In a very warm summer evening, when the faint sun light seems to last for the whole day and night as it does in the Arctic, when the beaches of the city are still crowded and the squares and gardens are the place where thousands relax, we, and with the word “we” I mean the irrepressible, the brave members of Sagrada Familia Toastmasters gathered again in our venue to start another discovery journey. The summer temptations had no effect on us. Or maybe we just valued how much another session of our club could contribute to ourselves in terms of knowledge and improvement.
We started the journey with the call to order of our Sergeant at Arms Joan P. and with the opening of our President Mario M. Afterwards the Toastmasters of the session Juan Carlos D. described the program. He was going to be in charge of leading the session.
Angel J. delivered the first speech. He explained us a personal experience related with the theme of its speech: the decision making process. He also gave us some pieces of advice on how to make decisions: be loyal to our principles, do not postpone, do not analyse too much, make the decisions and …. Go for it!
Alba Lucía H. was the next speaker with her speech entitled: “I Have A Dream”. And yes, she does have one, a great one. She dreams of organising a wonderful Division Contest next October. At the beginning she gave us a gift in the form of a beautiful statement: “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams”. She encouraged us to participate in the contest for three main reasons: to enhance our vision, to do networking and to get self confidence by speaking in front of strangers.
The last prepared speech was delivered by Emilia F. It was a speech of the manual Humorously Speaking. Emilia carried us to Italy. She shared with us a personal experience that took place during one of her vacations at her parent’s home. Her opening and conclusion were humorous and the whole speech was very emotional. She touched our hearts.
The next phase of our journey was the one dedicated to the improvised speeches. Victor P. acted as Table Topics Master and Celeste, Victor and Patrick did it very well. Their ability to improvise is amazing.
After the improvised speeches it was time for the General Evaluator and the technical team. The General Evaluator Juan E. gave a comprehensive evaluation and the technical team formed by: Gareth G. as Timekeeper, Joan P. as Grammarian and Birgit N. as Ah-Counter presented their reports. The technical roles are essential in the good developing of our sessions.
At the end we acknowledged two colleagues from other clubs for their contribution to the organization Toastmasters in Barcelona and particularly for their participation in many sessions of our club. Monika Ciwinska and Emilia received a very sweet present from us and a very warm applause.
And when we came out to the street… there was still sun light outside.