Hello and welcome to the spring 2019 newsletter!

It’s spring contest season and that means Toastmasters clubs up and down the country are holding their International Speech and Evaluation contests. You can read about what happened at ours below but, before that, please note that our second meeting in April will take place on the fifth Monday (29^th April) rather than the fourth, which is a bank holiday.

There’s plenty more dates for your diary below!

What’s in this newsletter?

• Spring contests – the results so far!
• Upcoming workshops
• Club socials
• Want to lead your club?
• New members

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Spring contests – the results so far!

At the beginning of the month we held our annual International Speech and Evaluation contests. Five contestants took part in the International Speech contest, with speeches on topics ranging from artificial intelligence to a wander through the streets of Islington and an upcoming swim across the English Channel.

After a closely fought competition, the final results were:

• 3^rd place – Sheldon Dee
• 2^nd place – Margarita Sachkova
• 1^st place – Matt Robertson

In the Evaluation contest, four competitors all evaluated a speech on our visiting speaker’s troubles with Turkish airport security. After the counters and chief judge returned, the results were announced as:

• 2^nd place – Matt Robertson
• 1^st place – Margarita Sachkova

Matt and Margarita went on to represent the club at the Area 2 finals, which were held last week in Southwark. Matt once again placed first in the International Speech contest with his spectacular speech “Magic Maketh Man”. Margarita didn’t place first in the Evaluation contest but still did a stellar job!

Matt is now through to the Division C contest and will be up against the champions of the other areas in central London, so please go along and show your support.

Date: Saturday, 13^th April
Time: 10am-3:45pm
Venue: Saint Boltoph’s without Aldersgate church (Map)
Price: £5.92-£8.06
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/sharing-your-stories-tickets-56994715729

Lunch is included in the ticket price and, as well as the third rounds of the International Speech and Evaluation contests in our division, there will also be workshops to help you become a better storyteller – an essential skill in giving impactful speeches.

If Matt wins again in this round, he’ll be through to the District 91 contest which will take place over the weekend of 3^rd-5^th May in Ashford, Kent. This event also includes the finals for the Evaluation, Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests, as well as more workshops on communication and leadership, so there’ll be plenty to see and do. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

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Upcoming workshops

There are always opportunities to learn and improve at events around the Toastmasters community. Here are just a few upcoming workshops that anyone can attend for free.

Body Language Masterclass
Former UK & Ireland evaluation champion Lynne Cantor will share the “secrets of non-verbal communication”.

Date: Wednesday, 27^th March
Time: 7pm
Venue: PMI UK Toastmasters Club, Saint Boltoph’s without Aldgate church (Map)
Price: FREE
Tickets: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/pmi-uk-toastmasters-club-body-language-masterclass-tickets-57924690308

Table Topics Workshop
Table Topics district champion and debating expert Paul Carroll will share his top tips for terrific table topics.

Date: Tuesday, 30^th April
Time: 6:45pm
Venue: Holborn Speakers, The Rugby Tavern, 19 Great James Street, WC1N 3ES (Map)
Price: FREE

Evaluation Workshop
Another one from champion Lynne Cantor! Learn how you can make your evaluations even more effective.

Date: Tuesday, 28^th May
Time: 6:45pm
Venue: Holborn Speakers, The Rugby Tavern, 19 Great James Street, WC1N 3ES (Map)
Price: FREE

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Club socials

We love socials at Bloomsbury Speakers, and this month we’re planning something with a more intellectual slant – a visit to the Natural History Museum’s monthly ‘Lates’ event (and hopefully some food and drinks afterwards).

The details are below, just let us know if you’d like to come.

Date: Friday, 29^th March
Time: 6:30pm onwards
Venue: Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, SW7 5BD (Map)
Price: FREE

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Want to lead your club?

As you may know, every Toastmasters club is run by a committee of volunteers from its membership. As we enter the last quarter of the Toastmasters year (which runs from July to June), it’s time to start thinking about whether you would like to lead your club into the year ahead.

Joining your club’s committee is a fantastic way of gaining and honing your leadership skills– and, just like a regular meeting, a Toastmasters committee is a safe and friendly environment in which to do so. There are roles to suit all levels of skills, experience and time commitment and you’ll also have a direct impact on the day-to-day running of your club.

If you’d like to find out more about what the different roles on the committee entail, feel free to speak to any of the existing members or get in touch via president@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.

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New members

Finally, we’re very pleased to welcome our newest members Henrik, Anca, Eoin and John – they’re already playing an active part in the club!

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That’s all for this newsletter – see you at a meeting soon!

Hello and welcome to the winter 2018 newsletter!

We had our last meeting of 2018 this week, but we have one more evening get-together up our sleeve – join us for an informal social from 6:30pm next Monday, 17^th December. We’ll be at our old haunt The Clerk & Well, 156 Clerkenwell Road, EC1R 5DU which has some great Thai food. See you there!

