President's Inaugural Address
2007-2008

Madam District Governor, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen and specifically Forum members.

It is indeed a great privilege and honour to have been elected President of Forum Toastmasters club for the next Toastmasters year. I realise to be President of a Toastmasters club is a challenge and requires dedication and sacrifice. I want to thank our Immediate Past President Mr Willem Wolmarans for the fantastic work which he did as President of our club and I know it is going to be difficult to fill his shoes but I pledge to do this to the best of my ability.

I joined Forum Toastmasters in July 2004 and I can say without fear of contradiction that I have grown and developed as a person as a direct result of my involvement with Forum Toastmasters. I think we should never underestimate the power and influence which Toastmasters has on our lives even when we least expect it. Let me give you an example. I knew a certain esteemed member of Forum Toastmasters when he was Principal of Waterkloof Primary School and my wife Karin was Acting Deputy Principal. I always admired him and the confidence and charisma with which he delivered speeches and addressed both pupils and parents at his school. I knew he was a member of Toastmasters but I didn’t really know what it was all about. In April 2004, Will Bowker invited Karin and I to celebrate his birthday with him at Irene Farm. I remember clearly that Rob Scarborough delivered a speech at this birthday celebration and proposed a toast to Will. I was hugely impressed with Rob’s speech and the confidence with which he spoke and also how comfortable he looked while delivering his speech, without any notes I might add. After the speeches were finished I got to talk to Rob and asked him how it came to be that he is able to deliver speeches with such confidence and composure. Rob told me that he was a member of Forum Toastmasters and gave me some more information about it. Before I knew it I was invited to my first Toastmasters meeting. From there the rest is history and I haven’t looked back since. The point I want to make is that the skills and confidence that you learn at Toastmasters stays with you and becomes evident to non-members even at social gatherings and when you least expect it. That is the power of Toastmasters and that is something to treasure.

As President of Forum Toastmasters I intend to provide leadership and guidance so that Forum Toastmasters will remain one of the most highly respected clubs in Pretoria and in the district. My goal is to make Forum Toastmasters the club of first choice for all members and non-members.

Of course I will not be able to achieve this goal without the absolute commitment and support of my executive committee. It is with great pleasure that I am able to introduce you to the new executive committee which I believe is a fantastic blend of youth and experience. I ask that when I call the name of each club officer that such member stands so that we may recognize him:

• Our new Vice President Education: Herbert Hopfner;
• Our new Vice President Membership: Larry Pienaar;
• Our new Vice President Public Relations: Vuyani De Bees;
• Our new Secretary: Rob Pittroff;
• Our new Treasurer: Jacques Groenewald;
• Our new Sergeant at Arms: Raselepe Matlhoane.

I have full confidence in my committee, I congratulate them and I know that they will discharge their duties as club officers in an exemplary manner.

This brings me to the theme which I have chosen for the year. The theme is:

“When we do it, we do it properly”

Forum Toastmasters has always set a very high standard and has an enviable reputation in the way it conducts its meetings and the quality of its members. It is this standard and reputation that I intend maintaining and in fact improving upon during my term of office. Unfortunately in our quest to maintain our high standards we sometimes tend to forget to do the basics properly. I intend getting every member to focus on doing the basics properly, in everything that we do, no matter how small or trivial it may seem and in that way our high standards can only improve.

In conclusion, I wish to thank you all for placing your trust in me. I know that with the necessary help from above and the support from my committee members and all the members of Forum Toastmasters I will be able to make a difference this year and FORUM TOASTMASTERS will become the club of first choice.

MR TOASTMASTER.