A warm welcome to our guests

The club's second May meeting took place on Thursday the 19th of May, when several of our regular members were on holiday. We are grateful to those who came from other clubs to take on roles, and to the other guests on this occasion, who helped to make this an interesting and eventful evening. The total attendance was 18:

Camberley Members: Atulya Verma, Cathy Richardson, Dan Benton, Deborah G, Harry Fish, Maria James, Martin Berry (Club President), Natalie Kay, Panos Panagou, Quang Truong Le.

Visitors and Guest(s): Nuno Bento, Maria Sandler, Binda Singh, Rosemary Hayward, Jessica Hayward, Rupert Peters, Sandie Gustus, Rosemary Sakutombo.

 The meeting room was jointly prepared by the members, and the meeting was opened by our President, Martin, who welcomed everyone, and explained the last-minute changes to the agenda. Martin then handed the meeting to Natalie, our Toastmaster of the evening, who introduced Deborah, our Timekeeper for the evening, and Jessica, our Grammarian and Ah Counter, and each in turn gave a summary of their roles. Jessica had chosen "TAME" as the word of the day, and gave us a brief description of its meaning and origins.

 Dan then ran the "Warm up" session, with a "hiding" theme, asking everyone to speak for up to 15 seconds on when they had last hidden from something or somebody, and why? This gave everyone the chance to relax, and produced some amusing stories.

 The meeting continued with three speeches, as follows:

 1) My lessons from Outward Bound (CC05 - Your Body Speaks) - by Maria. This was an animated speech from Maria, describing the people she met, and the challenges she faced, on a very testing course in New Zealand some years ago.

2) Problems in counter-insurgency (CC02 - Organise your speech) - by Rupert. This was a well-structured speech on a specialist and complex subject, clearly close to Rupert's heart, with his military background. 

3) Jack and the Beanstalk (ACS/Storytelling - The Folk Tale) - by Harry. This was Harry's version of a long-time favourite with children, told to a slightly older audience than usual on this occasion!

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

 The meeting resumed after the break with the speech evaluations. Panos gave an appraisal of Maria's speech, Martin gave an appraisal of Rupert's speech, and Cathy gave an appraisal of Harry's speech.

 The Table Topics Master was Quang, who had an interesting variation on the normal theme, asking each person to nominate the next speaker and subject. Those chosen to speak on this occasion were: Nuno, Atulya, Rosemary H, Natalie, Mark, Rupert, Dan, and Jessica.

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

 Jessica 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.

 Rosemary then gave a comprehensive General Evaluation of the evening, with some useful comments for the participants, and commended the club on running a successful and enjoyable meeting.

The meeting was then handed to Martin (Club President) who presented awards for:

Best Evaluator: Cathy, on Harry's speech. This was Cathy's first attempt at evaluation.

Best Topics speaker: Natalie, on her enthusiastic portrayal of being a Wild West gunslinger.

Best Prepared Speaker: Harry, with his folk story for this mixed age audience.

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

Next meeting: Thursday 2nd of June 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 who have shown an interest in joining the club. If you no longer wish to be on the list, please "Unsubscribe" to harryfish@thinkpositive.co.uk

The newsletter will also be posted onto the websites shown on the top of this letter, which you can access without a password. If you'd like to include additional information which is relevant to Toastmasters, do let me (Harry) know.

 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.

 - 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!