Tag: Toastmasters

Completing the CC Manual – 5th April

Post author By London Victorians
Post date April 10, 2016

AK was the toastmaster of the evening with a team to assist in the smooth running of the meeting; Andy was timekeeper and when explaining his role, Andy imparted an interesting quote by Mother Teresa regarding the importance of time “Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come. We have only today. Let us begin”. Stephen as Harkmaster, Joyce as Sargent At Arms and Nadia as table topic master who assigned speaking volunteers with table topics related to Spring. Annabel took on the role as grammarian using Serendipity as the word of the day and speakers during the meeting managed to integrate the word on four separate occasions.

There were three prepared speeches on the agenda, first was Thomas, his speech recounted the time he jumped out of an aeroplane, the speech delivery was peppered with vivid vocabulary, analogies, and dynamic body language.

Prateek’s delivered his 7th speech from the Competent Communicator (CC) Manual “Research your topic”. He educated the audience on the research he had conducted regarding the positives and negatives of Britain remaining in the EU. He informed the audience from an economic perspective on how the results of the referendum was not a binary outcome, backing up his research with insightful facts.

A special moment in the toastmaster journey is completing the CC manual which has ten speech projects. Terry delivered his final CC speech on Tuesday, his inspirational speech explained to the audience the power of thought. Using the formation and evolution of London Victorian Toastmasters club as an example, Terry explained how nurturing your thoughts can lead to great things when leveraged with the power of community.

Terry delivering his 10th speech from the CC Manual

Join us next Tuesday 12th April for our next meeting!

Tags Past meetings, speaking, speeches, Toastmasters

Past meetings Toastmasters International

Grammarian Report – 29th March

Post author By London Victorians
Post date April 3, 2016

The fervent Joyce took on the role of Toastmaster for the meeting, Florian as grammarian, encouraging speakers to use the word ‘constellate’. Nadia as Sergeant at Arms, Kirsten as Harkmaster and finally Rob as timekeeper.

There were three prepared speeches during the meeting, first on stage was Eleanor whose well-researched speech educated the audience on the advantages of Credit Unions.

Second to the stage was Nuala who delivered a speech involving an introspection on building your sense of identity, recalling the building blocks that create one’s self of self.

Finally was AK’s speech recounting the life of James Chen who took on the seemingly impossible challenge of transforming the literacy levels in China at a time when only 2% of the population could read or write. AK used Chen’s extraordinary achievement as an example of how goal setting can help your dreams become a reality.

Yvonne provided topics for speaking volunteers to tackle during the improvised speaking portion of the meeting, we had five guests taking the opportunity to deliver an impromtu speech on stage.

During his role, grammarian Florian managed to count the amount of times each speaker used the filler words “amm” or “uh”. A greatly beneficial report to help speakers realize bad habits they may not otherwise be aware of.

Florian delivering his Grammarian report

Join us on Tuesday 5th April for another meeting packed full of speeches, evaluations, grammarian feedback and table topics!

Tags education, grammar, grammarian, Past meetings, speaking, speeches, Toastmasters

Past meetings Toastmasters International

First Meeting of Spring – 22nd March

Post author By London Victorians
Post date March 26, 2016

Terry was our toastmaster for the evening, choosing the uplifting theme of spring for the meeting. In line with that theme, the word of the day was “Effulgent” selected by grammarian Eleanor. Chui had the role of harkmaster and Fil acted as timekeeper who reminded us of the importance of time with the quote “Time only seems to matter when it is running out.”

First speaker was Karen who’s speech informed us of three reasons why she felt the UK should remain part of the EU. The benefits outlined included the positive effect on the economy, the advantages of having the ability to tackle issues collectively, and the peacekeeping effects of forging good relationships with neighbouring countries.

The second speaker was Andy who’s informative speech about the origins of oil, how it is an essential component, the price and supply of which has a direct and indirect effect on many industries. A speech packed full of eye opening information around the subject of oil.

Lastly was Stephen’s speech. Stephen educated the audience in three practical techniques which he practices in order to supercharge productivity and ways in which to become more effective. Stephen informed the audience about prioritising, the importance of “being present”, writing down your thoughts and having a “to-do” list.

We had ten speakers who participated in table topics, the impromptu speaking portion of the meeting. The results included speeches by Joyce who named President Barack Obama as her perfect dinner guest, Olivia imagined that huge dogs might take over the World in the year 3000 and Rob said, if given the choice of meeting someone from his Family’s history he would like to meet his relation Thomas Edison, the inventor of the light bulb!

