The London Speaker

Make the most of your voice - 24 Feb at Grosvenor Square Speakers

From Lyn Roseaman, Grosvenor Square Speakers

 

For one night only, on Monday 24 February 2014, Andrew P Benntett, DTM  will be coming to our club and helping us with tips on how to really make the most of our voice when we present.  Andrew will give us a short Voice Educational which will also help us to give more constructive feedback/evaluations on our use of voice and vocal variety.

 

Come and join us.  We meet at the Cumberland Hotel, Great Cumberland Pl, London W1H 7DL. Nearest tube: Marble Arch.  The meeting will start at 18.30 sharp, downstairs in one of the meeting rooms - check board at bottom of the stairs for room details.

 

Andrew P Bennett DTM is a qualified Public Speaking and Voice Coach, internationally-experienced tenor/actor and President of Excalibur, advanced speakers club..

 

Workshop: How to conduct productive meetings 31 March

From Katherine Eyres, VP PR Early Bird Speakers

What is the purpose of this meeting? Who are all these people and what are they doing here? Why am I here? What are we going to be talking about? What are they expecting me to do? How do I get them to do what I want them to do? Do you think anyone will notice if I just zone out for a bit…?

We have all sat in meetings – and even led some – which have not gone to plan, have not benefited the participants, have left people feeling flat, or have led to nothing!

This hour-long workshop is designed to help participants lead better, more effective, more compelling meetings.

Workshop Leader: Nina Glass

When: Monday, 31 March 2014 – 19:00-20:00

Where: Fitzrovia Community Centre, 2 Foley Street, London W1W 6D. Equiano Room 6, (Ph: 020 7580 8680)

How much: £5 in advance on EventBrite/ £7 at the door (to cover the cost of venue hire and workshop materials)

Who should attend: Anyone who needs to lead meetings – for business, for organisations, for community groups – whatever the forum

Meetings are a vital communication tool. Good meetings have many positive results. A well-planned and conducted meeting is productive, with clear objectives and outcomes. Both the meeting leader and participants leave with feelings of accomplishment.

The workshop is designed to help participants become more successful in leading productive meetings.

Topics covered will include: Meeting planning, Opening a meeting, Handling a meeting, Concluding a meeting, Evaluating a meeting.

The workshop will include pointers and also exercises to support the learning, putting into practice ideas to support the objective of “How to Conduct Productive Meetings”.

Workshop presenter, Nina Glass, is an experienced workshop facilitator, accomplished public speaker and a keen member of Early Bird Speakers, a Toastmasters International club.

For further details and to register go to EventBrite: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/workshop-how-to-conduct-productive-meetings-with-nina-glass-tickets-10493372961

Learn about the Speechcraft program at Club Officer Training on 13 Feb

From Dave Longley, Division K Governor

Tuesday 04 February saw the highly successful launch of Speakers of Croydon's Speechcraft program

President Wole Ososami has kindly agreed to give a presentation on the topic at the Division K COT session on Thursday 13 Feb at KPMG, which starts at 6:45 for 7:00 pm

Club Officers are invited to attend & to learn more about this enjoyable & involving way of spreading the word about Toastmasters (and increasing membership numbers!)

Please let me know  before noon on Wednesday 12 February if you'd like to attend

Spaces are limited . . . Click here to email

Speechcraft is a way of taking Toastmasters out of your club to the community. It's a reduced (in duration, not in quality!) version of the Competent Communicator program. Run over 4, 6 or 8 weeks, Speechcraft gives participants the chance to deliver prepared speeches & take on meeting roles. There's a strong emphasis on mentoring, so there are opportunities for existing club members to get involved too.

Look here for more details:
http://www.toastmasters.org/Members/MemberExperience/SatellitePrograms/Speechcraft.aspx

Excalibur Great Occasions

From President Andrew P Bennett DTM, Excalibur Speakers

At Excalibur Advanced Speakers we like every meeting to have a sense of occasion. We are delighted by the feedback from our guests who regularly comment on the warmth of our welcome and stimulating club environment.

