Northampton speakers newsletter jan 2017

Northampton Speakers

NEWSLETTER

www.northamptonspeakers.org.uk/

Club #03824728 Northampton Speakers January 2017 Volume 1: Issue 1

INSIDE THIS ISSUE • • • • •

Guest Editorial Club News Hints and Tips The Grunt Counter Member News

Club Meetings

Guest Editorial: President Jo Glover

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7:15pm 1 and 3 Mondays of the Month, except bank holidays st

The Purple Room (1 floor), Old White Hart Inn, Cotton End, Northampton NN4 8BS Email: info@northamptonspeakers.org .uk Phone: 07932 380044

Reminder For all Toastmasters please bring your books to the meetings. For speeches, make sure your evaluator gets your book so they can provide their feedback on your speech project. For Leadership roles, ask another member to evaluate you

Welcome!

I am so happy to welcome everyone to our very first newsletter – I hope you are all as excited as me. It was decided that a newsletter would be a great way of providing information that is intended to be useful and interesting; somewhere you can go for handy hints and tips.

I have been president now for six months – just where has the time gone! During this time, we have seen our club’s very first representative at a contest, held our first anniversary charter dinner and seen a member become the Area Director – fantastic stuff for a club that is still really a toddler.

We will soon be looking for a new committee so please start thinking now whether this is something you would like to do – great for building leadership skills further. The current committee will be able to answer any questions you may have. You could also come along to a committee meeting.

Club News Public speaking success as Northampton Speakers club notches up one year of shaping local lives by Daniel Sandars

Meeting Roles Make sure you are signing up for meeting roles. These are important for the club, and your Leadership Awards. Sign-up sheets will be with the Vice President of Education.

Alternately, log into the meeting management website: http://northampton.toastmasterclub.org/

Editorial deadline 20th March 2017 Daniel.steph@family.sandars.org.uk

Northampton Speakers club (www.northamptonspeakers.org.uk) marked its first anniversary as a formal Chartered club of Toastmasters International on 7th September 2016. In honour of the occasion, a festive celebratory dinner was held on 5th December 2016 at The Old White Hart Inn, Far Cotton, Northampton. Since the 2014 demonstration and interest night, the club has been dedicated to helping people from Northampton become better speakers and leaders.

Northampton Speakers provides a supportive and positive environment where members have the opportunity to overcome their fear of public speaking and sharpen presentation skills, says Jo Glover, President of Northampton Speakers. Other benefits include the opportunity to increase one’s confidence, build critical thinking skills and become an effective listener

Public speaking success for Northampton Speakers’ new member Danielle by Daniel Sandars Recently, member Danielle Hillery, a Northampton High School graduate and aspiring lawyer working for Travis Perkins, won Club, Area, and Division impromptu-speaking Table Topic contest rounds. In November Danielle thrillingly won second at the District 71 finals in Dublin last month!

Yet, Danielle is among the newer members at Northampton Speakers, having only joined in the early summer. Afterward she said "I was thrilled to have come second, especially as I'm still quite new to Toastmasters and public speaking. I got a great reaction from the crowd, and it's really boosted my confidence, I can't wait for the next conference and competition!" Watch this space!

Danielle (left) receiving the Division G Table-topics winners’ trophy and certificate from the contest chair and from District Officer Sam Warner (right)

In Danielle's contests she had to talk impromptu for one to two minutes on a completely surprise topic. Her topic in the finals was "Advice is like Castor oil, easier to give than to take!" In her reply Danielle requoted Walt Disney to say that “a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down” and thus a bride doesn’t want to hear "your husband is an idiot", but saying "your husband is an idiot, but you look absolutely beautiful" is quite a different matter!

“Select Distinguished” Club 2015-16 by Daniel Sandars From chartering on the 7th of September 2015 up to the 30th June 2016 Northampton Speakers club achieved seven out of the ten goals set for each club as part of the Distinguished Club Program (DCP).

Goal one was won by Justine Flower and Jo Glover for earning their Competent Communicator (CC) awards. Goals three and five were won by Daniel Sandars for earning his Advanced Communicator Silver (ACS) and his second award of Competent Leader (CL). Goals seven and eight each required four new member and we recruited 14 in total. Goal nine was won by sending four Executive Committee officers to each of the two Club Officer Training events hosted our G44 Area. Goal ten was won by the submission of our Executive Committee officer list on time and at least one set of dues renewals on time. th

Area G44 Celebratory Gala Dinner 30 June 2016 by Daniel Sandars

The blue ribbon of "Select Distinguished Club" adorned on the right of the club banner.

Members of the club joined members from the four other Area G44 clubs of Bedford, Cranfield, North Bucks, and Eldergate for the annual celebratory dinner at Mitchell hall on Cranfield University campus, Bedfordshire. At the dinner we announced our Toastmaster of the Year 2015-16, chosen by club ballot, as Jo Glover. Jo was praised for her skills in finding venues, organizing special events, consistent support of our meetings in life and online, steady progress to her Competent Communicator award, the winning of many ribbons, and being a ready competitor in club contests. That is a terrific record of achievement, improvement, and service.