It’s been an eventful few months for the club – not only did we move to our new venue The City Pride (arguably some way outside Bloomsbury itself), but our members had great success in the autumn Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests. Keep reading to find out what happened.

Moving with the times, we’ve also created a members-only WhatsApp group to share news of club events, including socials and last-minute roles that need filling at our meetings. It’s proven to be quite effective so far and we welcome feedback.

What’s in this newsletter?

• Autumn contests – the results!
• Spring contests – looking ahead
• Club socials
• Mentoring
• New members

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Autumn contests – the results!

Margarita was our double champion in the club’s Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests and, after winning again at the area contests, she took her speech about an embarrassing addiction to reality TV all the way to the Division C finals!

Meanwhile, Helen also qualified through her corporate club at Google – again in both contests – to make it to the same finals as Margarita with a speech about her family heritage, telling us where she was really from.

The two of them did us proud – Margarita placed third in the Humorous Speech contest while Helen placed second in both the Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests – and both members were robbed of a higher placing in this author’s humble opinion!

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Spring contests – looking ahead

They’re still a few months away, but it’s never too early to start thinking about the annual International Speech and Evaluation contests. The Evaluation contest requires all contestants to evaluate one speech given by a mystery speaker – this really pushes your critical thinking and evaluation skills to the limit, as you’ll have much less time to prepare than you do in a regular meeting (just 5 minutes), but it’s a great experience.

Meanwhile, the prestigious International Speech contest involves writing and delivering your own 5-7 minute speech on any subject, with the eventual winner being crowned World Champion of Public Speaking.

To be eligible for the International Speech contest, you need to have completed at least six speech projects from the Competent Communication manual or a minimum of two levels in a Toastmasters Pathway. All members are eligible to enter the evaluation contest.

Both contests will be held on the same night in March, so get preparing and practising!

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Club socials

As mentioned above, we have one last informal meetup planned for next Monday, 17^th December at The Clerk & Well – but regardless, it’s been another busy quarter for club socials at Bloomsbury Speakers.

In November we had a fun night of Scottish folk dancing at a ceilidh event in Camden, and last week we took an early leap on to the Christmas bandwagon with our festive meal – held jointly with our friends from Kings Cross Speakers. Much merriment was had by all!

We’re always happy to receive ideas for more social events, so do get in touch via socials@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk or the WhatsApp group with any suggestions you might have.

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Mentoring

As members of Bloomsbury Speakers, many of us have benefitted from having a mentor within the club. A mentor is someone (usually a more experienced member of the club) who can give help and advice to guide you on your Toastmasters educational path. This can involve helping you draft your first speech, watching you practice and giving you immediate feedback or advising you how to prepare for functionary roles at club meetings.

If you’d like to become a mentor or benefit from having on yourself, feel free to get in touch via mentoring@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk.

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Code of Conduct

Our club Code of Conduct has now been finalised – these are the basic rules we expect all our members and guests to follow to make Bloomsbury Speakers as friendly and supportive as possible.

• I will applaud every speaker
• I will listen to every speaker
• I will provide honest and constructive feedback to speakers when asked to do so
• I will help keep the meeting space tidy
• I will keep my phone on silent and otherwise avoid disrupting the meeting
• I will not pressure anyone to speak who does not want to speak
• I will not discriminate against anyone on the basis of their age, race, religion, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or ability
• I will not cause discomfort to any guest or member, and I will step in if I see this happening to anyone else
• I will help to make Bloomsbury Speakers an inclusive and nurturing club

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New members

Finally, please welcome our newest members Gabriele and Yassine as well as returning member Aislinn – she couldn’t stay away forever! Be sure to say hello to all three at a future meeting.

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That’s all for this newsletter – see you at a meeting soon!

Hello and welcome to the autumn 2018 newsletter!

We’re just over two months into the Toastmasters year (which starts in July), but your new committee is has been working hard behind the scenes on keeping everything running smoothly. See the People page on our website for details of who’s who!

What’s in this newsletter?

• Contest season
• Membership fee increase
• Club socials
• Pathways
• Code of Conduct
• New members

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Contest season

Autumn in the UK means it’s Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest season, and Bloomsbury Speakers’ club contest date has been set for Monday, 1^st October.

All paid-up members of the club are eligible to compete in what is always a fun and unpredictable night of public speaking. The Humorous Speech contest involves contestants delivering a 5-7 minute prepared speech on a topic of their choosing. For the table topics contest, contestants all deliver a 1-2 minute response to the same topic, which is set by the contest chair and could be about absolutely anything!

The winners of each contest will go up against the winners from the other clubs in our area on Thursday, 11^th October at Blue Fin Speakers, 110 Southwark Street.

All members are encouraged to enter both contests, but we also need functionaries to help run the show on the night – contest chairs, timekeepers, a sergeant at arms and a couple of vote counters. Enter and volunteer by signing up on easy-Speak – and, of course, we need an audience too!

