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Sunday 17 December 2017

Excalibur Meeting Report, 13th December 2017

Colorful agenda, Delicious food, and Festive clothes. The last meeting in 2017 was celebrated with lots of fun, festive activities and Monika's delicious hand-made chocolate cookies. With the tinsel queen Lynne Cantor, everyone was adorned with shiny tinsel. 

Chocolate Princess Monika and Tinsel Queen Lynne  

Our President Monika Swiderska opened the meeting by singing lovely Polish Christmas songs. Monika introduced guest Alina Ghionoiu. 

Toastmaster of the evening, Bob Ferguson wore a Christmassy tie and introduced the word of the day “Festive”. Timekeeper Cat Kipling wearing a bright red jumper and tiny Xmas hat shared the importance of respecting time.

Table Topics Master David Lennon adapted several well-known Christmas carols and songs into table topic! Cat Kipling talked about the institutional bullying of the reindeer Rudolf. Mustapha Hanafi her instant evaluator appreciated her passion and recommended her to slow down. Nick Westall asked about Good King Wenceslas’s pizza joint talked about his childhood experience of jumping into the snow. Chinkata Okpara liked his body language and recommended to talk more about the King. Anne Bingham delivered a fluent story on Santa Claus coming to town. Tadija Popovic found her full of imaginations. Alina Ghionoiu mentioned the place she wants to go on a Sleigh. Monika Swiderska liked her smile and recommended to talk more about friends to go with. Paul Andreas explained that technically the shepherds wouldn’t have been watching their sheep at night. Brian Skelton enjoyed the facts about Xmas and recommended to use more of stage. Eva Yang explained how to cook a Partridge with steam in a fast and easy way. Marcin Tolysz recommended to add more details in how to deal with the bird.

Great story-teller Anne with tinsels

Prepared speeches! Brian Skelton wore a super reindeer jumper and shared some interesting experiences with the topic “Have a Nice Day”. Evaluator Eva Yang recommended to open up with a question first and later on greeting. Monika Swiderska talked about her intimate hater with the topic “Scouting around”. Tadija Popovic enjoyed the twist that her hater and her collaborated in the end and recommended to use only two characters’ names. Lynne Cantor presented an Interview about networking that she is going to deliver for real on Friday!  Chinkata Okpara was her insightful evaluator and enjoyed her confidence. 

Super festive reindeer Brian

Open Feedback: Mustapha Hanafi clearly and succinctly guided us through with commendations and recommendations for all speakers. Moreover, delicious chocolates were distributed to the members who got correct answers to the questions from Harkmaster Marcin Tolysz.

Elections were held for President and VP-PR. Newly-elected President Chinkata Okpara said he will lead Excalibur to succeed. New VP-PR Eva Yang said she wants to record her Toastmasters journey in London. 

VP-PR Eva wants to record her TM journey

Thanks were given to retiring President Kata van Koten for helping us ‘Aspire to Excellence’ for the first half of the year. Thanks and a small gift were given to Monika Swiderska for taking on three roles when Kata had to step down: interim President, VP-PR and VPE (the role she retains). Congratulations also went to Marcin Tolysz who has taken on an Area Director role as well as being President of two clubs. 

Area Directors Marcin and Cat

Finally, Monika Swiderska closed the meeting by announcing the evening's winners: 

Best Speaker: Monika Swiderska. 
Best Evaluator: Chinkata Okpara. 
Best Table Topic: Nick Westall. 

Best Speaker: Monika Swiderska

Best Evaluator: Chinkata Okpara

Best Table Topic: Nick Westall

Season greetings to you all. 


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Dates not to be missed! Our next meeting will be on Wednesday 10th JanuaryTo make our VPE’s job easier, kindly confirm your attendance on Easyspeak or via excaliburspeakers@gmail.com

Kick-start your new year by joining our Division L Toastmasters Leadership Institute workshop day on Saturday 13 January, where we have a stellar line-up of presenters from across the Division and beyond. 
Please register for your FREE ticket at here.

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