The London Speaker

Tall Tales Contest was great fun...

On Friday 19th June 2009 Marlow Orators hosted a Tall Tales Contest attracting Toastmasters as participants and audience members from a large number of club in and around London. 

Division B participants were Dave Sellman (Excalibur and London Cardinals) and David Jones (Excalibur, Holborn Speakers, London Olympians).  They both clearly enjoyed crafting and delivering their 5 minute Tall Tale.

The audience was regaled with stories of international art theft, surviving capture by a Stone-Age tribe in an ancient forest, efficient collection of methane from cow etc.  The winner, as voted by the audience, was IAN CLARKE of Camberley Speakers.  His tale entitled 'Cannon Fodder' was about a school trip to France and a terrible accident which affected his ears, as you can see in the picture.

The overall verdict?  A fun evening, very well organised by Keith Clarke, Jacqui Hogan and their team...AND we should have more tall tales!  In contests, for tall tales dinners, as an entertaining evening to vary your club programme.

Pictured above left to right:  Gerald Pillai, Ian Clarke (WINNER),Jaqui Hogan (Contest Chairman), Stewart Linford, Dave Sellman, Lesley Wells, Keith Clarke (President Marlow Orator), Alan Donegan, Samantha Babister (Division H Governor), Martin Berry, David Jones, Trish Weller, Sheila Hamilton-Andrews, John Morris.

Impromptu speaking skills applied in debate

On Friday 19th June 2009 Sylvan Debating Club held its annual dinner debate.  And who was to be found there...opposing the motion That England Has Oomph! ...Paul Carroll, of London Athenians. 

Magnus Nielsen of Sylvans proposed the motion in a 15 minute prepared statement.  This was then answered by the opposer, Paul, with a 15 minute impromptu speech.  Members at the dinner gave 5 minute off-the-cuff contributions before the winding up by Paul and Magnus. 

The dinner, held every summer, contains a light hearted debate.  During the year more serious subjects are hotly argued at Sylvan's monthly meetings.

The Sylvan Debating Club, founded 1868, is affiliated to The Society of Cogers - one of the oldest free speech organisations in the world.  If you feel like visiting to test your own impromptu public speaking in a different environment you are very welcome to visit one of the Cogers clubs or Slyvan.  See www.cogers.org for more info.

The motion was defeated 12 to 9 with 5 abstentions.  Go Toastmasters!

Excalibur Speakers WILL be meeting tomorrow Wednesday 10th June

Cancel the Excalibur meeting?  Certainly not!  Tomorrow, Wednesday 10th June 2009 Excalibur Speakers will be meeting as usual 7pm, for 7.15pm start at The Cheshire Cheese, 5 Essex Street, London, WC2R 3LD.  After a packed programme including excellent Advanced Toastmasters speeches we will be in the bar before wending our way home by train or bus...remember Excalibur meets within easy reach of Waterloo, Charing Cross and Blackfriars mainline train stations with easy transfers at Clapham Junction if your usual station is Victoria!  If you haven't visited us before perhaps tomorrow is the night to chose.  As a bonus you get this romantic view across the river if you walk along the Victoria Embankment.  See map.

St Paul's Speakers has a new venue. Come and visit!

MEETING ON 10 JUNE CANCELLED DUE TO UNDERGROUND STRIKE - PLEASE VISIT NEXT TIME!

At their last meeting in May members of St Paul's Speakers tested out their new venue, confirmed their new committee and had a great evening all round.  The club is now ready for you to visit them on Wednesday 10th June 2009 (or any subsequent meeting)!  Nestling at the top of Ludgate Hill, at the foot of St Pauls Cathedral St Pauls Speakers now meets at:

 DAVY'S, 10 Creed Lane, London EC4M 8SH.  6.15pm for a 6.30pm start.  Meetings end at just after 8pm. 

Regular meeting dates: 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month. President Alan Thomas and all the club members would love to see you there.

Improve Your Speech Evaluations and do even better in club contests!

At Excalibur Speakers' meeting on 11 March 2009 we were treated to a 15 minute workshop on speech evaluation by one of our UK & Ireland Speech Evaluation Champions, Bob Ferguson DTM.

You can listen to Bob's workshop on the Excalibur website or download it. Click here.  Along with the audio Bob has provided notes and the forms he uses to capture information and structure his evaluations. Thanks Bob for providing such useful and timely material.

Other very helpful resources for evaluators are provided by Kim Chamberlain, a Speech Evaluation Champion from New Zealand.  You'll find them on the Toastmasters District 72 website. Click here.

Get your ticket for THE event this Friday 20 March 2009

If you haven't got your ticket yet...you're in luck.  There are a few seats left for the evening of music, song, poetry, good company and good food jointly hosted by Early Bird Speakers and Berkeley Square Speakers.

 Friday 20 March 2009.  6.15pm to 8.30pm at Brown's Brasserie and Bar, Covent Garden.

The music will be provided by our member Andrew Bennett, tenor, accompanied by Danielle Perrett on the harp. Both are international musicians.  Short poems will be added by other Toastmaster members.

Held at Brown's Brasserie, on St Martin's Lane the evening will include a one course meal and glass of wine for £20.

