Written by Peter
Introduction
On Monday 11th July the Clerk and Well played host to a regular (if later than usual) meeting of Bloomsbury Speakers. We heard four superb prepared speeches, four evaluations, and six impromptu speeches from participants who each successfully honed aspects of their public speaking.
Roles
Toastmaster Ahmed compered the evening with a relaxed and confident style. He introduced us to Sergey, the Timekeeper, who made sure the entire meeting ran smoothly in line with the schedule. Ahmed also introduced Chantal, the Grammarian, who explained that her role was to note interesting uses of language throughout the evening.
Prepared speeches
After opening remarks, the first speaker was new joiner Andrew. Andrew gave us a fluent and calm Icebreaker speech entitled ‘The man in Seat 61’. Andrew told us about his experiences of travelling, and how often the journey is more satisfying than the eventual destination.
The second speaker of the night was Sarah, who gave a No. 7 speech entitled ‘The Puzzling Nature of Cooperation’. Sarah explained the science behind the importance of cooperation in animals and humans, giving carefully chosen evidence to do so.
The third speaker was Peter, who gave a No. 7 speech with the title ‘The top three regrets of the dying, and why they’re a good thing’. Peter told us about the top three regrets outlined by terminally ill patients, giving fresh insight into how we can learn from them.
The next prepared speech was delivered by Karthik, who gave an advanced impromptu speech on ‘alien life’. Karthik regaled the audience with hypothetical questions about the impact of alien activity on earth and in space, making use of his extensive experience in improvisation.
After the break, we heard from the four evaluators who had been preparing feedback for the prepared speeches – Jack, Abraham, Sebastian and Swarajit.
We were then introduced to our Table Topic Master for the evening, Helen. Helen decided to pick her topics from news headlines. We heard from Piotr, Matteus, Swarajit, Leon, Karthik and Peter, who all gave impromptu speeches for up to two minutes. Sergey, the Timekeeper, then gave us the timings for each impromptu speech.
Agnes gave an evaluation of the impromptu topics speakers, followed by Sergey, who returned to update us on the timings for each evaluator’s speech.
After a report by Chantal, the Grammarian, we then heard from our visiting General Evaluator, Karthik. Finally, Sheldon, the President of Bloomsbury Speakers, announced the awards for the evening:
Awards
Best Speaker: Peter R
Best Evaluator: Helen Hosein
Best Table Topic: Peter R
Next meeting
Our next meeting will be Monday 25 July at the Clerk and Well (though the venue may be subject to change). Please get in touch at [email protected] if you have any questions!
