Introduction
We enjoyed another great meeting on Monday 9th April, where we heard four high-quality speeches and participated in a fun table topics session.
Roles
Peter R, President of the Club, welcomed everyone to the meeting and pointed out that we are all part of Toastmasters to become world class speakers. He then introduced Toastmaster Chantal, who gave us an explanation of the history of “toast” (the food), talked us through the agenda and introduced Timekeeper Jamie and Grammarian Luisa, who chose “implacable” as the word of the day.
Prepared speeches
First to speak was Raphael with his Ice Breaker Speech “Two Degrees of Separation”. Raphael talked to us about his siblings, his love of backpacking and his past habit to shy away from public speaking opportunities. Regarding the last point, he is definitely set on changing that!
The second speaker was Yamina with her Competent Communicator Speech #5 “Little Red Riding Headscarf”. Revisiting a famous tale, Yamina talked about the story of a little girl who, unlike all her other friends, always wore a headscarf instead of a hood. She still tasted the same to the wolf!
The third speaker was Peter R with his Persuasive Speaking Speech #4 “A Fulfilling Career is Possible”. Peter talked us through the golden rules for finding a satisfying job, i.e. it’s not about the money, but about our passions and helping others. He finished with an entertaining Q&A session.
Last to speak was Sheldon with his Entertaining Speaker Speech #1 “Cuba: A Food Adventure”. Sheldon gave us a hilarious gastronomic account of his recent journey to Cuba, where – surrounded by ham and cheese toasties, and little else – he was forced to admit that he missed pizza!
Scott then led the guest introductions.
Table Topics
After the break, we heard from the evening’s evaluators – Peter R, Stirling, Helen and Andy.
Table Topics Master Atul then led a fantastic table topics session on the subject of books. Swarajit, Philippe, Scott Lee, Mary, Lei, Ed, Alex and Peter participated. Highlights included Scott Lee commenting that he would much rather read a book with a happy ending in order to get a return on his investment, and Peter explaining that the book passage that most changed his life was the one he once had to read out as a kid, when he got to the front of the class, tripped and knocked out his two front teeth!
Margarita evaluated all table topic speakers.
Grammarian Luisa then gave us a report on the great uses of language throughout the meeting and noted that 9 people had used the word of the day.
Finally, visiting General Evaluator Christina evaluated our club and the meeting.
Awards
Best Speaker: Yamina
Best Evaluator: Helen
Best Table Topic: Peter
Next meeting
Our next regular meeting will take place at Wedge Issue Pizza & Beer (91-95 Clerkenwell Rd, London EC1R 5BX), on Monday 23rd April 18:30-21:00. Come over to practice your public speaking skills!
Please feel free to get in touch as info@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk if you have any questions.
