Contest Report – 10 September 2012

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It was standing room only at the 2012 Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest on Monday evening at The Clerk & Well.

Introduction

The contests were introduced by Carrie who set the scene and explained the format of the evening for the benefit of everyone present.

The first half would be the Humorous Speech section with seven contestants giving prepared humorous speeches and the second half would be the Table Topics section – with eight contestants giving impromptu responses to a mystery question.

Swarajit in his role as Contest Chair welcomed us to the “very special meeting” and explained some of the formalities surrounding contests. He also encouraged everyone to give the contestants as much support as possible with lots of applause.

Humorous Speeches

The first speaker was Christopher – fresh from success with his recent best man’s speech – with a speech entitled “The Real You – The Do’s and Don’t’s of Exposing Yourself”. He tackled the gnarly subject of how much of your true personality should you reveal to a new girlfriend or boyfriend and how soon?

The second speaker was Ratan with his “Father of the Bride Speech” from his daughter’s recent wedding. Ratan gave a touching and humorous account of his relationship with his new son-in-law and shared fond memories of his daughter growing up.

The third speaker was Renars with “Fitness Today – How Insane!” and he came dressed to impress in a striking costume – think 1980s fitness instructor! In a very animated and amusing speech he gave us his insight into the three types of exercise regime we might encounter: army-style conditioning classes, body combat or beach bootcamp.

Michael was our fourth speaker with a speech entitled “The Great Fire of Hillbury Road”. Michael shared the humorous story of the time his in-laws offered to help him build a large fire in his back garden. With a heady mix of contrasting personalities it’s perhaps not surprising that things got out of control!

David was the fifth speaker with his emotionally-charged and energetic speech “I’ve Lost My Security Pass”. David’s boss has asked him to do one simple thing – send an important email by 9.15am – but David is challenged by late trains, packed lifts and – of course – a lost security pass.

Joe was the sixth speaker with his speech “Bad Drivers”. Joe loves driving but he’s on a mission to identify and eliminate the 5% of drivers whose bad driving can make the roads a misery for everyone else. If you’re a middle lane driver – watch out – Joe’s got you in his sights.

Glen was the seventh speaker with his speech “The Rise and Fall of a Bokashi Master”. Glen revealed himself as a fanatical recycler and described his attempts to recycle his leftover food with Bokashi – a Japanese-style of home composting.

Tables Topics

Opening the second half of the meeting, Swarajit shared a personal story where his experience with Table Topics at Toastmasters had paid off in the real world. That day he’d attended the London 2012 Parade and had been interviewed by a Sky News reporter.

He then introduced the Table Topics contest, where each contestant was required to give a 1-2 minutes response to the same question:

“In your opinion what is the greatest invention ever made, or yet to be made?”

Contestants were brought in the room one by one to speak, so that everyone had the same amount of time – just a few seconds – to think about their answer before speaking.

Each contestant tackled the topic in a distinct way:

  • David felt that the world’s greatest invention would be different for everyone – for his daughter it’s hair tongs but for him it’s his Flymo
  • Ratan believed that the greatest invention not yet invented is something to help control the butterflies he feels when speaking
  • Joe felt the best invention was the whoopee cushion for its ability to take people back to their childhood – particularly when you put one under your boss’s chair
  • For Chris the greatest invention was the Tazer gun for its ability to stop the bad guys without causing permanent harm. In fact he felt that they should be made available to the general public!
  • Renars thought that the railway was the greatest invention with its ability to transport goods more easily and promote tourism
  • Glen decided the greatest invention would have to enrich people’s lives, be available to everyone and make us happy and came to the conclusion that the answer was Guinness.
  • In Paula’s view the greatest invention ever was the juicer. Who needs cows, pigs or chickens when you can turn raw fruit and vegetables into nutritious liquid food?
  • Jo felt that best invention would be a device which could freeze time so she could come up with the perfect answer with the help of Google and a glass of red wine

The Results

When all the contestants had spoken, club president Femi took the opportunity to thank all of the judges and those others who had helped to make the contest happen. This also gave the Chief Judge Jakub time to compile and double-check the results!

On returning to the room Jakub said he felt he had the best job – because he got to know the results before anyone else!

With “drumrolls” provided by the audience, Jakub announced the winners of the Table Topics contest: David was first, Ratan was second and Paula came third.

He then announced the winners of the Humorous Speech contest: Glen came first, David was second and Renars was third.

This year the top two places will go on to compete at Area level, so Glen and David will go on to represent the club for the Humorous Speech contest and David and Ratan for the Table Topics contest.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is back to the regular format and is at the normal venue: 6.30pm upstairs at The Clerk & Well, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.

