Speak Out report for 25 September 2014

The September monthly Speak Out event got the new season off to a busy start with Ken announcing the schedule of Speakers, to be followed by the open feedback from the floor.

Contest report for 10 September 2014

September marks the start of the autumn contest season and this month's regular meeting played host to the club's Humorous Speech & Table Topics contests. After a quick welcome from club president Cat, contest chair Ken got things started with an explanation of the rules and speaking order for the Humorous Speech contest.

Ken announcing the speaking order

President's Newsletter, August 2014 – The gloves are off

Welcome friends to a somewhat belated August newsletter (my excuse is that I'm desperately hanging onto the last of the summer...). August was something of a thrill at Excalibur Speakers, with a rich and varied Regular meeting in week two followed by an exhilarating outdoor meeting at Speakers' Corner in week 3.

Pushing boundaries at Speakers’ Corner - 16 August 2014

Stepping outside of your comfort zone is an underlying theme of Toastmasters – pushing boundaries to raise your game. Last Saturday, at Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, Excalibur Speakers came together with Toastmasters from across London and beyond to deliver an entertaining and informative meeting to the unsuspecting public.

Toastmasters and guests gathered at Speakers' Corner, Hyde Park

Regular Meeting report for 13 August 2014

Club president Cat opened this month's meeting promptly at the new start time of 7pm by giving an introduction to Toastmasters as an organisation and then inviting the guests to introduce themselves. She then passed control of the stage to VP Education Ken to run the rest of the meeting as Toastmaster of the evening and introduce each of the speakers on the programme.

President's Newsletter, July 2014 – Raising the bar

After giving my inaugural Presidential address at our meeting this month – inspired by Past President Simon's rendition of JFK's inaugural speech – it seemed only fitting for me to greet you all formally via cyberspace as well.

Regular Meeting report for 9 July 2014

Our first meeting of the Toastmasters year kicked off with some celebratory 'fizz' and new club president Cat speaking about her recent preparations for embarking on her leadership role. Inspired by past president Simon's recent interpretative reading of JFK's inaugural presidential address at the previous club meeting, Cat had researched other opening speeches on YouTube to prepare for her own. She threw down the gauntlet for the year ahead by encouraging members to be part of 'raising the bar' at Excalibur Speakers.