The Reigate Rhetoric

It was a really enjoyable meeting that we had on the 8th of June. For the first time our very own Julie took the role of Toastmaster. We have been very used to Julie as Sergeant at Arms opening every meeting and this time she was on stage for pretty well the whole evening. She did a really great job and was very warm and encouraging for all of us.
Clinton gave us a great warm-up with a lovely sentence starter of “I am very happy when…..” And we all had something to say about that.
The three speakers were super strong. We were privileged to hear Jen's icebreaker when she talked of her lifelong fear of public speaking and how this was a first step in trying hard to overcome it. Freddie dug deep to find something in his life that was challenging and the best he had was planning a 24th birthday party. He brought lots of humor and care to it and Ruth drew some life lessons from a weekend of bonding with friends. We were all delighted to see that Jen won the trophy for a heartfelt speech.
The evaluators of the speeches were Clinton, Kieran, and Ritesh. It's really interesting to note that the evaluators continue to improve and the quality of evaluations is really strong. Clinton took the trophy.
Alan gave us a lovely table topic loosely based around the theme of things that he did at the weekend. It was funny and everyone rose to the challenging topics that he gave us.
They were very well evaluated and Ruth really came into her own, sharing all of her thoughts about these speakers.
As well as offering a general evaluation I ran a mini AGM where we elected our new Committee. They will take over on the first of July and before then this year's committee will have their final few jobs to do.
All in all it was a great evening and a constant reminder of why I keep coming back to Toastmasters after nearly 20 years!

11th May meeting.
This meeting felt very special, and we were delighted to have such a good time. As ever, Julie opened the meeting well with some encouraging words and a quote. We had a new joiner – Sophie – and she is already participating in the meeting, which is great to see. Heidi was Toastmaster and she brought the evening together really well, and with plenty of encouragement for everyone.
Comfort gave us such a helpful subject for the warm up, asking us to think about how we prepare for speeches. Lots of helpful tips came out from the group.
Then three speeches, as ever. Julie shared with a very personal experience and her relation to obstacles that get in our way. Alan talked about being an independent visitor, which was fascinating. And Ritesh shared about having to drive on the right on a trip to Paris. Julie won the cup, with her moving speech.
Then the evaluators. Natalia had her first outing in this role, and did really well. Richard is well into his evaluation groove and really adds value. Clinton is now becoming a bit of an evaluation master, and he took the cup.
Topics was run by Andy, and he gave us some quite deep and meaningful questions to respond to. It was joyful to see the cup won jointly by two former members, returning as guests – Dave Lister and Steve Harris. All evaluated very well by Kieran, who seems to have gone on a standup course. Ruth was on Harkmaster duty, and managed to ask 30 questions in about 4 minutes! Super impressive. The evening was brought to a great end by Freddie, with a very focussed and encouraging general evaluation.
The meetings just seem to get better!
No meeting on 25th as it’s a bank holiday. So the next meeting is 8th June. See you there!

27th April
Tonight’s meeting was a very special one, for a number of reasons. I’m writing this on Wednesday, and still have a warm feeling about it!
As ever, Julie opened the meeting well, with an inspiring quote and some encouragement. Then our Toastmaster, Ritesh took us through the night. His first time in the role and he did a great job. He was supportive, clear and even tried a bit of US style audience participation!
Julie brought us a joyful warm up question, about what inspires us. Everyone shared so richly.
And four speeches, which were all outstanding in their own ways. Natalia and Andy both did their ice breakers, and gave us different perspectives into their backgrounds and principles. Heidi gave us a heartfelt experience of personal challenges she’s faced. And one of our founders, Dan Magill returned to the club to practice his competition speech, ready for the District competition on Saturday. Good luck Dan!
Natalia won the best speech prize, with her powerful and heartfelt speech.
The evaluators all did a great job, and Alan walked away with the prize, with a caring and sensitive evaluation.
Ruth gave us some quirky and reflective questions to have a go at in the Table Topics section, and Clinton evaluated them well. He also managed to do a topic, and indeed won the topics speaker prize – that’s a rare thing to happen that the evaluator does this too!
Michael was our careful listening Harkmaster, and challenged us to see how many stats we remembered. And Kieran took time out from setting up his new business and preparing his wedding to give a great general evaluation.
This club feels so supportive and caring, and each evening brings something special. Members really take care of each other and of guests. It is a special place to be. Thanks everyone for coming, and see you for the next meeting, on 11th May.

Meeting 23rd March
This was another great meeting, full of positivity and energy.
Firstly, we had the joy of welcoming two new members. Natalia and Alan have attended a few times as guests, and are now ready to join. It’s a warm welcome to them and we’re delighted to have them as members.
Plus we had 4 guests, which made it a pretty full house.
As ever, Julie opened the meeting with inspiration and enthusiasm. Then our Toastmaster was Freddie. He did a top job, bringing the meeting together and giving everyone warm encouragement.
The icebreaker was by Julie, who gave us the chance to imagine the warmer times of this summer. A much appreciated topic, given all the recent rain!
Two strong speeches. Alan gave us a moving and personal ice breaker, sharing about his background, his family and his work. A scary story about public speaking, with some inspiration thrown in. And Clinton let us know about his great love of films to stir, move, entertain and even scare us!
The speeches were evaluated by Ruth and Michael – and their experience is now shining through. One of the great things that happens when a Toastmaster club develops is that the quality of evaluations improves, and everyone gets good value from them.
I gave a talk about how to re-engage with the fiddly system that is Pathways. But more important than that, the message was about having goals and a plan for improving as a speaker. The speech was recorded and we’ll circulate it for members.
The topics session was super! Richard came up with some thought provoking questions and had 8 speakers up, including all of our guests! This was wonderful, and a great way to bring energy to the room.
Heidi had the unenviable task of evaluating all 8 of the speeches and she did that with her customary warmth and care. And Keiran brought the evening together with a super strong evaluation of the night, offering praise, encouragement and passion.
All told, a great evening and a really good way to bring our March events to a close. Roll on April and warmer days!

9th February club meeting.
Our first February club meeting, and a great one it was. We had one new joiner – welcome to Andy. A visit from our area director, Rafael Guzman. And regular members, plus three guests.
Clinton was our Toastmaster for the evening, and he led us through with calmness, warmth and care. The warmup was an interesting one – Julie had us all talk about ways to safely remove a spider from home. Very creative.
Great speeches, three of them. Heidi continued the theme of removing creatures from our houses, with stories of trying to evict a mouse. Kieran gave us a personal, but also educational talk about the Chimp Paradox and how it has helped him. And Michael taught us all about the Shipping Forecast. Three very strong speeches, and Heidi won the trophy for the best one.
The evaluators were Kieran, Heidi and Ritesh, two of them doubling up. The evaluations continue to improve at the club, adding value for both the speakers and the audience. Heidi won, again!

In the second half Rafael ran the table topics session really well. The questions were fascinating, having us talk about various highs and lows of our lives. All our guests participated, as did members. All the topics were really well evaluated by Richard, who gave us positivity and encouragement.
We’ve been having the Harkmaster role for some time now, and it’s working well. I did it, and had written 20 questions to ask the audience, based on what earlier speakers had said. The audience did show their careful listening by being able to get most of the questions right!
The evening was closed by Rafael, with plenty of positive comments before he started his long journey home.

A really fun and rich evening, and I learnt plenty.

Next meeting is on 23rd, which is our club competition night. See you there!