Teaser: "What drugs are you on?" and Death Adders

SPEAKER_00 0:00

You know, people look at you and just go, Wow, man, like what drugs are you on? Because I want some. Someone said, Marty should do it. And I just my jaw dropped to the floor. I'm like, what? Mundulan is actually an Aboriginal word for Death Adder. Which I didn't know until after I'd moved here. Probably wouldn't have moved here if I'd known that.

Welcome from Mundoolun - Marty Pouwelse, fresh from MCing District 69

SPEAKER_02 0:26

Hi, my name's Brendan O'Sullivan, a Toastmaster from Brisbane, Australia. Welcome to my Toastmasters World Tour podcast. Please join me as I travel virtually around the world and chat to Toastmasters from different countries and all walks of life. Let's explore. This episode, I hit the road to visit my guests' home in Mundulan, Australia, famous for coming from the Wongari Borough Aboriginal word for death adder, historical tick fever research, and more snakes, such as the deadly eastern brown and red-bellied black snake. I chat to Marty Powells, fresh from MCing, the Toastmaster's District 69 conference in Stanthorpe, to unpack what he learned from being an MC. G'day Marty, welcome to the show. I'm so happy to have you on. Thank you. Great to be here. Recently, you were the master of ceremonies for the District 69 conference in Stanthorpe.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

How did

How it started: Winning a raffle in Caloundra to Stargazers in Stanthorpe

SPEAKER_00 1:35

that come about? Interesting, actually. Kind of an interesting story. My first district conference was in Calaundra, which was 2024. And I was supporting a couple of our club members. I'm from the Jim Boomba Club in Queensland. And I entered the raffle basically. So I thought, yeah, why not support the event, buy a couple of raffle tickets? And one of the prizes was a two-night stay at Stargazer's Escape in Stanthorpe. Lovely accommodation. And I won that prize. And Michelle, who runs Stargazers, was there. So I got to meet her. And uh we had a good chat. I was super excited and very appreciative. And we went and had our weekend away, and it was lovely. It's beautiful out there. Stanthorpe, it's like Stargazers is only five minutes from town, but it just feels like you're in the middle of nowhere. It's amazing. And so yeah, we kind of got to know Michelle, realized that she was actually part of the Stanthorpe Toastmasters Club. And so we had a lot in common and we basically got to know each other. Michelle, my wife is called Michelle as well, coincidentally. So we would go and visit Michelle in Stanthorpe and do some trips down there several times a year and basically got to know Michelle. And then it turned out that Michelle was the conference convener for this district conference this year, 2026, in Stanthorpe. And she basically just texted me and said, Do you want to be on the organizing committee? And I went, Oh gosh. Uh I I'm not sure. I don't know if I want to be like all in with like a being responsible for something really important. But then the other part kind of went, I'd love to be a fly on the wall. You know, I've I've been in Toastmasters for over nine years. And when you've been in the organization for a while, you know, you start to plateau a little bit at certain things. And then I've also realized a bit more recently that if you want to push yourself, there are there are always opportunities there. You just have to find them, might be club officer role or district leadership role, whatever it might be. Uh so yeah, I wanted to be a fly on the wall to see how a district conference was organized. And of course, once I was in there, then I started to get more and more involved.

Joining the organizing committee as fly on the wall

SPEAKER_02 3:57

Okay, so you're on the organizing committee. How did the opportunity to become MC come up?