Another member to be recognized at the dinner was Daniel Sandars who earned a Triple Crown Award for achieving three or more educational awards within a Toastmaster year. Daniel earned the Leadership Excellence (LDREXEC) award for leading a pioneering Speechcraft program in Cranfield University, the Advanced Communicator Silver (ACS), and his second award of Competent Leader (CL). At the end of the dinner Daniel received the regalia of Area Director from Outgoing Area Director Val Swanborough whom he thanked for all her achievements for the Area

Hints and Tips by Jo Glover I am sure that many of you are aware that I love setting table topics. Topics so far have ranged from answering Agony Aunt letters – too much hilarity I might add – identifying herbs and being dressed for an occasion. I have seen other topics that stick in my mind – a bag with mysterious items, books of famous people to talk about (or to make up if you didn’t know who they were!) and very long words open for your own interpretation – very funny!

I hear you say – but where do these ideas come from? I have a confession – I often use our friend Mr Google. Online there are many sites that kindly provide lists of interesting ideas to sift through and determine if fit for purpose. I do, of course, occasionally have my own flashes of inspiration – as I am sure others do too.

The same goes for speech ideas – one of the hardest thing about a speech I am sure you will agree - is actually what subject to choose. I tend to visit YouTube and see how others have dealt with that particular manual speech. I have always used my own ideas though. Inspiration often strikes when in the shower or in the car on long journeys. It is important to write down these germs of ideas – you will forget them otherwise. These do not have to be big ideas – it could be about a daily routine, a project or favourite hobby. I have purposefully chosen to go out of my comfort zone on occasion – it’s good for the soul – well more for your speechcraft! Work on your ideas whenever possible, try and always have a speech prepared and then you can step into a speech slot at short notice. Your speeches will soon mount up; confidence and ability will grow and before you know it – you will attain your Competent Communicator.

I was surprised at how proud I was on receiving mine last year. There are those in the club who have just finished or are close to doing so, I will be equally proud of them.

The Grunt or Ah Counter, by Daniel Sandars The Grunt Counter keeps a log of speech disfluencies, such as umms and errs, and filler words which they report back at the end of the meeting. This helps members become better aware of their speech disfluencies and helps them monitor improvement over time. At Northampton Speakers we award an endearing piglet to the person with the most. Each club has its own unique customs.

One of the chief winners, Graham Giles, has been taking creative photos of gruntling piglet each time he has won it.

I believe‌ Because ... difficult roads often lead to beautiful destinations.

Northampton Speakers at the White Hart Pub. Graham Giles All photos were taken and edited on my iPhone 6S to quickly capture the moment.

Executive Committee 2016-17

Member News Congratulations to member Chris Datson on occasion of his engagement to Kirsty Wood on 12 December 2016 in the Keldy forest North Yorkshire

President Jo Glover

Vice President Education Sue Savage Mentoring Officer: Danielle Hillery Education Officer: Tariq Muhammad

Vice President Membership Craig Norris

Vice President Public Relations Daniel Sandars

Treasurer Dave Minzey

Secretary Danielle Hillery

Sergeant-at-arms Scott Bushell Webmaster: Sue Savage IT support: Daniel Sandars, Sue Savage

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Mon 9 Jan rd

Mon 23 Northampton Speakers Club Club #03824728 District 71, Division G, Area 44 st

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Sat 4 Feb

Event

Notes

Club meeting

Old White Hart, 7:15pm for 7:30 start Old White Hart, 7:15pm for 7:30 start 10:00am-12:30 CMRI Gallery, Cranfield Campus Daniel.steph@family.sandars.org .uk Old White Hart, 7:15pm for 7:30 start Old White Hart, 7:15pm for 7:30 start Old White Hart, 7:15pm for 7:30 start Old White Hart, 7:15pm for 7:30 start 10:00am-12:30 CMRI Gallery, Cranfield Campus Daniel.steph@family.sandars.org .uk Wyboston Lakes, St Neots, MK44 3AL, DivisiondirectorD71@gmail.com Manchester http://toastmasterclub.org/porta l.php?page=3322

Club meeting Club Officer Training Open to all members interested in leadership

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1 and 3 Mondays of the month st The Purple Room (1 Floor) Old White Hart Inn, Far Cotton Northampton, England Email: info@northamptonspeakers.org.uk Phone: 07932 380044

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Mon 20 Mar Find us on the web www.northamptonspeakers.org.uk

Sat 1 Apr

Find us on Facebook facebook.com/groups/northamptonspeakers/

Sat 22 Apr

Find us on Meetup meetup.com/MK-Toastmasters-promotingexcellence-in-public-speaking/

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Club meeting Club meeting Club meeting Club meeting Area G44 Contests

Division G Conference and Contests District 71 Contests and “It’s a kinda magic” Toastmasters