Wednesday’s meeting this week was a smaller, more intimate group than the previous meeting and we had a thoroughly good time, with everyone having a chance to participate.
Our presenter for the evening, Rob, who kicked off by welcoming everyone and giving our guests an overall picture of how the club works. He then introduced the first of the speakers for the evening, our very experienced member, Allan. The topic was In the Bleak Mid Winter and Allan took it as an opportunity to research the title and found that it was not only the name of the well known hymn but also the title of other works (book, film and television). He cleverly used the framework of the game of charades to deliver his research.
Five speakers had been scheduled to talk and in the week and day leading up to the evening, four had to drop out. I stepped in and delivered a fairly impromptu speech (I had a warning about lunchtime) on What song would you choose?, discussing the choice of In the Bleak Mid Winter as a funereal choice and giving thought to what others have chosen for weddings and funerals. The speech ended with my husband’s choice for his funeral of Steve Harley and the Cockney Rebels’ Come up and See Me Sometime.
Evaluation is a major feature of our club nights – getting constructive feedback on your speech. It fell to two newer members and I think we were all delighted with the refreshing views given by Waseem and Susan to two experienced speakers. They gave great praise to Allan and me for aspects of our talks but also really useful recommendations. (I have to watch my slouch!) But we all had to laugh when Waseem said it was ‘like giving a bollocking to a headmaster’.
Because we had the extra time, we used it to ask everyone to come up one by one to choose something from a box of miscellaneous items that would inspire a one-minute speech. Consequently, we heard of Susan’s moment to shine, Nathana’s need for glasses, Alana’s ability to rap, Margaret’s great hat collection, Mercedes’ love of shiny boxes and Lyn’s love of fans; Allan’s need for video entertainment in Cyprus, Waseem and his lost childhood toy, Shabana and her hook, Julie’s adventures horseriding in France and Rob and his hat. All very entertaining!
We finished the evening with a very enjoyable workshop run by former speech contest winner Mercedes, who led us in a discussion about being knowledgeable about the rules of the contest so that we don’t fall foul of them. She also got us in small groups to think about what tips could be offered on content and delivery of a winning speech.
Carole Manship
Club President
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