Category: Toastmasters International

A new year of public speaking is now upon us and if “I would like to improve my public speaking and presentation skills” is one of your new year’s resolutions for 2016. Why no come and visit us here at London Victorians?

Taking charge of our first meeting of 2016 and a busy night of public speaking was Toastmaster Prateek. Assisted by Alex as timekeeper, Hannah as grammarian who picked “aspiration” as word of the day, Karen as harkmaster and finally Maria as vote counter.

Beginning her journey into public speaking tonight was Annabel whose icebreaker speech “3 Jobs” talked about her working life so far. She is a self-confessed workaholic, who did jobs from the paper round to being a shop assistant to working now in marketing following her university degree. Following on with our second speech of the evening was Eleanor “How are you today?” Eleanor’s speech tackled the difficult subject of mental health and how overlooked it is with most sufferer being discriminated against or fearing discrimination. Consequently one of the best thing one can do is simply asking someone “How are you today?” Nuala was our third speaker of the evening “Make Sense”. This intriguing speech informed us on the wonderful possibilities offered by our sense of smell. A sense so powerful in fact that it can boost memory and act as a warning system to us by smelling rotten food or gas. Our fourth speech this evening “Pretty Fly for a Wifi” was done was Thomas. Thomas told us everything there was to know about Wifi and in particular the security systems of WEP and WPA and how Wifi words. Internet through thin air is amazing isn’t it? Public speaking can be used to persuade others and this is what our final speaker of the evening Terry did. In “It’s not you it’s me” Terry recounted us his personal journey from failure to success and how he was the one that triggered changes in himself.

Public speaking can only be learnt by receiving feedback on one’s performance and each of our speakers tonight was evaluated. These “speeches on a speech” were made by Tarjei evaluating Annabel. Olivia as Eleanor’s evaluator. Toby who evaluated Nuala. Edwin who gave feedback on Thomas’s speech and finally Florian who evaluated Terry’s speech.

During the second half of the meeting, members and guests alike practiced their impromptu public speaking skills in our table topics session. Facilitated by Yvonne, it featured questions such as “what would do as CEO of Facebook” “What would you say in a message to HM The Queen from space?” or even “What about a wet Christmas instead of a white Christmas?” The session was evaluated by Edwin who provided feedback to members and guests alike.

Hannah and Karen then came back for their respective reports as grammarian and harkmaster. Followed by Christopher of sister club St Paul’s Speakers who evaluated the entire meeting.

Our final meeting of 2015 was special on Tuesday evening. Fahad opened the meeting as acting President, introducing the Toastmasters educational programme and manual at length.

In charge of leading the meeting this evening as Toastmaster was club President Florian who quickly introduced his team of helpers. Timekeeper Andy tasked with looking after time this evening. Grammarian Edwin looked after the uses of the English language. Sophia as harkmaster ready to test listening skills this evening and finally vote counter Eleanor H.

The first speaker of the evening was Karen with a speech titled “E is for …” In her speech Karen explained why she has joined Toastmasters and how this links to the importance placed by her family on education and self-improvement. Following on was second speaker of the evening, Toby “On the bright side”. Toby opened his speech by highlighting that extreme poverty worldwide had halved between 1990 and today. The reasons for this improvement have to go with better access to healthcare, the eradication of diseases such as smallpox and reduction in crime rates. Our third speaker of the evening Isabelle had a festive theme to her speech “A Christmas controversy”. Isabelle explained the importance of Saint Nicholas to Dutch Christmas traditions and how he is helped by the Zwarte Piets whose minstrel faces have recently been controversial. The final speaker of the evening was Kate with a speech from the Storytelling manual “The adventures of Jeremy Fisher”. We learnt everything about the aforementioned chestnut haired pony and his various shenanigans including bringing traffic to a halt on a busy road.

The first to evaluate this evening was Stephen for Karen’s speech. Stephen praised her for not using notes for her very first speech. Terry then evaluated Toby and highlighted his powerful and intriguing introduction. Eleanor G followed on with an evaluation of Isabelle’s speech praising her increased confidence compared to previous speeches and clear message. Finally, Joyce evaluated Kate and congratulated her on her storytelling skill that transported us in the environment she was describing.

Annabel was leading the table topics session this evening. Coming up with topics themed on the “best Christmas present you’ve ever given or received” “what’s your family Christmas tradition” or “What’s your New Year resolution?” The table topics session was then evaluated by Charles who gave feedback to all six table topics speakers. Edwin and Sophia then came back for their reports followed by Prateek as general evaluator of the entire meeting.

