(Please note: this was a special “Speakathon” meeting with extra prepared speeches to help members progress more quickly through the 10 speeches in the Competent Communication programme).
Introductions
The club president Femi opened the meeting by reminding us of the importance of cheering for all the speakers throughout the evening. He explained that clapping would keep the energy in the room high and help the speakers feel supported. He then recited an inspiring poem entitled ‘Clap for me’.
Femi handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Swarajit, who began by explaining the theme of the evening, which was motivated by the evening’s unusual 7-speech agenda.
This led Swarajit to the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride and he asked each of the speakers and evaluators: “Which of the seven deadly sins are you most guilty of and why? And which of the seven deadly sins are others around you most guilty of and why?”
Prepared Speeches – Part 1
Gemma gave her number 3 speech called ‘A Brief History of Tea’ where she shared her love of tea and her fascination of how it has changed the world. She enthusiastically explained how both China and England went through massive transformations for the sake of a nice cuppa. Britain lost one of its colonies as a direct link to the tea industry, and China began to import opium instead of the less mind-altering tea leaf.
In his speech entitled “Economic Growth”, Barnaby sought to explain this concept and eloquently described the changes that happened in the world with the start of the industrial revolution and the separation of labour. Using quotes from the great philosopher Adam Smith, he described why we are able to produce more than we ever had before and asked whether this means we should?
Damien, who started by admitting he can eat several McDonalds chicken nugget meals in one sitting, gave his No. 3 speech entitled INXS. It was a speech about gluttony, and he questioned whether it is as bad as society believes. He looked back in history at some of the most gluttonous figures and described their indulgent eating habits. Damian finished his speech with a quote from the most loved and admired pig in the world: Miss Piggy.
In her motivating No. 5 speech (focussed on good use of body language) Bronia gave us her human rights pitch to a group of 16 year old girls. She recreated the scene by speaking to the audience as if they were the target audience, and revealed the detailed actions that these girls could take in order to gain a better understanding of human rights. The girls were asked to put themselves in the position of being victims of humanitarian violations, and then Bronia challenged them to resolve the issues.
Evaluations – Part 1
After a short break, each speaker was given a spoken evaluation by a fellow club member.
Henry evaluated Gemma’s No. 3 speech and commended her beaming smile and dramatic opening. He particularly liked the “juxtaposition” of big concepts and the human experience of tea drinking. However, he felt that the “vast” amount of information may have hindered the delivery and recommended trying to not to cover so much ground in one speech in future.
Glen evaluated Barnaby’s speech by commending him on this confidence and fluidity. He recommended that Barnaby include less information and focus on a smaller number of key points to engage the audience more. He used the analogy of presenting a short speech as a light meal, with a starter, main and dessert, rather than a single, heavy main course.
Rajeev began his evaluation of Damian’s speech by saying how much he’d enjoyed it, particularly his choice of quotes from Miss Piggy! He had also enjoyed the calm tone and professional “radio” voice. He commended the structure but suggested that Damian depend on his notes less as this would allow him to engage with the audience more.
Ahmed gave a very thorough evaluation of Bronia’s No. 5 speech, looking at stance, hand movements, eye contact, and facial expressions. He commended her strong stance which lent the speech gravitas and her “measured” eye contact which helped to engage the audience very effectively. He highlighted a small amount of “hand clasping” and suggested that this was something she might work on in future speeches.
Prepared Speeches – Part 2
Eugenia’s humorous speech entitled ‘Natural’ which opened our eyes to the misuse of this often ambiguous word. Delving into what companies really mean by “GMO Free” and “Organic”, she made us laugh by showing the lack of validity behind many of these claims. She closed her speech by pointing out that some arguably “unnatural” tasks that we perform daily are in fact more aligned with nature than their “natural” counterparts.
In her No. 6 speech called ‘Imagine’ Paula unravelled why her hero Haile Gebrselassie was a true inspiration. Paula spoke of Haile’s efforts to overcome obstacles that stood in his way as a child in Ethiopia. She told the inspiring story of Haile “stealing” his father’s radio to listen to the dramatic race of a fellow Ethiopian, which gave Haile the confidence to believe he too could become an Olympic champion.
The last speaker of the night was Joe who gave his advanced story telling speech entitled “The Boy’s Search for Treasure”, which was a retelling of the story The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Joe recounted a tale of a boy who was too trusting of others and lost his fortune only to regain a different type of treasure through experiencing the world and finding love. In his travels he met different types of people and overcame many challenges, each teaching him something of value.
Evaluations – Part 2
After another short break, the speakers from Part 2 were also evaluated by one of their fellow club members.
Renars evaluated Eugenia speech in his own unique style, as he commended the speaker for her use of humour and body language. He recommended that she speak louder in future so that the audience in the back of the room could hear her as clearly as the front.
Elena evaluated Paula’s speech about the Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie. She commended Paula’s great storytelling and passionate delivery and recommended that she moved the lectern to one side to allow herself to use more of the stage during the her speech.
The final evaluator of the evening was Nazia who evaluated Joe’s advanced speech. Nazia applauded Joe’s storytelling and said that she had thoroughly enjoyed his tale. She recommended that he keep a tighter grip on time (since Joe had been forced to cut his speech short) as it was a shame the audience did not get to hear its ending.
Awards
Closing the meeting Femi handed out the awards based on votes from the audience:
The awards from Part 1 of the meeting were as follows:
- Best evaluator award was given to Glen for his evaluation of Barnaby’s speech
- Best speaker went to Bronia for her speech to 16-year old girls on human rights campaigning
The awards from Part 2 of the meeting:
- Best evaluator award was given to Renars for his evaluation of Eugenia’s speech
- Best speaker to Paula for her inspiring speech about Haile Gebrselassie
Next meeting
Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 13th May 2013 upstairs at The Clerk & Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.
Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.
Meeting report written by Janet.
