Allen Paul

Renew, New Beginnings, and Celebrate! – A September Message from the Club Growth Director

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As we wrap up September, things are getting real! From membership renewals to launching new clubs, we’re in the final stretch of an exciting and crucial month for District 91.

1. Renewals – Let’s Cross the Finish Line Together!
The clock’s ticking, and renewals are front and center. This is the time to ensure every member of your club stays on board for the next Toastmasters journey. A quick message or personal call can make all the difference. Think of it as giving your fellow members a friendly tap on the shoulder to remind them of the amazing growth they’ve experienced—and what’s still to come! Let’s push for that 100% renewal mark and make sure no one misses out on another incredible year of learning and leading.

2. New Beginnings – Toastmasters @ Markel
Now, for some exciting news! We’ve officially launched Toastmasters @ Markel—our newest club in Div K3🎉 It’s a testament to how we continue growing and spreading the Toastmasters spirit. Let’s help this new club hit the ground running and show them what the Toastmasters family is all about.

So, here’s to a final push in September! Let’s renew, let’s grow, and let’s celebrate every win, big or small.

Warm regards

Seema Menon, DTM
Club Growth Director, District 91, 2024/25
07957549427

Debate Is Not Yet Futile – But Only Just

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It has been 10 years since Paul Carroll banged the gavel for the first time at 104 London Debaters in September 2014. At our 10th Anniversary Debate Meeting on Tuesday the 10th of September 2024, it was our 10th President, KB, who banged the gavel and called the 33 attendees to order amid streams of bunting and clinking glasses.

After welcoming the gathered flock, and tempting them to stay for cake after the meeting, our current President promptly handed over to our Immediate Past President, David Sexton, to Chair the Table Topic session.

David had a whole slew of Presidential and political topics, from election colleges in the US and age limits on Presidents via the relative merit of the Parliamentary system vs. the Presidential system, to funding for political parties and whether Larry The Cat should be made Prime Minister. Phil’s assertion that it would be rude to make the 1% unhappy had the crowd tickled pink, but it was William who gave the audience paws for thought with his advocacy for a purrfect feline prime minister, and so he won the Audience Prize for Best Table Topic speaker by a whisker.

All debate positions at 104 London Debaters are assigned, so debaters do not necessarily express their personal opinions. (And we are not biased in favour of cats).

During the break, the club served free drinks to all members and guests, and with glasses refilled, President KB handed over to one of our founding members and former Presidents, Joann Walsh, to chair the 10 year anniversary Presidential Debate.

For this special meeting, debate itself was under debate with the motion This House Believes That Social Media Renders Debate Futile, Online and Offline.

Before the debate 5 voted in favour, 18 against with 6 abstaining. After a debate with a plethora of claims, grounds for claims, warrants, claims of fallacies, logical deductions, anadiplosis, and a bravura summary from club founder Paul Carroll, the motion was defeated but with a substantial swing to the Proposition, with 14 in favour, 16 against and 2 abstaining.

Congratulations to the Opposition for defeating the motion – thank goodness, debating was not voted futile at a debating club – but also very well done to the Proposition for winning the swing.

Paul Carroll also won the Audience Prize for Best Debate Speech with his summary for the Proposition.

After President KB closed the formal proceedings, we then transferred our attention to the cake, and our founder Paul had the honour of cutting the club’s birthday cake.

We also had 15 vegan chocolate muffins baked especially for the club on the baker’s day off, by Norwegian Baker’s Jessika Hagerup (William’s ex-wife), and donated them to the club with best wishes for another 10 years of free speech and good quality debates.

Paul Carroll, co-founder of the club, cutting the birthday cake.

The 10 presidents are (in chronological order):
Paul Carroll
Dorothea Stuart (not present)
Joann Walsh
Lo Luong Lo
Christopher Walker
Oliver Kurer
Renata Bailey-Sokol
William Hagerup
David Sexton
Kristina Bhuller

Celebrating Gillian Myers: A Beacon of Youth Leadership in District 91

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Wow! I am extremely humbled by this award! As soon as I heard about the Youth Leadership Programme (YLP), I knew it was something I wanted to be involved in. With public speaking now on the national curriculum, and the TMI YLP workbooks outlining each lesson; I knew now was the moment! However I didn’t feel the most experienced or qualified Toastmaster, I was not even sure about standing in front of a class of students! Yet, what I lacked in confidence I made up for in determination, in the full belief this programme really can transform the lives of students at Richard Taunton Sixth Form College.

The YLP was certainly a team effort, I could never have run the programme without the support and expertise of everyone who contributed. 11 toastmasters from Hamwic Speakers and Alex from Solent Speakers all participated on the course. As coordinator I attended every week, and 2 toastmasters joined me each week.

