Categories
Announcements Education

New Year – New Committee Structure 

Learning we have taken from this year is that running as a weekly club, which we all benefit from, means there is a little too much work for committee members to carry out effectively.

Therefore, this coming year, we will have a slightly enlarged committee and some new responsibilities certain roles to ensure that everything we can achieve all the club’s objectives without overworking individual committee members.

Please check out the new sub section within the education section of this website where you will find further information about the changes and detailed descriptions of each role, including responsibilities. Below is a brief outline of the major changes for those without the time to read it in full.

This Toastmasters club is a success because of the commitment of it’s members, in particular those that put themselves forward for the committee or help in other ways. The skills and experience members gain from being on the committee help set themselves apart in their career and personal development. It really is a virtuous circle and the best time to volunteer is now.

If you are interested in any of the roles for the upcoming Toastmaster’s year, please speak to a current committee member asap. Our current club President, Terry Pullin, will also be giving a short presentation at our next club meeting so be sure to attend.

This is how the structure will look:


The committee is split in to 7 key areas: education, public relations, membership, mentoring, finance, events and leadership. The biggest difference is instead of having one person in charge of each we will have teams to share the workload.

The educational team will include both the Vice President of Education and a Club Success Manager.

The public relations team will have a Club Marketing Manager to support the Vice president of Public Relations.

The membership team will have a Club Membership Manager as well as the Vice President of Membership. A new meeting role of Guest Liaison Manager will be created who will help to answer guest’s questions and make them feel welcome.

We will have a Club Events Manager who will take charge of organising official events and club socials. The Club Events Manager will work closely with the Vice President of Membership and Vice President of Education to ensure club events contribute towards everyone’s education and enjoyment at London Victorians Toastmasters Club.

You!

Click here for full details of how things will be and then follow the links on the right to see the specific role descriptions.

 

Categories
Education Past meetings

Speechathon – 28 March 2017

Once a month at London Victorians, we clear the decks for a speechathon. This affords members even more opportunities to give speeches and progress through the competent communicator programme.

It was fantastic to see the rapid progress being made by so many of our members in such a short space of time. And, as ever, the variety of topics was a treat for those attending.

Our people skills certainly benefited from the quality of speeches last night. Cleo taught us how to build rapport and Pascale talked us through the five languages of love. While Alexandro gave us an insight into courting in northern Spain.

Pascale winning best speaker

We also heard about the plight facing the world’s elephants, learned that mum’s have superhuman powers and were wowed by a powerful poetry recital. Judy had us on our feet at times as she shared her passion for dance with us.

Alex was also voted best speaker – we had two winners!

Thanks to all who attended and participated and don’t forget that next week we’re back to normal with the second half devoted to table topics and impromptu speaking.

Thomas gets another ribbon for best evaluator
Terry welcoming Charlotte as a new member
Categories
Announcements Contest Education

The New Year at London Victorians Toastmasters

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

The new year at London Victorians is packed with opportunity for all our members and guests. Normal meetings start back on Tuesday the 10th of January and then every week until next December!

Every meeting this year will be special, with our members progressing their public speaking & leadership skills to the highest possible standard. In particular, we have a couple of key events coming up to make Tuesday nights in Victoria, London really special.

How to Inspire your Audience WorkshopTuesday 17th January

One of London’s highest regarded Toastmasters, Freddie Daniels, will be coming to London Victorians at our second meeting of the year on the 17th of January to give a special workshop.

Giving Inspirational speeches is an aspiration for many and this workshop is designed to educate us on how to really inspire our audiences.

The workshop has been timed in our agenda to provide an educational meeting ahead of this years…….

Club Level International Speech and Evaluation Contest – Tuesday 7th March

The first contest of the year is coming up in March and now available on our page at toastmastersclub.org for members to take part.

International speeches are normally of a inspirational style and the workshop in January will give you lots of tips on how to win this contest.

Last year, a member from a close partner club of ours, St Paul’s Speakers, went all the way to the International final in Washington DC, so we hope to be sending someone from our club this year, get started writing those speeches in January.

Club member “speakathon’s” – January 24th and February 21st

Also in January and February we have two special nights were we offer up to 8 speeches in one night. These meetings are included in the agenda to help members progress through the speech manuals sooner.

They are also a fantastic opportunity if you are not actually taking part to watch and listen to lots of different speakers on one night, for tips and tricks you might want to include in your own speeches.

It’s going to be a great new year at London Victorians Toastmasters Club in Westminster, if you are a member please register your attendance to meetings on EasySpeak and if you are considering coming as a guest, please just come along or contact us for more information, everyone is welcome!!!

Categories
Education Toastmasters International

My 3 years journey to DTM

DTM
Distinguished Toastmasters – DTM

In the Beginning

When I did my icebreaker speech in Cheltenham Speakers in June 2013, little did I know back then that I would become a Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) just 3 years later. A few weeks later I was living on the Clyde estuary and Toastmasters only came back on my agenda when I moved to London in late September 2013. Mastering public speaking and leadership was and remain a priority for me; so a rough plan was sketched in my head of joining several clubs to clock up experience faster.

