The club met on 10th October for another high quality and entertaining evening. After (acting) President Freddie had started the evening off, he handed over to Toastmaster Errol, who steered the good ship Excalibur with his usual usual finesse. Table Topics Master was Ben and Timekeeper David kept everything on (err...) time.
Our four guests (including our GE Adolfo, who later performed this role with great energy and insight) were introduced by Harsha. Each told us a little about themselves.
Table Topics Master Ben then fired a range of randomly selected questions at a number of eager participants. Whether explaining, "Why I love sharks", "Why French food is superior to Italian" or "Why horse riding should be taught in schools", none of the questions managed to throw a participant. Not that they were intended to.
Our prepared speeches were given firstly by Robin, "An Irish Reading" (
Speciality Speaking - 4 - Read Out Loud). The quality, excitement, erudition, pace, grammar, characterisation and interwoven subtleties of the first chapter of whatever book she chose to read from generated gasps from the on-the-edge-of-their-seats audience. The Table Topic Master was recorded as having made a comment to the effect that the content sounded vaguely familiar and your blog chronicler echoes that sentiment.
David then spoke for seven minutes as he took us on a fascinating trip that reached back to his schooldays, with, "What to Find and Where" (
Innovative Planning - 2 - Evaluation and Feedback.
Our third speech was delivered by Chinkata, which was a practice of his competition-winning humorous speech, "In the name of the Father, the Son and the Grandfather". It produced laughs all around.
The speeches were evaluated by Paul, Ian and Simon before Lukasz ran the open feedback session, where members and guests made further commendations and recommendation on the speeches. This element of the evening is unusual - perhaps unique to Excalibur (which is an advanced Toastmasters club) - and provides both more insights for the speakers' (and audience's) benefit, as well as an opportunity for more people to contribute to the evening.
Simon was on top form this evening, scooping the best Table Topics and evaluator awards. Chinkata was the winner of the best speaker award.
The evening was a great success. Many thanks to all who attended, including those who participated, whether with roles, spontaneous or prepared material.
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 24th October at the Fitzrovia Centre, 2 Foley Street, W1W 6DN. All are very welcome!
