The London Speaker

WIBF Speakers Silver Gavel - Celebrating 30 Years

From Lynne Cantor - Area 47 Governor

Some Toastmasters clubs ring a bell, others just kick you off the stage, at Women in Banking and Finance Speakers - City (WIBFS-C), we bang a wooden gavel after the red card or light to encourage you to end your speech and stop speaking.

WIBFS-C started just over 4 years ago. Our 'parent' Women in Banking and Finance (WIBF) the networking group started many years before that and in 2010 they are celebrating 30 successful years of empowering women. In honour of this occassion they presented to WIBFS-C a Silver Gavel to be awarded to the winner of the International Speech contest.

The first recipient of this award is Ivy Nwankwo. She received it on Wednesday 3rd March, contest night for WIBFS-C, seen here with Christine Lawrence Chair of WIBF.(Photo: Ivy left, Christine right)

Christine Lawrence and Jane Campbell, the Organiser of the 30 year Celebrations, also presented a commemorative rosette, seen here with Club President Julia Kowalle. (Photo: Jane left, Julia middle, Christine right.)

Winner of the Evaluation contest held on the same night went to Mary-Rose Fison.

Congratulations go to both our winners on the night and to WIBF, and may they all continue to have success.

Keith Gautier - Distinguished Toastmaster

Posted by Dorothea Stuart

Peter van der Sloot and Keith Gautier. Photo: Bob Nisbet, London Athenians

In December London Athenians celebrated Keith Gautier’s achievements.  I caught up with Keith, Distinguished Toastmaster, on his return from the country.

How was your special night? Athenians really honoured me - even the programme was in gold to celebrate my DTM. They presented me with a book of memories with contributions from many TM’s, a celebratory cake, a portrait painted by a member, framed Chinese calligraphy of my name and a video of the evening.   An event that I’ll never ever forget!!

Athenians know how to celebrate success and put on a good party?  YES!

How did you come to join Toastmasters? I joined because I’d been invited to address a conference of my fellow Chartered Building Surveyors, an audience of 750 people. I chickened out - terrified of public speaking.  I first visited the Athenians in 1995, and was greeted by the President!  I joined the following week and became a Charter (founder) member and I’ve been a member ever since. 

Why did you start the Toastmasters Leadership track? I’ve always worked on the basis that the more you put into anything the more you get out.  Following this philosophy, I found myself on the club committee, eventually President then Area Governor followed by Division B Governor. 

Why have you stayed with the club? Athenians has a wonderfully eclectic mix of members from all over the world. True life stories abound: the Irish lady who went to school barefoot so she didn’t stand out from the rest of the class, the Somali guy who spent years dodging bullets, the aid worker whose main diet was grass along with the indigenous people... All so interesting.

Have you ever got bored? No, but if ever anyone did, then volunteer, get involved and put something back into TM.  Run an event, join the committee, visit other clubs, be their General Evaluator.  You’ll find TM is definitely a pathway to a fuller life.  Socially, and from a business point of view, your general confidence will grow and that next interview will be a breeze!

Competitions are a show case of the best in the land and you learn a lot.  District conferences are superb and highly recommended, lots of socialising too.  Through them I’ve gained an even wider circle of friends from Britain and Ireland.  Then, with the inevitable churn of membership, I now have regular contact with people in every continent.

Why go for DTM? – It just happened. I joined in. I got involved, I was occasionally nudged by my VP Education and here I am! 

The future?  When I retire to the country, if there isn’t a TM club around, then there soon will be. I’ll start one

Help needed for New Lawspeak club launch

From Cami Burn, President Lawspeak Toastmasters

Hi Everyone. We are a new Toastmasters club called Lawspeak Toastmasters. We are open to law students at the Bloomsbury branch of the College. Our launch meeting is on the Wednesday 3rd February 2010 at 6.30 pm at The College of Law.  MAP

 

We are currently looking for lawyer TMs who would be interested in coming along to support the club. I am hoping that you will act as role models for students and encourage them to join. We have quite a few  roles to cover at the meeting so please get in touch with me or our VP Membership Catherine Tate. Let us know how you would like to help and I'll add names to our guest list and assign roles.

