Meeting Report for 16 April 2012

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Written by Elena (edited by Swarajit)

Introduction

The meeting was opened by Club President Glen who welcomed new and returning guests as well as regular and new members to our new, shiny and stunning venue, The Clerk & Well pub, which is going to be our permanent home. He described the Toastmasters organisation and the benefits that membership of a club like Bloomsbury Speakers can provide.

The Toastmaster of the meeting was one of our most experienced members and also the Club Secretary Kate. She was assisted by the Grammarian Hari and Timekeeper Sye Yuet who was performing her role for the first time.

Prepared speeches

Guests are always very welcome in our club and we are especially pleased when they become new members and give their introductory speeches.

This evening we had an Ice Breaker speech entitled “Introducing Me” from our new member Carrie. She gave us a descriptive and very humorous view of her life since she was born in Northampton, including her university activities, a year out in Sydney where she gained the most interesting experiences and the last four years since she came back to London to work as a conference producer.

The second speaker was Janet, who presented her No. 2 speech (the main purpose of which is to organise your speech) entitled “The Circle”. She told us about the circle of violence in personal relationships which has three stages: first stage is the honeymoon; the second stage is tension; and the third stage is the explosion.

The third speaker this evening was Ahmed with his speech No. 2 speech entitled “The Mayor of London Election”. He’d chosen a very timely topic and provided to the audience a comprehensive speech about the creation of the Mayor’s role in London, its responsibilities and the forthcoming elections on May 4th.

The last speaker this evening was Jo, who presented her No. 3 speech (the objective of which is to get to the point) entitled “Dad versus Technology”. She organised the speech as a three-round contest between her smart dad and his smart phone. Dad won the first round called “Purchasing”, the second round called “Set-up” was basically a draw, but the smart phone won the third round entitled “Three months later”. As a result, a rematch is needed and so only time will tell who wins: dad or technology!

Speech evaluations

After the break we had the evaluations part of the meeting which related to the Toastmasters Competent Leadership Programme. Regularly providing evaluations for other speakers helps improve your own speaking skills dramatically and provides constructive tips about good practice in delivering speeches.

Joe gave an evaluation of Carrie’s Ice Breaker speech. He commended Carrie’s confidence on the stage, her very visual language and the fact that the audience could see her life as a timeline. The recommendation was that Carrie could insert more drama into the speech.

Swarajit evaluated Janet’s No. 2 speech. He commented that Janet had definitely met the speech objectives and praised her use of a vivid opening, supported by a chronological story and good transitions between the stages. Swarajit recommended that Janet work on improving her body language and voice projection.

Elena evaluated Ahmed’s No. 2 speech. She praised the structure of the speech, his announcement of what the speech would be about in the beginning, the use of statistics, and suggested vocal variety as an area for further improvement for Ahmed.

Nazia gave an evaluation of Jo’s No. 3 speech. She commented that Jo achieved the speech objectives very well by using the innovative technique of constructing her speech as a boxing match-style running commentary, as well as starting with an enthusiastic opening: “Let’s get this contest started!” Nazia would have liked to have seen a stronger conclusion to the speech from Jo.

Table Topics

The Table Topics part of the meeting is where members “think on their feet” and speak for a minute or so about a topic they’ve just been given.

Mike, a very experienced Toastmaster and guest performed as the Topics Master this evening. He chose quite challenging and interesting questions:

  • The government has made a new law that bans the job that you are doing now. They have given you the money to re-train and you now have to do a new job that is totally different from what you have done before. What will it be?
  • You are on stage on X-Factor and have been granted any special power that you want. What would you do?
  • Superman’s role is vacant and you have got the job. What would you like to do in London that would give you immense pleasure and make citizens’ lives happier?
  • You could be the queen of any country in Europe. Which country would you choose and why?
  • You have been granted superhuman physical power and can apply it to any activity at the Olympic Games and you will win. Which game would that be and why?
  • What have you done in your life that, five seconds after you’d done it, you wished you hadn’t?

