Introductions

This meeting was held in our backup venue, The Apple Tree, due to building works at the Clerk & Well.

Swarajit the club president opened the meeting by describing Toastmasters as “a place where you can make mistakes with your public speaking and it doesn’t matter”.

He went on to talk about four stages of a model of competence: unconscious incompetence (you don’t know about or don’t value a skill), conscious incompetence (you know you lack a desired skill), conscious competence (you are skilled with deliberate effort), and unconscious competence (you are effortlessly skilled), and related it to the Toastmasters Competent Communicator program.

The Toastmaster for the evening, Ahmed, started by introducing his theme for the meeting, having asked all participants “What is your dream job?”. He spoke about the Toastmasters practice of providing written feedback for all speakers and the importance of applause to help warm up the speakers with lots of support and encouragement.

Rebecca (dream job: superhero!) described her role as Timekeeper, ably standing in at the last minute to replace the scheduled person in that role.

Hari (dream job: internet sensation and travelling speaker) explained the role of Harkmaster (an occasional replacement for the Grammarian role) and described how he loves the role because it encourages the audience to listen – with the incentive of chocolatey rewards!

Prepared speeches

The first speech was an ice breaker entitled “Ambitions” from new member Michelle. She told us about her current role in HR and her objectives for Toastmasters – to gain confidence giving work presentations. She told us how she enjoys travel and has visited Egypt, India, Thailand, and having worked in Sydney still has long term ambitions to work abroad. Of all the places she’d visited Michelle would choose to live in Boston because her relatives always make her feel welcome!

Our second speaker Ash (dream job: Olympic sprinter) gave a No. 2 speech entitled “My Miracle Mineral”. She opened with the statement that 80% of the people in the room will be deficient in magnesium! We learned that although we can get magnesium in food – such as nuts and leafy vegetables – our body cannot store it, so it needs constant replenishment. Also our modern lifestyles can easily deplete it. Ash described numerous personal benefits – or miracles – of taking the mineral: reduced migraines, a cure for insomnia and enhanced muscle recovery.

Our third prepared speech was from Marte, another No. 2 speech, this time entitled “Get on that bike!”. She opened her speech with a question: “How many of you cycle in London?” and then revealed that around half a million people cycle every day in London. She then described the numerous benefits of cycling: it’s healthy exercise, it’s good for the environment, and it’s also cheaper and faster than the alternatives. But it comes with its hazards: breathing exhaust fumes in busy traffic, the danger of large vehicles and the attitude of some motorists to cyclists. But there were solutions to all of these problems.

The final prepared speech was an advanced “speech to inform” by experienced member Jo entitled “A Fool for Love”. With Valentine’s Day coming up Jo decided to share three lessons learned from a past romance. Ignoring her best instincts because the object of her affections was “hot” taught Jo her Tip #1: Be true to yourself about what you want from love. Her beau’s admission “I’m just not very good at being happy” led her to Tip #2: Listen to who they say are. And an encounter with a disapproving mother led her to Tip #3: Find out about their friends and family!

Evaluations

Henry (dream job: travelling the world interviewing famous people) evaluated Michelle’s ice breaker. He commended the tight structure and the fact that the speech “did what it said on the tin”. Successful speaking is about “connection not perfection” he said he felt Michelle had really connected with the audience. His recommendation was simply not to worry if small things went wrong.

Bronia (dream job: CEO of her own company) evaluated Ash’s No. 2 speech about magnesium. Bronia felt Ash was “instantly likeable” because of her smile which was “the battle half won”. She felt her pace made her speech very easy to follow and this had helped Ash to bond with the audience. She also commended the structure of the speech and the very clear central message.

Peter (dream job: own a smallholding and be closer to nature) evaluated Marte’s speech about cycling. “If you smile, you can’t go wrong” said Peter, and he felt that Marte had certainly done that. He commended her on her humour and the clarity of her main points although it sounded like he was more persuaded by the hazards of cycling than the benefits!

