The London Speaker

Storytelling Workshop with Andrew Brammer DTM

Storytelling Workshop for speakers of all levels!  Monday 5 September 2011.

This great workshop, brought to you by Bloomsbury Speakers, will be delivered Andrew Brammer, Distinguished Toastmaster and past-winner of the UK & Ireland Humorous Speech contest.  Book here - as there are limited places.

The theme is ACE storytelling, covering the 3 x main elements of storytelling: Action (Plot) Characters (Dialogue) Eloquence (Description)

The tips & techniques demonstrated, drawn from the art of Performance Storytelling, can be universally applied to whatever type of story you are delivering.

The first half looks at why stories are such a crucial aspect of public speaking & why they always work to help you get your message across. We then cover the Action part (narrative, drama, plot & structure etc.), which in order to better demonstrate, includes performance of a full 12 minute story.

For the second half, we move on to Characters & then Eloquence (which draws on material from Andrew's ‘It’s Alive’ workshop). There are also 10 mins. for Q&A

Time: Arrive from 6.30pm for a 6.45pm start.

Venue: Bertrand Russell Room in Conway Hall, 25 Red Lion Square, London, WC1R 4RL. (Note this is NOT our usual venue).

Contribution: There'll be a small charge of £5 to cover our costs. Book here

You can find out more about Andrew at http://www.speakingwords.co.uk/

Please note: there will also be a short presentation at the start of the meeting by Oscar Merkx, Organiser for the Toastmasters District 71 UK & Ireland Autumn Conference, who will tell us all about Flourish 2011 in Glasgow. Learn more about the Conference: http://flourish2011.co.uk/

 

Malachi comes third in his semi-final heat at World Championship

Post from Dorothea Stuart

Malachi Talabi, UK & Ireland International Speech Champion 2011 had his first experience of competing in the Toastmasters International World Championship yesterday.

Malachi came third in the first semi-final heat.  He'll be bringing home another large trophy.

Many congratulations Malachi. We look forward to hearing more about your experience on your return.

 

 

Hot off the press...  

From David Thompson at the Toastmasters World Convention in Las Vegas.

I have just watched our man, Malachi Talabi, stride across the world stage in style and challenge a big international audience to "Keep On Walking..." when facing adversity.  This speech began to take shape when he won our club contest in Croydon six months ago.

During the spring he went on to win with his powerful message in the South London area, then to win the South East of England division and then to victory in the British & Irish championships - his message from Croydon proving more powerful than those of 225 other clubs. 

Today he was in the Semi Finals against 9 other great champions from countries around the world who all had strong messages and stylish approaches. This time he had honed his message with even more light and shade to make it more universal. The boy who was bullied in Bermondsey showed a wider world how to overcome adversity.  He was so "in the moment" with the audience that he told us was so happy to be there walking with us.

The judges placed a local hero from Las Vegas in first place, a lively young man from Montana in second place and Malachi in THIRD place. What a brilliant result for him and for Croydon Communicators! The first time for a while that a UK & Ireland winner has made such an impact.

Looking forward to telling you more when we are back.

Remember you can watch the nine finalists competing tomorrow via webstream for the grand title of World Champion of Public Speaking. http://www.onlineevent.com/toastmasters/2011/

Saturday - watch finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking via webstream

Post from Dorothea Stuart

For the first time you can watch the nine finalists in the World Championship of Public Speaking live via websteam on Saturday 20 August for $29.95.   As they say on the Toastmasters International website "from the comfort of your own home or office.."  You can watch live on Saturday afternoon (from 3pm if I've got the time conversion correct) or at any time from Saturday evening through to Sunday evening.  Click here  to purchase and confirm the details.

 

Good luck to Malachi in tomorrow's World Championship semi-finals

Post from Dorothea Stuart

Thursday 18 August 2011 is the big day for Malachi Talabi, the UK & Ireland Toastmasters International Speech Champion. He will be competing in the first group of semi-finals in his bid to become the World Champion of Public Speaking. 

Send him your collective good wishes at 2.30pm Las Vegas time!  Read more about the semi-finals at Toastmasters.org. Nine winners go on to the finals on Saturday 20 August.

Malachi is pictured with Pat Johnson, Toastmasters Interational President in May 2011 at the UK &Ireland Spring Odyssey Conference, Windsor.

 

After Dinner Speaking and Debate on BBC Radio 4

Post from Dorothea Stuart

This evening Archive on 4 had a programme entitled "Raise Your Glasses - A History of the After-Dinner Speech". You can listen again for seven days at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0134xn5.  Included are good tips for public speaking in general as well as the art of the after dinner speech. For any Toastmaster who is completing the Entertaining Speaker manual this is a must (project 5 is Speaking After Dinner).

