The London Speaker

Evaluation: what makes it work? Workshop 4 December

From Odile Facih, VP PR, Experience French

 

EXPERIENCE FRENCH is delighted to host Catherine’s evaluation workshop on Monday 4 December 2017. STARRING:  Catherine, as well as speakers, evaluators … and you !!!

 

Catherine Casale is a writing and applications coach with over thirty years of experience working with people of all ages and nationalities.  Learning, education, and communication are the focus of her professional, volunteer, and leisure activities.

 

After attending this workshop participants will have the mindset and tools to deliver evaluations that leave the speaker and the audience clear about what made the speech work, what could make it stronger, and why.  These are transferable skills that we can all use not only at Toastmasters but also in our everyday life.

 

THE WORKSHOP is OPEN TO ALL, the meeting will be in English.

 

Come and join us, and if you are not a member please don’t wait to let us know register on: https://www.facebook.com/events/1753940857973064/

 

When:Please arrive at 6:45 PM for prompt start at 7:00 on Monday 4 December

 

Where: Sky view Room. The City Temple Conference Center , Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2DE , London (Closest Tubes are Chancery Lane or St Paul)

Speechless -humorous short play on BBC Radio listen again

From Paul Carroll, 104 London Debaters

This week a short comedy "Speechless" by Andrew Viner was on BBC Radio 4.  I recommend that listen again at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05xdgrf

In the play a pathologically shy young everyman, Guy, discovers the power of public speaking and makes a positive impact at work and in his community before flirting with demagoguery. The tale follows the classic cycle of Exposition, Rising action, Climax, Falling action & Denouement 

As a boy Guy was subject to  every modern and fashionable diagnosis before they settled on "shy".  At school he was so fearful of speaking that it depreciated his strongest talents. For example, he failed to read aloud his prize-winning essay. His loving (but somewhat superstitious) mother even took him on a trip to Blarney Castle to kiss the stone.  Post-school, she wangles him a job at the local Council complaints department. So unwilling to communicate with people is Guy that he devises ingenious technical ways of dodging phone calls and emails. Which puts him in a quandary.  The number of complaints coming in has plummeted to the extent that Guy must  address his department on Cutting Complaints. Hilarity ensues as he is unable--after many starts and much patience by his boss--even to begin his report. 

In dramatic terms, his "moment of awareness" comes and he faces his "adversary" at his mother's funeral. The vicar makes such a hash of recounting her life that Guy is moved first to mutter, then to heckle, then to take over and deliver a warm, touching remembrance of the only person who had been close to him.

From a TM perspective, Guy addresses several dilemmas which I've known among unwilling public-speakers: he thinks he'll never make friends and never be promoted. 

The author has created a vehicle with which to deliver lessons all public speakers need to learn. From Cicero's three rules (teach, delight and move your audience: docere, delectare, et movere) to Hitler's use of triads ("Ein Volk! Ein Reich! Ein Furher!"), Guy learns to use and then to abuse public speaking. His molten eloquence on mundane council business like  roundabouts and cycle lanes gives way to extreme harangues at Speakers' Corner. His girlfriend, with whom he got together when he overcame his shyness to speak, becomes appalled and disillusioned with him. (Spoiler Alert: don't worry, they reconcile). 

This is a humorous piece, to be sure, specially if you consider humour as "the truth, exaggerated".  Some of Guy's shy behavior seems a bit over-the-top to be plausible. He makes a spreadsheet to see colleagues' break-times so he can go to the pantry alone for coffee. Yet I'll bet that in some office,  somewhere,  someone has done something like that. And I've mentored speakers who told me that their careers were stalled because they couldn't address a departmental meeting. 

Experienced speakers will enjoy the humor in this play (some nostalgically) and novices will see illustrated how a reluctant speaker finds, loses and regains his voice.

