Introduction

Club President Femi opened the meeting by giving a brief explanation of the history and purpose of Toastmasters. He proceeded to give some tips to both participants and non-participants, which was to use rhetorical devices to connect with an audience and help them remember your message.

He explained that when statements or ideas are grouped in 3’s it’s much easier to remember than a whole string of words. This was further reinforced with an example of a quote from Abraham Lincoln, “this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth”.

Femi then handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Joe who explained his role. Joe’s theme was Food, having previously asked participants to describe their food “heaven” and their food “hell”. He used the answers to introduce each participant and started with the functionaries who were helping him to run the meeting.

• Tasos – the Timekeeper – titled himself as the “annoying person” of the evening because he would be watching the allotted time for each speaker. He explained the use of the timing lights and the purpose of the gavel.
• Rajeev – the Grammarian – started by using the President’s tip of the day to inform the audience that “it’s time to speak, it’s time to listen and it’s time to learn”. He encouraged good use of language and explained that he was going to listen and give a report at the end. He introduced the word of the day as “delectable” meaning pleasing to taste.

Prepared Speeches

Rufina was the first to give her second speech entitled “My New Found Love”. She shared with us how her choice of a wrong movie turned from a boring, drudgerous experience to a life-changing one. It helped her discover her new found love, Abraham Lincoln, who has also become her hero. She began and ended with a quote from Lincoln, including this one: “People are just as happy as they choose to be”.

Ahmed on his 8th speech “The Vinyl LP” took us back to the 1950s & 1960s where the Vinyl LP was the thing of the day. Unlike the CD players and MP3 players we have now, it was not easy to skip music tracks on an LP and so you would fully enjoy the depth of each track. He encouraged us all to invest in a record player as he believes it offers a greater experience and still has a place in the music business today.

Hari’s with his advanced speech “Swish” informed each and every one of us that we were in for a treat. The treat was helping us get rid of a bad habit or behaviour within 7 minutes by using the Swish technique. This technique involved closing the eyes and imaging a bad habit for a few seconds. The eyes were opened and closed again but this time around imagining the opposite of the bad habit. Hari asked the whole audience to close their eyes and imagine a bad habit for second, then swap that with a positive image when he shouted “Swish”. This technique is carried out until the bad image or behaviour is replaced with a desired and positive one.

Renars’ advanced speech on persuasive speaking entitled “Facebook Me” took us back to a time where telephone numbers were exchanged at social gatherings. However, at present when we meet people we like, the trend is “don’t call me – Facebook me”. He told us that the three biggest social networking websites are Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn with 750 million, 250 million and 110 million visitors per month respectively. Despite concerns over privacy and time consumption he reassured us that social networking can be used in moderation, be good for businesses and networking with people of the same interest, be helpful in dating and also reminded us that the information given is not as critical as, say, our bank details. The audience was allowed to ask questions at the end of the speech.

Evaluations

After the break each speaker received an evaluation from a fellow member:

• Bronia was impressed with Rufina’s second speech because she hardly used her notes, had good eye contact and was able to connect with the audience. Her recommendation was better voice projection and trying to eliminate filler words such as “actually”. She said Rufina had used the power of three as advised by our president and met the speech objective.
• Eugina commended Ahmed on the use of his prop – a Vinyl LP. The speech had good structure which was clear, easy to follow and had some drama. Her recommendation was to use the available space with more movement on the stage. The last commendation was the way he had built anticipation by putting his own personal experience and passion into the speech.
• Kate loved Hari’s opening which was bold, passionate and enthusiastic. It got everyone engaged and left us believing we were all in for a treat.  She commended this as the best speech of his she’d seen. Her recommendation for him was to focus on both sides of the room and also eliminate any inappropriate statements. She ended by saying his speech was of a professional standard.
• Adam commended Renars on his good control of the stage, clear vocal variety and good body language. The opening comments about Facebook grabbed the audience’s attention and the content included personal stories. His main recommendation was that his viewpoint on the subject was a little bit cloudy and not as clear as expected. Adam also felt he needed to be more upfront. Finally he felt the message was well illustrated with great numbers, examples and humour and he also handled the questions from the audience very well.