On Monday 15 August 9.30am Head to Head, Series 3 Episode 1 Edward Stourton revisits broadcast debates from the archives. Liberty or equality?  Read more and listen again at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wdl77

 

London Toastmasters Educational Awards July 2011

Post from Dorothea Stuart

A great start to the Toastmasters year as awards come through in double digits. Look forward to many more people achieving their educational goals over the coming months. Congratulations to our baker's dozen!

Competent Communicator

George Anstey. London Corinthians. Area 6

Daniel Broadhead. Berkeley Square Speakers. Area 45

Mir Fiaz. Canary Wharf Communicators. Area 31

Michael Joubert. Covent Garden Speakers. Area 6

Jeanne Kruger. Canary Wharf Communicators. Area 31

Guy Smith.  Bloomsbury Speakers. Area 34

Michal Szczecinski.  MLP London Bridge Speakers. Area 33

Advanced Communicator Bronze

Diana Lowe.  St Paul's Speakers. Area 33

Competent Leader

Julian d'Sa. London Athenians. Area 29

Mir Fiaz. Canary Wharf Communicators. Area 31

Haroon Latif. Covent Garden Speakers. Area 6 

Kate Osborne. Bloomsbury Speakers. Area 34

Advanced Leader Bronze

Greg Ros. St Paul's Speakers. Area 33

Educational Awards	Last Year 2010/11	July 2011	Division B year to date
Competent Communicator	85	7	7
Adv Comm Bronze	20	1	1
Adv Comm Silver	5	-
Adv Comm Gold	4	-
Competent Leader	41	4	4
Adv Leader Bronze	11	1	1
Adv Leader Silver	1	-
Leadership Excellence	3	-
Distinguished Toastmaster(DTM)	2	-
Total	172	13	13

 

Hear Malachi Talabi at Woodford Green Speakers Tuesday 9 August

From Dick Dixon

One of the last chance to see Malachi Talibi our UK & Ireland International Speech Champion before he sets off to the Toastmasters International Convention and the World Championship of Public Speaking. Join us if you can.

Date: Tuesday 9th August 2011.

Venue: 209 High Road, South Woodford, London E18 2PA

Times: Arrival for 7.0pm starts at 7.30pm.

Nearest Tube: South Woodford.

Please note spaces are limited, to secure you place please email :toastmasters1@blackberry.orange.co.uk

The long awaited Speakers’ Corner event

From Robert Cole, President Broadgate Speakers in the City

Have you ever thought you would one day be speaking at the iconic Speakers’ Corner in Hyde Park, where public figures such as Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, William Morris and many others got their message across? Well, this is your opportunity – on Sunday 21^st August, at 2:00pm, Broadgate Speakers will be hosting their annual Table Topics event at Speakers' Corner.

There will be topics for everyone - from current affairs, debates, sports to light hearted topics.

Come and challenge yourself while having a fun and friendly afternoon. This event is open to members of all Toastmasters clubs and their friends. There will be a picnic  afterwards, so please bring a sandwich and some suitable refreshments.

Speakers’ Corner is in the north east part of Hyde Park. The nearest tube is Marble Arch. Please see map below for more details. 

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/map.srf?X=527422&Y=180461&A=Y&Z=110

If you have any questions please contact Broadgate Speakers' President, Robert Cole. Click to email

Polish Your English

From Jakub Pawlowski, President, Polish Your Polish

"Polish Your Polish is the first and the only Polish public speaking club in London.

Usually meetings are held in Polish language, however  next Tuesday...

Polish Your Polish goes… English!!!

You could experience the unique atmosphere of our meetings and Polish sense of humour. For us it will be for us an opportunity to:
- challenge ourselves by speaking in a foreign language
- meet Toastmasters from other London clubs
- learn from you on how to be a better club

If you would like to take a part as a guest, you are most welcome. We will be happy to see you all!

When: 9 August 2011 (Tuesday), 6.45pm for prompt 7pm start
Where: Ognisko Polskie, 55 Prince's Gate, Exhibition Road, SW7 2PN,  near South Kensington Underground station.

For more information visit our website: http://polishyourpolish.org.uk/english/

Leadership Gurus on Storytelling

Posted by Dorothea Stuart

There are two interesting articles on Forbes.com that caught my attention. 

Steve Denning: We are a storytelling animal, and we’ve gotten to these bad habits of communicating with abstractions or analyses and we learn that is kind of like a foreign language. But if you want to connect to people in their native language, then storytelling is the way to go.  

Analysis, slides put people to sleep. It’s stories that connect with people and inspire them to imagine a different world, a different existence for them.

Read more of the interview with Kevin Eikenberry A Conversation on Leadership Storytelling.

John Kotter: I think stories are important, number one because our brains are literally programmed for stories—that’s what the neurologists tell me. There’s something about it, if you look back in history, the way we’ve all developed, literally the brain absorbs stories very, very easily. It doesn’t absorb PowerPoint slides with 19 dots on them very easily.

Read more of the article and watch the short video Why Stories are Powerful Leadership Tools.