LEWISHAM SPEAKERS 5TH DECEMBER UPDATE

Well folk! a fun evening it was.  We were led through the evening  by our highly competent toastmaster for the evening, the one and only Manoj.  He took us through the evening energetically abd enthusiastically.

Natasha gave us a hot tip to think about “laughter is the shortest distance between two people”.  She was clear and articulate, and well spoken with her message.

Uta was first up with her speech.   Her speech was clear to follow, she made good use of signage.   She told us clearly what her speech was about and took us on a logical path on how make sure we stay good to our new years resolution, so remember all! when you make that new years resolution, set your objectives, make a plan, and review it often.  Stick to these simple rules and we will go far.  I’m glad Uta’s aiming for her Competant Communicator by June of next year, and we will all be supporting her, on her journey.

Chris was next up with a speech called "You must be joking!”.  He was brave enough to share with us his very personal journey into Stand up Comedy.  We were all with him in the spot light, as he surveyed the people in the audience on his very first outing into standup comedy.  Chris has his audience engaged from start to finish.  His persona is friendly, approachable, and he exudes a sense of warmth about his character.  Well done to Chris who won best speaker of the evening.

Serena took us on her journey to work with us. Serena was really in control of her speech.  She was confident and relaxed, and really in her element.  We picked up on her energy and enthusiasm.   It was a long rushed hectic day for Serena on her travels to work, but I am glad she took time out at the end of the day to visit the museum, and made sure she enjoyed herself.  A good point for us all to take on board (all work no play can make Jack a dull boy).

All the evaluations we had on this evening were of high quality.  They had meaning and were very genuine and helpful to each of our speakers, so well done to Rich, Steve J, and Jon.  Well done to Richard for winning best evaluator for the evening.

Milen, was on the ball throughout the evening, holding no prisoners on the time front!!

Chris Howell hosted us expertly through the table topics.  His energy and presence radiated through the room as he took the stage.

Well done to Lucinda for winning best table topic. 

Katy was our grammarian with the word “Gigantic”  for the evening, and by jove a lot of people used the word throughout the evening.

Julie came to stage, and commanded it with confidence.  Her evaluations were both fair, and informative for her participants.

  We were all impressed with Chris Howell’s award for outstanding contribution to Toastmasters, for playing such a critical role for facilitating negotiations for the recent rearrangement of club groupings within the UK.  David Cameron, watch out, we have a new president in our mist me thinks!!

It was pleasing to hear our guests had enjoyed themselves, and let hope we see Brandon as a member in the new year, we would certainly be very happy to receive a member to our club.

Meanwhile, a very warm welcome to both Lucinda and Asiimwe who have now become members of Lewisham Speakers!! Welcome aboard to both of you.

BUSINESS SECTION

Well that just leaves me to cover our business section, and the main events coming up on our calendar

·         Wednesday 19^th December, our Christmas meeting.  Be sure to dress up in anything Christmassy, and bring some food and goodies for our extended break. Toastmasters with a Christmas theme!!  Bring yyour friends, guests welcome.

·         Thursday 13^th December, Humerous Workshop, to take place at Julie’s house, for more information contact Julie to reserve your seat.  Scheduled for a 7.00pm start.

·         Wednesday 9^th January 2013 is our next Committee Meeting, so a diary note, save the date for Committee members diaries.

·         Committee members training is scheduled to take place in January, and I will update committee members, on the exact time and date, as soon as this is available.

That’s it for now folk, looking forward to seeing for our Christmas session on the 19^th.

Katy

 

 

Toastmasters Today, UK and London

WHATS BEEN HAPPENING!!

Hope this email finds you in good form, and looking forward to seeing you at our next TM meeting on the 21^st November!!! At our last meeting, Steve was our Toastmaster for the evening, and took charge of the evening from the outset.

After some minor jiggling of the agenda Richard had us under starters orders, and yes we were then off out of the starting blocks.

Phillip cantered us through the warm up “what was our first thought, when we found out Barrack Obama had renewed his presidency”.  Explaining the role well, and holding no prisoners (if we went over time we knew about it!)

Katy reminded us of the need to make sure that we all respond promptly by email to assist Manoj in managing the almighty task managing the agenda for each meeting, and we should all make sure that we assist Manoj, by making sure we respond promptly to Manoj’s emails regarding roles.

