Meeting Report for 27 January 2014

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Written by Helen

Introduction

Swarajit, our President, opened a packed meeting with a bit of history of Toastmasters International. He went on to remind us that public speaking is a learned skill – one that we learn through practice and feedback, that is, evaluation. He then introduced Glen, who was performing the eponymous role of Toastmaster.

  • Peter – the Timekeeper – explained his role, emphasising the importance of being able to contain a speech within a particular time.
  • Helen – the Grammarian – explained her role as well and introduced the word of the day, “vivify”.

Prepared Speeches

In her Icebreaker speech, Grace traced her journey from the Irish countryside – where she grew up in a big, noisy family – to Liverpool, Dublin, and eventually London. She concluded by telling us all her hopes of building confidence as a public speaker.

Bronia spoke on the topic of conflict and how best to deal with it. She quoted many experts, including Abraham Maslow, to explain how conflict affects us. Her advice: open your mind, don’t project, and listen thoroughly.

Paula began her #10 speech, “People”, with two questions: “What kind of person are you? Are you the person you want to be?” She went on to tell a personal story of how she dealt with a difficult person at her workplace, and the lessons she learnt from that experience. She emphasised the importance of drawing a “line in the sand” when faced with such a situation.

In his advanced speech, Joe told a humorous story of a trip he took to Morocco in which he failed, on many occasions, to exercise good judgement. In the end he accepted help from some kind locals, and saw the importance of learning from his mistakes.

Evaluations

Carrie evaluated Grace’s Icebreaker, commending her structure, storytelling style and use of language. She recommended more eye contact but was impressed that Grace delivered her speech with very little use of notes.

Barnaby began his evaluation of Bronia’s speech by empathising with the challenge of preparing a research-based speech (which was the objective of Bronia’s No. 7 speech project). He recommended a more solid structure and more use of facts as evidence.

Femi congratulated Paula on her 10th speech before commending her “commanding presence”. He recommended being a bit more descriptive but found her speech nonetheless inspiring.

Henry promised to be harsh on Joe, who had given an advanced speech. He strongly commended Joe’s opening and structure. His recommendation was to use more drama, and not to over-signpost the learnings, but to let the audience draw their own conclusions from the story.

Table Topics

Marte, our Topicsmaster, introduced Table Topics and presented her theme – the Royal Family.

  • Nazia was offered the prospect of becoming a princess and asked to choose whether she would marry Prince William or Prince Harry. She responded that she was not the marrying kind but that being a princess was quite tempting.
  • Guest Peter was asked what he would change if he were king. He expressed his desire to abolish the monarchy and the moral dilemma that that presented. In the end, he decided to “just go for the crown and keep it”.
  • This segued nicely into Svetlana’s question, “Should we still have a queen or king?” She speculated that when William becomes king he may reform the monarchy, bringing back the times of King Arthur.
  • Manish was asked to choose a new location for his palace, should he be crowned king. He chose Lords pavilion – the Mecca of cricket – as he is a huge cricket fan.
  • Asked whether the queen should retire, Tracey questioned the queen’s purpose. However, given that she is such a well-kept woman, why not just keep on going?

Renars evaluated each table topic with his usual wit. He pointed out the difference between a scripted speech and one which is improvised and went on to give detailed commendations and recommendations to each speaker.

Reports

Helen quoted numerous examples of excellent language used throughout the meeting. She also reported 10 uses of the word of the day.

Jane, our general evaluator, commended the club’s welcoming and warm atmosphere before evaluating each of the functionaries in a concise manner.

Awards

  • Grace received an Icebreaker award for beginning her journey at Toastmasters.
  • Paula received the Competent Communicator award for having completed her 10th speech. She also won Best Prepared Speech.
  • Best Table Topic went to Peter for the second time in a row.
  • The President’s award was given to Marte for having thrown herself into various roles since coming back to Toastmasters and running a highly entertaining table topics session.

Next Meeting

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 10th February at The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE (NOT The Real Man Pizza Company as previously announced).

Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.

Meeting Report for 13 January 2014

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Written by Ash

Introductions

Nerves were running high at the first meeting of the year. The 5-week break had clearly had an impact on even the most competent of speakers; a reminder to us all that it takes regular practice to build confidence and we are all here to improve together, from guest to president.

Our president, Swarajit, felt the pressure in his introduction but soon got into the swing of things using Michael Bay’s recent meltdown to highlight that even those in the public eye could benefit from Toastmasters, and thinking on your feet is a skill that can be honed by mastering the Table Topics.

