May 3rd 2007

It is amazing to witness the level this club has achieved. This is not just some lame get-together where people occasionally meet in order to stand up and throw some meaningless rhetorical fragments into the air. No, our club has entered another level. and there is only one word for it: professionalism. You would certainly agree, if you had experienced Chris and his ice-breaking speech; a journey through milestones of his life which were not worth to be mentioned. You would also agree, if you had seen Jeff philosophizing about the way our world is changing. Every speech featuring quotes by British writers and poets are a pleasure to listen to. Our Menorca import Joan on the other hand giving his "ice-breaker" had to stand Florian's tough evaluation which was uncommonly harsh in tone and wording. But then again this is part of the word above. We cannot improve if we never listen to those kind of evaluations; always having in mind that these are of subjective nature, of course. Joan forgot about it when he joined the others for a drink at a nearby pub after our club session. Though it might be guessed that it was his last time using a written speech... - Maria talked about America and Cups. In her appealing way she took our hands and led us behind the scenes of the most prestigious sports event in the world. Before the speeches took the floor, Xavier acted as a brilliant Table Topics Master. Intelligently he put his four victims into a plot of situations where you have to search for false excuses. Friends, bosses, all of them had to be tricked. And I almost forgot to mention Rose in her role as Toastmaster of the Day. General evaluator and Acting President Angela acknowledged what everybody thought; a great performance by one of Deutsche Bank's greatest assets. When Abba stepped of the stage forever they sang "Thank you for the music". I say, "Thank you for Toastmasters, thank you for Prestigious Speakers". fm