Author: Chris Worfolk

Toastmasters limerick

A limerick it is

For us, Toastmaster species

 

We start out quiet and meek

and then begin to love to speak

 

Once we begin, there is no stopping

Unless a red card someone is brandishing

 

Speaking one-on-one or addressing a large meeting place

It doesn’t matter cos a Toastmaster won’t hesitate

 

At Toastmasters – we do listening too;

And thinking on our feet also called impromptu;

 

we give praise and feedback too

All this and more at Toastmasters do

 

A good Toastmasters seeks out speaking opportunities

A good Toastmaster regularly pays the monthly fees

 

We live by a promise; ten points long

To a wonderful universal club, we Toastmasters belong

 

I’m pleased to admit that I’m one too

A Toastmaster for life; nothing else will do.

Look Ma – No notes!

I attended the information meeting at Cummins Toastmasters – Huddersfield yesterday. It was a brilliant meeting with 28 guests attending and 14 expressing interest in joining Cummins Toastmasters.

One aspect of yesterday’s meeting, which amazed me, was Jane Craggs conducting the Table topics session – without notes. Usually when I’m the Table Topics master, I have this sheaf of papers with me; names of participants and then the table topics themselves; my notes etc – completely messy.

Table topics, for the guests to this blog, is the ‘fun’ part of a Toastmasters meeting. This part of the meeting is geared to improve our impromptu speaking. Topics are chosen by the table topics master and members come up and talk on the topics. Table Topics help members develop the ability to think on their feet and come up with a short speech with no preparation. The short speech too has a beginning, middle and an end. It is a very useful skill to have in the workplace or at home (read ability to create great excuses).

In yesterday’s session, Jane conducted the whole meeting without using notes. She waltzed in and asked members if we knew Julie Andrews from the Sound of music fame. She then sang the song ‘my favourite things’ and proceeded to ask members to speak about their favourite things. It was superb – the way she did it. For each participant, she extended her song and then logically created a topic. I found her session to be very smooth and inspiring.

It brings to mind the evaluation sessions conducted by some members at Leeds without notes. There are some members like Michael J Clarke (DTM) and Anthony Day (DTM) as well as budding speakers like John Fletcher, who conduct their evaluations without notes.

It is my ambition to someday be able to deliver table topics and evaluations without notes! (There is no harm in day dreaming is there.)

I shall attend Freddie Daniel’s workshop on Evaluations on 30th Nov @ Manchester to develop my evaluation skills further. The workshop is at Wednesday 30th November 7.30pm prompt – The Parrswood Hotel, Parrswood Road, Didsbury M20 6JD.

Until then I shall keep sharpening my pencil and continue to write furiously throughout the meeting 🙂

I would like to sign off with this mantra from Darren Lacroix World champion public speaker – Stage time – Stage time – Stage time!

Oops I made a mistake

I screwed up yesterday in the Leeds City Toastmasters meeting!

Let me backtrack and explain.

I was the Ah-counter for the meeting yesterday. For the guests visiting this blog – let me explain – ‘Ah-counter’ is an important role in the Toastmasters club meeting. The role involves counting the filler words used by speakers. Filler words are the common and not so common words we use in our speech to fill the gap between sentences. For example ‘eh, er, em, you know, like, so, and, but,’ are the filler words we use to pad the gaps, when we speak.

For a listener there is nothing worse than listening to a speaker who intersperse their speech with filler words. It distracts the listener. A speaker using lots of filler words sounds very insincere. Listening to a speaker using lots of filler words does not inspire the listener with confidence. Hence this role is very important at Toastmasters.

At Toastmasters we recommend that the filler words are replaced with pauses. I have personally observed that it makes a dramatic difference to your speaking if you pause effectively. Listen to any famous speaker and this will become obvious. I find President Obama and late Steve Jobs to be masters at the pause. The use of pause adds dramatic tension and draws the listener in. A pause is similar to white space in the written word. I hate reading a huge blob of text. However if the text is broken into logical units with white space then it’s easier to read and comprehend. This is the same with speaking. Intersperse your speech with pauses and listeners will hang on to every word you say.

