Wednesday 18th March 2009

by Emma Thomas

Gray Standen, President of the Riverside Communicators, opened the meeting promptly at 7.30pm. She told us that Stories are really important and the more relevance they have to listeners, the more they remember the message. Stories are a way of teaching people and way of getting to know the speaker.

Jenny Betts, the Toastmaster, welcomed everyone to the meeting. She reminded us that Spring is a time to kick start projects and think about personal goals for the year. She encouraged us not to be part of the background but to be yourself and step forward with ideas and enthusiasm.

Next up was Corinne Berset who gave us an explanation of her role as Timekeeper. She encouraged us to apply time management but also to smile and breathe. She was followed by the Grammarian, Bek Singh. He explained how he would listen to all the members then comment on the use of good English during the course of the meeting.

Prepared Speech – Alison Shuttle (No.1 speech – The Ice Breaker)- “What’s in a name?”
Alison gave an amusing speech about how her surname has been a help and a hindrance in her life.
Hindrance -“Space Shuttle, Shuttle Service, Spinning Shuttle” .
Help –Everyone always remembers her because she has such a memorable surname.

Prepared speech – Bertie Ekperigin (No.6 speech – Vocal Variety)-“Dieting is not a piece of cake”
Bertie gave us examples of three female characters who had tried various diets. Her voices ranged from Martha’s explanation of the Cabbage Soup Diet; Audrey’s Cambridge Diet and finally Susan’s Atkins Diet. Conclusion – Quick fix diets only work for the time you are on them. Weight maintenance is the answer.

Prepared speech – Jim McCluskey (AC Speaking to Inform)-“Intolerable and Avoidable”
Jim informed us that there are 8 nuclear states in the world. 26,000 nuclear warheads and at least 2,600 of these weapons are on high alert. He gave us a brief summary of the arguments for and against the existence of nuclear weapons.

After the Timekeeper’s report all three prepared speeches were evaluated by Franco Vaccaro/Sonia Aste/Robert Yuen respectively.

Table Topics Session – led by Heidi Ashley-Hacker. This was an opportunity for any of the members to get up and give an impromptu speech for up to 1 and a half minutes. This week’s theme was about the joys and downfalls of Spring. One at a time eleven of the members and one guest got up to speak. Claudia Cronjaeger then gave her evaluation on each of the speakers.

Bek, our Grammarian for the evening, commented on all the members’ use of lively and interesting words. And finally, the General Evaluator, Atul Patel (Holborn Speakers), gave his evaluation on other speakers throughout the evening.

Awards:
Ice Breaker Speech – Alison Shuttle
Best Speaker – Bertie Ekperigin
Joint Best Topic Speakers – Pillar Sibbick/Robert Yuen
Best Evaluator – Robert Yuen