Lucinda showed her true versatility of stepping in at short notice to be our timer for the evening, we were all impressed by her standard of clear and consise delivery. 

We were all pleased to welcome Milen to our club as a new member.  Welcome to Milen!!

Ali was unable to make the meeting, but he is a new member too, so two new members to our club!!  

Chris had clearly been listening very well throughout the evening, as he delivered his very thorough and extensive report as grammarian.  

Katy gave her Tip of the Day “What gets measured gets done!” 

Outa, gave us a very interesting speech on the European Union, and her views on it winning the Global peace prize.  A clear, well paced speech which we could follow from start to finish.  Her speech was well timed, thought prevoking, and particularly poignant with armistice day coming up.  We learnt that the European Union had been granted the Nobel Peace prize.  It made me think, yes if the creation of the European Union  established just after the second world war, and its aim amongst other things was to bring peace to member states, and bring  member states close together, then after nearly 70 years of peace in Europe, then on the face of it, it has certainly achieved its aim.

Natasha took us on a journey, of office life.  A well chosen and appropriate subject which we could all identify with, and judging by the giggles coming from the audience we could all identify with some of the characters she was describing!

Richard gave us a very personal speech about how he had been inspired by Julie on his journey of developing his public speaking. 

After the break we were all entertained by a different style of table topics introduced to us by Julie.  She motivated and inspired us all to be more daring and inspiring in our off the cuff stories, so that the second time we did it, it was even  more fun.  The meeting finished on time.  Can’t wait for our next meeting on the 21^st November! Hope to see you there.

That just leaves me with the business section.  The main points of which were:-

1.Next Story Telling Workshop on the 27th November to take place at Meridan Speakers. Commencing time 8.00pm, or come early and join in with Meridian Speakers Toastmaster evening.  They will be starting at 7.00pm.  They are located in the Spanish Galleon pub which is located next to the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. Address:- 48  Greenwich Church St, London, SE10 9BL.

2.For those interested in the Youth Leadership programme, there is a Youth Leadership Programme Coaching session on the 28^th November.  The session will take place on Wednesday 28 November 2012 at Ernst & Young,1 More London Place, SE1 2AF. Registration from 7pm. The event will run from 7.30pm to 8.30pm.

You will hear from Toastmasters who have already coordinated a programme, receive advice on how to set up and a briefing on how to use the contents of the programme to maximum effect. There will also be a Question and Answer session too for more interest contact Katy on:- katywoolcott@hotmail.com

3. Hope your looking forward to Christmas, our last meeting of the year will be  on the 19^th December.  We will have an extended break to celebrate the end of 2012, so members are asked to bring some goodies (food) to celebrate!!!

A serious humorous speech: Richard Murray

The first time, as we have now 12 divisions in the District 71 (England & Ireland) Toastmasters, we had Semifinals. Richard Murray, our past Division H Governor, passed easy to the finals with his serious and at the same time funny speech.

To study and ponder: why and how his message sticks with us and at the same time we are entertained and drawn to him? It is worth looking at it a few times.

ITS BEEN A BUSY TIME IN THE LEWISHAM SPEAKERS DIARY. SO WHATS BEEN GOING ON?

 

                 7^TH NOVEMBER: RECEPTION 7.00PM ONWARDS FOR A 7.30PM START

It’s looking like an exciting, well organised agenda prepared by Manoj I’m looking forward to being there, and to see you all there too!

25^TH OCTOBER : THE DIVISION SPEECH AND TABEL TOPICS CONTEST

This was an incredibly successful evening,  well organized by Peter Gerlach and his supporting team.  It was a privilege to attend.  The standard of all the speeches and table topics entrants was very high. It was good to see  fellow Lewisham members there taking on roles or simply just to come and watch.

 Manoj was the contest chair for the second half of the evening, and ran the second half of the evening competently and confidently. Julie was assisting in roles behind the scenes.  We were very proud of Steve R. who came second in the Table Topics. 

 

 David H. of Bromley Speakers took the evening by storm by taking 1^st place for both the table topic competition and speech contest.  Well done David and best of luck in Cork in the finals. Well done also to William H. (From Speaker’s Corner) who came 2^nd in the Speech Contest. 

 

The club that Lewisham was sponsoring at the beginning of the year “London Trustmasters” has now fully chartered, and after the competition we all stayed and celebrated their success.  A new club is born, and Lewisham helped in part evolve it.   Well done to all those members who helped.