So here I was as a ‘Ah-counter’ at Leeds City Toastmasters – listening to the speakers attentively. I had my note book open and was observing the speakers use of both filler words and pauses. At the end of the meeting, when it came time to present my report, I stood up and went to the front. I placed my notebook on the lectern and began to present my report. It was all going swimmingly until I saw the green card at the back of the room. I quickly wrapped up my presentation telling members that I had individual counts for people and could provide it to them after the meeting.

The reason for my abrupt summation was a meeting I had attended a month back at Doncaster. I was the general evaluator (GE) and was hard on one of the speakers who had ignored the red card. At Toastmasters, timing too is very important. Each speaker is timed and different colour cards are shown to let the speaker know when to finish. The red card is usually shown when the speaker has completed his allotted time for a speech. In yesterday’s meeting, I wanted to follow the advice that I had given as a GE previously and hence sat down after I saw the green card.

It was after I sat down that it struck me that I should have continued until I saw the red card. It was a silly rookie mistake. It showed I was not paying attention. It showed the area that I still need to improve.

This was re-confirmed when general evaluator – Michael J Clarke (DTM) stood up to present his meeting report. He picked on my role and mentioned that I had panicked on seeing a green card, when I could have continued until the red card. I sat there sheepishly wondering how I could have done such a silly mistake. I have been a Toastmaster for 5 years now and I feel bad that I made a basic mistake. However it was fun listening to Michael’s evaluation, he presented his views in a humorous manner and poked fun in a gentle way. I laughed listening to Michael’s evaluation and my inner angst disappeared. I realise now that it is better to make a mistake at Toastmasters and learn in a supportive environment than get crucified for mistakes in the real world.

In a way, I’m glad I made this mistake. This is what I love about Toastmasters – you make mistakes – you learn from them and improve as a speaker and leader.

Do you model your public speaking on someone else or develop your own style of speaking?

“Do you model your public speaking on someone else or develop your own style of speaking?”

One of the newer members at our club asked me this question and it got me thinking.

When I first joined Toastmasters circa 2006, one of the speakers I watched was Phil Heath who was delivering an advanced impromptu speech. He passed five slips to an audience member and asked the audience member to pick out a slip. He was going to be speaking on a subject impromptu. The subject that the audience member picked was on ‘caravans – load shedding.’

It was amazing the way he constructed a speech with a beginning, middle and an end. He did it all impromptu. I was inspired as were other members in the audience. I wanted to develop my speaking skills and be as good as Phil Heath. In fact, I wanted to be a Phil Heath.

The next speech I recall very clearly was Michael Clarke with his ironing board. Michael delivered this humorous speech at Leeds City Toastmasters about ironing. He came in with an ironing board and an iron. His body language, delivery and speech content were superb. It was fantastic speech. I wanted to be a Michael J Clarke.

I also recall Rick Ferguson and his first speech which was set in France. It was about how he was pick pocketed  and how he did not allow the incident to impact him negatively. The speech was very humorous and entertaining in true Rick Ferguson style. I recall watching Rick’s progress as he competed at the district level in humorous speaking competition. I wanted to be a Rick Ferguson.

As you can imagine, I could not be all three of them. I realised later and through feedback from fellow members that I had my own style. My own method of story telling. I had a voice. It was through the constant positive feedback from fellow members that I have realised that each one of us has our own strengths. Our own unique voice.

So my answer to the query ­– “Do you model your public speaking on someone else or develop your own style of speaking?” is – Learn from better speakers and develop your own style of public speaking. Believe in yourself.

 

How to improve your public speaking skills using shopping bags?

“Anthony, I hate shopping and how can shopping bags help me improve my public speaking skills?” I said.

