Introductions

Club President Femi opened the meeting by explaining the background of Toastmasters. His tip for the evening’s participants was to smile as it helps a speaker to connect to the audience. To encourage us he claimed that research had shown that smiling can give more pleasure than sex!

Femi then handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Hari, who explained the format of the evening. Noting the death earlier that day of Baroness Thatcher he said her quote ‘Hard work will get you to the top’  also held true of Toastmasters.  His theme for the meeting was a question – What would 2013 be the year of? – and he used this to introduce each participant.

Marcin, the Timekeeper for the evening, stressed the importance of speakers not going over their allotted time and explained how the lights would provide signals for all the speakers.

Chris was the evening’s Grammarian and he stated that he would be looking out for examples of interesting language throughout the meeting. Chris also referenced Margaret Thatcher in his word of the day which was ‘unflinching’.

Prepared Speeches

In his icebreaker speech ‘Nostos’ Tasos explained that the speech title was a Greek word which meant ‘returning home after a long period away’. He noted that he would like one day to return to his home country of Greece and related several tales of his early life growing up there. His anecdotes included reference to his love of sports and his inability to sing.

In an informative No. 2 speech entitled “Top of the Class” Rajeev described his first (3rd class) train journey in Sri Lanka before giving us a history of the British class system and outlining the new 7 class system and what class means today. He ended by saying that it doesn’t matter which class you are in as you travel through life as the most important thing is to enjoy the journey!

Next up was Mike who explained in his No. 2 speech ‘The Sound of Silence’ how much time he is spending in libraries as he is studying for a PHD and how many different distractions other library users create. He gave advice on dealing with everything from mobile phones to nail polish smells and comcluded that classical music at a low volume will drown out other noises but not distract your attention from your work (although he didn’t have a solution for the nail polish aroma!)

The final speaker was Eugenia who gave us a No. 4 speech entitled ‘I run out of inspiration’. The subject of this very helpful speech was the difficulty of finding ideas for speech topics. Her suggestions were i) take a step back and look at what is around you, ii) change that object and take it to the extreme eg if you are looking at a lighter your topic could be a very large light such as the sun or a very small object such as light bugs. Thinking about the extremes of big and small, slow and fast, heavy and light allows you to collect potential topics for speeches.

Evaluations

After the break each of the speakers was given a spoken evaluation by a fellow club member.

Kate evaluated Tasos’ icebreaker speech and commended his relaxed calm manner and confidence to move around the stage. She recommended that he try to speak a little longer next time and also work on spreading his eye contact evenly around the room.

Barnaby evaluated Rajeev’s speech and praised the opening and conclusion which were both linked to a train journey. He also like the clear structure and the interaction with the audience. He recommended trying to make the transitions between sections smoother.

Bronia reviewed Mike’s speech about library distractions. She commended his simple but effective language and the images he painted by referring to each of the five senses. She noted a few umms and aahs at the beginning and also noted that his smile only appeared towards the end of the speech so recommended smiling throughout.

Elena evaluated Eugenia’s No. 4 speech. She enjoyed the vocal variety Eugenia displayed with changes in volume and pace and also commended the structure and language. Elena thought that more movement around the stage would have added more impact and made the speech more entertaining.

Table Topics

The Table Topicsmaster, Ahmed, had a mixed theme and asked six questions around moving home, travel and holidays with both members and guests giving impromptu answers.

Awards

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

• Best Table Topic was won by Ben
• Best Evaluator award went to Bronia
• Best Speaker was won by Rajeev

Tasos received an ice breaker ribbon to commemorate his first speech and the President’s discretionary award went to the evening’s Timekeeper Marcin. Toastmaster Hari was also presented with the Advanced Leader Bronze Award which he has recently achieved.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is on Monday 15th April upstairs at The Clerk & Well, 156 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5DU. Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.

Hello and welcome to the April newsletter!

My fellow Toastmasters, you inspire me!

Since the beginning of this year, we have been encouraging you to develop your confidence and speaking skills through regular practice, and to stretch yourself by entering the International Speech and Evaluation contests.