Next up, our Toastmaster Joe introduced the fitting theme for the meeting: “2014 – What are We Looking Forward to?”

He then introduced two of the functionaries who would help him run the meeting:

  • Marte – made her debut as timekeeper
  • Peter – carried out his duties as Grammarian assiduously (“assiduous” being the Word of the Day).

Prepared speeches

One would think the Ice Breaker, a member’s first introduction to public speaking, would be a daunting task but not so for Svetlana; rather than rush from the stage she was brought to a halt by the gavel, not once but twice! During her talk we learnt that Svetlana speaks 3 languages, has a fictional neighbor (Borat) and sang daily with the Russian babushkas – an interesting life she leads.

Our second talk was by Samuel entitled “The Smoking Hot Topic”. As a former smoker of 10 years, Sam persuaded us using dry humour and visually descriptive language that it sometimes takes an arrogant friend and tough love to get the message across.

Hari was up next with his advanced speech entitled “Confinement”. It turns out Hari hasn’t done porridge but he did eat a lot of it on a 10 day meditation retreat in Hereford. Solitude, lack of possessions, lack of communication, and meditation from 4.30am doesn’t sound like my idea of fun but for Hari it proved to be truly rewarding. Lucky for us he once again found his voice.

Evaluations

Evaluating Svetlana, Ahmed announced it was the first time he had heard the gavel twice and could have happily listened to more of what he found to be a sincere and smiley speech. He felt that eye contact with the audience could be worked on for future speeches.

Nazia was impressed by Samuel’s handling of what some may perceive to be a controversial topic. Nazia was transported by Samuel’s visual references and found his dry humour worked well. Nadia would have liked Samuel to get more personal and tell us how he personally felt when trying to give up smoking.

Carrie found Hari was ‘on brand’ and gave a strong opening with great stage presence. Carrie would like to see Hari take himself further out of his comfort zone in future – less personal development messages and more flamboyance.

Table topics

Jo, our Topicsmaster for the evening, kicked off the Table Topics sessions for this year with a fitting New Year theme and there was no shortage volunteers:

  • Guest Peter was asked what financial advice he would offer for 2014 and responded that in all honesty he was not the best person to ask! Having walked out of a job two years ago and just starting a new position that very day we might not follow your financial advice Peter but we certainly admire your gumption.
  • Anthony was asked what he does to cope with stress. It turns out there is a lot to be said for poor customer service in Anthony’s world; having been without his mobile for 7 weeks he felt at ease and began to realise the future may not in fact be Orange.
  • Grace was asked her views on diets and going to the gym. She has started Pilates but says she’s happiest playing her guitar, or at least she will be if she wins the bid on eBay.
  • Michael was asked whether we should do what makes us happy or well-paid. He finished his talk without ever really answering the question, we can only assume this is because he admits he loves to procrastinate, so he is still thinking about it. Let’s hope his job running an NHS trust gives him both!
  • Ash was asked about one of her most important relationships and spoke about her Mum. As her Mum cruised around the Caribbean over Christmas she didn’t get to speak to her for 5 weeks and found absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
  • Blake philosophically tackled the question should we focus on our strengths in life or our weaknesses? To Blake our strengths may be seen as our weakest weaknesses! He summed it up nicely by pointing out if we can control our weaknesses imagine what we can do with our strengths.
  • Faith was asked the apt question: what does spirituality mean to you? To Faith it is about a grounding, a source of happiness and joy and it’s even getting her out of bed earlier in the morning.
  • Finally, our president Swarajit was asked whether it is better to love or to be loved? Swarajit, likened this to the popular question of whether it is better to give or to receive.

The session was wrapped up by another witty, skillful and award winning performance from Glen as Table Topics evaluator!

And the awards for…

Best Prepared Speech – Samuel

Best Evaluator – Glen

Best Table Topic – Peter

President’s Award – Peter (stand-in Grammarian)

Svetlana also received an Icebreaker ribbon for her maiden speech.

That’s it for now. See you all at the next meeting.

Save the dates…

Monday, 27 January – our next regular meeting at The Clerk and Well

Wednesday, 29 January – “Belly Laugh” night – humorous speaking workshop at The Loose Cannon, Allhallows Lane, EC4R 3UE; tickets available here: https://bellylaughnight2014.eventbrite.co.uk

Monday, 10th March – International Women’s Day themed meeting. Speaking slots for women only, open now on ClubPlan. Gentlemen welcome to evaluate.