Table Topics

The Table Topics theme, centred on acting, was introduced by Topicsmaster Joowon. Participants were asked to imagine Bloomsbury as a college and the centre of the room as their stage to pitch why they wanted to enrol in the acting school and why certain courses should be offered by the college.

The questions and volunteers were:

• Why do you want to join the acting programme and who would he like to be in 10 years? Samuel cunningly threw the question back at the audience which brought up suggestions while helping make use of his time.
• Why should the programme “Who wants to be a millionaire” be launched and why do you support it? Helen convinced us that no matter how rich you are you could still do with some more money.
• Why should the programme, “Bollywood Acting Class” be launched? David said it’s great because it puts people on the spot and brings them out of their shell.
• Why should the programme, “New Standup Comedy Class” be launched? Alex mentioned this will help people practice comedy and improve their public speaking.
• Why should the programme, “Pole Dancing” be launched? Stella advised we could combine pole dancing, internet dating and sharing bunk beds with strangers in dark knickers!

Jo evaluated the Table Topics by commending participants on their stalling tactics, imagination, good use of language, humour but encouraged them to not look at the props too long for inspiration.

Reports

Grammarian Rajeev gave examples of good uses of language and commended all speakers on the using the word of the day, which was quiet popular.

General Evaluator Atul gave feedback on the club as a whole and for those participants who had not yet been evaluated by someone else. The commendations given to speakers were calmness; boldness; thorough, informative speeches; good eye contact and a great word of the day. Lastly, suggestions for improvement included: inviting guests to the front of the room,  having more filler words reported by the Grammarian and perhaps having Table Topics at the beginning of  the programme.

Awards

Femi made some club announcements and gave out the awards for the evening based on votes from the audience:

• Best Topic Speaker was shared by Stella and Helen
• Best Evaluator was shared by Kate and Jo
• Best Speaker went to Hari

Rufina received an Icebreaker ribbon to commemorate her speech – although it was her second, it was her first at Bloomsbury.

Next meeting

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 3^rd June 2013 upstairs at The Clerk & Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.

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

Meeting report written by Rufina.

Introduction

Club president Femi opened the meeting with a brief history of Toastmasters and Bloomsbury Speakers. He said that while the club had been through a number of changes since its inception – including many people and several different venues – one thing had stayed the same: the fun and friendly atmosphere.

He handed the meeting over to the evening’s Toastmaster Paula who explained her role as the person responsible for “running the show”. She set up her meeting theme of “sweeties” with a short poem about sweets and chocolates and then introduced two of the functionaries who would be helping her to run the meeting:

• Samuel – the Timekeeper – explained the use of the timing lights and the gavel that would be used for any speaker who went over time.
• Bronia – the Grammarian – said she would not be studying speakers’ grammar per se but watching out for effective uses of language – such as rhetorical devices – that the speakers used to draw the audience in. She also introduced the word of the day: “scrupulously”.

Prepared speeches

Monica was the first to give a prepared speech with her ice breaker “My Story”. She told us about the origin of her public speaking fear – a school speaking contest where giggling teachers made her self-conscious. Since then she’d developed a habit of keeping her presentations very short and had joined Toastmasters to help remedy this.

Barnaby opened his No.4 speech “The Grapes of Wrath: An Economic Companion” by holding up the classic book by John Steinbeck and asking who had read it. He told the story of the economic background to the extreme poverty of people living in the “Dustbowl of Oklahoma”, the initial setting for the book.

Adam started his No. 9 persuasive speech “LIFE” with the question “Are you tired of London?” before promising to “rekindle” our fire for the great city. He took us on a mental walking tour from Warren Street to Victoria and revealed the meaning behind his speech title: London Is Full of Energy!