 Tickets and full details are available at http://earlybirdsoiree.eventbrite.com.  Book now to guarantee a place for you... and your guests!

_{image credit: MarsBars}

An Evening of Music and Verse with Berkeley Square/Early Bird Speakers

You are warmly invited to an evening social event jointly hosted by Early Bird Speakers and Berkeley Square Speakers.  Friday 20 March 2009.  6.15pm to 8.30pm at Brown's Brasserie and Bar, Covent Garden.

We very much want to open this up and would welcome guests - both members of Toastmasters and non-members (who will have a chance to find out more about how they could benefit from joining one of our clubs).

The music will be provided by our member Andrew Bennett, tenor.  Andrew will be accompanied by Danielle Perrett on the harp. Both are international musicians.  Poetry and monologues will be added by other club members.

Held at Brown's Brasserie, on St Martin's Lane it will include a one course meal and glass of wine for £20.  Tickets and full details are available at http://earlybirdsoiree.eventbrite.com.  The venue can hold a maximum of 46 people.  As we will be publicising this event widely we suggest booking now to guarantee a place for you... and your guests!

We are looking forward to a fabulous evening.  Hope to meet you there.

Visit St Paul's Speakers - new Toastmasters Club. 11 March 2009 Launch.

Do you want more opportunities for speaking?  Do you have friends and colleagues in the St Pauls/Bank area who can't make it to existing clubs?  St Paul's Speakers is the answer!

SPS is a new club meeting at The Golden Fleece, 8-9 Queen Street, London EC4 1SP (near Cheapside).  2nd and 4th Wednesdays. 18:15pm for a prompt 18:30 start.  See map.

Our inaugural meeting (with free buffet) is  on Wednesday 11 March 2009. Please join us. All are welcome.

The club has already attracted an experienced group of Toastmasters as members:  Club President Alan Thomas(Advanced Communicator Gold, member of Grosvenor Square Speakers and supporter of clubs in London and New York). Club Coaches Rory Marriott (Canary Wharf Communicators) and Himanshu VoraACG (Area 29 Governor and member of Trojans) are assisting the club as part of their Advanced Leadership Silver Awards.  Freddie Daniells (Division B Governor) and Hilary Briggs (Area 33 Governor) are also members.

President Alan Thomas believes "we're all born with a natural ability to communicate confidently, though factors in our upbringing can inhibit this".  From his point of view "Toastmasters is all about helping people find and reconnect with their true potential".  His personal goals for taking up the challenge of leading the new club?  "To move beyond 'solo speaking' to facilitating a positive group experience; to enjoy enjoy the intellectual stimulation of the role; and help create an encouraging environment for club members to develop."

Alan and his committee would love visits from existing Toastmasters to speak, evaluate and help with other roles as the club builds its membership up. 

Please spread the word to anyone you think might be interested in joining.  The location is ideal for anyone working, studying or living in the St Paul's/Bank/Barbican area.  It's also a convenient stopover in their journey for many people.

Join us for our inaugural meeting on 11 March if you can.  Please email the club (stpaulsspeakers@googlemail.com) so we can make sure the buffet is well supplied.  Also please make contact if you would like further details.  Look forward to seeing you soon!

 

Visit Polish Your Polish on 17 February 2009 as it goes...English!

Polish Your Polish is the first and the only Polish public speaking club in London. We registered with Toastmasters International in June 2008 and since then have already attracted 26 members!

Usually meetings are held in Polish language, however  next Tuesday...

Polish Your Polish goes… English!!!

• To charm our English speaking  with Polish Toast’s aroma
• To grow our passion into new challenging area – effective communication and leadership in a foreign language
• To successfully prepare for Toastmasters District 71 speech competitions
• To inform, entertain, persuade, and inspire!

Join us for the first Toastmasters International - Polish Your Polish meeting held in English! After brilliant speeches, traditionally we will crack the bar.

When: 17 February 2009 (Tuesday), 7:15 pm
Where: Ognisko Polskie, 55 Prince's Gate, Exhibition Road, SW7 2PN,  near South Kensington Underground station.

For more information and to let us know if you can attend please click here

Warm welcome to all fellow Toastmasters, Guests and Newbies!


Iwona Dolecka
Vice President Public Relations

Can you help new Toastmasters club in Merton?

LMB Speakers is a new pre-charter club at the Merton Council.  It has been meeting since January and with enthusiastic staff and help from Toastmasters members from Epsom Speakers it looks set to charter in the near future - quite possibly this month. 

Following a demonstration meeting in December 2008 the club has been meeting every other Wednesday evening in various venues within the civic centre (London Road, Morden SM4 5DX).  You can imagine that speaking in a committee room gives a different experience to speaking in the council chamber!

The club already has aroud 25 members - drawn from all levels of the organisation - front line staff and senior managers. All are proving very committed and supportive and are beginning to take on roles at the meetings.

How can you help?  Members of Epsom Speakers have been doing a great job demonstrating roles, advising on how to run a club. What LMB Speakers would love is visitors from other clubs to take a role, perhaps to give a speech and to lend support.

Next meetings are on 25th February and 11th March 2009

Please contact Daniel Moore email daniel.moore@merton.gov.uk or telephone him on 020 8545 4685.