Voice of Godiva – 9th Nov 2021 – Meeting 183rd

At 7pm on the dot, we ‘braced’ ourselves for a fantastic meeting with the theme ‘The Importance of Light’.

Amy did a cracking warm up session, where she encouraged us all, as we move towards the end of the year, not to focus on what we haven’t done, but, instead, to focus on what we were proud of this year.

 

Every person in the room had one or more things that they were proud of.  It was uplifting to see how many people were proud of taking the leap of joining Toastmasters this year to address their fear of public speaking and improve their communication skills.

 

This exercise energised us all from the start, which really set the tone for the entire evening.

Pratik demonstrated the role of Toastmaster perfectly.  It was incredible that this was the first time he had taken on this role.  I am sure that Sanat gave him some great pointers, which he totally took on board.  I was immensely impressed that he delivered the whole meeting without notes!  I’m pretty sure I couldn’t do that!

 

He forgot nothing!  Ensuring everything ran smoothly, educating guests and reminding members of the Toastmasters’ etiquette, as well as sharing some interesting background when he introduced people.. He was rewarded with the President’s Award for his efforts.

 

Michelle opened up the speaker slots, delivering an informative and energetic speech on what it takes to be a successful VPM (Vice President of Membership).

That was followed by Mohammed, really stepping up!  This is only his second meeting and he delivered a fantastic icebreaker. He was surprised and delighted when he received Best Speaker of the evening!

Emil followed the theme of the evening to talk about Light in the Darkness and how our least favourite season can spur us on to creating great changes in our lives.

Matthew then really challenged our beliefs of what happens when we die, as he demonstrated his skills as a storyteller, by keeping us on the edge of our seats throughout.

 

Then came four insightful evaluations delivered by Fiona, myself, Santhosh and Sanat.  I was thrilled and honored to be voted Best Evaluator, amongst such experienced Toastmasters and impressive evaluations.

 

Bence introduced a whole different way to do table topics introducing a bit of teamwork into the mix with a speaker and the second person gesturing.  Canon and Amy won the best Table Topic Team and Santosh best TT Evaluator.

Srini did a fab job of keeping us all in time and James Watts pointed out some great vocabulary and gave us the ‘bracing’ word of the day!

 

It was wonderful to see Adam back in the Club, as a visitor from Warwick Speakers and Leaders, who delivered an outstanding General Evaluation, pointing out the improvements that he noticed from his last visit, which was really good to hear.

 

It’s impressive how Godiva is stepping up and constantly looking at ways to improve!  Still riding the wave of being recognised as the best Club in the Division and Best Club in District for Q1, the Executive Team have decided to include some additional roles.

 

Bruno is New Member Induction Manager

Pratik (in addition to being Sergeant At Arms), is the VP of Technology.

Vicky is now our Roles Manager.

Amy is our Assistant VPM.

 

It is really inspiring how such new members are so keen to get involved and feel supported enough to step up and contribute so fully.

 

Godiva Speakers welcomed Muhammad and Guppy as our newest members and also celebrated Santhosh for reaching his Level 5 of the Innovative Planning Pathway, which will give Godiva’s another DCP Point.

We also welcomed a visitor – Canon  whose home club is in Nigeria and he is currently studying at Warwick University.

 

In club business, our president, Nishanth, reminded us that time moves on quickly and the International Speech and Evaluation Contests are not too far away.  Bence did a terrific job in representing Godiva’s in the Humorous Speech and Table Topic Competition, only to have a Division spot disappointingly snatched away.

 

That means that now we can all look forward to the possibility of becoming ‘The World Champion of Public Speaking’!

 

Godiva Club Contest will be held on 8th March and Area 42 Contest on 19th March.

 

In order to qualify for the International Speech Competition, you must have completed Level 2 in at least one Pathway.

 

The only qualification criteria for the Evaluation Contest is that you are a member in good standing that belongs to a club of good standing.

 

To encourage our new members to take part, Godiva’s will be running a couple of Speakerthons in order to ensure there are enough speaking slots to get people to a Level 2.  The first Speakerthon will take place on the 30th November.

 

Please make sure to request your next speech through EasySpeak as soon as possible. Click here to see the agenda.

 

If you have any questions or queries, please reach out to myself or any of the Exec Team who will be very happy to help.

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