The Toast – On 6th July, Laura McHarrie officially handed over the running of Toastmaster’s Area 42 to her successor Linda Parkinson-Hardman, simultaniously completing another in the special occasion speeches manual.

This is the speech entitled Over to You!

It gives me real pleasure to handover this badge of office.  I mean, it REALLY does give me pleasure to handover this badge of office  – to a good friend and fellow toastmaster of Casterbridge Speakers, Linda Parkinson-Hardman

Linda is already a Competent Communicator and holds the Competent Leader Bronze Award. She has made a start on the High Performance Leadership project, and last year was one of the club coaches at Ferndown Speakers together with Casterbridge Speaker Caroline Brewer. She also took on the role of Assistant Area Director with the aim of becoming the Area Director in this 2016/17 Toastmasters year.

Be careful what you wish for!  The laws of attraction do work!

Linda and I have played roles in many chapters of each others lives.  We met in 2008, the year Casterbridge Speakers was founded by her now life partner, Stevie Graham.  Linda joined the speakers shortly after.  Linda and I have put the world, education, business and Toastmasters to rights over many a walk in the woods; commencing and culminating with the obligatory cup of tea.

If I were to encapsulate my relationships with Linda in a sentence it is that:

She makes molehills out of my mountains.  I so love her for that!

As a club …  She is vulnerable when she gets it wrong. You so love her for that!

As an area …  She will teach us to fish. We will so love her for that!

          Over to you my successor, you won’t disappoint

          With your humour, your skill and Toastmaster viewpoint

          May your success be as big as your dream

          The problems not as great as they seem

         And that you enjoy every single distinguished club point!

Lady President, fellow Toastmasters, please join me in toasting our very own Linda Parkinson-Hardman Toastmaster Area 42 Director 2016/17

Huzzah!

Published by thehiddenedge

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