First up, we’re moving to a new venue for this month! Our two July meetings (on the 10th and 24th) will be upstairs at The Union Tavern, 52 Lloyd Baker Street, WC1X 9AA. It’s a bigger venue, so do invite all your friends, family and colleagues to create a fun and supportive atmosphere for the club.
What’s in this newsletter?
- IMPORTANT: Membership fees are increasing – lock in at the lower rate!
- Help! I’m Not Funny – a humorous speech workshop with Dan Magill (4th September)
- Autumn speech contests
- Club committee 2023-24
- Next meetings
IMPORTANT: Membership fees are increasing – lock in at the lower rate!
Unfortunately, Toastmasters International are raising their six-monthly dues from $45 to $60. This means that all clubs are forced to increase their membership fees to meet this rise.
At the same time, it won’t have escaped anyone’s attention that costs are rising all round, including the costs of running a club – even a non-profit one like ours. As a result, our membership fees will be increasing to £96 every six months, charged pro rata depending on when you join (plus a one-off fee of £20 for new members).
The good news is that anyone (new, renewing or returning members) can lock in the current lower rate of £90 for the 9-month period July 2023 to March 2024 (plus the one-off £20 fee for new members), as long as you pay by Tuesday, 25th July. Fees will rise to the new rates from August.
- New members can join in July by following the instructions on the joining page on our website and paying £110, no later than Tuesday, 25th July.
- Rejoining members and existing Toastmasters should follow the same instructions and pay £90.
- Existing club members will be contacted by our new treasurer Michael this month.
While the high cost of living is affecting us all, we hope you’ll still find value in your Bloomsbury Speakers membership as part of your personal development and will continue your journey with us.
Help! I’m Not Funny – a humorous speech workshop with Dan Magill (4th September)
We’re delighted to be welcoming 2023 District 91 (UK South) Humorous Speech contest champion Dan Magill – a title he also achieved in 2019 and 2022!
In his upcoming workshop, Help! I’m Not Funny, Dan will cover elements including:
- Where to find your comic inspiration
- Being aware of your audience
- How to structure a humorous speech
- Tips on delivery
There’ll be plenty of opportunity for audience participation and you’ll leave this workshop brimming with ideas, ready to start adding more humour to your speeches.
This workshop is open to all and tickets start from just £5.99, which includes pizza straight after the event!
Date: Monday, 4th September 2023
Time: 6:25pm for a 6:45pm start
Venue: The City Pride, 28 Farringdon Lane, EC1R 3AU
Price: £5.99 (early bird) or £7.99 (standard) – includes pizza!
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/help-im-not-funny-a-humorous-speech-workshop-with-dan-magill-tickets-682286044927
Autumn speech contests
The above workshop leads nicely into the autumn contest season, which includes the Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests in late September or early October.
The Humorous Speech contest involves giving a 5-7 minute speech with added humour. The humour may arise from an original story, or from jokes embedded within the speech, but a humorous speech is not a stand-up routine or series of one-liners. As with any other speech, a humorous speech should have a topic, structure and purpose, but credit is also given for the audience’s response.
The Table Topics contest works just like regular Table Topics in club meetings except every contestant is given the same topic. Contestants wait outside the room until it is their turn to speak, and the topic will be read out to them just before they are introduced on to the stage. They then have 1-2 minutes to give their response.
See the Toastmasters contest rulebook for more information, as well as the ballot forms for the Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests to get a better idea of how contest speeches are judged.
Both contests are open to all paid members of the club, so everyone should take part, even if you’re new. It’s a great way of pushing your speaking skills to a higher level and the winners will go on to represent the club at the next round, so get practising!
Club committee 2023-24
We’re pleased to announce that the following members have been appointed to the club committee for the year July 2023 to June 2024:
- President – Swarajit Das – responsible for the overall success of the club, supporting other committee members in their roles, opening and closing every meeting and much more!
- Vice President Education – Andrea Sachtleben – responsible for putting the programme together for each meeting along with keeping track of the educational progress of individual members and the club as a whole;
- Vice President Membership & Mentoring – Matt Robertson – converts guests into happy members, ensuring new members have all the information they need when they first join, assigning a mentor to each new member and monitoring their relationship;
- Vice President Public Relations – Ernest Romanovskij – responsible for raising the club’s profile and attracting new guests e.g. via social media;
- Treasurer – Michael Haddadeen – responsible for the club’s finances, paying dues on behalf of members to Toastmasters International and making sure members pay their renewal fees to the club on time;
- Secretary – Elena Fanaberova – responsible for club administration, particularly with regards to decision making e.g. by taking minutes at committee meetings;
- Sergeant at Arms – Indi Rajpal – in charge of logistics (e.g. meeting venues) and club socials.
It’s brilliant to see some enthusiastic new faces on the team along with more experienced members from committees past. Here’s to an exciting year ahead!
Next meetings
As mentioned, our July meetings are on the 10th and 24th and will be at a new venue The Union Tavern, just a short walk from our current venue The Gunmakers and close to King’s Cross station.
Book ahead on Eventbrite or Meetup to receive a handy reminder nearer the time.