From graphic design to "Marty should do it" - Getting nominated as MC

SPEAKER_00 4:03

I was originally sort of on board. My specialty or my expertise is photography, and I have a passion for sort of graphic design and that sort of thing. I'm a very visual person. So interesting that I'm doing public speaking. But I've done that sort of conference marketing, program design, graphics, social posts for other non-Toastmasters related events before. So I felt confident that I could contribute in that area. So that was kind of what I ended up doing, or that's kind of what I started doing. And so I was at the meetings. The meetings were monthly to begin with, and then a bit more regular as the event got closer. And they were trying to fill roles. Of course, you're organizing an event and they needed an MC. They had one for Saturday, and then they said, Who should we get for Sunday? And someone said, Marty should do it. And I just, my jaw dropped to the floor. I'm like, What? I mean, even in Toastmasters, right? I've done speeches and all that sort of stuff, but never MC'd an event of this size before. So it was equally terrifying and exciting. Like as soon as it was suggested, I'm like, oh my God, really? Like you actually have faith in me to do this? Uh and I went, that's terrifying. I have no idea how I'm going to prepare for it, but I'm absolutely in. That just sounds so awesome. So I was the MC just for the Sunday. And then something happened. Unfortunately, the MC on the Saturday couldn't make it. And they kind of went, Well, who are we going to get for the Saturday? And I think it was that same person said, Marty should just do both days. And I'm like, oh my God. Now it's all on you. Yeah. Yeah. But it was a very exciting prospect. You remember who it was that suggested that you do it? I think it was Kate Norris. Thought it might have been. I suspected it might have been. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:56

And

Hesitant? Imposter syndrome and setting the bar high

SPEAKER_02 5:57

were you hesitant at all?

SPEAKER_00 6:00

Not really. Like I was nervous at the idea because I wasn't 100% that I'd because I'm I'm very critical of myself, right? I set a high bar for myself. And I think I naturally set a high bar for other people as well. And I try not to do that. Um, but yeah, because my expectation of my own um, you know, delivery and performance was so high, I was a bit nervous I was not going to be able to achieve that. Um, that was my only reservation. Otherwise, it was just like, I don't care, man. I'm all in. This is gonna be so much fun. I love that. That's the spirit. Did you have any sense or feeling of imposter syndrome? Absolutely. Yep. Totally. Never done this before. It's like this is something that other people do. But the one thing that actually that kind of drove me forward is that I've seen a lot of MCs and contest Toastmasters deliver or perform in a way that I feel like could be better. Like it feels like it could have more energy and more humor and try and engage the audience more. So I guess I looked at it as an opportunity to try and bring some of that. Can you expand upon that? How do you do that? I think my primary thing is just to be like mindful of being an audience member. So when you're up on stage, you're obviously consumed mostly by your delivery and trying to think of what you've got to say next and be prepared and all that stuff. But it's hard to remember, I think when you're up there, what it's like to be an audience member. And I just know as an audience member that, you know, if your MC's not as engaging or exciting as they should be, then there's, you know, there's room for improvement there. And that was what I really wanted to focus on was just try and be entertaining, keep the day flowing, keep the energy up, just keep people excited. That was like the primary reason for wanting to do it. And I must say, I think you did an awesome job of that.

SPEAKER_02 7:54

How do

How to prepare as MC: Research your speakers

SPEAKER_02 7:55

you prepare for such a thing?

SPEAKER_00 7:57

Uh, there was a lot of preparation, actually. It was trying to find out who was going to be our keynote speakers, who was going to be on the agenda, exactly what was happening, and just being the sort of person I am, I had to be ultra prepared. So it was just yeah, just going through methodically who was going to be on the agenda, researching the roles, researching the speakers. Rolly Sussex was one of our keynote speakers. And I'd met him before, so that was kind of cool. I already had a bit of a sense of who he was, so that was really nice. I could sort of speak on a slightly personal level about him. And then just having enough information to deliver an interesting introduction and just know who you're talking about, you know. So there were other people like Monique, the international director, former now international director, who I didn't know, I'd never met before. So just a matter of Googling really, asking people who know them and try and find out as much as you can. How would you met Role before? So I used to work in the radio industry, actually in audio production. And I worked for the big commercial radio stations, but then I also filled in at the ABC. So Roley Sussex does a segment on the ABC, A Word in Your Ear, I think it is. And when I was filling in in audio production, it was my job for a month to record his segment. And I learned that he's I mean, I already knew he was like super interesting. I've got a real fascination with language. I love the way that the English language is used and how it can be manipulated and all that sort of stuff. Uh and Raleigh, of course, being the linguistics genius that he is and his knowledge. And it was only researching him that I found all the study and stuff that he'd done was just incredible. But also just got a real sense that he was just such a lovely bloke. You know, he was so unpretentious and 100%. So it was really cool to meet him. I felt like I'd met a celebrity, you know. And then when I heard he was going to be speaking at the conference, I'm like, wow, that's cool.