September Newsletter – Membership Unfreeze, Contest Night and Table Topics Boot Camp

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Hello and welcome to the September newsletter!

August was the month when the Olympics brought the world to the British Isles and in particular to this great city of London. And Bloomsbury Speakers benefited from the influx.

Yes we saw Toastmasters from overseas clubs visiting us during their short stint in London, and they had nothing but praise for us. They also said they felt as if they were at home, because our club meeting experience was similar to what happens in their clubs in their respective countries.

All of this reminds me again of what a global phenomenon Toastmasters is, and how through the same format combining regular practice with feedback, the organisation is helping multitudes around the world to become better speakers and leaders.

Now here in a nutshell is what happened in August in case you were away and haven’t read the meeting reports…

(Remember, if you’re in a hurry, you can scroll to the very end of the newsletter to get a list of the key things you need to know!)

What’s happened since the last newsletter?

In August, we returned to our two standard meetings a month which were well attended despite strong competition from the Olympic Games and the holiday season. Yes, we saw record numbers of guests in the meetings and members turned out in their droves.

There was an ice breaker speech and speeches from members across the experience spectrum. This is why I enjoy coming to Bloomsbury because whether you are an advanced speaker or a newbie there something appealing for everyone!

What’s planned for September?

We’ve got two meetings in September – on the 10th and 24th September.

However, our first meeting Monday 10th September is not a regular meeting; instead it’s our Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest night. This is the club-level round of the autumn contests, featuring humorous prepared speeches and table topics.

We already have lots of eager contestants but our Contest Organiser Swarajit tells me members still have a few hours left to register for the contest. Contact him directly at education@bloomburyspeakers.org.uk by the end of today (Friday 7th September).

If you’re not taking part or acting in a functionary role, please come along anyway. This contest meeting is usually one of the most entertaining on the Bloomsbury calendar.

As for Monday 24th September 2012 – This is a standard regular meeting and while speaking slots are already booked up, we are still looking to fill the Toastmaster role. Alternatively, you can put yourself down for a table topics slot.

Tip: an experienced member to watch in this meeting is Hari Kalymnios (our previous VP of membership and mentoring) who is already a Competent Communicator.

What’s on the horizon?

We’ve got two meetings in October – on the 8th and 22nd.

  • Monday 8th October 2012 – Regular Meeting – again this first meeting is already booked up speech-wise, but you could book in as an Evaluator which will not simply help you develop your speaking skills but will go some way in developing your leadership ability. Alternatively put yourself down for a table topics slot – there are still three up for grabs. Finally, seasoned speakers to watch out for are David Jones and Kaveh Pourvand (both from Holborn Speakers) who are our GE and guest Toastmaster respectively. There’s also Henry Playfoot who will be our Grammarian that night.
  • Monday 22nd October 2012 – Regular meeting – There are still two Evaluator slots to fill here so don’t delay book your slot now before they are gone! Once again Henry Playfoot – who will be chairing the meeting as our Toastmaster – is one to watch.

Membership freeze coming to an end!

As you know, we have frozen membership to cope with demand on speaking slots. But membership will re-open at the end of September.

We already have a waiting list of people keen to join and they will be given priority when we start enrolling new members.

If you would like to join but haven’t done so already, please contact the membership VP Joe Lake (membership@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk) to put you on the waiting list.

As always in the meantime, we continue to welcome guests to come to our meetings.

Want to improve your impromptu speaking and get extra table topics practice between meetings?

Now I’d like to hand over to our past president Glen for some information about a brand new resource that members – particularly those who’d like to improve their table topics skills – could find very useful.

Hello! I know many of you, like me, enjoy the challenge of a good table topic.

But I used to get frustrated about only being able to do one or two table topics a month. It never seemed quite enough to improve as quickly as I wanted to.

That’s why workshops – like the one Hari ran a few weeks back – are so great. You get to do lots in one evening!

And this got me thinking: Is there a way to realistically practice table topics – and perhaps learn a few new techniques – between meetings and workshops?

The result is the Table Topics Boot Camp.

It uses exercises and specially-recorded audio topics to allow you to practice in front of your computer or even from your smartphone, recreating as closely as possible the experience of doing a table topic in a meeting.

Currently there are 10 exercises and 30 practice topics.

I would love for a few of you to check it out and give me some feedback saying whether you found it useful.

There are no strings attached, the content is totally free and doesn’t require any kind of email sign-up or other commitment.

In the interest of full disclosure I should point out that this is a personal project rather than a Bloomsbury Speakers initiative. It comes with no guarantees, etc. but I hope some of you find it useful.

