We always enjoy our Toastmasters meetings, but every experience is different so there are always surprises to be had.

No surprise that Veronica did a great job as Toastmaster for the evening – with an engaging smile and a warm welcome for everyone, she steered us through the agenda like the pro that she is.

Three speeches tonight. Vaida McNeill revealed her experiences with accidentally handling stolen goods… Alex Clark revealed that he had resisted the temptation to reveal all in a German sauna (in Germany it seems there are even rules about when you have to be naked)… and Na Jiang revealed that sometimes, the best managers are the ones who tell you to stop whining and just get on with it. Congratulations to Vaida on being voted best speech of the night.

Gus Ayinbode did what he does best in the impromptu speech section – struggled to collect his thoughts (we can all relate to that) and yet somehow be hilarious in the process.  How does that man do it?  To hell with structure and polish, if you have as much charm as Gus then you can blag your way through anything. The prize for the best effort of the night was secured.

Meanwhile, it was time to recognise two of our members who have completed their Level 1 Pathways… Na Jiang…

And David Hampton (again)

Finally we got to see Daniel Komolafe in action as our Toastmaster for the evening, and a fine job he did too, making everyone feel welcome and at ease and organising the sequence of speeches and evaluation confidently.

In the prepared speeches, there was quite a bit of reminiscing … but fair to say, no nostalgia.

Neil Pettigrew gave a speech on what it was like to witness the heyday of the National Front – not that many of us even remember them … and not fondly! Dan New – our VP Membership, revealed that despite his serene demeanour these days he was something of a troublemaker when he was little. And David Hampton talked about the stress of hosting an Ofsted inspection. Congratulations to Dan for picking up the Best Speech award.

Edna Petzen arranged a challenging but very entertaining set of Table Topics loosely themed around “November” – congratulations to Ruben Martins for his deadpan comparison of British weather with the rather more pleasant climate of his native Portugal, which entertained us as much as it made us jealous. Best Table Topic of the night to Ruben.

We were also delighted to congratulate Andrew Vaughan on reaching his Level 1 in Pathways, and look forward to many more speeches from him

Congratulations to Carol Mae Whittick who, having swept the board in our club Humorous Speech and Table Topics competitions in September, went on to win the Area Final for Table Topics.

Fingers crossed for the Division Final in November!

Our President, Saadia Alege, sprung a few surprises tonight.

Why were Past Presidents Dave Henson and Martin Langdon there?  Plus other well-liked ex-members, David Wilson and Bashiru Mohammed (aka Bash).  And was that really Debbie Williams, the District Director, in the audience?  And why were there only two speeches instead of the normal three?  And why was the General Evaluator slot vacant?

Some subterfuge was clearly going on, and we didn’t have to wait long for all to be revealed, as Saadia opened the meeting by explaining that it was all part of a carefully-planned surprise to celebrate David Hampton reaching a major milestone – 25 years as a member of Toastmasters this month.

So it was a fairly festive atmosphere, helped by a wonderful debut in the Toastmaster role from Edna Petzen, setting an upbeat tone and guiding us expertly through proceedings, plus great speeches from Daniel Komolafe on the Secret of Confidence (coming from someone who’s certainly not lacking that area) and Andrew Vaughan on The Psychology of the Ford Fiesta (which brought a smile to the faces of Ford veterans David Wilson and David Hampton).

Towards the end, Debbie presented David with a plaque to commemorate his anniversary and asked David to reflect on why on earth he was still a member – so that’s what happened to the third speech slot – and the gist of the answer was that Toastmasters has done so much for his career that he feels the need to keep coming to repay the club as best he can.

Which just left us with the General Evaluator … step forward Dave Henson to give his thoughts on a memorable evening, thanks to the efforts of  Saadia and last year’s President, Kieran Mangan.

So it seemed like a good time to pose for a group photo… here we are

This week’s meeting saw the use of a projector for the first time I can remember in a Toastmasters. Minor technical glitches were smoothly resolved by David, who delivered a very interesting speech entitled ‘Ford’s Product Planning Secrets’, which did indeed reveal some trade secrets, albeit 30 years old ones!

Gus also delivered an inspiring speech about ‘opportunities’, and it was great to see his daughter Anisah in the audience.

Table Topics this week were won by Mohit (pictured). Veronica presented topics based around ‘the workplace’, with Mohit narrowly winning the audience vote.

With just one meeting left this year, our next meeting on the 19th will be a Christmas special. Remember your festive jumpers, and I can guarantee a mince pie or two!

Thursday 5th September – tonight was our Humorous Speech and Table Topics competition night. It’s a yearly event that allows members to test themselves. First of all before I delve into the detail, a big thank you to everyone who supported the evening either as part of the audience, as a competitor and of course, as one of the unsung heroes who performed a role that enabled the event to run – such as the judges, the counters and timekeepers. An extra special mention goes to Carol Mae who’s been with the club for a year now and who celebrated as the evening’s Chair. Smooth and calm – that’s Carol.

Four members prepared humorous speeches and eight chanced their arms in the Table Topics competition. The humorous speech contest is not about stand-up comedy, it’s about adding, well, humour, to your style. Were we entertained? Yes!

