Written by Margarita
Introduction
On Monday, 27 March, Bloomsbury Speakers’ members and guests gathered downstairs at Wedge Issue Pizza & Beer for an evening of excellent speeches and numerous self-development opportunities.
Roles
The meeting started with a welcome speech from President Sheldon who introduced Toastmaster Atul. He told us a story about a clown he had met at a party and who inspired him to join Toastmasters. Atul set up a theme for the night – things that make us smile – and introduced Timekeeper Paul and Grammarian Helen.
Prepared speeches
The first speaker was Dan, who gave an extraordinary Icebreaker speech entitled “? = 52 Pubs + Beach?”. The answer to this puzzle is Aberystwyth, a town in Wales where Dan studied for several years. He told the audience about this place’s charm but reminded that it’s important to be in the right place at the right time, and we shouldn’t be afraid to leave when it is time to do so.
Barbara was the second to speak. She also gave an Icebreaker speech entitled “Stepping Out”. Barbara impressed the audience with her props – shoes that correlated to different periods of her life. By sharing her story with us, she inspired everyone in the room to take small changes in their lives to experience a great reward of joy and love.
The third was Julian, with speech No 3 entitled “The Limited Bandwidth of the Human Brain”. He discussed differences between the way humans and machines process and exchange information, explained various types of thinking and concluded with some great tips on improving our cognitive abilities, including context switching and speed-reading.
The fourth speech was given by Chantal. She entitled her project No 5 “Make Like a Sloth”. Through her personal story of getting a dream career at an environmental charity, she stressed the importance of slowing down sometimes. She recommended us to take a sloth as a role model for achieving unpredictably great results in life.
After the speeches, our Sergeant at Arms Peter F. invited guests to introduce themselves and speak about what makes them smile.
Evaluations and Table Topics
After the break, we heard from the four evaluators – Scott, Matthew, Peter F. and Peter R., who stepped in the last minute to replace Tracey Alexander and was therefore confused with Tracey throughout the night.
We were then introduced to our Table Topic Master Renars, who structured his questions around the theme of smiles and happiness. We heard from Swarajit, Yamina, Olga, Margarita, Alek, Alice and Stella, who all gave impromptu speeches for up to two minutes. Sheldon evaluated each speaker afterwards.
Finally, our visiting General Evaluator, Saba from Holborn Speakers, evaluated our club and the meeting. Sheldon, the President of Bloomsbury Speakers, wrapped up the evening by announcing the awards.
Awards
Best Speaker: Barbara
Best Evaluator: Peter R. (aka Tracey 🙂
Best Table Topic: Stella
As Bloomsbury Speakers are approaching the end of the Toastmasters’ year, the Club is accepting applications for joining the Committee. Starting from this meeting, each current Committee member will be introducing their role and inviting fellow members to express interest to take their role for the next year. This time it was Olga, VP Membership, who told us that her role would suit anyone who has an email account and likes helping people.
If you would like to learn more about the Committee and/or are interested in joining it, please let us know!
Next meeting
Please note that our next meeting will be held at a new venue, The Horseshoe (24 Clerkenwell Close, EC1R 0AG), on Monday, 10 April, at 6.30pm. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Please get in touch at [email protected] if you have any questions!
