13 October 2010 BISC Wednesday Meeting Theme : Bankers - heroes or villains?

Dear all

At our latest meeting on Wednesday evening, three members gave their own unique spin on whether the recent banking crisis has led to our country's bankers being viewed as heroes or villains.

Michael kicked off the action with a comprehensive SWOT analysis of the current situation posing the question to us all "Was it business strategy or cheating?" Hmmm... In her evaluation of his speech, Helen, a self-confessed loather of the SWOT analysis had nothing but praise for Michael's speech which he delivered with an air of calm and composure.

Next came Ana with her very first speech at BISC - well done Ana! Both Mark and Helen in their valuations commented on the quality of her speech as we were all left with the question in our heads... "Are the bankers villains or are we as much to blame?"

The final speaker in the first half was Jacqui with the title "Are the good men wearing white hats?" in reference to the western films of old. She presented to us the figure of one billion
(1 000000000000) which baffled many of us when she stated that we, the British public gave £850billion to the banking sector to help keep it afloat.

We welcomed three guests - one new and two returning to the club which was great to see. In the second half, in repsonse to requests from members for more workshops helping to improve impromptu speaking, we ran a workshop where members had to speak for 1 minute each using a page of a magazine for stimulus material. Difficult - but a great skill to have!

The next meeting is our evening of ghost stories with speeches from Chris Pugh, Josie Mmojieje, Lorna Sheldon, Henri Christophe, Steve Hopkins and Lyn Hayles . In the second half, we welcome Ken Lowles , former member of Lichfield Powertalk who will run a workshop on ghost stories.

Remember that the Anglia Council training day is being held on Saturday 30th October at the Express by Holiday Inn, Acton Gate, Staffordshire. If you would like to attend, drop me a line.

See you on the 27th!

Best wishes
Lucy Dinsdale
President of Birmingham International Speakers Club (BISC)