SPEAKER_01 9:53

It was mobbed a little bit.

SPEAKER_02 9:54

Totally.

Meeting Roly Sussex and making introductions personal

SPEAKER_02 9:56

Did you try and reach out and meet any other people before the conference that you hadn't met before?

SPEAKER_00 10:01

It didn't really go out of my way, no. I think I was just busy enough with, you know, just doing the work. And I was doing a lot of the graphic design as well. So it was all designing the program as we got closer to the event and details got finalized. So I felt like I was sort of pretty busy. A few of them I had actually met before, coincidentally, just having been to former conferences and other Toastmasters events. So that was good. Wasn't quite able to add that personal touch with every person that I introduced, but hopefully still had enough information to be able to at least provide some sort of interesting introduction.

SPEAKER_02 10:39

Definitely. I know when you introduced me as the Table Topics chair, you mentioned some personal stuff that made it just feel real and feel connected.

SPEAKER_00 10:49

I think it gives you authority too. As an MC, if I say you're from the Mad Chatters Club and I know that you're a mad chatter, I think that adds confidence. Like people have confidence in you that you know what you're talking about. So yeah, I probably should have gone and made a bit more of an effort to actually meet some of these people and get to know them a bit better because now your audience has so much more trust in you as an MC.

SPEAKER_02 11:11

How

90% scripted, 10% off the cuff - Kill the babies

SPEAKER_02 11:12

much of what you did as an MC on the day was scripted and how much of it was impromptu?

SPEAKER_00 11:19

Good question. I'd say a large part was prepared. I'd probably say 90% was prepared, maybe 10% off the cuff. Yeah. Which I feel like you could tell. This was one place where I felt like I let myself down a little bit was just having to rely on my notes so much. And I'd rehearsed it so many times, but this was like a big, unprecedented event for me. And I knew that I would just have to have my notes there. But yeah, it was it was all mostly scripted. I tried to memorize it as much as possible and make it sound like it was unprepared. You know, you can only do that as well as you can do. Did you use all of your scripted material in the end? No, actually. I think there were times where I had gone unscripted and filled up enough time that I didn't need to then go back to my notes and just read the That's part of your job as a Toastmaster at a meeting, right? We often have the Toastmaster who does a lot of research into the theme. So we'll have a theme for our meeting. And then it ends up taking up just so much time on the night. Like that role, or all that information could be a speech, right? But it's your job as the Toastmaster to know, keep your eye on the clock, you've said enough, it's time to move on. You know, like you have to kill the babies, which is a horrible way of saying it. But you put all this time and effort into doing all this research, right? So you feel absolutely um, what's the word? Like committed and there's a specific word for it. You feel like you have to deliver it because you put the work in, but you absolutely don't. The absolute priority is to keep that meeting interesting and engaging.

Shy kid, community radio DJ, and why he joined Toastmasters

SPEAKER_02 12:56

Lady, you touched upon it before, but you were not only in audio production, but you did voiceovers and you're a DJ in a previous life. I'm wondering two things about that. Firstly, why you therefore got into Toastmasters in the first place, because you obviously had some speaking talent. And how much that helped in your both Toastmastering and in your emceeing at the conference.