You can listen to a one minute clip here:

 

Soapbox: you've tried nothing and you're all out of ideas

 by Luke Pearce

I've never considered myself to be much of a creative person. In school, my dreary art teacher wrote off my early drawing attempts as no more than "acceptable"; meanwhile I could never hope to improvise as well as that dope-infused jazz piano kid in my music class. But now I'm on the verge of delivering my tenth speech at Toastmasters, I'm happy to say that coming up with potentially interesting topics for my first nine speeches has, for some reason, never been much of a problem for me.

There's a theory that the reason that many people progress quite slowly through their speech manuals is not due to lack of time or commitment, or fear of standing in front of an audience. The reason we take our time is because we struggle to come up with something we think is worth talking about. We're all in search of inspiration.

Before I share some ideas for finding speech topics, I just want to mention the most important criteria that any potential subject matter needs to satisfy.

Your content absolutely has to be something you're enthusiastic about. I've seen too many speeches where the speakers themselves are clearly not that enamoured of their subject. Their own sense of boredom quickly transfers to the audience.

I would far rather listen to someone talk with passion about an obscure hobby like trainspotting, than sit through another speech inspired by some read-once click-baity Facebook post on the latest way to optimise your life. In theory, the latter will appeal to a wider audience - but too often leaves people thinking they could have just read the Wikipedia page themselves.

Your current areas of genuine interest and expertise are a first port of call for speech material, of course. Just make sure they're topics on which you really can be an authority relative to your audience. Your current or former career, along with hobbies such as dancing, martial arts and collecting are all possibilities. Or perhaps you've spent the last month digesting documentaries and articles on how fruit and vegetables are actually bad for us after all, and now have something important to contribute on this contrarian viewpoint.

A second source of good material is of course your own life experience. Every single one of us has interesting stories in our past, even if they're not ones we're used to telling.

Thinking back to my early speeches, they often made use of little anecdotes from my childhood: the time I launched a school newspaper, only to have it shut down by the teaching authorities. The time I stood up to the school bully - and lived to tell the tale.

Come and support Tenterden Speakers on 16 November

From Suzi Fish, Tenterden Speakers Sponsor, Canterbury Communicators President 2017-18

Are you a Kent-London commuter? Do you know people in the Tenterden area in Kent?

We had a very successful Demonstration Meeting organised in just two weeks!

Tenterden Speakers is holding its next meeting on Thursday 16 November 2017 at The Woolpack, 26 High Street, Tenterden, Kent TN30 6AP.  Toastmasters for speeches and meeting roles required.  Kindly email Kristine Moller at kristinemoller @me.com if you would like to support us at this or any future meetings.  

We meet every first and third Thursday 7pm for a 7:15pm start.  

And a massive thanks to Kristine Moller, Florian Bay, Ola Aralepo, Chris Rose, Dee Alimi and Vel Sanassy for your support in ensuring a successful Demonstration Meeting and launch of Tenterden Speakers.

You can also support us by liking our Facebook page and sharing our posts: 

www.facebook.com/TenterdenSpeakers 

 

 

Excalibur speakers presents Simon Bucknall - The Full Story

From Katya van Koten, President Excalibur Speakers

Unvarnished lessons from his journey to 2nd Place in the 2017 World Championships of Public Speaking

On 27 November 2017, Excalibur Speakers is excited to host a workshop presented by our member Simon Bucknall, 2nd Place winner in the 2017 World Championship of Public Speaking. This is the first and biggest chance to hear the full story of his journey to that 2nd Place and all that he learned.

Each year, more than 30,000 speakers enter the Toastmasters International Speech Contest, competing for a place in the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking.
In his journey to the World Championship, held in Vancouver Canada, Simon Bucknall’s contest speeches went on a roller-coaster journey - countless re-writes, practice sessions and waves of constructive feedback.

In this practical, interactive and empowering two hour session, discover the lessons Simon learnt on that journey and how they can make the difference for YOUR public speaking...
Please join us at the Grange Hotel Holborn at 6.45 for a 7pm start.

When: Monday 27 November 2017, Reception 6.45, for prompt 7pm start

Where: Grange Hotel Holborn, 50-60 Southampton Row, London, WC1B 4AR

Tickets:  go to eventbrite —> https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/simon-bucknall-the-full-story-tickets-39049413848