Femi gave an Advanced Storytelling speech entitled “Never Again” where he told the story of an evening back in November where a lack of attention to detail proved to be a very expensive mistake. Misreading a parking restrictions sign he emerged from a book club meeting to find his car had disappeared. Several hours and £265 later he retrieved it from Hackney’s car pound.

Evaluations

After the break each speaker received an evaluation from a fellow member:

• Ahmed liked the imagery in Monica’s speech and the way she took the audience on a journey. He recommended that she try to project her voice more.
• Ben liked Barnaby’s “cool, calm and collected” style, vivid language and use of analogy. He recommended that he simplify some of the language and to keep an eye on time to avoid an abrupt finish.
• Joowon was intrigued by the title of Adam’s speech and felt his opening questions were very engaging. She recommended that he reduced the pace and spent more time on a summary at the end.
• Michael was hooked from Femi’s opening remark: “I love driving!” said he immediately sympathised with Femi’s predicament of losing his car. He recommended making even better use of the stage and acting out some of the scenarios he’d described.

Table Topics

Table Topicsmaster Carrie introduced a theme inspired by personal experience – looking for new flatmates for a house share.

She asked volunteers to tackle a number of interesting topics, including:

• Why would you make a good housemate? (to Tasos)
• Persuade us that a group of men would be the best housemates (to David)
• What assumptions do people make about you when they first meet you? (to Liz)
• How could you furnish a flat for free? (to guest Robin)
• What’s the worst place you’ve ever lived? (to Jo)
• What white lie would you tell to be chosen as a housemate? (to guest Tracy)

Regular member Renars had the challenging task of evaluating all the topics speakers. He was impressed by the high standard and encouraged all speakers to make full use of the available time.

Reports

Grammarian Bronia gave examples of good uses of language for all of the speakers and commented on uses of the word of the day.

General evaluator Linda gave feedback on the club as a whole and those participants who had not been evaluated elsewhere. She also had a great tip for the Toastmaster – when introducing speakers make sure their name is right at the end of the introduction and lead the applause from there.

Awards

Femi made some club announcements and gave out awards based on votes from the audience:

• Best topic speaker went to guest Robin
• Best evaluator was shared by Mike and Renars
• Best speaker went to Femi himself!

Femi also handed out the “Toastmasters Online Presence” award which had been presented to Bloomsbury Speakers at the Division contest and our VP Public Relations Glen accepted it on behalf of the PR team.

Next meeting

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 20th May 2013 upstairs at The Clerk & Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.

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

Hello and welcome to the May newsletter!

Believe it or not but next month will be my last as president! How time flies and what a busy and fruitful year we’ve had!

When I took over as president we were meeting twice a month with the occasional extra meeting. Now we meet virtually every week to accommodate our record membership, which has soared from 30 to some 50 members in the past year!

Even as I write we have just admitted five brand new members whom I’d like to cordially welcome: David, Helen, Marte, Peter and Rufina. Welcome to the Bloomsbury Speakers family; it’s a pleasure to have you in our midst. I look forward to seeing more of you in the club.

Already I can see Rufina getting stuck in, with her first speech and first timekeeper role booked. Way to go!

Given that we are now at over 50 members in the club, we have decided to freeze membership until the autumn. However, we continue to welcome guests and for those who would like to join, please visit one of our meetings and let us know you are interested.

Now onto the details of this month’s issue. If you are pressed for time you may scroll down to the bottom for the key facts you really need to know.

Please note: this month our VPE Swarajit is acting as guest editor for the newsletter – so many thanks to him for stepping up to take on this role!

What’s happened since the last newsletter?

Regular meetings – We had two great regular meetings in April, complete with fascinating speeches from Rajeev, Michael, Eugenia, Christopher, Hari and Femi. These meetings also featured two of our newest members, Tasos and Sinead delivering their icebreaker speeches. Congratulations to them!

