Author: London Victorians

Speaking off the cuff – 2nd August

Post author By London Victorians
Post date August 9, 2016

Thomas was Toastmaster of the evening introducing speakers to the stage with an anecdote about what they each speaker had wanted to be when they grew up. Lots of interesting answers from aspirations to being a police woman to ambitions of driving a train. Thomas had a team to assist him, Pranav was timekeeper and Christophe was Sergeant At Arms. Cleo was grammarian introducing ‘epiphany’ as word of the day and Annabel was harkmaster. In the run up to Toastmasters table topic contest, we had several members speak off the cuff in preparation for the competition.

We had three prepared speeches, first on stage was Romain delivering speech 2 from the CC manual “Organise your speech”. Romain informed the audience about his passion for traveling which allows him to relax and disconnect. For him, traveling is more than a passion, and helps him put life into perspective.

Second on stage was George, delivering his speech 4 “How to say it”. George detailed his experiences in Uganda where his wife comes from. He informed the audience of the locals perception of Muzungos like him, where it affects financial dealings and perceptions of wealth.

Third on stage was Tatiana delivering speech 5 “Your body Speaks”, she explained to the audience how restrictions ignite creativity rather that restrict it. From calligraphy to engineering, Tatiana provided examples of how restrictions pushed and inspired, increasing creative output.

Eleanor H provided original and inventive table topics for impromptu speaking volunteers to deliver off the cuff speeches. Questions ranged from how would you entertain a crowd to considering if it is right to celebrate criminals. Nuala then evaluated each volunteer who took part in the impromptu speaking table topics session.

Past meetings Toastmasters International

Impromptu Speaking Challenges 26th July

Post author By London Victorians
Post date July 31, 2016

Tuesday 26th July George was Toastmaster with the theme of dreams. He told the audience his dream of making a million pounds a year on his Ugandan Farm. George had a team to assist him, Stephen was timekeeper. Cleo was Sergeant At Arms. Tatiana was Harkmaster and Romain was Grammarian introducing Euphoria as word of the day.

There were three speeches on the night. First was Bruna with her first speech as a member. Bruna told us of a difficult period in her life when she was 15. Rather than be labelled a victim, a strong and resilient Bruna told the audience how she has overcome these events to “turn her poison into medicine”.

Lawrence was next on stage delivering speech two ‘organise your speech’. With a powerful swing and a golf club as a prop, Lawrence informed the audience how he likens Golf to life; how failure is part of success, and passion is one of the most important elements to maintain.

Third on stage was Eleanor delivering her 6th speech focusing on ‘vocal variety’. Her speech began with the inspiring story of Gladys Cooper who at 113 was one of the oldest people in the UK. Outlining the events in Gladys life, and the changes in society that she experienced, Eleanor stated that age should not be thought of as a number, but more a value. An inspirational speech about reframing age in society.

The second half of the meeting was hosted by Christophe providing volunteers with topics for impromptu speaking which were based around the topics of morality and spirituality. Questions ranged from what kind of personality God might have to whether it’s ok to not tell the truth. Challenging questions with very creative and funny impromptu answers. Annabel then evaluated all impromptu speeches providing each speaker with commendations and recommendations.

Annabel evaluating impromptu speaking volunteers

Past meetings Toastmasters International

Impromptu Speaking Galore – 19th July

Post author By London Victorians
Post date July 23, 2016

We last meeting basked in summer heat and guess what. With four speeches, including an impromptu one by our past President Florian, we raised the temperature yet further! Robert took charge of the meeting as Toastmaster for the very first time (well done Robert!) and quickly introduced his team of functionaries for the evening. Christophe as timekeeper, Andrew as grammarian and last but not least, Cleo as harkmaster.

Toastmaster of the meeting Robert showing the Competent Communicator manual — Toastmaster of the meeting Robert showing the *Competent Communicator* manual

Andy did the first speech of the evening ‘A Caribbean Pirate’ telling us the story of Wolfie, a dog his family adopted while he was working in the Caribbean. Thomas followed on by beginning his speech ‘Practice Pratice’ with a reference to Carnegie Hall and how only the best musicians perform here. The secret to performing here is indeed practice and Thomas told us a personal story of how as a cello player, he and a friend could have avoided making a routine mistake by practicing more. The third speech was an impromptu one delivered by Florian who was asked what he would do if he became UK Foreign Secretary. Visits to Germany, Russia, France and the United States featured in the speech and an insistence that the UK should always be open to others. Finally, Fahad in the last speech of the meeting ‘The Most Powerful Force in the Universe’ told us the power of exponential growth. A power illustrated by mankind’s population growth since antiquity, house price inflation and many more examples. The value of the pound if our pocket is diminishing as we speak, scary…

Practice makes perfect according to our second speaker!