I was speaking to Anthony Day – DTM, after our Leeds City Toastmasters meeting, badgering him for tips to improve my public speaking skills and he had mentioned – Shopping bags.

Anthony smiled and said, “Shopping bags does not mean literal shopping bags. It is a metaphor for how to use your hands when speaking.”

I was intrigued. I could not understand the link but listened intently.

“When you deliver your speech, imagine that you are carrying shopping bags. That way your arms will remain comfortably by your side. Then when you need to deliver a gesture, you can lift your hands and make the necessary gesture. So, if I was speaking about watching TV, then I would start from my side and show a small box,” said Anthony demonstrating by keeping his arms to his sides and then showing a rectangle with his hands. “It is much more effective gesture because for the remainder of time, my hands are by my side.”

“But Anthony, would it not look odd, with my arms to my sides?”

“Initially it will feel odd to you, not to the audience. With practise you can make it feel natural. Then you will notice the difference. Most speakers make common mistakes like hands in their pockets or wringing their hands or even clasping their hands as if they are praying. These mistakes make the speakers look nervous. So practice keeping your arms to your sides and watch the positive impact you have on the audience.”

I thanked Anthony for the tip.

If you enjoyed this tip, please join us at our next meeting at Leeds City Toastmasters or White Rose Speakers and you can try it out.

Dinesh Kaulgud

ACB, CL

Leeds City Toastmasters – Crowne Plaza, Leeds – 1st and 3rd Thursday

White Rose Speakers Jury’s Inn, Brewery Wharfe, Leeds – 2nd and 4th Wednesday

 

How to grab the listeners attention?

“Start from the middle,” said my creative writing coach.

I was surprised. Not just surprised; I was stumped. Throughout my life I was taught that you always start from the beginning and then move to the middle and finally end. How can one start from the middle? I was now confused.

I guess, you the reader are confused too. You must be thinking, ‘What has creative writing to do with Public Speaking?’

From my experience there is a lot of similarity between Creative Writing and Public Speaking. They are both trying to grab the attention of the reader/listener and attempt to convey a message. The message can be informative, entertaining, purpose driven or inspirational in the case of Public Speaking and usually entertaining in the case of Creative Writing.

After the class was over, I sat back and reflected on the message ‘Start from the middle.’

What does ‘start from the middle’ mean for us Speakers?

Start from the middle means; start right in the midst of the action. So If I was writing a murder mystery, it means start right in the middle of the murder or the act of murder, which would raise a number of questions in the readers mind – Who was murdered?, why? Who could have done it? Etc.

Similarly in a speech start in the middle of the action. This grabs the listeners’ attention. Subsequently questions are raised in the listeners’ mind –‘What is happening here? Why? Who?’ etc

Then begin to answer those questions. This keeps the listeners attention throughout the speech. Then when you bring the speech to a close, make sure that you answer the questions and leave the listener with a satisfying close.

For example one of the speeches I did was on not giving up.

I started the speech with a dialogue in a raised voice.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING THERE DINESH?”

The stage is set. Straight away the audience is curious – ‘Who is shouting at Dinesh? Why and what is happening?’

I then went on to explain that it was my first job and it was my manager screaming at me. I then moved the story from that experience, which was a misunderstanding about my capabilities, to, how I moulded myself in a positive way after that episode.

So to summarise; starting the speech in the middle is a very effective way to grab the attention of the listeners. It is a great technique for constructing a very effective speech.

Dinesh Kaulgud

ACB, CL

Member of Leeds City Toastmasters and White Rose Speakers

Dramatic way to improve as a Speaker

“There is one way to dramatically improve as a Speaker,” said Michael J Clarke as we met up after the Leeds City Toastmasters Thursday meeting at Crowne Plaza.

I nodded my head, I wanted to know more. There were other members talking to each other and I had cornered Michael asking for tips to improve as a speaker. We – Toastmasters are a unique group of people; always keen to learn something, which improves our communication and leadership skills.

