Croydon Communicators
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Gertrude's Hot Topic Evaluation Tips

26/10/2019

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written by Dan magill

Club President Croydon Communicators

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After our Sergeant-at-Arms, Gertrude Onichabor gave a stunning, note-free Table Topics Evaluation on Thursday October 24th, we caught up with her to get some quick tips on how it's done...

Do you enjoy evaluating Table Topics?
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Yes! Table Topics is a good place to work on your evaluation skills. When I evaluate prepared speeches I struggle a little. It can be overwhelming because you have to listen to many elements whilst writing notes. But, with Topics, you can relax a little more and know you just have to come up with one key commendation and recommendation for each speaker. 

So, what tips can you give us for Table Topic evaluation?

Keep it simple and don't try to recreate the speech. The audience has already heard the speech so it's not necessary to recreate the content. That goes for prepared speech evaluations too.

Anything else?

Yes. Remember to structure your thoughts. You just need one single commendation and recommendation for each speaker.  If you remember your structure it makes it so much easier to go up there without notes. 


Which areas should we focus on when giving commendations and recommendations?

Just think about what you liked most and talk about that. Evaluations are very subjective, so if there's something that you liked about a speaker, that's a good thing to tell us about. 

You might also want to think about things like, the message, their stage presence, use of the stage, content, vocal variety and eye contact. Anything you notice really.


Any advice on how we should end each individual topic evaluation?

Yes. It always good to end on your top commendation. Even it's just a quick summing up of a commendation you've already given. It's better to end on something positive so the speaker can go away feeling positive too.


And finally, what about not using notes? How do you do that with Table Topics?

​Ah, that's easy!  Practice, practice, practice!

Read Getrude's article on mentoring

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Me, Thyself and I

25/10/2019

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written by dan magill

Club President Croydon Communicators

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Our second meeting of the month at Croydon Communicators was a little smaller than usual – yet, still perfectly formed.
 
The bad weather, and heavy traffic meant the evening started with fewer people in the room than we’d normally have, but as usual, for everyone who had made it, the outlook in Fairfield House was fine and the conversation was flowing freely. 


Marvellous Mustafa

​Mustafa was our Toastmaster for the evening and it was his first time in the role at our club. What fun he gave us. Mustafa’s inimitable style sets everyone at ease and his humour shines through every moment he’s on stage.
 

Bang On Time

Next, it was time to move through the gears and start to get some role players on stage.
 
Aseem was first up as our Timekeeper. When it came to giving a thorough explanation of the role and ensuring we all knew where we were at with our timings, Aseem did a superb job. He did seem to be having problem keeping the bell quiet though and we may need to find him a bigger desk next time. I think at one point the bell fell off the table even. I suppose you could say Aseem was bang on time.
 
It was great to have Marcia back and taking on the role of Grammarian. She gave us a fabulously serendipitous Word of the Day and gave a really thoughtful and engaging Grammarian’s report , which was jam-packed with language uses she’d picked up on during the evening.
 
Next, it was time to travel around the world with Matt’s warm-up question. Matt asked us about our favourite country. With the world literally at our feet, around half the room were remainers, opting for the UK as their favourite. And we discovered that Aseem doesn’t have a favourite country. Not yet. But, he’ll come back to us if that changes!
 

Veni, Vidi, Vici

​We moved into the prepared speeches with Roz getting things going in real Rock-n-Roll style. Her speech, Veni, Vidi, Vici was full of fun, music and messages. Roz told us how the past is pregnant with the present and It was a wonderful example of how PowerPoint can be used to bring a speech to life.
 
In the absence of Rob (get well soon Rob), I stepped in and gave a speech I’d prepared earlier, before our guest Laurence came up to practice her Humorous Contest speech, Probably the Weirdest One Ever.
 
It’s great to have members along from other clubs in the District. It’s a learning experience for all of us and I know Laurence took away some invaluable feedback which will hopefully help her go on to big things in her Area Contest. Two of the most important take aways from Laurence’s speech were actual takeaways – but no spoilers for anybody that hasn’t seen it yet. We all wish her the very best of luck at the Area Contest.
 

