Hello and welcome to the March newsletter!

The build-up to contest season is picking up pace – ours is only a week away now – so get yourself booked in to speak at our International Speech and Evaluation contests. Even if you’re not competing, there are still plenty of ways to help run the event as a functionary, so book yourself in on ClubPlan now.

We’re also still looking for some of our members to visit other clubs’ contests as a judge. If you’re available to judge at any of the following contests, please get in touch via education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk:

• Clerkenwell Speakers – Wednesday 12^th March (6:30pm-9pm) The Apple Tree pub, 45 Mount Pleasant, London, WC1X 0AE
• Society Speakers – Wednesday, 19^th March (6:30pm-9pm) Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, London, W1W 6DL
• London Olympians – Thursday 20^th March (6:30pm-9pm) MyHotel Chelsea, 35 Ixworth Place, SW3 3QX
• Holborn Speakers – Tuesday, 25^th March (6:30pm-9pm) The Devereux pub, 20 Devereux Court, Temple, London, WC2R 3JJ

There are no special qualifications required to be a judge, so please volunteer if you can.

If you don’t have time to read the whole newsletter, you can skip to the bottom for a short summary of the main points.

What’s happened since the last newsletter?

February was short but sweet, with two regular meetings including a Valentine-themed table topics session from Grace, and icebreaker speeches from Michelle and Tracey.

Kicking off March, we also had an incredibly useful and well-received pair of workshops from district council members Hilary Briggs and Freddie Daniells last Monday, which I hope will encourage all who attended to enter the contests later this month – more from them below.

What’s planned for March?

Lots! The dates below are just those directly related to our club, but keep reading through the rest of the newsletter for even more exciting events this month:

• Monday, 10^th March – Regular Meeting – Our first club meeting this month will be themed around International Women’s Day. The programme is almost full, but if you’re quick you may be able to grab one of the last couple of pre-bookable table topic slots on ClubPlan.
• Monday, 17^th March – International Speech & Evaluation Contest Night – At the time of writing, only four members have signed up for the International Speech contest, while we’re still waiting for our first entry for the Evaluation contest! Remember that all members are eligible for the Evaluation contest, and there’s no preparation required, so get yourself booked in on ClubPlan for the chance to represent the Bloomsbury Speakers at the next level.
• Monday, 24^th March – Regular Meeting – At the time of writing, there is one prepared speech slot available – again, book yourself in on ClubPlan to make use of the opportunity.
• Thursday, 27^th March – Area 34 International Speech & Evaluation Contest – The winners from our club contests on the 17^th will go on to compete against winners from the other clubs in our area of London. See immediately below for the details – registration is required to attend!

Area 34 contest night – registration required and help needed!

Please go along to support the winners from our club contests (whoever they may be!) in the next round at the Area 34 contest night. The event is free to attend, but as it’s being held in a corporate building, pre-registration is essential – here are the full details:

Date: Thursday, 27^th March
Time: 7pm-9pm
Venue: Transport for London, 55 Broadway, SW1H 0BD (directly above St. James’s Park tube station)
Registration: president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk

The contest organisers are also looking for judges, timekeepers and vote counters to help with running the event, so please volunteer for one of these roles when you register.

World champion speakers event – Friday, 14^th March

This is a rare opportunity to learn from two exceptional speakers. Ed Tate (2000 World Champion) and Darren LaCroix (2001 World Champion) will each help you to change the way you create and deliver your speeches and presentations.

In Ed’s workshop, ‘The Story Finder: How to Create New Stories in Minutes’ you will have the opportunity to:

• Discover how to be remarkable with your own material;
• Practice Ed’s 4 Elements of Effective Story Telling;
• Create new material immediately, using a story creation framework;
• Learn 10 different ways to creatively open and close any presentation.

Darren’s workshop, ‘Create Your Keynote’ will cover:

• Time-proven speech writing processes;
• Common mistakes to avoid;
• A whole new perspective to writing a world-class speech.

Full details are below – see you there!

Date: Friday, 14^th March
Time: 7pm-9pm
Venue: Freemasons’ Hall, 60 Great Queen Street, Covent Garden, WC2B 5AZ (Map)
Price: £7.50
Tickets: http://worldchampions.eventbrite.co.uk

Table topics workshop at Clerkenwell Speakers – Wednesday, 19^th March

Five-time UK & Ireland table topics champion David Jones will be running a 2-hour long table topics workshop for Clerkenwell Speakers on Wednesday, 19^th March. The workshop will include some of David’s top tips for giving a table topic speech, as well as plenty of opportunity to get up and practice – all are welcome, so don’t miss out if you can make it.

