News Round Up from Division B

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Division B – The Brilliant Division

What a couple of months here in Division B, or Division Brilliant Bounceback as I think we should call it!
 
Andy Hessey
Andy Hessey

For those whom I haven’t met; I’m Andy Hessey and I’m the Division Director of Division B which covers Central South West London from Kensington and Hammersmith, to Southwark and down to Clapham and Brixton.  I’ve been in Toastmasters over six years and maybe more familiar to people in D91 as #Zoomtroll at contests and conferences.  Yes .. I am THAT troll!

So why on earth is Division B called Division Brilliant Bounceback?  Well, to put it bluntly… Division B is back, baby! I was appointed in mid-October.  On my first day, I had just two out of my five Area Directors but wow, have we turned things around in the last few weeks!

Areas and Directors

Let’s start our whistlestop tour of the Division by paying tribute to my Area Director team.  The two old hands are Chris Jolly and Flora Ruffin.  Let me tell you, as a DTM this isn’t Chris’ first rodeo and his experience across West London’s Area B6 is vital and Flora is the steady hand across Area B9.  These two areas have some really strong established clubs such as London Athenians, London Corinthians and London Business School as well as one the District’s newest clubs FTI Consulting

Area B8 will be ruled by Aneeta Phillip who is also the VPE at London Victorians.  You’ll recognise Aneeta as she’s always got a smile on her face and is going to be a wonderful addition to the team.  As well as those Victorians, Aneeta’s patch takes her South of the river to Brixton and Clapham.  Area B52’s new Area Director is Luca Marengo and he will be bringing his enthusiasm and his Italian charm to his clubs including Polish Your Polish and Kings Speakers.

While my team are awesome we are still missing one arm – we are searching for someone to work with Area B18 in the heart of Victoria and Holborn.  I always say that my year as Area Director was so much fun, you get to really stretch your leadership skills.  If that sounds like something that would appeal to you, get in touch.  You don’t have to be based in that area to become their Area Director, so what’s holding back?

I cannot wait to see what happens in the International Speech Contest in the Spring.  We have a huge pool of talent in the Division and a great history of success… and for other Divisions; don’t be too upset when we sweep the board at the District contest in May!

Division B Contests

We now enter December having crowned two excellent Division speech champions with London Business School’s Aruna Shanmugarajha strictly Samba dancing his way in the Humorous Speech Contest.  In a really tight and genuinely funny contest, Aruna was joined by London Victorian’s Adam Paldyna who was laughing his way through heartbreak and Joel Morales bringing home the bronze medal for London Cardinals by making lemonade!

In the topics contest, all I can say is that the four bravest people in London were the ones on the topics stage.  Did we softball them with an airy-fairy question?  Did we give them something full of gravitas asking them how they would solve world peace?  Did we buffalo!

What we asked them was simple – “Please explain why you decided to run naked through the bear enclosure at London Zoo covered in honey” … Now, I don’t know about you, but I think this is a fundamental question that needs answers!

Former District Director, Florian Bay from London Victorians set the tone by stepping onto the stage and whipping off his belt like a Chippendale and gave us a full-blown defence of his actions and ended up taking the title.  Jakub Sokolowski from Polish Your Polish who has only been a Toastmaster for a couple of months put up a brave battle against the bears and escaped with 2nd place while Harvey Domingos came an impressive third.

I cannot wait to see what happens in the International Speech Contest in the Spring.  We have a huge pool of talent in the Division and a great history of success… and for other Divisions; don’t be too upset when we sweep the board at the District contest in May!

Watch Out!

Division B may have been in a bit of a hiatus at the start of the Toastmaster year, but we are roaring (a bit like those bears at London Zoo!).  With just under 500 unique members – a fifth of whom have joined since July, we are a Division on the up.

Expect many many things from Division Brilliant Bounceback in the second half of the programme year and if the thought of being in the slow lane is not something that you want, come and join a Division B club.  Don’t forget you can be a dual member so you don’t have to leave your friends behind to come and ride on the B Train.

Andy Hessey,

Division Director, Division B, 2022-2023

Club Growth Newsletter November 2022

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As of the end of October 2022, District 91 had achieved a total of 628 new members.  A huge welcome to all new members and a big congratulations to all clubs.  As such I would like to remind everyone of the toastmasters’ promises:

The Toastmasters Promise

As a member of Toastmasters International and my club, I promise  

  • To attend club meetings regularly
  • To prepare all of my projects to the best of my ability, basing them on the Toastmasters education program
  • To prepare for and fulfil meeting assignments
  • To provide fellow members with helpful, constructive evaluations
  • To help the club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow
  • To serve my club as an officer when called upon to do so
  • To treat my fellow club members and our guests with respect and courtesy
  • To bring guests to club meetings so they can see the benefits Toastmasters membership offers
  • To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters education and recognition programs
  • To act within Toastmasters’ core values of integrity, respect, service and excellence during the conduct of all Toastmasters’ activities

New Clubs

On behalf of District 91, I would like to give a warm welcome to the return of

KPMG Kommunicators.  Congratulations on the charter of your club, and a big welcome to all members.