Fabulous Feedback 

Our evaluators were Gina, Roz and Afia.
 
Gina gave a very thorough, comprehensive review of Roz’ speech, which was bursting with tips and tricks for everyone in the room. Roz said lots of nice things about my speech (cheque’s in the post) and Afia stepped in at the last minute to evaluate Laurence. Afia gave Laurence some brilliant feedback, which is exactly what is needed when practicing a speech for a contest. It was so nice to see Afia still talking to Laurence and giving her even more tips in person at the end of the meeting.
 

Sensational Susan

After the break, it was time for Table Topics.
 
Alison ran a lively session with some fantastic questions which elicited a wide range of entertaining responses.
 
Roz returned for a third helping of stage-time and warned us not to go near the A3 on our way home. We had two first-time guests bravely come up to have a crack at a question, but it was our returning guest and hopefully soon-to-be member, Susan who stole the show with some expertly dispensed advice, not only for her 16-year-old self, but for everyone in the room.
 

Evaluation Extraordinaire
 
After the Topics session my thoughts turned to who I would choose to receive the President’s Award for the evening. I had a list of possible names running through my head, all of whom would have been worthy recipients.
 
Until, that is, Gertrude stepped forward to give us her evaluation of the Table Topics.
 
When I spotted Gertrude didn’t have any notes with her, my first thoughts were that she had forgotten to bring them with her and would have to go back to collect them.
 
But no. Fresh from Freddie Daniel’s workshop earlier this week, Gertrude took the insanely brave step of attempting a topics evaluation noteless!!
 
How anyone can remember the names of several people they’ve never met, remember what they spoke about, remember the order they spoke in and then deliver a series of wonderfully insightful commendations and recommendations for each, is beyond me. I’ve seen it done in General Evaluations – and that impresses me a lot – but to do it in Topics when the turnaround time is a matter of seconds…
 
Incredible!
 
Well done Gertrude. I’m sure you’ve inspired more of us to try ‘going commando’ in the future.


Florence Night in Regale 
 
The evening was rounded off in style with an excellent General Evaluation from Florence. Florence, through no fault of her own, had arrived late to the meeting, but she didn’t let that stop her giving a really comprehensive review of the evening and giving each of the role players something useful to take away and think about.
 
The big winner of the evening was Roz, who took Best Speaker and Best Evaluator rewards. I suppose you could say, she came, she saw, she conquered!
 
 
Finally – we have our Area Contest taking place on Saturday November 2nd at 12:30  in Croydon.
 
Come along and see the winners of the Humorous Speech and Table Topics contests from the 5 clubs in our Area, battling it out for a place in the Division Finals. It should be a hugely entertaining afternoon with lots to learn from some of the best speakers in our Area. And it’s free!

 
Sign up here
 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at our Halloween Speak-spook-tacular next Thursday.
 

 
The Awards 

Best Speaker                       Roz
Best Evaluator                   Roz
Best Table Topics              Susan
President’s Award           Gertrude


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Thursday Night's Alright for Fighting!

11/10/2019

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written by dan magill

Club President Croydon Communicators

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​Another Thursday night, another outstanding meeting at Croydon Communicators.

As is fast becoming the norm at our club, the room was packed with first-time guests, all mixing in with members and keen to find out more about what we do.

I’m sure none of them went away feeling let down with what we did.



Sandra A+++

All Toastmaster meetings need a good Toastmaster at the helm, and we had more than just ‘good’ with Sandra.

It was Sandra’s first time in the role but she handled it magnificently well and made sure we all had a meeting to remember.

Sandra set the theme, ‘Fighting For It’ and it was a theme that was embraced and developed throughout the night.

Sandra had clearly prepared diligently for the meeting and she carried that forward with a truly outstanding display as our Toastmaster.  Her development over the last few months, since joining Croydon Communicators, has been staggering and we can only imagine where she might be with her speaking this time next year.


 
Welcome Matt!

