It was wonderful to see the room buzzing with excitement before the start of the meeting, and joining our club members we were delighted to welcome several visiting Toastmasters and a number of first time and returning guests.

The theme of the meeting 'It's about time we saw you!' had been set by Dan (our Toastmaster for the evening) which he had communicated in advance on the club's WhatsApp group to encourage more members back to in-person meetings.

Those that answered the call were not disappointed as an enjoyable meeting unfolded, with three fantastic speeches including ice-breakers from two of our newer members!

Beatrice Freeman from Wharf Speakers had been a fantastic General Evaluator at a recent meeting and it was great to have her back again to lead the warm-up session in which she asked everyone what they liked (or disliked) about Spring.

Next it was the turn of our speech evaluators to take to the stage and provide feedback on the speeches.

Manasseh from Liberty Speakers explained how body language could be used to enhance a speech. Ian recommended making full use of the stage. Marcia commended Susan's use of hand gestures and entertainment. 
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Just ​before the network break, Aminat our club president spoke about her Toastmasters journey, how she stepped into her first committee role as VP Education, what she learnt about leadership in the role and how she had grown.
With club elections around the corner it is time for members to start thinking about volunteering for a leadership position on the next committee!
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After everyone had refreshed themselves with a tea/coffee and biscuits, the meeting resumed with  the Table Topics impromptu speaking session.
Dan had selected some interesting and challenging questions from his Quora feed  for participants to speak about.

Rupa was one of the table topics speakers, this was her first time at an in-person meeting so it was great to finally meet her outside of Zoom and see her on a proper stage!

Beatrice, Pit, Ian, and guests China and Pankaj also had a go at answering Dan's topics, before Lydia McDowall (President of Speakers of Croydon) provided feedback as Table Topics Evaluator.

Following a timekeepers report from Aseem and a Grammarian's report from Aminat the meeting concluded with presentations.

Congratulations to Dave and Pit who received icebreaker ribbons for delivering their first speeches at the club! Meeting awards went to Ian for Best Table Topic, Manasseh for Best Evaluator, and Susan for Best Speaker:

Our next meeting is on Thursday 12 May and will be online, with our next in-person meeting scheduled for 26 May. 

Our second meeting in October was our first one to be held in-person since the start of the pandemic over 18 months ago, and the first to be hosted in our shiny new venue, The School of Philosophy in Croydon!

We loved our old home 'MIND in Croydon' and the new place is just as good, with a fantastic meeting room, kitchen and facilities, and a break-out area.

It was great to see members and guests face-to-face once again, and taking on meeting roles were Aseem as Toastmaster, Marcia as Timekeeper, Carol as Grammarian, and Sandra as Table Topic Master.

Our speakers for the evening were Aminat and Dan, with speech evaluations from Pearl, and Aminat.

We were delighted to welcome four guests who joined in during the Table Topics session run by Sandra and evaluated by Dan.

At Croydon Communicators we believe that “we best learn in moments of enjoyment” (Ralph C. Smedley). So, on the 9th of September 2021, we hosted our inaugural Comedy Night.

You might ask, is Croydon Communicator a training ground for Comedians?

Yes. Our speakers get a chance to speak to open and diverse audience members that give constructive feedback. Some of our members are budding comedians. There is a thriving network of comedians in the toastmaster world.
Secondly, humour is one of the greatest tools of communication. The toastmaster educational programme supports the development of this skill with dedicated speech projects, contests, and a whole path, helping members improve the use of humour in their speeches. 

How did the night work?

Our night of laughter opened with a Joke from our Jokemaster Susan, a brief president’s welcome speech by me, and our vivacious Toastmaster Matt took us through the agenda.
Helping us keep to time was our efficient timekeeper Stephen, with a reminder to all speakers not to “let the boss down”.

What would a comedy night be without the warmup act? ........... A silent first 5 mins!

But fear not, Sandra led us through a creative warm-up exercise that got most stuck on “Yesterday”. There were some “The Beatles” references, and outstanding singing performances by Sandra, Carol, and Pearl.

​For the speeches of the night, we had 2 humorous speeches and 2 stand-up comedy sets.

Warren entertained us with the horrors of a shared bathroom in his speech “Terrible Tenants”

Afia told us an amusing story of friends with “Flora, Fauna and Me” on the journey of making personal environmentally conscious choices.

A brilliant Impromptu story of “how I met my wife” by Chris Murphy, welcomed us to the Stand-up segment of the night.

And closing out the speeches with roaring laughter was Dan. As he enthralled us with secrets to skip the queues at funfairs, some refreshing toastmaster meeting etiquettes, and stories from his stay in Mexico.

At the end of our engaging speeches, we, the audience got the pleasure of giving our speakers some feedback. This was led by Trudy, Dan, and Matt.

After some beverages in the break, we were welcomed back with another joke from Susan, and a warm stage welcome for the Table topics master Caroline. 

Caroline got our creative juices running by throwing us into weird and wonderful scenarios, and asked, “What would you do?” to an avalanche of inventive responses, which Gina had the delight of evaluating.

Unfortunately, the fun had to come to an end. We wrapped up the night with Awards.

Best Evaluator – Trudy
Best Table Topics – Dan
President’s Award - Aseem

Special thanks to our toastmaster friends Warren, Chris, and Trudy for actively joining us in tonight’s fun. We have 2 more meetings this month, with our next meeting on Thursday, September 23rd.

Cheers! to many more Comedy Nights at Croydon Communicators.