A new Toastmaster year in prospect

The meeting held on Thursday the 16th of June 2011, was the last for the Toastmaster year, as the "New Year" starts from the 1st of July, with a brand new committee and fresh ideas and enthusiasm. It was a lively and enjoyable evening, which saw two recent joiners present their Icebreaker speeches, one member conclude her No. 10 speech, and one guest join the club. The total attendance was 18:

Camberley Members: Atulya Verma, Cathy Richardson, Chris Ayscough, Christina,  Deborah G, Harry Fish, Helen Clark, Jonathan Alsop, Maria James, Mark Jemison, Mark Willson, Martin Berry (Club President), Panos Panagou, Quang Truong Le, and Sarah Green.

Visitors and Guest(s): Nuno Bento, Simon Reed (a guest of Panos), and Marius Blaauw, on his second visit. Marius has now joined as a member, welcome aboard!

The meeting room was jointly prepared by the members, and the meeting was opened by Harry, our Sergeant-at-Arms for the evening. Harry introduced our President, Martin, who welcomed everyone, with a special mention for our guests, and explained the last-minute changes to the agenda. Martin then handed the meeting to Jonathan, our Toastmaster of the evening, who introduced Helen, our Timekeeper for the evening, and Cathy, our Grammarian and Ah Counter, and each in turn gave a summary of their roles. Cathy had chosen "FUGACIOUS" as the word of the day, and gave us a brief description of its meaning and origins.

Harry ran the "Warm up" session, with a holiday theme, asking everyone in turn to speak excitedly for 15 seconds on this year's holiday plans. Both members and guests embraced this idea enthusiastically, and everyone participated.

The meeting continued with three speeches, as follows:

1)  (CC01 - The Icebreaker) - "Growing up - my story" by Atulya. This was Atulya's first speech, with the content taken from his early years in India, then moving to England for his further education, and gave us an insight into his past, with an interesting comparison to his present life in England.

2)  (CC01 - The Icebreaker) - "Why am I here?" by Mark J. This was Mark's first speech, and unusually for an Icebreaker, the content was less about his personal experiences, but more about the concerns he had for the problems of the world, with growing populations, food shortages, bank failures and prodigious debt problems.

3) (CC10 - Inspire your audience) - "Glossophobia" by Maria. A fear of public speaking is why many people join Toastmasters in the first place. Many then stay because they love it! Maria had some useful tips for us all, and ended with a great phrase "Feel the fear, and do it anyway". This was Maria's final speech from the Competent Communication manual, a milestone, which leads to her being presented shortly with the Competent Communicator award.

During the break, the assembled members and guests had informal discussions, and Deborah and Chris dispensed tea, coffee and biscuits.

The meeting resumed after the break with the speech evaluations. Christina gave an appraisal of Atulya's speech, Martin gave an appraisal of Mark's speech, and Chris gave an appraisal of Maria's speech.

The Table Topics Master was Sarah, who painted a number of scenarios, and asked the speakers what they would say if placed in those situations. Those chosen to speak on this occasion were: Chris, Mark J, Jonathan, Nuno, Harry, Deborah and Martin.

The Topics Evaluation was carried out by Panos, with an incisive analysis of the roles played by each speaker, and some useful feedback for everyone, including the Topics Master.

Cathy took the floor as Grammarian/Ah Counter for the evening, and detailed the use of good and bad English over the course of the evening, identifying those who had used "filler" words. (Ah, Oh, So, Um etc.) She praised the use of good English, and those who had used well-structured phrases and the Word of the Day.

Quang then gave a General Evaluation of the evening, and had some useful and constructive suggestions for the participants. He congratulated the club on running a successful and enjoyable meeting, which had met the objectives of Toastmasters International.
The meeting was then handed to Martin (Club President) who presented awards for:

Best Evaluator: Christina, on her evaluation of Atulya's speech.

Best Topics speaker: Jonathan and Harry jointly.

Best Prepared Speaker: Atulya, with his Icebreaker speech.

Martin concluded the meeting, and many then went to the Four Horseshoes for light refreshments and informal discussions.