One member and five new guests took part and were evaluated by the Table Topics evaluator this evening Henry. He commended using the word of the day “pernicious” by participants, real engagement with the audience, laughing and smiling, using repetition and humour. The useful recommendations were: to try to speak a bit longer, make more use of pauses and to be aware of one’s body language.

The General Evaluator for this evening was Khandee, a guest from Harrovian Speakers in Stanmore, who evaluated all the meeting participants that were yet to be evaluated. In the beginning he noted that our new venue was much better than others he’d seen and suggested several useful recommendations like stamping in acknowledgement whenever the audience hears the word of the day.

Awards

Closing the meeting, Glen gave out the awards based on the votes cast during the evening and one President’s discretional award.

The Best Evaluator award went to Henry for his brilliant Table Topics evaluation, the Best Table Topics speaker award went to guest Chris for his fantastic performance, and the highly coveted Best Speaker award went to a relatively new member Janet for her very touching speech. The President’s discretional award went to Sye Yuet for performing her first ever role – as Timekeeper – so effectively.

The certificate for successfully completing her Icebreaker speech – an important landmark for any Toastmaster– went to Carrie.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is on Monday 30thApril 2012, upstairs at The Clerk and Well Pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX.

London contest finals and workshops!

On Saturday 21st there is a full day of workshops plus the Division B finals of the International Speech and Evaluation contests. Find out more and book your ticket here.

Meeting Report for 26 March 2012

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Written by Jo

Introduction

The meeting was opened by Acting Club President Femi who welcomed new and returning guests as well as regular and new members. He described the growth of Toastmasters from one club to a worldwide organisation, providing a safe and friendly environment for practising public speaking and developing leadership skills.

Making his debut as Toastmaster at the meeting was Joe, who outlined the structure of the meeting and encouraged guests and members to applaud all the participants as enthusiastically as possible to create positive energy. Joe was assisted by the Timekeeper, Jo, and Grammarian, Swarajit, who invited speakers to use the word of the day ‘audacious’ in their presentations.

Prepared speeches

The evening began with an Ice Breaker from Wayne. His speech was entitled “Coming back to London” and in it he told us about some of the key memories from his childhood and teen years, including how he developed a love of travel, what he realised while travelling and how happy he is to have now returned to London.

The second speaker this evening was Joyanta with his No. 7 speech (which focuses on researching a topic) entitled “The 6 killer apps for success”. In an historical speech, inspired by a book he’d read, Joyanta discussed the growth of Western European empires over recent centuries and explained that this was due to competition, science, democracy, medicine, consumerism and the Protestant work ethic.

The last speaker of the evening was Ratan, who presented his contest-winning speech entitled “Beyond the call of duty”. He outlined a transformation in the way he viewed some of his accounting clients after receiving some unexpected hospitality in South Africa. He also discussed how others – both famous and not – go beyond the call of duty and how this changes our lives.

Speech evaluations

After a short break, it was time to listen to the speeches from the first half being evaluated by other members of the club, in which we learn what the speakers did well and how they could improve in future.

Henry gave an evaluation of Wayne’s Ice Breaker speech in which he praised Wayne’s calmness, presence and body language. He spoke about Wayne’s interesting choice of language to add more background e.g. he was ‘compelled’ to go to school. The main recommendation was to consider the structure of his speech and add a conclusion or closing line.

Hari’s evaluation of Joyanta’s No. 7 speech commended his relaxed style and likened it to talking to Joyanta in his living room. Again, the main recommendation was around structure – Hari felt that covering all six ‘apps’ was too detailed for the time available and he suggested he might have had a stronger structure by outlining all six but covering just three in detail.

Femi evaluated Ratan’s contest speech and noted how well Ratan used the stage along with appropriate gestures throughout. As Ratan will be presenting the speech at the area final on Thursday, Femi recommended that he be very clear with his diction and encouraged him to feel confident with his well-written, well-rehearsed speech.

Table Topics

Table Topics are an opportunity for both members and guests to improve their ability to speak ‘off the cuff’ by talking for one to two minutes on a topic they’ve been given only moments earlier.