Bloomsbury ‘Speak-athon’ – Our third meeting in April was a special evening (with an experimental format) during which we had seven prepared speeches, with evaluations and two rounds of voting for each! We heard some fascinating and well-constructed speeches from Gemma, Baranby, Damien, Bronia, Eugenia, Paula and Joe, but special thanks goes out to our functionaries for the evening: Ben, Janet, Henry, Glen, Rajeev, Ahmed, Renars, Elena and Nazia, without whom the evening could not have run as well as it did.

The main reason for holding this event was to allow more of our members to get through their speech projects, and we hope to hold more of them going forward. In any case, we would welcome feedback from members and guests of Bloomsbury Speakers on whether you think the format was effective and worthwhile. Contact president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk with your comments.

Table Topics Workshop – With an extra Monday in April, The Real Man Pizza Company played host to an evening of impromptu speaking, run Carrie. Members and guests were given ample opportunity to practice table topics with feedback provided by other experienced Toastmasters. We are grateful to Carrie for leading this session, which was well received by members and guests alike.

Area 34 and Division L contests – After winning our club contests with some style, Janet and Femi respectively went on to represent Bloomsbury Speakers at the Area 34 International Speech and Evaluation contests. Femi won the Evaluation contest at this level, while Janet’s speech about her experiences of being a single mother placed a very respectable second, meaning that they both progressed to the next round at division level.

With the standard at the Division L contest being exceptionally high, this was sadly where it ended but Janet and Femi can be very proud of themselves having progressed as far as they did. It was an exceptional achievement, so well done to both of them!

Club Awards – Bloomsbury Speakers didn’t go totally unrecognised however, being awarded not one or two but three prizes at the Division L contest night.

The first, the Club Officer Training award, was in recognition of our commitment to the development of our leadership team by sending all seven of our committee members to Club Officer Training in September and in January.

The second award was the Toastmasters Online Presence (TOP) award, recognising the high standard of our online marketing strategy – starting with the very website this newsletter is published on, along with excellence in our use of social media and communications – singling us out as an example for other clubs to follow.

Third, because we signed up five new members to your membership base between February 1 and March 31 we received a special “Talk up Toastmasters!” award in April from Toastmasters International.

Non-returning members – I’m sad to say that Chris (our acting Sergeant at Arms) has left the club to focus on other goals. Chris’ departure is a big loss to us not just on the committee but to the club. Personally, I will miss Chris’ cheerful spirit and witty speeches, and I’d like to thank him for the numerous times he helped us to set up the meeting venue.

Punam is also taking some time away from Toastmasters. In the little time Punam was with us, I found her to be a very conscientious and articulate speaker. We will miss her and I hope to see her back in the not-too-distant future.

What’s happening this month?

With May ‘bookended’ by bank holidays, we only have time for two regular meetings this month.

• Monday, 13th May – This first meeting already has a packed agenda, but members can still pre-book into one of the topics slots. The topics section will be headed up by last month’s workshop leader Carrie.
• Monday, 20th May – Another busy programme, with prepared speeches from experienced members Ahmed and Renars, but again there are topics slots up for grabs.

New committee – call for interested parties

With three of the seven committee positions filled, we are making progress in having the new Bloomsbury Speakers committee in place by the time the next Toastmaster year starts in July. (The new committee will take over from July but we will be handing over during June.)

Therefore if you are thinking of joining the committee, the posts listed below are still vacant. Please approach the current post holder or myself to give you more details about these roles between now and June.

Moreover, let us know if you’re interested in getting involved in some way but not necessarily as a full committee member. Perhaps you want to assist in setting up the meeting room from time to time or printing the meeting agenda and bringing them to the meeting. Maybe you are interested in being a mentor, or occasionally writing the meeting reports and/or developing our Facebook page. Or if it’s organising a club social or even supporting anyone of the committee officers, just reply to this email or come and talk to me or one of the other committee members. (Swarajit, Jo, Joe, Elena and Glen)

Note that some of these activities can credit towards your Competent Leadership award. See below for details of an extra incentive for achieving this award sooner rather than later!

