Last night West Herts Speakers said goodbye to January in style with packed evening of laughter, joy…and a heady dose of public speaking, led by our toastmaster for the evening, Irina.
So what do a green dumbbell, a fistful of medals, a self-help book, and a stopwatch mean to you?
We certainly found out what they mean to some of our members in Gwen’s slightly off-piste table topic session. In an innovative move, Gwen called up four speakers to the stage simultaneously. They each had to speak for 30 seconds on what a particular object (green dumbbell, medals etc. etc.) means to them. To spice things up, the fourth speaker had to speak for…..drum roll….one entire minute! That Gwen likes to keep us on our toastmaster toes.
On to the prepared speeches…..
As if it wasn’t cold enough, newcomer Ged gave a witty, inspirational ice-breaker, where he told us about three key ‘threshold’ moments in his son’s life, and how he continues to strive to achieve his goals. This was so enjoyable, we simply can’t wait for his second speech (no pressure Ged).
In a speech entitled “Return to the alter” bride-to-be Jill took us on a fun and insightful journey through the etiquette of the “encore wedding”, with a very tightly structured speech centered around her ‘5 golden rules’.
And finally in a speech entitled ‘Doing Time’, Judy proved she is not a ‘time thief’ by delivering a solid session packed with tips on how to improve time management when giving Toastmasters speeches and evaluations – this was a hugely beneficial speech, with practical advice that the audience could take away with them.
And the winners were…….
Ged – Best prepared speech (congratulations oh breaker of ice)
Phil – Best evaluation
Irina – Best table topic
The next session is on 8th February – see you there!