The sun was shining, it was a perfect evening for staying home and sipping a G&T in the garden, but our West Herts Speakers Club members turned out in force to improve their public speaking skills and support those members delivering speeches.
Spencer took on the role of Toastmaster for the evening – it was his first time doing it, but you’d never have known, as he excelled in the role. He also ensured our ah-counter Colin was kept busy for the duration of the meeting, as he amassed close to 50 filler words throughout, so well done Spencer on that front too! 😉
Diana led our table topics session with commendable prowess. Instead of the usual questions and answers, her approach to this section of the evening – which is all about impromptu speaking – was to start a story, which each of the speakers she’d picked out at random from her hat, had to continue. It was hilarious. Two guests – Charlene and Laura – took part and did brilliantly. We hope they’ll come back in two weeks time as we’re looking forward to hearing more from them. It was Jen who scooped the coveted Best Table Topics speaker award for her contribution to the story. Great to see Jen back after a few months off from Toastmasters following a house move and life being just a bit busy in general.
Our first prepared speech of the night was by Emily, one of our newest members. She delivered an excellent and very moving icebreaker speech about how she’s overcome some huge challenges early on in her life and is now embracing her fears and becoming the person she wants to be. She thoroughly deserved to win the Best Speaker award and did so, despite being up against two more excellent speakers Ryan and Chun who also delivered top notch speeches.
The Best Evaluator award went to Zsuszanna, who was evaluating Emily. She delivered a clear, concise evaluation that benefitted not just Emily, but everyone in the room.
Our next meeting is taking place on 24th May – same time, same place: 7.30pm, The Noke Hotel, St Albans. We hope to see you all there.