Not only have you embraced this idea of growth – which is seen in the way many of you have been active in the club and how many of you entered the contests including some very new members – but you have also been supportive of the club’s successful running.

In this issue, I bring you, among other things, news on:

• how you can continue to develop your speaking skills;
• our club contests (together with how you can support the winners);
• how Toastmasters has had a positive impact on Mike – our latest competent communicator; and
• the various ways you can get involved in supporting and running Bloomsbury Speakers

However if you don’t have time to read the whole newsletter, I’m going to lead with the key points you really need to know this month.

But I’d be well chuffed if you read the whole piece. Plus see whether you get a mention.

 Key facts – just the stuff you really need to know

• Area Contests – Please come along to support our club contest winners, Janet (speech) and Femi (evaluation), at the area-level round of the International Speech and Evaluation Contests which take place on Thursday, 11th April from 6:30pm at Tube Talk, London Underground, 55 Broadway, London SW1H 0BD (above St. James’s Park tube station). Free registration via http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6183915257 is essential to attend!
• Our regular meetings in April are on Monday 8th and Monday 15th. 
• Bloomsbury Speak-athon – On Monday 22nd April, this special meeting will feature only prepared speeches and evaluations.
• At the time of this newsletter, the speech slots are already filled in these three meetings but there are still functionary roles available – and remember you need to perform at least one functionary role between prepared speeches.
• Table Topics Workshop – this workshop which takes place on Monday, 29th April will help you to hone your impromptu speaking skills by providing helpful tips and lots of opportunities to practice in a super-friendly environment. Places will be limited, so if you want to attend, please email Femi at president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.
• Fancy joining the committee? We are looking for new people to join the committee – the group of members who are responsible for running the club – in the summer. If you are interested, please come and speak to myself or any of the current club officers.
• Read ‘Meet the Members – Your responses’  email (from Joe, our Vice President Membership) which was sent to members on Sunday 7th April, to discover how diverse our membership is, and to know a little bit more about your fellow members.

What’s happened since the last newsletter?

Regular meetings – We had three great regular meetings in March, complete with fascinating speeches from Renars, Barnaby, Michael, Elena, Ahmed, Hari, Adam, Carrie and myself. These meetings also featured a number of our newest members delivering their icebreaker speeches. I’m thinking of Ben, Marcin and James here. Well done guys!

I was also fascinated with Ayla, our 6-year-old special guest Madam Toastmaster, who brilliantly co-hosted the second meeting in March with her mum, Janet.

Bloomsbury Contests – Then there were the contests meeting at the end of March – the club round of the International Speech and Evaluation contests!

Quite a number of people took part which I find striking; we had five speech contestants and seven evaluators three of whom were new members, namely Jowoon, Gemma and Rajeev! You can read all about it in the official contest report.

Lastly, I’d like to thank everyone who helped out especially Elena and Swarajit.

Icebreaker Awards – Ben, James and Marcin delivered their first prepared speeches from the competent communication manual and thereby received the ice–breaker award.

Competent Communicator award – Michael Abrey-Bugg is our latest member to achieve the competent communicator award.  To achieve this status, Michael had to prepare and deliver 10 speeches based on projects/objectives from the competent communication manual. He achieved the status on 23rd March at Purley Speakers where he delivered a longer rendition of the speech he gave during our speech contests on 25th March. See our official contest report for more about his speech.

Advanced Leader Bronze Award – Congratulations to Hari who achieved this very distinguished award in March. It means that in addition to achieving his Competent Communicator and the Competent Leader awards, Hari has also served as a club officer for at least six months (when he was Vice President Membership on the committee). He has participated in a district-sponsored club officer training program and conducted two presentations from The Successful Club Series and/or The Leadership Excellence Series .

Meet The Members – We ran our ‘Meet The Members’ mini-questionnaire in which Joe, our current Vice President Membership, asked our members to tell us a bit more about themselves. There has been a great deal of response which Joe has compiled into a single ‘Meet the Members – Your responses’ email that you should have received by now.  Check it out! See how diverse our membership is and learn a little more about your fellow members.

