Written by Ash
Introductions
Nerves were running high at the first meeting of the year. The 5-week break had clearly had an impact on even the most competent of speakers; a reminder to us all that it takes regular practice to build confidence and we are all here to improve together, from guest to president.
Our president, Swarajit, felt the pressure in his introduction but soon got into the swing of things using Michael Bay’s recent meltdown to highlight that even those in the public eye could benefit from Toastmasters, and thinking on your feet is a skill that can be honed by mastering the Table Topics.
Next up, our Toastmaster Joe introduced the fitting theme for the meeting: “2014 – What are We Looking Forward to?”
He then introduced two of the functionaries who would help him run the meeting:
- Marte – made her debut as timekeeper
- Peter – carried out his duties as Grammarian assiduously (“assiduous” being the Word of the Day).
Prepared speeches
One would think the Ice Breaker, a member’s first introduction to public speaking, would be a daunting task but not so for Svetlana; rather than rush from the stage she was brought to a halt by the gavel, not once but twice! During her talk we learnt that Svetlana speaks 3 languages, has a fictional neighbor (Borat) and sang daily with the Russian babushkas – an interesting life she leads.
Our second talk was by Samuel entitled “The Smoking Hot Topic”. As a former smoker of 10 years, Sam persuaded us using dry humour and visually descriptive language that it sometimes takes an arrogant friend and tough love to get the message across.
Hari was up next with his advanced speech entitled “Confinement”. It turns out Hari hasn’t done porridge but he did eat a lot of it on a 10 day meditation retreat in Hereford. Solitude, lack of possessions, lack of communication, and meditation from 4.30am doesn’t sound like my idea of fun but for Hari it proved to be truly rewarding. Lucky for us he once again found his voice.
Evaluations
Evaluating Svetlana, Ahmed announced it was the first time he had heard the gavel twice and could have happily listened to more of what he found to be a sincere and smiley speech. He felt that eye contact with the audience could be worked on for future speeches.
Nazia was impressed by Samuel’s handling of what some may perceive to be a controversial topic. Nazia was transported by Samuel’s visual references and found his dry humour worked well. Nadia would have liked Samuel to get more personal and tell us how he personally felt when trying to give up smoking.
Carrie found Hari was ‘on brand’ and gave a strong opening with great stage presence. Carrie would like to see Hari take himself further out of his comfort zone in future – less personal development messages and more flamboyance.
Table topics
Jo, our Topicsmaster for the evening, kicked off the Table Topics sessions for this year with a fitting New Year theme and there was no shortage volunteers:
- Guest Peter was asked what financial advice he would offer for 2014 and responded that in all honesty he was not the best person to ask! Having walked out of a job two years ago and just starting a new position that very day we might not follow your financial advice Peter but we certainly admire your gumption.
- Anthony was asked what he does to cope with stress. It turns out there is a lot to be said for poor customer service in Anthony’s world; having been without his mobile for 7 weeks he felt at ease and began to realise the future may not in fact be Orange.
- Grace was asked her views on diets and going to the gym. She has started Pilates but says she’s happiest playing her guitar, or at least she will be if she wins the bid on eBay.
- Michael was asked whether we should do what makes us happy or well-paid. He finished his talk without ever really answering the question, we can only assume this is because he admits he loves to procrastinate, so he is still thinking about it. Let’s hope his job running an NHS trust gives him both!
- Ash was asked about one of her most important relationships and spoke about her Mum. As her Mum cruised around the Caribbean over Christmas she didn’t get to speak to her for 5 weeks and found absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
- Blake philosophically tackled the question should we focus on our strengths in life or our weaknesses? To Blake our strengths may be seen as our weakest weaknesses! He summed it up nicely by pointing out if we can control our weaknesses imagine what we can do with our strengths.
- Faith was asked the apt question: what does spirituality mean to you? To Faith it is about a grounding, a source of happiness and joy and it’s even getting her out of bed earlier in the morning.
- Finally, our president Swarajit was asked whether it is better to love or to be loved? Swarajit, likened this to the popular question of whether it is better to give or to receive.
The session was wrapped up by another witty, skillful and award winning performance from Glen as Table Topics evaluator!
And the awards for…
Best Prepared Speech – Samuel
Best Evaluator – Glen
Best Table Topic – Peter
President’s Award – Peter (stand-in Grammarian)
Svetlana also received an Icebreaker ribbon for her maiden speech.
That’s it for now. See you all at the next meeting.
Save the dates…
Monday, 27 January – our next regular meeting at The Clerk and Well
Wednesday, 29 January – “Belly Laugh” night – humorous speaking workshop at The Loose Cannon, Allhallows Lane, EC4R 3UE; tickets available here: https://bellylaughnight2014.eventbrite.co.uk
Monday, 10th March – International Women’s Day themed meeting. Speaking slots for women only, open now on ClubPlan. Gentlemen welcome to evaluate.
