• Tarja Tuomisto to her second meeting
• Sid and Neil Umesh - Sid likes a good time, actually they both do!
• Rowan French and Linda Cullel.

• On Zoom, Tracey Bannister, Don Borg and the McAllisters.

• Henk van den Bergen also attended.

• Anzac Day was incredible as half the club joined the March to support the RSL. It was great to walk down Main Street Emerald with 20 to 25 members, family and friends
• Emma’s students from the primary school spoke as well
• Past Rotary member Peter Maloney received a Life Membership of the RSL, as did his wife
• We commemorated and celebrated and “Well done” for supporting the occasion
• We have had five applications for the MacLeod Murphy Scholarship
• Russ Nielsen had the idea of trying to get more support from the allied health services in Emerald, and we have received $200 from Louisa Lammers Emerald Village Pharmacy, $200 from Hita’s psychology practice, $200 from the Emerald Medical Centre and $100 from the Avonsleigh vet, totalling $700
• It’s good that they’re getting behind the project
• We will hear more about the applicants next week
• Newest member Toni-Anne Griffin is receiving her Dinner Badge tonight

• We received a Certificate of Appreciation from the Ladies Probus Club for PP Shalini and the club

• On Monday week, Gayle and Marcus are going to the Probus meeting to support it and they are taking scones
• We’re supporting the Community Expo’ at the Hub from 10am. to 4pm. on Saturday 20^th of May.
• Do we want to provide the sausage sizzle?
• Tuesday 30 May, which is the week of the Rotary International Convention, the RIPPR* is attending our meeting which forces DG Ken to come that night.

• Long-time member Chris Adams passed away from lung disease last year. Gayle as Community Service Chair has been in touch with Professor Snell and he will present to us on 30 May too
• The donations at the funeral were over $1,800 and the figure has been rounded up to $2,000 and a cheque will be handed over
• Prof. Snell will use our donation to produce brochures on lung disease
• We received a thank you from Shelterbox for donating in the wake of the earthquake in Turkiye/Syria
• A Shelterbox has all the basics to sleep in and cook with for homeless victims.
• The International Service Committee sent $2,000 and District sent $10,000
• One Shelterbox is $1000

Guest Speaker - Rajeev Wadhwas

• if you are not convinced the speaker is credible, you will not be persuaded
• a speaker needs to show their authority, this can be done in different ways:
  • When introduced, some facts are provided about them, showing they’re an authority on the subject.
  • What is their experience? - they have earned the right to talk about the subject
  • Reputation is important - are they considered trustworthy?
  • Particularly politicians, if they’re not trustworthy how much will people respect them?

• Is the speaker relatable to the audience? E.g., if the audience is dressed in jeans and sneakers while the speaker is wearing a suit, the audience might believe “Your ideas are not for me. “

• do you have any emotional content in your speech?
• compare “You are great” to “You are a life-saver!”
• Storytelling is very important here, much better than facts and figures
• when relating personal stories, the speaker becomes more emotionally-charged and the audience “gets it”
• the speaker’s delivery skills improve, they start to use their hands more and their voice has more variation
• if you can inject humour or at least bring a smile to the faces of the audience, they will connect better to the message.
• Visual aids used appropriately are very connecting and effective.

• the speech needs to be comprehensive and logical
• the speaker needs to bring specific instances of things, so use some facts
• and name the research you’re referring to.

• is a training organisation where people learn public speaking and how to be a leader
• recently an alliance has been formed between Toastmasters and Rotary
• they have always been complementary however
• is where you put what you have learned into real practice, i.e. it is where the magic happens.
• Rajeev has been in Rotary for about six years
• friends he has asked to meetings say they like Rotary but they won’t join
• it takes special people to actually commit and do the things that Rotary is involved in
• what is the most effective tool to influence people? - presentations
• the problem we face is we’re afraid to make mistakes
• therefore, go to Toastmasters, a safe learning place
• no-one is judging
• they are giving you constructive feedback
• visit a Toastmasters club
• Rajeev is a member of 3 clubs: one online club which meets in person quarterly, and 2 advanced Clubs one of which is in the U.S.
• it’s fun and he is learning all the time
• there’s also a Toastmasters Club in Emerald
• explore these clubs to see if you like them
• Rajeev’s contact details are available to anybody interested.

• the venue for Club Changeover has changed as the original venue has gone into receivership.
• it’s to be held at The Independent, Gembrook on June 17
• you need to pay to secure your place as Sangeeta has invited 150 people but the venue only holds 100
• it costs $60 per person.
• 1 July it’s the District Changeover in Keysborough - please go along to support DG Ken.

• a draft version of the roster is on each of the tables
• there are a few gaps for example Wednesday, 5 July and 9 July, the last night
• John is liaising with the butcher, greengrocer and Puffing Billy
• the event will be well-organised
• it starts at 5:30 not 6pm. as originally stated
• Puffing Billy is running the “Train of Lights” which are lights projected from the train
• last year it was hugely popular so Puffing Billy has asked us to provide the food at Gembrook Station
• we could possibly make about $5,000 for the Club
• we’ve got another Eftpos machine and are borrowing a couple of barbecues
• if we have more people on the night, the barbecue will run more smoothly
• the sponsor is “Last Minute.com” 😁

• reminder about the Wandin Rotary Club’s fundraiser on 9 June in Lilydale
• the funds are for Shelterbox
• Russell Marnock also spoke as he is organising a table of 10 people and we have 9 so far.
• Russell will send an email out tonight about payment.

Committee Reports:

• The roster for the Mother’s Day Market on Saturday May 13 is being circulated.

• we support an Interact Club in partnership with Berwick Rotary Club
• Nossal High School is a select entry school for Years 9 to 12
• there is a meeting at Nossal next Tuesday for dinner to discuss forming an Interact Club
• the two clubs will be able to do various projects together
• let Catherine know if you want to learn more about Interact

• the meeting was very enjoyable and we had our inspiration courtesy of Rajeev’s speech, and Marcus now has Rajeev’s photo on his phone. It was fun and Marcus thanks Rajeev for sharing and for the presentation
• thanked Kerith for chairing the meeting

Deb Ball practices are up and running!

Omelia School Project