Meeting report for 9 December 2013

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Introductions

President Swarajit opened our last meeting of the year by reminding us about the importance of public speaking in different professions. As an example, he used an interview given by Richard Branson after the recent passing of Nelson Mandela. Branson’s speech was full of unnecessary filler words which detracted from his message – however, this is an area that the Toastmasters programme can help people improve through practice.

Swarajit then handed the meeting over to Jo, the Toastmaster for the evening. Jo’s theme was “What is the best or worst Christmas present you have received or given?”

Last christmas_8Jo in action as Toastmaster for the meeting

Just like Santa Claus, Jo introduced her little helpers; Aislinn the meeting’s Timekeeper and Femi and Ayla as joint Harkmasters.

Last christmas_7The meeting’s Timekeeper, Aislinn

Prepared speeches

Moving on to the prepared speeches, Marte with her Icebreaker speech entitled “My First Year in London” shared her experience of relocating from Amsterdam. Marte outlined 3 significant things she’d noticed during her time in London. Firstly, the expensive yet tiny and low quality housing; secondly the generally distant relationships people keep in the office until having a drink in the pub before opening up; and lastly the challenging transport in London as a cyclist, which is much more dangerous compared to Amsterdam.

In his No. 5 speech entitled “Clever Crows” Damien referred to Alfred Hitchcock’s movie The Birds before educating us on how crows are one of the most intelligent and adaptable birds to the human environment. They are found almost everywhere, from the centre of cities to moorlands and the seashore, as well as people’s gardens. They possess advanced qualities such as being problem solvers, facial recognition and planning ahead which includes storing food for rainy days.

Henry, with his No. 7 speech entitled “TV Addict”, informed us that people in the UK watch an average of 4 hours of TV a day. John Reith, who co-founded the BBC in 1922, started it with the intent to educate, inform and entertain. With over 300 hours of TV programs available there are TV documentaries, 24-hours news channels and programmes like Big Brother and The X Factor which achieve these aims. As a self-professed TV addict, Henry believed you can skim through 95% of junk to get the top 5% of good TV.

The final speaker Janet, with her 9th speech entitled “Don’t Take it Personally”, opened strongly by asking the audience if we could imagine working for a boss who despised us, no matter how hard we worked, but then said “don’t take it personally”. Janet’s message was to treat others as you would want to be treated yourself.

Evaluations

Moving onto the evaluations, the key tips from our evaluators are briefly outlined below:

  • Paula in evaluating Marte, commended her on her confidence, great structured speech and timely punctuation. The recommendation given was to use less information in order to not run out of time.
  • Rufina commended Damien on a great opening by using a relevant film, his passion about the topic and its simplicity. Her main recommendation was to use more gestures and facial expressions.
  • Carrie commended Henry on a great choice of topic, interactive delivery and a wonderful use of humour. Her recommendation was to use more pauses in the jokes and to experiment by trying something slightly different from his normal style.
  • Joe commended Janet on a very engaging speech full of passion and emotion in which she picked out people in the audience. However, he observed that the point of the speech seemed to drift after a while.

Table Topics

The table topics section (also known as impromptu speeches), hosted by Ahmed, were based on the theme of the evening and the festive season with an infusion of real life scenarios.

  • Femi was asked, how would you convince Santa Claus to use a ‘Boris bike’ to deliver his presents this Christmas?
  • Kessy discussed her least favourite Christmas movie.
  • Agnes was asked, if you had a call from Santa what would you say to him?
  • Peter pondered who he’d cast in the role of Grinch.
  • Alex spoke about her most memorable Christmas celebration.
  • Glen explained why Christmas reminded him of the state of the economy.

Last christmas_1Rajeev, the Topics Evaluator, telling it like it is

Rajeev took on the mantle of evaluating the table topics and commended the speakers on their great smiles, use of personal language and humour.

Awards

Closing the meeting, Harkmasters Femi and Ayla (Janet’s daughter) tested the audience’s listening skills by posing questions based on what we’d heard during the meeting, rewarding correct answers with delicious chocolate treats.

Last christmas_2Harkmasters Femi & Ayla giving out chocolate

Finally, Swarajit handed out the main awards for the evening.