Thanks and see you soon!

Glen

That’s all.

See you in a meeting very soon!

Femi Asaolu
President
Bloomsbury Speakers

Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know

  • Our next meeting is our Contest Night on Monday 10th September. If you’re competing – good luck! If not, coming along and watch the fun.
  • Our next regular meeting is Monday 24th September – and we’re still looking for a Toastmaster.
  • Our meetings in October are on the 8th and the 22nd
  • The club is re-opening to new members from end of September – email membership@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk to get on the waiting list
  • Check out Glen’s new, free resource – Table Topics Boot Camp – to practice and improve your table topics skills between meetings

Meeting Report for 20 August 2012

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Written by Elena (edited by Swarajit)

Introduction

With one new member giving his Ice Breaker speech, all participants receiving constructive feedback and a mixture of humour with a general theme of crime and punishment, it was another great meeting.

At the beginning of the meeting, the club’s President Femi welcomed all members and guests and encouraged everyone to “practice, practice, practice!” giving feedback because that in itself is a very important skill.

The Toastmaster of the evening was VP of Education Swarajit, who injected a lot of humour into the meeting along the general theme of Crime and Punishment. He was supported by two functionaries who ensured good use of language and time respectively: Past President and Grammarian Glen and Timekeeper Ahmed.

Prepared speeches

The first speaker of the evening was Marco, who presented his Ice Breaker speech entitled “Holistic Wellbeing”. He familiarised the audience with different holistic techniques: therapy, massage, metamorphosis and laughing yoga, giving clear explanations of what each meant and the benefits of using them.

The next speaker, Carrie, delivered her speech No. 3 “Checking Out” in which she told us why, in her opinion, Facebook has gone too far. She shared her own Facebook experience, starting in 2006 when she joined that network with her student-friends, up to deactivating her account six years later.

Janet gave her speech No. 4 entitled “The Cave”. She relayed to the audience a personal story about how her daughter had asked her: “What is the Holocaust and how come so many Jewish people died?” Not having a short, easy answer for that, Janet presented a parable “The Cave” (originally told by Socrates in 400 BC) to help her daughter get some idea.

The evening’s last speaker, Elena, performed her speech No. 6 “Nightmare Driving” about the completely different driving style in her hometown of Samara, Russia. She told (and showed some pictures) about road conditions, how road regulations were ignored by drivers and the complete inactivity of the police!

Speech evaluations

Jason gave an evaluation of Marco’s Ice Breaker speech. He acknowledged the good structure of the speech, which systematically covered each part of the therapy, and the fact that it wrapped up on time. Jason also commended Marco’s very calm, well-measured delivery. However he would have liked to have heard a more personal take on this topic, relating it to Marco’s life.

Angela evaluated Carrie’s speech and noted that she came up on stage very confidently and continued with a clear voice, good pace and eye contact. Angela also commended Carrie’s good preparation and research of the speech, especially the statistical data. The only recommendation was to not rely as much on notes in the future.

Michael, evaluating Janet’s speech, acknowledged the clarity and conciseness of the speech and its original structure in giving so vivid an answer to her daughter. Michael suggested making a more effective conclusion to the speech by bringing it back to her daughter’s question.

Paula evaluated Elena’s speech. She praised the volume and pace of delivery of the speech, the descriptive language and rhetorical questions. Paula recommended making more pauses for better dramatic effect.

Table Topics

Topics Master of the evening was Sajia, who continued Swarajit’s theme for the meeting and suggested some questions based on the classic novel Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky:

  • Define for the audience the word “Crime”.
  • If you were able to send somebody somewhere as a punishment,where would that be?
  • Have you or could you ever love a criminal?
  • Is there any crime, big or small, that you would like to confess tonight?

Awards

Closing the meeting, Femi gave out the awards based on the votes cast during the evening and also the certificate for successful completion of the Ice Breaker speech – an important step in Toastmaster’s programme – to Marco.

The Best Evaluator award was given to Jason for his evaluation of Marco’s Ice Breaker. The Best Table Topics Speaker award went to recently-returned member James for his ‘confessed crime’ Table Topic, and the highly coveted Best Speaker award went to Janet for her fantastic speech.

The President’s discretional award went to Saija for her very successful hosting of the Table Topics section of the meeting.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is our Humorous Speech & Table Topics contest on Monday, 10th September 2012,upstairs at The Clerk and Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX.

Meeting Report for 13 August 2012

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Written by Elena (edited by Swarajit)

Introduction

With a challenging word of the day “MANTLE” from a visiting Grammarian, guests taking part in the Table Topics section, a relatively new member taking Best Speaker award for her No. 2 Speech and one member preparing to give the Best Man speech at his brother’s wedding, it was another busy meeting at The Clerk & Well pub.

