Say "Hi!" to a guest

One of the blogs I would recommend, to read, but even best, inscribe to it, of course, other than this one is Speak and Deliver.Today, in the post "Toasty Resolutions for New Year, it begins with one of the most important ones perhaps: "1sr. resolution: Say 'Hi' to a guest, and actually chat with them. Some of us are great at this, others just sit back and don't interact at all. If you're the latter, step up! "


I would add : say 'Hi' with a great smile and an open, welcoming body gesture. How you look at him is even more important then what you say.

If you do not have time after you did welcome him or her, have another duty before the meeting, go with the guest and present it to another toastmaster "available" to chat, explain, and even more important, make feel welcome.

This can make a difference, not only in aquiring a new member for the club, but offering a new life to the guest in the future, and also could make a new good pal for you! So, even in your own life!

"If you are not feeling it, leave it"

Interview on 24 November 2011 with Ola Aralepo winner of District 71/Glasgow Humorous Speech Contest 2011

Question: How long have you been a member of Toastmasters?

Ola: I have been a member of Tube Talk for 5 years. It was originally a company club for the Transport of London, but it is now an open club which means anyone can join.

Question: What made you decide to join Toastmasters?

Ola:I was considering starting my own business and wanted to learn how to present my business ideas and how to network. As I was not confident in social settings a friend suggested that Toastmasters would improve my public speaking skills and confidence. I googled Toastmasters and found Tube Talk Holborn.

Question: How did you get the idea for your speech 'What part of I don't have a licence don't you understand?'

Ola: The idea came to me after I updated my Facebook status about the fact that I kept receiving reminders from TV Licensing to renew my licence for a television which I no longer owned. The replies that I received from other Facebook users made me realise that this situation was not just peculiar to me – other 'TV-less' people were being hassled too. Based on the feedback I decided that I had the seed for a speech!

The original speech I had written for the club Humorous contest covered the subject of customer service. However, two weeks before the club contest I decided to develop the TV licence speech because I just wasn't ‘feeling’ the customer service speech I had planned . You have to feel a speech in your gut to make it come alive in performance. My motto is, if you are not feeling it, leave it – and if you’re stuck for speech ideas, update your facebook status!
Question: How did you memorize your speech?

Ola: I did not deliberately memorize my speech. I followed the technique explained in the Ice Breaker in the Competent Communications manual. If you memorize the beginning and the end of the speech, the middle will take care of itself.

Question: How long did it take you to write and rehearse your 6 minute speech?

Ola: I started by writing a stream of consciousness onto my laptop. Just whatever came into my head on the subject I had chosen and then I left it for 24 hours. The old adage, 'to sleep on it' works in speech writing. After 24 hours I did a re-write and edit. Once I was happy with the format then I started on the process of memorizing the beginning and the end.

I rehearsed three times a day for two weeks before the contest. I was given this tip by one of my many mentors, Bob Ferguson who won the Humorous Speech contest in York in 2009 He told me that I had to be disciplined when rehearsing. My aim was to turn my speech into a conversation, as if I am just recalling an event which had happened the other day. That way you are more likely to sound less ‘scripted’ and more ‘conversational’ in your delivery.

I developed my gestures and tonal variation once I started performing in Club contests. It really is a good idea to perform to different audiences. I Initially performed the speech in my own club. I made my voice as natural as possible, but when I started to get feedback from other Toastmasters my gestures started to develop. To improve my performance skills I decided to perform in different clubs within Toastmasters and also on the comedy circuit. If I got a laugh for a joke or a gesture in both a Toastmasters and a comedy club, I would keep it in the speech and perhaps expand on it. The speech goes through a refining process especially in terms of delivery, gestures and tonal variety.

The Toastmaster Clubs are a diverse culture and feedback is vital as the speech has to appeal to a wide range of cultures. I experienced a classic case of a constructive feedback from a visiting American Toastmaster of Brazilian heritage when I performed the speech at Northern Lights; his feedback highlighted a certain gesture I had used on stage which was, in fact, derogatory in Brazilian culture. If I hadn't performed in different settings to different audiences, who knows? A careless, albeit innocent (to me) gesture may well have cost me the title!

Question: When will you be visiting Lewisham Speakers?

Ola: Sooner than you think!

On behalf of Lewisham Speakers I would like to thank you for this interview and look forward to your future performances.

Flavia Gordon

Here a link to a Webinar with OLA for forther information about him and his preparation. http://MyOptInPage2.com/?pid=6571802

21 Decembre meeting with "Hot Chocolat and mince pies!"

Toastmaster Manoj has conducted smooth our festive, end of year meeting, and many of us has put Santa hats as he asked us.

We had the visit our Assistant Area Governor Dave L., and Division Governor Richard M.. who were the first time in our venue, and liked it a lot, compared to other places we have been before. They also had the occasion to see how well our clubs develops, and indeed Richard did tell us so.

• First speech Katy, very well evaluated by Jon, Katy was voted the "best speaker" at the end!

• .Philip gave a funny speech using the prising of Santa, and was well evaluated by Zhanna

• Julie, spoke about her year in the search of her "comic bones" and was evaluated by Richard

Richard was voted the best Evaluator. What a great body language and confident speaker he had become!

Table Topic master Steve J proved that he is indeed a funny and good speaker too, and choose also very appropriate subjects for the season to which all asked could answer, mostly with fun.

We are looking forward to his next speech and roles.

Many other new and old Toastmasters had important roles very well performed!

Windy gave us a great warm-up, appropriate for the season.
Rosie kept us in time, even with three envelopes instead of lights.
Beverley was not only our Ah counter but also stepped in as Sergeant of arms in last minute.
Michael gave us a great "word of day" and listened, and evaluated our use of language.
Chris gave us a masterclass in how to evaluate while he evaluated all Table topic speakers.

While evaluating, he showed how each had did and taught all of us something new too.

At the end, Steve R evaluated all the meeting and everyone who was not yet evaluated.
Dee, we hope soon a member, won (for the second time) the Best Table Topic speaker award!

Three guests come to our club yesterday and celebrated our end of year with us 
with finished with hot chocolate and mince pies and even a bit of music!

It was indeed a great end of year for our Lewisham Speakers club

7 December meeting at Lewisham Methodist Church

It may have been cold outside but inside at Lewisham Speakers, our President, Julie Kertesz, gave a warm welcome to the guests at the meeting and in particular, Ewan Wong our visiting General Evaluator. Our Toastmaster for the evening Zhanna Jarmyn introduced the theme for the session "The beginning of Winter - what do we like about winter?" As each speaker was introduced she read their response as to how they felt about Winter. Beverley Stephenson provided the tip of the day "Hope and faith can bring about change".