Janet evaluated the final speech, Jo’s speech about love. She opened by asking: “What makes a fantastic public speaker?” and clearly felt that Jo deserved that description. Janet said Jo had made her speech really funny – but also true. And she’d made it personal – even though it can be difficult to open yourself up – but that helps people engage. Areas for improvement: a little more vocal variety; wider use of the stage; get the audience involved more.

Table Topics

As Topicsmaster for the evening Grace introduced her theme – Valentines – and gave brave volunteers the opportunity to give an impromptu speech based on one of her questions.

• Julia was asked “What does love mean?” and said she felt it meant being “comfortable and connected” with someone
• Faith was asked “Do you believe in love at first sight?” and told a humorous story about her friend and her future husband.
• Peter was asked “What first catches your attention about a person?”. He told us “love doesn’t exist” and backed up his statement with great humour.
• Raghav was asked “What is your favourite movie?” and revealed it was Love Actually.
• Simon was asked where he would sweep someone away to for a romantic weekend and he said somewhere Arabic-speaking so he could show off some new language skills.

As table topics evaluator Glen told us that the secret to great public speaking is a full bladder (!) before giving feedback for each of the table topics speakers.

General evaluator Sandra, visiting from our sister club Holborn, gave her evaluation of the club as a whole and of all the participants who had not received evaluations elsewhere. She commended the club on its friendly atmosphere, which she said was second only to her own. 🙂

Awards

Swarajit wrapped up the meeting with some announcements about forthcoming events before handing out the awards:

• The president’s award went to Rebecca for stepping in at the last minute as Timekeeper
• Best evaluator was shared by Janet & Glen
• Best table topic went to Peter
• Best speaker went to Jo

Important Dates

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 24th Feburary 2014 upstairs at The Clerk & Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.

The club is holding a Speech and Evaluation Workshop on Monday, 3rd March 2014. Book your place here.

The club’s 2014 International Speech and Evaluation Contest will take place on Monday, 17th March 2014.

Hello and welcome to the February newsletter!

We’ve been experimenting with a different room layout at The Clerk & Well for the past month, and it seems to be preferred by the majority of those who’ve attended. However, it does take a bit more effort to set up properly, so any help from our members who can arrive early will be greatly appreciated, especially as the club’s Sergeant at Arms is absent for the time being.

Having said that, we have a temporary change of venue for our first meeting this month. This Monday’s meeting will be held upstairs at The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE (NOT at The Real Man Pizza Company as previously announced) – just a short walk from our regular meeting place. Again, help will be needed with transporting our equipment to and from the meeting venue, so if you’re available to arrive early and lend a hand then please get in touch via president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.

Anyway, on with this month’s newsletter…

If you don’t have time to read the whole newsletter, you can skip to the bottom for a short summary of the main points.

What’s happened since the last newsletter?

Despite several last-minute dropouts due to illness, we had two packed meetings in January, featuring icebreaker speeches from new members Svetlana and Grace, as well as a No. 10 speech from Paula who has now achieved the title of Competent Communicator and helped the club achieve its eighth point in the Distinguished Club Programme!

We also co-hosted the hugely successful ‘Belly Laugh’ night with three other clubs and some of the funniest Toastmasters in London. If you weren’t able to attend, take a look at Clerkenwell Speakers’ write-up and photos from the event.

What’s planned for February?

There’s only so much we can fit in to the shortest month of the year, but there’s still plenty for us to look forward to:

• Monday, 10^th February – Regular Meeting – Please note the change of venue for our first meeting this month. As mentioned above, we’ll be at The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE (NOT at The Real Man Pizza Company as previously announced). The programme for the meeting is full but there are still some pre-bookable table topic slots available for members on ClubPlan.
• Monday, 24^th February – Regular Meeting – Back at The Clerk & Well, this meeting features the always-entertaining Bronia in the role of Toastmaster, so it’s well worth coming along even if you’re not taking part. At the time of writing, there are slots available for an advanced speech evaluator and a Sergeant at Arms to greet and introduce the guests. Again, book yourself in on ClubPlan.

Dates for your diary – contest season is approaching!

