The meeting was opened by the President, Niki Boersma and after short business session, the gavel was passed to Neil Wilson, the Chairman for the evening who announced that a committee meeting would take place at the end of the formal proceedings.
Niki Boersma was called to the lectern to give her speech which was to be evaluated specifically for her use of gestures. The speech was entitled First Kiss and was well constructed with a good mix of humour and serious content. Niki used gestures which were varied, appropriate and enhanced the speech and this was emphasised by Jocelyn Brooks when she gave a full evaluation at the end.
Peter Wilson decided to produce an impromptu speech, a very difficult assignment to undertake. He was asked to choose one title from three suggestions and had ten minutes in which to prepare the speech. During the time Peter was out of the room, the chairman led a discussion on some of the techniques used by speakers at the recent Party Conferences.
Peter had chosen the title Always look on the Bright Side of Life and gave an interesting speech which kept the audience enthralled. Mavis Cryer, in her evaluation spoke of the excellent techniques employed and her admiration that an impromptu speech could be delivered so expertly that it appeared to have been carefully prepared over many days rather than just ten minutes.
Mavis Cryer chaired the topics session which involved members speaking for two minutes on the possible origin of a selection of Nursery Rhymes. This proved great fun and gave the participants the chance to use their imagination to the full.
Jeff Denton presented a thorough general evaluation of the conduct of the whole meeting which was then closed by Niki Boersma.