I waited for Michael to continue.

Michael smiled and said, “Eye contact.”

“But I am already doing it Michael. I maintain eye contact with the audience. Earlier I used to look towards the floor as I spoke but now I maintain eye contact,” I replied with passion.

“Yes, you do look at the audience while speaking and have improved significantly however there is something more that you can do, which will pay you huge dividends,” said Michael. He smiled and continued, “You need to look individually at each member of the audience and maintain eye contact for at least 2 to 3 seconds. Then move on to the next member and so on. This way the audience feels connected and each member feels you are addressing and including them in your speech. It is a very powerful technique. Sweep through the complete room as you speak and maintain eye contact for 2-3 seconds. Try it and let me know how you feel.”

I hastily scribbled notes and thanked Michael.

During the next meeting, I presented my speech and maintained eye contact with each member of the audience for 2-3 seconds.

After the meeting, I cornered Michael again.

“Thank you Michael. Initially it was disconcerting to maintain eye contact but as I got into my speech, I managed to do it without thinking too much about it. I maintained eye contact for 2-3 seconds with each member. As I spoke, I seemed to connect with the audience, I could see heads nodding as I made my points. It felt very different. The feedback slips, I received after the speech, were also very positive,” I said excitedly.

“Excellent Dinesh. I enjoyed the speech too and your eye contact was excellent. Well done,” said Michael as always encouraging me.

I waved my ribbon excitedly, “The best part Michael was winning the best speaker for the meeting. All thanks to your tip on maintaining eye contact.”

 

Area 15 – Oct 2011 Humorous speaking and Table Topics contest report – By Julia Mellors

Oct 2011 - Area 15 Humorous speaking competition winners at Goole. From Left to right - Dinesh Kaulgud - Area 15 Governor, Jamie Godfrey - second place, Rob Moore - first place, Anthony Day - third place
Oct 2011 - Area 15 Humorous speaking competition winners at Goole. From Left to right - Dinesh Kaulgud - Area 15 Governor, Jamie Godfrey - second place, Rob Moore - first place, Anthony Day - third place

Humour and fairytale dreams win the day

On Sunday 2nd October Doncaster Speakers hosted the second round of the annual humorous speech and table topics competitions at The Vikings Hotel,Goole. It was a great venue – good motorway links, easy to find, and with great space for the contest, for lunch, and for parking – couldn’t ask for more! Speakers from nine clubs as far north as Newcastle, as far south as Sheffield, as far west as Harrogate and as far east as Hull were invited to compete to win the honour of representing ‘Area 15’ in the next round of the competition to be held later this month in Manchester.

After being warmly welcomed by Karen Venables and Yvonne McGowan at the door, there was time to chat with familiar faces, network, pick up tips, and make new friends. Then the food, fit for an army of starving Vikings. Nourished by a delicious buffet lunch enjoyed by all,

Area 15 - Oct 2011- Table Topics champions
Winners of Area 15 Oct 2011 Table Topics competition at Goole From left to right - Dinesh Kaulgud Area 15 Governor, Bilal Jamil - second place, Sally Barber - first place, Phil Heath- third place

the competitors were eager to perform, and the audience ready to be entertained. There was a buzz of anticipation and expectation. Time for the humorous speech contest, where participants present their five- to seven-minute speeches.

First up was Harrogate ’s Glynn Harby, with his speech entitled ‘1m 65.1cm’. I really felt for Doncaster ’s Jamie Godfrey, sitting listening to Glynn’s speech highlighting the comic disaster zones of internet dating, knowing he was to deliver a similar speech in a short while. Next up was Anthony Day from Leeds, taking a sideways look at health & safety protocol in his speech ‘Let’s hear it for common sense’ – very topical in this day and age. After that came York ’s Rob Moore’s ‘Toastmasters 2.0’, where he questioned how Toastmasters could be ‘cool’ enough to entice new young members, urging us to make use of modern technology – to consider ‘what would Simon Cowell do?’ Name changes, from Toastmasters which is so misleading, to ‘The Speech Factor’, with the TME becoming the EMCEE – so much trendier. The Timekeeper and Evaluators would become Judges. But then he reminded us you get out of Toastmasters what you put into it: we shouldn’t devalue it. We might want to think what Simon might do, but then do the opposite, as we recognise the difference between gold and fool’s gold.