Michael Jenga, gave a poignant speech with the opening line "All men are created equal" taken from the American Declaration of Independence. He expanded pointing out that human rights and responsibility go hand-in-hand and the importance of community building.

Manoj Sivaraman's speech entitled "Who got the Monkey" enlightened us in the ways a manager can empower a his team and also the importance of parents empowering their children in decision-making.

Richard Green gave an advanced humorous speech in which he spoke about' Words that change your World'. Through his speech he made us realise that "Dreams become reality if you take action" and reinforced this thought with a quote from Michael Jordon "I can accept failure, I can never accept not trying".

All three speeches were were very interesting and thought provoking. However, Richard was awarded "Best speech".

After a recess we returned for the Table Topics session, led by Lucas Krejci. This was Lucas' first time as Table Topics leader and he did a commendable job and Flavia won best table topic. Windy Johan acted as timekeeper for the first time and made us all laugh as he playfully rang the bell in an attempt to keep us to time.

Reminder: Storytelling workshop : 14 December, led by Julie Kertesz and Steve Roberts

Flavia Gordon

Next Storytelling meeting 14th December

We had a great first workshop, about Personal storytelling, yesterday, the 30th November.
All present participated and told stories. Steve told us about "why" and the importance to tell personal stories to establish communication,

Then we all told a 2 minute story on the theme "First time"

At the end, Julie spoke about how we find by digging deep down and far too, memory that want us to be crafted into a story we want most to tell, now.


And we all discussed briefly about the ingredients of a story. Place, character, conflict or roadblock, realisation, lesson learned and resolution.

Does this picture evoke in you something?

Next time, we will meet in two weeks, the 14th of December evening.

Homework: find your Crossroads of life, put them on a paper, Road taken and Road not taken, Life changed or diverted. From time to time, you will be able to come back and see which story grabs you and asks to be told.

Gestures that go with what we say

All opportunities to learn help us grow. In Stand Up Comedy, one delivers, usually, the same 5 or more minutes, again and again. Between others, one learns about different audience and for the gestures to follow what we say.

Remember, the Personal Storytelling Workshop of Lewisham Speakers club. First meeting the 30th November 7 pm to 10 pm, in the small room at Albion Way's Church. Do not miss it! You can come till 19 30, but not later.

This example of gestures, is from Julie's Stand Up, at the Laughing Horse Comedy.

Ola Aralepo was the winner, but me too, because I was there and progressed.

First timers flourish with Toastmasters

With mixed emotions, I attended my first Toastmaster Conference weekend in Glasgow which was held on 11-13 November 2011. I have been a member of Toastmasters for 3 months so the thought of stepping outside of my local club, the Lewisham Speakers, and venturing into the wider arena of Toastmasters International at District level was a bit daunting.

My nervousness was unnecessary. On arriving at the conference which was held in the Crown Plaza hotel, I was greeted at reception and directed to the 'First Timers Welcome Party' where I met other Toastmasters from the UK and Ireland who were also attending their first Toastmaster convention. One of the exercises involved a packet of Loveheart sweets. Each of us picked a sweet and then spoke for a minute on what was written on it. It was a great warm up and introduction to the fun weekend events.

On Friday night, I attended a story telling workshop lead by Andrew Brammell, who is a past D71 Humorous Speech Contest Winner. Wow, what a performer. Prior to joining Toastmasters, I held the view that speeches were dry, dull and dreary – not so! Andrew took his audience on a dynamic roller coaster ride during his workshop. He discussed a few techniques of how to create a scene and how to incorporate story telling techniques into speeches. He finished by performing an small snippet from his book entitled "Stumpy Sanderson's Scrapbook" which included drama, suspense and humour. A great workshop.

On Saturday Paul Walsh, current Division B Manager led a memorable workshop: "Master Memory Techniques". For those of you who forget strangers' names seconds after being introduced or freeze in the middle of their Competition Communication speeches, this workshop taught us techniques to enable us to develop ways to give speeches without notes and to remember people's names.

Saturday afternoon led us into the much awaited Divisional Humorous Speech Contest. Competition was fierce. I was thoroughly entertained, I haven't laughed for so long for ages! The Judges, after much deliberation and, I am sure, much wringing of hands declared Ola Aralepo the winner of the Divisional Speech Contest 2011. His speech entitled "What part of I don't need a TV licence don't you understand" had the audience rocking, but also gave the message that TV's are a theft of time and creativity.

However, the conference was not just education, education, education. On Friday night there was a fancy dress contest followed by Scottish Ceidhl dancing and on Saturday night a gala dinner following by entertainment from a band called the Riffreshers.

I left the conference knowing that I had made a good investment in my personal development by attending. I had an opportunity of seeing the bigger picture of Toastmasters International. Also, through networking I have made new friends.

Flavia Gordon

16th November meeting at the Lewisham Methodist Church

Under the direction of Zandria, our Toastmaster for the evening, we tried out the smaller room in our new location, the Lewisham Methodist Church, it was cosy and big enough for us.

We celebrated our club's 3rd anniversary and the award we received for last year's progress. We had many guests who spoke at Table Topics too.

Windy, a new member joined our club, all the Toastmasters of our club, wished him welcome.

Serena and Rosie gave their first speeches, an "Icebreaker" , as always it was a memorable event. Not only that let us to know them a lot better, but they gave us both stunning speeches, without notes! Great new speakers will be between us soon. Zhanna, finished with two true tales from her childhood our round-up of prepared speeches for the evening, from the Storytelling Manual.

After the break, we commenced the Table Topics, held by Michael, with interesting impromptu speeches.

At the end of the meeting, Chris and Philip, remembered, how the club was dreamt up and formed three years ago, held the first meeting on 18 November 2008 giving so many in this three years, the opportunity to grow and gain confidence.

Flourish finished with a flourish

The Glasgow D71 Humorous and Table Topic Contest, finished now with "flourish" as did Ola Aralepo's Humorous speech, who won the England & Ireland's 2011 Humorous speech contest. He is from Tube Talk speakers club, but also the Excalibur Advanced club.

Here, posing with Flavia, to whom he has promised a visit / speech / interview for our club. Any of thus will teach us!

In addition, he is a warm Toastmaster and also a Stand Up Comedian.

