Written by Tracey
Introductions
Swarajit, current president of Bloomsbury Speakers, started the meeting by extolling the benefits of public speaking. He used the analogy of playing the piano to emphasise the importance of practising in front of others for maximum gain.
Swarajit then introduced the evening’s toastmaster, Ahmed. Ahmed introduced his role and explained the importance of supporting people entering the stage by clapping enthusiastically. He introduced his theme for the night which was “what is your ultimate vacation?” he provided a response for all speakers and functionaries on this theme.
Sarah fulfilled the time keeper role, explaining her responsibilities and the importance of completing speeches punctually. She demonstrated the use of the lights signalling the timings for each speaker.
Ahmed then introduced Renars, the grammarian for the evening. His word of the day was “anticipate”, which means to expect or wait on something to happen.
Prepared speeches
The first prepared speech was an icebreaker delivered by Emma entitled “3 Steps to Success: How Passion and Drive Got Me Here”. She illuminated us with her rags-to-riches tale from being a college dropout, claiming state benefits, to a media mogul managing her own radio show and DJing for prestigious companies like the BBC.
The second speaker, Egor, on his speech No. 2 entitled “Ethics for Dummies” informed the audience on the philosophy of ethics. He spoke about ways to live an ethical life, and the best methods to understand morality and answer moral questions.
Rufina, the third speaker, delivered her No. 10 speech about ‘unforgiveness’. Rufina’s speech was about the benefits of forgiveness and how to forgive others. She used a personal anecdote about a close friend with whom she’d had a disagreement. Rufina explained how forgiving her friend had helped her to move on.
The final speaker was Jo, delivering an advanced speech called “Let’s Outsmart Ourselves”. Her speech focused on procrastination, and how to manage this weakness through delayed gratification. Jo cited research on college students to support her argument.
Evaluations
Bronia evaluated Emma’s icebreaker speech, on her steps to success. She commended the structure of her speech, her elocution and engaging delivery. Bronia noticed that Emma’s enthusiasm decreased towards the end of her speech, and gave advice on how to sustain the speech’s momentum.
Hari evaluated Egor’s No. 2 speech, praising his ability to use lots of facts to support his message. He felt the speech was very informative, fulfilling the objectives of the No. 2 speech to organise and inform. Hari recommended that Egor improve his voice projection and volume for future speeches.
Peter evaluated Rufina’s speech, and started by commending it’s content, structure and delivery. He noted that Rufina projected her voice well, and offered inspirational advice.
Carrie evaluated Jo’s advanced speech. She praised her choice of subject, which the audience could easily identify with. She also commended Jo’s use of props, and her useful advice which people could benefit from.
Table topics
Rebecca, the table topics master continued the meeting’s theme by inviting several members to give impromptu speeches about their thoughts and experiences on holidays, including:
- Hari, who was asked what environmental considerations he makes when choosing a holiday destination;
- Renars, who was asked whether he was “a folder or a tosser” when packing holiday clothes;
- Femi, who was asked if he preferred the experience of leaving home or returning from a holiday;
- Faith-Rose, who was asked if she preferred holidays with friends or family; and
- James, who was asked what type of accommodation he prefers on holiday.
Tracey, the table topics evaluator, gave a balanced and encouraging evaluation of all the speakers. She commented on the bravery of the first-time guest speakers delivering topics, and the high standard of all the responses.
Awards
Closing the meeting, president Swarajit handed out the awards, including those based on the audience votes:
- Emma was recognised with an icebreaker ribbon for her maiden speech
- Rufina was awarded a Competent Communicator ribbon for completing her 10th speech
- Best Table Topic Speaker was awarded to James
- Best Evaluator was awarded to Carrie
- Best Prepared Speech was awarded to Jo
Next Meeting
Our next meeting is on Monday, 23rd June at the usual venue: upstairs at The Clerk & Well, 156 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5DU.
