Introduction
Club President Femi opened the meeting with a short discussion of the importance of constructive feedback, quoting his mother: “Telling the truth is important, but how you tell it is also key!”
He then handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Glen who opened proceedings by introducing the meeting’s theme – a “second bite of the cherry” – inspired by President Obama’s recent re-election in the States.
After explaining the basic format of the meeting – prepared speeches, evaluations, then table topics (or “practice, feedback and impromptu speaking”) – he announced a slight change to the normal programme. To replace a speaker who had had to drop out late in the day, brave President Femi had agreed to give a full-length speech with little preparation.
Glen then introduced the Timekeeper for the meeting Angela and Grammarian Paul, who introduced the word of the day – “gumption” – and also invited speakers to replace just one word or phrase in their speeches with a more ambitious alternative.
Before the first speaker on the agenda, Glen asked the audience for suggestions for Femi’s later impromptu speech – of the three ideas offered, Femi chose: “It is too early to be playing Christmas songs on the radio?”
Prepared Speeches
The first prepared speech was from brand new member Ed, who gave his Ice Breaker entitled “My Journey” in which he told us about a serious back injury sustained at university which led him to discover Alexander Technique and make a full recovery.
Mike’s No.5 speech (all about effective body language) called “Reflections from my rear view mirror” was a moving account of various key moments in his life – with various nods to James Bond, this being the 50th anniversary of the films.
In Jo’s number 8 speech “Keeping Stress at Bay” she used various visual aids to tell us about the ways she personally deals with stress – for instance the running shoes that help her de-stress through exercise.
In Femi’s impromptu speech he tackled the question of whether it was too soon for Christmas songs by exploring his own associations with Christmas – particularly fond memories of Christmases spent with his siblings growing up. For him it was never too soon to think about Christmas!
Evaluations
After the break, Hari was our first evaluator as he gave an assessment of Ed’s Ice Breaker speech. Hari was very impressed with Ed’s delivery without notes (certainly not expected for a first speech) but felt he could have made better eye contact with the audience.
Next, Steven evaluated Mike’s speech, commending him on a firm stance and generally very good body language but also felt some of the smaller gestures could have been made with more confidence.
Our third evaluator Renars gave his opinion of Jo’s speech. He said he was “captivated by the speech” and commended excellent body language. He made some recommendations about her use of visual aids, including using a bigger version of a key diagram.
Finally, Joe evaluated Femi’s extended impromptu speech. He started by reminding the audience of the level of difficulty that a 6-7 minute impromptu speech represents. He commended a very strong introduction and great body language but also recommended a tighter structure within the main body of the speech.
Following the evaluations, our Topicsmaster Carrie introduced her unashamedly populist theme of the X-Factor explaining that every year she starts off very unenthusiastic but by the end is hosting X-Factor parties. Her questions included:
- Is X-Factor ethical? From Miles’s point-of-view it certainly was not!
- If you were a judge which category would you want to mentor? Ben felt he would much rather manage a group than an individual.
- Is Simon Cowell hot? Paula managed to see both sides but confessed Simon was not her ideal man.
- Is X-Factor guilty of “dumbing down” society? Wayne felt strongly that it was.
The Topics Evaluator Henry did a great job of providing commendations and recommendations for each topics speaker but was unable to hide his own strong views about reality TV!
Grammarian Paul shared some tips for eliminating so-called “filler words” and gave some great examples where he felt speakers had used really interesting language where plainer alternatives were clearly available.
Visiting General Evaluator Emma gave a lively and insightful evaluation of the club as a whole and participants (such as evaluators) who’d not yet received an assessment and said that the meeting had been one of the most enjoyable she’d ever experienced.
Closing the meeting Femi gave out the awards;
- the President’s discretionary award went to Angela for her great job as Timekeeper
- Best Table Topics speaker went to Wayne for his “dumbing down” response
- Best Evaluator went to Henry for his topics evaluation
- Best Speaker went to Jo for her stress-related speech
Also Ed’s Ice Breaker speech was acknowledged with a certificate to mark this important first step.
Next meeting
Our next meeting is on Monday 26th November in our normal venue – The Clerk & Well, 156 Clerkenwell Road London, EC1R 5DU.
PLEASE NOTE: for both meetings in December we will temporarily change venue to The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant Clerkenwell Road, London, WC1X 0AE.