I would like to thank Janet Alkema the District 91 Youth Leadership Programme Champion 2023-2024 for nominating me! Janet gave me a huge amount of encouragement, support, and invited me to her YLP in Farnham. This experience was invaluable, giving me the vision and self-belief to go for it!

It has been so rewarding to see the students build confidence and public speaking skills; they really came alive in front of a live audience at our final celebration meeting between the college and Hamwic Speakers. By stepping forward I have also grown, gaining confidence in leadership, workshop facilitation, and public speaking. This has been one of the most fulfilling projects, and I am already planning the next YLP!

Thank you so much to everyone who contributed, we did this as a team! And thank you so much to District 91 for even thinking of me!

I dedicate this award in loving memory of my brother William Myers, who we very sadly lost during this YLP, and who always supported me on my public speaking journey.

   

Article by:

Gillian Myers
Hamwic Speakers, Southampton
District 91 Youth Leadership Facilitator 2023-2024 Award
in recognition of exceptional leadership and devoted service

 

Pathways to Success: Updates, Contests, and Rewards in District 91

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Hello Fellow Toastmasters, 

It’s been a busy and productive month filled with club officer training, preparations for the contest season, and much more. As we look ahead, I’d like to focus on key updates to help you prepare for what’s coming next. 

Pathways Update 

The below message from Toastmasters International highlights an important transition ahead that I want to bring to your attention: 

Base Camp Outage (October 9th-25th, 2024):
To facilitate the transition to a new system, Base Camp will be inaccessible from October 9 until October 25, 2024, for critical platform testing. If you’re currently working on a project or plan to during this period, please download any necessary materials or wrap up outstanding tasks beforehand. Below are key items that will not transfer to the new system, so make sure to act if these apply to you: 

  • Feedback on Base Camp: If you have feedback you’d like to keep, whether it’s constructive criticism or words of encouragement, take a screenshot or save the text elsewhere. 
  • Documents in My Documents: Download any uploaded files you wish to retain. Once the new Base Camp is live, you can upload them again. 
  • Assess Your Skills Activity: This feature will be redesigned in the new system. If you’d like to retain your responses, take a screenshot or save them separately. 
  • Understanding Your Leadership/Communication Style Projects: The answers to these questionnaires won’t be transferred. Be sure to capture your results if you’d like to keep them. 
  • Story Collection Tool (Engaging Humour Path): Save any information recorded here by copying and pasting it to another document before the transition. 
  • Meeting Roles: Save a record of any meeting roles you’ve logged in Base Camp. 
  • Completion Certificates: Certificates won’t transfer, so download copies of any you’ve earned. 

Additionally, to ensure your educational progress is fully up to date, please ask your club officers to approve and submit any pending Level completions via Club Central before October 9. T 

The new system promises to be more user-friendly and will feature training videos to help you navigate the changes. 

 

 Contests 

For those of you who missed the recent webinar on contests with our District Chief Judge, Arnaud Sartre, you can catch up by watching the recording here:

In the meantime, here are some general FAQs that may help clarify any queries you may have: 

  • All contests at Area, Division and District Level will be held in person only. 
  • A Note on Eligibility: A contestant competing in, for example, the Table Topics contest is not eligible to hold a contest official role (e.g. judge) within the same contest type in which they will be competing. They would not be able to compete if they were a judge for the same contest type in a different area. It would be fine if they were competing in Table Topics and a judge for the International Contest. However, if a contestant were the judge for the same contest type that they would be competing in, they would be disqualified from competing as they no longer meet the eligibility requirements listed on page 7 of the Speech Contest rulebook. 
  • Remember, in Toastmasters, every contest is guided by our core values of integrity, respect, service, and excellence. 

 

Click here to see all the upcoming webinars we have for the year. Register for our webinars for October. They run weekly on Sundays at 5pm – 6pm. 

6th Oct: What is Speechcraft – https://tinyurl.com/D91-what-is-speech-craft 

13th October: How to use Concur – https://tinyurl.com/D91-HTUConcur 

20th October: Conflict resolution – https://tinyurl.com/D91-conflict-resolution 

27th October: Growing membership – https://tinyurl.com/D91-Growing-membership 

  

Incentives and Congratulations

Brighton & Hove Speakers Club 

Cardiff Toastmasters 

Excalibur Speakers 

Hallmark Speakers 

Harrovian Speakers Toastmasters 

Infineum Milton Hill Speakers 

Kent Speakers Club 

Legacy Speakers Brixton 

Lewisham Speakers Club 

London Cardinals 

London Olympians Speakers  

LSBU Public Speakers Club 

 

 PMI UK Toastmasters Club 

Polish Your Polish 

Riverside Communicators 

Salisbury Speakers 

Shilling Speakers 

Surbiton Speakers 

Sustainable Speakers Online 

The Speakers of Croydon Club 

Wembley Stadium Speakers 

Winchmore Hill Speakers 

Wye Knot Speakers 

 

For clubs who would like additional general training, please connect with your Area Director to arrange further sessions.  In the meantime, here is a link to Club Officer Tools—which has further information on roles, tutorials, resources, and more for club officers.  