Judges are normally invited from other Toastmasters clubs, which means we need our members to reciprocate by judging at their club contests. Please get in touch via education@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk if you’re interested in helping out. It’s a great opportunity to see and judge some entertaining speeches from speakers outside our own club – and you don’t need any previous experience as a full briefing will be given beforehand.

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Membership fee increase

Like all Toastmasters clubs, Bloomsbury Speakers is run not-for-profit by its members and for the benefit of its members. Price rises are never welcome news but, due to costs increasing, they are unfortunately a necessity from time to time.

From September onwards, membership fees will be increasing as follows:

• The fees for new members will be £125 for a year or £95 for six months.
• Renewal fees will be £110 for a year or £80 for six months.

Bloomsbury Speakers is affiliated to Toastmasters International, and the majority of your membership fee is paid directly to the organisation as dues. In return you receive the monthly Toastmaster magazine and access to the educational materials that we all work through to become better public speakers and leaders. It also means that we can hold and enter our four speech competitions each year (International Speech, Evaluation, Humorous Speech and Table Topics).

The remainder of your fee is used to meet club expenses such as hosting our website, printing materials for meetings and subsidising club events. All things considered, it’s still great value for money and we’re still among the cheapest Toastmasters clubs in central London.

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Club socials

We’ve always been a friendly and sociable club and, over what was one of the longest-lasting and hottest summers in recent memory, we held several social events. These included a trip to Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park and not one but two hikes through the English countryside.

It seems a bit early – and we may have another event sooner – but our Sergeant at Arms, Lei, is already researching possible venues for our club Christmas social! Do get in touch via socials@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk with any suggestions you might have.

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Pathways

In March this year, Toastmasters International rolled out its new Pathways educational programme in District 91 (Southern England & Wales). Unlike the old Competent Communication and Competent Leadership tracks, which were seen as something of a ‘one size fits all’ system, Pathways allows for a much more tailored learning experience based on your individual requirements. See the Pathways website to read all about it.

www.toastmasters.org/pathways-overview

Those of us still working towards any of the awards in the legacy tracks have until March 2020 to complete them, but in the meantime it will actually be our newest members acting as the trailblazers in Pathways. We look forward to hearing about your experiences using the new educational programme!

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Code of Conduct

To make our club as supportive and welcoming as possible, the committee has written a Code of Conduct that all members and guests should follow. As this is quite new, and as is the case for everything in Toastmasters, feedback is welcome!

• I will applaud every speaker
• I will listen to every speaker
• I will provide honest and constructive feedback to speakers when asked to do so
• I will help keep the meeting space tidy
• I will keep my phone on silent and otherwise avoid disrupting the meeting
• I will not pressure anyone to speak who does not want to speak
• I will not discriminate against anyone on the basis of their age, race, sex, gender, sexual orientation, or ability
• I will not cause discomfort to any guest or member, and I will step in if I see this happening to anyone else
• I will help to make Bloomsbury Speakers an inclusive and nurturing club

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New members

Finally, please extend a warm welcome to our newest members Kamakshi, Mary and Mara. We look forward to hearing their ice breaker speeches in the near future.

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That’s all for this newsletter – see you at a meeting soon!

Introduction

We met on Monday 25^th June and had a great evening packed with prepared speeches, impromptu sessions and evaluations.

Roles

Peter R, President of the Club, welcomed everyone to the meeting and spoke about the benefits of being a member of Toastmasters. He then introduced Toastmaster Chantal who explained the agenda and in turn introduced Timekeeper Andy.

Prepared speeches

The first speaker was Sarah with her Competent Communicator Speech #7 “Does Witchcraft Belief Co-evolve with Social Organisation?”.

Second to speak was Sheldon with his Technical Presentations Speech #2 “Breaching the Final Echo Chamber”.

The last speaker was Luisa with her Competent Communicator Speech #8 “My Three Favourite Items in 2018”.

Scott then led the guest introductions.

Table Topics

After the break, we heard from the evening’s evaluators – Swarajit, Atul and Yamina.

After that, Table Topics Master Renars led the evening’s table topics session, and Swarajit, Scott, Estella, Sab, Stirling, Sandra and Mary participated. Highlights included Scott’s favourite thing to do in London during the summer (i.e. smelling hot rubbish!) and Stirling’s advice to switch from Coke to coconut water (sorry Swarajit!).

Margarita then evaluated all table topic speakers.

After that, visiting General Evaluator Sameera evaluated our club and the meeting.

Finally, incoming President Atul thanked Peter R on behalf of the club for his role as President over the last 12 months.

Awards

Best Speaker: Luisa

Best Evaluator: Margarita

Best Table Topic: Stirling

Next meeting

Our next regular meeting will take place at The Horseshoe (24 Clerkenwell Close, EC1R 0AG – upstairs) on Monday 9^th July 18:30-21:00. Come over to practice your public speaking skills!

Please feel free to get in touch at info@bloomsburyspeakers.org.uk if you have any questions.