It does help to go out there and perfect our skills.

Great line up to celebrate the new venue

The 2nd November, Lewisham Speakers Toastmasters club, celebrated moving to a new location, with no less then three Icebreakers: Lucas, Marcella & Stephen J. Added to it the 2nd of Michael's speech.
A great way to begin at a new location!

Our Sergeant of Arms, Vivienne, arrived first, fast after it Richard, our VP Membership who also welcomed our guests. They set us everything with the help of Michael who arrived also early, and Julie who got the doors of the courtyard open to welcome those arriving with cars.

Under the firm hands of Katy, Toastmaster of the evening, and Jon, Timekeeper, we begun and ended the meeting in time. (Almost a first for our club.)

That gave us the time, at the end to gather all who are "in" the Personal Storytelling Workshop that we begin in November and will last till March, and determine our main theme "Change" and our next meeting place and time, the 30 of November, Wednesday evening. Every member of Lewisham Speakers Toastmasters club can come.

Marcella, won the "best speech" award with her Icebreaker story about "taking chance". We heard many compelling stories during the night.

All Icebreakers were strong and we will remember them long time!

Marcella, changed profession to find her passion, Lucas come to England from Ceh Republic spending all his money, hoping to find a job, when he was still a student, that trip, also changed his future life. Stephen gave finally his first speech, after having been for two years in Toastmasters, with lots of humour in it, and also interesting informations, and Michael told us about the differences between buildings in his original country and England.

All four were very well "evaluated" and the feedbacks also taught us how to construct and give our own speeches in future. Philip, speaking most to "all" of us won the "best evaluator" of the evening award.

With a new type of Table Topics, Julie gave the theme "Places" to celebrate our new place. We had exciting speakers and as many instant "feedbacks" too. Manoj won the "Best Table Topic" award. And stepping in, last minute, Zhanna gave us a great General Evaluation finishing with a discussion.

At the end, beside the usual awards, Katy got a special award for her great work through the whole last year, from the time a year ago, when she was the first time Toastmaster of the evening to this November, when she is not only our VP Education, organizing all our Agendas, but she also found us, our new location. She discovered, in that year, that she can and want learn also leadership skills at Toastmasters, beside Communication skills.

We all can learn Communication skills, Leadership skills, and gain more confidence together in our Toastmasters club in Lewisham !

UK and Ireland Toastmasters Finals in Glasgow

The Flourish 2011 Conference, held at the Crowne Plaza Glasgow from 11th to 13th November, will provide a series of educational workshops on speaking and leadership subjects and will also be the venue for the UK and Ireland Toastmasters finals. Friday afternoon, a Storytelling Workshop. Saturday many others.

Lewisham Speakers Club will be represented by our President, Julie, (she will help out at the Toastmasters Conference in Glasgow as Sergeant of Arms at the door), Chris the founder of our club, and one of our newest members, Flavia, who will experience a District Contest the first time.

Saturday the “Humorous Speech” and Sunday the “Impromptu Speaking” contests. The Flourish Conference is open to members and non-members of Toastmasters International. Humorous speech first prize for Ola Aralepo.


Dr Atkinson delivered the Keynote Speech at the conference; entitled “The Language of Public Speaking”. incorporate video analysis of the most powerful rhetorical techniques and imagery that are used by effective speakers.

Information at www.flourish2011.co.uk or
contacting Jane Cameron info@flourish2011.co.uk

Around our new meeting place

We had our first meeting at our new meeting place, at the Lewisham Methodist Church; Albion way, is across the Lewisham Shopping Centre East entrance and the Salvation Army; bus stations V and W too. It is good for the Lewisham speakers club to meet at Lewisham Centre.

Here some pictures around it.

We can park in the church's courtyard, for those coming with their cars.

Many bus stop at the corner of Albion Street, also near the 99 cent shop which is partly on Albion street. Also the Salvation Army is across the road on Albion Street.

Stand Up Comedy Showcase

Our President Julie and I appeared at a Stand Up Comedy Showcase in Brixton on Sunday 30th October after attending a Stand Up Comedy Course delivered by David Jones, a Toastmaster from the Excalibur Club and stand up comedian.

The course was a fantastic opportunity to learn about humour and stand up comedy. David Jones was professional in his training and kept giving us plenty of encouragement to conclude the course by appearing on a showcase gig. Julie had the audience rocking in the aisles with laughter so loud it could be heard in Lewisham. There was a packed house, approximately 100 people, waiting to be entertained and the energy was electric.

At the end of the evening all the students in the showcase were buzzing and many of us could not get to sleep until the early hours of the morning. It  was a fantastic experience, although slightly nerve- racking to say the least, and my learning curve almost snapped in half. I would recommend anyone to attend the course or get involved in standup comedy if they wish to accelerate their public speaking and presentation skills.

Steve

Basic Training for Toastmasters

The 25 October, 1928, Ralph Smedley copyrighted his Basic Training Manual. 

It had 12 projects that today become ten in the manual called CC.

Looking at his manual Edited in 1943, that I got, the Projects and even most of the words changed little. It did work then and it works still now. So many of us learned and got confidence from going through them.

Ralph Smedley opened the first Toastmasters meeting for young in YMCA in 1905, just as he came out of College, even if clubs for Adults were created later, then clubs in other countries (today 120), were formed later,. Till his death worked relentlessly to help build other clubs in different cities. In his books and manuals he uses the same "one to one" friendly manner he tells us to use in our speeches, a conversational style.

Sally, Toastmaster Promoted

Sally speaking at St Margaret's Crypt

At our meeting of 19 October, we were in good hands: Sally was our Toastmaster of the evening.

Zandria was a great Warm-up leader, she asked us : "Why we came to the Toastmasters and how our goals changed on the way." That made up for a longer beginning, but it was worth each minute: we learned great news from each other, and understood how our motives could change and develop through experience and time. Sally told us marvellous news! With her new confidence and what she learned from Toastmasters Clubs, she made last week an Awesome Presentation at her workplace. And the next day, she was promoted!

Chris Best Evaluator

Yes, Toastmasters club's method works.

We also heard great news from Chris, who dreamed then founded, with a group gathered around him, our club, three years ago: he got the qualification certified Organisation and Relationship Systems Coach, for which he was working form 2007. 

Chris was also voted best Evaluator for the night.

Katy and Ola told us that beyond the development of Speaking Skills they now intend to develop through Toastmasters also their Leadership skills.