The four humorous speeches covered a wide range of topics: from mere mortals meeting celebrities including Mick Jagger in Venice and Margaret Thatcher in the House of Lords, secondary school gaffs when not paying attention in class and childhood rebellion involving the adaptation of 1970s flares into the style of the Bay City Rollers (excessive use of tartan for anyone wondering …). The winning speech by Neil was about things he’d wished he’d said and done, The speech gave us insight into the inner workings of his mind and how he wished he’d dealt with certain life events … you know the ones, the ones where it’s only after the event that you think of something cutting you should have said but never did! Things like taking an axe to a noisey neighbour’s hifi system … Remind me to keep the noise down when near to him …

Eight members took on the table topic. One at a time they were led to the slaughter, dispatched with the challenge of answering: what’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever seen in someone else’s home? That was a tough one! Answers were varied to say the least and the idea of never letting the truth get in the way of a good story was tested by several speakers.

We had encounters with a chimpanzee when measuring up a client’s home for a new kitchen, UFOs, hoarders, the removal of a roundabout (??!), a curry night and cockroaches. Not happy with one win, Neil deservedly took first place in this competition too. Neil regaled us with a story about how he never knew how bright the interior of his home was (or that he had a damp patch on his ceiling) until after his recent eye surgery. Quick witted and funny, Neil will be representing us in the area competition – we’re in safe hands and we all wish him the best. Bring home the bacon Neil!

Meeting of 1 August 2024:

As Toastmasters enters a new year (OK, a few weeks ago now but who’s counting?), the key the website is passed to me and rubbing my hands with joy I wonder what mischief I will be able to get up to … My role is to report on the meetings in order to give you, our guests, an idea of what goes on in a Toastmaster meeting. Well, that’s what I was asked to do – let’s see how that goes!

Rather than outline ‘so and so said this’ at the past few meetings, here’s a flavour of what I have seen, heard and experienced. Perhaps the one comment made by John Cross (one of our most experienced speakers) that has resonated with me most was when he said “I wish I had started sooner”. That’s often what I think when I look back on my public speaking journey – I wonder how things might have been if I’d done this at school or in my earlier career.

BUT! Let’s not look back, let’s look forward right? The past is just a story, it’s what lies ahead that’s important, especially when it comes to public speaking. Public speaking might sometimes feel like an event, something that’s coming up on the horizon but actually, for me, it’s a state of being. It’s learning to try to be yourself whilst ‘on show’ … it’s a journey to leave your baggage on your chair and to take to the stage. For me, learning to allow the ‘me’ to leak through into my speaking has been the important part of Toastmasters. Sure, it can take time, but with practice, you can get there! I wish I had started sooner – if you’re thinking about coming to the club, just do it. You just cannot buy the kind of experience and exposure to public speaking that you’ll get here.

Some comments on the last meeting. We have some superb speakers here. Carol gave us the Hot Tip, short, succinct and topical given that the meeting was during the 2024 Olympics: don’t leave anything on the track (or here, on the Toastmaster stage!). Quite simply, give it your all – go for it, try something different, challenge yourself. Toastmasters is all about incremental development and instantaneous feedback.

Our former past president David was Toastmaster for the evening. One would think he’s done this before (!) the way he controls the meeting and brings unbounded energy to the role of managing the evening. We can all learn something from David and it’s great to see David still involved after a busy previous year’s leading the club. In the meeting prior to the last, David was awarded his Humorous Speech Pathway.

Now, onto two speakers I have seen join the club within the last year and whose growth is faster than my Wisteria. Experiencing rapid development is one of the reasons I keep coming back here: to see people get better, literally in front of my eyes (and ears). Ikuko and Viyom. What I am really enjoying is seeing their real selves emerging as they engage in their speeches and roles. It’s hard to explain in words – you have to experience it. Last week, Ikuko took on the Sergeant at Arms role for the first time – this is the first speaking role of the night, you have to get the audience seated and listening and ready. That’s quite a tough job and it takes courage to get everyone’s attention – well done.

Now Viyom – Viyom is one of those people with a understated but very certain confidence. Wow – if anyone is a role model for new joiners then it’s Viyom. She takes on roles, she listens to feedback, acts on it and it’s been great to see her sense of humour come through in her speaking. That’s why she was awarded the “Rob Parker” award for Bravery. It’s a well deserved award from the club.

I could go on, and often do, but I wanted to also flag a skill demonstrated by Neil, also one of our most experienced speakers in Table Topics evaluations. Table Topics evaluations is one of my favourite roles because you’re challenged to listen, take notes and deliver succinct and useful feedback to around 10 speakers. Blimey – then you have to deliver it in around 7 minutes, no pressure! Neil is knows what he’s doing and what I noticed in the last meeting was that he delivers measured feedback according to experience. What I mean by this is that for more recent joiners, he gives simple and relatable feedback that will help them on their next speech – nothing that’ll scare them off! But for the more experienced, he can give deeper more punchy comments. Love it.

Well, hopefully the above gives an idea of why you should really take the step to join us for a meeting.

This stuff should be taught in schools – but you can get it here at Bromley Speakers!