Ahmed performed as the Topics Master this evening; his theme for the evening was the Olympics and he invited speakers to discuss a variety of topics ranging from which Olympic event they would like to participate in, to their favourite Olympic memories and why the sack race should be an Olympic event.

Both members and guests took part and were evaluated by the Table Topics evaluator this evening, Adam. He commended participants for their confidence, gestures, structure and language. His recommendations were to move around the stage more and to try to get one idea and run with it rather than attempt to cram every thought into the speech. He also noted that there was some hand clasping amongst participants.

Rounding off the meeting, Swarajit returned to review the participants’ grammar and use of the word of the day. Nigel, the General Evaluator for this evening from our sister club Holborn Speakers confessed this was his first time attending a meeting at a club other than his own in 12 years of Toastmasters, before evaluating all the meeting participants who were yet to be evaluated and highlighting how much progress Bloomsbury Speakers has made since its inception.

Awards

Closing proceedings, Femi gave out the awards based on the votes cast during the evening and one President’s discretional award.

Wayne received a certificate for successfully completing his Ice Breaker speech – an important first step in his Toastmasters career. The Best Evaluator award went to Henry for his evaluation of Wayne’s Icebreaker, the Best Table Topics speaker award went to guest Pamela for her explanation of why we should all use bicycles to get to the Olympics. The President’s discretional award went to Swarajit for the firm delivery of his Grammarian role.

Next meeting – New venue!!!

Our next meeting is on Monday 16th April upstairs at The Clerk and Well Pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX. This is a new venue – directly opposite our old venue at The Real Man Pizza restaurant. Please also note that the date is the third Monday in April, not the usual second Monday, due to the Easter break.

Contest Report for 12 March 2012

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This meeting we saw club members competing against each other in two very special events – the International Speech Contest and the Evaluation Contest.

Club president Glen Long opened the meeting by welcoming new guests and members, and likened the contests to the joining of two great traditions from Ancient Rome – oratory and gladiatorial combat – and reassured the audience that contestants would be battling with only “words” and not “swords”.

After wishing all the contestants good luck, Glen handed over proceedings to the first contest chair – Aaron Wood from Covent Garden Speakers and Early Bird Speakers.

International Speech Contest

Aaron gave an overview of the format for the International Speech contest and invited audience members to do their own judging (just for fun!) using the criteria printed on the evening’s agenda.

The first speaker was Kate with a speech entitled “Bicycle For Life”. As a keen cyclist Kate told us in a very pragmatic and often amusing speech about her various attempts to thwart London’s bike thieves and included three tips for maintaining a bike that no-one wants to steal!

The second speaker was Neil with his speech “Riches, Rags and Waking Up”. In an inspiring speech Neil told the story of a man focussed on material goals who was given a wake-up call by a visit to Cambodia where he saw children lacking even basic essentials like clean drinking water.

The third speaker was Joyanta with a speech entitled “The Perfect Product”. He asked the audience to suggest their own perfect products and the iPhone and iPod were inevitably among the responses. But Joyanta suggested the perfect product was not something that needed to be changed and improved every year, but instead something that stayed exactly the same – something with timeless appeal. His perfect product was Coca Cola!

The fourth speaker was Swarajit with “Falling Differently”, a speech about some of history’s greatest thinkers. Over the course of a very interesting and educational speech Swarajit covered figures such as Aristotle, Galileo and Einstein. Using clever props and a passionate style Swarajit was able to explain quite complex concepts in a very engaging way.

The fifth speaker Ratan then gave his speech “Beyond The Call Of Duty”. He started by telling us he was an accountant and asked us not to hold it against him! Then he told us the story of how a holiday in South Africa and a visit to a budget B&B whose owners went “beyond the call of duty” inspired him to give a “Rolls Royce” service to his own budget clients – with great results.

