So what is 'meraki'? This was the word  of the day chosen by grammarian Gina and a challenge for tonight's speakers to try and drop into their speeches. It means doing things with soul, creativity, pride, passion, care, love, and putting something of yourself into your work.

All roles, speaking and functionary were definitely performed with meraki this evening, starting with SAA Troy, and the warm-up session from Ravi who took the opportunity to engage with our guests.

Special recognition goes to three new members that have joined in the past month, and one that has rejoined:
Soji as Toastmaster, confidently leading his very first club meeting. Andrew as timekeeper, and Elma as Topic Evaluator, and Amy delivering a speech on her return to the club.

Here they all are receiving welcome ribbons from Immediate Past President Aminat:

Amy's speech was titled 'The Sweetest Sound' in which she shared an amusing example of how picturing a fan helped her recall the name of another one of our past president's Dan.

Sandhya making quick progress on her educational path having recently joined, stepped up to deliver her second speech titled 'Happiness'.

Gina was our third speaker (as well as tonight's grammarian) with a speech titled 'Invitation to Tender' in which she compared baking a cake to building a project team!  

Before the network break and some refreshments, Aminat introduced first time guests Jas, Vidhya, and Vivina.

The second half of the meeting saw Pit take control as Table Topics Master, selecting eight volunteers from the audience to take part in the impromptu speaking exercise.

Ian and Elma shared topic evaluation duties between them giving insightful feedback to the speakers.

Another packed evening of public speaking was wrapped up with awards presented to Amy for best speaker, Caroline for best evaluator, and Susan for best table topics speaker!

Next meeting is on 23 February and will be the Evaluation Contest, members are encouraged to enter and have a go at evaluating a mystery test speaker under contest rules, or volunteer for a contest official role.

Croydon Communicators kicked off 2023 with a vibrant 'bring and share' meeting that involved  fabulous food laid on by members, catching up with familiar faces, welcoming new friends, and a fun-filled evening of public speaking!

Watch highlights from the meeting in the video above.

Jerusha opened the meeting as Sergeant-at-Arms and also ran the warm-up session.
Stephen stepped into the role of acting club president for the meeting.
Aminat led the meeting in the role of Toastmaster with Sandhya as Timekeeper.

First speech of the evening '1 hour a day' was from Ravi who talked about the power of compounding and investing time in oneself.

The second speaker was Ian with a speech titled 'Finding my Sea Legs' in which he asked the audience to help him with a decision about learning to sail in Croydon! 

Third speech 'Delta Capita and me' was delivered by Pit who rewarded members in the audience with chocolate if they were able to prove they had been listening closely and answer questions he posed at the end!

Speech evaluations followed, with Susan commenting on Ravi's nicely modulated tone of voice and body language in her feedback. Gina noted how Ian used imagery to bring his speech to life. Caroline commended Pit on his stage presence and talked about how focusing on one topic and building around it could have worked better.

With the first half of the meeting concluded, it was time for the network break, one of our members Norma had come up with the brilliant idea of 'bring and share' so there were plenty of snacks and treats to enjoy.

In the second half of the meeting, guests had a chance to join in and participate in the table topics session. Table Topics Master Rupa provided the questions and Dan gave feedback to each speaker as Table Topic Evaluator.

Visiting Toastmaster Beatrice Freeman was in the house once again as General Evaluator delivering feedback to the club and role players with her usual energy and humour.

Finally Stephen closed the meeting and presented awards. Well done to Ian (best speaker), Caroline (best evaluator), and Pearl (best table topic)!

After two years of pandemic-enforced online contests, it was fantastic to be holding proper in-person speech contests again!

This evening our members stepped up to help run or compete in a Humorous Speech Contest and a Table Topics Speech Contest, supported by Toastmasters from neighbouring clubs performing functionary or judging roles.

Photos from the evening will appear here shortly!