Introduction
Hello and welcome to the December newsletter – New Members, Goals, Recent News, and Club Social!
First things first, a very warm welcome to Punam, Barnaby and Damien who joined us in late October/November just before membership was frozen.
We are delighted to have you in the fold and I’m particularly excited to see that Damien and Barnaby have already delivered their maiden speeches. I’m also pleased that Punam is on the agenda to deliver hers at our first meeting in January.
Membership freeze
To help manage demand for speaking slots, we are sticking to our plan to keep club membership frozen until the end of January.
In the meantime, we continue to welcome guests to our meetings, and for those who are eager to join, you may put yourself on the waiting list.
Set Your Goals Now
With Christmas just a couple of weeks away, if you are like me, you must be busy sorting out your shopping by now. If not, now might be the time before it gets really crowded in the shops.
This is also an ideal time to set your Toastmasters goals for next year. Don’t wait till the New Year before you start thinking about them. Have them written down before January 1st so that you can start 2013 with a bang! With a sense of renewed purpose and direction!
What can your goal(s) be if you are a new member who has perhaps delivered one or two speeches? It can simply be to reach speech project five by June. That way, you are halfway towards achieving your Competent Communication award before you know it!
And if you are an experienced member who has given five or six speeches already, achieving your Competent Communicator award by June could be your goal.
When you set those goals, don’t forget to write down some functionary speaking goals too. If for instance, you want to develop the skill for running a meeting or an event, you could target performing the Topics Master and the Toastmaster roles twice before the summer. However, if your aim is to become proficient at delivering impromptu speeches, then why not plan to do as many as possible evaluator, grammarian, or timekeeper roles by June?
With specific and written goals like these, you can truly make the most of Toastmasters and realize or get closer to realizing your desire to become competent and comfortable speaking before an audience in 2013.
Recent news
Phew! What a busy time we’ve had in these last few months of 2012 at Bloomsbury speakers!
- In October alone, we had four meetings: two of which were well attended regular meetings; the third was the area contest meeting when Bloomsbury Speakers hosted the competition for the club winners of the humorous and topics contest; and the fourth was the highly educational Evaluation Workshop run by the Holborn Speakers past president and 2011 UK and Ireland Evaluation Contest Champion Chris Boden.
- In November, we held three lively regular meetings (instead of the usual two) to meet growing demand for speaking slots after admitting 9 new members since October.
- In December, our meetings are taking place at the cozy backup venue The Apple Tree pub, 45 Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell WC1X 0AE. However, The Clerk and Well continues to be our home venue and we will return to it for our meetings in the New Year.
Next meetings
Our next meetings are:
- Monday 10th December 2012 – our last meeting of 2012! This has been themed a Christmassy meeting and members/guests are invited to wear Christmas-themed costumes and you are encouraged to bring some tinsel along. There will be a buffet provided at the end of the meeting although you will have to buy your own drinks. As for the agenda, it’s already packed but you can put yourself down to participate in the Table Topics. Book yourself a slot now on Clubplan. Reminder: this meeting takes place at our cozy backup venue The Apple Tree pub, 45 Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell WC1X 0AE.
- Monday 14th January 2013 – our very first meeting of 2012. Again, we have a full speaking bill, but we still need Evaluators and you can book a Topics slot too. And we’re back at the Clerk & Well.
- Monday 21st January 2013 – Yet another full speaking agenda here but as always there are Evaluators and Topics slots waiting to be filled.
- Monday 28th January 2013 – Our last meeting in January still needs a Topics Evaluator, speech evaluators and don’t forget to sign up for Table Topics.
Club Social – Friday 14th December – Dinner!
Our past VPM (Vice President of Membership) Hari Kalymnios is organizing an evening social – dinner at the Suda Thai Café Restaurant in Covent Garden – on Friday 14th December at 7pm.
Please email Femi at president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk by Thursday 13th December if you’d like to attend. Places are limited!
As part of the plan, some of us will be going for a drink beforehand in the Long Acre. If you want to come, please say so when you write me.
See you there.
This is it – the end of this month’s newsletter! Have a superb, fun-filled Christmas holiday and a prosperous New Year and I look forward to seeing you at our Christmassy meeting this Monday or a meeting early in 2013.
Best wishes,
Femi Asaolu
President
president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk
Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know
- Our Christmassy and last meeting of the year meeting is on Monday 10th December 2012. Please come in your Santa hats/costumes and bring some tinsel.
- Our first meetings in the New Year are on Monday 14th January 2013, Monday 21st January 2013 and Monday 28th January 2013. There are still evaluator roles and/or Table Topics slots to fill at these meetings.
- In December, our meetings are taking place at the cozy backup venue The Apple Tree pub, 45 Mount Pleasant, Clerkenwell WC1X 0AE. However, The Clerk and Well continues to be our home venue and we would return to it for our meetings in the New Year.
- Our past VPM (Vice President of Membership) Hari Kalymnios is organizing an evening social – dinner at the Suda Thai Café Restaurant in Covent Garden – on Friday 14th December at 7pm. Please email Femi at president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk by Thursday 13th December if you’d like to attend. Places are limited!
- Finally, Remember to set and write down your Toastmasters goals now for 2013. Don’t wait until New Years Day – do it today!
