“Why did the 20 men & women who chartered Golden Gavel Advanced Toastmasters Club 27 years ago do

it ?

On Monday evening ,25 July -Nikki Quinn did her acceptance speech as President at Golden Gavel Advanced.  In front of a packed room she conveyed what those men and woman wanted out of “Our Club” and laid the foundations to the vision for the next year.

Here is a snippet of her speech…

“Why did the 20 men & women who chartered Golden Gavel Advanced Toastmasters Club 27 years ago do it ?

What was on their minds ?   What were they thinking ?   I didn’t know what was on their minds

I didn’t know what legacy they hoped to leave

But I found out, I got the charter documents, and realised that many have passed on, many have left the country & I have only met two of the twenty

• I do know that about half of them were either Advanced or Distinguished Toastmasters & the other half were Competent Toastmasters
• I do know that 4 of them have their names on trophies that District 74
• I do know that half a dozen of them were then or are now Past District Governors
• I do know that some leaders in District disagreed with the formation of an Advanced Club
• I do know that 3 of them have been District 74 Speech contest champions & represented us at the World championships…
• I do know that the first president of Golden Gavel was the first District Governor of D74, Toastmasters in Southern Africa.

I did know why I wanted to join Golden gavel, because I wanted better feedback, the absolute best quality evaluations I could get. I didn’t want to know that my speech was fabulous, I wanted to know how to “move with purpose” , “that even though I had great eye contact it may be more impactful”

I also asked the single charter member of Golden Gavel to tell me what it was the wanted to achieve, and it was a long list, which will keep me busy for the entire year as President …. . but there were a couple of things that really resonated with me & what I hope to work on this year. ”

We are very excited to be part of your team Nikki and we will strive to achieve many of the things that Golden Gavel Advanced stood for from the very beginning.

In the words of Nelson Mandela – ”

“There is no passion to be found playing small – in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living.”

Let’s not play small this year-let’s set big goals and lets over-achieve them!

VPPR-Yoke van Dam