Yes, Toastmasters is a good place for developing Leadership skills, too.

Flavia with 1st Price for her Icebreaker speech

The same evening, Flavia, one of our newest members gave a stunning speech about her new dream to find her passion and become a "Toastie"

She was voted best speaker of the evening. Flavia was so descriptive in her speech that I see still the scenes she depicted to us.

With Manaj joining our club tonight.

Most guests spoke for more then 1 minute at the Table Topics, and a longer pause to speak to each other, and one of the guest, Jo won the best Table topic of the evening award.

Many other Toastmasters contributed to its success, speaking or taking roles to keep the evening interesting and useful for all of us.

This was the last meeting of Lewisham Speakers Toastmasters at the St Margaret Church's Crypt.

Humour is big (exaggerate), drama is small (be subtle)

Hamming it up. As you get more experienced and start to get in the swing of telling stories and acting them out, it gets tempting to ham it up. For example, act out the drama about people being able to see that I’m nervous as I’m giving a presentation. The more I ham it up, the more people laugh.

But there are other situations where hamming it up has no effect at all on the audience. The distinction between these two situations had eluded me. Doug Stevenson had the answer:
Humor is big, drama is small
When you want people to laugh exaggerate.
But when you want to portray emotion, think Colin Firth – be subtle.

Speaking outside Toastmasters

 We will make here a place for all of you who speak outside our club to let us know.

•  The 30th October 8 30, Sunday evening  12 Toastmasters with Julie and Steve from our club will do a Stand Up Comedy Showcase at Laughing Horse, PhD Daniel Jones, TT.Contests winner was our Workshop leader / Next fall another class!  
Stand Up Comedy at Laughing horse 2010-30-10 by julie70
•  
• 1st November Cavendish Standup Virgins with Chris Rose from Bromley & Julie From Lewisham and others.Come to see us.

 Let us know about your speeches outside our Club!

Today special visitor from Saudi Arabia: Husam Al-Eid

Husam Al-Eid, ACB, ALB,  was our Table Topic Master, tonight, he has been already for 7 year Toastmaster in Saudi Arabia's Desert Diamonds Toastmasters Club,  in Riyadh. 

Husam gave interesting and easy to answer questions and at the same time made us travel far away in our minds and many of our guests answered with great speeches. In the picture Husam is with our flag and Julie, President of Lewisham Speakers Club.

We are always happy to welcome visitors from Toastmaster clubs from other countries!

Richard's Humorous Speech

Richard came first in the Area Contest and third in the Division H contest. Here he is , telling his story at the Area Contest, video cutesy of our Area Governor, Peter. We did not publish it till now as we wanted his speech to be a surprise to those who viewed it yesterday.

Energy, humour, use of pauses, much can be learned from watching this speech a few times.

Yesterday, at a Workshop about the use of body language, about which I will talk later, Flavia gave a fabulous Table Topic speech, and Julie a funny one. Bits and pieces of all our speeches can also be reused in later speeches or stories.

Newcomer to the Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contest

I attended my first Division's conference and Contest, at the Imperial College London on Saturday 15 October. Julie, our President, encouraged me to attend. I am so glad she did. There were Toastmasters mainly from London, but there were also Toasmasters from around England, Ireland and Europe. The atmosphere was warm and the event was very well organised (as you would expect for a Toastmaster event)!

I attended two workshops; Body language & speaking and Modelling success.

In the Body language workshop, after a very interesting discussion, attendees were invited to take part in a table topics session, with a twist, each speaker had a different topic. After each speaker, the group would give verbal feedback otherwise known as 'commendation, recommendation, commendation. Julie was one of the early speakers. Her topic was to talk about her 'first kiss'. The group found her speech humorous and her body language most appropriate for the topic.

I listened to many other speakers and on the final request for a speaker, I felt that I couldn't let Lewisham Speakers down, if Julie could represent; so should I. My heart thumping, my little hand punctured the air. No turning back now, I was on my feet heading to the front of the room. My topic was "If I could change my name, what would it be?" To my surprise, after a moments thought, my mouth opened and words came tumbling out! I actually enjoyed the experience and the feedback from the group was very encouraging. So at least I have now taken my first courageous step in Table topics and I hope many more will follow.

I learnt two lessons from the Body Language workshop. Firstly our body language has to match our verbal language and secondly, if you walk on to a stage timidly, you will lose your audience's attention before you even start to speak.

The Humorous Speeches and Table Topics contest in the afternoon were of a high standard and very entertaining. I discovered that props used in speeches can enhance the dramatisation for the speaker as well as the audience. The speakers who took the top three prizes all used props very effectively.

Flavia Gordon

Chris Boden TT Contest winner 2011 Division H anwers about Honesty

A question about Honesty, and Chris answers it in a Honest way... proving no one is really completely honest... on a job interview or a relationship. Listen how 'rounded' his answer was and how equilibrated too, and how sure he speaks from beginning to end.

Building connection with the audience

If you want to build a connection with your audience, follow Steve Jobs techniques.

1. Share your vulnerabilities. A leader / speaker does not have to be perfect. The audience react better to a hero they can relate to.
2. Tell stories. We all love stories and will bond through them. Telling stories is the key to engaging an audience
3. Have a point to the stories. Every time you tell a story you need to have a point to it. The audience will remember your story and the point that goes along with it.

Our newest members at our 5th October meeting

They all contributed wonderfully to our meeting 5th October, each taking a role.

Three great speeches, Sally won the best speech with her Just do it; a very memorable story. Richard won the best Evaluation and a guest, Dee won the best Table Topics. 

Vivienne was a great Toastmaster of the evening and Philip jumped in as a great TT Evaluator, and Ola was our good general evaluator. We had lots of guest and two of them decided to join at the next meeting. What an interesting and fun meeting!

Step in our club! Then the next, speak up,then join us and grow.

Michael Notaro  our new International President tells us through his first speech in the web about his beginnings and plans for the future. Mike finishes with a message to all of us,  Toastmasters and would be Toastmasters.  

Take the next step.

Give your next speech, take the next role, and stretch each time your potential. It will lead to get know new people,  bring yet unseen opportunities. (This is the essence, not a quote.)

October meetings at St Margaret's Lee

5 October

Vivienne was our very able Toastmaster and Ola our General Evaluator;

Sally, "Your body speaks" CC5 won the best speech with "Just do it!" a powerful true tale: we clung to every word of it and it left us with vivid images. Steve gave us an "Emotional tale" from Storytelling and Philip a magnificent "Farewell" from Special Occasions.