The final speaker was Hari with a speech entitled “Two Wheels, a Map and a Goal”. In an interesting and often humorous speech, Hari told us about his adventure of cycling from London to Paris and how he found himself leading a group of mixed-ability strangers from England to France with the “help” of some wholly inadequate maps. By the end he felt he’d experienced first-hand the old maxim about life being about the journey not the destination.

After the final speaker had stepped down, Aaron thanked all the contestants and gave the judges a couple of minutes to determine their personal ranking for the six speakers.

Evaluation Contest

After the break it was Nazia Soon’s turn as contest chair and she introduced the format of the evaluation contest, where five contestants would have just five minutes to prepare a spoken evaluation of one speech – from a mystery guest speaker.

The guest speaker was soon revealed to be Saj from Holborn Speakers who delivered a rich and nuanced speech entitled “Regret” which told the epic tale of Hannibal’s lifelong battle against the Romans. Saj used this demonstration of the power of story as a launching pad to invite all Toastmasters present to use their skills as a force for good.

Having scribbled furiously during Saj’s speech the five contestants were led away by Henry the contest’s Sergeant at Arms and given just five minutes to write up their notes. While they did this Nazia ran a short impromptu speech session for those remaining in the room.

When the time was up, the evaluators then appeared one after the other to deliver their reports about Saj’s speech. In order they were: Elena, Neil, Glen, Ratan and Hari.

The Results

After another round of table topics to allow the judges time to complete their final deliberations, the Chief Judge Alan Mountain from Holborn Speakers took the stage to announce the results.

In the International Speech Contest, first place went to Ratan, second to Kate and third to Swarajit.

In the Evaluation Contest, first place went to Glen, second to Hari and third to Neil.

Wrapping up the meeting as president, Glen thanked everyone who had helped make the contest a success including all those members of other clubs who’d agreed to be judges and counters and particularly Femi Asaolu the VP of Education for pulling it all together.

Area 34 Final – 29th March 2012

The winners of the two contests will compete against the winners from other clubs in the Area 34 final hosted by TubeTalk on Thursday 29th March 2012 at:

TubeTalk
10th floor meeting room
London Underground
55 Broadway
London SW1H 0BD

Note: The venue is above St James’ Park underground station – use the Broadway exit.

Please arrive at 6.30pm for 7pm start. Finish around 9pm.

IMPORTANT: Please email TubeTalk President John Nyaruwa at John.Nyaruwa@tube.tfl.gov.uk by 27th March if you want to attend as security passes need to be prepared in advance.

Next Meeting – 26th March 2012

Our next meeting is on Monday 26th March at The Real Man Pizza Company, 91-95 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX.

See you there!

Meeting Report for 27 February 2012

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Written by Jo

Introduction

The meeting was opened by Club President Glen who welcomed new and returning guests as well as regular and new members. He described a typical Toastmasters meeting and assured the audience of a safe and friendly environment in the club for practising public speaking.

The Toastmaster of the meeting was our Membership and Mentoring VP, Hari. His theme for the evening was Lent and, as he introduced members up to the stage, he informed us what each member had decided to give up for Lent – although some members were not denying themselves anything! Hari was assisted by the Timekeeper, Ahmed, who was performing the role for the first time and Harkmaster, Kate, who gave us an enlightening summary of the different types of listening and encouraged us to participate in active listening for the duration of the meeting.

Prepared speeches

This evening we were fortunate enough to have two Ice Breakers.  The first was from Janet whose speech was entitled “525,600” Janet explained that this was the number of minutes in a year and told us about her experiences in 2004 which was the year her life took an unexpected turn with the arrival of her daughter.

The second Ice Breaker was from Eleanor, who presented her speech entitled “Life, Love and Freedom – My Family and Other Pets”. She very humorously talked about the pets she and her family had owned and related several anecdotes about the various animals.

The third speaker this evening was Joyanta with his No. 5 speech (which focuses on body language) entitled “In Start Up and Life You Need A Plan A, B and Z“. He told us about a recent book he had read which discussed the idea that everyone should have a Plan A – your current course of action – Plan B – a future planned course of action – and a Plan Z which can be implemented when all else fails.

