Meeting Report for Wednesday 29th April, 2020

We held an extra meeting this month - because there were five Wednesdays - and took advantage with an entertaining and high quality speechathon, in which six members delivered a wide variety of speeches; six others evaluated them. There were twenty-two attendees for this Zoom meeting.

Screenshot of a Toastmasters Zoom meeting

Brian was Timekeeper and Flemming, Toastmaster. Zoom Master was Marcin.
The speeches were:
Melanie ~ "Fat Away" Failure. Public Relations #4 - Speaking Under Fire (6:00-8:00 mins)
Eugene ~ "Turning Points" Leadership Development # 1-1 - Icebreaker (4:00-6:00 mins)
Debbie ~ "The Waiting Game" Dynamic Leadership #1-2 - Evaluation and Feedback - 1 (5:00-7:00 mins)
Gosia ~ "Been there, Done it, Got the T-shirt!" Presentation Mastery #101 - Icebreaker (4:00-6:00 mins)
Julie ~ "Against all Odds" Engaging Humour #1-1 - Icebreaker (4:00-6:00 mins)
Alice ~ "Story" Innovative Planning #1-4 - researching and Presenting (5:00-7:00 mins)
The speeches were evaluated by Rembrandt, Ian, Sarah, Sonia, Ilaria, Simon.
We then held the Open Feedback session - chaired by David, in which audience members are invited to add an extra two minutes of commendations and one minute of recommendations per speech.
It was then time for Nick, our President, to award the prizes which were as follows:
Best Speaker: Gosia
Best Evaluator: Ilaria

Our next Zoom meeting will be on 13th May, 2020. Guest are very welcome! Please visit our club EasySpeak page if you'd like to attend as a guest.

In other news:
Many congratulations to Excalibur members Latifa, who gained a superb second place in the District International Speech Competition, and also to Cat, who came an excellent third in the Speech Evaluation Contest. The club is proud of you!

And last, but not least - a huge congratulations to Excalibur's Sonia, who was MC for the conference. Nothing fazed her as she handled everything thrown her way with great professionalism. We are all in awe!

Meeting Report for 22nd April, 2020

Twenty-five Excalibur members attended our Zoom meeting, with Sarah acting as Toastmaster and Rembrandt performing the ZoomMaster role.

Andrew kept everyone on their toes with his Table Topics session. 
The formal speeches were:
Lynne: "Go Forth and Lead" (Strategic Relationships #2-1 - Understanding Your Leadership Style.)
Sonia: "Six Degrees of Separation" (Interpretive Reading #4 - The Play).
Sue: "Yearbook" (Presentation Mastery #2-3 - Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring).
The speeches were evaluated by Ian, Cat and Flemming before Simon hosted the Open Feedback session. This session invited everyone present to add 2 mins more commendations and one minute more of recommendations.
Thanks to Excalibur club member Simon, who delivered the Open Feedback report.
The awards for the evening were:
Best Speaker: Lynne
Best Table Topic: Ken
Best Evaluator: Cat

Our next meeting is on 29th April - courtesy of an extra Wednesday in the month. This will be a speakathon, with six speakers delivering high quality and very different speeches. Guests are most welcome - please see our EasySpeak page for meeting-joining details.

In Other News...
Huge congratulations to Excalibur members Cat and Latifa, who recently conquered all in the Division L Speech Evaluations and International Speech Competition. And congratulations also to Excalibur member Flemming, who also performed superbly. Cat and Latifa now advance to the District level competition. Good luck to both of them!

Meeting Report for 14th April 2020

Excalibur enjoyed its second online Zoom meeting. Members are already on top of the new technology; Zoom will continue to be used until the COVID-19 lockdown is lifted.
Toastmaster Melanie negotiated us smoothly and efficiently through the evening. Guests were introduced by Anne; then Ian headed a thought-provoking Table Topics session.

Three very different speeches were delivered. Freddie amused us with "An Ode to Brian Skelton" (Special Occasion Speeches #3 - The Roast - 3:00-5:00 mins ); Flemming practised his Area-winning speech "Step by Step" (Competent Communication Manual #9 - Persuade With Power - 5:00-7:00 mins) in preparation for his inevitable win at Division; Ilaria provided very useful advice for virtual meetings with "On Air" (Strategic Relationships #2-1 - Understanding Your leadership Style - 5:00 - 7:0 mins). 

Eugene, Cat and Andrew then evaluated the speeches, before Errol took the Open Feedback session, in which members and guests are invited to add additional commendations and recommendations.

Our thanks to Karthik - a former member - who was the meeting's General Evaluator. He told us what he liked and gave suggestions as to what might be improved for future meetings.

Thank you to Sarah who did an excellent job as Zoom Master.  

