Jeanette wins the John Barton trophy
Kelly Martinovich (Club 50), Michael Quinn (21), Jeanette Palumbo (11) and Will Wong (15) impressed both the adjudicators and the audience at the South of the River Speaking Competition. (Photo R Fogliani)
The Board Room at the Gosnells Hotel was packed to capacity on Wednesday 29 June for Foothills Rostrum Club 11’s South of the River Speaking Competition featuring four relatively new members from different clubs vying for $200 prize money and the John Barton Perpetual Trophy.
The Winner
Jeanette Palumbo (Club 11) won after presenting a moving speech on the topic ‘My Hero’ about walking the Kokoda Track with a Vietnam veteran, and how the experience affected her. Kelly Martinovich (50) related a personal story about narrowly avoiding being mugged during a recent holiday in Bali: ‘A Fine Line’ between excitement and danger. That so much in life is about ‘Perfect Timing’ was the message from Club 21’s Michael Quinn, in a speech illustrated with many examples. Will Wong (15), speaking on ‘If I Had Three Wishes’, assured us he wasn’t greedy, opting for only one wish – to be able to time travel to the past and to the future.
Congratulations
Jeanette was a worthy winner and congratulations to all the speakers for their entertaining speeches. The audience will be in for a treat if Jeanette, Kelly, Michael and Will take up the challenge to further develop their speech presentation skills by entering the Arthur Garvey Speaker of the Year competition. Recent history suggests it’s not unheard of for a new member to win the title of Rostrum WA’s Speaker of the Year.
Thank you
Thanks to everyone who attended to support the contestants, and to Club 11 for once again putting on a fantastic night’s entertainment. The competition was part of a full meeting which bopped along under Fmn Bill Smith’s expert guidance. If you need ideas for your club meetings, visit Club 11 any Wednesday night at the Gosnells Hotel.
Rose Fogliani, Editor
From the President
Hard to believe the year is almost half over. Quite a lot has been achieved but there is much more to be done.
After the success of Club 15’s Comedy Night I am looking forward to the South of the River speaking competition being hosted by Club 11.
Talking of competitions, please think very hard about entering the Arthur Garvey Speaker of the Year competition this year. It is our major event and provides so many benefits for both competitors and Rostrum itself. The final, held at our end of year dinner, not only gives the finalists a chance to speak in front of a large audience but is a very enjoyable and collegial night.
For all competitors, speaking in the heats gives great practice in everything we learn in Rostrum. Every speaker, whether new or experienced, goes to another level when they enter the competition and that improvement stays with you. It is also a good experience for clubs to host heats and semi-finals and for everyone – competitors and audiences – to visit other clubs and mix with fellow Rostrum members.
The bright young things at Club 19 are running the competition this year so help them along by entering, and entering early. The more entries there are, the better the whole competition will be. Identify your up and coming speakers and encourage them to enter.
Rostrum has made several presentations to outside organisations this year, bringing in extra revenue and spreading the word about ourselves. On Sunday 12th June Freeman Ken Holzman and I were pleased to help train young people from a range of different cultures in the Shout Out programme managed by the Youth Advocacy Council of WA. It was utterly inspiring hearing their stories of migration – many were refugees to this country from war and persecution around the world.
There are big changes coming to Rostrum WA’s website and it is planned that by next year you will be able to join, re-enrol and pay your subscription online. The job of club treasurers will be much easier and it will be easier for our hard-worked Deb at the Rostrum Information Centre to keep track of payments and enrolments.
Don’t forget to promote the PDP and IDP, to complete the programmes yourself and also consider the Advanced Development Programme. I must look at doing the ADP myself J
As ever, keep advertising Rostrum to everyone you know. We have various avenues of publicity but word of mouth remains as important as ever. And make sure your meetings are as vibrant as they can be, to encourage those visitors to stay.
I’ve started a series of visits to clubs so I look forward to seeing more of you soon. Club 19 was most impressive – it is a club for all of us to emulate. If you’re looking for ways to invigorate your own club, it is a good idea to visit other thriving clubs like 19, perhaps 2230, 50 or 15 and a couple of others. Please talk to me after your meeting if you have any thoughts about how we can improve or any concerns you have, or email me at any time.
Freeman Sue Hart, President, Rostrum WA
The Rules have changed
“You cannot expect to understand the game if you don’t know the rules.”
Rostrum, like all other organisations, is guided by rules. In our case we have two sets; the Constitution, not quite set in set in stone but, rightly, difficult to change; and the Regulations, practical guidelines for the more day to day running of our organisation.
The former needs a ‘whole of membership’ vote, whereas the latter, with due notice, can be changed at any Dais meeting. The Regulations were changed at the last Dais meeting and copies of the new Regulations have been distributed to all clubs via the club office bearers.
It can be argued that a number of the regulations do not impinge on the day to day running of your club – the process of nominating a member for Freemanship, or how to go about trying to win the R Alan Crook Award, for example. However, when those issues arise, knowing that the Regulations contain the information you need, is very useful.
So, do you know
1) What is the deadline for the payment of club fees?
2) How the fee for a new member is calculated?
3) The closing date for the R Alan Crook Award?
4) What the judges look for when considering a submission for the R Alan Crook Award?
5) When is Rostrum’s AGM?
