A new term

written by aseem kapoor

Club President Croydon Communicators

Our first meeting of the new Toastmasters year was kicked off by an assured Aminat in the role of Sergeant at Arms.

I decided the President's address could be spiced up with a spot quiz, a sneaky way to test our members' knowledge of Toastmasters history (to see if they had been paying attention to Dan last year!) while educating any first time guests.
The questions of course proved a little too easy for Past Presidents Gina and Paul who were quick to offer answers about the founding of our organisation!

Our Toastmaster for the meeting was the Club's Toastmaster of the Year and VPPR Florence who had set a theme of Victory, and proceeded to introduce Timekeeper Kevin and Grammarian Susan.

Gina warmed us up by telling us her favourite dessert was Cheesecake, and then asked us all to reveal ours.

​On to our prepared speeches, first up was Matt with "The Paradox of Success".

Check it out here or find it on our club's YouTube channel.

www.youtube.com/croydoncommunicators

​Luqman on the Dynamic Leadership pathway was up next with his second speech at the club "The Long Road To Victory".

Sandra was delivering her final speech of Level 1 (researching and presenting project) on the Innovative Planning pathway "Sort to Substain".

​Some insightful feedback for the speakers was provided by their evaluators Loreen, Marcia and Vivian.

In the second half of the meeting, the impromptu speaking session was run by Table Topic Master Paul, who explained the purpose of the exercise, and how to structure responses, very useful for first timers in the audience.
We had time for seven topic speeches and seven immediate evaluations, giving plenty of opportunity for stage time.

Following reports from Kevin and Susan it was time for our General Evaluator (GE) to take the stage ... none other than Immediate Past President Dan!

Of course what followed was a remarkably engaging, entertaining and innovative way of delivering feedback, 'wizardry' was the word I used (just look at his first slide below!), with Dan providing plenty of commendations and recommendations for everyone.

​To wrap up the meeting it was fantastic to announce the club having achieved 10 DCP points for 2019/20 under Dan's Presidency!

​Gina was also recognised for achieving Level 4 of the Persuasive Influence pathway.

Congratulations to our meeting awards winners:

Best Speaker: Luqman Dawud
Best Evaluator: Loreen McIntosh
Best Table Topics: Nicole 
President's Award: Aminat Omotosho

A recording of the full meeting is archived on YouTube - a link is available for any members that want to review it.

See you at our next meeting!