 LEWISHAM TOASTMASTER EVENING 17^th OCTOBER  

An unusually testing evening, as a number of mishaps to certain members seemed to culminate in one meeting!  I real test for a good leader then.  Roles were swiftly reallocated where necessary, and due to good leadership the evening progressed seamlessly!  

Chris arrived late, but seamlessly took over from Julie to continue the role of toastmaster for the evening.  His great sense of humour made for a fun evening.

 Marcella took the award for best speaker of the evening with her speech entitled “Happiness is what you make it”. 

 Manoj gave a very clear and interesting speech about hand writing skills.  He interacted with the audience well by getting us to practice our own signature, and it was relevant, as we were learning something about our own personalities.  He used good body language and vocal variety particularly when he was describing the different hand writing styles.

 Zhanna, gave us an educational speech.   We were reminded about the importance and need to connect with our audience, and how we could achieve this.  She reminded us of the need for the speech to be relevant to them (the audience).  In order to do this we have to know our audience.  We need to investigate, get to know, and understand their culture.  The speech was well structured and easy to follow.  A good pace and good eye contact made for an engaging speech which was highly relevant for us.  She used humour to keep the speech engaging and make her points clearly understood.  We now know that Steve might not be overly engaged in a speech on Romance, although Zhanna might!!   She inspired us with her reference to Winston Churchill who found public speaking difficult, but went on to become one of history’s greatest leaders of all time.  Yes, we all have a Winston Churchill in us!!  Well done to Zhanna as completing this speech means she has secured her Competent Communicator Silver!!

 Our speech evaluators, Phil Julie and Steve J gave us some good feedback for the evening.  Make sure we use effective visual aids.   Make sure we don’t compromise our speech by running out of time!!!

 Steve J. took us through the timings for the evening competently, and was sharp enough to hop out and put the kettle on before the break.  He also doubled up as a speech evaluator at short notice too for Marcela

 In the table topics Gabriel showed us how repeating the question can buy us time.  Great charisma and stage presence.

Lucinda had a tough question “What advice would I give to my younger self” she handled it admirably though.  Nice pace, and even though it was a tough question it didn’t phase her.  Nice stage presence.

 Are little Liars are okay?   Maureen really engaged with the audience great eye contact and facial expressions, as she explained that sometimes its okay, if it is in the person’s interest.  Her facial expressions really expressed a feeling of humanity as she described that telling the odd porky could be justified on the odd occasion if it was in the person’s interest.

 Serena responded to her question well.  Good eye contact and a feeling of warmth expressed by her smiling.  Well done to Serena who also undertook the role of AH counter and Grammarian for the evening.

 Flavia had us in fits of laughter, with her preference for 2 weeks in Jail as opposed to a stint of Community Service.  What can I say? Great stage presence, good use of vocal variety, and volume.   Full of humour with a good summary.  Flavia won the Best Table Topics for the evening.

Manoj had a tough one  Aliens have just arrived and he is the Prime Minister having to break the news to the public.  A tough question, but his posture, confidence,  vocal variety and volume meant as an audience we felt he was in charge despite the fact that Aliens have landed!!

 

 

10^th October Story Telling Workshop Evening Number 2.

Another successful workshop evening took place this Wednesday.   This time we were on home ground at Lewisham Methodist Church.  We had a great turn out. 

Highly cosmopolitan! we had members from Lewisham Speakers, Citi Criers, Bromley, Meridian, and  Croydon Communicators, and London Trustmasters.  This coupled with a well organised meeting made for a productive and thoroughly enjoyable session. 

The evening was led by Julie, but she had come prepared with her assistants at hand too.  Richard took us on a journey on how we can come up with ideas for a story.  He introduced us to timelines.  A way of reflecting on our own life’s experiences in a way that stimulates our thought process to come up with ideas for our stories. No more climbing the walls trying to think of ideas!!

Flavia then took us through the composition of what makes for a good story.  We need a beginning; we need a climax, conflict, and an end.  She gave us good examples to illustrate her points.

Nobody was going to be left out; we all had the opportunity to speak and give impromptu stories, and to learn more about what makes for an interesting story.  We all agreed that the more personal a story is the more appealing it appears to be.

I am now looking forward to our next Story Telling Workshop to be held at Meridian Speakers.  I looking forward to it and hope to see you there too.  The more the merrier!!