SPEAKER_00 13:20

I've got this theory that most radio DJs were like nerds as kids. Because the one thing I found, and I discovered radio while I was still at high school. I'd heard about a community radio station that was operating from a shipping container, right? Community radio stations have to raise their own funds largely. Some of them get government funding, but you know, they've got to keep their expenses down. And when I went there, the thing that I loved the most, I was a pretty shy kid, right? But I loved being community radio is all about having a diversity of content and offering an alternative to the commercial stations, right? So you're not going to hear your big songs, you'll hear programs in the Croatian language and lots of different languages and lots of different styles of music you won't hear anywhere else. And when I got there, it was just once I'd done some training or whatever, when I'd get in there and do my two-hour dance music show, which is what I was doing, playing dance music, like nightclub type music, and that wasn't represented on radio much at the time. I was basically just in a studio with lots of equipment and controls and knobs and dials and record players like turntables. And for me, like I've I'm a bit of a control freak. Suddenly I had just control over these two hours of operating this gear and playing my favorite music and then getting all this amazing feedback from people like callers ringing saying, This is awesome, we don't hear this on the radio, and just really great feedback people making requests. It was, it just, even though I was shy, when you're in a studio like that, in a soundproof booth, it's all very nice, it's a lovely environment. It doesn't feel like you're speaking to like however many thousands of people. It just feels really comfortable. So yeah, it's a weird sort of disconnect between someone who's shy, but they're in a comfortable room on their own, like free to express themselves. And that was the thing too, is that was an avenue to express myself.

SPEAKER_02 15:13

I see. So in that environment, even though there were thousands of listeners, you're really there on your own. Whereas Postmasters, it's about getting up in front of a crowd of people. How did that transition happen and why did you join?

SPEAKER_00 15:25

I

The engagement party speech that changed everything

SPEAKER_00 15:26

think the impetus, oh, there was a couple really. When I was once I'd moved up to commercial radio, it's very corporate, it's very competitive, high stakes kind of stuff. And they'd have a team meeting every Friday and every department, you know, accounting department and the content department, the production department, and the technical department, whatever, the department heads would get up and just do like a five, 10-minute sort of report to the hundred staff that were all in the team room. And I wasn't the production manager at the time, but occasionally he wouldn't be there and I'd be called upon to like give a report. And being this shy kid, I I just wasn't prepared. I was horribly nervous. I was just and I'd stumble and I just couldn't speak properly, and then I'd get embarrassed, and then that would make me even worse, and it was just this horrible cycle. So there was that. But then I think the thing that sealed it for me was when I got engaged, we had the engagement party, and someone yelled, speech. And I just went, Oh my god, I don't even think about like doing a speech, because that's probably a fairly normal thing to expect. Sure. Is for the potential groom to do a speech. And I again I just wasn't prepared. I I should have said something really amazing, and I just didn't. And then yeah, from that point I just went, you know, I've got to do something about this.

SPEAKER_02 16:42

You've been doing Toastmasters nine years now. How prepared did you feel to become an MC?

Muscle memory and "eyeballs burning into your soul"

SPEAKER_00 16:49

Uh probably the most prepared that Toastmasters could get me. Like I've just I've learned so much. And not just learn, like, you know, knowledge is one thing, but you really need the muscle memory. You really need the practice and the experience, like just getting up there and speaking to a bunch of eyeballs that are all like burning into your soul, which is what it feels like when you first do your icebreaker, right? I always say it's just like the gym. You just have to just keep going and practicing, and it eventually it just gets less difficult. And then, yeah, over time. It's funny, I when I first joined, I I heard someone say, even the most experienced speakers still get nervous. And part of me went, actually, a tiny part of me went, Well, that's not helpful, is it? Like, why am I here? Why am I bothering? But then the other 95% of me literally went, That is so refreshing. Like now that I don't feel the pressure to have to lose the nerves completely, it's just a way of managing them. Because you can kind of use them to your advantage. I don't know, I feel like that's a little bit of a stretch, but you can manage them much easier. So it keeps your energy up, which is great. I kind of still wish that I didn't get as nervous as I still do, but my goodness, like so just 90% better than when I started. Like you feel like you'll never quite get to that 100%. Like there's no such thing as perfect, but man, I'd rather be at that end of the scale at least.

SPEAKER_02 18:13

What you just said reminds me a little bit of I've watched Jerry Seinfeld's comedian in Cars. And he'll have all these famous comedians on there. And nearly to a man, they'll at some point say that when they first started out, their humour often bombed, you know. And now they're the you know, it's one of the world's most famous comedians. So anytime I tell a joke that sort of totally bombs, it's like, oh well, even the best have failed it.