What’s happening this month?

We have four meetings in April: two regular meetings complete with prepared speeches and table topics, one special ‘speak-athon’ meeting with only prepared speeches and evaluations and an educative workshop meeting.

Monday, 8th April – This first meeting already has a packed agenda, but members can still pre-book into one Topics slot.  

You can pick up a lot of good things on hosting a meeting simply by observing the way Hari – who is the Toastmaster for the night – runs this meeting. And some seasoned evaluators to watch out for include Elena and Kate. Our General Evaluator for the meeting, Gina Georgio, is another one to watch especially for her warm delivery style.

Monday, 15th April – Another busy agenda though there are evaluator roles still up for grabs, and the topics slots are yet to be fully booked.

An experienced person to watch out for is our General Evaluator for the night, Mildred Talabi, who is a careers speaker, writer and experienced member of one of our neighboring clubs, Tube Talk.

Monday, 22nd April – We are running this special meeting – of purely prepared speeches and evaluations – to increase prepared speaking slots given the recent influx of new members.  Hence instead of the usual four prepared speeches, we will be having seven in total, and each will be evaluated.

Experienced evaluators to watch are Glen (for comprehensive analysis and great language), Ratan (encouragement and fun delivery style), Elena (in depth analysis and structure) and Renars (for confidence). I would also take notes on how the toastmaster, Swarajit, who is renowned for his dead-pan humour, leads this meeting.

Monday, 29th April – This is a Table Topics workshop meeting designed to help members and guests improve impromptu speaking.

The session will be hosted by our own member Carrie Swift who did an excellent job co-hosting our club contests a couple of weeks ago. It promises to be a fun-packed night and we would like to invite you to make it a memorable time.

Thursday, 11th April – Please join us at the Area 34 International Speech and Evaluation Contest Finals to support the winners of our recent contests as they represent Bloomsbury Speakers against the winners of the other clubs in the area.

It’s an excellent opportunity to witness, network with and learn from really good speakers, given how our area often showcases very strong contestants.

The finals will be hosted by Tube Talk from 6.30pm-9.00pm at London Underground, 55 Broadway, London SW1H 0BD (above St. James’s Park tube station). Free registration via http://www.eventbrite.com/event/6183915257 is essential to attend!

 

For more news on contests in our area and in other Toastmasters clubs/areas, please visit www.thelondonspeaker.com.

Want to support the club or fancy joining our committee?

Earlier in my introduction, I promised to share ways in which you could contribute to the successful running of our club.  Here are three:

Helping out

• One way is to volunteer to write meeting reports perhaps once a month or so. If you are interested in that, please contact our club officer for PR and Immediate Past President Glen (info@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk).
• Another way is to help is to be a mentor, especially if you’ve done a few speeches already. If you want to be a mentor, please write Joe at membership@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk
• We are looking for a replacement Sergeant at Arms, who is 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). If you’d like to find out more, please get in touch with Femi at president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk

Joining the committee

But a major way to really support the club is to join the committee. This is the group of members responsible for keeping the club running and the members happy.

As it turns out, we will soon be approaching the end of the Toastmasters calendar year when a new committee takes over; the toastmaster year starts in July and ends in June. So this is an ideal time to start thinking about who the next committee members will be.

When a new committee is being selected in a typical Toastmasters club, what usually happens is that some existing committee members will step down, some may want to be considered for other roles, and occasionally others would like to stay exactly where they are.

Whatever the case, there are always opportunities for new people to get involved and we always encourage new people to join every year for diversity.

Here’s a description of the roles with their current holders. Please take a look, see if there’s any you fancy, then come and speak to myself or the incumbent committee member for the role you are interested in.