The last speaker this evening was Joe, who presented his No. 7 speech (which focuses on researching a topic) entitled “Warming Up”. He informed and educated us about climate change including the main causes of global warming and what we, as responsible citizens, can do to help protect the Earth.

Speech evaluations

After the break we had the evaluations part of the meeting in which the speeches from the first half are critiqued by other members of the club for the benefit of both the speakers and the rest of the audience.

Adam gave an evaluation of Janet’s Ice Breaker speech in which he commended her use of the titular number and chronological structure to capture and hold the audience’s interest throughout. The main recommendation for Janet’s future speeches was to be conscious of her body language and avoid hand clasping.

Neil’s evaluation of Eleanor’s Ice Breaker commended Eleanor’s humorous language, speech structure and use of vocal variety, eye contact and body language.  He recommended that Eleanor could have had a louder and stronger opening line but was very appreciative of the advanced elements she’d used in her speech.

Elena evaluated Joyanta’s No. 5 speech and noted his relaxed posture and style. She praised Joyanta’s structure and clear conclusion and his variation of pace. Her recommendation was to have a stronger opening and to vary his gestures more.

Paula gave a very descriptive and comprehensive evaluation of Joe’s No. 7 speech. She commended Joe for leading us in without immediately revealing the topic and using multiple sources and facts but recommended that he try to reduce the number of filler words such as ‘uhm’ and work on the timing as there was so much information included that Joe had given the evening’s longest speech.

Table Topics

Table Topics enable members and guests to practice their impromptu speaking skills.

Henry performed as the Topics Master this evening; after explaining why the ability to speak for one or two minutes on an off the cuff subject could be a useful skill, he asked six participants to persuade the audience that what mattered most in life was one of: money, health, love, family, friends or passion.

Both members and guests took part and were evaluated by the Table Topics evaluator this evening, Swarajit. He commended participants for using their time to recap on the question and talk around the topic while waiting for inspiration, using anecdotes and finishing with strong conclusions.  His recommendations were to avoid filler words, be conscious about how you are using the stage and avoid hand clasping and excessive gesticulation.

Rounding off the meeting, Kate returned to test how well we had been listening and to reward those who correctly answered her questions with chocolate.  Jennifer, the General Evaluator for this evening and a frequent guest of the club evaluated all the meeting participants who were yet to be evaluated and highlighted how much she had enjoyed the meeting.

Awards

Closing proceedings, Glen gave out the awards based on the votes cast during the evening and one President’s discretional award.

Both Janet and Eleanor received certificates for successfully completing their Ice Breaker speeches and taking their first steps in their respective Toastmasters careers.  The Best Evaluator award went to Adam for his evaluation of Janet’s Icebreaker, the Best Table Topics speaker award went to Jo for her explanation of why it is passion that matters in life. The highly coveted Best Speaker award went to Janet for her very heartfelt speech and, finally, the President’s discretional award went to Ahmed for the confident delivery of his timekeeping duties despite being a very new member.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is on Monday 12th March at The Real Man Pizza Company, 91-95 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX.  This is our International Speech and Evaluation Contest meeting which promises to be an action packed evening!

Meeting Report for 13 February 2012

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Written by Elena (edited by Swarajit)

Introduction

This meeting was just a day before St. Valentine’s Day and the speeches were full of love too: a birthplace (India); children and a blonde-haired lady.

The meeting was opened by Club President Glen who welcomed new and returning guests as well as regular and new members. He described a typical Toastmasters meeting and assured the audience of a safe and friendly environment in the club for practising public speaking.

The Toastmaster of the meeting was one of our most experienced members and also the Club VP of Education Femi. As he introduced members up to the stage, he reminded the audience how many speeches have been given by each speaker and which roles in the club they performed. Femi was assisted by the Timekeeper, Paula, and Grammarian, Hari, who were performing their roles for the first time.

