The London Speaker

London Club Growth Committee

From Graeme Phillips (Assistant Division C Director, Club Growth)

Dear D91 members,

I am continuing to shape plans for a London Club Growth Committee (LCGC) with the fantastic assistance given by my High Performance Leadership Committee that is now in place.  I am now keen to find people to join the LCGC itself who can continue to take the vision forward.

I foresee the committee enabling people who enjoy creating clubs to do so collaboratively in a relaxed setting.

All roles are up for discussion, but roles I foresee creating include a LCGC chair, secretary, IT manager, facilities manager (the face of the LCGC for venues) and many more.  Skills that the LCGC will be well placed to offer you the chance to develop include project management, stakeholder management, planning, analysis and others: - who knows what opportunities may come along as the committee evolves?

If you are interested in this exciting venture, please get in touch with me - Click here to email .  The details are up for negotiation, so join us if you want to shape the future direction of the LCGC.

 

Meet our International President and enjoy keynote & workshop 3 May, Twickenham

From Riverside Communicators

Riverside Communicators are pleased to announce the details of a special event that we will be holding on Wednesday 3 May 2017 at 7pm.

A fantastic workshop followed by a keynote from the International President of Toastmasters International!  Places are free but you must register

1. The Instant Speech Toolkit

For the first part of the evening, Kevin Baggs, East Herts Speakers will be delivering an interactive workshop - the Instant Speech Toolkit.

He will be covering the following:

• Learn how you can do an instant speech or even hot speech,
• Find out what you can write your speeches about,
• Learn what you can say about your speech topic,
• Find out how to structure your speech,
• Learn some quick skeletons you can build on when writing speeches

2. The Keynote

After a short break, we are very honoured to have Mike Storkey, Toastmasters International President, delivering a keynote address entitled ‘Step Out, Step Up and Seize the Opportunity’. You can read more about Mike here.

Please be aware, this event is being held at upstairs at The Shack 68 on London Road (next to Twickenham railway station) and not at our usual venue at York House. As a result, the number of people we can accommodate is limited and unfortunately, we will not be able to admit anyone without a ticket. To apply for a free ticket to this event, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com/e/riverside-communicators-the-presidential-workshop-evening-tickets-33599274334

We look forward to seeing you next week!

An excellent day - Division B Contests & Workshops

From Florian Bay, Division B Director

Over 200 Toastmasters and friends from all over London enjoyed an excellent Saturday in the splendor of Freemasons’ Hall while attending London Speaking Forum 2017 and the Division B International Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest.

The workshops on offer covered topics such as rhetoric, body language, trust and storytelling. All the workshops were thoroughly enjoyed by those present and attendees also drew inspiration from two pre-contest keynote addresses by Toastmaster Bob Ferguson and by Peter Botting.

The standard in both contests was extremely high. In the morning, the best evaluators from West London regaled the audience with in depth-analysis of a mystery speech about Meritocracy. Our international speech contestants finished the day by inspiring the audience with subjects including fighting fires in the jungle and climbing Alpine peaks.

A thoroughly excellent day enjoyed by everyone present!

Evaluation Contest

1st Place - Daniel Stoddart - Area 6, London Olympians

2nd Place - Andrew Klimaytys - Area 29, Riverside Communicators

3rd Place - Carolina Castillo - Area 8, London Cardinals

 

International Speech Contest

1st Place - Sonia Aste - Area 29, Riverside Communicators

2nd Place - Danny Callaghan - Area 8, London Cardinals

3rd Place - Shola Kaye - Area 52,Grosvenor Square Speakers

 

The next rounds of the contests are at the District 91 Mayflower Conference in Southampton 5-7 May 2017.

The weekend includes a range of workshops and keynote speakers including the International President of Toastmasters International Mike Storkey and World Champion of Public Speaking Mark Brown.  You can find out more and book for the whole weekend or just part of it here: http://springconference91.org/

Please like the Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/d91springconference and follow on Twitter @D91SpringConf

Celebrating Excellence in Division K District 91

From Wole Ososami, Division K Director

Contests give us an opportunity as Toastmasters to showcase the best among us and celebrate excellence as our members step out of their comfort zone and take on the challenge and hard work that goes into being a Club, Area and Division champion.

Congratulations to Tom O’Toole, Area 58 Champion - City of London Toastmasters who won the Evaluation Contest

 

Congratulations to Sean Little, Area 3 Champion - London Public Speakers who won the International Speech contest.

If you were at the Division K finals, you would agree with me that everyone in that impressive lineup of speakers delivered a contest winning speech. So my congratulations to all of you who represented your Area at the Division level.

Now all eye's are turned to the District finals at Southampton on the 6th and 7th of May. I look forward to an exciting contest. I am sure that Tom and Sean and all the other Division finalists will be looking forward to seeing many of their Club, Area and Division members in Southampton.

If you have not got your tickets, get it today, and together we will be cheering Tom O'Toole and Sean Little as they take the stage and represent Division K at the 2017 District 91 International Speech Contest and Evaluation Contest. https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/toastmasters-district-91-the-mayflower-conference-2017-tickets-31078895814

See you all at The Mayflower Conference Southampton.

Division C International Speech and Evaluation Contests - results!

From Dudley Flynn, Division C Director

The highlight of the Division C conference, held at the prestigious London Business School in Regents Park on Saturday 8th April were the International Speech and Evaluation Contests.