SPEAKER_00 18:40

Well, you're just on your journey, aren't you? Like you've got to start somewhere. This is why they say Toastmasters is designed for you to fail because that's what you have to do to grow. Yeah, exactly. People say, you know, you learn your best from your mistakes, but I still think I'd rather not make the mistake in the first place. But if you're gonna make the mistake, you might as well have the benefit of some growth and actually get better and make it less likely next time.

SPEAKER_01 19:02

That's exactly right. Ah well.

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Yeah, it's just a necessary part of it.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

So,

Was it worth it? 80% happy and the buzz

SPEAKER_02 19:07

Marty, having done the MCing at the recent district conference, are you happy that you said yes to that?

SPEAKER_00 19:14

Oh, 100%. Absolutely. Even though I wasn't 100% happy with my performance, oh my God. It was I had so much fun, so much fun. Like I said, I said a high bar for myself. I was pretty happy that I was like maybe 80% of the way there. But I think I got enough, because I do need convincing sometimes. I did get enough positive feedback to convince me that I didn't do a terrible job. So that was great. But even quite outside of that, just the whole weekend was just so much fun. You know, you get off the stage, absolutely buzzing. It's like when you get off the stage when you've just done a speech at a meeting, right? It's you're you're buzzing, the adrenaline's pumping, and there was so much going on in the day as well. So I'm sort of helping out with some of the other organizing aspects just here and there and keeping on top of our guests and stuff like that, just other things as well. And by the end of the day, like it's just it's exhausting, but so satisfying. Oh, I would I would 100% do that again. It was such an incredible experience. And so I'd recommend, like, I keep saying this if you want to push yourself, do a club officer role, do a district leader role, just do something. Just I think the one thing that it I kind of knew this already, but the thing that this really cemented for me was that if you get an opportunity like that, oh my God, you've you just got to just say yes. Just say yes. Because it was so, so much fun and so rewarding.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

So you're very happy that you said yes. What aspects were you happy with? And what aspects would you change if you could do it again?

What would you do differently next time?

SPEAKER_00 20:46

Yeah. So I was happy with most of the with most of the content and my research and my writing and my humor, all of the preparation I was really happy with. It was just being too nervous to deliver it in a way that was as natural as I would have liked. So there's nothing I'd change. You know, I could rehearse it a million times, and I still feel like I've written speeches that have been super important to me, and I'll reset I'll I'll rehearse them a hundred times, and I still get to the club meeting, and I'm a fumble of nerves because it means a lot, you know. And this was kind of the same thing. So I don't think I would change anything. It would just be a matter of doing it again if the opportunity came up, you know, and be slightly better next time.

SPEAKER_01 21:28

Mm-hmm.

Humour as MC: Dad jokes, hazing, and reading the room

SPEAKER_02 21:30

You mentioned humor, and I think that's such an important element, but it's also carries an element of risk. There's different styles of humor, there's dad jokes. There's also people are about to compete. I'm presuming hazing would probably not be a great thing to do. Hazing? What's hazing? Let's say you're about to introduce me or you're about to introduce a speaker. It's anything that could make fun of them. Oh, I see.

SPEAKER_00 21:56

No, definitely not. I wouldn't go that far. Not for someone who's competing because I'm super sympathetic and I know what that's like and it's nerve-wracking as it is. This is what annoys me too about the microphones that that have, you know, like audio issues. Your microphone's not working. I'm like, does the speaker not have enough to deal with that now they're dealing with like audio issues that it's someone else's responsibility? And I don't want to add any burden onto a speaker by taking the Mickey out of them. Yeah. That's what I meant by hazing taking the Mickey out of them. I'm totally up for taking the Mickey out of other people. You know what? Actually, I'm less respectful of humour that insults people. Yes. I think it's lazy. And I think you can be funny and clever and interesting by n not doing that. I think it's a cheap, lazy way of making people laugh. So I actually don't like it. I think there's plenty of other ways to make people laugh. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 22:49

So what guidelines would you have if you'd avoid taking the mickey out of people? What about dad jokes? What humor is good and what humour should be avoided?