A successful first meeting of Spring! Join us for our next meeting on Tuesday 29th March.

Tags Past meetings, Toastmasters

Past meetings Toastmasters International

Not a nonchalant meeting – 15th March

Post author By London Victorians
Post date March 19, 2016

Prateek took charge of our last meeting as Toastmaster of the meeting and quickly introduced his team for the evening. Club President Florian standing in as timekeeper this evening to highlight both the importance of time within a meeting of the value of redoing roles to learn new things. Nadia took on the grammarian role with “nonchalant” as word of the day. Finally our harkmaster for this meeting was Eleanor B.

The first speaker this meeting was Sophia “Risk equals opportunities”. Sophia took us on the journey her brother undertook to launch his own smoothie business Savse. From a dinner with friends to the successful award winning business it is today. Our second speaker Hannah “be careful of the company you keep” informed us about the joint enterprise law and how someone can end up being imprisoned if taking part in a crime involving a friend. The third speaker was Toby “a new world” who explained the new possibilities offered by virtual reality worlds. He also highlighted the possible downsides include easy escapism in better worlds. Finally, the final speaker was John “Try, fail, learn, succeed” inspired us with a personal story of the importance of trying and failing in learning how to succeed.

Fourth speaker John "Try, fail, learn ... succeed" — Fourth speaker John “Try, fail, learn … succeed”

Our four evaluators were Eleanor G, Isabelle, Fahad and Stephen. Each provided extensive feedback on the strong points and points for improvements of tonight’s speakers.

The table topics session as facilitated by Annabel who used the London Timeout magazine for inspiration. Questions included “what’s the best part in London to live in” and “what would you change about London”. Both guests and members alike took part in the session and enjoyed themselves tackling Annabel’s questions. Each table topic speaker was evaluated by Edwin as table topics evaluator.

Nadia and Eleanor B came back on stage for their grammarian and harkmaster reports. Followed by Catherine from London Olympians as general evaluator who gave thorough feedback on the club and meeting.

General evaluator of the meeting Catherine

Come and join us for our next meeting on March 22^nd!

Tags Past meetings, Toastmasters

Past meetings Toastmasters International

Education impromptu and inspiration – 8th March

Post author By London Victorians
Post date March 12, 2016

Edwin was our charismatic Toastmaster of the evening introduced each speaker to the stage. The theme of the night was Inspirational Woman, each speaker was given the opportunity to name a woman who inspired them.

Tasked with keeping this meeting on time was Tatianna, Andrew was grammarian, Fil as harkmaster and finally Thomas as vote counter and Table Topics evaluator.

The first speaker of the night was Alessia, her speech informed the audience of methods and skills that could be introduced at school in order to better prepare students for the working World.

AK’s inspiring speech had the message “Your Words Have Power”. A very apt topic, his speech outlined three examples where words had the power to change an otherwise hopeless scenario.

Third speaker was Florian who delivered an advanced speech. He spoke about the technical topic of nuclear safety, explaining through the use of a visual presentation and simplifying challenging concepts through the use of metaphors. These techniques enabled Florian to educate the audience in an otherwise very complex subject.

At Toastmaster meetings there is an opportunity to give a short impromptu speech. This is a very rewarding skill to develop. Through practice members develop the ability to organize their thoughts quickly and respond to an impromptu question or topic with skill.
Alex’s role at the meeting was to select the topics each speaker was given.

Terry was asked to detail his perfect date night. In order to rekindle their relationship, he described how he and his wife visit Brighton Pier, the place where they first met. They would play on the 2p slot machines to win toys for their two children. The perfect date would end at KFC where he would splurge on a romantic dinner.

Kim was asked to describe her life as a superhero, she recounted how useful it is to have the power of invisibility. Although this was Kim’s first time visiting Toastmasters, she informed us in her impromptu speech that she had attended previous London Victorians meetings incognito!

Paul was asked who out of three celebrities would he take on a cruise ship, he selected American politician Donald Trump! This decision developed into very humorous impromptu speech outlining the reasons why he would take the billionaire politician on a sailing trip.

Guest evaluator and impromptu speaker Paul from London Cardinals

An enjoyable evening with laughter, education and inspiration! Join us as a guest at our next meeting on Tuesday the 15th March!

Tags Past meetings, Toastmasters