Written by Svetlana
Introduction
President Jo opened the meeting with a short overview of the 90-year history of the Toastmasters movement and some statistics for the benefit of members and guests.
After her introduction, Jo handed further proceedings to Glen, one of the former presidents and founding members of Bloomsbury Speakers club. Glen emphasized the meaning of applause – to infuse enthusiasm, and of handshake – to hand control of the stage to and from the speakers back to the Toastmaster or Table Topics Master. Paddington Bear’s anniversary being this month, Glen’s theme of the day for the introduction of speakers and functionaries was childhood heroes. Glen introduced functionaries of the day: Robert, the Timekeeper whose favourite childhood hero was Dennis the Menace, Swarajit the Sergeant At Arms, and Peter L the Grammarian (with the word of the day, “anticipate”) helped Glen make the evening most entertaining.
Prepared Speeches
There were four prepared speeches on the agenda. The first speaker Nathaniel’s favourite childhood hero was Rupert the Bear with his sartorial, smart clothing style. Nathaniel’s No 2 Speech “Consider Your Composition” started with a statement, “Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are”. He explained why wheat, corn, potato, and rice were the most affordable foods. The prevalence of these products was explained by low cost of production and high level of profits gained by a handful of individuals. It also explained the prevalence of food induced diseases, such as obesity and diabetes. He called upon the audience to make wise choices as to what to eat to stay healthy and take advantage of the variety of food available nowadays.
Michelle whose favourite childhood hero was Cinderella, delivered Speech No. 4 “The Power of Positivity”. Michelle talked about mental and emotional attitude. She advised how to achieve positive mind set. Positivity helps achieve goals and realise one’s true potential. Self-doubt and negative thoughts should be replaced by positive thinking and positive speaking, which go hand-in-hand. Setbacks happen in life, but every cloud has a silver lining. Such attitudes help keep one energised and reduce stress.
Helen whose favourite childhood heroes were the Smurfs and Spider-Man delivered her Speech No. 8 entitled “Yes We Kanban”. Helen substantiated the theory that our brain doesn’t like unfinished business. It is important that we keep track of various projects in hand. The idea of Kanban was first introduced by Taiichi Ohno in 1953 in Toyota factory in Japan in the form of billboards. It helped the factory productivity as workers would signal that they finish the portion of work they were given and get parts for the next portion of work. That way it was easier to focus on work in progress and do not have more work than they could handle. David J. Anderson used this principle for technology projects. Later on, Jim Benson and Tonianne DeMaria Barry applied the idea to personal productivity and used three rows with tasks under the signs “to do”, “doing”, and “done”. And now, smart phone apps are available.
An advanced storytelling speech was then performed by Joe, whose favourite childhood hero was Banana Man. The speech entitled “Why?” was focused on experiences of success, and what makes people successful in sports and in business. While in sports it is important to exercise and in business it is important to be efficient, the most important thing is to ask ourselves, “Why am I doing this, and what is the purpose of it?”. We need a well-defined purpose in order to succeed was the main piece of advice from Joe. The message was drawn from three stories: a personal story, story of sportsmen, and NHS reform.
Warm guest introductions were held by Swarajit and valuable thoughtful evaluations provided by Egor, Ash, Bronia, and Kate.
Table Topics
The table topics session conducted by Ahmed switched the theme to childhood experiences.
Question “Which childhood hero would come to your rescue?” went to Peter L who shared that his favourite hero rescuer would be Pooh Bear and he explained why he thought so.
“What are the best and worst movies of your childhood?” – was addressed to Svetlana, who said her favourite fairy tale movie was “Thumbelina”, which, as she grew up appeared to be the wrong fairy tale to like; she had to go back and focus on positive episodes to have them transpire.
“What childhood hero would make a good politician?” – went to Jean-Marc who said Bugs Bunny would make an excellent politician as he was quick to run, change directions, and good at being cunning.
“Which is your best childhood hero” – Axel said it Spider-Man and he explained why.
“Which childhood book should be made mandatory for schoolchildren to read?” – Danika said it was Nathan Wise as it helps children emulate the best human features.
Carrie provided the evaluation of Table Topics speakers with a balance of commendations and recommendations.
Grammarian Peter’s report was followed by a General Evaluation from Jean-Marc from Clerkenwell Speakers.
Awards
Best prepared speech award went to Helen for her No. 8 speech. Best evaluator award went to Ash, and best impromptu speech award went to Jean-Marc.
Next meeting
PLEASE NOTE THE CHANGE OF VENUE! Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 27th October, upstairs at The Perseverance, 63 Lamb’s Conduit Street, London WC1N 3NB (http://www.the-perseverance.moonfruit.com/). Doors open at 6:30pm.
