September always feels like a fresh start so Newness was our Theme

This was a meeting that started off slowly and gained momentum as it went on. It was dynamically led by Lucinda.

The first speech was by James on The Passion Problem – his 5th speech from the Competent Communicators Manual. He put forward the idea that being encouraged to "follow your passion" may actually be a bad thing which prevents people from being realistic about their opportunities and constraints.

In the second speech by Julie, she told everyone about how hard she had worked against the odds to learn three languages at the same time. Interestingly, the language of the young man she fell in love with is the language she learnt the fastest! Reminding us once again that love is a motivator and always prevails.

The third and winning speech was by Reuben who used the meeting as an opportunity to practice his best man's speech - which he gave for real the following Friday. He started by showing the book that the groom gave him when he asked him to be his best man  ‘Being the Best Man for Dummies’. He told us funny stories about the groom, how the bride and groom met  - the entire speech was laced with love and warmth.

John lead us through an interesting and challenging set of situations and dilemmas around newness to include everyone who hadn't already spoken in the meeting during the Table Topics part of the evening.

A special mention should go to the audience, which included a lot of very welcome guests. The room was brimming with enthusiasm and encouragement.

Thanks go to Max for taking the notes.
Meeting date, 2nd September 2015.

Our next meeting of Lewisham Speakers is on Wednesday, 16th September and is the Humorous Speaking competition. Come along - it'll be a laugh!