All things Paris

With respect for those who had suffered in the tragedies in Paris the previous Friday, our theme for November 18^th was ‘All things Paris’. Lucinda, our Toastmaster for the evening, encouraged us to think about what we love about Paris.

We had a great meeting – relaxed, fun, warm and friendly. Our guests commented on how comfortable they felt and appreciate that everyone gets a chance to speak.

Joanne was presented with her Ice Breaker sash

Our first speaker was Joanne, doing her Ice Breaker speech ‘Neeow’. She told us about her trip to the Belgian Grand Prix and how she had never wanted to go but got persuaded – and ended up having a great time. We were there with her as she heard the cars before she saw them, made her way through the crowds and found her seat on a grassy bank to watch the action. In Chris’s evaluation he noted the wonderful, vivid pictures Joanne painted with her words.

                                                     

Lukas spoke about ‘Simplicity’ and that in our complex world we need to get back to basics. He highlighted that it is the speeches with a simple message that get remembered. He quoted Martin Luther King, Winston Churchill and others whose words we all remember. His three tips were that, when composing a speech, we need to: plan it well; get to the point; and use visual aids to get the message across, after all when you’re cooking a meal, the first thing you need is all of the ingredients. Paul was the evaluator, finding that Lukas did inform us, as was his speech purpose, and left us with some useful tips.

Jenny started with ‘I’m going to be Prime Minister one day!’ quoting herself at 10 years old. She isn’t and she stopped wanting to be as she became an adult. ‘Three decades’ was the title of her speech and she took us through the Prime Ministers and their impacts in the last thirty years and how she feels about them. She ended with ‘I want to be the change that I want to see’. Flavia noted Jenny’s use of pauses and body language to give emphasis and noted her final message - that it’s important to use our votes.

Philip was our final speaker, inspiring us with his speech ‘I Never Dreamt’. We heard how Philip learned so much at Toastmasters in Bromley and came to be one of the founding members and the first President of our Lewisham Speakers Toastmasters. He gave us a few gems, like the acronym TEAM: Together Everyone Achieves More; and ‘Ask not what Toastmaster can do for you but what you can do for Toastmasters’. On leadership and being asked to be the President for a second year, he highlighted how, to be a good leader you have to have a team that motivates you, encouraging us to think about supporting any bosses. As evaluator, Lucinda noted how Philip used a quiet voice for emphasis at times and how he tricked us to start with, implying that he was talking about something saucy to get our attention and interest.

Julie lead the Table Topics session using her photos of Paris, asking the speakers what each picture inspired in them? A variety of techniques were used during the answers: Flavia made up a story using vocal variety to create intrigue; Stephanie gave us a great opening line with ‘I see my future’; Chris used humour to give himself thinking time; Mohammed and Andy both told personal stories, relating the pictures to their own experience; Paul and Naufah both turned the subject around to something they wanted to share and were comfortable talking about; Jenny confidently delivered a short speech with a clearly defined beginning, middle and end.

Ade was our general evaluator, appreciating how welcoming Lewisham Speakers is to guests and made some useful recommendations.

Living in the Moment

Our first meeting in November was particularly relaxed and fun. One of our, first time, guests said she was surprised by how much fun we had – she was expecting something more serious. She said it felt like she had been welcomed into a family.

Our Toastmaster was Lukas, who introduced the theme of ‘Living in the Moment’. He told us about his experiences when he took his new camera to the park and first noticed the beautiful colours of the trees and landscape. They’d obviously all been there before but he hadn’t noticed. He recognised the value of slowing down and noticing what was all around him, the value of living in the moment.

Flavia, our President, welcomed us all to the meeting and gave a general explanation of Toastmasters and our group for the visitors. John warmed us up by asking us all to think about a time when we had managed to let go and live in the moment. The answers ranged from yoga and sports to holidays in tranquil places - and very intimate relaxing experiences, ahem. (Julie still has her funny bones for sure!)

Verna and David supported the meeting as Timekeeper and Grammarian. David gave us ‘odious’ to include in our speeches wherever we could.

Our speakers for the evening are both very experienced and competent. Richard chose to practice a speech he’s given before to bring himself up to competition level. His mission was to ‘Persuade with Power’ with his speech ‘Norman’. He drew us in by walking over to the window, and saying ‘There’s a mountain out there – and it’s following me.’ We were intrigued! His finish left an impression too as he kicked the door open and invited us all to climb that mountain with him. In her evaluation, Lucinda noted the power of Richard’s speech and his use of differentiated voices and characters.

Julie gave us her ‘Keynote Address’, taking us through the first seven speeches in the Competent Communications Manual. She told us of her first speech when she fell in love with the audience and her second, when she started by telling how, in her childhood she killed – with her eyes. As Flavia said when she evaluated Julie’s speech – she gave us a masterclass in how to put a speech together and gave us all plenty of tips for composing our own speeches.

Philip lead the table topics giving our guests and members who hadn’t spoken a chance to think quickly to give answers to his questions.

Paul was our general evaluator for the evening and highlighted the skills of those who hadn’t yet been evaluated, adding some recommendations. He praised Flavia’s warm welcome and Lukas’ smooth transitions and John for keeping us all engaged with his warm up.

During the break we enjoyed some yummy cake, thanks to Paul, to celebrate our 7th birthday.