My knowledge of the Toastmasters educational programme developed itself in drip by drip, mainly through my own research. Not having a mentor meant that I was on my own. But my natural curiosity coupled with an early promotion to VPE did the trick and so my first objective was set. Achieving Competent Communicator and Competent Leader status by June 2014! Once this was done, my next objective was a bold race against the clock, becoming a DTM before I turned 30; becoming a DTM before December 2016!

Launching London Victorians paved the way for completing all the leadership related tasks in time. The major stumbling block for me was the speeches, completing 30+ speeches in just 2 years. Like many I found the jump from the CC manual to the advanced manuals quite big and my speech progression stalled for a few months, adding to the dilemma. The dilemma was eventually sorted through a combination of forward planning and seeking out extra speaking opportunities whenever possible. Being a member of 3 and even briefly 4 clubs also helped in a big way! Eventually, my final speech from the Technical Presentations manual in late May, Speech 49 AM in my classification, 2016 sealed the deal.

Over the last 3 years I’ve learnt more about public speaking and leadership that I hoped for and the amazing thing is that my Toastmasters journey is still far from over. Indeed, the more I learnt about both subjects, the more I realise that I know little and still have a lot more to learn and experience. It goes without saying that I’m already working through my second DTM in order to focus on anything I may have missed when doing the first one!

Can anyone do the same? The answer is yes you can and here’s how.

1. Plan Your Speaking Schedule

As soon as I learnt the “2 roles in between speeches” rule in my clubs, I immediately requested speeches and roles far in advance to progress as fast as I could. I subsequently started keeping a record of all the meetings I attended and tabulated all the meeting dates of my clubs 6 months in advance. This way you can calculate how many speeches you’ll be doing over the course of a few months. Number your speech and here you go, you’ll have a very good idea of when you’ll deliver your 9th or even your 24th speech!

Use easy-Speak (http://www.toastmasterclub.org/) to track your progress and plan ahead!
Use easy-Speak (http://www.toastmasterclub.org/) to track your progress and plan ahead!

2. Join a Second Club

Not being a member a single club meant that I was exposed to some of the wider elements of the Toastmasters community very early on. You’ll meet more people faster, be known to visiting GEs and functionaries faster. But more importantly you’ll have more opportunities to speak and do meeting roles. Don’t neglect meeting roles as they’re just as important as speeches to sharpen your arsenal of skills.

3. Network Proactively

Had I not attended the Division B contests of October 2013, I most definitely wouldn’t have been as involved as quickly since these words of wisdom from the amazing Hillary Briggs, “you’re enthusiastic; you should get more involved!” Made me think a lot back then. In the same vein, offering my services as general evaluator, mystery speaker or judge, both pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to meet more people in other clubs. Without these relationships, London Victorians would have never happened, I would never have considered doing a Youth Leadership Project and becoming an area director would have been much harder.

4. Get to know the Educational Program

The Toastmasters Educational Program is rather simple, but the devil lies in its detail. For example in the requirement to do two speeches from the Successful Speaker Series to achieve ACS, the imperative of being a club mentor, sponsor or coach and a few more. Know what these bottlenecks will be far advance and plan accordingly!

5. Remember to Push Yourself!

You’ll need to do 46 speeches to become a DTM. That’s right a whopping 46 speeches! The effort will be worthless though if you don’t push yourself and excel in whatever you do. Always ensure that your speeches meet their project objectives. NEVER hesitate to repeat or redo a speech of you’re not happy about how it went. As club officer or district officer, don’t forget that you’re a leader and that you have a duty to lead by example. If you decide to launch a club in your own journey, make it the best you can, do better than what others do and serve your members first and foremost!

Just like me you’ll learn more on this journey than you hoped for. So onwards and forwards, go on and add these three letters ‘DTM’ to your last name by December 2019!

Categories
Education

Linguistic Devices

I have been researching linguistic devices for my grammarian role at tonight’s Toastmaster meeting.

Tonight I will particularly be looking out for the following linguistic techniques.

Alliteration

An alliteration is the repetition of the same sound or letter at the beginning of each word, or many words, in a sentence.

Imperatives

Imperatives are instructions or orders. Used sparingly these can have serious effect on the listener. E.g. “You must listen carefully to what I’m about to say”.

Hyperbole

A hyperbole is the deliberate over-exaggeration of something for effect. This could be for humorous reasons or to make something more memorable through dramatic effect.

Litotes

A litotes is the opposite of hyperbole. The downplaying of the importance of something for effect.

Parallelism / Patterning

Parallelism or patterning is the use of patterns through repetition or the balancing of meanings.

Allusion

An allusion is a figure of speech that lets the listener paint the picture for themselves.

Cacophony

The use of words and phrases that imply strong, harsh sounds within the phrase. These words have jarring and dissonant sounds that create a disturbing, objectionable atmosphere.

Juxtaposition

Placing a person, concept, place, idea or theme parallel to another so they can be compared or to highlight the contrasts.

There are many more linguistic devices, many with names that I find close to impossible to pronounce. See my sources below to explore further and impress the grammarian at your next Toastmaster meeting.

If you have any good examples of the above then please comment over on Facebook or below. I will update this post with any of the good suggestions.

Sources:

www.literary-devices.com
www.slideshare.net/BCALevels/alevel-english-glossary