Vincent cannot remember ever having eight before, and he enjoyed the Voltaire quotation. The three speeches were very good – all from experienced speakers.
The evaluators did a good job, especially as it was hard to suggestimprovements.
Tricia’s grammarian and stumble catcher reports were full anddetailed.
The set-up of the hybrid meeting was made difficult because of the absence of the sergeant-at-arms, a last minute change.
Although the speeches and evaluations were within time, and Vincent appreciated having three breaks, the general timing of the evening slipped.

Info from our Area Director Vicki –
Toastmasters International now has 265,000 members.
As Area Director, Vicki is responsible for overseeing four clubs.
Above the Area is the Division (A), and above the Division is the District (59).
The Division A Contest (French and English Speech and Evaluation) is March 30.

Dates for the Diary –

March 30 Division A Contest

April 2 Meeting (Cindi Finlay Award night)

April 16 Meeting