Femi, the Club President, opened the meeting with great enthusiasm and encouraged the audience to get involved in the Toastmasters programme.

The Toastmaster of the evening was past club President Glen, who energised the meeting and revealed goals which participants would like to achieve in the next 4 years by the ‘Rio 2016’ Olympic Games. Glen was supported by Timekeeper Steven and Grammarian Stella, visiting from Northern Lights Speakers.

Prepared speeches

Christopher declared his prime motive in joining Bloomsbury Speakers had been to prepare for the most important speech of his life – the “Best Man Speech” for his little brother’s wedding, which would take place this weekend. (Members often find that Toastmasters is a good platform to practise and enhance speeches that they have to deliver elsewhere.) Chris shared several amusing anecdotes about his brother and their close relationship.

The second speaker was Marielle with her speech No. 2 entitled “The Day I Became a Professional Dancer” in which she told us the story of how she was cast in a music video having had no experience of dancing before. Marielle closed with the advice – Fake it ‘til you make it!

The next speaker, Ahmed, presented his No. 4 speech “An Overview of the Major Underground Station Upgrade Projects”. He familiarised the audience with the project of upgrading Victoria, Bond Street and Tottenham Court Road stations due to quite significantly increased passenger demand by 2018. Ahmed also pointed out the benefits and major challenges of this project and his belief that it would help London to remain the business capital of Europe.

The last speaker was Renars with an advanced speech whose goal was to deliver a talk within the format of a radio talk show. He presented himself as an entrepreneur and founder of “Smart Card Ltd.” and was ‘interviewed’ by the host of the show (fellow member Michael). In his interview Renars told us about the main idea of his business which is placing business cards in dispensers on walls at many different social places so that anyone could take them out.

Speech evaluations

Christopher’s Best Man speech was evaluated by Michael. He started by quoting the phrase which really drew his attention – “this speech is the most important of my life”. He also commended Christopher’s strong introduction, great humour and research but recommended adding some pauses into the speech to get the audience to think a bit more.

Evaluating Marielle’s professional dancer speech, Elena praised originality of the topic and a well-structured speech enhanced with natural body language and pace of delivery. She recommended speaking louder and projecting the voice to cope with challenging noise from the street.

Carrie gave the evaluation of Ahmed’s speech on the Underground upgrade project. She commended Ahmed’s passion about this topic which came across in his body language. However Carrie would have liked to have heard some personal stories.

Ratan evaluated Renars’s radio talk show. The objective of the speech was to prepare for questions you might be asked. Ratan gave his evaluation in his humorous, thorough style and commended the fact that Renars appeared as a very confident speaker with a commanding voice and exceptional knowledge of the subject. Ratan would have liked to have heard Renars answer the questions related to printing of the business cards and their possible effect on environment.

Table Topics

Jo, inspired by “The big book of IF…” (which contains 50,000 questions starting with “If…”) used a sample of questions to help volunteers from the audience exercise their impromptu speaking skills. They were prompted to answer questions such as:

  • If you could change one thing in the world right now, what it would be and why?
  • If you could hold any athletic record, what it would be and why?
  • If you could star any movie in the last fifty years, what would it be and why?

Awards

Closing the meeting, Femi reminded everyone that the Humorous Speech & Table Topics contests will take place on Monday, 10th September at our usual venue, The Clerk & Well, and gave out the awards based on the votes cast during the evening.

The Best Evaluator award was given to Ratan, a Toastmaster for over five years, for evaluating Renars’s advanced speech. The Best Table Topics Speaker award went to relatively new member Saija for her Table Topic about wanting to achieve the world record in synchronised swimming, and the highly-prized Best Speaker award went to Marielle for her professional free-style dancing speech.

The President’s discretional award went to Glen for his brilliant performance in the Toastmaster role.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is on Monday, 20th August 2012, upstairs at The Clerk and Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX.

August Newsletter – Hello from new president and club contests

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Hello and welcome to the August newsletter

It’s just one month since the start of the new Toastmasters year, when a new committee takes over the running of the club.

(In case you are not aware who the new committee members are, details are provided below.)

But you’d be forgiven to think that little or nothing has changed given how we have continued to have well-attended meetings with lots of new guests.

This is one of the reasons I am honoured to be the new president of Bloomsbury Speakers. I’m proud to be taking over from our immediate past President Glen Long who, together with his out-going committee members, has helped to establish us as one of the most friendly, prominent and vibrant clubs in London.

