Hello and welcome to the January newsletter!
Happy New Year! I hope you’re looking forward to getting back into full swing with Toastmasters as much as I am, and it’s the perfect time to do so. Not only is January traditionally the time to re-evaluate your objectives and make a fresh start, but we’ve got a packed month of events to help you do exactly that, including a dinner social coming up at the end of this week – please come along if you can make it.
Bloomsbury Speakers’ committee has also been appraising the club’s goals, including overhauling our mentoring scheme as well as keeping track of our progress in the Distinguished Club Programme. Keep reading for all the details.
If you don’t have time to read the whole newsletter, you can skip to the bottom for a short summary of the main points.
What’s happened since the last newsletter?
As well as two busy meetings in December, including icebreakers from Nathaniel and Marte and a passionate account from Glen about his experience of speaking professionally, we also had a fun socialising with our fellow toastmasters at the Area 33 Christmas social. Check out the meeting reports for photos and recap.
Meanwhile, three more new members have joined the club: welcome to Michelle, Svetlana and Grace – we look forward to hearing your icebreaker speeches soon!
What’s planned for January?
Normal service resumes with our regular meetings on the second and fourth Mondays of the month, and a couple of bonus events to boot!
- Monday, 13th January – Regular Meeting – Our first meeting of 2014 has a packed agenda, but you can still book yourself in for a table topic on ClubPlan to guarantee a speaking opportunity.
- Friday, 17th January – ‘Clerk-bury’ Social – We’re going out for Friday night dinner and drinks with our friends from Clerkenwell Speakers – see below for the details.
- Monday, 27th January – Regular Meeting – At the time of writing, there are slots available for a Timekeeper for the meeting and Sergeant at Arms to welcome and introduce the guests. Again, book yourself in on ClubPlan.
- Wednesday, 29th January – ‘Belly Laugh’ Night – A night bursting with learning and comedy – further details below.
‘Clerk-bury’ New Year social
We’re joining our friends from Clerkenwell Speakers for an informal dinner social this Friday. It’ll be a great opportunity to catch up properly with your fellow Toastmasters after our first meeting of the year, and guests are welcome too, so get in touch if you’d like to attend!
Date: Friday, 17th January
Time: 7pm
Venue: Strada, 8-10 Exmouth Market, London, EC1R 4QR
Map: http://goo.gl/maps/tmsb5 (with directions from our regular meeting venue)
RSVP: president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk
Also, don’t miss out on the money-saving offers from the restaurant which are available online: http://www.stradaoffers.co.uk/exmouth-market.
Please respond by Tuesday if you’d like to come.
‘Belly Laugh’ night – Wednesday, 29th January
Last month’s newsletter mentioned a special event and workshop around the theme of humorous speaking. This is now confirmed as a ‘Belly Laugh’ night – an evening of humorous speeches and education we’re putting together in collaboration with Clerkenwell Speakers, Experience French and St. Paul’s Speakers clubs.
The night will include speeches from 2013 UK & Ireland humorous speech contest semi-finalist Stephen Edun, as well as finalist and runner-up Glen Savage, plus a workshop from 2011 champion Ola Aralepo – all introduced by 2013 finalist and Clerkenwell’s own President, Ayse Lowe.
Details are below, and the event promises to fill up fast, so act quickly if you want to attend!
Date: Wednesday, 29th January
Time: 6:45pm
Venue: The Loose Cannon, 13-16 Allhallows Lane (off Upper Thames Street), London, EC4R 3UE
Tickets: https://bellylaughnight2014.eventbrite.co.uk
Distinguished Club Programme (DCP) update
Toastmasters International provides a framework of objectives called the Distinguished Club Programme (DCP) that clubs should aim to achieve within the Toastmasters year, and awards recognition to those clubs who are successful. The goals include attracting a healthy intake of new members, making sure our committee members are trained in their roles and, most importantly, ensuring our members progress through their communication and leadership manuals.
Although we’ve just marked the start of a new calendar year, we’re actually half way through the Toastmasters year (which runs from July through to June) and I’m pleased to report that we’re already close to achieving seven of the ten goals in the DCP. The three goals we have left to achieve are all to do with members completing their communication awards, so if you’re close to finishing your Competent Communication manual, don’t hesitate in contacting your mentor and our VP Education Jo (education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk) to plan how to get through your remaining speeches in the next six months.
