John won Toastmaster of the Day today. He received it for taking on and delivering a fascinating hour-long educational encouraging greater mental flexibility.

The setting was ‘St. Andrews on the Terrace‘ Conference Room-3. With four separate tables, around which our club members and fellow Area-E4 members distributed themselves, including Area Director Shagen.  John was at the front prepared with lectern and whiteboard.

It was not long after the start that John surprised us by doing something unexpected,  he injected some humour, and showed his preparedness, all at once. He called out he was “going to show his first slide”. Next, he disappeared around the back of the whiteboard, flipping over the first page of a concealed flip chart. And thus appeared his first “slide”. Both innovative and amusing. Adroit with repartees Steven Hilson sarcastically asked, whether “the contrast could be turned up!”.

Since the workshop was split into three sections, we had three chances of working as a group. Then three opportunities in which John encouraged and facilitated us to share our groups work.

There was a tremendous amount of information, ideas, and exercises for John to impact and guide us through, all in a limited amount of time. This made time management of paramount importance, a skill that John clearly displayed. By moving the meeting along and keeping to the agenda’s timings, he fitted everything planned in the hours meeting, all to schedule.

Bravo John and thank you for delivering such an interesting and educational workshop to all of us.

The sections we covered in this meeting:

  • Developing your semantic flexibility
  • Increasing your conceptual fluency
  • Thinking on your feet

Contents of workshop, including other sections not covered in this meeting: BuildYourThinkingPower.pdf