President's Newsletter, October 2014 – Celebrating 90 years

Welcome to this "Happy 90th Anniversary Toastmasters International" newsletter! Did you know that it is 90 years this week since the first Toastmasters meeting was held at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California? The organisation grew out of a single club, Ralph C. Smedley's Smedley Chapter One Club, which would become the first Toastmasters club.

The official anniversary is on Wednesday, 22nd October, and it marks the beginning of a yearlong tribute that will be celebrated in clubs across the world. From that one club, the organisation now stands at more than 313,000 members in more than 14,650 clubs in 126 countries!

Looking ahead to...



Forthcoming meetings at Excalibur Speakers

Our next Speak Out meeting is on Thursday 23rd October, 12pm at the Concert Artistes' Association, Bedford Street. Speaking opportunities are available - log into easySpeak to secure your slot. We are also looking out for an all-new Speak Out Leader - are you able to run this meeting on Thursday? Please get in touch if you can!

Our next Regular meeting is on Wednesday 12th November, 7pm at the Fitzrovia Community Centre, Foley Street. We already have a full line-up of speakers, but we are looking for evaluators and other roles to be filled, so please log into easySpeak to sign up today.

One further date for your diary is the all-new District 91 Autumn Conference, being held on 31st October to 2nd November, at the Thistle Hotel in Brighton. Will you be joining me and a number of other Excaliburgers? It would be great to see you there! For more details and booking information please visit the conference website.


Distinguished Club Programme

The Distinguished Club Programme (DCP) is Toastmasters International's framework of objectives that clubs should aim to achieve within the Toastmasters year, and different levels of recognition are awarded depending on how many of the ten criteria are met.

Here is our club's current DCP status:

1. Two Competent Communicator awards: Not yet achieved
2. Two more Competent Communicator awards: Not yet achieved
3. One Advanced Communicator award: Not yet achieved
4. One more Advanced Communicator award: Not yet achieved
5. One leadership award: Peter G (ALB)
6. One more leadership award: Not yet achieved
7. Four new members: Tony S, Carl R, Marc L, Richard F
8. Four more new members: Mark M, Indra S, Bob F, Anton H
9. At least four club officers trained at each of two training events: Half achieved (Cat, Karthik, Swarajit, Chinkata, Tony W, Ken)
10. On-time submission of club officer list and membership dues: Achieved

Total to date = 4 achieved and 1 half achieved

Please let me know if you would like mentoring or support to help you to achieve your Toastmasters goals for this year, which will in turn help us achieve our goals as a club.


The Final Word

As a parting comment this evening, a colleague of mine told me to relax this weekend. I said that I would try. In response she reminded me of the great words of Yoda: "Do...or do not. There is no try." 

With our fabulous VP Education Ken being shipped overseas, we are looking for someone to step into his shoes. Are you looking for a new leadership opportunity? Would you like to play a vital part in raising the bar at Excalibur Speakers? If so, please do get in touch.

Best wishes,

Cat Kipling
President, Excalibur Speakers