Dee, a guest, won the best Table Topic award!

19th October at St Margaret's (for the last time)

Click on a date to see the complete Agenda.

Speakers: Flavia giving her Icebreaker; Julie from CC n°4 "On personal Storytelling"; Richard 3er Persuasive Advanced Manual

Those are only the so called "Prepared Speeches". we will have so much more and many roles too! And Table Topics where all who did not speak yet will have the possibility to express themselves answering shortly to... an unexpected question.

November programmed speeches :
Marcella's & Lucas's Icebreaker & Michael's CC n°2

London Toastmasters Div B Mini-conference 15th October 2011

Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests, Saturday 15^th October 2011

at Imperial College London SW7 2AZ Exhibition Road, with 4 workshops in the morning starting at 10 am 
 attendees can participate in two of the following educational workshops:

Dealing With Tough Crowds (Diana Del Toro)	Learn how to engage and manage tough audiences and how to deal with disruptive groups or individuals or people refusing to participate in activities
Confidence At Work (R. S.)	Learn about the skills you can use to build your confidence at work for those challenging situations and on an ongoing basis
Body Language & Speaking (Ken Asafo Adjei)	Improve your awareness and use of body language, so that you can communicate even more effectively, not just in delivering speeches but also in work and social situations
Modeling Success (Ewan Wong)	What are some of the characteristics of success? This workshop will show how we can model success by identify the relevant qualities of successful people.

At 1.00pm, the contestants representing each of the seven Areas within London compete in the Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contests.During the morning session, attendees can participate in two of the following workshops: To book, all you need do is to go to Eventbrite at http://divisionb.eventbrite.com  A full day ticket including a choice of 2 workshops and both contests, and morning and afternoon tea/coffee is only £15 (plus booking fee).

 The learning benefit of attending is enormous, so do book early!

Paul Walsh, Division  B Governor, District 71 Toastmasters International

Don't tell, SHOW

"Don't tell me how you feel or what you did, SHOW me.  

Instead of describing your smile, SMILE. Instead of telling me how angry you are, let your voice, volume, facial expression, and posture leave no doubt. Instead of just using flowery language to tell me about your trudging - start trudging!"

From Speak & Deliver - A Public Speaking Blog

From November our club meetings will be held in this environment, near Lewisham Commercial centre.

Division H & Area 35 Humorous Speech & Table Topics Contest

This year our Lewisham speakers club has in the Area contest four of our members!  
Zhanna and Zandria Richard and Julie. 

Our Area contest was held in East Croydon

Bravo to Richard who won the 1st October in Croydon

 Richard's speech 
is on the Division H blog "SouthEast Speakers"

The Division H Final contest continues in Canterbury the 15 October
 Darwin Building; University of Kent Canterbury CT2 7NZ
10 am  to 12 am two Workshops 
1st Charisma by Jane Bennet
2nd Voice Projection by Peter Street
from 14 pm to 16 Contest

then District 71 at 11th November in Glasgow 

Storytelling (1)

Storytelling is the sinewy strength of your ability to Speak & Deliver.

Our lives are full of stories, from the ones we read, watch, and listen to to the stories we live everyday.

Stories provide the muscle, skin, hair, and even the makeup on the skeleton of our speech structure. It's one thing to have a great point to share with your audience, but stories turn your points into messages, and messages drive your point into the heart of your audience.

Storytelling comes easier to some than others, just like most other talents, from math to music. But just like I eventually pumped up my mental muscles enough to balance an equation and play Mary had a Lamb on my recorder, people with Storytelling Challenges can learn the basics of creating a compelling yarn.

If you're just telling your audience your thoughts, you are lecturing. When you anchor your thoughts in actual events you move to teaching. When those events become emotional and visceral, you graduate to persuasion - transforming you into an effective speaker who moves audiences.

Improving your stories will improve your speaking without you even knowing it.

When you tell emotion-filled tales, your voice naturally changes, and gestures begin to flow from you subconsciously. Allow yourself to get caught up in the moment enough to keep your audience in the moment. They will stick together very long with the emotional muscles anchoring them in the minds of your audience.

From the blog Speak and Deliver, worth reading day by day!

-------

Soon, we will begin a Personal Storytelling Workshop in our club, End October to February. Details to be announced in our 19th October meeting

Humorous Table Topics from Saudi Arabia

I participated in his one hour presentation about Communication and he gave us in the middle, as example this speech / story, of how he got out when he did not know how to answer to a Table Topic question. So the title of video is : the power of ignorance...

Mohammad Ali-Isa, ACG, ALB, showcased his speaking talents in Toastmasters, winning the District 79 Humorous Speech Contest in 2007, 2009 and 2010. A member since 2005, he belongs to the Dhahran Toastmasters in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia.

A reliability engineering specialist who delivers many presentations about innovation and safety. He works as a consultant for oil company Saudi Aramco. Mohammad speaks at technical conferences and leads many workshops for large audiences, including ones on communications, humor and reliability.

Humorous Speech Contest and Table Topic Contest in our Club

 The 21the Septembre our club had another great meeting. Many members and all our new members were present. Katy was the Chair of the Contest night and Chris our Chief Judge.
We had 5 great Humorous Speeches, all participating having won lots of experience, bravo!

Participated: John, Philip, Richard, Zhanna and Richard. As Richard and Julie have already won at their other clubs (Bromley and Meridian Speakers), Zhanna will represent our club in the Area Contest.

Humorous Speech Price
1st Richard  /  2nd Julie  / 3rd Zhanna 

Here Chris our Chief Judge with Zhanna.

 Zhanna gave us a funny speech about how she learned English.

6 Members of Lewisham speakers competed in the Table Topics Contest. 

A Special bravo for our newest members Serena and John, who stood up to participate in it,

John, Serena, Zhanna, Philip, Richard and Zandria here with Katy, and SgArms Eric sitting

Table Topics Price
1st Zandria / 2nd Richard / 3rd Philip

Zandria's Table Topic Speech was also very funny and

she will represent our club in the Area Contest

Thanks all who helped the Contest, Eric as Sergeant of Arms, Michael as Timekeeper and Flavia and one of our guest from Bromley Speakers as Counters; and all the Judges, some of them as Bromley Speakers President, came from far away. It was a real Team Effort.

Other Pictures, taken at the Contest Chris with Richard who Persistent, won 1st price in all his 3 clubs !