• President – Femi Asaolu – has overall responsibility for the successful running of the club
• VP Education – Swarajit Das – ensures that we run successful meetings with all roles filled and that the club’s educational goals are met
• VP Membership & Mentoring – Joe Lake – looks after new and existing members to help them get the most out of the club and meet their personal development goals
• Treasurer – Elena Fanaberova – responsible for controlling the club finances to ensure stability and continuity for all members
• Secretary – Jo Higham – responsible for club administration, particularly with regards to committee meetings and decision making
• VP Public Relations – Glen Long – responsible for raising the club profile and attracting new guests, e.g. via website and mailing list
• Sergeant at Arms – Christopher Foster-McBride (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).

To conclude this section, here are three reasons you might want to get involved according to our Immediate Past President, Glen Long and I quote:

• You want to improve your leadership and team-working skills alongside a bunch of fun people
• You feel you’ve gained a lot from being a member now would like to “give something back” so that other people can benefit similarly in the future
• You want to become more involved in Toastmasters generally (by serving on the committee you’ll come into contact with committee members from other clubs and this can be a great to build your network)

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A member’s perspective, by Mike – our latest competent communicator

This is where I would normally share a tip. But this time, I figured it would be best for a fellow member of the club to share how Toastmasters have positively transformed their speaking/career. Over to Mike…

It was a little over a year ago that I first visited Bloomsbury Speakers. At the time, I was looking at my career and working out what to do next.  A number of things were not working out for me – the company had a new focus outside my current area, a new management team was in place and I still had a foot in the old camp of management, all of which amounted to me not fitting into the set-up.

I must admit my interest in Bloomsbury Speakers was to be a toastmaster, complete with red coat, so I was not really prepared for my first meeting at The Real Man Pizza Company. I found I was captivated by Toastmasters from the start, particularly the positive flow and focus of each meeting, and I was intrigued by the prepared speeches. I was impressed with how the meetings were run to time and to an agenda; these are areas that are dear to my heart.  I was equally impressed by the feedback being positive but challenging and learning how to explain to people in an encouraging way that there may be a better way of delivering their message. (A book I was reading at the time, Employees First, Customers Second by Vineet Nayer – which, in short, said if you treat your people right they will treat your customers right – very much seemed to fit with the ethos of Toastmasters.)

As each meeting went by, I was absorbing new skills and renewing techniques which I had either forgotten or had lost any sense of. But on reflection it seems to me I was being repaired and the inner sparkle of the inner child was being rekindled. My dear wife even found I was actually good to be with.

Some key things that were important to me were the positive vibe of each meeting and an understanding of how to give feedback. At the time, my approach to feedback was to avoid giving it at all as I feared it may be scorned upon. It was at one meeting though, where I heard a speech from the advanced series on how to give feedback where the speaker said something like ‘the thing about feedback is that the recipient can chose to accept or reject it’. Without question that brought a dramatic change to my approach to work because I realised that, with the experience and education I already had, I actually had a great deal to contribute and it was my duty to communicate this information so that people could chose to accept or reject it. Not only did I start to make an effective contribution to meetings but I also started to lead meetings through my contribution. My colleagues noticed the difference and a new pleasant and positive demeanour from me in general.  Some even said I was the natural leader of my group, which has brought new challenges.

My annual appraisal this year read ‘Mike is a joy to work with I am lucky to have his support’. Clearly it is not solely down to Toastmasters but without doubt it has had a dramatic effect as I am now much more aware of my surroundings and the ability to make a positive contribution by taking active responsibility for my actions.

I would recommend this ‘executive’ rehabilitation to anyone. I am still looking for new opportunities but my environment is positive and, as Michael Jackson sang, I’m starting with the man in the mirror.

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

Best wishes,

Femi Asaolu
President
Bloomsbury Speakers

Introductions

Club President Femi opened this special meeting by giving a short history of the club and the Toastmasters organisation.

The Chair for the speech contest was past president and club co-founder Nazia, who welcomed guests and participants and reminded everyone why we compete – to stretch ourselves and go beyond our comfort zone.

International Speech Contest

The first half of the meeting was given over to the International Speech contest where the winner could end up competing at the world championships in America!

Nazia read out the order for the speakers as decided by random ballot and explained that each speaker would have five to seven minutes to give an original speech – more than 30 seconds under the minimum or over the maximum would result in disqualification.

