I have to tell you about my speech. I joined Toastmasters recently and I had a three-minute spot so I decided I would talk on something I knew relatively well – whales.
I was pointing out how very much we are alike – someone from Wales that is and whales.
The man from Wales loves to sing – just like male humpback whales. The female from Wales gives birth to live young – just like a female humpback whale.
All these facts were being absorbed by my listeners with great interest. Then I got to what I considered the interesting part, the male appendage. I handed my man from Wales a school ruler while I held a retractable tape measure. There is a major difference in the size of the appendages of the man from Wales and the male humpback whale.
I got a fellow Toastmaster to hold the tape measure and began my backward walk, looking all the while at the tape measure – waiting to get to the four metre mark. The laughter was rising but I didn’t realize to what extend until I looked up from my serious job of making sure I got the measurement correct to see people rolling – rolling eyeballs, rolling hands in the air and nearly rolling on the floor in great mirth.
What had happened to my serious speech about humpback whales? I don’t know the answer to that and now my fellow Toastmasters’ wonder what I will come up with next. Well I came up with the difference between a beached whale (which was me lying on the floor) and a breaching whale.
All it is you know is that I am fascinated with words. The only difference between Wales and whales is a H and while they sound the same and there are some similarities they are worlds apart. Just like the only difference between beach and breach is an R yet look how far that is apart – from being marooned and flapping in a horizontal position to being wild and free leaping out of the water in a vertical position.
Ah, I love words and I love whales. Next week's speech is going to be about the traditional dances of the South Pacific. Anyone for a hula lesson?
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