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!
