Hello and welcome to the autumn 2018 newsletter!
We’re just over two months into the Toastmasters year (which starts in July), but your new committee is has been working hard behind the scenes on keeping everything running smoothly. See the People page on our website for details of who’s who!
What’s in this newsletter?
- Contest season
- Membership fee increase
- Club socials
- Pathways
- Code of Conduct
- New members
Contest season
Autumn in the UK means it’s Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest season, and Bloomsbury Speakers’ club contest date has been set for Monday, 1st October.
All paid-up members of the club are eligible to compete in what is always a fun and unpredictable night of public speaking. The Humorous Speech contest involves contestants delivering a 5-7 minute prepared speech on a topic of their choosing. For the table topics contest, contestants all deliver a 1-2 minute response to the same topic, which is set by the contest chair and could be about absolutely anything!
The winners of each contest will go up against the winners from the other clubs in our area on Thursday, 11th October at Blue Fin Speakers, 110 Southwark Street.
All members are encouraged to enter both contests, but we also need functionaries to help run the show on the night – contest chairs, timekeepers, a sergeant at arms and a couple of vote counters. Enter and volunteer by signing up on easy-Speak – and, of course, we need an audience too!
Judges are normally invited from other Toastmasters clubs, which means we need our members to reciprocate by judging at their club contests. Please get in touch via education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk if you’re interested in helping out. It’s a great opportunity to see and judge some entertaining speeches from speakers outside our own club – and you don’t need any previous experience as a full briefing will be given beforehand.
Membership fee increase
Like all Toastmasters clubs, Bloomsbury Speakers is run not-for-profit by its members and for the benefit of its members. Price rises are never welcome news but, due to costs increasing, they are unfortunately a necessity from time to time.
From September onwards, membership fees will be increasing as follows:
- The fees for new members will be £125 for a year or £95 for six months.
- Renewal fees will be £110 for a year or £80 for six months.
Bloomsbury Speakers is affiliated to Toastmasters International, and the majority of your membership fee is paid directly to the organisation as dues. In return you receive the monthly Toastmaster magazine and access to the educational materials that we all work through to become better public speakers and leaders. It also means that we can hold and enter our four speech competitions each year (International Speech, Evaluation, Humorous Speech and Table Topics).
The remainder of your fee is used to meet club expenses such as hosting our website, printing materials for meetings and subsidising club events. All things considered, it’s still great value for money and we’re still among the cheapest Toastmasters clubs in central London.
Club socials
We’ve always been a friendly and sociable club and, over what was one of the longest-lasting and hottest summers in recent memory, we held several social events. These included a trip to Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park and not one but two hikes through the English countryside.
It seems a bit early – and we may have another event sooner – but our Sergeant at Arms, Lei, is already researching possible venues for our club Christmas social! Do get in touch via socials@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk with any suggestions you might have.
Pathways
In March this year, Toastmasters International rolled out its new Pathways educational programme in District 91 (Southern England & Wales). Unlike the old Competent Communication and Competent Leadership tracks, which were seen as something of a ‘one size fits all’ system, Pathways allows for a much more tailored learning experience based on your individual requirements. See the Pathways website to read all about it.
www.toastmasters.org/pathways-overview
Those of us still working towards any of the awards in the legacy tracks have until March 2020 to complete them, but in the meantime it will actually be our newest members acting as the trailblazers in Pathways. We look forward to hearing about your experiences using the new educational programme!
Code of Conduct
To make our club as supportive and welcoming as possible, the committee has written a Code of Conduct that all members and guests should follow. As this is quite new, and as is the case for everything in Toastmasters, feedback is welcome!
- I will applaud every speaker
- I will listen to every speaker
- I will provide honest and constructive feedback to speakers when asked to do so
- I will help keep the meeting space tidy
- I will keep my phone on silent and otherwise avoid disrupting the meeting
- I will not pressure anyone to speak who does not want to speak
- I will not discriminate against anyone on the basis of their age, race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or ability
- I will not cause discomfort to any guest or member, and I will step in if I see this happening to anyone else
- I will help to make Bloomsbury Speakers an inclusive and nurturing club
New members
Finally, please extend a warm welcome to our newest members Kamakshi, Mary and Mara. We look forward to hearing their ice breaker speeches in the near future.
That’s all for this newsletter – see you at a meeting soon!