The answer to any, or all of these questions, may not seem important – until you need them. Then knowing where to look, and knowing how our organisation is governed, means you understand the game.
Freeman Bill Smith, Rostrum Club 11
Ideas to liven up your meetings
A meeting devoted to humour
Occasionally put on a meeting where every exercise is to have a humorous flavour. Provide topics that lend themselves to humour, and perhaps have a humorous debate. Advise speakers that they still need to present a well-constructed speech – not just a string of jokes – and use language appropriate to a general audience.
Play reading
Make sufficient copies of a short interesting play and select a cast of characters to act it out. Each is given a copy of the script with their part marked and they then read and act the play. The audience can vote for the best performance. This is an enjoyable exercise but finding the right play is the tricky part.
Grievance meeting
Everyone has an axe to grind so have a meeting where everyone is asked to do just that. To make it more than a series of rants, have question time after each speech, and also ask audience members to give feedback to speakers.
Adapted from Bigger, Better, Brighter Rostrum Meetings, Freeman George Shaw, Rostrum Queensland.
Freeman Sue Hart
Marketing & Membership Update
As promised in last month’s issue of the Informer, here is an update on Rostrum WA’s Marketing efforts.
WEBSITE:
A lot of work and effort has been put into developing the Rostrum WA website over the past few months. Having our own WA website has been a goal of Rostrum WA’s Executive board for quite a few years.
Since the beginning of the year a lot of content and information has been added to the website in order to help promote the organisation to new members as well as providing information for current members and clubs.
The current Rostrum WA website has undergoing a facelift in order to modernise its appearance and functionality on desktop and mobile devices. The new updated website has been launched and should be finalised at the end of the month. So keep your eyes out for the email from the Rostrum Information Centre announcing the launch.
Once the new website has been completed, it is the Board’s goal to roll out some exciting features and developments before the end of the year. These include
- Rostrum WA members will be able to sign up on the website and access ‘Members Only’ content.
- A new membership database which will be utilised to manage the current Rostrum WA membership base.
- This new database will also include the ability for new and current members to sign up and pay their Rostrum fees online through the website. This will greatly assist in making the sign up process easier for new members as well as help the Rostrum Information Centre to compile membership information and fees before the start of term. Membership fees will then be distributed to clubs.
Keep an eye out for the new website launch at the end of the month as well as updates on online payments and members sections of the website.
Stay tuned to future issues of the Informer for more information about Rostrum WA on Facebook www.facebook.com/rostrumwa and MeetUp www.meetup.com
Elliott Chipper, Director of Marketing and Membership
Girls shine in RVOY state final
Esther Nixon (Junior winner) and Tabitha Malet (Senior winner) will represent WA at the National Final in Melbourne in July. (Photo R Fogliani)
The Rostrum Voice of Youth Speaking Competition held its state final on 25 June at the Boulevard Centre in Floreat. Fifteen students from eight schools presented prepared and short notice speeches in front of a supportive audience of family, friends, teachers and adjudicators.
The tremendous effort put in by the students in researching and preparing their speeches was acknowledged by the Chairman of Adjudicators Freeman Ruurd Speelman.
Tabitha Malet from Presbyterian Ladies’ College won the Senior section and Clea Sanders, also from PLC, was runner-up. The Junior section winner was Esther Nixon from Ursula Frayne Catholic College. Daniel O’Neill from Belridge Secondary College was runner-up.
Rostrum WA President Freeman Sue Hart congratulated all the participants and presented the certificates and trophies. RVOY coordinator Freeman Juliet Park thanked the participants, teachers and parents for helping to make 2016 a fabulous year, and the adjudicators and Rostrum for their support.
Tabitha and Esther will represent WA in the Rostrum Voice of Youth National Final in Melbourne at the end of July. We wish them every success and hope they have a fantastic trip.
Rose Fogliani, Editor
Now’s the time to nominate a potential Freeman
The Arthur Garvey Speaker of the Year final and Annual Dinner are just four months away. The organisers are planning the heats and making preparations for the big night, and the competition entrants are working on their speeches ahead of the heats next month. What are you doing?
One of the highlights of the Annual Dinner is the elevation to the status of ‘Freeman of Rostrum’ of members who have given many years of dedicated service to advancing the Rostrum ideals through conspicuous service to their club, Dais and the community. Is there someone in your club who fits this description and whose dedication is worthy of recognition?
Prospective Freemen are nominated by a club or individual member via a written submission to the Dais President, detailing the nominee’s contributions to Rostrum and the community. Nominees must meet the following criteria:
- Eight years of continuous Rostrum membership;
- Service within their own club by holding office, and at the Dais level as a Dais Rep., on the Dais Board or a Dais committee, or as a Critic;
- Demonstrated use of skills developed in Rostrum in the wider community, in business, the professions or trade, and consistent efforts to bring Rostrum to the notice of these institutions and community leaders;
- An expectation to continue to promote Rostrum in the community and
- Exceptional personal qualities as a speaker and citizen.
Is there someone in your club who meets these criteria and who deserves to be recognised for his or her ability, reliability and results? If so, now is the time to nominate him or her. Preparing a case can be a lengthy process so it’s best to get started early. Further information on how to prepare a submission is available in the Rostrum WA Inc. Regulations (Amended 2016) which were sent to all clubs in May.
Rose Fogliani, Editor
