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Past Meetings (2019)  
 
Meeting 26th November

Jackie Baker | Elain Watt | Kevin Bennison | Tristan Mitchell

Malvern Speakers Nov 26th   Meeting Report   Colin Jackson

Rather sparsely (16) attended, and with rather more serious-than-usual subjects for the main speeches, this meeting was enlivened by an amicable altercation between the club’s two tallest members – 18-year old Isaac Baker and 6ft 7ins father-of-four strapping boys - Kevin Bennison.  Sparked initially by grammarian Kevin’s word of the day – empirical – and featuring such rarities as Year 10 Latin, the exchange provided admirable seasoning for the evening’s three main courses!

The first of these was a moving story about a young blind girl getting her first Guide Dog.  It was  told by Mike Snoswell, whose own Hearing Dog Alvin is a regular attendee at bother Malvern and Worcester Speakers’ meetings.  Then Tristan Mitchell – who had already run the Table Topics session – presented in his unfailingly entertaining style his thoughts on the importance of mentoring in Toastmasters, under the ingenious title of Mr Mentorvator. 

Finally,  thoroughly modern Elaine Watt gave an absorbing illustrated account of how she had developed a podcast as a marketing aid for her holiday let business.  Informative and enlightening, it undoubtedly opened some eyes to the possibilities of the podcast format. 

In the table topics session, Tristan had invited speakers to discuss, spontaneously, various shopping items as varied as cheese (Dave Bradley), pizza (Dave Evans) and cornflakes (Hilary Benoit) and Kevin Bennison’s winning effort on eggs.  Jackie Baker’s expert and comprehensive appraisal of these and other impromptu speeches was voted the evening’s Best  Evaluation, while Best Speaker ribbon  went to Elaine Watt.

Next meeting will be the club’s popular and well-established Christmas Dinner (with verbal trimmings!). This will take place at the Great Malvern Hotel on Tuesday December 10th. Members please note the earlier start time of 7pm.

 

 

 
Meeting 12th November

Ben James | Karen Lowen | Isaac Baker

Meeting Report – 12th Nov 2019                Caroline Bellhouse

 'Never do a sit up again'! Music to my ears and on Tuesday night, speaker Ben James urged his audience to heed his plea. In a presentation filled with clear and vivid images of ligaments, connective tissue, stacked vertebrae and fluid-filled discs, he lucidly described the marvel of our spines and gave advice on protecting them. He was voted the nights best speaker. Angela Davis also taught her audience interesting facts, about three notable historical events occurring in November. First was a discussion of why we still light fires and fireworks to commemorate a failed attempt to destroy our parliament in 1606. Next, she asked the audience where they were when JF Kennedy was shot in November 1963 and explored that invisible bond that connects so many people across the world. Thirdly, the profound impact the fall of the Berlin Wall (November 9th 1989) had on Angela. With the fall of the wall came the collapse of the Iron Curtain and the Cold War.

The third prepared speech was full of emotion and beauty, from a Goan full moon to the touching words of a five year old 'princess'. Rumana Edwards not only introduced herself to the club, but took her audience on a journey of discovery of her daughter - Daddy's Girl turned into Mummy's Girl - from her first day at nursery school through to her opera and theatrical training of today. The speech was hugely emotional and full of sincerity.

Kevin Bennison posed a series of dating quandaries for certain members to imagine, eliciting a sad story of being stood up in the thundering rain, fake tan and short dress soaked, from Elaine Watt. Stan Cantrill spoke of the best gift being forgiveness and Karen Lowen declared dating a minefield. Isaac Baker was the evening's winner, with the three soundtracks to his life.

Karen Lowen won Best Evaluator with a superbly technical report.

Steve Birch summed up the meeting with tips on ensuring that notes are used effectively, including ensuring that notes are big enough to read easily, and he praised the calm, but authoritative control of the evenings toastmaster, Geoff Richardson.

The next meeting is on Tuesday 26th November at The Great Malvern Hotel – 7:15pm for a prompt 7.30pm start. All are welcome to join the meeting and share our famous home-made cakes.

 
Meeting 22nd October
Hilary Benoit | Graham Sterry | Caroline Bellhouse
 
Malvern Speakers report 22/10/19 Colin Jackson

There was a decidedly zoological flavour to Malvern Speakers’ latest meeting. The improvised Table Topics, set by welcome returning member Dave Bradley, brought forth among others Steph Bilton’s winning speech which included seals, sea lions, penguins and turtles; Caroline Bellhouse’s orang utans;Will Dutton’s green-eyed sheep – and Ben Yapp’s highly imaginative giant chicken, supposedly discovered by walkers on North Hill and swiftly converted into burgers!

Animals loomed large again in Steph’s prepared speech in which she sought to show that our feathered friends were “Not So Bird-Brained” after all. Research had shown that the top three most intelligent animals were the great apes, bottle-nosed sharks and elephants. But listeners might have been surprised to learn that the list also included crows, pigeons and parrots - including one 45-year-old African Grey which would conduct conversations with virtual computer assistant Alexa! An interested listener to all these animal topics was Mike Snoswell’s ‘hearing dog’ Alvin, a regular attendee at these meetings.

The two remaining prepared speeches brought the focus firmly back to the human race. Steve Birch not for the first time stepping in as a last minute super-sub – gave us an illuminating guide to tracing one’s family history, a subject on which he is a considerable expert. Having researched many peoples’ genealogy, he concluded that there was no family without some kind of skeleton in the cupboard.

