Introductions
The meeting began with the Club President Femi sharing words of inspiration with his fellow Toastmasters and guests. Femi told us about a recent presentation that he gave at work which went very smoothly. After the presentation, one of his colleagues complemented his presentation style and told him that he was a natural – but Femi knew that there is no such thing as a natural public speaker. Anyone with the right motivation and the necessary dedication has the power to speak and influence an audience. It doesn’t take ‘charisma’ says Femi, it takes commitment.
Femi handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Henry, who explained why he had chosen the theme of “Humour” for the meeting. He said he believes that humour is the glue that holds us together in times of strife. It has the ability to lift a frown and to keep people looking at the lighter side of life. In fact, he joked that the only reason that his partner has stayed in their relationship, is because she finds him very droll.
The Timekeeper Rufina explained the duties of her role and how the meeting would be run with reference to time allowances to ensure that the meeting did not overrun.
Visiting Grammarian Stella shared the word of the day ‘embroider’. She explained its dual meaning – to decorate with sewing or to embellish a point – and revealed why she chose the word. She encouraged all speakers to use colourful language and also to be careful how many “Ahs” and “Ums” crept into their speaking.
Prepared Speeches
Helen presented her Icebreaker speech entitled ‘The Essence of an Icebreaker’. It was filled with Helen’s personal deliberations as to what to include in her speech. She pondered sharing that she is a dancer and loves all forms of dance, or possibly divulging that she is a software expert that has been writing code since the age of 6. By the end Helen had covered all these topics and began the speech at the very end with an introduction of herself!
Ben delivered his No. 2 speech entitled “Roller Coasters”. He delved into the topic with a brief history of roller coasters and explained their evolution. He then gave the audience 3 reasons why he loved to ride roller coasters, each one including a lesson which the audience could take away. His points were that roller coasters can put your real-life issues into perspective, enhance your creativity and give you a new perspective on life.
Samuel delivered his 3rd speech at Toastmasters entitled “Dreams”. He educated the audience about how best to control their dreams in order to avoid having disturbing nightmares. He reminded us to relax before bedtime, taught us to roll our eyes open slowly to wake up from a bad dream, and told us about a particular herb that can be found in his birthplace of Malawi which promotes sleep. He closed his speech by asking the audience to shut their eyes and dream that he had just delivered an excellent speech!
Finally we had an advanced speech given by Mike entitled ‘The Changing Energy Market’. The objective of the speech project was to role-play that he was chairing a meeting at work and needed to persuade the audience, his colleagues, to support his efforts to change the government’s way of thinking. He explained why the energy market should not be simplified and then held a question and answer session at the end of the speech.
Evaluations
Each speaker was given an evaluation by a fellow club member.
Jo gave a thorough evaluation of Helen’s ice breaker speech. She began by ‘apologising’ to the audience for Helen’s speech being well above the normal standard and told the room not to let her speech set a new bar for speech quality. She recommended that perhaps Helen could have moved around the stage more but aside from that minor detail, felt she had given a cracking talk to begin her Toastmaster’s career.
Janet evaluated Ben’s No. 2 speech. She commended Ben on his well-organised structure and shared how impressed she was by the profound lessons that came out of each of his rational points on roller coaster riding. She suggested that he varied his voice more often and used more of the space around him. In general Janet felt that the speech was passionate and met all of his objectives.
Ahmed was very impressed with Samuel’s speech on dreams. He felt that the speech was creative and well thought through. Ahmed told Samuel that he spoke confidently and looked very relaxed on stage but he felt that a bit more structure may have helped the audience follow with more ease.
Finally Mike’s speech was evaluated by Joe who felt that Mike’s speech was full of confidence and distinction. He also felt that Mike was engaging and enjoyed the interaction with the audience. He recommended that Mike structure his speech differently in order to bring more clarity to the audience. He commended Mike on his Q&A session and thanked him for a unique speech.
Table Topics – Impromptu Speaking
The Table Topics were led by Renars who adopted Henry’s theme for the evening and had devised topics that were about Humour. Questions to participants – who were given only a few seconds to consider their answers – included:
- What is the funniest thing that has happened to you recently?
- Who is the funniest person in the world in your opinion?
- What’s the funniest date you have ever been on?
- Tell us a joke or funny story.
- What’s the worst situation to make a joke?
Glen effortlessly gave an evaluation of all the table topic participants. He summed up each person’s commendable attributes and followed by a helpful recommendation. Throughout his evaluation he showed commitment and charisma.
Rufina and Stella helped Henry close the evening by giving their reports on time and language respectively. Stella was pleased with some of the language used by participants but felt that more effort could have been made on using the Word of the Day.
General Evaluator Alexis summed up the evening by giving an evaluation of all those who had not yet been evaluated. Overall she felt that the club did a fantastic job and gave a charming and insightful synopsis of the various parts of the evening.
Awards
Closing the meeting Femi handed out the awards based on votes from the audience:
- Best Table Topics was a tie between: Hugh and Saija
- Best Evaluator award was given to Glen for his Table Topics evaluation
- Best speech was Helen for her Ice Breaker
Next meeting
The next regular meeting on Monday, June 10th downstairs at The Real Man Pizza Company, 91-95 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5BX. Please note the change of venue!
Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.
Meeting report written by Janet.