John, Sophia, Romain and Tatiana evaluated the speakers in turn, giving them feedback on their strong points and areas for improvement.

More impromptu speaking followed after a short break with AK taking control as table topics master. AK came up with questions based on how people would behave in an alternate universe were they were infamous politicians. These could be Nigel Farage pursued by a mob or Donald Trump with his wig falling off. Guests and members took turns answering these questions and were provided feedback on their performance by table topic evaluator Terry.

John and Cleo then came back for their respective reports followed by our general evaluator Karthik.

Tags Impromptu, Past meetings, Toastmasters

Past meetings Toastmasters International

Best Scientific Advances and Improvised Speeches – 12th July

Post author By London Victorians
Post date July 17, 2016

Florian was the Toastmaster of the evening and chose a very “Florianesque” theme of the evening: What are the best scientific advances? Personally, I would have picked toilet paper, but thankfully the speakers and functionary had more meaningful answers such as antibiotics, the wheel, and the Internet. Fahad as the Grammarian picked the word phenomenal and asked the audience to yell “EUREKA” whenever it was used in the meeting. This ensured plentiful usage. Cleo was timekeeper and Judy was Harkmaster.

We had four speeches from various levels of the CC. The first speaker, Christophe, started us off by explaining why veganism is trending. It was quite a deep speech with questions such as why do we call it beef rather than cow or pork rather than pig. Was it to distance ourselves from the animal? I had to think about it that night when I chowed down on my beef tartar.

The second speaker was Eleanor who successfully convinced us that Beethoven’s music is so good that NASA decided to put his music on the Voyager spacecraft that is now 15 billion kilometers away from Earth. And the craziest fact about Beethoven is that he continued to compose against all odds even as he became completely deaf.

George is an EBay guru. In his speech, he told the story of how a 3-hour PowerPoint presentation in the British Library turned into him publishing a book that is available on Amazon. And he did not stop there! He wrote three more books after that.

George delivering his speech

The last speaker of the evening was Tatiana, with a speech about her Pie Challenge. She made a bet with a friend to bake a pie in as many countries as possible. It turns out this is quite an undertaking. Think about it. You need a kitchen, ingredients, and time in order to make this happen. And she has done it 8 times now! I have never even baked a pie in my life!

Tatiana delivering her speech

Lastly on agenda were table topics with our excellent Table Topics Master Nuala. She provided pictures for the speakers to improvise on. We had several great stories including Pranav, who would build a nuclear reactor using a paper clip and bandaid and John who told the story of an old lady that kidnapped his cat Curtis.

Overall, the meeting was phenomenal! EUREKA!

Tags Past meetings, speaking, speeches, Toastmasters

Past meetings Toastmasters International

Table Topics Night – 5th June

Post author By London Victorians
Post date July 9, 2016

It was the first meeting in July and Terry’s first night as president. Nuala was Toastmaster choosing the theme of surprises for the meeting. Tatiana was Timekeeper, Prateek was Grammarian and Christophe was Harkmaster.

We had two speeches on the night, an icebreaker and a number 10 speech to complete the competent communication manual.

Romain was first on stage delivering his icebreaker. He took the audience on his journey of moving to London, from arriving to St. Pancreas station to discovering the bad weather and experiencing London’s leisure time and lifestyle.

Second on stage was Eleanor G who delivered speech 10, “Inspire your audience”. Eleanor’s speech was about grit. She explained how we are all capable of getting what we want with the right attitude, self control and ultimately harnessing the gift of grit; perseverance, resilience and ambition.

Best Speech and Best Evaluation Award Winners

We had a night packed with 11 table topics. Thomas provided volunteers with the beginning of a story which the speaker then had to continue, providing an opportunity for all to use their skills of thinking on their feet. The beginning of the stories ranged from being a lone cowboy in a ghost town, to discovering the World is flat, right through to being on Noah’s Ark and discovering that two cows are missing.

An excellent, fun-filled night. Join us next week for more table topics, speeches and evaluations!