This is an early warning that the spring contest season is just around the corner, so start thinking now about whether you’d like to enter our International Speech and Evaluation contests next month. In the meantime, here are all the important dates for your diary with further details to follow nearer the time:

• Monday, 3^rd March – International Speech & Evaluation Workshop – We’re hosting a special event featuring workshops from district leaders Hilary Briggs and Freddie Daniells. Invitations have already gone out to members and are now open to guests too. See below for the details.
• Monday, 17^th March – Bloomsbury Speakers International Speech & Evaluation Contests – Booking for contest places is already open on ClubPlan, but keep an eye out for an invitation from our VP Education Jo with everything you need to know. If you don’t intend to compete but would like to help with organising or running the event, please contact Jo via education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk. We’re also looking for members who are willing to go and judge at other clubs’ contests – again contact Jo if you’d like to help.
• Thursday, 27^th March – Area 34 International Speech & Evaluation Contests – The winners from our club contests will go on to compete against winners from the other clubs in our area of London: Holborn Speakers, Tube Talk, Lawspeak, Society Speakers and Clerkenwell Speakers.
• Friday, 4^th April – Division L International Speech & Evaluation Contests – the top placed contestants in March’s Area 34 contests will go on to face the best speakers from the other areas in North & Central London.
• Friday 9^th-Sunday 11^th May – District 71 King Laoire Conference – The last ever conference for District 71 as we know it will be held in Dún Laoghaire in Ireland and will play host to the UK & Ireland International Speech and Evaluation contest semi-finals and finals, featuring the winners from each division around both countries. Booking is already open on the official website.
• Wednesday 20^th-Saturday 23^rd August – International Convention and World Championship Finals in Kuala Lumpur – While the Evaluation Contest ends at District level, the International Speech Contest (as its name implies) continues on to the world semi-finals and finals in Malaysia, with the eventual winner being crowned World Champion of Public Speaking. Perhaps this year’s winner will be from Bloomsbury Speakers!

International Speech & Evaluation Workshop – Monday, 3^rd March

In preparation for the above contests, we’re very privileged to welcome Toastmasters District 71 (UK & Ireland) Council members Hilary Briggs and Freddie Daniells to give two special workshops on Monday, 3^rd March.

Hilary (serving Lieutenant Governor Education and Training) will be running her workshop Evaluate with Confidence! in which she’ll share her expert knowledge of:

• What makes a great evaluation;
• How to build your skills in a systematic way;
• Top tips for Evaluation Contests.

We’ll also get to hear from Immediate Past District Governor, Freddie with his Seven Insights into Winning International Speeches. With a wealth of experience in Toastmasters, and having attended the last four World Championship of Public Speaking finals, acting as a judge in one and helping coach a finalist in another, Freddie is perfectly placed to share his findings on what makes a successful contest speech.

Unfortunately, with such a small venue, there are only a limited number of seats available, so please only book yourself in if you can definitely attend (and cancel your booking if you find out later that you can’t make it).

https://springcontestworkshop.eventbrite.co.uk

Don’t miss this fantastic opportunity to refine your skills for the upcoming contests and give yourself that extra edge for these and future competitions!

Clerkenwell Speakers news

If you’re unable to make it to the above event, you may be interested to know that Freddie Daniells will be running his workshop Exceptional Evaluations for Clerkenwell Speakers on Wednesday, 19^th February at The Apple Tree (which is Clerkenwell’s new permanent venue as well as our temporary venue for this week’s meeting).

Clerkenwell Speakers was formed last summer when it became apparent that we at Bloomsbury Speakers could no longer meet the overwhelming demand for membership on our own. Since then, they’ve managed to meet the minimum requirement for new members within just six months and will be holding a special chartering meeting on Wednesday, 26^th February to celebrate this important milestone.

Chartering means that they are now officially recognised as a Toastmasters club and have all the privileges that come with it (such as being able to hold and enter contests). Congratulations to everyone involved in getting the club to where it is today!

(Also, don’t forget that Bloomsbury members still have free membership of Clerkenwell Speakers and can book in for roles and speeches on their ClubPlan until the end of March.)