The International Speech Contestants were:
•    Christina Alaby
•    Ola Aralepo
•    Edwin Atiegobo-Bello
•    Tom Donnelly
•    Ben Siskand

And the winners were
1. Ola Aralepo
2. Christina Alaby
3. Tom Donnelly

The Evaluation contestants were:
•    Marta Garcia-Salvador
•    Tazud Miah
•    Laurent Nicourt
•    David Saer

And the winners were
1. Tazud Miah
2. David Saer

The final of both contests will be held at the District 91 Conference in Southampton 5-7 May 2017

Check out details of the contests and the conference below

http://d91toastmasters.org.uk/conference/

Division L Contests - winners going through to District 91 finals

From Steve Brewer, Division L Director

When I opened the contest I announced that I was the Division Director and I got a tremendous cheer from the audience,when I said that I wouldnt be for much longer I got an even louder cheer.The wonderful thing about toastmasters is that supportive environment and that sense of fun.

The supportive environment never made things feels like a chore> Andrew Tollinton arranged the venue and Nadine ,Nick ,Simon and Chief Judge Andy O'Sullivan made sure everything was ready as they contacted contestants and facilitators.  Everyone was in the right place at the right time!  This allowed us to be treated to seven prepared speeches and a target speaker, David Banfro, who came from outside District 91 for our eight contestants to evaluate.

This was definitely a competition worth winning and our placed contestants were:

International Speech Contest

1.Simon Bucknall

2,Gill Ornstein

3.Salem Al-Damluji

Evaluation Contest

1.Freddie Daniells

2.Barry Greenan

3.Gill Ornstein

Please come at support Simon and Freddie at the conference in Southampton 5-7 May 2017.Come for the whole weekend or just a part of it.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/toastmasters-district-91-the-mayflower-conference-2017-tickets-31078895814?utm_term=eventurl_text

Toastmasters District 91, The Mayflower Conference 2017

Excalibur Presents: DEBATING WORKSHOP 26 April

From Sue Fish, Excalibur Speakers

Did you know that people debate all the time?  Some of these debates are more important than they seem.  Your opponent won’t be a fellow Toastmaster in a club debate.  Your opponent could be at a dinner table discussing Brexit with a different point of view to yours.   Your opponent may be a colleague at a departmental meeting.  S/he might be trying to convince the rest of your colleagues and your boss that s/he should have a bigger slice of the budget and that the burden of cuts should fall on your projects....

Excalibur Speakers presents their latest mini Debating Workshop by Paul Carroll, founder of 104 London Debaters, on Wednesday 26 April 2017 at 6:45pm for a prompt 7pm start.  This Debating workshop will be in three parts: Tips, Interactive Exercise and a Mini-debate on a topical issue.

To get you in the mood, here's the ice cream debate from Paul's favourite movie about public speaking & persuasion: Thank You For Smoking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eW87GRmunMY  

The Mayflower Conference 5-7 May - have you booked?

Have you booked for the Mayflower Conference in Southampton 5-7 May 2017? http://springconference91.org/

If you want to see the District 91 Evaluation Contest Final and the International Speech Contest (the winner will go on to complete in a World Semi-Final in Vancouver) you need to book now!  

You will have the opportunity to meet (and see on stage) the International President of Toastmasters International Mike Storkey who is visiting from Australia, and Mark Brown one of our World Champions of Public Speaking.  There are many other workshops, a gala dinner and our important council meeting at which our leadership team for 2017/18 will be elected.

You can come for the whole weekend or a few hours - the options can be found here: https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/toastmasters-district-91-the-mayflower-conference-2017-tickets-31078895814

Speechcraft program at Harrovian Speakers

From Jesús Parada, VP PR Harrovian Speakers

We are very pleased to announce that a Speechcraft Progam is being run by Harrovian Speakers starting on 21 April. If you know people who would benefit please ask them to get in touch.

The Speechcraft Program is for you if you would like to develop the self-confidence to handle any speaking situation with ease.  During each meeting you will practice speaking, listening and giving feedback and have the opportunity to learn from experience speakers.   You will be guided by people who have overcome their own fear of public speaking and who’ve successfully developed their skills. Best of all you will have fun as you learn.

The progam will be held at ST LAWRENCE CHURCH HALLS, ST LAWRENCE CLOSE, EDGWARE, HA8 6QS 7.30pm on Fridays 21, 28 April 2017; and 5, 12 May 2017

To sign up contact Amparo Villamil, 07712586492, email: ampi@ live.co.uk; or Jesus Parada 07827568227

Area L9 Contest – Expressing the heart & soul of members

From Nick Westall, Area L9 Director

The Area L9 Contest was held on Thursday 30 March 2017 at The Plough pub in Holborn.  It was a wonderful evening that showcased the empathetic leadership expressed by our membership.  From heart-warming stories of the international speeches to the structure of the evaluations, the audience was enthralled by the themes of conscious attitudes expressed by all contestants.  Amazingly two clubs stood out as Excalibur Speakers did a clean-sweep in both 1^st places and Berkeley Square Speakers as the leading protégé in 2^nd place.

International Speech Contest:  1st place Simon Bucknall (Excalibur Speakers), 2nd place Tom Duncan (Berkeley Square Speakers)

Evaluation Contest:  1st place Freddie Daniells (Excalibur Speakers), 2nd place Daniel Broadhead (Berkeley Square Speakers)

Throughout the evening our members were inspired to instil confidence, think quickly on their feet, and connect on a human level with other members.  

Next step - the Division L contests on Saturday 8 April

All four winners go through to the Division L final on 8 April.  Sign-up here for free and join us on a Saturday afternoon:  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/division-l-international-speech-and-evaluation-contest-2017-tickets-32989964873

The area leadership would especially like to thank all those who took part as timers, counters, sergeants at arms, speakers, judges, contest chairs, and HELPERS who made the evening run smoothly!