Prepared speeches

Since the beginning of this year six new members have joined our club, which is great news. This evening we had an Ice Breaker speech entitled “I Miss Those Days” from our new member Nimit. He told us about his hometown Kolkata (East India) and his warm childhood memories: about his house; climbing a tree, his neighbours and friends and his school days.

The second speaker was Elena, who presented her No. 3 speech (the main purpose of which is to get to the point) entitled “How to Get On with Children”. She described how to get on with children by emphasising three main points: kids have huge energy, a natural curiosity and the need for a feeling of safety.

The third speaker this evening was Neil with his No. 5 speech (which focuses on body language) entitled “$12,000 Gamble“. He told us how attending a business seminar allowed him to meet an amazing woman and take a risk of attending an expensive master class business programme that helped him improve his business.

The last speaker this evening was Swarajit, who presented his No. 6 speech (which focuses on vocal variety) entitled “If Newspapers Could Speak”. He imagined and demonstrated the sound of the voice of different newspapers: for instance broadsheet newspapers would have a highly educated and almost patronising voice, while tabloid red-top newspapers would have a drunken town crier’s voice. Swarajit also tried to interpret for us some newspapers’ headlines such as “Toy Boys Sex My Hubby and Me”, which often have their own rules for punctuation, grammar and style.

Speech evaluations

After the break we had the evaluations part of the meeting which is related to the Toastmaster’s Competent Leadership Programme where, through different roles, a speaker can develop their leadership skills.

Femi gave an evaluation of Nimit’s very informative Ice Breaker speech in his familiar, confident and encouraging style. He commended Nimit’s engagement with the audience through asking questions, as well as the chronological structure of his speech. The main recommendation for Nimit’s future speeches was to keep to no more than five points which can help the audience to follow a speech more easily.

Jo was performing the evaluator role for the first time and gave a studied and well-considered evaluation of Elena’s No. 3 speech. She commended Elena’s good three-point structuring of the speech and use of similes such as the comparison of children with a “nuclear power station”. Jo recommended that Elena use more body language in the future.

Joyanta evaluated Neil’s No. 5 speech and commended his very natural delivery style and vivid gestures and movements when Neil spoke about different characters. In Joyanta’s opinion, Neil could have improved the speech by making it more structured.

Kate gave a very descriptive and comprehensive evaluation of Swarajit’s No. 6 speech. She commended Swarajit’s use of humour and vocal variety when reading out sensationalist newspaper headlines, but recommended that he concentrate on holding eye contact with the audience.

Table Topics

The Table Topics part of the meeting is where members and guests are invited to think on their feet and speak for a minute or so on a topic they’ve only just been given.

Joe performed as the Topics Master this evening and chose quite challenging questions for the theme “On an interview”, such as: If you are an animal what would you be and why?; What super power would you have and how would you use it?; Is a Jaffa Cake a biscuit or cake?; What are the three things you would like to take to a desert island?; When you were young what did you want to be?; Which two people who would you invite to a dinner party?

Six members and one new guest took part and were evaluated by the Table Topics evaluator this evening, Nazia. She commended people using the technique of repeating the question as well as the “rule of three” to structure their impromptu speeches.

Finally, Hari presented a comprehensive Grammarian report and Connell, the General Evaluator for this evening and a guest from Northern Lights Speakers in Camden evaluated all the meeting participants who were yet to be evaluated and characterised our club as being very warm and welcoming. Connell’s recommendations useful for all speakers were: do not speak too fast and use more pauses; centre yourself on the stage.

Awards

Closing the meeting, Glen gave out the awards based on the votes cast during the evening and one President’s discretional award.

The Best Evaluator award went to Kate for her evaluation of Swarajit’s speech, the Best Table Topics speaker award went to Hari for his fantastic “Three Animals” topic, and the highly coveted Best Speaker award went to Neil for his excellent speech. The President’s discretional award went to Richard for his humorous table topic on exploiting the power of time travel.

The certificate for successfully completing Icebreaker speech – an important landmark for any Toastmaster – went to Nimit.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is on Monday 27th February at The Real Man Pizza Company, 91-95 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5BX.