Link: https://www.toastmasters.org/leadership-central/club-officer-tools  

 

Save the Date – District 91 Conference 2nd-4th  May 2025 

Mark your calendars! The winner of each Division contest will compete in the District Contest at the District 91 Conference in May 2025. This exciting event will take place in London, with the venue to be confirmed soon. If you’re interested in supporting the conference, perhaps as part of a High-Performance Leadership project, please get in touch. There will be plenty of roles available for those who want to get involved and make the event a success.  In the meantime, check out this video of me looking at venues – the fun has started! 

Thank you for your ongoing dedication and enthusiasm. Let’s continue working together to make this a remarkable year for District 91. 

 

Warm regards,
 

Debbie Williams 

Program Quality Director, 2024-2025 

District 91 

 

Spotlight on Innovation: Edeje Onwude’s Impactful Role in D91 Webinars

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Have you attended a D91 webinar lately?

If the answer is yes, then you have Edeje to thank for that. Edeje Onwude is a relatively new toastmaster, she joined Chiltern speakers in April 2024 and has quickly made a significant impact. She is currently the VPM for Chiltern speakers and oversees our weekly webinar sessions, ensuring they run smoothly, aligning with our goals to continuously improve our program and provide value to all participants. We’re excited to have her energy and dedication on board. Here she shares a little more about herself and highlights some of the upcoming webinars.

Edeje Onwude, D91 Webinar manager and VPM for Chiltern Speakers club, tells us a bit about herself and her experience setting up and running the D91 webinars.

Tell us a little bit about yourself.

I am a marketing & communications expert, with 14 years of brand, marketing and communications experience working with some iconic brands like Coca-Cola, Henkel and Reckitt, where I have managed everything from new product development to brand growth strategies and communications. I currently sit on the board of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC), responsible for running the mentoring programme and student partnerships. Giving back is very important to me, hence I volunteer with Cancer Research UK, UN Women UK and Diana Awards. It is also one of reasons I took up the webinar manager role. In my free time, you will find me reading a book, writing (including speeches), listening to podcasts or spending time with family and friends. I also raise two beautiful souls who teach me things about life and myself every day.

What have you been doing for D91?

I’ve been co-ordinating with the D91 leadership team, to build the weekly webinar schedule, based on member’s needs, the Toastmasters calendar and aligned to the district goal of continuous improvement of the program. I also ensure the smooth running of the webinars by setting up the zoom sessions, liaising with the PR team to promote the webinars and gain participation. Finally, I work very closely with the zoom master’s to collate feedback from each session – allowing us to get input from participants to continue to improve the experience.

What have you most enjoyed?

My favourite part has been the people (I know corny right?) and exposure. Being a relatively new Toastmaster, working with the district leadership team has exposed me to the opportunities both from a leadership and learning perspective. Something that is not always obvious looking from only a club Lense. On a lighter note, I have also decoded more Toastmasters acronyms e.g. DEC – That is not short for December as I thought; it is District Executive Committee meeting. You’re welcome 😊

What is the most challenging aspect of the role?

What I find challenging on some occasions is low participation on the webinars. Imagine spending weeks setting up a webinar, getting a host and zoom master. The host comes prepared with content and only 2 people show up for the webinar. I find that very demoralising. I am never one to give in to a challenge though so with the help of the collated feedback and webinar engagement analysis, I am working to pinpoint the most interesting topics for members and improve the experience.

How has your experience so far helped in your day job?

I am currently on the lookout for my next opportunity. Hence, supporting with the webinars has helped me make use of my time productively by utilising my existing skills of collaboration, content development/curation, stakeholder management and listening to enhance the learning experience for Toastmasters. It has also been great for expanding my network of Toastmasters beyond the club level. If you’ll like to connect, you can find me on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/edeje-onwude

Click here to see all the upcoming webinars we have for the year. You can also register for our upcoming webinars in October. They run weekly on Sundays at 5pm – 6pm.

6th Oct: What is Speech craft – https://tinyurl.com/D91-what-is-speech-craft

13th October: How to use Concur – https://tinyurl.com/D91-HTUConcur

20th October: Conflict resolution – https://tinyurl.com/D91-conflict-resolution

27th October: Growing membership – https://tinyurl.com/D91-Growing-membership