Kickstart Toastmasters Club

Kickstart Toastmasters Club Kickstart Toastmasters is the fun place where you can improve your public speaking skills and confidence.

Plenty of spare seats today, but we still managed to have a very cheesy meeting all the same - with our AGM thrown into ...
03/06/2026

Plenty of spare seats today, but we still managed to have a very cheesy meeting all the same - with our AGM thrown into the mix as well. Between them Toastmaster Michelle and TTM Vince gave us a heady (and sometimes smelly) taster into the world of cheese, including a vivid description of an original Kiwi pizza. One speech today (from Kickstart "staple" Sam reflecting on his challenging year behind him) kept us wanting more, with the extra time filled nicely with a an extra-cheesy burst of table topics. Members will be pleased to hear that the present committee was re-elected en masse - and the invitation remains open for anyone new to still come on board. Nice to welcome Will as a repeat guest this morning - and see him brave a table topic.

"We were off to great places, today was our day" - as we embraced Dr Seuss and his timeless wisdom, thanks to Toastmaste...
28/05/2026

"We were off to great places, today was our day" - as we embraced Dr Seuss and his timeless wisdom, thanks to Toastmaster Kathy, who admitted she has been hooked ever since her first encounter as a youngster. Three very different speeches today: Ande, with a tale of how she made a big decision that's paid off for her; Vicki, who gave us a visual starter episode from the 'Royal Forest of Dean' - more to come; and Ollie, inspiring us with a story of Stanislav Petrof, the man who averted World War III with a well-timed gut feeling. Greg followed with suitably targeted table topics, and we coasted to an on-time finish with some on-point evaluations and a final reckoning from GE Dani.

It might have been "End of the World Day", picked by Toastmaster Sam from his ragbag of daily anniversaries - and we wer...
20/05/2026

It might have been "End of the World Day", picked by Toastmaster Sam from his ragbag of daily anniversaries - and we were invited to use any form of "cataclysm" by Grammarian Vicki - but we still managed to avoid the real thing as we built up a head of steam for our highly enjoyable meeting. Three riveting speeches came out of the bag today: Ingrid, showing us how to think and solve our problems with the kind of long walk she did in the weekend; Vince introducing us to the concept of "negative space" with a selection of mini-stories about what he has had to give up in life; and Donna with a humorous "lost in translation story" that featured naked Chinese men in her attempt to get a massage at a Chinese spa. TTM Kathy gave many of our newbies a chance to get on their feet, before Sam's assistant TM Raphael took over the reins and we coasted to an on-time finish for once - after an enthusiastic first-time as GE summing up from Lawrence.

Terrific energy at today's meeting. Maybe it was to do with the "great outdoors" theme from Toastmaster Dani, and our ef...
13/05/2026

Terrific energy at today's meeting. Maybe it was to do with the "great outdoors" theme from Toastmaster Dani, and our efforts to "forage" for inspiration? Definitely top shelf speeches today: first, an icebreaker from Raphael, who introduced us to his many guises with the line "I'm a ham - and a Toastie"; then Renee with her story the "10 Days" (and more) personal ordeal she went through just before Xmas last year; and Michelle, whose tale of how she and her family survived Covid times by "just doing what you have to do". Lawrence did the honors as table topics master; and we were under the gun to get finished on time - leading GE Ingrid to cut short her finale but still praising us for another super vibrant Kickstart meeting. Good to see ex-member Ben back in the audience today as a guest.

Thanks to Toastmaster Ingrid, this morning we had the chance to "play grown ups" (or not) - and to "pretend" (as our wor...
06/05/2026

Thanks to Toastmaster Ingrid, this morning we had the chance to "play grown ups" (or not) - and to "pretend" (as our word-of-the-day). After Opener Avril set the scene, Two amazing speeches were on the bill: first up Eli with his Icebreaker speech about a 21st-birthday visit to Vietnam with his dad; then Stephen invited us to consider what our dream was, and regaled us with his own story of being a comfort-loving biker who took a piecemeal approach to riding the 3000km Aotearoa Trail. Keith filled the third spot with a pre-recorded Educational with plenty of tips on "How your body talks" before it was Michelle's turn as table topics master. Then came time to welcome 3 new members to the fold: Urmas, Sally and Paul. Two more guests sat in this morning; all up a very satisfying helping of our usual Kickstart fare.

