Introductions
The club president Femi opened the meeting with an inspiring introduction which quoted famous US Senator Daniel Webster: “If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of communication, for by it I would soon regain all the rest”. Femi went on to recommend regular practice to really help you to “hone your confidence”.
Femi handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Joe, who described himself as the “orchestrator” of the meeting and introduced his theme, goodwill. He told a recent personal story of a time when he had saved a young child’s toy from the middle of a busy road and been labelled a “hero” by the child’s mother!
Barnaby, the Timekeeper for the evening, stressed the importance of speakers not going over their allotted time and gave the example that in a contest they would be disqualified for going more than 30 seconds past the red light.
Alex, the Grammarian, explained that she would be looking out for “nice uses of language” and also for “ums” and “ahhs”, recommending that speakers pause instead. She also introduced the word of the day “nebulous”, which means indistinct and vague.
Prepared Speeches
In his icebreaker speech “A Job for Life” James made an interesting comparison between job expectations now and in the past – 100 years ago everyone had a job for life. If your father was a coal miner, you would also be a coal miner. These days, he said, if you haven’t had three careers by 40, people might think you’re a little strange! He told us about his own career changes from a teacher of English as a foreign language, to a paralegal, to now pondering his next career move.
In a very humorous No. 4 speech entitled “Maid for the 21st Century” Carrie (who’s been a bridesmaid four times) told us why being a bridesmaid is not a dream role, why you should avoid it, and how to spot engagements before they happen so that you can “reposition” your friendships. Her frustration came from the trend that each hen ‘do’ had to be “more extravagant, more memorable, more raucous” than the last.
In another very humorous speech, this time a No. 8 from Adam, we were given his rather unique take on the Tube. According to Adam this is in fact an acronym for “Total Urban Battlefield Experience”. Each time you descend the escalator down into the tube, he warned us, you’re actually heading into war. He identified key aggressors on the battlefield – the “pole dancers”, newspaper readers and “make-up models” – and gave us tips for fighting back, including the use of an umbrella as a weapon.
The final speaker was experienced member Hari who delivered an advanced speech from the storytelling manual – “The Folk Tale”, whose objectives were as follows:
- To tell a folk tale that is entertaining and enjoyable for a specific age group.
- To use vivid imagery and voice to enhance the tale.
He chose to tell a story from Ancient Greece – Theseus and the Minotaur – using great vocal variety and rich body language to bring the story to life.
Evaluations
After the break each of the speakers was given a spoken evaluation by a fellow club member.
Ahmed evaluated James’s icebreaker speech and commended his strong opening, his sign-posted speech structure and good voice projection. He recommended calmer hand gestures and looking down at the floor less.
Henry opened his evaluation of Carrie’s speech about being a bridesmaid with a review of her objectives. He commended her use of rhetoric and also her “vivid” and “evocative” language. He recommended using more vocal variety and giving her jokes time to sink in.
First time evaluator Joowon reviewed Adam’s speech about the Tube. She commended the way he had grabbed the audience’s attention from the very start and his creative use of props to illustrate his points. She recommended he slowed down a little and shared his attention evenly among both sides of the audience.
Eugenia evaluated Hari’s advanced speech. She commended him on his good use of the stage and a setting a great example for less experienced speakers. She recommended sticking more closely to the project brief as she felt the Greek Legend was not strictly a folk tale.
Table Topics
The Table Topicsmaster, Glen, used a well-known Rudyard Kipling poem as the inspiration for his questions.The poem includes the lines:
I keep six honest serving men (they taught me all I knew);
Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who
He asked the topics volunteers to answer the following questions:
- WHAT do you know now that you wish you’d known a year ago?
- WHY do so many people have a fear of public speaking?
- WHEN did you last make a big decision that changed the direction of your life?
- HOW did you get what you wanted as a child?
Awards
Closing the meeting Femi handed out the awards based on votes from the audience:
- Best Evaluator award was shared between Jo and Henry
- Best Table Topic was won by visiting Toastmaster Kevon
- Best Speaker was won by Adam
James received an ice breaker ribbon to commemorate his first speech and the President’s discretionary award went to the Toastmaster Joe Lake.
Next meeting
Our next meeting is our special contest meeting on Monday 25th March – please note the change from our normal venue:
The Real Man Pizza Company, 91-95 Clerkenwell Road, London. (This is directly opposite our regular venue!)
Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.