It was Matt’s first meeting since joining the club and he was thrown straight in at the deep-end with a last-minute opportunity to cover the Timekeeper role.

Nobody would have guessed he’d only been asked to step in moments before the meeting got going and he gave a professional, entertaining and humorous display.


 
Word Play

After a few months away, it was fabulous to have Zainab back at the club. Zainab always brings a unique energy and passion which is greatly missed when she isn’t around.

As Grammarian for the evening, Zainab brought us a word of the day, some insightful thoughts on grammar and even a quiz to check how well everyone had been listening.

Please come back soon, Zainab! 


 
Powerful PowerPoints, Random Conversations and Marriage Guidance - Gertrude Style!

As ever, our three prepared speeches were outstanding, and all speakers had clearly taken the time to prepare well.
 
Caroline was first up, with a project which focussed on the use of visual aids.

As her evaluator, Richard, pointed out, Caroline showed us exactly how a PowerPoint presentation should be used to enhance a speech and not put him to sleep.

Aside from the slides, Caroline’s speech was jam-packed with words of wisdom and lessons for everyone in the room.
 
It was great to have Vivian back at the club and giving one of her trademark, eloquently written and powerfully delivered speeches which had a message for us all about the significance of striking up random conversations with strangers.
 
Finally, Gertrude gave us a highly entertaining speech which focussed on how to communicate in relationships. Gertrude used humour brilliantly well to bring her points to life and as her evaluator, Florence, pointed out, she used interaction with the audience to maximum effect.


As usual, our break was a chance for everybody to get together and chat. I was thrilled to have so many of our guests come and ask me about joining the club and it always so nice to see people ready to take what I know is a very brave step. As existing members of the club it gives us all such a buzz to see new people wanting to start their journey with us.

 
Oh Bugger!

After the break, it was time for Table Topics and Marcia was on hand to give out some very thought provoking impromptu speech topics.

Several guests stepped forward to have a go and, as in our last meeting, they all excelled.
 
This topics session was bulging with highlights...
 
We had Chabbi, showing us how to get into a subject, using gestures and humour to really get the audience along for the ride. Before finishing with some inspired repetition of the night’s Word of the Day! Zainab could barely keep up her count as the word just kept rolling off Chabbi’s tongue!
 
Then we had Estela, a returning guest who had taken on a topic at her first visit and was back for more tonight. Even over the space of just two weeks, it was clear to see an improvement in confidence and perseverance and we can’t wait to have Estela join up as a full time club member.
 
Susan was also back for more and she spoke eloquently and confidently, moving in close to form a real connection with the audience. Again, Susan is hopefully going to be a full-time member by our next meeting and we can’t wait to see her getting her teeth into some other roles.
 
If there was an award for best ever ending to a table topic – Precious won it tonight! After giving a very high-quality and considered answer to her question, Precious decided enough was enough and shouted, ‘Oh bugger!’ before confidently marching back to her seat. 
 
And then we had our first-time guest Klaudie.

Klaudie was asked to speak about fight or flight, and how brilliantly he did it. When he came onto stage with his coat on, I did wonder how long he was planning on staying with us, but two minutes of wonderful speaking later, we all knew that Klaudie was here to stay.
Klaudie used a personal story, interspersed with a message for us all, to deliver a first-class table topic answer. 



Pearls from Dean

Finally, we had Sean Dean giving us a General Evaluation of the entire evening.

Sean is Club President at Society Speakers in London and it was our privilege to have him with us for the evening in Croydon.

Sean gave everyone who hadn’t been evaluated some thoughtful commendations and recommendations and delivered them with bags of humour.
 
So, overall – another brilliant meeting at Croydon Communicators.
 
The great news is that we have two more meetings to come in October, which I’m sure will be every bit as entertaining, educational and inspiring as ever.
 
To leave you with the words of a great Croydon Communicators’ Toastmaster…
 
“Oh Bugger!”

 
The Awards 

Best Speaker                       Caroline
Best Evaluator                   Richard
Best Table Topics              Klaudie
President’s Award           Sandra


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