Wimbledon Speakers Club

It was a more gentle and reflective meeting last Wednesday, in contrast to the vigour and busy-ness of the previous session.  It’s fascinating how meetings can vary and mood alters, largely due to the group present, but more so I think, to the content of the evening.

Thanks and appreciation go to the 7 new visitors who attended, nearly all of whom spoke for the first time.  Nick will go into WSC history as one of very few who earned the ‘Best Topic’ prize on a first attempt!

We enjoyed 3 terrific prepared speeches this week as well, with 2 of our speakers practicing for other events and occasions, and the 3rd sharing research and learning from a degree course.

It’s so valuable that Wimbledon Speakers Club can offer a safe and supportive environment for people to practice in, before heading out into the world of often bigger, unknown audiences!  Riffi was trialling her speech for a speech competition, and Ollie his, for a charity event in order to raise awareness and funds.  Neil also shared, in another part of the meeting, that he had joined the club as he is getting married next year, and ‘dreading’ the prospect of his speech.

So, many, many reasons to visit a speakers club, and build genuine experience and confidence for all of those opportunities ‘out there’!

Our next meeting is on Wednesday 26th October.  It promises to be a good one.

See you there.

One speech was all about this… with real samples… thank you Simone!

Our second meeting was a wonderful gathering, where we had chance to welcome back friends who hadn’t been for a while, speakers from neighbouring clubs, and some first time visitors.  It’s always inspiring to see the new and the nervous embrace the chance to speak, and step up for a short introduction or a topic.  We invite everyone to proceed at their own pace and simply spectate if they prefer to, and yet a surprising number jump at the chance to be involved on a first visit.

With fewer prepared speeches on the programme this week, we had a double session of impromptu topics.  Without exception on these occasions, even the most experienced speakers are always just a little more relaxed second time around, and often reflect as much.  This is the true benefit of working through the discomfort of being ‘put on the spot’ for 2 minutes.  It sounds like such a tiny fragment of time, but can feel like a lifetime!

Congratulations to Sam, whose topic, ‘Cat Lover’, was voted the favourite of the evening. This was such a perfect example of turning the most ordinary subject into something personal, quirky and humorous.  Sam, together with Riffi, also delivered group evaluations for the first time.  Both shared wonderfully constructive and comprehensive feedback, ensuring that all in the room felt truly seen and heard.

It was an exemplary evening;  sincere thanks to everyone involved, and we now look forward to our next meeting on Wednesday 12th October.

Well done Sam!

We had a fantastic evening on Wednesday and got back into the speaking stride quickly and easily.  Michael led a full meeting, with a round of highly apt Topics (on the theme of New Beginnings), and with two excellent prepared speeches from Jan and Lissi.

Congratulations to Jan, who also earned her Level 5 certificate for prepared speeches and claimed the prize for best topic of the evening.

We extended a warm welcome too to new guests Robert, Anton and Alex.

We look forward to plenty more at the next meeting of Wednesday 28th September.  See you there!