Practice practice practice, Stage time, stage time, stage time : very useful, very productive of success. Great energy and humour too.

Humorous and Table Topics contests

Next events: The 01 October Area 35 Final in Croydon 5 clubs winner compete at

15 October Division H Final in Canterbury

11th November District 71 Contest  in Glasgow

Listen, learn, participate. You did not have to have finished 6 projects from the Competent Communication manual to participate. You have to be eligible, meaning having paid your yearly Toastmaster dues. Now, that each club had a contest; the next level is the Area Contest.

You could even win with Advanced Communicators present, as Julie did two years ago, with barely half CC  when she decided to test herself. Serena, who joined just a month ago, participated in the Table Topics Contest, wonderful!

All participants win, at least, a very valuable experience.

Even as listener, audience we learn so much by being there !

September meetings at St Margaret's

For both meetings, beginning at 7 30, doors open at 7 00 pm; Contestants arrive 7 15 latest!

• 7 September - a funny meeting! And bring the annual fee, today, so all of us can be "members in good standing" at contest time

• 21 September - Humorous Speech & Table Topic Contest.

Participate! Prove to yourself that you can do better then last time.

We all learnt at the last contest: we were all better then our "usual" speech level and all levels of those having competed remained increased after the contest night.

We have already a few contestants for the Humorous Speech contest and for the Table Topics Contest: any more? Welcome! And all the others, we have many different roles - including the role of audience!

Do we win or do we not win?

 As Philip said to us, two years ago at the same Humorous Competition: ALL who participate win!

And here is what Darren Lacroix wrote about the winner of this year Speech Competition:

Congratulations to Jock Elliott, the 2011 World Champion of Public Speaking!

If you don't know, Jock had made six appearances in the World Championship finals. Not only that, but they spanned over twenty years. That's amazing! Now, there's another incredible persistence story from the contest that rivals Jim Key's victory after two consecutive second places. Jock updated a speech he used in the 1990's. It was well-done and his performance was hysterical and very conversational. The "take away" for me was what Jock said in his acceptance speech. It's a powerful lesson for every competitor in any sport.

Jock said that if he had won this award five or 20 years ago, "I might have been a richer speaker, but not a better speaker." I may not have the exact words right, but he also said, "Had I won sooner, I would not be the speaker or the man I am today."

Wow. Great wisdom! There's a reason for everything. If you have ever "not" won a speech contest, maybe there's something you have yet to learn. I know I needed to grow up a bit after my loss in 1998. How about you?

It is still time to register for next Wednesday Competition in our club!

Three books to learn Humour

They seem to be about Stand Up Comedy, but in fact they help with any kind of Humour. Between a dozen others, they are the best. Recomended to all wanting to understand more about Humour, and how to make an audience laugh.

They also complement the Entertaining and the Humorous Advanced Manual Projects. What I learnt most is funny is what makes laugh, and to know what makes people laugh one has to test it. Not everyone will laugh all the time, but if you get a laugh from a few 'test' people or audience, then it works!

So many Humorous speech hearing oportunities from now to October! Use it. Each night this week and next, somewhere to go if you have time, at the Humorous and Table Topics contest, listen : what worked and think why?

Dacre Arms Pub TT at 17 September

We got together for a drink and table topics fun and it was great. Sally gave us Table Topics but we had also warmup fun and of course, some beers. It is a really nice pub to meet.

It was so nice that we decided to do it again and more often!

Date: Sat 17th Sept Time: 3pm onwards to 6pm
This time, Sally, Jon with his family, John, Michael, Toni, Julie and Eric were there. It is also a good occasion to get to know each other better and get new ideas for the future.

Where: The Dacre Arms, 11 Kingswood Place, SE13 5BU

0.4 miles from Blackheath station 0.9 from Lewisham DLR

http://www.fancyapint.com/Pub/london/the-dacre-arms/1338

7 September : Memorable Meeting

We had a fun and interesting meeting on 7 September. It will remain in everyone's memory also as the evening when 4 guests joined our club and became our Newest Members, all the same evening.

Rosie, Beverley, Lucas and Marcella,

Welcome!

Steve conducted the meeting with swift pace, so this time we finished, well, almost, in time. He mastered the meeting and gave very specific introductions to all.

Serena, asked us for warm up which inspired us: we still have to learn to answer in 10 seconds... Flavia kept us in time, and even rang the bell at me (Julie) to indicate the end: she was right! Stephen and Jon, listened carefully to our Ahs and Grammar and best expressions.

Brian explained us in his speech "The email is ruining my day" different ways to avoid it, with a fun ending! One of course is to subscribe to this blog so you get ... an email at each new post, or just come and visit from time to time.

Zhanna in her speech "Little Apples", told us how Toastmasters changed her life in the last three years, and taught her to speak slower, be better understood and finally lead to publishing a book of her stories and even showed her the book!

Richard with this fascinating speech the "Finger of Fate", a dramatic speech as the project called for, made us all hang on his words, wanting to know how he would get out of trouble.

All three speeches made us ponder and think about their main subject, even after the speeches. They were very well evaluated by Winston, Philip and Zandria. I remember well,  two great phrases from Zandria's feedback that which stuck with me. She is becoming a great Evaluator! "His speech was even more dramatic as he told us in a contained manner" and "He was so there that he forgot we were here".

Of course, it is all about a balance to "be in the moment" when you tell a story, and to remember that you are not acting but telling them to the audience. A balance we all learn and improve on with time. Personally, as listener, I was so much 'there' in the story, that did not realise how much the speaker did or did not look at each of us. That is the Evaluators role, observing details, specifics and helping to improve even our best speakers. We all can progress using their feedback.

At the break, while we got refreshments, most members also paid the yearly fees, it is great to get that also out of the way, and go forward. Plus, we got two new members, while two others joined after we finished the meeting. Welcome all!

After the break, we had a funny Table Topics, as Cheang, held an interrogation to find out "Who really killed Humpty Dumpty". It was a fun Table Topics Session, even if it took a bit longer. Katrin gave us great evaluation of all answers, and Chris spoke about all the others, not yet evaluated, helping us to do even better next time. Julie closed with a short business meeting, with our Treasurer Jon and Sally speaking, and also a reminder of the coming Contest.

Richard got the Best Speaker holding the attention of the room,  
Philip the Best Evaluator award as he not only told but demonstrated his advices,  
Beverley the newest member, the Table Topics contest with a  humorous answer so well played out.