THE HUMEROUS SPEECH AND TABLE TOPICS COMPETITION AREA CONTEST 4^th OCTOBER

The Area contest for the Humerous speech and Table Topics competition held at Citi Criers turned out to be an electric evening.  Such a great turnout from guests and members coming from  Area 59 and outside this Area too!

Flavia and Steve did us proud.  Steve taking first place in the Table Topics, and Flavia taking 3^rd in the Humerous Speech section.  They were fantastic, well done to both of them.   The overall results were:-

Humerous Speech Contest

1^st William (Speaker’s Corner)

2^nd Adolfo (Citi Criers)

3^rd Flavia (Lewisham Speakers) Yippee!!

 

Table Topics

1^st Steve Roberts (Lewisham Speakers) Yippee !!

2^nd Adolf (Citi Criers)

3^rd Francis (Speaker’s Corner)

 

LEWISHAM  SPEAKERS MEETING 3^RD OCTOBER

This was an altogether different style to our usual evenings, which made for eventful fun evening.

The people really made the evening, our guests many of whom took part in the table topics, and visitors from other clubs as well as our existing members together made it a warm friendly and bustling evening.

We were led confidently and competently through the evening by Phillip. 

Chris was clear and concise with the Warm Up.  He explained how it worked, and also gave us some notice as to who was answering the question first and how the order of response would progress, so there was no confusion as to who was next.  It was a nice simple question too, which lent itself to short succinct answers.

Richard made us all think how we all spend our time, and to invest in what counts in life.  He was energetic in his delivery, and used vocal variety and pauses at the correct intervals to reinforce his point.

Gayna was our Educational Speaker of the evening, and didn’t she do well?  Great interaction with the audience.  She made us think and interact with her by asking us what made speech preparation difficult for us, and then used a flip chart to write all our thoughts down and then systematically went back and answered all the questions!   By doing so she devised a way of having a real open conversation with us.

The following speeches which Gayna gave were enlightening.  The importance of making a speech that is relevant to your audience is so important, and the speech she gave emphasised the point perfectly.  We must remember it is the audience we are serving, not ourselves.

 The use of Gayna’s personal experiences in life that she shared with us really meant she was speaking to us, not at us, and she was really "in the moment."  Consequently we were all engaged with her in the true sense of the word.  A big thank you to Gayna.

The evening was rounded up by our table topics,  and it was good to see our guests taking part in these.

CANAL CAFÉ: - 1^ST OCTOBER 2012

A great night out for all those 13 people who attended.  We were entertained by 5 speakers all of whom told their personal stories.   Well done to Julie, who at short notice was drafted in to tell one of them.  It was nice to have the opportunity to meet people socially from other clubs.  Such a fun night, and I can’t wait to get back there to tell my own personal story in public at the end of the Story Telling Workshops in March.  We all came away energised and inspired with the power of personal story telling.

27^th SEPTEMBER 1^ST STORY TELLING WORKSHOP AT CITI CRIERS

Excellent, such fun we all had.  We all got the opportunity to learn why story telling is so powerful, and we all got the opportunity to tell a story in front of each other too.  It was superb having the opportunity to listen to each other’s stories.  I can still remember everybody’s story they told today even!!  Just goes to show how important and powerful stories can be at conveying a message.  The next story telling workshop it at LEWISHAM ON WEDNESDAY 10^TH OCTOBER RECEPTION 7.15 PM FOR A 7.30PM START. Looking forward to seeing you there!!

 

LEWISHAM HUMEROUS SPEECH AND TABLE TOPICS COMPETITION

19TH SEPTEMBER 2012

 

Well what an evening we had!!   Serena our first time contest chair took command of the evening, and didn’t she do well?.  She was organised throughout, and I felt guided and secure under her leadership throughout the evening.

Jon took us through the warm up.  It was an unusual question because it allowed us to do animations, and I have to say I enjoyed doing my impersonation of a horse, and listening to others too. He conducted the warm up swiftly and efficiently.  All the speeches were very competently prepared, which led for a thoroughly entertaining evening.  There was excitement, as we were taken on police car chases by Steve,  laughter as Flavia drew a picture in our mind of very tall Jenny having a little too much to drink standing at the  top of a diving board!  Then there was Richard with his trials and tribulations with Technology, littered with humour throughout, as well as the huge phone that he brought with him.  It definitely emphasized the points he was making!!  Chris had me on the edge of my chair as he talked through the experience of landing the glider at high speed, such energy in his speech.  Manoj with his speech “Believe it or not” a strong well organised speech.  