Date: Wednesday, 19^th March
Time: 6:45pm-9pm
Venue: The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/8qCei (with directions from our regular meeting venue)

Reminder – dates for your diary

Here’s a quick reminder of some of the important contest and conference dates announced in last month’s newsletter:

• Friday, 4^th April  (7pm onwards) – Division L International Speech & Evaluation Contests – City Temple Conference Centre, Holborn Viaduct, EC1A 2DE – the top placed contestants in this month’s Area 34 contests will go on to face the best speakers from the other areas in North & Central London – the prize is a place in the national semi-finals.
• Friday 9^th-Sunday 11^th May – District 71 King Laoire Conference – The last ever conference for District 71 as we know it will be held in Dún Laoghaire in Ireland and will play host to the UK & Ireland International Speech and Evaluation contest semi-finals and finals, featuring the winners from each division around both countries. Booking is open on the official website and the hotel is filling up fast.
• Wednesday 20^th-Saturday 23^rd August – International Convention and World Championship Finals in Kuala Lumpur – While the Evaluation Contest ends at District level, the International Speech Contest (as its name implies) continues on to the world semi-finals and finals in Malaysia, with the eventual winner being crowned World Champion of Public Speaking. Perhaps this year’s winner will be from Bloomsbury Speakers!

Tip of the Month: Workshop learning points

We try to hold at least a couple of workshops a year at Bloomsbury Speakers and this month’s tip is a bit of a cheat on my part, as it’s really just a collection of my favourite learning points from last Monday’s speech and evaluation workshops which were run for us by Hilary Briggs and Freddie Daniells. If you weren’t there, here’s just some of what you missed:

• With evaluations, keep them factual. Look at it like presenting evidence in a court of law; an evaluation is your own opinion, but your comments need to be backed up by observations i.e. what you saw, heard and felt and when.
• In contests, use the C-C-R-R-C format. Contest judges will give you credit for having a structured and balanced approach to your evaluation. Give two commendations followed by two recommendations and finish with your most positive commendation, ensuring that your comments are delivered to the audience i.e. in the third person – and always finish with a summary!
• The majority of World Championship-winning speeches are inspirational AND entertaining. Winning speeches typically involve a personal story comprised of a situation, a protagonist (usually yourself), a goal, a problem or obstacle to overcome and a journey to success. They will also make use of humour to engage the audience and judges – eight laughs in a 5-7 minute speech is a conservative target.
• But that’s not all – there are common pitfalls to avoid. It’s not enough to have a problem; the situation needs to escalate as the story progresses. The story needs to be acted out in scenes (rather than told as a narrative) to help the audience to be there with you. There also needs to be a character arc so that the character changes in some way. This is usually with the help of a mentor character, because audiences will connect better with speakers who, like them, aren’t perfect and need help.

Of course, many of these points are specific to Toastmasters competitions rather than public speaking in general, but why not try applying some of these tips in this month’s contests and in our regular meetings going forward?

And finally…

Congratulations to our VP Public Relations Rufina and Immediate Past President Femi who recently announced their engagement!

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That’s all for now. See you at a meeting soon!

Swarajit Das
President
Bloomsbury Speakers

Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know

• Our first regular meeting in March is on the 10^th and will be a special event to mark International Women’s Day, organised by committee members Jo and Rufina.
• Our International Speech & Evaluation contest is on Monday, 17^th March. Register as a contestant or functionary on ClubPlan.
• Our second regular meeting in March is on the 24^th and, at the time of writing, there is one speech slot available on ClubPlan.
• The winners from our club contests will progress to the Area 34 finals from 7pm on Thursday, 27^th March at 55 Broadway, SW1H 0BD (directly above St. James’s Park tube station). Registration via president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk is essential to attend.
• A special world champion speakers event is taking place from 7pm on Friday, 14^th March, featuring workshops from former World Champions of Public Speaking Ed Tate and Darren LaCroix. Tickets are available at http://worldchampions.eventbrite.co.uk.
• Clerkenwell Speakers is hosting a table topics workshop to be run by five-time UK & Ireland champion David Jones from 6:45pm on Wednesday, 19^th March at The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE.