Next meeting: Thursday 7th of July 2011, normal venue, meet 7-ish for 7.30 p.m. start.

Club's Newsletter: This newsletter is e-mailed to "Friends of Camberley Speakers" who are current club members, friends from other Toastmasters clubs, past members and prospective new members. If you do not wish to be on the list, please "Unsubscribe" to harryfish@thinkpositive.co.uk  The newsletter will also be posted onto the websites shown above, which you can access without a password.

New members: Please welcome our most recent joiner at Camberley Speakers, Marius Blaauw, and give him any assistance he may require on his journey with Toastmasters.

If you would like to know more about joining, please read the final page of this letter.

Members' badges: Natalie Kay has created a badge template to help new members and regular visitors to be easily identifiable. Please let Natalie know if you need a badge: ndkay@hotmail.co.uk

Members' manuals: In return for paying a joining fee, new members are enrolled on the Toastmasters International system, issued with a PIN, and receive their first two manuals, the Competent Communicator manual, and the Competent Leadership manual. Do bring these with you to our meetings, and ensure that whenever you carry out a role, you find a fellow member to evaluate your efforts, and have this recorded in your manuals. This way you will progress towards your first two Toastmaster awards.

Club's atmosphere: Our objective is to help members to develop their public speaking abilities in a friendly and supportive environment. If you have a problem in attending because you need a lift, do say so, somebody may be able to help. If you have a meeting role, but need to cancel, please inform us ASAP, so that the agenda can be revised. We have enthusiastic members, at Camberley and elsewhere, who are willing to take on roles at short notice, and a hard-working VPE (Quang) who is prepared to juggle the agenda as required, to ensure that "It will be alright on the night." 

Many hands make light work: A club like ours relies on volunteers. If you would like to play your part in running the club, even taking on a small role, please contact our President, Martin Berry on: berry-martin1@sky.com   or 01252-650001. 

I hope to see you at the next meeting. Happy Toastmastering All!

Harry Fish CC - (VPPR, Camberley Speakers)

Phones: 01276-35164 and 07860-201387

E-mail: harryfish@thinkpositive.co.uk

THE MEMBERSHIP PAGE 

Club Membership: We welcome guests to our growing club. If you like what we do at Camberley Speakers, why not bring a guest or two with you next time, and they can see for themselves? If you would like to know more about joining, please ask a committee member at the next meeting, or e-mail me or Martin Berry for details.

Some FAQs to guide new joiners:

- How much does it cost? - Membership is renewed every six months, in April and October, and currently costs £39 twice-yearly. This covers the hire of the hall and other expenses. When you first join there is also a "one off" fee which is currently £16, to cover your registration onto the Toastmasters International system as a member, and to pay for your first two manuals.

- What if you join part-way through the six-month period? - Membership cost is effectively £6-50/month. You get a pro-rata reduction if joining part-way through the normal half-yearly periods.

- What do you get when you join the club? - As outlined above, your membership is acknowledged by Toastmasters Head Office in California, and you will receive your first two manuals, which have been designed to guide you through your first 10 speeches, and the other challenges you may choose to meet within the club, such as carrying out speech evaluations for others, and taking part in various parts of running your club, which will be acknowledged by your fellow members. Don't forget to bring the manuals to each meeting, where you can be given credit for any roles you perform.

You will also receive your monthly copy of the Toastmaster magazine, which contains interesting articles, and hints and tips from your fellow members around the world. You will also have access to the "D71" UK-based website, which contains more information about the clubs around us, and future events in the UK.

- Is there any help to get started? - Many of those joining Toastmasters for the first time experience a mixture of excitement and anxiety about what lies ahead. Fear not, you are in good company, we have all been through it! Be assured you are amongst friends who are there to help you, if help is required. Your Competent Communication manual will show you the outline themes for your first 10 speeches, and gives a fair amount of guidance in writing. If you would also like some face-to-face assistance from a more experienced speaker, there are many within Camberley Speakers who are willing to give up some of their time to do this.