Tonight I piloted a panel at the NSANZ CHristchurch Chapter on MCing. Our MC panelists were Wendy Davie, Stuart Fleming, Martz Witty and David Clarkson, and they shared their experiences. It was a great session, really useful, full of tips that can work (and war stories of when things didn't)
Based on what they said, I ended the session with a "Prayer for the MC" which I came up with on the night. I jotted down a rough outline before I went up, and filled in a few gaps with phrases that came up in the discussion.
Our M C
Who art a Jack-of-all-trades
Multifaceted be thy task.
Thy preparation done
May the meeting run
As well at our hotel as it is done at the NSAA Annual Convention.
Give us today the breaks we need,
And forgive us our mobile phones going off
As we forgive you the time spent on the health and safety checklist.
Do not lead us into discomfort due to faulty air conditioning,
And deliver us from speakers who run over time.
For thine is the responsibility, the power, but (if you do your job properly) not the glory,
For so long as this conference lasts.
Amen.
It could use a little polishing, but for an impromptu effort, not bad I think. Suggestions welcome.
Showing posts with label wendy davie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label wendy davie. Show all posts
10 June 2009
13 December 2008
Let the trumpets sound!
If Wendy Davie can put a little trumpet blowing, so can I. At our end-of-year function for National Speakers Association Christchurch chapter, we had our annual awards presentation.
And....yours truly received the President's Award for commitment to the chapter.
What did I do to deserve it? Well, I've been Education Director, and on the national working party reviewing accreditation and membership (sometimes a background as a lawyer specialising in corporate governance issues comes in handy!) I have also been active in preparing business plans, sourcing and working with our event management team for a one-day conference next March 5th, called Speaking Professionally.
All of that has taken a huge amount of time, and I don't begrudge one minute of it. The NSANZ Christchurch Chapter is a group of hugely energetic, creative, active and inspiring bunch of people who I continue to learn from. The more I get involved the more I benefit. It is nice to get the award, but it isn't half so much a reward as I've got from getting involved in the first place.
I also competed on the night in the Orators competition. I've been focussing on bringing more gravitas to my speaking. I have been told I have a light and entertaining style. I never need to try and be comic - my timing just takes over and suddenly people are laughing at places I didn't plan for them too, which inevitably lightens things up. I put a bit of work into my speech, listening to the great speeches of the world, including Barack Obama's recent speeches, and trying to make my style more oratorical. I'm proud of how I spoke - I did a good job.
I also had the joy of watching Ralph Brown speak. After about 15 seconds I knew I wouldn't win. Ralph is my speaking idol - the consummate professional, without being at all flashy or over the top. He was a deserved winner. Congratulations to Ralph, and to all the other award winners this year. I'll post my thoughts on the topic: "the magic of words", along with the video, some time soon.
The other awards on the evening (copied from Wendy Davie's blog) went to:
Unsung Hero Award and People's Choice - Wendy Davie
Congratulation everyone, and let all our trumpets sound.
2 December 2008
A to Z of Luck : E is also for Easy Efficiency
A to Z of Luck: E is for Easy Efficiency
Here's another installment of my project to provide an antidote to the pessimism we find all around us, by exploring the ways that we can make our own luck.
My instinct is that we all are surrounded by a myriad of opportunities,and that the genius of luck is first, being able to see them, and second, being able to take advantage of them. I believe there are things we can do to make luck more likely, to help us make the most of the opportunities that are around us, even if the wider economy is in recession.
This one is somewhat prosaic. When we make small changes to be more organised and efficient, the effect on our energy can be big. (I'll post tomorrow about getting rid of tolerations that drain our energy)
I was talking to Wendy Davie the other day about how I've noticed in recent years that there is a trend to large dining plates and deep bowls which though small, don't fit in a dishwasher.
Deep noodle bowls are nice to eat out of, but they just don't stack well. Dishwashers only take one row of big plates (if they fit at all), rather than two rows of ordinary-sized dinner plates. Dishes with a big curvature in them also take more space, and are harder for the dishwasher jets to reach, so are less likely to be properly cleaned.
Similarly, extra tall glasses and coffee cups mean that you can only fill one row of the upper tier, and not use the fold-down stacking level.
All in all, oversize bowls, cups, glasses and plates mean you may be able to fit less than half as much in the dishwasher, which means you run it twice as often, using twice as much time unstacking, not to mention electricity, water, and dish detergent, and there are often dishes left on the bench, necessitating extra hand-washing.
My solution: choose an everyday dining set with smaller plates, without deep dishes, and ones which fit neatly into the dishwasher. Not only do you spend less time, money and energy on the dishes, but large plates encourage large portions (and few of us need to eat more!)
How does this relate to my ongoing series on luck? Well, if you reduce time by making efficiency easier, you're more likely to have the space in your life to take action when opportunities present themselves.
More of the A to Z on creating more luck (and getting more energy) tomorrow.
Here's another installment of my project to provide an antidote to the pessimism we find all around us, by exploring the ways that we can make our own luck.
My instinct is that we all are surrounded by a myriad of opportunities,and that the genius of luck is first, being able to see them, and second, being able to take advantage of them. I believe there are things we can do to make luck more likely, to help us make the most of the opportunities that are around us, even if the wider economy is in recession.
This one is somewhat prosaic. When we make small changes to be more organised and efficient, the effect on our energy can be big. (I'll post tomorrow about getting rid of tolerations that drain our energy)
I was talking to Wendy Davie the other day about how I've noticed in recent years that there is a trend to large dining plates and deep bowls which though small, don't fit in a dishwasher.
Deep noodle bowls are nice to eat out of, but they just don't stack well. Dishwashers only take one row of big plates (if they fit at all), rather than two rows of ordinary-sized dinner plates. Dishes with a big curvature in them also take more space, and are harder for the dishwasher jets to reach, so are less likely to be properly cleaned.
Similarly, extra tall glasses and coffee cups mean that you can only fill one row of the upper tier, and not use the fold-down stacking level.
All in all, oversize bowls, cups, glasses and plates mean you may be able to fit less than half as much in the dishwasher, which means you run it twice as often, using twice as much time unstacking, not to mention electricity, water, and dish detergent, and there are often dishes left on the bench, necessitating extra hand-washing.
My solution: choose an everyday dining set with smaller plates, without deep dishes, and ones which fit neatly into the dishwasher. Not only do you spend less time, money and energy on the dishes, but large plates encourage large portions (and few of us need to eat more!)
How does this relate to my ongoing series on luck? Well, if you reduce time by making efficiency easier, you're more likely to have the space in your life to take action when opportunities present themselves.
More of the A to Z on creating more luck (and getting more energy) tomorrow.
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