Feed the body, feed the mind.

A normal club night was held on Thursday the 2nd of June, and was a lively fun-filled evening, with three new guests making their first visit. The total attendance was 24:

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

Visitors and Guest(s): Nicola Coutts, Katie Nisbet, Mark Willson, Binda Singh, Stuart Mayes, Marius Blaauw, and Conor Gillen. 

The meeting room was jointly prepared by the members, and the meeting was opened by Quang, our Sergeant-at-Arms for the evening. Quang 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 Cathy, our Toastmaster of the evening, who introduced Harry, our Timekeeper for the evening, and Natalie, our Grammarian and Ah Counter, and each in turn gave a summary of their roles. Natalie had chosen "PANACEA" as the word of the day, and gave us a brief description of its meaning and origins.  

Mark J ran the "Warm up" session, with a "Time Machine" theme, asking everyone in turn to imagine they could wind the clock back to a previous time, then say when they would choose and why. This produced some varied and interesting choices, from a few years to millions of years, in fact to the dawn of creation itself! 

The meeting continued with three speeches, as follows: 

1)  (CC03 - Get to the point) - "Buy British meat" by Helen. Helen comes from a farming community and is passionate about her food, and the quality of food. She had no difficulty in conveying her message that "British is Best" for many meat products, where we have strict controls over animal welfare and animal husbandry. She urged us to look out for the "Little Red Tractor" on our meat packaging!

2)  (CC09 - Persuade with power) - "Meal Planning" by Maria. As a mother of two growing children, Maria gave us a lesson in home economics, after following the example set by her sister. Rather than go food shopping haphazardly, sometimes daily, she does a major shop once a fortnight, and plans the menus in advance, so everyone knows what to expect each day. This has resulted in a big saving not only in costs, but also in the time spent shopping, sometimes buying items that were not really required.

3) (CC10 - Inspire your audience) - "Excuse me! Is your life waiting?" by Christina. This was Christina's final speech from the Competent Communication manual, a milestone, which leads to her being presented shortly with the Competent Communicator award. Christina exhorted us to use positive mental attitude to generate good energy in our work and private lives, and conveyed her message with purpose. 

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

The meeting resumed after the break with the speech evaluations. Nicola gave an appraisal of Helen's speech, Sarah gave an appraisal of Maria's speech, and Bob gave an appraisal of Christina's speech.  

The Table Topics Master was Dan, with an eclectic mix of topics, in part inspired by research on the internet. Those chosen to speak on this occasion were: Panos, Chris, Mark J, Binda, Bob, Katie, Quang and Jonathan.  

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

Natalie 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. 

Deborah then gave a General Evaluation of the evening, with the exception of the evaluators, and had some useful comments for the participants. She 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: Martin, on his evaluation of Table Topics.

Best Topics speaker: Mark J, on his amusing description of how he would spend a day off work without the knowledge of his employer.

Best Prepared Speaker: Christina, with her No. 10 speech. 

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

Next meeting: Thursday 16th of June 2011, normal venue, meet 7-ish for 7.30 p.m. start.

Open Invitation: Monday 13th of June, Farnham Speakers, "Dragon's Den" Event.

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, Panos Panagou, and give him any assistance he may require on his journey with Toastmasters, though if you know Panos, you will realise he already has a good deal of speaking experience behind him.

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.  

If you decide to join..........Welcome to the world of Toastmasters!