The first contest speaker was Joe with a speech entitled “Mountainous Adventures” in which he told the story of a visit to Morocco in his early twenties. He was captivated by Marrakech and the main square with its “maze of shops” and “buzz of enthusiasm”. From Marrakech there were three options: sleeping under the stars in the desert, chilling out on the beach or trekking in the Atlas mountains. He chose the trek but what should have been a relatively easy climb became a nightmare with the onset of food poisoning!

The second contest speaker was Hari with a speech entitled “Power In The Present”. He started the speech holding an envelope in one hand and took us back to the day he was waiting to find out his ‘A’ level results. On that day he said he thought he could influence the results – before he opened the envelope – by sheer power of thought. In a very thought-provoking speech he discussed a fascinating theory about being able to change what had happened in the past – as long as you didn’t know the previous outcome.

The third contest speaker was Mike with his speech “We Are Family”. He took us on a journey which began 12 months ago with him as “a grumpy person” not wanting to get involved with things, to someone who “had something to contribute, who could move things forward”. He drew a vivid picture of his work “family” and in parallel described the changes – catalysed by his experiences at Toastmasters – which had transformed him over the course of a year.

The fourth contest speaker was Swarajit, with a speech entitled “They Don’t Work Together”. “If there’s one subject people avoid,” he said, “it’s religious belief”. Over the course of his speech he laid out – in a thoughtful and measured fashion – the various reasons he felt that science and religion were fundamentally incompatible. He introduced us to the concept of “The God of The Gaps” who was often used to explain those areas not yet fully understood by science and concluded that attempts to unify the two points of view could never be successful.

The fifth and final contest speaker was Janet with a speech simply entitled “Love”. She took us back to a period in her life where her inspiring boss had just been fired and she decided to leave the security of that big organisation for a role in a small, growing company. It was on a trip to Nepal between the two jobs that she found out she was pregnant, lost her job offer and started a life-changing transition which culminated in the birth of her beautiful daughter. Looking back, she said that she “measured that year in love”.

After the break – filled with lively conversation and free pizza! – it was time to begin the second contest of the evening, the Evaluation Contest.

Evaluation Contest

Contest Chair Carrie welcomed everyone back from the break and gave a description of the role of evaluation within Toastmasters. She then went on to explain the ground rules for the contest before introducing the “mystery speaker”, who would be evaluated by each of the contestants in turn for two to three minutes.

The speaker was revealed to be another Femi, this time visiting from City of London Speakers. He gave an impassioned speech entitled “The Second Amendment” in which he promised to help us “piece together the complex puzzle” of the second amendment – the right to bear arms. He told us about the historical role of organised militias in maintaining order and the subsequent establishment of the first “standing army” during the time of William the Conqueror. In his conclusion he argued that the second amendment “was never meant to be a pretext to personal gun ownership”.

At the end of the speech the seven contestants – Joe, Hari, Kate, Joowon, Gemma, Rajeev and Femi – were led out of the room and given five minutes to organise their notes before returning one-by-one to give their evaluations.

Results

After the judges’ ballots had been counted under the watchful eye of Chief Judge Jay (from Holborn Speakers) it was time to announce the results!

In the Evaluation Contest:

• Third place went to Hari
• Second place went to Kate
• First Place went to Femi

In the International Speech Contest:

• Third place went to Mike
• Second place went to Hari
• First place went to Janet

Congratulations to all contestants and particularly to Femi and Janet who go on to represent the club at the Area contest in April.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is Monday 8th April, upstairs at The Clerk & Well, 156 Clerkenwell Road, London, EC1R 5DU. Doors open at 6.30pm for a prompt 6.45pm start.

Have a great Easter!

Introductions

The club president Femi opened the meeting with an inspiring introduction which quoted famous US Senator Daniel Webster: “If all my possessions were taken from me with one exception, I would choose to keep the power of communication, for by it I would soon regain all the rest”. Femi went on to recommend regular practice to really help you to “hone your confidence”.

