Updates & Posts Archives - Page 61 of 62 - Toastmasters UK South

Laughing, Learning and Inspiring: All in a Toastmasters day in Winchester

7 October 202014 April 2015 by Susan Rayner

From Richard Blackman Area 46 Governor

Toastmasters from Reading, Basingstoke, Winchester and Southampton gathered for the Area 46 spring conference and international speech and evaluation contests on Saturday 11 April 2015. Location was the Badger Farm Community Centre to the south of Winchester. It was the perfect sett(ing) for an energising and entertaining toastmaster day.

During the first half of the day participants were treated to an interactive workshop on humorous speaking led by toastmaster and award winning presenter and humorist, Alan Donegan. Entitled “Have the Audience Rolling in the Aisles: How to Add Humour to Your Speech”, the workshop itself generated much laughter. We went home inspired and more knowledgeable in the construction of jokes, and with many images etched in our minds. Elephants on the UK’s road network, backside slapping at supermarkets, business uses of roadkill, and the pleasures of gardening all resulted in laughter!

Then the contests…

The speech contests, the more serious business of the day, took place after a convivial lunch of eating and networking. Both contests were smoothly and professionally chaired by Steve Vear, with Dorothea Stuart as Chief Judge

Pictured at the top of post: All eight contestants with Contest Chair and Area Governor (Back row left to right: Debs Wallace, Andrew Keevil, Alex Reid, Steve Vear, Ken Amy, Eric Skates; Front row left to right: Gerard de Jong, Saday Appan, Richard Blackman, John Spry)

The Area J46 International Speech Contest

First up in the International Speech Contest was Debs Wallace (Basingstoke Speakers) with a personal story of how toastmasters had helped her overcome enormous disbelief. She was followed by Eric Skates (Wessex Speakers) on taking a step of faith based on his experiences over the past decade in Uganda. Third in the sequence was Gerard de Jong (Reading Speakers) with an entertaining personal story. Ken Amy (Hamwic Speakers) completed the quartet of area finalists with his speech in praise of toastmasters, given dressed in a luminous “counter-cultural tutu”.

The Area J46 Evaluation Contest

Testing the speakers in the Evaluation Contest was a target speech given by Russell Streeter, President of Solent Speakers in Fareham. Based around sailing and containing a message for his son, Russell’s great speech challenged the contestants to develop their analytical skills, but also more importantly to give the speaker some recommendations on how to improve an already great speech. Our four contestants, Andrew Keevil (Wessex Speakers), Saday Appan (Basingstoke Speakers), Alex Reid (Reading Speakers) and John Spry (Hamwic Speakers) all lived up to the task giving some excellent evaluations.

And the winners were…

First place in the Evaluation Contest went to Hamwic Speakers’ John Spry, with Saday Appan as runner up. (John pictured left with Richard)

First place in the International Speech Contest went to Reading Speakers’ Gerard de Jong, with Eric Skates as runner up.

As ever at a toastmaster event all the participants went away as winners, having achieved so much. That said only those judged to be in first place qualified for the Division J finals in Swindon on 19 April. Book your place via https://www.facebook.com/events/1610758622469993/

Good luck to John and Gerard in Swindon!

(Gerard pictured left with Richard and Steve)

A big thank you goes to Wessex Speakers for their organisation and hosting of a great day.

Thank you to our photographers Diane Chamberlain, Margaret Amy and Peter Jagger.

Champion tips for winning a speech contest

19 August 20152 March 2015 by Susan Rayner

Have you ever imagined that you could the person winning a speech contest?

Bob Ferguson has won the district Evaluation Contest, the Humorous Speech Contest and the International Speech Contest. He is well qualified to give us some top tips!

He has said on many occasions that entering contests is one of the best ways to help you improve your public speaking skills. The added focus means that you learn an improve quickly. To put it another way winning a speech contest is a great learning experience.