Nick, our President, then announced the awards. The Best Speaker award went to Freddie; Sonia was judged best Table Topic contestant; and Cat, once again, demonstrated her prowess as a speech evaluator - taking that award, despite strong competition.

Our next online Zoom meeting is at 19:00 on 22 April. Guests are very welcome - the meeting link will be available on easySPEAK. For security reasons, the meeting will be password-protected. Please inform the Excalibur VPE or Zoom Master in advance if you would like to attend. 

 

Meeting Report for 25th March 2020

Never shy of a new challenge, thirty Excalibur members took part in the club's first virtual meeting, via Zoom. Members were soon joining in, (and with growing confidence), thanks in part to the tireless efforts of our dedicated and excellent VPE, Ilaria, who is very familiar with Zoom, and took the time to demonstrate the tech to some of the members before the meeting. For a number of our members, the challenges and rewards that lie ahead offer a whole new dimension to public speaking.

The meeting followed our familiar format, and the prize winners were:

Best Speaker: Ian Brown
Best table Topics: David Lennon
Best Evaluator: Lynne Cantor

Our next meeting, which will also be online, is on 8th April at 19:00.
Guests are very welcome - you can find the next Zoom meeting link on the Excalibur easySpeak page.

Excalibur 2020 International Speech and Evaluation Competitions

11th March found Excalibur members and guests in a spacious lecture theatre, generously provided by University College London, for the club's annual International Speech and Evaluation contests.
Entrants in the Speech Contest were: Flemming, Simon, Ben, Ian and Sonia, with Jill kindly stepping in as Chief Judge, at short notice. Monika was Competition Chairperson.

Contestants in the Evaluation contest were Cat, Sarah, Ian E, Andrew, Ian B, and Eugene. Ken performed the Chairperson role.

The quality of the speeches and evaluations was high, but there could be only one winner in both categories (who will go on to represent Excalibur at the Areal Level). The results were as follows:

International Speech Competition
Winner: Flemming
Second Place: Simon
Third Place: Ben

Evaluation Competition
Winner: Cat
Second Place: Andrew
Third Place: Ian E

It was a great evening - and many thanks to everyone who attended, competed or performed a role - with the coronavirus threat hanging over us. And of course, many congratulations to our winners!
Our next meeting will be at 19:00 on 25th March, but due to the spread of the virus, this will not be at our usual Fitzrovia venue. Instead we will be trialling our first online meeting, via Zoom. Watch this space!

Meeting Report for 26th February, 2020

Flemming welcomed guests at the door, before Brian called us to order. President Nick then introduced the evening before handing over to our Toastmaster, Ian.
Our Time Keeper was Eugene.
Melanie was our Table Topics Master, and she delivered a challenging but very entertaining theme: define the (obscure) word. Each TT contestant was, as is the Excalibur way, immediately evaluated for up to 45 seconds - that evaluation must include a recommendation.

We then settled back to enjoy three prepared speeches. Nick delivered "No Good Deed Goes Unpunished" (Humorously Speaking #5 - The Humorous Speech).
This was followed by Ken, with "Broken Childhood Dreams" (The Entertaining Speaker #2 - Resources for Entertainment).
Finally, Carolina delivered "Unmatched Socks" (Her Centurion TM Club International Speech Winner).

The speeches were evaluated by Desi, Ian and Lynne.
Freddie then took the Open Feedback session, in which audience members are invited to add three more minutes of feedback per speech (2 mins commendations, one min recommendations).

Our General Evaluator for the evening was Rembrandt, who spent nine minutes analysing what people with roles had got right, and what could be improved.

Our prize winners were:
Best Evaluator: Lynne
Best Table Topic: Julie
Best Speaker: Carolina

Our next meeting is om 11th March. It will be the Excalibur Club International Speech Competition. We start at the earlier time of 18:30, and the venue will be University College London. Guests are very welcome but you must sign up on Eventbrite.

Meeting Report for Wednesday 12th February, 2020

The evening began with Robin calling us to order, before handing over to our president, Nick. He then introduced our Toastmaster for the evening, David.
Lynne wore two hats tonight - she performed both the Meet & Greet role and stepped in at the last moment to be Timekeeper, as our scheduled Timekeeper suffered a calendar mix up.

After our guests had been invited on stage, Debbie, our Table Topics Master challenged us with a number of well-chosen questions. Each TT contestant was evaluated for 15-45 seconds by a member of the audience immediately after they have completed their talk.

We then moved on to our prepared speeches. Monika's speech was "Pathways is Coming to Town" - Speeches by Management #5 - Delivering Bad News. This was followed by Freddie, with "An Award for David" - Specialist Occasion Speeches #4 - Presenting an Award. Thirdly, Ian delivered "Selective Moral Disengagement in the Exercise of Moral Agency" - Speaking to Inform #5 - The Abstract Concept. 

