Open Evening 17th November 2015

What a successful Open Evening we had!

There was a theme of "Thankfulness and Gratitude" as we are so close to the American holiday of Thanksgiving.

We had a great number of guests including David from Spa Speakers, three from a local speaking group called Birmingham Powertalk who are not linked Toastmasters and Thanks to Cath who brought four visitors from Godiva Speakers.  It is great that local clubs are getting more involved and connected to their neighbours.

We had six speeches at this meeting and no Table Topics.  We have a thriving club and it was felt that we needed some more speech slots to give more members the opportunity to progress through their Competent Communicator manual.  There were, however, a few comments from people who missed Table Topics so this is something to consider for the next time.

Awards
Best Evaluator - David (Spa Speakers)
Best Speaker - James

Triple Crown Award - Tanya
(Attaining three TM awards in one year)

Cath also presented Tanya and Mish with an Area Award for "Most travelled member" for last year

It has been a while since we looked at the Distinguished Club Programme progress and as it stands we have already achieved a MASSIVE six out of ten and are on course to get ten by the end of the year in June!!!
Well done to all those of you who have helped with this number and to those members who are busily working towards the other goals that will add to the total.
Toastmasters is a great personal commitment but I think it is important to always remember that we are part of a much bigger picture and there are goals for the Clubs, Areas, Divisions and Districts.  Heart of England is proud to have a large collection of ribbons on our banner showing our past achievements.

I will leave you with a guest blog post from Marc....
Marc took the role of Toastmaster of the Evening for the very first time at this meeting and kindly agreed to give us an account of how he found that. So in his own words......

""
The last meeting on 17th November 2015 was a special event because it was an open evening with a different format than usual. Instead of the usual segment of prepared speeches which are followed by table topics, we had a full session of prepared speeches (six in total) followed by the evaluations. 

This night was my first role as Toastmaster of the evening, whose responsibility it is to host the evening, introduce speakers/evaluators and keep to the correct time as best as possible. Personally, this was a big accomplishment and fun role to do, so I will recap on the night from the perspective of the Toastmaster!!

After a very hectic day, I made my way to Toastmasters and was running through my mind a check list of all that needed to be done when I arrived at the venue. As a Toastmaster, timing is essential and this was ironic because I was running late myself!

I had organised and gone through the timetable and was prepared for any changes that may occur. Organisation of some kind is also very important since this is what creates a smooth flow to the evening. The theme of 'Unity' is what I had in mind for the evening and felt that it would tie in with the qualities we work on at Toastmasters (in our individual clubs and internationally) and also what was currently happening with the terrorism atrocities in Paris at the time. I had noticed in the news that the people in Paris were getting a lot of support from everyone around the globe and showed that, in times of need, people pull together to help out. Similar to Toastmasters helping each other to share a common goal of self development! (Surely any prospective new members on the night could relate to this!?)

To be honest, I felt a little bit anxious and excited about the role of toastmaster, which eased when Sanat exchanged some encouraging words in the car park. Sanat looked somewhat concerned about his parking ticket at the time and hurried back to his car (as if he had seen a traffic warden or something!) But nonetheless, he STILL had time to offer help and support! It is little gestures like this that makes the support so strong at Toastmasters, even when it may seem unnoticed.

Upon entering the main door, the meeting room was buzzing with energy and warmth! There were new faces, old friends and then Tanya mentioned there was another speaking club (Godiva Speakers from Coventry), along with another speaking club from somewhere else. I thought to myself "WOW! Could I have picked a worse night to host in front of experienced speakers??!". Well there was no turning back now! 

 The controlled manner and way that Tanya and Mish had the room organised made me relax again, since Tanya filled me in on all the changes to the timetable - which were happening at lightening speed! Mish had printed all the materials for timetables and was putting the finishing touches to the room. I felt that there was tremendous support for each other and for my role on the night. Even down to the fact that Tony Brassington offered to take some photos for me when I was at the front doing my thing, and there was no hesitation there, he did it straight away! (and actually did a good job considering the lighting in the room too). 

Asma, as Sergeant of Arms, used her skilful talents with an authoritative use of the Gavel which started the evening and stopped everyone in their tracks talking. (Hehe!). I got to use this Gavel later on in the evening and it definitely is as fun as it looks!

There was a great turnout and all the roles were filled between Heart of England and Godiva Speakers together. This was a great experience to have another team invited in and how each club pulled together to make it all work. Even though Godiva Speakers are in Coventry, and not usually meeting at Knowle where Heart of England are, there was some great support from them too and also this feeling of unity!

The night commenced with Andy Brown's warm-up toast, which got people to shout out a single word that is uplifting and energising. Words such as 'awesome', 'happy' and 'powerful' were called out and really lifted the energy of the room whilst breaking the ice. As Jane from Godivas pointed out in her general evaluation later on, this was a great way to start the evening with a large group because everyone can have a turn without taking up too much time.

