🥳 Congratulations to Our 2025-26 Committee!

Leadership isn’t just about holding roles - it’s about holding space: for ideas, support, progress, and community.

With the President’s vision lighting the path ahead, our newly elected committee steps forward to make that future real. These are the voices who’ll shape our meetings, nurture our culture, and carry London Victorians through another inspiring year.

👏 To our 2025-26 committee: thank you for your courage, commitment, and camaraderie. We’re excited for the journey ahead - and proud to walk it beside you.

🎙️ A Message from the Incoming President - Leading with Legacy

This year, we welcome back a leader whose journey is woven into the very fabric of London Victorians - a charter member, a past President, a Distinguished Toastmaster and now, once again, the guiding voice of our club.

With over a decade of dedication, Florian Bay’s return to the presidency isn’t just a continuation - it’s a renewal. A moment to reflect on where we began, reimagine where we’re going, and refocus on what makes our club extraordinary.

We asked him five questions that explore legacy, leadership, and vision. Here’s what he had to say:

What does it mean to lead London Victorians as founding President in 2025?

It is exciting to be back leading the club as President, eleven years after the idea of launching it germinated in my mind. I am lucky to have an excellent team working alongside me this year and am looking forward to seeing what we will achieve together.

How has the club evolved since its founding - and where do you see it heading next?

This is a great question! Many members have come and gone since the club’s founding, but one constant has been that most of our members tend to be early to mid-career professionals looking to further their skills. This also manifests itself in the professional nature of Club meetings, which typically feature high quality speeches and evaluations. I do not see this changing significantly in the coming year, although I am keen for the club to also rediscover some of the social glue it had in the past, many memories (and more) were once made over after meeting drinks in Moo Cantina.

What values will guide your leadership this year? 

Excellence is a value which I cherish, especially as the ambition when launching London Victorians back in 2014 was for the club to become the best Toastmasters club in London. This value and ambition will be guiding my leadership this year, building upon the achievements of recent years to push the club to new heights. I am also keen to see more members taking ownership of their speaking journey and to step-up to embrace the many leadership opportunities the Club has to offer.

How will you support both new and seasoned members in achieving their goals?

By reaching out to members and talking to them, about their ambitions, how we can help them and ensuring that they are fully equipped to make the most of what the Club has to offer. I cannot however stress that what one gets out of the Club is what one puts into it. So, attend meetings consistently, aim to speak at every meeting even to do a Table Topic, use Pathways, and write down the feedback you receive.

What’s one personal goal you’ve set for yourself as President?

One of my goals for myself this year will be to delegate more, and every member of the leadership team will be acting President at least once this year. Beyond this, I want to be back to delivering speeches every 6 weeks or so to keep pushing my skills forward and complete my third Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award.

👏 With roots that run deep and a vision aimed high, Florian invites us to walk forward - boldly, brilliantly, and together.

🎓 Pathways Achievements - Steps That Speaks for Themselves

In Toastmasters, every speech is more than just spoken words. It’s courage. It’s clarity. It’s progress.

The Pathways program isn’t just a curriculum - it’s a companion. It meets you where you are, nudges you where you dream to be, and helps shape the speaker, the leader, and the listener within. From icebreakers to inspiring keynotes, it’s a journey paved by persistence, reflection, and purpose.

Today, we celebrate our members who’ve taken powerful strides on that journey:

👏 Whether you’ve just begun or you’re halfway through a path - every milestone matters. Your growth is your gift to this club. Congratulations to each of you!

🎭 New Member Spotlight – Enter, Stage Left...

Every great story has its moment of arrival. At London Victorians, it's not a curtain call - it's a quiet entrance followed by a confident first line.

One member turns any table topic into fiction in fractions - blink and you’ll miss the twist. Another transforms role-play into revelation, adding flair not found in manuals. One arrives with a legacy - not just experience, but echoes from two other Toastmasters clubs. And the ribbon collector? A guest-turned-member whose streak left jaws ajar and timers scrambling. Now a member. Now a mystery.

And then there are the ones who move in silence. They speak seldom, but when they do - the silence holds its breath. Learning in the shadows, listening between the lines… Waiting for the moment to step forward.

They’re not just members. They’re momentum. A mix of mystery, mastery, and mayhem (the good kind). Each stepping into the scene, ready to deliver a line that lands.

🎬 To our new members: You’ve joined a club that celebrates courage, nurtures growth, and applauds progress - loudly and often. Your journey is already underway, and we’re excited to see where your voice takes you.

🎭 To our seasoned members: Let’s extend a hand, share a tip, and maybe even mentor a rising star. After all, every confident speaker was once a curious guest.

🎤 And the next voice to surprise us all… might be sitting beside you.

🌟 Welcome aboard - onward and upward!

📚 Words Worth Stealing

Have you felt a shift in the rhythm of this newsletter? A brush of theatrical flair? A dash of rhetorical dazzle? That’s no accident. This edition draws its sparkle from the sly brilliance of Mark Forsyth, author of The Elements of Eloquence: How to Turn the Perfect English Phrase. It’s not a manual - it’s a magician’s notebook.

Forsyth dusts off the ancient spells of rhetoric and hands them to you like stolen treasure:

• Anaphora – repetition that builds rhythm and resolve

• Chiasmus – where structure flips and meaning deepens

• Epizeuxis – repetition for emphasis, emphasis, emphasis

• Antithesis – contrast that clarifies and captivates

You may have spotted a few scattered throughout this newsletter - not by accident, but by design. Because eloquence isn’t just for speeches. It’s for storytelling, leadership, and yes, even newsletter introductions.

📖 Want to sharpen your style and dazzle your audience? Pick up The Elements of Eloquence. Forsyth doesn’t just teach you how to speak - he teaches you how to enchant.

And if you’re feeling inspired, sneak one of these rhetorical devices into your next speech. We’ll be listening - and applauding.