My aim is to maintain this ethos, and to see all members – new and old – progressing through the communication and leadership programmes.

What happened in July?

As was the case in June, we had three meetings in July (instead of the more normal two) in order to meet new members’ demand for speaking slots. There were ice-breaker speeches in each meeting and we also had speeches from more experienced members.

We also had a well-attended Table Topics workshop where tips for impromptu speaking were shared by Hari – one of our most seasoned members – and members were given the opportunity to practise lots of topics.

What’s planned for August?

In August, we are reverting to our two regular meetings since the membership freeze (see below) has meant that demand on speaking slots has eased up a bit:

  • Monday 13th August 2012 – Regular Meeting – this first meeting is already booked up, but you could book in as a reserve speaker (in case someone drops out). Alternatively put yourself down for a table topics slot – there are still three up for grabs. Experienced members to watch out for are Glen and Ratan.
  • Monday 20th August 2012 – Regular meeting which has been moved forward a week earlier because of the bank holiday. This meeting is fully booked however there are a couple of veteran members to learn from including Swarajit and Glen.

Please note the second meeting date – it’s the third Monday not the fourth, due to the August bank holiday.

What’s on the horizon?

We’ve got two meetings in September – on the 10th and 24th September:

  • Monday 10th September 2012 – Please note this first meeting is a Humorous Speech and Table Contest night, not a regular meeting. This is the club-level round of the autumn contests, featuring humorous prepared speeches and table topics (more on this later).
  • Monday 24th September 2012 – Regular Meeting – While speaking slots are already booked up, there are still Evaluator slots up for grabs.

New committee

Here’s a reminder of the new committee members, with their respective responsibilities:

  • Femi Asaolu (me!) – President – has overall responsibility for the successful running of the club
  • Swarajit Das – VP Education – ensures that we run successful meetings with all roles filled and that the club’s educational goals are met
  • Joe Lake – VP Membership & Mentoring – looks after new and existing members to help them get the most out of the club and meet their personal development goals
  • Elena Fanaberova – Treasurer – responsible for controlling the club finances to ensure stability and continuity for all members
  • Jo Higham – Secretary – responsible for club administration, particularly with regards to committee meetings and decision making
  • Glen Long – VP Public Relations – responsible for raising the club profile and attracting new guests, e.g. via website and mailing list
  • Richard Gibbs – Sergeant at Arms, who is responsible for setting up the room before and after each meeting. The SAA also has a regular slot giving guest introductions (unless taking on another role)

Membership freeze

To help manage demand for speaking slots, we are sticking to our plan to keep club membership frozen until the end of September.

In the meantime, we continue to welcome guests to our meetings, and for those who are eager to join, we can put you on the waiting list.

Humorous and Table Topics Contest: Take part or get involved in running it!

Toastmasters normally runs two sets of contests each year, and the end of the summer is when we hold our Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests. These contests take the place of our regular meeting on Monday 10th September and are open to all members with an up-to-date membership (although guests are still very welcome to attend).

For the Humorous Speech contest, you need to prepare a 5-7 minute speech of a humorous nature on a topic of your choice. Note that a humorous speech is not a stand-up routine, or just a series of one-liners – it is a fully-fledged speech in its own right and should have a beginning, a middle and a conclusion as usual, supported with lots of humour!

For the Table Topics contest, no preparation is required at all! As usual, you are given the topic just before you are called to the stage and have 1-2 minutes to talk about it. To ensure fairness, all contestants are given the same question, but are free to interpret it in any way they wish.

If you would like to enter either or both of these contests, you can do so by booking yourself in on ClubPlan (note that, due to a limitation with the ClubPlan system, you can only book yourself in for one of the contests, but please e-mail education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk if you would like to enter both).

Even if you don’t yet feel ready to compete, there are several functionary roles available to help the contest run smoothly – again, use ClubPlan to book yourself in.

Further information about the rules and requirements of the contests will be provided to members in the coming weeks.

That’s all.

See you in a meeting very soon!

Femi Asaolu
President
Bloomsbury Speakers

Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know

  • Our next meeting is Monday 13th August 2012
  • Our second meeting in August is the third, not fourth, Monday – i.e. Monday, 20th August
  • The humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest takes place on 10th September – take part or get involved in helping to run the show via ClubPlan!
  • There are still functionary roles available in the regular meeting in September – remember you need to perform at least one functionary role between speeches.
  • We have a new committee: Femi (President), Swarajit (VP Education), Joe (VP Membership & Mentoring), Elena (Treasurer), Jo (Secretary), Glen (VP Public Relations) and Richard (Sergeant at Arms)