 

So well done to all who took part, but also to Flavia for coming first in the Humerous Speech contest, Steve who came second and Richard third.

The table topics were led by Serena “What was our view on Kate’s recent tabloid exposure?”  From the audience point of view it was interesting I thought,  to see how each individual approached it and how diverse the approach was. We had the more serious approaches (Chris and Richard) coupled with the more humerous approaches taken by Manoj, and Chris, with the complete and utter humerous take  on it provided by Steve Roberts.  Whatever the response all our contestants provided excellent table topic responses, which made it a tough competition to judge because the overall quality of the contestants both in the table topics and the speeches was good.  Well done to Steve who took first place in the table topics, Chris H. who took second place, and Richard for third.

Like everything we must not forget those people behind the scenes, so a thank you to our counters:- Beverley and Marcella, our timers of the evening and Steve and Lucas (who also doubled up as our Sargeant at arms for the evening too.) Also a big thank you for those who took on the role of Judges for the evening, including our Chief Judge Julie Kertesz, and to those who made the effort to come from other clubs.  It was good to see that our guests also enjoyed the evening, and we look forward to welcoming them back.

 

Lets make sure that we support Steve and Flavia at the area contest on the 4^th October, further details below.  Look forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards all and look forward to seeing you at our next action packed event on the 3rd October (that is if I do not see you at one of other diary events before hand! See our diary of events below in this regard).

LEWISHAM SPEAKERS

DIARY EVENTS

First Story Telling Workshop

Date:- 27^th September.

Location:- Citi Criers, Level 5, Citigroup Centre 33 Canada Square, London E14 5LB (Closest tube station Canary Wharf).

Commencing Time:- 7.00pm, although if you come early you can join in Citi Criers Humerous Speech and Table Topics Competition, this starts at 6.00pm.  Please make sure that you supply your name in advance to simone.stefanopulos@citi.com  .so as to ensure access into the building.  Simone is the President for our neighbouring Toastmaster Club Citi Criers, the hosts of this event.

 

“Stories stick, and are remembered:-   What is a story?  Why Personal? Prepare 2-3 min first Storey.”

 

Date:- 1^st October: Canal Cafe

Location:- Canal Café Theatre, Delamare Terrace, Little Venice, London W2 6ND www.canalcafetheatre.com.  Tickets have been prepurchased so we can all sit together.  Contact Katy Woolcott to reserve your seat (£8.00) book early to avoid disappointment.  This is a social event so friends welcome.  Meet 7.00 pm in the bar of canal café ready for the story telling event which commences at 7.30pm. Now fully booked.

 

Date:- 4^th October  Humerous Speech and Table Topics Area Contest:

Location:- Citi Criers, Level 5, Citigroup Centre 33 Canada Square, London E14 5LB (Closest tube station Canary Wharf).  Commencing time 7.00pm.

Humorous and Table Topics Competition

Humorous Speech Competitors

Richard 

Steve 

Flavia 

Manoj 

Chris H.

A wonderful agenda this Wednesday for the Humorous competition, a competition between giants! We has all fun and can also learned from each if them !

First price: Flavia

After the pause, a Table Topics competition with Serena Nelson and Chris Douce added to the mix :

Chris D

Serena

Richard

Steve R

Manoj

Chris H;

At this Table Topics competition each will answer to the same question. It is fun to watch how different the answer can be! Steve first price. The actual pictures taken at the event will follow soon.
Of course, each of them can sit in the audience only after he or she answered, but we, the others, hear all of them!

All contestants were great and very well prepared - we had lot of fun and even three guests for the evening that begun with difficulty, as another event took place just before our contest on the premises.

But all is well that finishes well. At the end, they even left us with some nibbles to taste! We all had excellent time, too.

The first ten or twenty seconds of your speech is the peak of your audience's engagement level. It is not going to get any better as one by one your listeners will get distracted by their mental grocery lists or the next day's outfit. Hook them fast with benefits by giving them an implicit or explicit reason to pay close attention.

Opening #1: The Personal Story

The most consistently successful opening is the personal story. 

 

First, your personal story should really be personal. Tell your own story and share your observations. 

 

Second, make sure your story is directly relevant to your core message. If your goal is to inspire people to volunteer their time to feed the homeless, a cute story about how your dog can bark 'I love you' just does not belong. 