"Bloopers" were on our mind today as Toastmaster Xena entertained us with notable "slips" and malfunctions from her colo...
30/04/2026

"Bloopers" were on our mind today as Toastmaster Xena entertained us with notable "slips" and malfunctions from her colourful life. Anna picked up on the theme for her story speech about an embarrassing lesson when she took a skate in Lambton Quay one day; Dani revealed how she has discovered her golf passion and is now on a mission; and Angela, recently returned from Africa, shared how she has found her spark again in producing art that "feels" rather than just looks good. We were under the pump to finish on time before being evicted for the next event. But wonderful to welcome four guests, three of whom are in the process of signing up as members.

Switch it over, Switch it up, switch it off. TM Marie certainly made a BIG switch today, switching the room from front ...
22/04/2026

Switch it over, Switch it up, switch it off. TM Marie certainly made a BIG switch today, switching the room from front to back.
Another switch was a 10 minute slot to gather feedback from our members about the way our club is progressing.
Two fabulous speeches today;
Lawrence regaling us with his adventures from "High Seas to Hollywood Hills" and Avril sharing her wisdom "It costs more to stay silent than it is to tell the truth ".
We learned 2 things about Avril today - she is a scuba diver who can't swim, and she married a random guy who lived on the other side of the world.
TT were enlightening today:
Kathy's granddaughter rules the roost, Paul (a guest) pivoted back to Toastmasters, and Stephen's workplace has 'No Un**es Friday's "
Last words from Marie "you're all a party waiting to happen "

Today we were taken on a journey to TECT Park by Toastmaster Lynette, throwing up the word "adrenalin" from Grammarian A...
15/04/2026

Today we were taken on a journey to TECT Park by Toastmaster Lynette, throwing up the word "adrenalin" from Grammarian Anna - which we had no trouble in using. In fact you could say the whole meeting was one big shot of adrenalin! With four visitors today, one of them - Rachel - volunteered to give us an impromptu speech to fill a gap telling us about the Toastmasters club she had started in China, and about her current quest to visit 20+ clubs in NZ. Stephen followed with his Icebreaker Speech, telling us how lucky he has been at various stages in his life, and impressively speaking with much mirth and without notes. Ester completed the line-up with another powerful message of finding worth after a difficult start in life. Tatia got us up on our feet with table topics followed by the committee slot where Ed-VP Anna acknowledged Marie, Sam and Avril for meeting Pathways milestones. Go them! Vince did the honours as GE today standing in for Ande.

Our knowledge of local landmarks was tested by Toastmaster Bev as she unveiled the theme Discovering Tauranga - and gram...
09/04/2026

Our knowledge of local landmarks was tested by Toastmaster Bev as she unveiled the theme Discovering Tauranga - and grammarian Jesse challenged us with the word "anchor" as a nod to the te reo name Tauranga. Three very different speeches today: an impressive effort at an unprepared story from KeriAnn about her Toastmasters experience and where it has led her in just two years; then Vince trying out some new angles and seeking audience feedback with a keynote speech he uses in his professional speaking life; and finally Xena breaking the mould as a hip hop dancer - who would have guessed? Lynette did the honours as Table Topics Master and was very on-point. Nice to see our three new members Stephen, Eli and Raphael attending today, and also welcome to three guests: Rachel, Sally and Emmett. We also welcomed Keith attending virtually - thanks to Tatia for organising. Keith: we hoped you got your money's worth. Always good to see your smiley face.

Address

148 Durham Street
Tauranga
3110

Opening Hours

6:45am - 8:15am

Telephone

+64223902216

Website

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