Youth Leadership Harrow

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From Andrew P Bennett DTM District 91 Youth Leadership Adviser

Yet more exciting news from Toastmasters Youth Leadership comes in the form of a new program at Stanmore High School.

Stanmore school teacher Richard Fowler attended a Youth Leadership briefing event I ran in October and was very keen to see the program launched at his school.

The next step was to find a sponsoring club and this came in the form of the ever effervescent HOD Speakers with President Tony Winyard and Toastmaster Gill Ornstein becoming program co-ordinators.

Stanmore Toastmasters Youth Leadership meets fortnightly on a Monday afternoon and accompanying teacher Richard runs an extra speaking session himself on the alternate weeks to consolidate the learning.

I was able to attend the very first session which began with our customary getting to know you exercise. The young people interview each other for a minute and then present their Interviewee to the group – a useful Ice Breaker which sees to it that every participant says at least a few words from the outset.

Tony and Gill decided to present the discussion on what makes a good speech in the form of good cop / bad cop.

Tony did a big introduction for Gill ‘ the great speaker.’ Gill then took to the stage and displayed every speaking fault you could think of – no eye contact, wandering around , mumbling voice , looking at the floor , waving arms – all of which greatly amused the young people as it was intended to. All credit to Gill who is really such an accomplished speaker – not easy to do it all wrong!

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Stratford Personal Storytelling

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From Chris Sarfo President Stratford London Toastmasters

We are pleased to invite you to join us Stratford Speakers for our personal storytelling workshop on Monday 15 December 2014. Storytelling is an art that all public speakers need! Personal stories have the great advantage of being authentic, engaging and unique. Our workshop led by experienced Toastmaster and Storytelling Julie Kertesz DTM who will help us explore a variety of storytelling tips.

We look forward to having you with us.

Time: 6pm-8pm Venue: The Hopkins Room, Stratford Library, 3 The Grove, London E15 1EL

Please tell your friends about the club. We’re the only one in the area and welcome guests and potential new members.

Best speeches 2014. Announced by Toastmasters International

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best speeches 2014Toastmasters International Lists 7 Most Buzzworthy Speeches 2014
Presentations that captured the attention of audiences around the world

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA, Calif., Dec. 10, 2014 What is the secret to giving a speech that is viewed and shared by millions of people? A successful speech resonates with interesting content and a heartfelt delivery. After viewing the most discussed and shared presentations of the year, Toastmasters International considers the following seven speeches most buzzworthy in 2014…

You can see the list of best speeches 2014 here:

Read the full list here: http://www.toastmasters.org/About/Media-center

How can you learn from these speeches? What might you do differently when you are writing your next speech or giving your next speech!?

Youth Leadership Westminster Academy

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From Andrew P Bennett District 91 Youth Leadership Adviser

How good to be able to share with you news from Toastmasters Julia Kettlewell and Mark Mortimer who are coordinating a Toastmasters Youth Leadership program at Westminster Academy.

We are particularly excited as this is our very first collaboration with Rotary Interact – a youth work which the Rotarians have established splendidly at the school. Indeed the program participants are already looking towards participating in the Rotary Youth Speaks Contest in 2015.

Westminster YLP Nov 2014

Ten 6th formers have attended 3 sessions so far. They have been making good use of storytelling techniques to bring their Ice Breaker Speeches to life and express their points of view with clarity. A panel discussion proved a great success as did their first venture into the wonderful world of Table Topics!

Session 4 looks in more depth at organizing your speech, learning to speak from the audience’s perspective and having, already discussed what makes a good opening, we move on to what makes a fine conclusion to a speech.

It is wonderful to have Toastmaster Mark (from sponsoring club Excalibur Advanced Speakers) Toastmaster Julia (the very able President of Grosvenor Square Speakers), Rotary Interact and accompanying teacher from the Academy Ashraf Shah Noor working together alongside the young people as they discover their Speaking and Leadership Skills.

Westminster Academy YLP takes place once a month on a Tuesday morning. Feel free to contact Julia or Mark if you would like to attend as a guest. We always let our schools know in advance if there is to be a visitor at the session and respect the signing in/security badge protocols.

If you do attend it is highly likely that you will find yourself participating in the speaking. There is nothing better than witnessing first hand how the Toastmasters Youth Leadership Program enhances and extends the participants skills. These are skills that they will take with them throughout their lives.