 

Email me Cami Burn (or call me on 078500 311 565) or email Catherine.Tate

You can also book a role directly via d71.org - search for LawSpeak Toastmasters.

 

Thank you for your help and support - look forward to meeting some of you on 3 February or at later meetings.

Come and See a Grand Master of Memory

From Kate McNeilly and Dorothea Stuart, Excalibur Speakers

Excalibur Speakers is proud to present Michael Tipper - Grand Master of Memory

at a special event on Wednesday 13 January 2010.

If you've ever wished your memory was better, worried about forgetting your speeches, failing to remember people's names or recalling vital details of a meeting you attended at work last month or...this is the event to come to!  Many of us feel overwhelmed by the amount of information we need to absorb and remember in our professional lives. Make a New Year's resolution and come along to learn from a master in a powerful, entertaining and interactive session.

Michael will share the profoundly simple secret to having a powerful memory, demonstrates the power of belief on our ability to recall, have audience members recalling volumes of information they never thought possible for them and double (at least) their reading speed.

The event: this is a follow up to last year's successful Excalibur on the Road event with Richard Mullender. We'll start with a short showcase from a couple of Distinguished Toastmasters then move onto our unique speaker - Michael Tipper.

When: 6.3pm for 7pm start on Wednesday 13 January 2010.  Ending at 8.45pm

Where: The London Irish Centre, 50-52 Camden Square, London NW1 9XB.  Near Camden Town Underground and Camden Road Stations.

Cost: £5 per person.  Booking details:

More about Michael Tipper:

Michael is the author of Memory Powerup - 101 ways to instant recall and was voted Best New Speaker 2007 by the Academy of Chief Executives.   From nearly being kicked out of the Royal Navy for struggling with exams because he believed he had a poor memory to discovering how to use it more effectively and eventually going on to win the silver medal at the World Memory Championships, Michael Tipper understands how to develop our business thinking in this current day and age. To find out more see www.michaeltipper.com

How do you become a Grand Master of Memory? 

To qualify you will need to achieve the memorisation of:-

• 1000 numbers in an hour 
• 10 decks of cards in an hour (520 cards) 
• One deck in 2 minutes or under 

These three criteria do not all need to be achieved in a single championship. However, they can only be achieved in competitions that have been officially approved and arbited by the World Memory Sport Council.

Join Bloomsbury Speakers on 14 December 2009

From Nazia Soon, Bloomsbury Speakers

Bloomsbury Speakers will be holding another fun packed meeting on Monday 14 December - the last one before Christmas and 2009. PLEASE NOTE WE ARE IN A DIFFERENT VENUE FOR THIS MEETING ONLY. Please come an join us at 6.30pm on 14 December 2009 at: Bertrand Russell Room, Conway Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1R 4RL.  Close to Holborn underground station.

Our first two meeting were very busy with a full programme. Our aim is to include everyone and get them to join in the fun true to our club motto LOL (Learning, Orating and Laughing!)

At the meeting on 23rd November we had two speakers practising improvised humour before their debut at a real gig in a pub which was very entertaining. One of the new members gave her Icebreaker and a member of Holborn Speakers gave us a number 10 - inspiring speech. It was a memorable evening!

As we are a new club we are open to new ideas from members to shape the future Bloomsbury Speakers. The first meeting of 2010 will be on the second Monday in January 11th and the fourth Monday 25th January back on our home turf at the Rugby Tavern in Great James St, WC1 3ES. And thereafter every 2nd & 4th Monday of the month.

Hope you will come and visit us.

Come and support Angel Speakers - 2nd meeting tomorrow

From Steve Maguire, Assistant Division B Governor

The successful inaugural meeting for the new Angel Speakers was held on 22nd November and our second meeting is this Thursday 3rd December 2009.  We would love to have you with us.  If you are thinking about joining a public speaking club in London come and visit us.  If you are already a member of a Toastmasters club we would appreciate your support as we build up our membership. If you would like more info please email us.

When do we meet: 6.45pm for prompt 7pm start. Meetings finish at 9pm

Where do we meet: The Hilton, Islington.  53 Upper Street, London N1 OUY.  Next to the Business Design Centre and close to Angel Underground station.

