Meeting 866 "Speech Night"

We are a "Select Distinguished: Club!  In the past year, our club earned enough points to become "Select Distinguished."  Immediate Past President Marlene presented President Sharyn with a ribbon to display on the club's banner.

This meeting the emphasis was on speeches. Dave, as Toastmaster, kept things running smoothly, aided by Timekeeper Leesa.

Meriel's  Round Robin question was "What do you do to calm down before giving a speech?" The answers ranged from helpful to hilarious, eg "Imagine the audience naked" "Prepare thoroughly" "Practise" "Focus on the audience" etc.

Table Topicsmaster Rhys also used speech related topics, which were answered by Elizabeth, Annette, Meriel and Robert.

Trish presented a very informative Educational Session on "How to Organise Your Speech."
Trish likened it to taking a train journey - you need to know your destination. Decide what is your message or aim.

Use three main points in the body of the speech, using the PREP method.. (Point, Reason, Example, Point.)
Summarise in the conclusion and end with a call for action. She made it sound so easy!

The speakers for the evening had evidently used this method when preparing their speech, because all gave an excellent presentation. Melissa gave an amusing talk on "Procrastination." Liz spoke about "The Cube" Jennine's speech was about Clowns and Harry explained the Atom.

Evaluators were Kylie, John, Jonathon, Marlene and Annette

Inge's raffle (a cushion) was won by Trish, who gave a shriek when her ticket was drawn and set Robert's guide dog Homer Barking.

Awards for the evening went to Harry (Best Speech,) Melissa (Personal Best) Annette ( Best Table Topic as well as Best Evaluator,) and Dave (Best Contribution.)

Meeting 865 - My Family Tree

The theme was very popular last meeting. Everyone seemed keen to talk about their family tree during the Round Robin.

June presented the word of the evening "Nucleus" and said her little grandson was the nucleus of her family.

Leesa's and Robert's Table Topics continued the theme of family trees and were answered by Kerry, Liz, Annette and John.

(These photos won't go where I want them!)


Trish was kept busy, filling in as Toastmaster as well as Chairman for the business session.

Elizabeth talked about her family origns in her Ice Breaker speech, and displayed a chart showing her family tree.

Jonathon presented his 4th speech, "I Wish They'd Taught Us That at School." (see video below.)

Marlene's speech was about writing down memories. It hadn't been rehearsed and was not nearly as good as usual. (I can say this - it was my speech! It was a good demonstration of what happens to Toastmasters who think they don't need to practise their speech.)


Raffle Master Dave modelled the scarf that his wife Sandy had made for our raffle.

The evening's awards went to Trish, (Best Contribution.) Liz Wf ,(Best Table Topic) Jonathon, (Best Speech) Elizabeth, (Personal Best) and Liz We (I think) Best Evaluation.



Don't forget, the Area Conference is on  Saturday, 5th November in the Eventide Auditorium, Brighton.  Registrations close this Friday.

Toastmasters Speech #4 - I Wish They'd Taught Us That At School

Speech No. 4 - How To Say It

The objective of speech number 4 from the competent communication manual are to:

• select the right words and sentence structure to communicate your ideas clearly, accurately and vividly
• use rhetorical devices to enhance and emphasize ideas
• eliminate jargon and unnecessary words and use correct grammar

While the focus of this speech should be on word choice, it should also incorporate a strong organizational structure and have both a general and specific purpose as outlined in projects 2 and 3.

Meeting 864 - Holidays

Sometimes, when our group is smaller and there are a lot of programme changes, it turns out to be a dynamic meeting. That's what happened last time. There were numerous impromptu fill- ins and it was wonderful to see our members rise to the occasion.

New Members, Michelle and Inge were inducted into the club by Sharyn.

 The holiday theme was carried through the meeting, beginning with Liz's Round Robin "What is your favorite kind of holiday?"

 Jonathon filled in the Table Topics Master's role & called on Sharyn, Chelsea, Liz and Jennine to speak on Holiday themed topics. June and Harry evaluated the Table Topics - it was the first time as Evaluator for both of them.

 New member Melissa presented her IceBreaker Speech, "What's my Label." She spoke about various labels that could describe her and finished with the conclusion that she was "indefinable."

 Dave gave an Interpretive Reading of the poem "Ullysses."

 Marlene filled in the Speech 3 slot with a creative session, & had people using their vocal variety skills to portray emotions - eg anger, amazement, sadness, joy, & mysteriousness. Sharyn carried this idea further when we still had some time at the end of the meeting and got everyone to try some of the exercises from the "Your Speaking Voice" booklet.

 As another "fill in" Jonathon spoke enthusiastically about his plans to put club videos on YouTube.

 New member Elizabeth bravely took on a role at short notice and told a couple of short anecdotes from her childhood.

 Chelsea introduced us to a new word "Schadenfreude" which means to find amusement in another's misfortunes. Inge, having come from Germany, was able to correct our pronunciation. Four people managed to use the word during the evening.

 Awards for the evening went to John & Jonathon, (tie - Best Contribution) Melissa, (Best Speech and Personal Best) and Chelsea. (Best Table Topic.) Jonathon was also Best Evaluator.