The Humorous and Table Topics Contest, next week, will also have the two usual parts, but instead of Evaluators the Judges will declare the winners, that go then to the Area Contest, meeting of 6 clubs the 1st of October in Croydon. More fun and learning for all!

Darren Fleming Humorous Table Topic answer

Darren Flemming answers at a District convention, and shows how a Table topics answer can also be humorous. The answer can be a speech or a short story - but it should, in any case, be as enterrtaining as possible. Here it was about "obeying all the rules or not?" By his answer he demonstrates them.

These videos show different ways of "doing humour" all good to study before our contests.

Second winner at Toastmasters International Contest, Las Vegas

The most humorous also between the three winners, listen carefully a few times where people laugh

Is it a test? Or is it play?

Have some fun on contest day!

You can enjoy speech contests

When Nahid was asked to compete in her club’s humorous speech contest, she was mortified.
“I – I’m not funny!” she exclaimed.

Indeed, her manual speeches had been heartfelt and serious discussions on the meaning of life. But her fellow club members insisted that she was funnier than she realized.

She decided to take up the challenge and try the contest. Much to her amazement, Nahid learned that she is more than funny – she’s hilarious.

She won the club contest and found herself looking forward to the area level competition with a new sense of excitement and pleasure. Her fear of “funny failure” had been banished. Now, when someone asks Nahid what she wants to do with her life, she responds without hesitation, “I want to be a comedian.” And she admits she owes it all to a speech contest, because it made her try something outside her comfort zone.

Speech contests present many opportunities.

Those who benefit in the most obvious way are the competitors. Being a contender gives you a chance to try a new style or type of speech. The result can be amazing, as in Nahid’s case. And even if you stay with a topic that you’ve given before, you know you’ll have to take it to the next level in order to compete. 

On the other hand, it’s not always about winning. The best news is, speech contests benefit everyone who takes part. There are many roles to try, all offering some sort of leadership experience. You can improve skills such as organization, teamwork, written and verbal communication, and event coordination. Of course, a lot of people are merely looking for an enjoyable way to use their Toastmasters skills. And while volunteering as a timer, counter, sergeant at arms, contest chair, or other role affords Toastmasters the opportunity for growth, adventure and a sense of team membership –you must remember that it’s also just plain fun.

And though you might not think it possible right now, there may come a time when you find yourself volunteering for the role of speech contest judge. Don’t be afraid to try it. Experienced speakers can learn so much by participating as speech contest judges. The judging criteria for great speeches is printed on the back of every Judge’s Guide and Ballot. It’s like having your own personal cheat sheet for making a good speech great. And the more experience you gain in using these criteria to judge the participants’ speeches, the better your own speeches will become.

That’s the great thing about Toastmasters speech contests.
The more you put into them, the more you take away. 

(adapted from TMI website)

First price of International contest 2011/2012

Emotion

Third prize international Contest Las Vegas

This is another speech (better than his last one) of the Las Vegas Toastmaster who won in the semifinal contest, the one in which our Malachai from Croydon Speakers spoke so well, and in which Malachai won the third prize.

Your speaking voice

Toastmasters Champion Darren Flemming, from Australia, presents examples of voice variety. He was presenting a Workshop in Las Vegas, and gave me the permission to insert in our blog his teachings and videos, of course, with a link to the original.

Of course, there is more to it, and as our Founder, Ralph Smidley wrote in his book, printed in 1947 about Voice, the most important thing is to have a friendly voice! Clear enunciation, and variety helps a lot to the message, too.

In our manual, Competent Communicator, we have a whole project devoted to Voice Variety, to make us aware of its importance and practice it. Not only then, but every time from then on when we speak in public and also in private.

When you speak with courage and conviction, authenticity and passion, the voice follows without thinking. But even then, it is useful to make pauses and let the audience absorb what you have said, or pause before, let them look at you with suspense, wondering what will come.

New logo and brand

The new Toastmasters logo on a different background

Here is the text about how one arrives to Toastmasters... the new "image" about finding its voice and becoming a leader... after having joined a Toastmasters Club - with Julie, our President at the Las Vegas's International Contest

 

I was not born as a leader

I admired these leaders. They influenced who I was and who I was becoming. Whatever they did professionally or how they became what they were, I aspired to walk in their footsteps.

And, so, I committed myself to becoming one.

Finally, it came to me. It wasn’t just what leaders knew that enabled them to lead. They had a voice. They could tell their story. They could listen and answer. They didn’t just accomplish, they communicated.

So I set out to find my voice. Learn to process information on my toes. I needed to learn to listen. Learn to give feedback – and accept it. I needed to organize, plan, deliver, follow up. I needed a place where all the ingredients were there, and someone would guide me along the way.

I found that place. I found a community of learners and the path to leadership.

I am a leader – and I was made.

Toastmasters
International

17 August Meeting

Here is Zandria's description of our last meeting (Julie was at Las Vegas TMI convention)

"What a really wonderful meeting, great fun and all completed ahead of time.

Michael presented his Icebreaker, excellent work. You are on your way to achieving another one of your personal goals. Stephen in his 2nd speech, shared with us his recent exciting trip to Ghana. Both definitely on their way to becoming confident speakers.

With a night with so many guests prepared to speak at Tabletopics and many for the first time And a special congratulations to our guest Beverley her first tabletopics, and you won the Tabletopics competition, such a natural. Well done.

Chris your timekeeping was impeccable, just what we needed.

A special thank you to Richard, our very competent Toastmaster of the evening. Done with panache and much style. Super.

My time as Sargeant at Arms was short, but very very sweet. I would like to wish Eric very good luck in the new role. I look forward to you making it your very own, as only you can."

Thanks Zandria, in short time as Serg Arms you did a lot!

Chris, added to the description:
"… and there was also a very powerful, thought provoking and emotion packed speech from Zandria.

Zandria held us in suspense and anticipation at what was going to happen next. A personal story of her experience working at a magazine some years ago. A speech which touched all of us, and for which she very deservedly was voted best speaker of the evening! "

 Welcome Eric, from now on, our official Sergeant of Arms!

In plus, at the same evening, three new guests decided to join! Welcome!

______________________________

We had problems with finishing in time, for a while now, and the team of Richard as Toastmaster of the Evening and Chris as Timekeeper and Katy standing for President, proved that one can finish in time! We hope to learn and follow it up,  so time is left at the end for those wanting to discuss more, and those who have to go home faster to do so also. We have the space from 7 to 10 pm but the Meeting is from 7 30 to 9 30 and this time, it was finished by then! Wonderful.

