Welcome To Lewisham Speakers

Lewisham Speakers, is Multi -Cultural club, in the heart of South East London. With its friendly, supportive encouraging environment, it is perfect for nervous speakers to develop confidence and excellent speaking skills. Just 5 mins walk from Lewisham Train, DLR and Bus Stations.
Lewisham Speakers club is Affiliated to Toastmaster International - world Leaders in improving Communication and Leadership.Greenwich, Canada Water, Woolwich, Canary Wharf, Catford, Croydon, Penge, Locksbottom, Paddington, Sydenham, Bexleyheath, Dulwich, Forest Hill, Sidcup, Eltham, Plumstead, Bexley, New Cross and Central London.

Monday, September 24, 2012


LEWISHAM HUMEROUS SPEECH AND TABLE TOPICS COMPETITION

19TH SEPTEMBER 2012

 

Well what an evening we had!!   Serena our first time contest chair took command of the evening, and didn’t she do well?.  She was organised throughout, and I felt guided and secure under her leadership throughout the evening.

Jon took us through the warm up.  It was an unusual question because it allowed us to do animations, and I have to say I enjoyed doing my impersonation of a horse, and listening to others too. He conducted the warm up swiftly and efficiently.  All the speeches were very competently prepared, which led for a thoroughly entertaining evening.  There was excitement, as we were taken on police car chases by Steve,  laughter as Flavia drew a picture in our mind of very tall Jenny having a little too much to drink standing at the  top of a diving board!  Then there was Richard with his trials and tribulations with Technology, littered with humour throughout, as well as the huge phone that he brought with him.  It definitely emphasized the points he was making!!  Chris had me on the edge of my chair as he talked through the experience of landing the glider at high speed, such energy in his speech.  Manoj with his speech “Believe it or not” a strong well organised speech.  

 

So well done to all who took part, but also to Flavia for coming first in the Humerous Speech contest, Steve who came second and Richard third.

The table topics were led by Serena “What was our view on Kate’s recent tabloid exposure?”  From the audience point of view it was interesting I thought,  to see how each individual approached it and how diverse the approach was. We had the more serious approaches (Chris and Richard) coupled with the more humerous approaches taken by Manoj, and Chris, with the complete and utter humerous take  on it provided by Steve Roberts.  Whatever the response all our contestants provided excellent table topic responses, which made it a tough competition to judge because the overall quality of the contestants both in the table topics and the speeches was good.  Well done to Steve who took first place in the table topics, Chris H. who took second place, and Richard for third.

Like everything we must not forget those people behind the scenes, so a thank you to our counters:- Beverley and Marcella, our timers of the evening and Steve and Lucas (who also doubled up as our Sargeant at arms for the evening too.) Also a big thank you for those who took on the role of Judges for the evening, including our Chief Judge Julie Kertesz, and to those who made the effort to come from other clubs.  It was good to see that our guests also enjoyed the evening, and we look forward to welcoming them back.

 

Lets make sure that we support Steve and Flavia at the area contest on the 4th October, further details below.  Look forward to seeing you there.

Kind regards all and look forward to seeing you at our next action packed event on the 3rd October (that is if I do not see you at one of other diary events before hand! See our diary of events below in this regard).

LEWISHAM SPEAKERS

DIARY EVENTS

First Story Telling Workshop

Date:- 27th September.

Location:- Citi Criers, Level 5, Citigroup Centre 33 Canada Square, London E14 5LB (Closest tube station Canary Wharf).

Commencing Time:- 7.00pm, although if you come early you can join in Citi Criers Humerous Speech and Table Topics Competition, this starts at 6.00pm.  Please make sure that you supply your name in advance to simone.stefanopulos@citi.com  .so as to ensure access into the building.  Simone is the President for our neighbouring Toastmaster Club Citi Criers, the hosts of this event.

 

“Stories stick, and are remembered:-   What is a story?  Why Personal? Prepare 2-3 min first Storey.”

 

Date:- 1st October: Canal Cafe

Location:- Canal Café Theatre, Delamare Terrace, Little Venice, London W2 6ND www.canalcafetheatre.com.  Tickets have been prepurchased so we can all sit together.  Contact Katy Woolcott to reserve your seat (£8.00) book early to avoid disappointment.  This is a social event so friends welcome.  Meet 7.00 pm in the bar of canal café ready for the story telling event which commences at 7.30pm. Now fully booked.

 

Date:- 4th October  Humerous Speech and Table Topics Area Contest:

Location:- Citi Criers, Level 5, Citigroup Centre 33 Canada Square, London E14 5LB (Closest tube station Canary Wharf).  Commencing time 7.00pm.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Humorous and Table Topics Competition

Humorous Speech Competitors
Richard 
Steve 
Flavia 
Manoj 
Chris H.

A wonderful agenda this Wednesday for the Humorous competition, a competition between giants! We has all fun and can also learned from each if them !

First price: Flavia


Flavia_0010

After the pause, a Table Topics competition with Serena Nelson and Chris Douce added to the mix :

Chris D
Serena
Richard
Steve R
Manoj
Chris H;
At this Table Topics competition each will answer to the same question. It is fun to watch how different the answer can be!
Steve first price. The actual pictures taken at the event will follow soon.
Demo meeting Steve TT
Of course, each of them can sit in the audience only after he or she answered, but we, the others, hear all of them!

All contestants were great and very well prepared - we had lot of fun and even three guests for the evening that begun with difficulty, as another event took place just before our contest on the premises.

But all is well that finishes well. At the end, they even left us with some nibbles to taste! We all had excellent time, too.
The first ten or twenty seconds of your speech is the peak of your audience's engagement level. It is not going to get any better as one by one your listeners will get distracted by their mental grocery lists or the next day's outfit. Hook them fast with benefits by giving them an implicit or explicit reason to pay close attention.

Opening #1: The Personal Story

The most consistently successful opening is the personal story
 
First, your personal story should really be personal. Tell your own story and share your observations. 
 
Second, make sure your story is directly relevant to your core message. If your goal is to inspire people to volunteer their time to feed the homeless, a cute story about how your dog can bark 'I love you' just does not belong. 
 
Third, fourth, and fifth, make your story highly emotional, highly sensory, and rich in dialogue. The story should be so specific that your audience is able to relive it with you. And sixth, start your story somewhere in the middle so that you immediate prompt your audience to wonder who, what, where, whey, why, or how.