The speeches were expertly evaluated fir 2-3 mins each by Ken, Brian and Sarah.

We then enjoyed an excellent additional item: our data scientist guest Eduardo, after analysing thousands of TED talks, spoke for 10 minutes to reveal the secrets of effective public speaking. As they were "secrets", I'm not sharing them here...

Chinkata ran the open feedback session - in which members and guests are invited to contribute additional commendations (2 mins) and recommendations (1 minute) to each of those who had delivered speeches. 

Julie then delivered an insightful 10 minute Open Feedback on everyone who hadn't been previously evaluated. 

President Nick then awarded the prizes: Sarah was red hot tonight, scooping best Table Topic and best Evaluator, and congratulations to Ian, who won Best Speaker. 

Our next meeting is at 19:00 on Wednesday 26th February, at The Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, W1W 6DN. Guests are very welcome!

Meeting Report for 22nd January, 2020

We enjoyed a full-house on the 4th Wednesday of the month, (our other meeting being on the 2nd Wednesday of the month).

Desi performed the Meet and Greet role, Simon called us to order before our President Nick took to the stage. Nick warmed the room up with well chosen words before he handed over to our Toastmaster, Ian.
Desi then invited our eight guests on stage, who took turns to tell us a little about themselves.

Ian had prepared a choice of two questions for those performing roles: have you ever had a bad experience that lead to a good experience? Or, have you ever snatched defeat from the jaws of victory? Those who had failed to respond to Ian's email had their answers invented by him!

David, out Table Topic Master then invited members and guests on stage at random to answer (and evaluate) a series of teasing questions.

Then it was time for our formal speeches. Our first speaker was Errol, with "No Bad Language Please!" (Engaging Humour # 1-3  -Education and Feedback - 2). This amusing, barnstorming performance was followed by Debbie, with "Sustainability Plan" (Speaking to Inform #5 - The Abstract Concept). Debbie's elegant delivery addressed the dangers of palm oil, persuaded many in the room to think and act differently in future. Finally our new member, Flemming delivered "Nomophoboa" (Presentation Mastery  #4-3 Building a Social Media Presence). This well-constructed speech explored the impact of losing your mobile phone and the consequences and opportunities that flow therefrom. 

The speeches were evaluated by Cat, Chinkata and Ben before David hosted the Open Feedback session. This is when the audience is invited to contribute three minutes more feedback on each speech, in a commendation/recommendation/commendation format.  

Our guest Hector then took to the stage to deliver his General Evaluation report on the club, addressing people who had been on stage but hadn't been previously evaluated.

It was then time for the awards!

David scooped best Table Topic, the best speech Evaluator was a three-way tie between Cat, Chinkata and Ben and Errol won Best Speaker.

And so ended another constructive, high quality, high energy evening enjoyed by all! 

Our next meeting is at 19:00 on Wednesday 12th February, 2020 at the Fitzrovia Centre, 2 Foley Stree, W1W 6DN. Guests, as always, are very welcome!

Meeting Report for Wednesday 8th January 2020

We enjoyed a lively and fun evening - and the room was near capacity. Ilaria was acting President, as Nick had sustained an ankle injury. She handed over to Ben who was Toastmaster. He introduced an anagram-themed evening, in which members and guests who performed roles had their names "anagrammed". Some of the more successful ones included:

Big Lanters
Ornate Blinks
Bewitch a shark
Addled life resin
Hark captain oak
Rise Mr Enchilada
Hare tensions
Eskimo ink awards
Tinkle claws

For reasons of privacy, the VPPR have not revealed the names from which each was devised, but the reader is encouraged to reverse-anagram them if they can. Answers on a postcard, please.

Lynne was an excellent Table Topics master, inviting people to draw hidden objects from a bag which they they spoke about for up to two minutes. She reminded us of the need to add at least one recommendation and being an advanced club, it had to be something of substance (or they could ask the audience).

Our first speaker was Sonia, with "The Nation's Favourite" (Interpretive Reading #2 - Interpretive Poetry). This was followed by Chinkata, with "Smoking is bad for you" (Interpretive Reading #3 - The Monodrama). Our third speaker was Melanie, with "Our Vegan Cafe" (Speeches by Managment #3 Persuade and Inspire). 

The evening's evaluators were David, Ian and Monika.

Our thanks to Rick, from Grosvenor Square Speakers, who performed the GE role expertly.

Prizes were as follows:

Best Table Topics: Anne
Best Evaluator: Monika
Best Speaker: Sonia

Our next meeting is at 19:00 on Wednesday 22nd January 2020, at The Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, W1W 2DN. Guests are very welcome!