Membership waiting list

The waiting list for membership of Bloomsbury Speakers currently has fifteen names on it and, with only two new members being admitted each month, some of them may still have a long wait ahead. However, we are giving priority to those people on the waiting list who continue to attend meetings regularly as a guest and are willing to give their first speech in the month they join – so if you’re keen to join our club then please keep coming along to our meetings (at least three times) and sign our guestbook on each visit.

We will be in touch with all the guests on the waiting list in the coming weeks to make sure that they would still like to continue – however, a full list of all the clubs in Greater London is available on The London Speaker, and we highly recommend visiting at least one or two other clubs before deciding on which one to join, as each club has its own distinct personality. But of course, anyone is welcome to attend our regular meetings as a guest at any time with no obligation to join.

Tip of the Month: Competing makes you a better speaker

Aside from giving you the extra opportunities to speak in front of an audience, entering speech contests can improve your public speaking skills in ways that speaking at a regular club meeting may not provide:

• It combines all the skills from your previous projects. While this should be happening as you work through your manuals anyway, it can often be tempting to just focus on the objectives of the project at hand. Since there are no specific objectives in a speech contest, it’s the perfect opportunity to bring together everything you’ve learnt so far into one speech – from structure and rhetoric to persuading and inspiring.
• It makes you more conscious about connecting with your audience. Making a one-to-one connection with members of your audience through gestures and eye-contact will mean they’re more likely to understand and appreciate your message. Since you’ll be judged by anonymous individuals around the room, you’ll be more aware of the importance of connecting with everyone on an individual level, and doing so with the judges will mean they’re more likely to score you favourably.
• It gives you targets to aim for and exceed. This is probably the single aspect of contests that pushes speakers to improve each time. Whether you agree with the judges’ decision or not, your biggest competition is often against yourself and the parts of your public speaking that you know need improvement. If you’ve previously been placed in a speech contest but never won, then perhaps your next target is to progress to the area finals. If, like our members Femi and Janet last year, you’ve previously got as far as the division contest, then think about (and get help from you mentor on) what you need to do better next time in order to compete at the national level.

As you can see, the benefits of speaking in a contest environment are significant so it’s well worth giving some serious consideration to entering next month and learning as much as you can from the experience.

That’s all for now. See you at a meeting soon!

Swarajit Das
President
Bloomsbury Speakers

Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know

• Our regular meetings in February are on the 10^th and 24^th. Please note that the meeting on the 10^th will be held upstairs at The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE (NOT at The Real Man Pizza Company as previously announced), just a short walk from our regular meeting place.
• We’re hosting an International Speech & Evaluation Workshop with district leaders Hilary Briggs and Freddie Daniells on Monday, 3^rd March. Tickets are available at https://springcontestworkshop.eventbrite.co.uk.
• Our International Speech & Evaluation Contest will be held on Monday, 17^th March. Invitations will go out to members in the next couple of weeks, but booking for contest places is already open on ClubPlan.
• Clerkenwell Speakers is having its chartering meeting on Wednesday, 26^th February at their new permanent venue, The Apple Tree, and Bloomsbury members can still book into roles and speech slots on their ClubPlan until the end of March.
• We are giving priority for membership to people on our waiting list who continue to attend regularly as a guest (and at least three times). If you are keen to join, please make sure you sign our guestbook each time you attend, or check out The London Speaker for details of other Toastmasters clubs around Greater London.

Written by Helen

Introduction

Swarajit, our President, opened a packed meeting with a bit of history of Toastmasters International. He went on to remind us that public speaking is a learned skill – one that we learn through practice and feedback, that is, evaluation. He then introduced Glen, who was performing the eponymous role of Toastmaster.

• Peter – the Timekeeper – explained his role, emphasising the importance of being able to contain a speech within a particular time.
• Helen – the Grammarian – explained her role as well and introduced the word of the day, “vivify”.

Prepared Speeches

In her Icebreaker speech, Grace traced her journey from the Irish countryside – where she grew up in a big, noisy family – to Liverpool, Dublin, and eventually London. She concluded by telling us all her hopes of building confidence as a public speaker.