“Really delighted in KPMG’s club chartering again, supporting the learning and development of our teams. The club will focus on two specific KPMG values which are (1) Excellence: Never stop learning and improving and (2) Togetherness: Respecting each other and draw strength from each other’s differences.  It’s an exciting time for our members to connect, grow and be part of the Toastmasters community”.
Ga Lok Chung, KPMG Kommunicators

Incentives

District 91 offers incentives for clubs to grow their memberships.  The first was The Smedley Award awarded to any club that added five new, dual, or reinstated members from August 1 to September 30.  Winners of the Smedley Award will receive a ribbon to be displayed on your club banner as a reward for your achievement.  Congratulations to the following clubs:

  • Bristol Central Speakers
  • Connected Speakers London
  • Bloomberg London Toastmasters
  • City of London Toastmasters Club
  • Central London Toastmasters
  • London Public Speakers

Check out the incentives page here: https://d91toastmasters.org.uk/members/resources/incentives/

Debbie’s Top Tips

  • Consider themed meetings, or do you have a club anniversary to celebrate? This is an opportunity to make your club meetings memorable.
  • Consider hosting an Open House to promote your club.
  • Host a club membership-building competition to see which members can bring the most guests. The prize could be a box of chocolates, for example

Special Feature: Club Growth Webinar – New Member Orientation

What does a new club member’s journey look like and how can we help to orientate them?  Please attend the above webinar for some useful insights.  This hour-long webinar will be hosted by Juli Chapman from Beckenham Communicators.  This is suitable for all club officers and all new members.  Please register here to attend: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81608535946

In the meantime, two brave members from The Speakers of Croydon have shared their journey from guest to member.  The first is Oyinlola Idris:

  1. Why did you want to join / how did you find the club
  • I joined Toastmasters as a member at the Speakers of Croydon in June 2022 after initially attending as a guest at different clubs in 2017 and 2019. At both of the clubs I attended in 2017 and 2019 I considered joining as a member but was too afraid to take the definitive step!
  • I wanted to join to tackle the fear and anxiety I had whenever I needed to present a speech and speak publicly, whether that was at work, at a party, at a wedding etc and after having to deliver a presentation at work in May 2022 which bought all my fears back to the surface, I finally decided to join Toastmasters as a member once and for all in June 2022 to overcome my fear.
  • From my first meeting, I found the Speakers of Croydon club to be incredibly organised, warm and friendly. I received a guest pack with plenty of information, observed some excellent speeches by very competent speakers and received follow up communication the next day after the meeting
  1. What was your experience as a first time guest
  • My experience as a first time guest was very positive, during the networking break I was approached by various members who were very friendly, I was also given an opportunity to participate in my very first meeting during the table topics segment
  1. What was your inspiration to move from guest to member?
  • Seeing how confident and competent the speech members was very inspiring, I knew if I was a member of this club that I could learn from the other members and go from strength to strength
  1. How easy was it to become a member?
  • It was extremely straightforward, I completed the new member form and made payment all on the same day, soon after I was accepted as a member and joined the WhatsApp group and was assigned a mentor (this was all done in less than a week of me attending my first meeting) – the rest is history as they say!
  1. Were you assigned a mentor, what was that process like, how did it make you feel?
  • The mentoring process was very smooth, my assigned mentor contacted me pretty much immediately and was proactive, helpful and friendly. I felt comfortable approaching my mentor with any queries I had as a new member and we had many rehearsals of my speeches together!
  1. What roles you have done?
  • Nearly all the roles (evaluator, grammarian, timekeeper, table topics master). I have been assigned the Toastmaster role for a meeting in the next month and that leaves just the General Evaluator and Sergeant in Arms roles left to try!
  1. Have you done your ice-breaker or other speeches?
  • Yes, I delivered my icebreaker speech in August and have gone on to complete two other speeches since, with one of these being a speech delivered in the humorous contest speech (I was asked to participate in the contest which I was surprised about as I was a relatively new member, however, Speakers of Croydon pushes all members to challenge themselves). Of the three speeches I’ve delivered, I’ve won the best speaker award twice and really have the momentum to keep going in order to complete my presentation mastery pathway.

And here is another Member Andre Thomas sharing on his experience at Croydon Speakers:

Debbie Williams
Club Growth Director

News Round Up from Division C

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Division C, the Creative Division

This year, Division C is feeling creative. We want to create a super community with our corporate and community clubs in Central London. Let me introduce you to a few of our clubs here:

Bayes Toastmasters hosted an Open House on Monday 24th October. I had the honour of being the Toastmaster of the evening and got to wear my witches cape for the Halloween inspired theme! Well done to Vanessa Pochette (President) and Craig Moss (VP Education) for planning this event.

Early Bird Speakers boasts one of the highest members in the Division and has been busy submitting education awards across all levels. As the name suggests it meets in the early morning – the morning people are getting stuff done! Members leave the meeting energised for the day and feeling creative.
 
City of London Toastmasters raced ahead with new members at the beginning of this year, winning the Smedley Award in August and has signed up the most new members. Well done all! VPPR Cristina (Tina) Plamadeala has been getting creative on social media showing off her marketing skills. Tina has also helped to make some creations for the Division – example shared below. Thank you so much Tina!
 
Division C is joining the race to hit 5000 unique members. Our goal is to gain a net 100 members and we are well on the way with our vibrant and creative clubs, plus new additions to the family.
 
Last month we welcomed back KPMG Kommunicators into Area C58. We are very excited to have this club and thank you to Ga Lok Chung for his work in putting this together. The club has already completed eight ice breaker speeches over 20 first-timers taking on meeting roles. Well done to all the new Kommunicators!
 
This month we will be joined by another exciting new corporate club PA Consulting London. I have had the pleasure of attending their demo and launch meeting recently and look forward to attending more meetings over the next few weeks.
 

Emily McQuillen,

Division Director, Division C, 2022-2023

The Laughing Toastmaster: Team Player? Depends on the Team

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The Laughing Toastmaster: Are You a Team Player? It Depends on the Team! A new illness is sweeping through the corporate world causing havoc and creating what experts call ‘angry job desertion’. ‘I quit! You know why they call it teamwork? Because it’s a lot of work!’ Known as TPSD (Team Player Stress Disorder), symptoms include shortness … Read more