A very successful 2015 is coming to an end in London Victorians. Onwards to more successes in 2016!

This first December meeting was a special one in many respects for London Victorians. Toastmastering it as Toastmaster of the meeting was John that had stepped in at the last moment. Tasked with keeping this meeting on time was Hannah, followed by Sandra as grammarian, Nuala as harkmaster and finally Annabel as vote counter.

The first speaker of tonight’s meeting was Charles with “Who is Elon Musk?” In this speech done with the help of pictorial slides, we learnt everything there was to learn about Elon Musk. From his birth in South Africa, his first business venture in online payment and the cars Tesla Motors produces. Following on was Eleanor “The Silly Frog”. A humorous tale from the time Eleanor played a frog in a play in her Cornish hometown, where of course everyone had turned up to watch her in action! Prateek’s “Dating warriors” were the highlight of the third speech of the meeting. Featuring a comparison of modern day dating with the charge of the light brigade at Balaklava, beware of snipers though! The first of two advanced speeches this meeting was by Fahad “S.S.S” for speech slot crisis, exploring the current speech slot situation at London Victorians. Finally, club president Florian Bay closed off the prepared speech section of the meeting with his speech “British Food! Glorious British Food!” This humorous speech told us more about Florian’s taste for British food including numerous comparisons with French food.

Evaluating the first speaker was Alex who suggested that Charles rushes less when speaking on stage so that everyone can understand him more clearly. Terry as Eleanor’s evaluation recommended adding yet more body language to the speech, especially when actions like bouncing around are mentioned. Edwin recommended that Prateek’s incorporate more vocal variety when speaking and that he adjusts his volume to his audience. Thomas evaluated Fahad speech and praised him for tackling a difficult subject well. Kate as Florian’s evaluator highlighted that he should have kept up vocal variety throughout his speech.

Instead of the usual table topics session, the second half of the meeting was an extraordinary general meeting to discuss club business. In the light of recent growth in membership, the club’s committee recommended that meeting frequency be increased to weekly to be covered by an increase in membership fees. The motion proposed was unanimously agreed by all members present. We are pleased to say that this is the beginning of a new phase for our still barely a year old club!

Following the club business section. Maggie from Holborn Speakers did a general evaluation of the entire meeting.

It is always special when someone speak for the first time in Toastmasters and begins their journey as a speaker and leader. In our last meeting we’re privileged to have three of our members taking to the stage to speak for their icebreakers speeches!

Toastmastering the evening was Thomas whose theme of the meeting was “childhood phases”. Assisting him as timekeeper was Karen, followed by master of the spoken word Nuala as grammarian with “prosper” as word of the day. Prateek took on the harkmaster role and Andy assisted as vote counter.

First to speak was Tarjei “T.J” with “The power to believe” focusing attitudes towards dreaming big and in how in his native Norway dreaming big is frown upon. Though at the end of the day one should never forget that attitude not aptitude is what fundamentally matters. Second to speak was Mayo “Overcoming adversity”. Mayo decided to speak on how from his childhood in Nigeria to moving to the UK at 13 he had to overcome adversity beginning with racism. But how he nevertheless hanged on to his ambitions to achieve them and graduate with high grades. Third to speak was John “The best thing since” giving the example of how baby giraffes come to the world through a 8ft drop to illustrate the importance of believing in oneself and being strong. “Fire & Ice” was the title of Edwin’s speech where he spoke about his grandparents, their very different personalities and how their shaped him. Our final speaker of the evening was Joyce “Smile” who set out to speak on the importance of smiling in order to communicate effectively.

Evaluating tonight’s speakers were AK, Yvonne, Stephen, Fahad and Kate. Feedback to our speakers tonight including more eye contact. More vocal variety and the importance of using the correct gestures at the correct time. This was alongside praise for the very vivid language used by some speakers and the intriguing titles of some.

To keep ourselves on the edge as we could be asked to speak at any time during the session. Table topics master Isabelle selected table topics questions on the theme of childhood ranging from fashion styles when younger to favorite cartoon characters. Eleanor then evaluated the table topics session giving feedback on each of the speakers.

The meeting was wrapped up with Naula’s and Prateek’s reports followed by a general evaluation by senior Toastmaster Jakub.