Bronia spoke on the topic of conflict and how best to deal with it. She quoted many experts, including Abraham Maslow, to explain how conflict affects us. Her advice: open your mind, don’t project, and listen thoroughly.

Paula began her #10 speech, “People”, with two questions: “What kind of person are you? Are you the person you want to be?” She went on to tell a personal story of how she dealt with a difficult person at her workplace, and the lessons she learnt from that experience. She emphasised the importance of drawing a “line in the sand” when faced with such a situation.

In his advanced speech, Joe told a humorous story of a trip he took to Morocco in which he failed, on many occasions, to exercise good judgement. In the end he accepted help from some kind locals, and saw the importance of learning from his mistakes.

Evaluations

Carrie evaluated Grace’s Icebreaker, commending her structure, storytelling style and use of language. She recommended more eye contact but was impressed that Grace delivered her speech with very little use of notes.

Barnaby began his evaluation of Bronia’s speech by empathising with the challenge of preparing a research-based speech (which was the objective of Bronia’s No. 7 speech project). He recommended a more solid structure and more use of facts as evidence.

Femi congratulated Paula on her 10^th speech before commending her “commanding presence”. He recommended being a bit more descriptive but found her speech nonetheless inspiring.

Henry promised to be harsh on Joe, who had given an advanced speech. He strongly commended Joe’s opening and structure. His recommendation was to use more drama, and not to over-signpost the learnings, but to let the audience draw their own conclusions from the story.

Table Topics

Marte, our Topicsmaster, introduced Table Topics and presented her theme – the Royal Family.

• Nazia was offered the prospect of becoming a princess and asked to choose whether she would marry Prince William or Prince Harry. She responded that she was not the marrying kind but that being a princess was quite tempting.
• Guest Peter was asked what he would change if he were king. He expressed his desire to abolish the monarchy and the moral dilemma that that presented. In the end, he decided to “just go for the crown and keep it”.
• This segued nicely into Svetlana’s question, “Should we still have a queen or king?” She speculated that when William becomes king he may reform the monarchy, bringing back the times of King Arthur.
• Manish was asked to choose a new location for his palace, should he be crowned king. He chose Lords pavilion – the Mecca of cricket – as he is a huge cricket fan.
• Asked whether the queen should retire, Tracey questioned the queen’s purpose. However, given that she is such a well-kept woman, why not just keep on going?

Renars evaluated each table topic with his usual wit. He pointed out the difference between a scripted speech and one which is improvised and went on to give detailed commendations and recommendations to each speaker.

Reports

Helen quoted numerous examples of excellent language used throughout the meeting. She also reported 10 uses of the word of the day.

Jane, our general evaluator, commended the club’s welcoming and warm atmosphere before evaluating each of the functionaries in a concise manner.

Awards

• Grace received an Icebreaker award for beginning her journey at Toastmasters.
• Paula received the Competent Communicator award for having completed her 10^th speech. She also won Best Prepared Speech.
• Best Table Topic went to Peter for the second time in a row.
• The President’s award was given to Marte for having thrown herself into various roles since coming back to Toastmasters and running a highly entertaining table topics session.

Next Meeting

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 10^th February at The Apple Tree, 45 Mount Pleasant, WC1X 0AE (NOT The Real Man Pizza Company as previously announced).

Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.

Written by Ash

Introductions

Nerves were running high at the first meeting of the year. The 5-week break had clearly had an impact on even the most competent of speakers; a reminder to us all that it takes regular practice to build confidence and we are all here to improve together, from guest to president.

Our president, Swarajit, felt the pressure in his introduction but soon got into the swing of things using Michael Bay’s recent meltdown to highlight that even those in the public eye could benefit from Toastmasters, and thinking on your feet is a skill that can be honed by mastering the Table Topics.

Next up, our Toastmaster Joe introduced the fitting theme for the meeting: “2014 – What are We Looking Forward to?”

He then introduced two of the functionaries who would help him run the meeting:

• Marte – made her debut as timekeeper
• Peter – carried out his duties as Grammarian assiduously (“assiduous” being the Word of the Day).

