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Beyond Victorians Toastmasters International

Behold the Toastmaster! – 18th August

Our last meeting on Tuesday 18th August was opened up by our club president Florian Bay, who highlighted the importance of overcoming one’s limits and always striving for more. Giving the example of one of our member’s brother, who completed the Arch to Arc triathlon from London to Paris. Taking on as Toastmaster of the evening was Eddie (well done Eddie for your first time as Toastmaster!)

Toastmaster of the evening Eddie!
Toastmaster of the evening Eddie!

Eddie introduced the functionaries of the helping one by one. First on stage was Toby as timekeeper, followed Alex as grammarian with “beholden” as word of the day and finally Eleanor as vote counter. Well done both Toby and Eleanor for your first roles!

Behold our grammarian Alex:
Behold our grammarian Alex!

Our first speaker introduced by Toastmaster Eddie was Eleanor. In her very informative speech “the Malleable Mind” Eleanor told us all there is to know about the human brain, its 90bn neurons and its changes during someone teenage years. Following on was Terry “Jolly hockey sticks” who recounted us is newly rekindled interest for Hockey and his present dilemma of what type of kit to purchase. Indeed, with sticks made up of wood, Kevlar or carbon fiber, there is plenty to choose from! Our following two speakers gave speeches from advanced manuals. Daniela started off with a speech from Speeches by Management “Well done!” whose objectives where to appraise with praise. After giving us general hindsight of what makes good feedback, with a key message of “highlight the positive”. Daniela the proceeded to do a roleplay exercise incorporating various feedback giving techniques. Our final speaker was Fahad with a project from the Public Relations manual “Know Yourself”. Fahad shared with us the key lessons he learnt by practicing Russian martial art, Systema and how it could be used both for self defence and for learning more about oneself.

Fahad outlining Systema's benefits!
Fahad outlining Systema’s benefits!

Following the timekeeper’s report. Our Toastmaster Eddie called on tonight’s evaluators to give their evaluation of the speeches. Stephen evaluating Eleanor, recommended repeating complex words and sentences to enable better understanding. Joyce evaluation of Terry’s highlighted the need to pause for more often while speaking. Florian suggested that to give feedback even more effectively, Daniela should look at incorporating three way communication to her communication arsenal. Finally, Sergey evaluated Fahad’s speech.

Joyce evaluating Terry's speech.
Joyce evaluating Terry’s speech.

Following the break, our Toastmaster Eddie reconvened the meeting and handed over to table topics master Edwin. Participants were asked to explain why their job was essential to mankind’s survival after a meteor strike. The jobs in question all exists and included manure inspector, paint dryer watcher and professional apologizer. The table topics session was evaluated by Thomas (well done for your first time as table topics evaluator!) who gave feedback on all the speakers.

Our guest John doing a table topic
Our guest John doing a table topic

Alex came back for his grammarian report as part of the meeting wrap-up. Followed by Indra of Harrovians Speakers as general evaluator of the evening.

Indra's general evaluation of the club.
Indra’s general evaluation of the club.

See you all at our next meeting on September 1st!