knowing me, knowing you!

written by aseem kapoor

Club President Croydon Communicators

Another Thursday night at Croydon Communicators and another reminder of what a truly wonderful club this is.

Rupa, having recently joined, at our last meeting (and in her first club meeting role) delivered a fantastic warm-up session. Incredibly at this evening's meeting, in only her second role, she stepped forward as Toastmaster!

The theme of the meeting set by our Toastmaster was 'success' and Rupa talked about what that meant to her, and also asked us to think about what the word meant to us.

"Time is of the essence" were the words used by timekeeper Aminat to remind us of the importance of keeping to time, as she demonstrated the visual signals she would use, and warned us that her finger would be on the mute button should we overrun our allotted times!

Our first speaker was Florence with her inspiring speech "The Power of Giving" that focused on her family and giving back.

In her speech "Reflection of a Table Talk" Loreen revealed insights from a panel discussion she had hosted for over 200 HR professionals on topics of minorities and diversity.

In his informative speech "The Middle Man Is No More" Matt gave us an introduction to 'Blockchain' technology and how it had the potential to be transformational in the way we live our lives. 

Our final speaker was Gina who shared her experience of communicating change in an organisation she worked for, in her speech titled "There is nothing permanent except change".

After the prepared speeches and before moving onto speech evaluations, we squeezed in a late warm-up session, led by Afia who asked everyone to reveal things they were grateful for.

Having listened to four really strong prepared speeches, it was time to find out what evaluators Norma, Susan, Amy, and Pearl thought of them as they each took to the stage and provided their observations, commendations and recommendations.

Approaching the network break, with so much packed into the agenda already, there was plenty still to look forward to in the second half of the meeting.

The meeting resumed with a brand new segment that I was really looking forward to: Knowing Me Knowing You! (inspired by the Alan Partridge TV series of the same name). We invited to the stage one member to take the role of a talk-show host (interviewer) and one member the role of their guest (interviewee).

Our very first Knowing Me, Knowing You featured Gina Rocque Drayton interviewing Paul Imm, and wow, this pairing did not disappoint. 

Gina was a natural in the host's chair, and masterful in her questioning, I could definitely see her fronting a late night chat show of her own.
The interview was delightful, we got to know more about Paul as he shared his Toastmaster experiences, hobbies, dreams, and some memorable moments involving peas, a guitar, brewing beer, and even a birth on stage!

You can catch the interview and all the speeches on a replay of our meeting - as usual recordings are on YouTube and a link is available to members.

I was Table Topic Master and the meeting transitioned from a talk show to a game show as I injected some familiar music and sounds from "Who wants to be a millionaire?" into our impromptu speaking section of the meeting.

To round off a hugely enjoyable evening, we heard from our guests: former member Gertrude, our neighbours from Liberty Speakers  Carol and Pearl, and Amy who is Area Director for H32 and a member of Worthing Speakers, Gatwick Communicators, and a new club she has launched Sussex Online Speakers!

I got to spin the Knowing Me, Knowing You wheel and it landed on Dan as the interviewee, and Aminat as the interviewer for next time. I'm looking forward to a fascinating chat between our Immediate Past President and our VP of Education!

A Level 3 Pathway completion was announced for Aminat. Meeting awards went to Norma (best table topic), Amy and Pearl (tied for best evaluator), Loreen for (best speaker), and of course the President's Award had to go to the remarkable Rupa for taking on the Toastmaster role so early in her Toastmaster's journey and doing a fantastic job.

As there is a fifth Thursday this month, we have another meeting next week 29th April. See you then!