2010 meeting dates: We will be meeting on the first and third Thursdays every month. In January 2010 this means 7th Jan and 21st Jan.

Who are the people leading the new club?  Steve Maguire, Founding President, Esther Zheng, VP Membership, Len Welson Sergeant-at-Arms, Andrew Osborne PR & Marketing.

I joined Toastmasters in May 2003 after hearing about my local club on the radio. I was smitten with the Toastmasters bug, the opportunity to speak and have everyone listen politely and even applaud my utterences, I knew it was special. The Toastmaster experience has helped enormusly with my confidence and skills development. More than that are the wonderful friends I have made and all the great stories I have heard. I really cannot picture my life without involvement in Toastmasters. I now want help even more people share the experience and...the result is Angel Speakers. With Esther, Len and Andrew we have started our journey to Charter Angel Speakers and look forward to meeting all the people we have not yet met! So I say do yourself a favour and come as Guest the next meeting or the one after that and leave as a Toastmaster!

See you soon. Steve Maguire.

London Athenians Backwards Evening

From Keith Gautier, ACG,  London Athenians

To be held at The Hop Poles, 17-19 King Street, Hammersmith, W6 9HR in the upstairs bar, Tuesday 1st December 2009. 7pm.

Ever wondered what it would be like if a Toastmaster’s evening ran in reverse order?

Well now is your chance!

This is a fun night, the whole of the evening’s programme will be run in reverse. The evening starts with the President closing the meeting and ends when he opens it. The evaluations will be given before we’ve heard the speeches, the topics will be given before the questions have been set and general confusion and mayhem will reign.

For example, the Table Topics Evaluator will evaluate and name the Table Topics speakers in the order of appearance and may even give a clue as to what they will be talking about! The timekeeper will give the times before you speak. The Table Topics master will have to set the question after the topic has been given so will need to decide what question needs to be set in order to elicit the answer that we just heard.

The lights have to given in the usual order of green/amber/red otherwise we will go over time. There are no holds barred and you can collude with whomever you wish in order to really set someone up to maximise the effect and the inevitable laughter. Don’t forget to heckle if someone gets lost or forgets to do something they have been set up to do.

If you get lost and confused then don’t worry, you’ll be just like the rest of us!

Come along and see whether the title of the evening refers to the meeting or Keith Gautier who put it together it! Come and join the London Athenians for a fun night out. Admission FREE

St Paul's Speakers - Venue Change

St Paul's Speakers will meet at:

Ochre, 2-3 Creed Lane, London EC4V 5BR.  Meetings 6.15pm for a 6.30pm start.  Very close to St Paul's cathedral.

For meetings on Wednesday 25th November and Wednesday 9th December - the final meeting for 2009.

ACCA Central London Breakfast Club

From Monica Liljeroth

After our successful first meeting I am pleased to confirm that our next meeting is on Wednesday 25th November (this is a change from our original announcement).  Meeting are from 7.15am for a 7.30am start and will end at 8.30-8.45am.

Venue for our November and December meetings is Deloitte, Athene Place, 66 Shoe Lane EC4

Please contact Monica if you would like to attend. Email or call 020-922-9111

Meetings in 2010 will be on the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays of the month at Deloitte near Chancery Lane. The specific address for next year's meetings will be confirmed shortly.

Hope to see you at one of our meetings soon.

How to remember your speeches - workshop Monday 23 November 2009

Posted by Dorothea Stuart

On Monday 23 November 2009 you are very welcome to attend at workshop being held at Trojans Speakers Club, Ealing Broadway. The all important subject...how to remember your speeches.

The workshop will be led by Alan McMahon, Immediate Past President of Harrovians.

"When we go to Toastmasters we have to remember our speeches. There is a very easy way to know what you want to say using a unique technique called Memory Mapping", says Alan. "Please come and find out more."

President of Trojans, Kojo O’Hene, welcomes everyone to attend this free workshop and learn ‘how to remember your speech’.

When? 7.10pm for a 7.30pm start

Where? The Haven, Haven Green, Ealing Broadway, London W5 2UU. A short walk from Ealing Broadway underground/rail station.

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