Hello and welcome to the January newsletter!

Happy New Year! I hope you’re looking forward to getting back into full swing with Toastmasters as much as I am, and it’s the perfect time to do so. Not only is January traditionally the time to re-evaluate your objectives and make a fresh start, but we’ve got a packed month of events to help you do exactly that, including a dinner social coming up at the end of this week – please come along if you can make it.

Bloomsbury Speakers’ committee has also been appraising the club’s goals, including overhauling our mentoring scheme as well as keeping track of our progress in the Distinguished Club Programme. Keep reading for all the details.

If you don’t have time to read the whole newsletter, you can skip to the bottom for a short summary of the main points.

What’s happened since the last newsletter?

As well as two busy meetings in December, including icebreakers from Nathaniel and Marte and a passionate account from Glen about his experience of speaking professionally, we also had a fun socialising with our fellow toastmasters at the Area 33 Christmas social. Check out the meeting reports for photos and recap.

Meanwhile, three more new members have joined the club: welcome to Michelle, Svetlana and Grace – we look forward to hearing your icebreaker speeches soon!

What’s planned for January?

Normal service resumes with our regular meetings on the second and fourth Mondays of the month, and a couple of bonus events to boot!

• Monday, 13^th January – Regular Meeting – Our first meeting of 2014 has a packed agenda, but you can still book yourself in for a table topic on ClubPlan to guarantee a speaking opportunity.
• Friday, 17^th January – ‘Clerk-bury’ Social – We’re going out for Friday night dinner and drinks with our friends from Clerkenwell Speakers – see below for the details.
• Monday, 27^th January – Regular Meeting – At the time of writing, there are slots available for a Timekeeper for the meeting and Sergeant at Arms to welcome and introduce the guests. Again, book yourself in on ClubPlan.
• Wednesday, 29^th January – ‘Belly Laugh’ Night – A night bursting with learning and comedy – further details below.

‘Clerk-bury’ New Year social

We’re joining our friends from Clerkenwell Speakers for an informal dinner social this Friday. It’ll be a great opportunity to catch up properly with your fellow Toastmasters after our first meeting of the year, and guests are welcome too, so get in touch if you’d like to attend!

Date: Friday, 17^th January
Time: 7pm
Venue: Strada, 8-10 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QR
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/tmsb5 (with directions from our regular meeting venue)
RSVP: president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk

Also, don’t miss out on the money-saving offers from the restaurant which are available online: http://www.stradaoffers.co.uk/exmouth-market.

Please respond by Tuesday if you’d like to come.

‘Belly Laugh’ night – Wednesday, 29^th January

Last month’s newsletter mentioned a special event and workshop around the theme of humorous speaking. This is now confirmed as a ‘Belly Laugh’ night – an evening of humorous speeches and education we’re putting together in collaboration with Clerkenwell Speakers, Experience French and St. Paul’s Speakers clubs.

The night will include speeches from 2013 UK & Ireland humorous speech contest semi-finalist Stephen Edun, as well as finalist and runner-up Glen Savage, plus a workshop from 2011 champion Ola Aralepo – all introduced by 2013 finalist and Clerkenwell’s own President, Ayse Lowe.

Details are below, and the event promises to fill up fast, so act quickly if you want to attend!

Date: Wednesday, 29^th January
Time: 6:45pm
Venue: The Loose Cannon, 13-16 Allhallows Lane (off Upper Thames Street), London, EC4R 3UE
Tickets: https://bellylaughnight2014.eventbrite.co.uk

Distinguished Club Programme (DCP) update

Toastmasters International provides a framework of objectives called the Distinguished Club Programme (DCP) that clubs should aim to achieve within the Toastmasters year, and awards recognition to those clubs who are successful. The goals include attracting a healthy intake of new members, making sure our committee members are trained in their roles and, most importantly, ensuring our members progress through their communication and leadership manuals.

Although we’ve just marked the start of a new calendar year, we’re actually half way through the Toastmasters year (which runs from July through to June) and I’m pleased to report that we’re already close to achieving seven of the ten goals in the DCP. The three goals we have left to achieve are all to do with members completing their communication awards, so if you’re close to finishing your Competent Communication manual, don’t hesitate in contacting your mentor and our VP Education Jo (education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk) to plan how to get through your remaining speeches in the next six months.