Rob’s witty take on modern life was followed by Mick Rickwood, from A1 Speakers, who recalled his days as a police officer and some of the almost unbelievable scenarios he’d witnessed in ‘Shades of Keystone’ (please tell me he was only kidding!) Then came Jamie Godfrey, who enchanted the audience with his speech ‘An idiot’s guide to internet dating’, reminiscing about the comparative ease of courtship in his teenage years when he simply had to ask girls to dance with him to Chris de Burgh’s ‘Lady in Red’ at the end of the evening, contrasted with the perils of today with internet dating, where no-one quite matches up to their enhanced profiles. Sheffield’s Billal Jamil rounded off the competition with a tongue-in-cheek look at his life experiences as an ethnic minority kid growing up in middle class Sheffield in ‘Silly Sauce and sicken and sips’ – you had to be there!

The competition was close run, but the winners were deemed to be: Anthony’s common sense taking third place, with Jamie’s dating experiences coming a close second to Rob’s clever take on modern life, and why we should resist thinking ‘What would Simon Cowell do?’ in a bid to promote our clubs to the masses, which gained first place.

Twelve competitors entered the ‘Table Topics’ competition, where speakers are invited to give a two minute ‘off-the-cuff’ speech on a set subject. The rush of adrenaline was almost palpable as the competitors walked on stage, not knowing exactly what would be asked of them. A randomly selected topic: French playwright Edmond Rostang’s quote ‘what is life, without a dream?’ formed the basis for the question ‘what do you dream of?’

Responses ranged from a very honest and humorous desire to be able to reverse park from Leeds ’ Trevor Hatib, to Billal Jamil’s dream of being rich – upon which he proceeded to empty his pockets of items he’d acquired from around the room, with a fun appraisal of how they would help him attain his dream.  Several speakers, including A1’s Mike De Vies, Leeds’ Janet Jones, Doncaster’s Shelagh Jones and Frederika Roberts and York’s Dougie Brown, shared their – often very strange! – dreams for us to interpret.

Harrogate’s Phil Heath told us about his magnificent feather pillow, which he endeavours to take with him wherever he travels to ensure he can sleep well, while Rob Moore explained that he simply wants to be happy and experience as much as he can, trying things that are a little bit different, and occasionally challenging himself. David Rickwood, from A1 speakers, told us about a surreal experiment he and his mate did when they were 13, trying to make a fly into a pet on a piece of string, while Sheffield’s Declan Moore related his dreams to everything French – wine, letters and women!

The Table Topics was an amazing event, with third place going to Phil, the second to Billal, and the winner being Sally Barber from Harrogate . Sally, a wedding planner, shares the dreams of her clients on a daily basis, and we were magically transported into the fairytale-come-true world of the bride by Sally’s off-the-cuff speech.

All this couldn’t have happened without the tireless behind-the-scenes work of Doncaster Speakers, ably led by President Shelagh Jones, and supported by Michael J Clarke, who stepped in at the last minute to make sure there would be a competition after all.

Thanks also go to all those who took on a role: to Gillian Caldicott and Michael J Clarke, contest chairs; to Michael Bottomley, sergeant-at-arms ensuring the contestants had everything they needed on stage; Yvonne McGowan and Karen Venables, who doubled up their roles, not only greeting everyone, but also acting as Timekeepers; the judges from each club represented, and Dinesh Kaulgud, Area Governor and Chief Judge.

We wish Sally Barber, along with Rob Moore, the best of luck as they represent the Area’s clubs in the next round to be held on 23rd October in Manchester

 

How can Toastmasters evaluations help me in my daily life?