 

Third, fourth, and fifth, make your story highly emotional, highly sensory, and rich in dialogue. The story should be so specific that your audience is able to relive it with you. And sixth, start your story somewhere in the middle so that you immediate prompt your audience to wonder who, what, where, whey, why, or how.

LEWISHAM TOASTMASTERS 15TH AUGUST

WHAT AN EVENING OF ENTERTAINMENT WE HAD!

Richard, our Sergeant at Arms prompt as usual set to work like a beaver diligently make sure things were in their place ready for our evening of entertainment and made sure the evening started on time, in a manner that was cool calm and collected, so we were out of the starting blocks and on time!!

Katy our President reminded us of all the joys that we could hope to achieve from Toastmasters and how it can really lead to  a truly more enriching fun filled life, by have good communication and leadership skills. Don't let it pass you by! 

However, like everything in life no pain no gain!!  We get out what we put in.  This led her on to the Toastmaster Promise, a reminder about what we need to be committing to, to get the most out of our Toastmaster meetings, such as:

• a) Making sure we attend our TM meetings regularly 
• b) Discharging all the assignments that we sign up to, and actively discharging our assignments and recording them in our manuals (CL and CC, or other advanced manuals. 
• c) Making sure that we take every effort to give good evaluations.   
• d) Being prepared to take on a Committee role if required by the club.

Flavia was our toastmaster of the evening, and we felt comfortable, and relaxed in her capable hands.  She had prepared well for the evening, and came prepared.  Even the naughty people who had not responded to her email she was prepared for and had an action ready to address the matter.  She was methodical and organised, and came prepared to record their comments on a prepared word document.  That’s what I call organised, planning, and thinking head (good leadership skills). She led us through the evening showing her flexibility in those areas where life doesn’t always go according to plan, and she managed effectively a substitution for the warm up role.

Rosie, gave a very full account of the role of the “AH” counter, and through good eye contact, and competant communication skills had full engagement with the audience.

Katy  was our grammarian and the word for the evening was “Gigantic” and my word there were a lot of people who used this word throughout the evening 8 in all!

Beverley inspired us all with her Tip of the day.  Perseverance, achievement against adversity!  Her good eye contact and her warm smiling stage presence ensured that she engaged with us all on the same level. Beverley also was our timekeeper of the evening, and a good job she did too!!

Natasha was welcomed warmly to the stage by Flavia to undertake her Ice Breaker, and weren’t we all impressed by her family and the life experiences that she shared with us.  She had a cool, and collected stage presence about her, as she took us on her life journey.  I loved her use of metaphors, which I think really helped to picture some of her childhood memories, for example referring to her school choir “singing their hearts out.”  I’m looking forward to Natasha’s second speech!  Well done to Natasha who won best speaker of the evening.

Chris was our second speaker of the evening with a speech entitled “Murder, Infidelity in Lewisham” wow, this had me thinking.  Maybe I was not going to have to watch East Enders catch up version tonight because Chris had done his own Lewisham version!!  

No this was about past writers of Lewisham, and there were certainly a number of them each contributing a legacy to their moment in time, which future generations can refer back to.  Just think one day people will be looking back at our current writers of today, as a way of understanding the past. Chris engaged us with good eye contact and body movement and delivered a competent speech.

Phillip bought a whole new meaning to the word Sceptic.  The speech really challenged my thought process.  He spoke clearly and articulately, with pauses at appropriate intervals.  That was great because these were views and thoughts that I really needed to digest, and could easily have gone over me, if he hadn’t allowed enough thinking time.  I guess it is good for us all to challenge view points, but I wonder if there are some things in life we shouldn’t challenge?

An excellent speech, which had me from start to finish, and expertly told.

Richard, Manoj, and  Vivienne our speech evaluators gave good feedback, reminding us all the need for good eye contact, and to make sure we make contact with all the audience and not just one part.  To make sure that we make the best use of the stage and to move with purpose.

Dee took us through the Table Topics confidently, and well. She had a strong stage presence so it was easy to engage with her. 

============

Manoj was confident and composed as he gave he delivered his answer to some of the questions he would like to ask David Cameron. He was clear with his points and used good sign posting techniques. Lets hope there are not so may spare seats available at the next Olympics.

