28th April - meeting with wow factor

The 28th April meeting was always going to be special! After our slight blip last time, we got it right. Not just slightly right but wonderfully right. Some new friends popped along for the first time and we feeling enthused by our wonderful atmosphere, everybody spoke. Over 20 people listened to the three prepared speeches including the special speech that the press came to listen to. The media people were very impressed by our club and will return on other occasions. New people as well as established speakers, got to speak, and everyone received some terrific evaluations. All in all, another night passed muster as a total success.
We look forward now to our debate evening, the PowerPoint evening as well as the Sussex Pride competition. We will end our season with a special dinner for club members, their partners and selected invited guests. There is no better club in the District than Croydon Speakers. Visit us and find out why!

April 14th Meeting

We had a change to the meeting format tonight to add some variety. We began with a variation of the topic theme and spoke mainly about issues that we could speak with passion. Enthusiasm and passion are of course essential ingredients for speakers in general and for level two speeches. Everyone spoke well and managed to generate interest and debate. The business session had several items of news about out club dinner, Sussex Pride competition and the AGM/debate. This will be emailed in more detail to those on our mailing list.

After a short break, we had two excellent level one speeches that were interesting, informative and a delight to listen to. Both of them has a measure of personal history combined with tales from the past. Both passed easily. An experenced speaker concluded the speeches with a fine offering about corporations.

So another perfect evening? Well no actually. The meeting also demonstrated how important it is to keep in control of events. The chairmanship was poor, and some tasks and expectations slipped. Whilst it was a good meeting in one respect - it reminded us that every meeting needs to be chaired efficiently and competently. Being the strong club that we are, this is something that is easy to practice, and of course, to get right next time.

In normal situations, we get one shot at the social or business speech/presentation. At Croydon speakers you can try something, and learn from it whether it goes very well, or whether is demonstrates a need for a little more polish.

Our evening was a great evening, but it needed a duster to add that special sparkle. A challenge that will be met next time on the 28th April.