Membership is open to all who have completed Competent Communicator Speech Project 7. Guests are always very welcome no matter which speech projects they have completed.

Here are some key dates and times for your diary:

Regular Meeting Wednesday 12 February 2014 7pm for 7.05 pm start at Fitzrovia Community Centre, Foley Street, London W1W 6DL

Advanced speech projects to include: Toastmaster Cat Kipling  Project 1 from ' The Entertaining Speaker' manual entitled ' Re - writing the recipe'

VPPR David Marks  Project 4 from ' The Persuasive Speaker' entitled ' The Case for Virtual Meetings'

Plus a Eulogy Workshop - ' Finding the Comforting and Inspiring words for a Funeral Oration' by Past President Carol West DTM.

Thursday 27 February 2014 12 Midday till 1pm at the Concert Artists Club 20 Bedford Street, WC2E 9HP

The return of our popular and entertaining lunchtime  ' Speak Out' meeting with its simplified format of Speeches and Evaluations. There is the opportunity to purchase an inexpensive lunch upstairs in the Jester Bar afterwards.

Wednesday 12 March 2014 7pm for 7.05pm start Excalibur hosts the Area 45 Speech Evaluation Contest at Fitzrovia Community Centre (see more in the post below).

See you there!

Area 45 announces contest dates

From Michelle Cheung, Area 45 Governor

The winners from the International Speech and Evaluation contests from Covent Garden Speakers, Early Bird Speakers and Excalibur Speakers will battle it out in the Area 45 contests, which will be split into two events, so double the fun!

Area 45 Evaluation contest - Wednesday 12 March, 7pm, Fitzrovia Centre,W1W 6DL (in the evening)

Area 45 International Speech contest - Thursday 20 March, 7am, Freemasons' Hall (in the morning)

In additon to the contests we have a guest speaker on 12 March, Steven Lothrop, speaking on "Decrypting crypto currency".

Have you heard of Bitcoin? Dogecoin? Litecoin?  Steven will be discussing the digital revolution which is hitting the world like a freight train, which started January 2009. Steven is a Financial Derivatives Trading Software Engineer. He studied Computer Science at UC Berkeley in 2005.

Eccentric London - Join us for special English evening at Polish Your Polish 11 Feb

From Dominika Hannath, Polish Your Polish

"As a sprawling world city covering some 600 square miles, with 300 different languages spoken and more than 8 million people sharing a history stretching back 2,000 years, it's hardly surprising that London throws up so much that is strange, unexplained or just plain odd" 

(David Long)

Come join our English Polish Your Polish in exploring London's secrets and surprises! Which best kept secret will you enthral and regale us with?

Looking forward to seeing you on next Tuesday, 11 February, 2014 at 7:30pm

Ognisko Polskie, 55 Exhibition Road, SW7 2PG

Closest tube: South Kensington

Area 31 support Debate Camp Rwanda - see the results on 13 February

Area 31, Division K have recently started an intiative with Central London Debating Society.  This has included giving help to support one of CLDS's charity projects.  The following letter gives thanks for the support that members of Toastmasters have given for this worthwhile cause:

HOW TOASTMASTERS HELPED TAKE DEBATING TO AFRICA 

November seems an age away now, but it was only three short months ago that Toastmasters came through for a cause worthy of uniting all of us in the public speaking community. In particular, a special debt of gratitude is owed to Canary Wharf Communicators Vice President, Ellie Raycheva. She, more than anyone, helped us realise our most ambitious project yet – Debate Camp Rwanda.

My club, the Central London Debating Society, has always enjoyed a close relationship with Toastmasters, since our inception in 2009. One of our earliest members, Paul Carroll of the London Athenians can often be found singing our mutual praises at each respective club meeting he attends and many other Toastmasters have joined us as a result.

Back in November, we were in the final stages of preparing for our first big voluntary project; we were heading out to Rwanda to help a local charity run the country’s first ever debate camp. An intensive ten day programme of workshops and competitions, our brief was to teach our students the relevance of debating to entrepeneurship, good governance, and conflict resolution.