1. Record your speech ideas in a book as they come along. This way you’ll have plenty of good ideas when it comes to writing a speech.
2. Use a personal story in your speech to hook the audience in emotional. You want them to feel involved in what they’re hearing.
3. Remember to think about “What’s in it for me” (WIIFM) from the audience’s viewpoint. Speeches are always more compelling when they address our needs.
4. Listen to other speakers. See what they do that builds rapport with the audience. Can you customise that technique to your style?
5. The key to a good humorous speech is to think how many people will recognise the humorous situations you describe. Good observational humour, where everyone recognises the humour, will make it easy for them to laugh. Personal jokes that only you appreciate can be hard to deliver. They can also get a blank response! This is true for the humorous speech contest. It also applies if you are bringing humour into your speech for the International contest.
6. Practice doing your manual speeches outside your club to build your confidence in front of different audiences.
7. Prepare for your club speech like it’s the District final. Every District champion starts by winning a club contest and it could be your club – imagine if you beat them!
8. Record yourself practicing and put it on a CD or MP3. Play it in your car while you drive around. That way you learn the speech by a natural learning method and you can think while you learn.
9. Don’t rehearse in front of a mirror it can be distracting. Instead, video yourself and watch it back. This may take a little getting used to but it will be very worthwhile.
10. Get as much stage time as possible. Look for every opportunity – family groups, business meetings. Grab the opportunity to practice your competition speech in front of anyone you can.

Bob’s top tip for the International Speech Contest

Look ahead to the finals of the World Championship of Public Speaking

**For International Speech competitors start writing three speeches as soon as possible. Most winners of the International speech are not focussed on competing in the World Semi-Finals held at the International Convention. They forget their winning District speech took a lot of effort to polish. Enter the contest with three speeches so that you’re ready if you win.**

Churchill: great rhetorical devices

7 September 202031 January 2015 by Susan Rayner

From Paul Carroll, President 104 London Debaters

Rhetorical devices: the master Churchill — Winston Churchill: Master of rhetorical devices

This week marked the 50th anniversary of the death of Sir Winston Churchill and many commemorations have been published.

As a public speaking club, we specially remember the power of his leadership through communication. Indeed, when Churchill was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature the citation read: For his mastery of historical and biographical description, as well as for brilliant oratory in defending exalted human values. [Click here to see the citation]

In his biography of Churchill Roy Jenkins explained that on a visit to New York in his early days in politics he met a Tammany Hall politician whose oratory had a great effect on him. “I must record the strong impression this remarkable man made upon my untutored mind. I have never seen his like, or in some respects, his equal.” This was an Irish immigrant named Bourke Cockran, who became a US Congressman. “He was my model, “Churchill said, “I learned from him how to hold thousands in thrall”. [Read article here]

In his school days at Harrow, young Winston, being poor at Latin, did treble English and clearly put his heart into it. He has left us with many examples of skillful use of language and rhetorical devices.

Here is a small sampling of some of those rhetorical devices:

Spring 2015 Tower Conference

7 October 202020 January 2015 by Susan Rayner

Spring is in air! Well, not quite – but it is here at Toastmasters UK South District 91!

The conference team are excited to announce the launch of District 91’s very first Spring Conference – Spring 2015 Tower Conference – with its own dedicated website! The conference will be held over Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 May 2015 at the Grange City Hotel in the heart of London and the team are busy putting together a jam packed programme that will whet any Toastmaster’s appetite.

One meeting: two continents

7 September 20207 November 2014 by Susan Rayner

From Daniel Broadhead, President Berkeley Square Speakers

Why not have public speaking in two continents at once? Creating video-linked Toastmasters’ meetings with other clubs in other countries and even on different continents to your own is a stunning experience and eminently possible for you to achieve. We invite you to be inspired to make such a meeting and, in the words below, be enabled to make it happen!

Our vision for this year at Berkeley Square Speakers is to create breakthroughs for our members in our personal and professional lives. A key way we inspire these personal breakthroughs is by achieving breakthroughs as a club. To this objective, and inspired by a letter in May 2014 Toastmasters Magazine by Bruce Yang DTM, Bruce talks of a more connected global toastmasters community, and using teleconferencing to achieve this. On 3 November 2014 in the spirit of “Nation shall speak peace unto Nation” Berkeley Square Speakers, in Mayfair, London, held our inaugural intercontinental toastmasters meeting with Swakupmund Toastmasters in Namibia, by live video link.

2014 11 03 BSS and Swakupmund Toastmaste

At the meeting we enjoyed a powerful icebreaker from from Mari-Claire Rencs from Swakupmund Toastmasters on the obstacles she has overcome to become a chartered accountant and we received an eye opening CC9 speech of discovery from Saskia Kort of Berkeley Square Speakers on the Gorilla that exist across Africa that Saskia is going to visit on a forthcoming trip to the continent. Our Table Topics Master Kate Rowland, in London, ran an inspired topics session across the two clubs, picking out toastmasters in London and via the screen in Swakumpmund.