Meeting Report for 24th July, 2019

Despite the clammy weather, the room was packed, and anticipation ran high as our 7pm bi-weekly meeting got underway.

President Nick opened the meeting before handing over to our Toastmaster for the evening, the very experienced Simon, who ran the event in a calm and very welcoming manner.
Ilaria then introduced our guests, who told us a little about themselves. Timekeeper Brian then explained the Timekeeper role.

Cat ran a 30 minute "Moments of Truth"workshop - an annual event - in which the audience split into three groups, with each tasked with analysing ways in which the club could be improved. Spokespeople then took to the stage to deliver their group's recommendations, which were recorded by Robin, the Club Secretary, for later committee consideration and implementation.

We then moved on to our prepared speeches. David delivered: Presentation Mastery - 5- Understanding your Communication Style, entitled "Do you get what I am saying?" (5-7 mins).

Our second speaker was Ben, whose speech, "Add a Story to that Presentation" was from the Speeches by Management - 3 - Persuade and Inspire (5-7 mins).

Our third speaker was Sonia, whose speech was from: Interpretive Reading - 3 - The Monodrama, "Rosencranz & Gildenstern are Dead" (5-7 mins).

The speeches were evaluated by Ian, Monika and Freddy before Melanie led the open feedback session, in which members of the audience add three minutes (per speech) of additional commendations and suggestions. 

Lily then took to the stage as General Evaluator, a role she performed delightfully as she described what she liked about our advanced club, and suggested ways it could be improved. 

It was then time for President Nick to give his closing remarks and for the prize giving. The best speech evaluator award went to Freddie; the best speech was delivered by Sonia.

Our next meeting is on 14th August, at 19:00 at The Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, W1W 6DN. Guests are most welcome! 

Meeting Report for Wednesday 10th July, 2019

Prakesh performed the Meet and Greet role, as he welcomed our guest John (who was GE for the meeting) at the door, and then introduced him on stage.

After Simon had called us to order, President Nick opened the meeting with an inspiring talk about his vision and membership goals for the club over the next twelve months He then introduced our Toastmaster, Ian who added his customary humour to the role! Monika was Timekeeper, keeping the audience involved with brief anecdotes and factoids about time.

The Table Topic Master was Ben, who invited members of the audience on stage to a Hero's Journey-themed TT, with each participant limited in scope to elements of Joseph Campbell's classic work. The resulting narrative included (amongst its many twists and turns) worms, dragons and something about overeating, in an arc that had the audience, and the TT evaluators, on the edge of their seats.

We the came to the formal speeches.

Marcin delivered "The Confidence" - The Entertaining Speaker - 4 - A Dramatic Talk. In this moving 5-7 min speech, he described elements of his childhood and offered salutary advice on how we should treat each other.

Melanie then delivered "One Small Change" - Public Relations - 3 - The Persuasive Approach. In this 8-10 min speech, Melanie built a convincing case as to why we should stop buying plastic bottled water.

Then Ken delivered "Three Vows in a Wedding" - The Entertaining Speaker - 1 - The Entertaining Speech (5-7 mins). Ken's speech certainly fulfilled its brief as he described the marriage rituals of his native Nigeria. Sadly the VPPR failed to get a decent picture of Ken - he blames is on the lights being switched off for the slide show! 

The speeches were formally evaluated by Anke, Carolina and David, before we held our Open Feedback session which was hosted by Cat. This is an uncommon Toastmasters meeting feature which our members and guests find particularly useful, in which they deliver an extra three minutes of commendations and suggestions per speech.

John then delivered his General Evaluation for the club and meeting, and ended on a high note: he enjoyed himself so much, and was so impressed by Excalibur that he intends joining the club in the near future!

The Table Topics winner was Anke, Carolina was voted best Evaluator and the Best Speaker was a dead heat between Marcin, Melanie and Ken.

Sadly,  we say goodbye to Anke who is moving abroad for work reasons. We wish her every success both in her career and continuing Toastmasters journey.

Our next meeting is at 19:00 on 24th July at the Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, London W1W 6DN. All guests are very welcome!