Liz was calm and collected on the stage, and exuded a serene confidence about her.  There was no messing with the answer either, she knew exactly what her biggest fear was, and she was going to say it very clearly. PUBLIC SPEAKING.  Well done to Liz because she could have fooled us.

Richard  has us in fits of laughter with his would be 007 antics!!  He brought humour to the stage with his impersonations of the characters that he is depicting.  Let’s hope he gets what he seeks in his aspirations of a 007 life style!!  Will it live up to his expectation I wonder??

Clare with her smiling face, and use of purposeful body language that supported what she was saying, about her most important toy, a doll.  She had good eye contact and she was in real conversational mode with us. She could almost have been speaking to each and every one of us as an individual I thought.  She was really reliving her memories with us on stage I could really see her in the moment, and reliving the love that she had for her doll. Her facial expressions said what 1000 words could not.

I admired Vivienne’s table topic response immensely.  It was clear that silent movies were not top of her agenda.  But she was very composed, and articulate, and gave a very comprehensive response to what was a challenging table topic question.

Steve took us down memory lane with his Carry on Film memories. We could see he was living the moment, particularly when he was relaying his memories to us of some of the film captions.  Consequently we picked up on his enthusiasm, and enjoyed the humour of his speech.

==========
Steve our table topic evaluator brought some wise tips to the evening. Sometimes on the right occasions high volume is not always best and reducing our volume can have more impact on what we are saying.  Use voice volume with purpose. He gave focused and fair feedback, and in a style that did not lack humour, so it was fun too listen to and as a consequence made it all the more engaging.

Serena, had clearly been very attentive throughout the evening, and was organised in the delivery of her report.

Well I think that rounded off the evening.  So well done Flavia for ensuring the evening ran so well, and to time.

BUSINESS SECTION

1.  Fees are now due so please make sure these are paid now to Steve 65 pounds for 6 months or 110 pounds for 12 months

2.   Don’t forget to enter the Humorous Speech and Table Topics Competition on the 19^th September.

3.  Storey telling evening currently scheduled for Monday 1^st October Location at Canal Café www.canalcafetheatre.com come and join your fellow toastmasters, for what will be a truly fun evening.  More to come on this. Tickets are 8.00 pounds.  Let Katy know if you want  come so she can reserve the right number of tickets, as soon as you know you want to come, but no later than 5^th September,

4.  Committee Meeting this Wednesday 22^nd August. Commencing time 7.30pm to 9.00 pm.

Can’t wait for our next Toastmaster Session this coming 5^th September. Looking forward to seeing you then.

1st August Lewisham Toastmaster's "Summer Holidays"

Well what an evening we had!  Summer Holidays a great theme for the evening, and it certainly took me on a journey back to those long summer school holiday, those were the days!!

Richard was our Sergeant at Arms for the evening.  He was cool calm and collected, he was trying out a new style this evening, and I liked it.

Katy our president reminded us of the need to set ourself goals, so we are continually pushing ourselves, and to make sure we fill our manuals in so that we get the best out of our experiences at Lewisham Speakers.  Also important to make sure we support Manoj when he is setting the agenda by responding promptly to him, as he has the almighty task of organising the agenda for the evening, so we get the best out of it.

Serena took on the role of toastmaster for the evening for the first time, and didn’t she do well. Her usual warm charm led us through the evening, so well done to Serena for pushing yourself and reaching new heights.

Julie undertook the warm up well, and raised the energy of the evening by reminding us to show our support for each other, and clap.

Natasha took up the mantle of time keeper for the evening, a role she took to like a duck to water.  Absolutely no problems there, she was clear and articulate in all her reporting.

Dee, what an excellent speech, such passion in her voice.  She spoke with real meaning.  She achieved this with her voice, vocal variety, eye contact and body language, and boy did she really make me think.  Just thinking that my actions and conduct could effect the directions of some one just making it out in life.  I know she is so right too, such an important message. Lets make sure that we make sure we push everybody the right way over the line between success and failure.  As Chris rightly pointed out if the thin blue line was related to property prices then Dee would be well over the line in Kensington!!!  A pleasure to listen to, a captivating speech.

