Hello and welcome to the October newsletter!
This month we have important updates on club area contests including how you can support our winners – Glen who won the Humorous Speech Contest and David who took the Table Topics Award – and I want to promote some workshop news.
But first, with membership having re-opened at the end of September, I want to welcome five brand new members: Alex, Bronia, Ed, Eugenia, Michael and Paul. We are delighted to have you in the fold and I’m particularly excited to see some of you already on this month’s agenda – I’m referring here to Bronia who is giving her ice-breaker speech this coming Monday, and Eugenia who will be giving on hers on the 22nd.
I also want to recognize Janet’s exploits at the TEDx Future of Work speech contest which took place at The London Chamber of Commerce on Wednesday 26th September. Janet delivered a three minute speech against a fairly tough field of ten other contestants and although she wasn’t one of the two winners, she was one of the two “highly commended” speakers who were asked to act as reserve speakers. Well done Janet!
(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?
We had two fascinating meetings in September: the highly entertaining club-level round of the Humorous Speech and the Table Topics contests and a regular club meeting which was exciting in its own right.
What’s planned for October?
October is brimming with four meetings – on the 8th, 15th, 22nd and 29th.
This is because beyond our two regular meetings Bloomsbury Speakers will also be hosting the area-level round of the Humorous Speech and the Table Topics contests! We will also be hosting an Evaluation Workshop meeting.
Regular Meeting – Monday 8th October
This is a regular meeting and while speaking slots are already booked up, you can put yourself down for a table topics slot.
Tip: Experienced functionaries to watch are: David Jones our General Evaluator from Holborn Speakers who was the winner of London Toastmasters Division B Table Topics Contest last year; Kaveh Pourvand, our guest Toastmaster for the meeting, also from Holborn and has already achieved his Competent Communication Award; and our own David Gwyer, an Advanced Toastmaster and winner of our own Table Topics contest last month.
Area Contest Meeting – Monday 15th October
This second meeting is not a regular meeting; instead it’s our Humorous Speech and Table Topics Area Contest night. This is when the winners of the club contests compete to decide who will represent our area at the Division level. In case you are not aware, there are four charter clubs in our area: Bloomsbury Speakers, Holborn Speakers (our sister club), Tube Talk and Law Speak. So this contest will, technically, be among four contestants in for contest.
The contest promises to be highly entertaining and enlightening, don’t miss it!. If anything, please come along to support Glen (for the Humorous Speech contest) and David (for the Table Topics) who will be representing us. Finally, if you would like to perform a functionary role at the meeting, please drop me a message at president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk and I’ll give you more details.
Regular Meeting – Monday 22nd October
This is a standard regular meeting which is also already full in terms of speeches but you can still put yourself down on the agenda either as an evaluator or as a table topics participant.
Tip: If you want to see exemplary Toastmaster role in action, then make sure you watch how Henry Playfoot, who will be our Toastmaster, runs the meeting. Glen is another person to watch as he gives his evaluation.
Evaluations Workshop Meeting – Monday 29th October
This is an enlightening, energetic and interactive presentation that is certain to improve the standard of YOUR evaluations.
The session will be run by Freddie Daniells, the present UK and Ireland Toastmasters International District Governor. If you’ve been to one of his Evaluation sessions before, you’ll know how good it is, so you’ll want to go again! If not, well, you have a treat in store!
More about the details of the workshop itself shortly, but if you would like to attend please email me at president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk so we can prepare for numbers.
What’s on the horizon?
We’ve got two meetings in November – on the 12th and 26th.
- Monday 12th November 2012 – Regular Meeting – Speech-wise, this first meeting is already booked up. However, there’s one ice-breaker slot for new joiners, one Evaluator slot and three table topics slots up for grabs. Finally, competent communicator achievers to watch out for are Glen (our Toastmaster for the night) and Kate (who will be performing an evaluator role).
- Monday 26th November 2012 – Regular meeting – There are plenty of roles still to be filled in this meeting including the Toastmaster, Timekeeper, three Evaluator slots, Topics Evaluator, etc. Don’t delay; book your slot now before they are gone! I recommend watching out for Hari who will be delivering an advanced speech on the night.
Want to improve your evaluations skills? Then Freddie Daniells’ Exceptional Evaluations Workshop is for you
Arguably the most important role within a Toastmasters meeting is the role of the evaluator. By encouraging and motivating the speaker we can pass on the tips they need to improve their speaking next time. However, it is also one of the most difficult roles to get right.
- Do you find it challenging to identify the key issues you need to comment on?
- Do you struggle to finish within time?
- Do you find it difficult if the speaker is more advanced than you are?
- Or do you simply want to find that extra polish that will help you in future contests?
No matter your level, this workshop is for you!
On Monday October 29th, Freddie Daniells will bring his highly interactive Exceptional Evaluations workshop to Bloomsbury Speakers. And by the end of the session, you will be able to:
- Pick the best content to include in your evaluations
- Structure your evaluations more effectively
- Make your points so that both the speaker and the audience get maximum benefit
Freddie Daniells is a member of Holborn Speakers (where I first joined Toastmasters six years ago; actually he was the president at the time and one of the members who inspired me to join Holborn Speakers) and Excalibur Speakers, London’s advanced Toastmasters Club. He is the present Toastmasters International District Governor for Great Britain and Ireland. Professionally, he coaches senior executives and professionals on how to improve their most critical presentations and public speeches.
He strongly believes that giving feedback is one of the most important life skills that you can learn and has embarked on a one man mission to raise the quality of evaluations across the country!
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 regular meetings are on Monday 8th October and Monday 22nd October. There are still evaluator roles and Table Topics slots to fill at these meetings.)
- Bloomsbury Speakers is hosting the Area Contest on Monday 15th October – best of luck to Glen and David who are representing us in the Honorourous Speech contest and the Table Topics Contest respectively. Let’s support them by attending and come along to enjoy the fun!
- Freddie Daniells, the UK and Ireland District Governor, is bringing his Evaluation Workshop to Bloomsbury Speakers on Monday 29th October. If you would like to come please email me so we can prepare for numbers – president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk
- Our meetings in November are on the 12th and the 26th.
