District Leadership 2021-22

Meet A Toastmaster: Stephen Boakye

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Meet A Toastmaster: Stephen Boakye Triple Crown Award Winner Stephen is a member of Mole Valley Speakers, Letherhead. He achieved his Triple Crown in the Presentation Mastery path.

Meet A Toastmaster: Patrick Gannon

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Meet A Toastmaster: Patrick Gannon Triple Crown Award Winner Patrick is a member of Manor House Speakers. He achieved his Triple Crown in the Presentation Mastery path.

Renewals are here again!

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Renewals are here again! Yes, it’s that time of year again! Congratulations to the 24 clubs who won the February Early Payment incentive. By now all the successful clubs will have received formal email notification and information on how to claim their reward. So far 87 clubs have renewed one or more members, and 66 … Read more

Division H March Update

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What is happening in Division H?

As the third trimester of the Toastmaster year comes to a close, Division H is celebrating another busy, successful year.

A big thank you to the Division H Leadership Team and all members within Division H for working hard to have successful clubs and areas within the Division so far. We are a close-knit team, we keep the communication flowing, and the results are visible.

On 8th January, we held an interactive training session as part of our Winter TLI (Toastmasters Leadership Institute). We included a panel discussion from clubs in the Division sharing their best practices.

 We achieved another record attendance and received raving reviews throughout, with an average participants’ feedback of 4.5/5. All those that attended found great value in the training provided. A heartfelt thank you to those who attended and provided feedback.

 Many of our clubs are very active.

Congratulations to Brighton and Hove Speakers for having the highest number of new members within the Division to date; and winning the Talk up Toastmasters Award by adding five more new members since February.

Congratulations to Beckenham Communicators and Speakers of Croydon, too. They won the Early Bird Renewal Incentive with more than 12 members renewing in February.

Division News – Club Highlights

We are inspired and celebrate our clubs’ achievements! These are just some of them!

New Charter: Sussex Online Speakers chartered on the 1st of October 2021, now they have an upcoming Speechcraft starting in March!

Gatwick Communicators held an Open House on the 21st of February and created a compelling series of marketing videos you can view here.

Arun Speakers are now running hybrid meetings, along with Kent Speakers and Battle Speakers.

Worthing Speakers Club has achieved 10/10 DCP points in February and is on track to become President’s Distinguished for three consecutive years

Speakers of Croydon recently concluded its annual Speechcraft resulting in every participant joining the club. Presently on course to being President’s Distinguished.

Speakers of Croydon also hosted an Evaluation workshop in February led by Chris Murphy from Tunbridge Wells Speakers and winner of the 2020 UK national Evaluation Contest and runner-up in 2021. The club is moving to a better and more well-presented venue for in-person meetings. Make sure you visit them!

Croydon Communicators and Liberty Speakers are planning a joint Speechcraft. Both clubs are on course to achieve Distinguished status.

  • Liberty Speakers held an Open House event in January with excellent reviews in the community, especially the business sector.
  • Croydon Communicators recently moved to a new home for its in-person meetings. Check them out.

Purley Speakers is on course to be President’s Distinguished! They received outstanding reviews from the community using Meetup to attract guests at its swanky new in-person meeting home. An Open House event is at the planning stage. 

Kent Speakers recently held a joint meeting with their local Rotary Club, and great fun was had by all!

Overall, there are many exciting changes in the Division, so watch this space and keep in touch!

Are you looking for more practice?

Battle Speakers is looking for new members and will focus on hybrid meetings, join them; it’s a great way to get a second club and more practice. Check their website

Did you know?

Division H has had three Area Directors win “Area Director of the Year” since the District was founded! See yourself! 

Division H has consistently had its members serving on the District Leadership Team.

Last year (Guler) and this year Debbie, both from Division H stepped up to take the demanding role of District Conference Director.

Dates for your diary

On 26th March is the Division H International Speech and Evaluation Contest – please register here to attend: REGISTER

The winners will then represent Division H at the District Contest during the D91 Conference 6-8 May, 2022. They will join Dan Magill, Humorous Speech contest winner and Marcus Tomlinson; Table Topics contest winner.

So come and cheer these champions at the District Conference.

Check out the link to the District Conference, get your tickets now and discover how you can help make this another engaging event. D91 Conference

Division H Members Wall of Fame

We love to celebrate our members who have so far completed a Level 5 Pathway awards this toastmasters year:

  • Guler Cortis, Speakers of Croydon / Purley Speakers
  • Emmanual Karamagi, Speakers of Croydon
  • Matt Clark, Croydon Communicators
  • Islay O’Hara, Tunbridge Wells Speakers
  • Catherine Cannon, County Communicators
  • Dave Simpson, Worthing Speakers
  • Phoebe Weston, Arun Speakers

Triple crown awards so far include

  • Alan Chapman, Beckenham Communicators
  • Juli Chapman, Beckenham Communicators
  • Robin Lulham, Eastbourne Speakers
  • Adrian Moore, Speakers of Croydon
  • Debbie Williams, Speakers of Croydon

We look forward to adding more names to the list as members achieve their educational goals.

 

—Debbie Williams, Division H Director 2021/2022

To Become a Leader of Tomorrow

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By Andrew P. Bennett DTM, Youth Leadership Encourager

The first Youth Leadership session is an exciting moment for our Toastmaster Coordinators and Young People. It was with pleasure that I joined Toastmasters Joanne Roxburgh and Julie Parker on Zoom as coordinators of our newest program with King’s College Aspire. The young people in this group are 16-17 years old. The program is being sponsored by City Limits Toastmasters.

We broke the ice with a getting to know you exercise during which all the young people spoke. Joanne gave an engaging presentation on how to find a topic and create a speech for the next meeting. Julie shared her skydiving speech complete with a video clip. I explained the skill of evaluation and led our very first attempts at a round-robin evaluation of the speech with the young people contributing their commendations and recommendations. The session ended with Table Topics in which every young person took part.

We are delighted to be working alongside Olivia Hylton – Pennant, Widening Participation Officer at King’s College and look forward to watching our group exploring their speaking skills over the coming weeks.

As one program begins another reaches its conclusion. We were very pleased to renew our contact with George Green’s School, E14 where the students, led by Paul and Sarah Andreas (Beckenham Communicators) as Toastmasters coordinators, accompanied by their teacher Diamond, enjoyed their program. I visited twice the group on zoom to contribute to the sessions and was able to see first-hand the progress made by the young people both in confidence and skills.

Here is some feedback from Hilde Lewis, Year 12 and 13 Leader at the school which I share with you all.

Toastmasters Youth Leadership transformed our young people into effective speechwriters and impromptu speakers. It provided a safe space and support network to feel comfortable making mistakes. All in all, it is a fantastic program that helps generate the attributes to become a leader of tomorrow.

Learn more about The Youth Leadership Program here.