We had one problem, though. The camp was underfunded and they charity needed an extra £2500 to keep it open and keep it free for all students. We had four weeks to raise the money and no plan. That’s when I sent Ellie a desperate email asking for help and within 72 hours, she had secured us a 200 seat auditorium in Morgan Stanley’s Canary Wharf auditorium and the support of VP Graham Robertson, a fellow toastmaster of course. In addition to the £2000 we raised over those four weeks, Morgan Stanley donated another £500 to the project, taking us over the line.

On behalf of the Central London Debating Society, I would like to say thank you to all the Toastmasters who attended our fundraising events and made generous donations. Most of all, thank you Ellie.

On Thursday, 13 February, the Debate Camp Rwanda team will be screening a video of the camp as part of a free reception for supporters and donors at the London Chamber of Commerce. All toastmasters are welcome and you can book your place here.

Tony Koutsoumbos, Founder of the Central London Debating Society

Come and celebrate Northern Lights 10th Birthday!

From Jilly Shaul, Northern Lights Speakers

On 3 March 2014 Northern Lights Speakers Club celebrates its 10^th Birthday.

WE ARE GOING TO HAVE A PARTY AND WE’D LOVE TO WELCOME ALL OUR OLD FRIENDS!

MONDAY MARCH 3^rd - 7.15 for 7.30 ‘til 11pm. RESTAURANT ‘FATISA’, 292 HIGH ROAD, WOOD GREEN, LONDON N22 8JZ

3 Course Set Meal with a Vegetarian Option, including wine (If anyone needs Gluten Free meal, that can also be accommodated). Price per head £22.50.  Partners welcome: please book soon, maximum number 40 covers.

Plenty of parking available after 6.30 pm (7.00 in the Bus Lane 8 Minutes level walk from Wood Green on the Piccadilly Line. The 141 Bus from London Bridge stops almost outside.

EMAIL JILLY Click to email if you'd like to come along.  You can then arrange payment by cheque or electronic transfer.

CUT OFF DATE FOR BOOKINGS IS WEDNESDAY 26 FEBRUARY.

Workshop 'Insights into Winning International Speeches' 6 Feb

From Katja van Koten, London Olympians

With the International Speech contest nearly on us, you will be thinking about your entry. But what type of speech is it that will help you win your club contest or, indeed, perhaps even have you crowned as the 2014 World Champion of Public Speaking in Kuala Lumpur in August? What can you can learn from past winning speeches?

Our speaker, immediate past District Governor and professional speaking coach, Freddie Daniells, has attended the last 4 World Championship of Public Speaking finals, acting as a judge in one and helping coach a finalist in another. He has also attended 6 District International Speech finals. He believes that many winning speeches have similar elements that we can all learn.

This interactive session will help you understand what those elements are. It will help you pick a topic for your contest entry. It will give you a chance to watch past winning speeches to see for yourself some of the special techniques they used to such great effect. It will help you to avoid many common mistakes that less experienced speakers make.

This workshop will have tips and ideas for members of all levels. It will also give you ideas you can apply in any speech, not just contest speeches.

Date: Thursday 06 February 2014

Time: 19.00 for prompt 19.15 start

Venue: MyHotel Chelsea London, 35 Ixworth Place, London SW3 3QX

All Toastmasters and guests are welcome.

Tale of the Twin Tall Tales Contest

From Vaughan Evans, President London Corinthians, 30 January 2014

Twas Chairman Barrett who first took stage

And got some things right, despite his age

 

Richard the Brave – he kicked off the quest

Miss Oxon ’89 did he contest

Then Dave and Francois, Barrack and all

For Keiran’s cake did world leaders fall

 

Mind loss is surely no laughing matter

Learnt Mr President when with his Mata

But we always knew that our V.P.E

Was M.I.5 not M.W.P

 

Jeremy, that rogue, that master of zen

Took his edible clingfilm to the Dragons Den

And Jones there he stood with finger in eye

Mourning in mime that Madiba did die