KATHMANDU: Bodhi Toastmasters Club, Kathmandu, organised it's 75th meeting in Pokhara under the theme "Visit Nepal 2020" in collaboration with Pokhara and Gandaki Toastmasters Club.

At a time when the country's tourism industry is being marred by the coronavirus outbreak, toastmasters and guests from three different clubs convened into the meeting to promote the campaign in the Lake City, one of the major touristic destinations in Nepal.

As the clock struck 6:00 pm Toastmaster (TM) Pragya Adhikari called the meeting to order. Niladri S Parial, toastmaster of the evening, then took over from her and welcomed all the members, guests and participants.

Distinguished Toastmaster Moon Pradhan, the Area Director of Area A1, introduced her evaluators -- TM Alexandra Wrigley, grammarian, Ah-Counter (records interjections in the speeches) TM Samjhana Parajuli, Timer (records the time taken by the speeches) TM Baibhav Poudyal, and Ballot Counter (collects ballot for better speakers) TM Devraj Pokhrel.

From there, toastmaster Chandrayan P Shrestha took over and introduced table topic masters, a session where guests were also allowed to speak for two minutes impromptu, before sharing his own experience of travelling to Poon Hill in Myagdi district.

One of the speakers, TM Jigyasha Bajracharya from Bodhi Toastmasters Club was declared the best table topic speaker for sharing her memorable experience of paragliding in Pokhara.

After completing the table topic session, TM Niladri S Parial introduced featured speakers of the meeting -- TM Milan KC from Pokhara Toastmasters Club, TM Diptee Acharya, Bodhi Toastmasters Club, Kathmandu and TM Vishnu Bastola, Gandaki Toastmasters Club. All the featured speakers were given five to seven minutes for their speech.

After a short break, TM Diptee Acharya was declared the better speaker on the unanimous decision furnished by evaluators TM Anuj Banjara, TM Suyash Malla and TM Kumar Thapa. She gave a flawless and spontaneous speech in 'Becoming a Leader' in the meeting, inspiring other future leaders, especially women attending the meet.

The Presiding Officer TM Sagar Karki and and Toastmaster of the evening Niladri S Parial gave closing remarks before adjourning the meeting.