Working towards and achieving these goals is a mutually beneficial process for individual members and the club as a whole, as it produces the kind of environment that members want to remain part of because it helps them achieve their best. Success breeds success, so perhaps think about how you can help the club achieve its goals this year while achieving your own too.

Revamping our mentoring programme

As mentioned above, the Bloomsbury Speakers committee has been looking at the club’s mentoring process and how to improve it. Under the previous system, mentors were only allocated to members who specifically requested them and the numerous mentoring relationships were difficult for one person (our VP Membership & Mentoring) to keep track of. This meant that new members could occasionally slip under the radar and not make the most of their membership and the help available.

Rajeev, our current VP Membership & Mentoring who has overall responsibility for ensuring a positive experience for club members, will now allocate every new member to one of a select group of experienced members of the club who will mentor them through their first three speeches. After this, it will be down to the individual member to decide how best to continue their own development, whether that is with their allocated mentor, another member of the club or on their own.

If you have any questions about the mentoring programme, or would like to be a mentor yourself, feel free to contact Rajeev directly at mentoring@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.

International Women’s Day meeting – Monday, 10^th March

Our VP Public Relations, Rufina, is organising a special themed meeting to mark International Women’s Day which is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women – past, present and future. The day itself falls on 8^th March, and we would like to join women all around the world in honouring the work of the Suffragettes, celebrating women’s successes and also reminding ourselves of the inequities that still need to be redressed by marking the occasion at our regular meeting on Monday, 10^th March.

We are using this as an opportunity to get as many women in the club as possible to sign up for roles on this particular day. It is also meant to encourage and motivate women to not just attend regular meetings but to sign up for upcoming contests in the spring in which they have previously been greatly under-represented.

So, to all the female members of our club, please take part in this meeting in honour of yourselves by signing up on ClubPlan (and especially if you’d like to give a speech on the themes that are celebrated on International Women’s Day).

You can also expect to receive a more personal invitation from Rufina in the next week or so.

(P.S. Of course, our gentlemen members are welcome to take part too, but preferably in the evaluation roles.)

Tip of the Month: Join a public speaking ‘gym’

Gym membership soars in January as thousands resolve to exercise, improve their fitness and put their bad habits behind them. As we all know, exercise pays dividends only if done frequently and effectively – and public speaking is no different. Going for long periods without putting your public speaking skills into practice can mean losing the confidence you’ve built up over time, forgetting the tips you’ve learnt and reverting to undesirable habits like using filler words.

Toastmasters clubs provide the ‘gym equipment’ – speaking opportunities and evaluations – you need to exercise and tone your public speaking muscles safely and regularly, and the best way to do so is to make the most of every opportunity. This means setting out your goals for when you want to perform specific speeches from your manual and maximising your time in front of an audience by taking on functionary roles or table topics at every meeting in between.

Even if you’re not a member yet, you are of course welcome to visit Bloomsbury Speakers as a guest as much as you want, where you’ll have the opportunity to introduce yourself to the club and perhaps try some impromptu speaking. So join a public speaking ‘gym’ this year, maximise your membership and reap the benefits of regular exercise – and unlike an ordinary gym, you can actually improve just by watching others. If that’s not a reason to keep coming, I don’t know what is!

That’s all for now. See you at a meeting soon!

Swarajit Das
President
Bloomsbury Speakers

Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know

• Welcome to our newest members, Michelle, Svetlana and Grace. We look forward to hearing their Icebreaker speeches!
• Our regular meetings in January are on the 13^th and 27^th, back at our regular venue. See ClubPlan for the available roles and speaking slots.
• Join us for a ‘Clerk-bury’ New Year social from 7pm on Friday, 17^th January at Strada, Exmouth Market. Members and guests are equally welcome, so RSVP to president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.
• Book your place on our ‘Belly Laugh’ night on Wednesday, 29^th January at The Loose Cannon to hear from some of the best humorous speakers in the division. Tickets are available from https://bellylaughnight2014.eventbrite.co.uk.
• International Women’s Day takes place in March and we’re planning a special themed meeting on 10^th March to mark the occasion. Contact education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk or book yourself in on ClubPlan to take part.