We all liked Flavia’s entertaining speech which took us on a journey back to her school days.  Flavia had an energy about her, as she did her speech.  I could see the twinkling in her eyes of a 12 year old as she described Janice and her long flowing hair .  There was a moment on stage where Janice was really present in the room.   Great body language and the  imagery of her dressed up as Jimmy Savile made us all laugh. Good old Mrs Pearl for listening, to Flavia and supporting her.  Having regards to Dee’s speech we need more of these teachers that inspire children.  Well done Flavia for winning best speech of the evening.  I think it fair to say Flavia well and truelly entertained us.

Manoj gave us an informative speech. He speaks with authority and firmness, a style that is quite presidential.  He achieves this with a voice that has good volume, coupled with good body language.  This in turn gives his speech more credibility.  His speech was simple in its message.  By investing time in our children, teaching them the lessons of life. Teaching them basic principles:- no pain no gain, you have to earn your money, and teaching them about financial boundaries, and also to preserve the resources that they have.  By developing a responsible culture in our youth we will ultimately lead to a more responsible nation, which manages its debts more responsibly.   A clear and informative message for us all to think about.

Richard gave us a humerous speech, and as
Steve rightly pointed out the proof of the pudding is in the eating.  Yes there were plenty of laughs coming from the audience which meant Richard certainly achieved his purpose.  His attempts at texting, the need for a large screen, and troubles and dramas of predictive texting were hilarious, as he acted them out on the stage. We were laughing because he was using material from everyday life that we could all identify with. He communicated in a way that put himself on our level with him.  A well crafted humerous speech.

We had some good constructive feedback from our Evaluators.  Chris reminded us how we use flip charts to add focus to our points in a speech.  He delivered his evaluation with energy, clear, articulate, and well thought out and composed. Well done to Chris who won best evaluator of the evening Steve reminded us that if we our competing in toastmasters we must always use correct grammar, and resist the temptation to use words not in the dictionary!! A natural comedian he kept us entertained, whilst still delivering a meaningful and constructive evaluation, which added to the positive vibe throughout the evening.

Chris in his evaluation used good sign posting techniques.   He told us how he was going to go about his evaluation, and used the trusted technique of commendation, recommendation commendation, which meant he delivered a competent and constructive evaluation.

Beverley had a very natural warm presence on the stage, and she highlighted to us the importance of comedy and drama and how they contribute to the value of the speech, and the importance that good eye contact has too.

Vivienne

Had prepared well for her role, clear evidenced by all the photographs she had bought in.  She was clear, articulate, with clear focus on her role.

Julie used good body language and humour in delivering her table topic response on tall ships. Julie also did well to double up as General Evaluator for the evening too.  Great at multitasking which is always challenging but shows the true flexibility of a seasoned toastmaster.

Natasha very composed, methodical and articulate, and engaging in her response, when she took us to her favourite spot in New Zealand where she would like to drift too.

Beverley charmed us with her humour, warmth and honesty in her table topic response.  Her budget is going to stretch to see a Panoramic View!!

Chris  Took us on his journey of staying at home. Good use of stage as he described the London Tube map, as he goes about extending his knowledge of London.

Chris H.Brought energy and presence to the stage.  Good body language, and he moved with purpose on the stage.  He had a good summary too, which concluded with a simple message green fields and camping are no longer for him!!

Uta

We all welcomed Uta our new member to the club, and she certainly held the stage in her table topic with a cool confidence, and we certainly know that long lunches were certainly not for her!!

Dee took to the stage, with real presence, as she took us on our day out with her at Brighton beach.

Well done to Chris, Dee and  Natalie for all winning jointly best table topic, and to all those who took part.

BUSINESS SECTION

SUBSCRIPTIONS NOW DUE

Katy reminded everyone that it was that time of year again, where we all have to raid our piggy banks, as subscriptions are now due from nearly all our members:- 65 pounds for 6 months and 110 pounds for 12 months.  Cheques made payable to “Lewisham Speakers Club!” and passed to Steve J at your earliest convenience.

HUMEROUS SPEECH AND TABLE TOPICS COMPETITION 19^th SEPTEMBER

This is due to take place on the 19^th September 2012 and exciting opportunity to challenge our skills. Let me know if you would like to enter the competition. Details to follow shortly.

That’s it for now, but look forward to seeing you at our next toastmaster session on the

COMMITTEE MEETING 22^ND AUGUST 2012    

Just a reminder to Committee Members that our next Committee Meeting is on the 22^nd August Commencing 7.30pm for a 9.00pm finish, my house.

That’s it all look forward to seeing you all again on the 15th August for another exciting evening.

Kind regards

Katy