First things first, our next meeting this Monday, 13th May will be at The City Pride, 28 Farringdon Lane, EC1R 3AU (not our regular venue).
But the big news is that Bloomsbury Speakers has retained the Division C (central London) International Speech contest trophy for a second year – why wouldn’t you want to visit and join such an amazing club?
Keep reading for the full story.
We are the champions!
After a brilliant club contest night back in February, our members Swarajit and Freddie progressed to the Area C2 round of the International Speech and Evaluation contests respectively to face the champions of four other neighbouring clubs. Swarajit won the International Speech contest and Freddie placed second in the Evaluation contest, but both progressed to the third round against the winners of the three other areas in Division C (central London). At the division contests in April, Freddie earned an amazing second place in the Evaluation contest and Swarajit placed first in the International Speech contest, repeating Matt’s feat from last year and keeping the trophy in the club for another 12 months!
Swarajit then progressed to the District 91 (UK South) final of the International Speech contest in Bristol last weekend, while Matt also got a last-minute call to represent us in the Table Topics final after placing second in Division C last autumn.
While Swarajit didn’t place in his contest, Matt impressively placed second in the Table Topics final. Congratulations to both for making it as far as the final eight from among some 3,000 other members in the district!
The International Speech contest was won by Dan Magill of Croydon Communicators, who now continues to the regional finals against district champions from the rest of Europe.
Have you ever wondered what goes on beyond our club meetings?
Sure, our club meetings are awesome with amazing speeches, evaluations and impromptu table topics twice a month, but have you ever wondered how Toastmasters operates beyond that?
Well the contest story above, gives a clue – Bloomsbury Speakers is part of Area C2, which is part of Division C, which is part of District 91 and Region 10 of Toastmasters International – an organisation that’s 100 years old this year!
Although almost everyone joins a Toastmasters club like ours to improve their public speaking skills, the leadership and networking opportunities in Toastmasters are immense. At this weekend’s District 91 conference in Bristol we elected a new council to lead and represent all clubs in southern England and Wales.
But it all starts with your club’s own leadership committee, and we’re looking to fill positions on the Bloomsbury Speakers committee for the year July 2024 to June 2025.
Want to improve your leadership skills?
As with speaking, Toastmasters provides a safe and friendly environment in which to practise and develop your leadership skills, starting with the positions on your club committee.
We’ve already received interest from members for some of the roles, but here’s a full list of each of them and what they involve.
- President (currently Swarajit) – 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 (currently Andrea) – 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 (currently Matt) – 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 (currently Ernest) – responsible for raising the club’s profile and attracting new guests e.g. via social media.
- Secretary (currently Peter) – responsible for club administration, particularly with regards to decision making e.g. by taking minutes at committee meetings.
- Treasurer (currently Michael) – 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.
- Sergeant at Arms (currently Indi) – in charge of logistics (e.g. meeting venues) and club socials.
You can also see the Toastmasters Club Leadership Handbook for more information.
If you’re interested in taking up any of the above roles for the year ahead, please speak to the incumbent member, or Swarajit, to find out more.
Time to get social
It’s not just about education for us, Toastmasters love to have fun and socialise too. A couple of our neighbouring areas in London are planning a Toastmasters picnic social in Battersea Park on Sunday, 2nd June, but everyone is welcome and a few of us Bloomsbury Speakers members might just tag along!
Get yourself to one of our upcoming meetings
Due to the bank holidays, we’re meeting on two Mondays in a row in May, and there’s a change of venue for the first one.
- Monday, 13th May from 6:45pm at The City Pride
- Monday, 20th May from 6:45pm at The Union Tavern
Our June meetings are then on the 10th and 24th, both back at our usual venue The Union Tavern.
We’re clearly irresistible!
Since the last newsletter, we’ve had two former members return to the club (Helen and Alefiyah) and two new members join (Lei and Anil) – so why not come along and see what you’re missing out on?
We can’t wait to see you there!