Femi handed over to the evening’s Toastmaster Joe, who described himself as the “orchestrator” of the meeting and introduced his theme, goodwill. He told a recent personal story of a time when he had saved a young child’s toy from the middle of a busy road and been labelled a “hero” by the child’s mother!

Barnaby, the Timekeeper for the evening, stressed the importance of speakers not going over their allotted time and gave the example that in a contest they would be disqualified for going more than 30 seconds past the red light.

Alex, the Grammarian, explained that she would be looking out for “nice uses of language” and also for “ums” and “ahhs”, recommending that speakers pause instead. She also introduced the word of the day “nebulous”, which means indistinct and vague.

Prepared Speeches

In his icebreaker speech “A Job for Life” James made an interesting comparison between job expectations now and in the past – 100 years ago everyone had a job for life. If your father was a coal miner, you would also be a coal miner. These days, he said, if you haven’t had three careers by 40, people might think you’re a little strange! He told us about his own career changes from a teacher of English as a foreign language, to a paralegal, to now pondering his next career move.

In a very humorous No. 4 speech entitled “Maid for the 21st Century” Carrie (who’s been a bridesmaid four times) told us why being a bridesmaid is not a dream role, why you should avoid it, and how to spot engagements before they happen so that you can “reposition” your friendships. Her frustration came from the trend that each hen ‘do’ had to be “more extravagant, more memorable, more raucous” than the last.

In another very humorous speech, this time a No. 8 from Adam, we were given his rather unique take on the Tube. According to Adam this is in fact an acronym for “Total Urban Battlefield Experience”. Each time you descend the escalator down into the tube, he warned us, you’re actually heading into war. He identified key aggressors on the battlefield – the “pole dancers”, newspaper readers and “make-up models” – and gave us tips for fighting back, including the use of an umbrella as a weapon.

The final speaker was experienced member Hari who delivered an advanced speech from the storytelling manual – “The Folk Tale”, whose objectives were as follows:

• To tell a folk tale that is entertaining and enjoyable for a specific age group.
• To use vivid imagery and voice to enhance the tale.

He chose to tell a story from Ancient Greece – Theseus and the Minotaur – using great vocal variety and rich body language to bring the story to life.

Evaluations

After the break each of the speakers was given a spoken evaluation by a fellow club member.

Ahmed evaluated James’s icebreaker speech and commended his strong opening, his sign-posted speech structure and good voice projection. He recommended calmer hand gestures and looking down at the floor less.

Henry opened his evaluation of Carrie’s speech about being a bridesmaid with a review of her objectives. He commended her use of rhetoric and also her “vivid” and “evocative” language. He recommended using more vocal variety and giving her jokes time to sink in.

First time evaluator Joowon reviewed Adam’s speech about the Tube. She commended the way he had grabbed the audience’s attention from the very start and his creative use of props to illustrate his points. She recommended he slowed down a little and shared his attention evenly among both sides of the audience.

Eugenia evaluated Hari’s advanced speech. She commended him on his good use of the stage and a setting a great example for less experienced speakers. She recommended sticking more closely to the project brief as she felt the Greek Legend was not strictly a folk tale.

Table Topics

The Table Topicsmaster, Glen, used a well-known Rudyard Kipling poem as the inspiration for his questions.The poem includes the lines:

I keep six honest serving men (they taught me all I knew);

Their names are What and Why and When and How and Where and Who

He asked the topics volunteers to answer the following questions:

• WHAT do you know now that you wish you’d known a year ago?
• WHY do so many people have a fear of public speaking?
• WHEN did you last make a big decision that changed the direction of your life?
• HOW did you get what you wanted as a child?

Awards

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

• Best Evaluator award was shared between Jo and Henry
• Best Table Topic was won by visiting Toastmaster Kevon
• Best Speaker was won by Adam

James received an ice breaker ribbon to commemorate his first speech and the President’s discretionary award went to the Toastmaster Joe Lake.

Next meeting

Our next meeting is our special contest meeting on Monday 25th March – please note the change from our normal venue:

The Real Man Pizza Company, 91-95 Clerkenwell Road, London. (This is directly opposite our regular venue!)

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