Updates & Posts

We will be adding more articles to this page. To start: here are articles on speaking and articles giving personal views on the on the power of Toastmasters and an exciting joint meeting between London and Namibia.

Idea for a New Club?

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The past period has been exceptional! 

We have seen 18 Clubs meet the criteria to win the 2018 Smedley Award with 7 Clubs gaining no less than 10+ members, thank you for such diligence in recruiting members. District rewards will be shipped to the winning Clubs in the coming week.

By the end of November, we will have completed 12 demonstrations meetings since the start of the Toastmasters year. To put it in perspective, this means we have a tremendous potential for new Clubs. Demonstration meetings can only happen with the support of our Clubs and members, and it has been a pleasure to work with you to bring the Toastmasters experience to so many communities and companies.

November alone saw 5 excellent demonstration meetings and a bumper crop for Division H with no less than 3 demonstration meeting the space of a week (Spirited Speakers, The Reigate Rhetoric and Liberty Speakers) – special mention to Spirited Speakers managing to go from idea to demonstration with 40+ in attendance in less than 2 weeks! Two corporate Clubs (HCL and Microsoft) close the list of demonstration meetings for this month.

On 1st November, I had the pleasure to visit Surbiton Speakers for their 100th meeting which saw speeches from members sharing their journey – a truly inspirational event. Thanks, Eddy Quah and the Surbiton Speakers Team for the invitation.

Got an idea for a new Club? Organising an event to grow your Club membership? Let me know and I will be delighted to see how the District can help.

Pathways to Excellence

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My fellow PQD from Eastern Europe, Lukas Liebich, made a very interesting point in a call a few days ago. He pointed out that Pathways project can be used by members to directly benefit their home clubs while learning new skills at the same time. It was not until I looked at what exactly Pathways can offer from Level 3 onwards that the penny dropped for me.

‘Develop a Communication Plan’ – ‘Planning and Implementing’ – ‘Public Relation Strategies’ – ‘Building a Social Media Presence’ – ‘Writing a Compelling Blog’

These are some of the many elective projects available from Level 3 onwards and that any member can choose to do to progress on the next step on their chosen learning path. Just think about what your club and members could do with these projects.

Is your club looking for help with PR? Then delegate to a member to work on as part of their ‘Public Relation Strategies’ Pathways.

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Action galore at D91

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Another busy and inspiring month, including club visits, our first virtual District Executive Committee (DEC) meeting and an opportunity to meet up with the Chief Executive of Toastmasters International, Dan Rex.

I was honoured to be invited to a very special evening at Woking Speakers, celebrating twelve and a half years since they first chartered. (Yes, I know it is an odd anniversary, but that’s Woking Speakers!). I was also at their charter dinner in 2006 when I was Division Governor, so it was especially pleasing to see them thriving, and to catch up with some dear friends.

I was also invited to attend PMI UK Toastmasters Club in the splendour of St Botoph without-Aldgate and Holy Trinity Minories. A fascinating and challenging venue in which to deliver my talk on “Excellence” and to answer members’ questions. Thank you to Area K58 Director, Vijaya Avula for arranging that, together with meetings with Club Officers and members from Bloomberg London Toastmasters.

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3 Tips for New Toastmasters

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by Janet Alkema

Dr Norman Bird is the third longest serving Toastmaster in Division A having joined Hong Kong Achievers Toastmasters club in 1996 and Newbury Speakers in 2015. Norman has spent the last 70 years studying foreign languages and teaching English all over the world so, as a professional linguist, it was perhaps not surprising that Norman should seek a language and learning related occupation in his retirement. Norman was attracted to join Toastmasters because he was drawn to the companionship of like-minded people with a desire to learn and associate with everyone irrespective of sex, ethnic group or nationality. When Norman started at Hong Kong Achievers club it was his intention to experience the whole course from Icebreakers to DTM and, he claims, had he been younger, he would have continued beyond!  One of Norman’s special memories is of returning to visit his Hong Kong Club last year and of the special dinner they had organised to celebrate his return visit to the club.  Norman’s long and fulfilling Toastmasters journey just shows what a wonderful organisation it is, how much it has to offer those who commit to the programme and take full advantage of the opportunities.  Based on his experiences, Norman has these three tips to offer new Toastmaster members:

  1. As a professional linguist, I would emphasise one members the importance of “semiotics” (the scientific study of the “sign” in communication) and realise that only about 20% is linguistic and 10% is tone of voice; the rest is what is commonly known as body-language.
  2. The smile – hence empathy. Everyone is unique and that is what makes each one of us “special”; that could well be the basis of many of your TM speeches.
  3. Avoid the three things that I hate in life: arrogance, ignorance and indolence.

Beat the Stammer!

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by David Creek

My Toastmaster journey is not typical. From the age of seven I developed a severe stammer, or stutter. When middle-aged I attended a series of intensive speech therapy classes covering a wide range of treatments, which were interesting at the time but unfortunately have had no lasting benefit. Two of my teachers, both American, recommended Toastmasters as being helpful so I joined Newbury Speakers Club. We are all aware that public speaking can be very stressful for some, giving rise to considerable anxiety. I eventually worked out that this was my main problem except that I would express it in stronger language. My stammer, according to me, is caused by the fear of saying certain words in certain situations. Having worked out the theory of what to do quite quickly, it has taken me a considerable time to put it into practice. Three years ago, I stopped attending Toastmasters thinking that now, being classed as elderly, I had probably reached my peak of fluency. No so, my speech continued to improve. In most everyday situations I now consider myself to be fluent, without stammering, if I take sufficient care. It is only public speaking that still causes me problems. I re-joined Newbury Speakers and have now given my third Icebreaker, this time on the Pathways track.

It is interesting to reflect on the changing composition of Newbury Speakers. When I first joined, the club was small in number and mainly made up of older members who enjoyed speaking as a hobby. Now the age span is younger and more career-oriented.

Yes, I’ve done it all, been on the committee, been President, spoken at contests, but now I favour the quiet life with just a bit more fluency and ease when speaking in front of people.

David is the longest serving member of Division A, having been a member of Newbury Speakers for 24 years