Working towards and achieving these goals is a mutually beneficial process for individual members and the club as a whole, as it produces the kind of environment that members want to remain part of because it helps them achieve their best. Success breeds success, so perhaps think about how you can help the club achieve its goals this year while achieving your own too.
Revamping our mentoring programme
As mentioned above, the Bloomsbury Speakers committee has been looking at the club’s mentoring process and how to improve it. Under the previous system, mentors were only allocated to members who specifically requested them and the numerous mentoring relationships were difficult for one person (our VP Membership & Mentoring) to keep track of. This meant that new members could occasionally slip under the radar and not make the most of their membership and the help available.
Rajeev, our current VP Membership & Mentoring who has overall responsibility for ensuring a positive experience for club members, will now allocate every new member to one of a select group of experienced members of the club who will mentor them through their first three speeches. After this, it will be down to the individual member to decide how best to continue their own development, whether that is with their allocated mentor, another member of the club or on their own.
If you have any questions about the mentoring programme, or would like to be a mentor yourself, feel free to contact Rajeev directly at mentoring@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.
International Women’s Day meeting – Monday, 10th March
Our VP Public Relations, Rufina, is organising a special themed meeting to mark International Women’s Day which is a global day celebrating the economic, political and social achievements of women – past, present and future. The day itself falls on 8th March, and we would like to join women all around the world in honouring the work of the Suffragettes, celebrating women’s successes and also reminding ourselves of the inequities that still need to be redressed by marking the occasion at our regular meeting on Monday, 10th March.
We are using this as an opportunity to get as many women in the club as possible to sign up for roles on this particular day. It is also meant to encourage and motivate women to not just attend regular meetings but to sign up for upcoming contests in the spring in which they have previously been greatly under-represented.
So, to all the female members of our club, please take part in this meeting in honour of yourselves by signing up on ClubPlan (and especially if you’d like to give a speech on the themes that are celebrated on International Women’s Day).
You can also expect to receive a more personal invitation from Rufina in the next week or so.
(P.S. Of course, our gentlemen members are welcome to take part too, but preferably in the evaluation roles.)
Tip of the Month: Join a public speaking ‘gym’
Gym membership soars in January as thousands resolve to exercise, improve their fitness and put their bad habits behind them. As we all know, exercise pays dividends only if done frequently and effectively – and public speaking is no different. Going for long periods without putting your public speaking skills into practice can mean losing the confidence you’ve built up over time, forgetting the tips you’ve learnt and reverting to undesirable habits like using filler words.
Toastmasters clubs provide the ‘gym equipment’ – speaking opportunities and evaluations – you need to exercise and tone your public speaking muscles safely and regularly, and the best way to do so is to make the most of every opportunity. This means setting out your goals for when you want to perform specific speeches from your manual and maximising your time in front of an audience by taking on functionary roles or table topics at every meeting in between.
Even if you’re not a member yet, you are of course welcome to visit Bloomsbury Speakers as a guest as much as you want, where you’ll have the opportunity to introduce yourself to the club and perhaps try some impromptu speaking. So join a public speaking ‘gym’ this year, maximise your membership and reap the benefits of regular exercise – and unlike an ordinary gym, you can actually improve just by watching others. If that’s not a reason to keep coming, I don’t know what is!
That’s all for now. See you at a meeting soon!
Swarajit Das
President
Bloomsbury Speakers
Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know
- Welcome to our newest members, Michelle, Svetlana and Grace. We look forward to hearing their Icebreaker speeches!
- Our regular meetings in January are on the 13th and 27th, back at our regular venue. See ClubPlan for the available roles and speaking slots.
- Join us for a ‘Clerk-bury’ New Year social from 7pm on Friday, 17th January at Strada, Exmouth Market. Members and guests are equally welcome, so RSVP to president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.
- Book your place on our ‘Belly Laugh’ night on Wednesday, 29th January at The Loose Cannon to hear from some of the best humorous speakers in the division. Tickets are available from https://bellylaughnight2014.eventbrite.co.uk.
- International Women’s Day takes place in March and we’re planning a special themed meeting on 10th March to mark the occasion. Contact education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk or book yourself in on ClubPlan to take part.