  • Best Prepared Speech: This went to Janet for her speech on dealing with a difficult boss.
  • Best Evaluator: Carrie won the best evaluator award for her detailed analysis of Henry’s performance.
  • Best Table Topic: Glen won best table topics speaker for his discussion of the economy at Christmas.
  • Marte received an Icebreaker award for delivering her first speech.
  • Damien, after delivering his 5th speech, received a half-competent communicator award.
  • President’s Award: This went to Aislinn for her exemplary performance as Timekeeper.

As it was our last meeting of the year, we wound things down with a bit of extra food, drink and socialising at the end of the meeting.

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Next meeting

Our first meeting of the New Year will be held on Monday, 13th January 2014 upstairs at The Clerk & Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.

Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.

Meeting report for 2 December 2013

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Introductions

It was a sensational evening as the meeting started off on a festive note, being the first week of the Christmas season. Our president Swarajit assured us that Bloomsbury Speakers and Toastmasters as a whole provide a friendly atmosphere in which to practice speeches and make mistakes without any repercussions. He went on to encourage everyone to take up a mentor where you can get encouragement and direct feedback on your progress.

He handed the meeting over to Renars, our Toastmaster for the evening, who stressed the importance of Toastmasters as it’s become one of his greatest skills. He introduced the theme for the evening which was “How do you prepare for Christmas?” along with the functionaries – Rebecca, the Timekeeper, and Femi the Grammarian who gave us the word of the day, appreciate.

Prepared speeches

Kicking off the prepared speeches, Nathaniel started with his phenomenonal ice breaker speech entitled “Path to London” by giving us the gist of how some of Margaret Thatcher’s policies as Prime Minister led to his birth in Malaysia before coming back to England, even though his parents were resident in the UK. This, combined with travelling around the world, stirred up the desire to pursue his diverse interests.

With a No. 5 speech entitled “Christmas in Singapore” Peter declared himself a Christmas humbug. He took us through his memories of the festive season in Singapore as a young boy, particular the unforgettable year of 1966. During this year he got to decorate, deliver his mum’s scrumptious sweets and serve as the senior altar boy in church.

In her No. 6 speech, “The Story That Defines Us” Bronia reminded us of the fact that London can be a cold place both emotionally and physically. A lot is focused on developing individualism. However you can find people who have a common play or interest in a big crowd to connect with.

The final speaker, Glen, with his advance speech entitled “Going Pro for a Day” spoke about how he’d recently had the chance to really show off his speaking skills from Toastmasters in a professional context. He related his doubting moments and sleepless nights as he prepared to take his daunting role as an MC in front of 600 people successfully.

Evaluations

Moving on to the evaluations, the key tips from our evaluators were:

  • Joe in evaluating Nathaniel, commended him on his grounded, articulate and polished speech. The recommendation given was to build on connecting with the audience.
  • Rajeev commended Peter on his great conversational style, a well-paced story and the use of rhetorical devices. His recommendation was to make more use of movement, gestures and facial expressions.
  • Kate in evaluating Bronia commended her on her warm smile and described her as a great storyteller and very likeable. The recommendation was to use more vocal variety in her speech.
  • Nazia commended Glen on an engaging opening and how he took the audience through the journey of conquering his demons. The recommendation was to manage the time effectively.

Table Topics

The table topic speeches, hosted by Rufina, were based on the theme of the evening and the festive season.

  • Femi spoke about how he’d make a difference in someone’s life this season.
  • Jairzina was asked, if you won £6million this Christmas what would you do?
  • Anna considered the question, if you had one wish this season what would it be?
  • Paula was asked, if you had the opportunity to wine and dine with a star, who would it be?
  • Egor considered which holiday destination he’d like to go to for Christmas.
  • Svetlana was told she could have a job of her choosing as a Christmas present and asked what it would be.

Henry commended all of the table topics speakers in his evaluation:

  • Femi as the connector, incredible at hand gestures and weaved around the question before answering.
  • Jairzina as the elegant state person, good hand gestures and a well thought answer
  • Anna as the brave heart, full of smiles and good body language.
  • Paula as the professional, beautiful structure and a well rounded up speech.
  • Egor the jazz talker, free style and danced around the question before answering.
  • Svetlana as the linguist, confident and brave lady.

Recommendations given as a whole by Henry included not ending speeches abruptly, being too laid back, standing to one corner of the room and concentrating attention on the topics master.

Awards

The awards for the evening went to:

  • Best Prepared Speech: Glen won the best speech.
  • Best Evaluator: Henry won the best evaluator.
  • Best Table Topic: It was a tie between Femi and Jairzina.
  • President’s Award: This went to Rebecca for taking on her first functionary role.