“Dinesh, how can Toastmasters evaluations help me in my daily life?” asked John as I was explaining the concept of evaluations within Toastmasters.

It was a very good question.

“Good question John. I am glad that you are clarifying this before thinking further about Toastmasters.” I said before elaborating.

“Evaluations are the heart of Toastmasters. At Toastmasters we believe that every person is unique. Every person has strengths. Every speech has its merits. So everything that we do at Toastmasters is evaluated. The evaluation is also provided to each member who participated in a meeting. So evaluations are fresh and relevant to each individual.

Evaluations help the evaluator too. It makes the evaluator into an excellent listener. Each evaluator listens and intently watches the speaker through the evaluation process. The evaluator observes the good points and the areas of improvement for the speaker. This evaluation is then delivered as a speech. The evaluator learns to think on their feet. To present a clear and concise speech encapsulating the feedback to the speaker. To help the speaker develop their speech and make it even better. To help the leader become a better leader.

In the process of listening to speeches and delivering evaluations, the evaluator also becomes a better speaker. It’s because each time I evaluate a speech, I observe what works and does not work in a speech.

The evaluator also takes these skills into the real world. In my case my ability to contribute in meetings has increased dramatically. My ability to provide feedback to my colleagues has also improved. The net result in my case is increased confidence. Increased confidence to absorb material and classify it in a manner which makes sense to me.

So to summarise (another technique I learnt from delivering evaluations in Toastmasters meetings):

  1. The evaluator develops good listening skills
  2. The evaluator learns to think on their feet
  3. The evaluator becomes a better speaker
  4. The evaluator develops confidence in his or her abilities as a speaker and leader

So there you have it. Toastmaster evaluations can help you in daily life too. So do come along to a Toastmasters meeting and find out more.

We have two Toastmaster clubs in Leeds – Leeds City Toastmasters and White Rose Speakers.

Leeds City Toastmasters meet on 1st and 3rd Thursday of every month at 7:00pm – Crowne Plaza, Leeds

White Rose Speakers meet on 2nd and 4th Wednesday of every month at 7:00pm – Jury’s Inn, Leeds.”

“Thanks Dinesh, Hope to see you at the next meeting”

 

From the President’s desk – Oct’11 – By Euan Bayliss

This is the first monthly newsletter which I’ll be sending out during the Toastmasters year. It’ll be my opportunity to let you all know what’s going on at Leeds City Toastmasters, as well as to include information which won’t go into the announcements at the end of each meeting.

So, here is the news from our club for October!

Humorous Speaking and Table Topics contest

Thank you to everyone who took part in our contest last month. We had some excellent speeches, particularly in the Table Topics section. We had Celia Berrell with us, and she gave an excellent talk about why she loves Cairns. I’d also like to give a special mention to Jude Baker who spoke about her DIY escapades, as it was her first speech at our club since joining – not a bad way to do an Icebreaker speech!
Yesterday marked the Area contest, which took place in Goole, and our club was represented by Anthony Day in the humorous speaking contest, and Trevor Hatib and Janet Jones in the Table Topics contest.
From the contest Rob Moore of York EbOrators (in the humorous speaking contest) and Sally Barber of Strictly Speaking Harrogate (in the table topics contest) will be representing Area 15 at the Division E speaking contest.
This will take place on the 23rd October in Altrincham, Cheshire. I’ll send more details when I have them – it’ll be a fun day out and a chance to watch some really great speakers in action. The winners from this round will go to the final District contest.

Which brings me onto…

The Flourish Autumn Conference
This will take place from Friday 11th to Sunday 13th November in Glasgow. For more details, go to www.flourish2011.co.uk where you’ll be able to see what packages are available.