SPEAKER_00 22:58

Probably I'm a massive fan of swearing. I've done speeches in the past about swearing without actually swearing. But I think it's a fascinating aspect of the language. But you also have to read the room. There's people in there that are just it's not going to resonate with them. They will like you less for doing it. So yeah, it is tricky. I mean, the larger the group of people, especially people that haven't come to see you, they've come to see contests, they've come to see keynote speakers, they haven't come to see the MC. Yes, you do kind of have to dilute to a certain extent to make your humour as accessible to the largest number of people, and that's quite challenging. I mean, with my humour, it's whatever I think of. And if it's funny, by default it goes in. And then I have to go, well, hang on, is everyone gonna get this? Is anyone gonna hate this? If one person in the audience hates it, I might go with it, but but I don't want anyone to hate me either, you know. But I'm a massive fan of dad jokes. I think there was one section in the conference where it was just a string of dad jokes. I think it was the introduction to the humorous contest, actually. I'm like, I'm obliged to tell a joke here, right? So yeah, it was just a string of probably way too many dad jokes. But can you have too many dad jokes? I don't think so. Look, I'm happy with any kind of humor that makes me laugh. Right. Dad jokes included. Well, dad jokes are the best. I'm not even a dad, but I totally appreciate dad jokes. I've got a beagle that kind of makes me a dad. Yeah, fair enough.

SPEAKER_02 24:27

Having

Advice for first-time MCs: Keep the energy up

SPEAKER_02 24:28

done it now, what advice would you have for someone who is going to MC either a Toastmasters conference or just MC any kind of conference?

SPEAKER_00 24:36

I think the main thing is to want to do it. Right? Absolutely be all over it, be passionate about it, and then research who you're introducing. Have all of your breaks, they call them breaks in radio, all of the bits where you're talking, have like some idea of where you're going. Sometimes it's, you know, you don't even have to have a bunch of content. If the day is running a little bit behind, you want to just go, well, that's great, our next speaker is this, and just get off, you know. But just be enthusiastic and want to do it. And if that's the case, the rest of it just kind of falls into place, really. Yeah. Just keep the pace up, keep the energy up. That's the MC's job, I reckon.

Wine, Ridgemill, and the Granite Belt bonus

SPEAKER_02 25:17

Marty, I'm aware that you're quite a wine ficcionado. So I'm wondering if any hesitancy to agree to the role was outweighed by that. And also whether you considered that you could potentially claim tax deductions on job search or research and development.

SPEAKER_00 25:37

Pretty sure you can claim Toastmasters as a business expense anyway, as professional development. Okay. But my love of wine didn't really factor into my MC role, but it was a bonus because we did have one of the, he was not the winemaker who runs Ridgemill Winery at Stanthorpe, and his name is Martin. And he did a one of our speeches, one of our keynote speeches, talking about the Granite Belt wine region, because that's what the Granite Belt is famous for. It's a wine region in Australia. And he was able to speak to that. So I was lucky that I have a passion for wine and I was able, again, even though I didn't know Martin personally, I'd met him a few times because I've been to Ridgemill a few times. So I guess there was that personal connection. I knew where he was and where he worked, and I knew what he was doing. And so that enabled me to, I guess, do a more personal and interesting introduction to him. Yeah. The only risk there was just me not banging on for an hour about wines.

unknown 26:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 26:41

After the conference, Michelle had started up a tour company to tour the region, the wineries, etc., around Stanthorpe. I believe you went on that on the day after the conference.

SPEAKER_00 26:51

Hell yeah. How was that? That was her first official tour. Yeah, that was fun. It was a really great debrief after a massive weekend. So the Saturday and the Sunday of the conference, and then the Monday we just got to chill. And I think there's about eight of us. I'm such a big fan of wine tours because you're talking to other people who also have the same passion as you. And then you're also getting tanks during the day. So you're just breaking down all these barriers, and you're like, you're all best buds by the end of it. I I knew some of them. I mean, I knew Michelle and a couple of them I'd met before, but I didn't know them all. But of course, you know everyone like the back of your hand by the end of the day. And oh yeah, that was so much fun. The social lubricant. Absolutely.