Next meeting 

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 9th December 2013 downstairs The Real Man Pizza Company, 91-95 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU. This will be the last meeting of the year.

Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.

And finally…

We had a great time mingling with our friends from Clerkenwell Speakers and other toastmasters from around London at the Area 33 Christmas Social on Friday!

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Meeting report for 25 November 2013

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Introduction

Swarajit, our President, opened the meeting by speaking about James Arthur – last year’s X Factor winner – and the fact that his lack of media training has reflected poorly on him. He, Swarajit suggested, is one more person who could benefit from the public speaking experience we gain at Toastmasters. Swarajit then introduced our Toastmaster for the evening, Ahmed.

  • Stella – the Timekeeper – spoke poetically about time before explaining her role and the timings of the programme.
  • Carrie – the Grammarian – introduced the word of the day, “utopian”, likening our Toastmasters club to a “modern day utopia in an otherwise soulless city.”

Prepared Speeches

Aislinn’s icebreaker, entitled, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you always get what you’ve always got”, focused on the importance of stepping out of one’s comfort zone and develop dormant skills. Aislinn accomplished this through personal anecdotes about her Irish background, her career, and her friends’ reactions to her joining Toastmasters.

Rebecca also presented an icebreaker speech, recounting her life’s journey from Shropshire to Nottingham and then eventually London in search of bright lights.

Rajeev spoke passionately about road safety, citing recent accident statistics and reminding us all that each death is “one too many”. He called on all Londoners – pedestrians, cyclists and drivers alike – to think in order to ensure safer roads for us all.

Paula spoke to us about our dreams, goals, aspirations and secret desires, all of which add fuel to each of our lives. She gave us examples of formidable women that she admires, reminding us all that, “You can do it!”

Evaluations

Jo commended Aislinn’s choice of a relatable topic, which she livened up by injecting humour and self-analysis and using a clear structure.

Henry was impressed with Rebecca’s confidence and sense of ease in front of the audience. Her use of “I” and “you” throughout the speech made it personal and conversational, creating a sense of intimacy.

Peter was confident that Rajeev had met the criteria for his speech as Rajeev is a very competent speaker. He recommended that Rajeev use his notes less and support his facts with punchy questions. He commended Rajeev’s powerful, thought-provoking language.

Bronia described Paula’s speech as “one of those speeches we all need to hear”. Whilst she thought Paula could have looked more confident and authoritative, Bronia was impressed with Paula’s storytelling skills and her powerful use of language, particularly repetition and sentence structure.

Table Topics

Renars – the Topicsmaster – introduced Table Topics as a useful skill for impressing a date and his or her friends. Even if you have no idea what he or she is talking about, you can still have something to say.

  • Asked what he would do if he had to spend £3 million in 3 days, Henry said that he would invest and divest – buying things that had residual value whilst giving some to friends and to charity.
  • Helen was asked what she would ask in a conversation with Napoleon. She focused humorously on his reputation for having been short.
  • If Nathaniel had superpowers for a day, he said that he would be Spider-Man – jumping, climbing, having fun and building webs.
  • Simon humorously enacted his response to a phone invitation from David Beckham for a game of football, using his mobile phone as a prop.
  • Afsana explored possible uses for invisibility, including spying on her friends, but also benevolent uses that could help people.
  • Josina was asked what celebrity she would like to be for a week. She chose Michelle Obama, because she would like to get involved in the initiatives she’s involved in, and to help others.

Joe carefully evaluated each topics speaker, giving commendations, recommendations and more commendations for each.

Reports

Carrie reminded us that if you didn’t use the word of the day in the meeting you can try to use it in the rest of the week. She also gave examples of beautiful language used throughout the meeting.

Our general evaluator for the evening was Gary, President of our sister club, Holborn Speakers. Gary evaluated each of the functionaries giving both commendations and recommendations. In particular, he reminded us that every role is an opportunity to speak and should be treated as a speech.

Awards

  • Aislinn and Rebecca each received an Icebreaker award for beginning their journey at Toastmasters.
  • Ahmed earned the President’s award for helping set up the room and for doing a great job as Toastmaster for the evening.
  • Best Evaluator was a tie between Jo and Joe.
  • Best Table Topic went to Helen.
  • Best Prepared Speech went to Paula.

Next Meeting

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 02 December at the Real Man Pizza Co, 91-95 Clerkenwell Rd.

Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.