Leeds City Toastmasters Website update
After a discussion at our last committee meeting, Dinesh has very kindly taken the time to update our website. Have a look at http://www.leedscitytoastmasters.org.uk/ to see our new look.
To make the site even better, we’re looking for members to submit articles to go on the site. If you have a story to tell about Toastmasters or about your own journey towards being a better speaker and leader, get in touch. We’d love to feature you on our site.
Also we are planning to feature a member each month in a “Toastmaster of the Month” section. This will be a chance for us to show the wonderful diversity we have at our club, and to recognise what it means to be part of Leeds City Toastmasters. If you’d like to be featured, get in touch, or if there’s a member you’d like to nominate, again, please get in touch!

A New Toastmasters Club in Huddersfield!
We are looking to launch a new Toastmasters club in Huddersfield – and we need people to be involved in the launch and set up of the new club. Not only will it be a great way to contribute back to Toastmasters, but it’ll also give you a chance to tick off lots of projects in your Competent Leadership manual!
Dinesh writes:
“The first thing we would like to arrange is an Information session at Cummins – the venue for the new club (It would be a community club based out of a corporate venue).
The information session is like a mini-Toastmaster session but more specifically geared around explaining the benefits of Toastmasters and how the meetings work. So we would need three volunteers for this session. The likely dates are November 23rd or 25th and December 2nd or 3rd. The information session would be a ‘lunch time’ meeting of approximately 45 minutes at Huddersfield.”
If you’d like to get involved, e-mail Dinesh. The club will be run out of Cummins who are based (I believe) near the Galpharm Stadium, and although it is a workplace based club, it will be open to the community.

Monthly Subscriptions
Recently the dues that we pay to Toastmasters International increased for the first time in a few years. As a result, we will need to pass a similar increase to our members. The current subscription rate is £10/month, and has been held at this level for (I believe) four years. We have decided to raise our rates with effect from the 1st March 2012 to £12.50/month. I’ll be making announcements at meetings and we’ve decided to give plenty of time for people to make the required changes to their standing orders.
I hope you’ll agree that this still represents amazing value for money! Any questions and thoughts, please get in touch.

Setting Your Goals
As we’re about to head into the darker evenings, now would be a good time to think about your goals for the rest of this year. I’m aware that we have a few members who are new and who haven’t yet done their Icebreaker speeches. I’m also aware that we have a few members who haven’t been to club meetings for a while.
There is absolutely no pressure on members, and I’m always conscious that busy lives can prevent us from attending meetings or completing projects, however, I’m also conscious that members may be paying subscription fees and not getting the full value for those payments.
With this in mind, we’ll be making contact with all of our members in the near future, the aim being to find out what your needs are, and how you can be best served by the club. I’d particularly like to hear from you if you haven’t yet done your Icebreaker speech, but are not sure where to start or feel that you need guidance on taking that first step.

October Meetings and Special Visitors
Our meetings in October will take place on the 6th and 20th October, and as usual will start at 6.45pm for 7.
We will have Celia Berrell with us from Australia again this week. We’ll also have two visitors on the 20th October: Helen Tait, who is Assistant Area Governor, will be with us to find out how we are doing, and we’ll also have Oscar Merkx DTM who will be down from Glasgow to talk to us about the Flourish Autumn Conference and answer any questions you might have about the event and what you can expect to get from attending.

Leeds City Toastmasters is 10!
The club’s tenth anniversary is coming up in Spring 2012, and to mark the occasion, we are planning a special event, but for this to happen, we need you to get involved! If you don’t particularly want a long term commitment to the club’s running but would like to help shape this special occasion, then get in touch. We’re looking to set up a special committee who have the task of making this event happen, and making it special… and, of course, being involved can count towards your next leadership award!
I’ll be making further announcements at the next few meetings.
That’s all for this month – I hope you’ve enjoyed this first newsletter.
Remember I’m here for all our members, so if there’s anything I can do to help you with your Toastmasters journey, please get in touch.
Otherwise, I hope to see as many of you as possible at our next meeting on Thursday 6th October at 7pm.