The outrageous outfit: "What drugs are you on?"

SPEAKER_02 27:34

One of the first things, of course, we all noticed when you turned up for day one of the conference was you're in another outrageous outfit. Right. What I'd like to know about that is does that help your confidence as MC? And does it also mean that you're exuding confidence?

SPEAKER_00 27:51

Yeah, that's an interesting one. Because I'd only started I've only started wearing that sort of stuff in the last few years. And I would never have worn anything like that. Like even 10 years ago, probably. I just thought, no, like you've got to be a wanker to wear that sort of stuff. And but, you know, I'm over 50 now. Uh I care less about what people think, where I used to be super precious about that. But I've also learned the value of, you know, when you're wearing something like that, it's a conversation starter. It's it's literally a way to meet people. You know, people look at you and just go, wow, man, like what drugs are you on? Because I want some. But it it was kind of appropriate to as MC, because I feel like as MC, you're the thread that runs through the event as far as uh optically what people are experiencing. So, you know, I wanted it to have a little bit of colour and attention and just something that makes you stand out. But and yeah, people do look at you, I don't know, they look at you a little bit differently. They kind of go, I don't know, I don't know what they're thinking, but there's just there's there's something about it, it's hard to describe. So I try and find every occasion that's weakly appropriate to wear something like that because it just it has the most crazy outcomes and you just meet people and talk to people that you never would otherwise.

SPEAKER_02 29:10

Where did you actually get the outfit and where did you draw your inspiration for choosing that particular one?

SPEAKER_00 29:16

I'd only had a couple at that point, so I was pretty limited with just what I had already on hand. Sadly, you can't just walk into a store in Australia and buy that stuff. I just I can't understand why. Some people are probably going, Are you serious? You look like an idiot. I'm never gonna buy anything like that. And you know what? I don't even care. So you've basically got to just jump online and search for it, and it's either got to be imported or there is a place actually in Australia that distributes them, and probably not surprisingly, it's a costume shop. Right? So you can get a Batman costume for your kid and you can get yourself a colourful suit. So these aren't, you know, $1,000 Italian suits, anything like that. They're not really made to last, probably, but they're just really great for events.

SPEAKER_02 30:07

Could we use a photo from the event to add to the podcast notes? For sure, yeah. Fabulous. Marty, at the start of my podcasts, I usually introduce the location as well by the three things it's most famous for. What would you say the three things that Jim Boomberg is most famous for?

SPEAKER_00 30:26

Goodness.

Mundoolun = Death Adder + brown snakes

SPEAKER_00 30:27

So we're in Mundoulan. We've got a lovely little acreage block in an estate in Mundoulan, which is about 10 minutes southeast of Jim Boomba. And Mundoulan is actually an Aboriginal word for death adder. Which I didn't know until after I'd moved here. Probably wouldn't have moved here if I'd known that. We have seen a few brown snakes and pythons on our property. I love the pythons, not so keen on the brown snakes. I don't know what else makes Jim Boomba famous. I know that it's exploding at the moment. There's uh a lot of housing estates popping up, but um I don't really know what it's famous for.

SPEAKER_02 31:03

Well, Marty, it's been such a pleasure coming into your personal home to have you on the podcast today. I will be more careful as I walk to the car to look out for the death outers. Nice. Absolutely. Is there anything you'd like to add today?

Final advice: Just say yes to every opportunity

SPEAKER_00 31:18

I think just say yes to every opportunity because you never know where it's going to lead you. And it's and it's better to regret the things you have done than the things you haven't. 100%. Thank you so much, Marty. It's been such a pleasure and such an honour. Thank you. My pleasure. Thanks, Brendan.

Outro and feedback

SPEAKER_02 31:38

Thanks for listening to today's show. One of the key elements of Toastmasters is evaluations. This is how we grow and improve, both by encouraging comments for things we've got right and points for improvement. We all learn and benefit from these evaluations, not just the person being evaluated. So any feedback in the comments is greatly appreciated. If you have a Toastmaster story you'd like to share or would like to be on the show, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at Toastmaster the World Tour at gmail.com. Thanks for listening.