Here are the available roles and who to contact:

• Elena Fanaberova – Treasurer – responsible for controlling the club finances to ensure stability and continuity for all members
• Jo Higham – Secretary – responsible for club administration, particularly with regards to committee meetings and decision making
• Glen Long – VP Public Relations – responsible for raising the club profile and attracting new guests, e.g. via website and mailing list (more details here)
• Femi Asaolu – Sergeant at Arms (Acting) – responsible for co-ordinating the room set-up before and after each meeting. The SAA also has a regular slot giving guest introductions (unless taking on another role).

Discounted Renewal Rates

As an incentive for members to complete their Competent Communication and Competent Leadership manuals, we have decided to offer discounted rates for annual membership renewals to members who have achieved one or both of these awards.

Hence, if you have achieved one of the awards you are entitled to a £15 discount from the £85 renewal rate and if you have achieved both then you are entitled to a £30 discount, bringing your renewal down to just £55 for the year!

To be eligible for this: a) your awards need to have been registered through Bloomsbury Speakers, but members who achieved their awards with other clubs are still entitled to the discounts as long as they have previously been a member of Bloomsbury Speakers for at least one year at the full rate; and b) the discount is only available for those renewing for a year NOT for 6 months.

Right, that’s all for now. See you at a meeting soon.

Best wishes,

Femi Asaolu
President
Bloomsbury Speakers

Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know

• Contest Success – Janet and Femi proudly represented the club at the Division International Speech and Evaluation contest having triumphed at both club and area level
• Division Awards – Bloomsbury Speakers has been recognised by the Division for the best online presence (website, etc.), for high levels of new members and for its commitment to training.
• Meetings this month – There are two meetings in May – Monday 13th and Monday 20th – table topics slots are still available for both.
• Join The Committee – There is still an opportunity to join the club’s committee for the new Toastmasters year (starting in July) and help run this thriving club.
• Membership Discounts – We are introducing a scheme to give a discount on club renewal fees for members who successfully achieve their Competent Communicator and/or Competent Leadership awards – up to £30 can be saved!

(Please note: this was a special “Speakathon” meeting with extra prepared speeches to help members progress more quickly through the 10 speeches in the Competent Communication programme).

Introductions

The club president Femi opened the meeting by reminding us of the importance of cheering for all the speakers throughout the evening. He explained that clapping would keep the energy in the room high and help the speakers feel supported. He then recited an inspiring poem entitled ‘Clap for me’.

Femi handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Swarajit, who began by explaining the theme of the evening, which was motivated by the evening’s unusual 7-speech agenda.

This led Swarajit to the idea of the Seven Deadly Sins: Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy and Pride and he asked each of the speakers and evaluators: “Which of the seven deadly sins are you most guilty of and why? And which of the seven deadly sins are others around you most guilty of and why?”

Prepared Speeches – Part 1

Gemma gave her number 3 speech called ‘A Brief History of Tea’ where she shared her love of tea and her fascination of how it has changed the world. She enthusiastically explained how both China and England went through massive transformations for the sake of a nice cuppa. Britain lost one of its colonies as a direct link to the tea industry, and China began to import opium instead of the less mind-altering tea leaf.

In his speech entitled “Economic Growth”, Barnaby sought to explain this concept and eloquently described the changes that happened in the world with the start of the industrial revolution and the separation of labour. Using quotes from the great philosopher Adam Smith, he described why we are able to produce more than we ever had before and asked whether this means we should?

Damien, who started by admitting he can eat several McDonalds chicken nugget meals in one sitting, gave his No. 3 speech entitled INXS. It was a speech about gluttony, and he questioned whether it is as bad as society believes. He looked back in history at some of the most gluttonous figures and described their indulgent eating habits. Damian finished his speech with a quote from the most loved and admired pig in the world: Miss Piggy.

In her motivating No. 5 speech (focussed on good use of body language) Bronia gave us her human rights pitch to a group of 16 year old girls. She recreated the scene by speaking to the audience as if they were the target audience, and revealed the detailed actions that these girls could take in order to gain a better understanding of human rights. The girls were asked to put themselves in the position of being victims of humanitarian violations, and then Bronia challenged them to resolve the issues.