Prepared speeches

One would think the Ice Breaker, a member’s first introduction to public speaking, would be a daunting task but not so for Svetlana; rather than rush from the stage she was brought to a halt by the gavel, not once but twice! During her talk we learnt that Svetlana speaks 3 languages, has a fictional neighbor (Borat) and sang daily with the Russian babushkas – an interesting life she leads.

Our second talk was by Samuel entitled “The Smoking Hot Topic”. As a former smoker of 10 years, Sam persuaded us using dry humour and visually descriptive language that it sometimes takes an arrogant friend and tough love to get the message across.

Hari was up next with his advanced speech entitled “Confinement”. It turns out Hari hasn’t done porridge but he did eat a lot of it on a 10 day meditation retreat in Hereford. Solitude, lack of possessions, lack of communication, and meditation from 4.30am doesn’t sound like my idea of fun but for Hari it proved to be truly rewarding. Lucky for us he once again found his voice.

Evaluations

Evaluating Svetlana, Ahmed announced it was the first time he had heard the gavel twice and could have happily listened to more of what he found to be a sincere and smiley speech. He felt that eye contact with the audience could be worked on for future speeches.

Nazia was impressed by Samuel’s handling of what some may perceive to be a controversial topic. Nazia was transported by Samuel’s visual references and found his dry humour worked well. Nadia would have liked Samuel to get more personal and tell us how he personally felt when trying to give up smoking.

Carrie found Hari was ‘on brand’ and gave a strong opening with great stage presence. Carrie would like to see Hari take himself further out of his comfort zone in future – less personal development messages and more flamboyance.

Table topics

Jo, our Topicsmaster for the evening, kicked off the Table Topics sessions for this year with a fitting New Year theme and there was no shortage volunteers:

• Guest Peter was asked what financial advice he would offer for 2014 and responded that in all honesty he was not the best person to ask! Having walked out of a job two years ago and just starting a new position that very day we might not follow your financial advice Peter but we certainly admire your gumption.
• Anthony was asked what he does to cope with stress. It turns out there is a lot to be said for poor customer service in Anthony’s world; having been without his mobile for 7 weeks he felt at ease and began to realise the future may not in fact be Orange.
• Grace was asked her views on diets and going to the gym. She has started Pilates but says she’s happiest playing her guitar, or at least she will be if she wins the bid on eBay.
• Michael was asked whether we should do what makes us happy or well-paid. He finished his talk without ever really answering the question, we can only assume this is because he admits he loves to procrastinate, so he is still thinking about it. Let’s hope his job running an NHS trust gives him both!
• Ash was asked about one of her most important relationships and spoke about her Mum. As her Mum cruised around the Caribbean over Christmas she didn’t get to speak to her for 5 weeks and found absence really does make the heart grow fonder.
• Blake philosophically tackled the question should we focus on our strengths in life or our weaknesses? To Blake our strengths may be seen as our weakest weaknesses! He summed it up nicely by pointing out if we can control our weaknesses imagine what we can do with our strengths.
• Faith was asked the apt question: what does spirituality mean to you? To Faith it is about a grounding, a source of happiness and joy and it’s even getting her out of bed earlier in the morning.
• Finally, our president Swarajit was asked whether it is better to love or to be loved? Swarajit, likened this to the popular question of whether it is better to give or to receive.

The session was wrapped up by another witty, skillful and award winning performance from Glen as Table Topics evaluator!

And the awards for…

Best Prepared Speech – Samuel

Best Evaluator – Glen

Best Table Topic – Peter

President’s Award – Peter (stand-in Grammarian)

Svetlana also received an Icebreaker ribbon for her maiden speech.

That’s it for now. See you all at the next meeting.

Save the dates…

Monday, 27 January – our next regular meeting at The Clerk and Well

Wednesday, 29 January – “Belly Laugh” night – humorous speaking workshop at The Loose Cannon, Allhallows Lane, EC4R 3UE; tickets available here: https://bellylaughnight2014.eventbrite.co.uk

Monday, 10th March – International Women’s Day themed meeting. Speaking slots for women only, open now on ClubPlan. Gentlemen welcome to evaluate.