Making meetings go smoothly is a team effort and it proved again team working together - works.

New members from 3rd Aug

Serena joined after our last meeting, as did Flavia and they have by now received a New Member Orientation.  It was a pleasure to meet them again and to have a chance to get to know each other better and see their joy as they begin a new journey.

Flavia just wrote : "Wonderful! My first picture, hopefully, of many with Toastmasters!" We are also happy to have her!

It is such a joy seeing fellow Toastmasters grow and develop and gain confidence through the months!

Toastmaster through the eyes of a guest

Flavia with our VPE Katy near her

I attended my first Toastmaster session last Wednesday 3 August.

I learned about Toastmaster through a friend of mine who attended a few years ago and spoke very highly of the society and the benefits he had received from being a member. That conversation took place a few weeks ago, but I just sat on it, as one does sometimes.

I suppose I needed time for the suggestion to seep into my brain!

I have an interest in public speaking and want to improve my ability to speak, so that I get to the point where I am able to speak confidently without notes.

I contacted Julie to get more details about Toastmasters and after an encouraging conversation, I decided to attend the next event. I was very pleasantly surprised by the welcome and I felt the general atmosphere to be warm.

Cheong, Toastmaster of the Evening, introduced himself and even invited me to speak! However, I sat on the fence and shivered in my seat after each speaker finished their speech, hoping that they would run out of time so that I would not have to say anything - there was insufficient time for me - I breathed again.

I was impressed with everyone who spoke and in particular Sally and Ola and to learn that Sally was only on her 4th speech in the programme - well it definitely made me want to join Toastmasters. My aspiration is to eventually to speak as fluently as Sally and Ola.

Flavia, now member of Toastmasters

Ola, Competent Communicator

"Benefits of joining this club for me"

At our 3rd of August meeting, Ola gave us a very inspirational speech; the story of his road toward Toastmasters, including his ups and downs till he arrived to become Competent Communicator. With his Number 10 Competent Communicator speech for Toastmaster, he inspired guests and all of us.

Ola did make a stunning progress along the way and also demonstrated it to us throughout his very inspiring and also funny speech.

Looking at a vidéo 2nd 3rd 5th time, each time I discover something new.

Not only his story is compleling, his movements are great in accordance with it, his stance sure and grounded. Willing to show himself vulnerable, he made us more dear to all of us, and speaking of some of his old manerism made us laugh and imagine in our mind's eye what he told us.

In all, his speech and delivery gave courage to all, to begin or to continue on our Toastmasters journey.

Steve's "Dull it isn't"

Steve's story about the beginning of his career let us all forget everything, we were all in his story about when he was 20 and 21 years old. His story suddenly become 'today's news' after the bravery of police in last days riots.

He is one of our newest member in Lewisham Speakers, but a very experienced Toastmaster who has been a member of other clubs, and it does show.

He is also telling his stories all over South East  England all from 30 to 60 minutes!

This photo was made when he told the same story at the Canal Cafe Theatre, London. I feel, he already improved even on that!

We can all learn from him. Steve is also co author of his blog.

Steve will be our new Vice President of Membership. He does like people and relating to them, and has lots of Toasmaster experience, we are happy to have him.

Good progress in only one month!

A few instant photos here to remind us of our last meeting on 3rd August. One more step ahead on our Toastmasters journey.

We were in the capable hands of Cheong, Toastmaster of the evening, introducing all with panache.
16 of our club Members attended, 15 with roles and Eric gave us a great Topic Speech.

We had four Visiting Toastmasters: Douglas from Camden was our General Evaluator, Jennifer from Meridian Speakers who likes our meetings and visits us often, Peter, our Area governor, from Purley Speakers, and, even a Toastmaster from China's TM club, Frederic.

Frederic using the Interpretative reading Manual, gave me an example of how I should have performed that task of reading from a play, playing two different parts! Originally from Norvege, he read from Ibsen's play 'People's Enemy' with great skill. Between others, from Ibsen "The Public does not need new ideas!" His example persuaded me to repeat my own Manual speech of the same project, and made me understand how it should be done.

We had the biggest number of Guests so far, and two of them, Flavia and Serena joined at the end of the meeting, wonderful! Welcome! Two others expressed interest in joining and will probably do so at the next meeting. The Table Topics Speeches were won by Serena!

More and more of us understand the Power of Personal Storytelling and humour too.

That was demonstrated by Sally skilfully in her no. 4 persuasive speech, she has already a mastery as if she was a lot farther into the Manual, and was charged emotionally, begining with a compelling story.
Ola's inspirational speech number ten, was also a story of his personal journey in Toastmasters from Icebreaker to becoming Competent Communicator. It was a story we could remember and be inspired.

Our workshop the 6th July brought up the level of our Evaluations, all feedback were masterful, that of Brian, Chris, Dave and Richard. Chris, Toastmaster with long experience won the best Evaluator award, but all three were great, and not only the speakers but everyone present could learn from it. Brian, one of our newest members, had wonderful connection with the audience. All Evaluators were at their peak!

Here are some pictures from that evening to remember it by. Plus, look at Ola's video sniped below. We are only one month from beginning, and on a very good track.

Vivienne's great speech

Area Competition_0064, a photo by Julie70 on Flickr.

On the 20th of July, Vivienne, who has been with us for long time, demonstrated she did listen well to all. She gave us a wonderfull speech about "Live longer, live better: exercise" with personal example of how she does it.

We are looking forward to her next speech. Next meeting she will deliver the Table Topics!

Toastmasters Humour, by Darren LaCroix

Speech by Toastmasters World Champion Speaker, Darren LaCroix

We have to begin to think about our Humorous Contest comming the 3rd week of September. There are many Humorous Contest winners speeches on YouTube to look at and study. There are also many StandUp Comedy examples you may look at.

The web is a great place, to look for and also to publish your own speech

Snippets of Humorous speech - 1

Giving a speech in public, is like making love...

Toastmaster Humour from Julie's first stand-up showcase (End, as prepared) Also deliveed in a few Toastmasters Clubs, Croydon, Meridian, Citicriers, Excalibur. When Lewisham ?

Toastmasters Table Topics styles

Yes, the one who told a humorous story would win! Would entretain. Have some stories ready!
There is not only one way that is good to answer at the Table Topics, where questions are given the last minute before you speak for 1 or sometimes 2 minutes, and more we practice, more we learn.