Evaluations – Part 1

After a short break, each speaker was given a spoken evaluation by a fellow club member.

Henry evaluated Gemma’s No. 3 speech and commended her beaming smile and dramatic opening. He particularly liked the “juxtaposition” of big concepts and the human experience of tea drinking. However, he felt that the “vast” amount of information may have hindered the delivery and recommended trying to not to cover so much ground in one speech in future.

Glen evaluated Barnaby’s speech by commending him on this confidence and fluidity. He recommended that Barnaby include less information and focus on a smaller number of key points to engage the audience more. He used the analogy of presenting a short speech as a light meal, with a starter, main and dessert, rather than a single, heavy main course.

Rajeev began his evaluation of Damian’s speech by saying how much he’d enjoyed it, particularly his choice of quotes from Miss Piggy! He had also enjoyed the calm tone and professional “radio” voice. He commended the structure but suggested that Damian depend on his notes less as this would allow him to engage with the audience more.

Ahmed gave a very thorough evaluation of Bronia’s No. 5 speech, looking at stance, hand movements, eye contact, and facial expressions. He commended her strong stance which lent the speech gravitas and her “measured” eye contact which helped to engage the audience very effectively. He highlighted a small amount of “hand clasping” and suggested that this was something she might work on in future speeches.

Prepared Speeches – Part 2

Eugenia’s humorous speech entitled ‘Natural’ which opened our eyes to the misuse of this often ambiguous word. Delving into what companies really mean by “GMO Free” and “Organic”, she made us laugh by showing the lack of validity behind many of these claims. She closed her speech by pointing out that some arguably “unnatural” tasks that we perform daily are in fact more aligned with nature than their “natural” counterparts.

In her No. 6 speech called ‘Imagine’ Paula unravelled why her hero Haile Gebrselassie was a true inspiration. Paula spoke of Haile’s efforts to overcome obstacles that stood in his way as a child in Ethiopia. She told the inspiring story of Haile “stealing” his father’s radio to listen to the dramatic race of a fellow Ethiopian, which gave Haile the confidence to believe he too could become an Olympic champion.

The last speaker of the night was Joe who gave his advanced story telling speech entitled “The Boy’s Search for Treasure”, which was a retelling of the story The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho. Joe recounted a tale of a boy who was too trusting of others and lost his fortune only to regain a different type of treasure through experiencing the world and finding love. In his travels he met different types of people and overcame many challenges, each teaching him something of value.

Evaluations – Part 2

After another short break, the speakers from Part 2 were also evaluated by one of their fellow club members.

Renars evaluated Eugenia speech in his own unique style, as he commended the speaker for her use of humour and body language. He recommended that she speak louder in future so that the audience in the back of the room could hear her as clearly as the front.

Elena evaluated Paula’s speech about the Ethiopian runner Haile Gebrselassie. She commended Paula’s great storytelling and passionate delivery and recommended that she moved the lectern to one side to allow herself to use more of the stage during the her speech.

The final evaluator of the evening was Nazia who evaluated Joe’s advanced speech. Nazia applauded Joe’s storytelling and said that she had thoroughly enjoyed his tale. She recommended that he keep a tighter grip on time (since Joe had been forced to cut his speech short) as it was a shame the audience did not get to hear its ending.

Awards

Closing the meeting Femi handed out the awards based on votes from the audience:

The awards from Part 1 of the meeting were as follows:

• Best evaluator award was given to Glen for his evaluation of Barnaby’s speech
• Best speaker went to Bronia for her speech to 16-year old girls on human rights campaigning

The awards from Part 2 of the meeting:

• Best evaluator award was given to Renars for his evaluation of Eugenia’s speech
• Best speaker to Paula for her inspiring speech about Haile Gebrselassie

Next meeting

Our next regular meeting will be held on Monday, 13th May 2013 upstairs at The Clerk & Well pub, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU.

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

Meeting report written by Janet.