The next part started with six great speeches from all varying levels from the manuals, followed by six equally great evaluations. This divided the night into two segments of three speeches each, followed by three evaluations. 

First up to the stage was Dominic Flynn who gave a very informative speech about organising your life into a weekly plan, aptly named 'The Weekly Plan'. Dominic was working on speech number three from the manual - get to the point! A very clear message with a lot to take away from it. I have seen Dominic give another speech previously and he is certainly developing as a confident speaker who puts things across in an easy to understand manner.

Our second speaker was Charles Willcock who shared his speech number five, Your body Speaks. The title of this speech 'Why Couples Should Not Drink Wine', highlighted the differences between male and female drinking tolerances. This was shared from a personal journey that Charles had experienced in his life and had a lot of meaning to it. Charles came across quite relaxed in front of the group and gave a humorous, yet serious message regarding why not to drink wine and discuss important matters for males and females together. Good job that Andy Brown's toast didn't involve raising a glass of wine/champers/alcohol, or otherwise we would all have been in trouble! 

Our third speech performed by Ian Boddison about his airport journey to Istanbul referring to how important it is to pack your Tickets, Passport and Money. The title.....can anyone guess? Ok I will give it to you - 'Tickets, Passport and Money'. I say that Ian performed this speech, because he is a very expressive and confident speaker who literally puts the message across in an animated and very clear manner. Presence is another keyword here. The message of this speech was that, although money is important, it isn't as important as time (which can never be taken back once it's passed). Money can always be made, but time is invaluable and cannot be made back! Great speech! Ian definitely achieved the vocal variety that was the focus of his speech number six.

After these speeches, Tanya, Sanat and Tony all gave well crafted evaluations of the three speeches respectively, and all were delivered with good recommendations and feedback. All three are a great example of how different styles can be used effectively within the same structure of proper evaluating. 

The second half of the evening took on a similar format to the first half with three more speeches and evaluations.

Speech number four was delivered by James Leckie, who has progressed quickly through his manual speeches to number 7, Research Your Topic. This was a very heartfelt and personal recollection of the NHS service and the way that his brother was treated after being involved in a motorcycle accident! Powerful, heartfelt and spoken with the lively energy that James  always manages to give off. Top man and great to see James developing so well along his journey.

Our fifth speaker, who was a stand in on the night, Julia Popescu, who delivered her second speech, Organise your speech. This was a speech regarding Social Media Apps of generating as much positive energy and feeling collectively by adding to an app through your phone or computer. This had a  great message in there to work together to generate good thoughts and feelings. Perfect for blending in with the theme of Unity! Julia was passionate about her subject and this showed through in her speech!

Onto our final speech number six which actually formed part of one of the advanced manuals of Special Occasion Speeches. This speech was put forward by Cathryn King from Godiva Speakers. The title was called 'At Last!' and had what I would class as a traditional Toastmaster feel to it! Good cheer and thanks for hard work and the appreciation of this too! Cathryn showed herself as a proficient and comfortable speaker, who delivered the speech with good feeling attached! Now, as Toastmaster of the night, I happened to spy some gifts in a bag which Cathryn had brought in at the start of the night, which were supposed to be 'props', but actually turned out to be thank you gifts for all the hard work and assistance from Mish & Tanya Barad, who've been helping Godiva Speakers. Mish & Tanya were invited to the front to receive their gifts and both looked overwhelmed. From the front row it actually looked like Mish was taken back to the point of tears, but she tried to style it out! Either way, this was a great speech and a marvellous conclusion to the evening's speeches. I was even within reachable distance to the chocolate aero gift that Tanya put under her chair, but thought, on this occasion I would let it go! After all, they have worked for them!!

The final three speeches were then evaluated by David Thompson, Alison Smith and Mish Barad. All of these again gave an insightful evaluation which gave the speakers valuable feedback and of course, something to think about for improvement to the next level! 

The other roles on the night were filled extremely well with Basit (Godiva Speakers) hot on the clock, not succumbing to the technical downfalls of the usual lights not working, and used Coloured Cards instead. If this is not being prepared, then I don't know what is! Grammarian was Mashood, who also fulfilled his role very admirably! 

Our General Evaluator from Godiva Speakers, Jane Moss delivered a very entertaining account of the night and even managed to introduce a sample table topics on the spot for the benefit of members not familiar with this aspect of Toastmasters. She gave a humorous account of the Loch Ness Monster actually being potentially female and put forward a great argument, which had me thinking. This is a tough role to do due to the time frame and amount of things to get through, but she did it with ease and great comeback to being put on the spot with table topics!

On the whole it was a brilliant night and thank you to all who took part and made it what it was! 

When I opened the night as Toastmaster I stated that One person in the room by themselves can not create the atmosphere and energy that we all make together, and it's this type of UNITY that makes Toastmasters what it is - a fun place to grow and to develop yourself in speaking, leadership and life too! Every single person adds to the group, no matter what the role is

 Until next time.......""