Good afternoon, London Victorians! ☀️

These past couple of months have been a Himalayan Range of high points for our Victorians.

One of these glimmering peaks was the recent ‘Humorous Speech and Table Topic Competition’—six words that are enough to strike fear into any Toastmaster. But not to be outdone, 11 of our members rose to the occasion and proudly showcased what it means to be a Victorian.

Our club also turned 10 as members got together to celebrate at the Windsor Castle pub. (Belated birthday gifts can be sent to the Wellington Hotel).

📢 Club Update 📢

Sparks flew as our members clashed in a battle of wit during the recent Humorous and Table Topics Speech Contest.

The humorous speech contest showcased an impressive array of topics, demonstrating the incredible imagination of our contestants.

From the quirks of zip files, the pro’s and con’s of arranged marriages, to the timeless appeal of dad jokes, the art of navigating ‘late early middle life syndrome,’ and the emotional rollercoaster of preparing a speech had the audience in stitches.

With the crowd properly warmed up, next up came table topics and with an aviation themed question “A kite, a balloon, a plane - choose one and tell us”. Florian clinched this one, managing to creatively stich the 3 items together as he told us about the evolution of flight.

Please join us in congratulating our winners on an outstanding performance:

A big thanks also goes to our contest chair (master of ceremonies) Lucy Gray, chief judge Nat Hughes and the wider cast of Victorians who made sure the evening ran smoothly and to time.

🔦 Member Spotlight 🔦

This month, we spotlight Aneeta, our outgoing club president for 2023-2024. Here's what Aneeta had to say…

• How did you first hear about Toastmasters, and what motivated you to join?

  I heard about toastmasters from my parents who used to go. My main motivation was having certain thoughts and ideas during work meetings and not feeling confident enough to say them/ not knowing how to say them.

• What has been your most memorable experience or speech at Toastmasters so far?

  I love seeing how many people construct and deliver speeches in different creative ways. For example, for someone’s story telling speech they wanted to create an inviting atmosphere for it so he sat on a chair the whole speech and sipped on a can of beer as he was doing it- never really seen that before!

• Outside of Toastmasters, what are some of your hobbies or interests?

  Outside of Toastmasters, I love going to the gym because it really pushes me!

👥 New Members 👥

We’re excited to welcome our newest members to the London Victorians family! This month, we’re thrilled to introduce:

• Raphael Agbanrin

• Manish Aggarwal

• Stathi Anthopoulos

🚀 What’s Next 🚀

• Basecamp Outage (9th to 25th October): Members completing a speech during this period should download any Pathways materials in advance, as they won't be accessible during the outage.

• Area Contest (23rd Oct, 18:30 at Palestra House, SE1 8NJ): Let's celebrate our contest winners and support them at the Area Contest! For the Humorous Speech Contest, Tom will be representing us, as George unfortunately won’t be renewing.

• Special Themed Meeting (22nd Oct): Join us as we celebrate the 100th anniversary of Toastmasters with a special themed meeting! Don’t miss out on this milestone event.

🎓 Enlightening Insights 🎓

Writer of the dystopian novel by 1984, George Orwell, believed passionately in freedom of speech as a way to avoid ‘groupthink’ and wrote an article on how we can untangle our muddy thoughts to become clear and concise communicators.

Despite being written in 1946, his lessons still echo across time and should be read by every Toastmaster wanting to communicate more effectively. The TLDR version below:

📣Feedback Zone 📣

Got ideas to elevate our club or jazz up our events and newsletter? Share your thoughts at [email protected] and help shape our future!