Written By: Andrew Miller VPM (Edited By: Donald Sweeting VPPR, Doncaster Speakers Toastmasters Club)
Get Out Of Your Comfort Zone And Help Each Other
This was the overarching message that ran through last night’s meeting of Doncaster Speakers and it was more than just words. Actions followed intention.
Andy Howell, as Toastmaster of the evening, set the specific theme of Every Step You Take, backing it up with the title of this article and the importance of moving forwards with purpose.
Very relevant because, as a result of some behind the scenes challenges, we had lost
approximately a third of our role takers for the evening and everyone had to rally round and take on multiple roles – Andy himself taking on three. This included one of our newer members, Mihail Pricop, who added Ah Counter to his role
as Grammarian – a challenging task to do both at the best of times – and add the fact that English is not his native language, he did an absolute sterling job.
We were also blessed with three excellent speeches tonight.
Seasoned Toastmaster, Lianna Williamson carried away the vote for best speaker of the evening with her personal experiences of “Fight, Flight or Freeze” (as well as stepping in as Table Topics Master at a moment’s notice)
This should not, in any way, take away from the performances from our other two
speakers, Rai Bergmane and Roy Rungay.
Rai has only been with us for around 6 months but is a star in the making and delivered another confident performance with a different take on the concept of “My Story”. Later on in the session, she would evaluate the Table Topics session and this would earn her a ribbon for the night for Best Evaluator.
Our other speech of the evening came from new member Roy Rungay who delivered his Ice Breaker speech entitled “My Choice” and what an introduction to the club. A self confessed ‘bag of nerves’ when joining the club a few weeks ago, this was another example of someone getting out of their comfort zone, taking action and hitting it out of the park. An incredibly confident, well delivered speech – it felt like he’d been a member for years. A great sign of things to come.
Also unwilling to go home empty handed, as well as getting his Ice Breaker ribbon, Roy also carried home the Table Topic vote (shared with Andrew Miller). So everyone was a winner of sorts. Special mentions too for Steven and Stephanie Bisby who both doubled or trebled up on roles in order to make sure things ran smoothly, including a great education slot from Stephanie which was engaging and interactive – fielding and responding to comments from the audience with aplomb.
Finally, a welcome to Nicole and Pat who, last night, started the process to join the club. Both have speaking fears that they want to face and have been inspired to get out of their comfort zones and take action – and of course, the other members of Doncaster Speakers will all be there to help.
Next meeting is on the 8th April. If you’re interested incoming along, drop a line to
doncasterspeakers@gmail.com and ask for details.
Doncaster Speakers 