Hilary Benoit’s truly ‘hilarious’ spoof reply to an airline’s request for passenger feedback to a disastrous transatlantic long-haul flight would have rung many bells for international travellers. Using her well-honed amateur dramatic skills, with eloquent body language to underline the regular crises from check-in to baggage reclaim, she earned the night’s Best Speech vote.

Next regular meeting will be at the Great Malvern Hotel on Tuesday November 12 at 7.30pm, guests warmly welcome, with free half-time cake! 
 
Meeting 8th October

 Malvern Speakers report 8.10 2019 - Colin Jackson

A procession of quick thinkers came forward at the start of Malvern Speakers’ latest meeting.  The task for each was to fashion an impromptu speech based on an object drawn from Jane Anson’s jumble bag. Swift reaction and considerable imagination marked them all. Caroline Bellhouse recalled the childhood comfort (or discomfort!) of a naked; rubber hot water bottle.  Steph Bilton made much of a Jack Russell’s way with bones. Jackie Baker waxed lyrical on the subject of Marmite; while Roger Granville, faced with a Teach Yourself Hindi manual, ingeniously linked it with the heavily accented on-line tech support we all receive from the sub-continent! Evening’s vote however went to Isaac Baker for his musings on the practical and social aspects of the humble gluestick.

 The tricky task of following this miscellany of nonsense fell to Stephen Marchant with his debut ‘icebreaker’ speech.  Confidently delivered, and craftily entitled Pathways -  the name given to the new Toastmasters International public speaking course – it turned our to be an account of his DIY experiences of laying his driveway with large paving slabs!

 Fortified by half-time cake, club President Roger Granville regaled us with a beautifully paced tale involving a metallurgist, a job in Zambia, a hotel night porter and a lady of doubtful reputation (and hefty charges) by the name of Madame Fifi.  Roger left his audience in suspense at the end by inviting them to decide whether or not the story was true – a question he did not answer!

 Finally, a more serious note was struck by Geoff Richardson.  Recently returned from a two-month stay in the villages of south-east Africa, he pondered The Mystery of Contentment, based on his observation of how the very poor people in such communities nonetheless had great dignity, were untouched by advertising and were generally well satisfied with simply overcoming the challenges of daily life.  He ended what was voted the night’s best speech with a quotation from Benjamin Franklin: “Contentment makes a poor man rich; discontent makes a rich man poor”. -

 Next meeting: Great Malvern Hotel, 7.30pm Tuesday 22nd October. Admission free, all welcome!

 
Meeting 24th September

 Malvern Speakers report 8.10 2019 - Colin Jackson

A procession of quick thinkers came forward at the start of Malvern Speakers’ latest meeting.  The task for each was to fashion an impromptu speech based on an object drawn from Jane Anson’s jumble bag. Swift reaction and considerable imagination marked them all. Caroline Bellhouse recalled the childhood comfort (or discomfort!) of a naked; rubber hot water bottle.  Steph Bilton made much of a Jack Russell’s way with bones. Jackie Baker waxed lyrical on the subject of Marmite; while Roger Granville, faced with a Teach Yourself Hindi manual, ingeniously linked it with the heavily accented on-line tech support we all receive from the sub-continent! Evening’s vote however went to Isaac Baker for his musings on the practical and social aspects of the humble gluestick.

 The tricky task of following this miscellany of nonsense fell to Stephen Marchant with his debut ‘icebreaker’ speech.  Confidently delivered, and craftily entitled Pathways -  the name given to the new Toastmasters International public speaking course – it turned our to be an account of his DIY experiences of laying his driveway with large paving slabs!

 Fortified by half-time cake, club President Roger Granville regaled us with a beautifully paced tale involving a metallurgist, a job in Zambia, a hotel night porter and a lady of doubtful reputation (and hefty charges) by the name of Madame Fifi.  Roger left his audience in suspense at the end by inviting them to decide whether or not the story was true – a question he did not answer!

 Finally, a more serious note was struck by Geoff Richardson.  Recently returned from a two-month stay in the villages of south-east Africa, he pondered The Mystery of Contentment, based on his observation of how the very poor people in such communities nonetheless had great dignity, were untouched by advertising and were generally well satisfied with simply overcoming the challenges of daily life.  He ended what was voted the night’s best speech with a quotation from Benjamin Franklin: “Contentment makes a poor man rich; discontent makes a rich man poor”. -

 Next meeting: Great Malvern Hotel, 7.30pm Tuesday 22nd October. Admission free, all welcome!

 
Contests 10th September

Hummerous Speech contest winners

Jackie Baker (3rd) | Issac Baker (2nd) | David Evans (1st)

 

Table Topics contest winners

David Evans (3rd) | Stephanie Bilton (2nd) | Steve Birch (1st)

 
Meeting 27th August

Jackie Baker | Rodget Granville | Andrei Rezmeriţã

Malvern Speakers Report       27th August 2019

Recently elected President Roger Granville is already making his mark on the Malvern Speakers club. Sadly he had to miss the previous outdoor event he had arranged at the Priory Park bandstand, but he grabbed the headlines at the late August meeting. Not only was he presented with a Toastmasters International Distinguished Toastmaster medal (as did past Presidents Hilary Benoit and Steve Birch) but he was voted the night’s best speaker. 

In addition he  presided over a novel Table Topics session in which everyone present was asked  briefly to describe “my favourite dish”.  This produced a predictably wide range of delights, from salmon-en-croute and chicken dhansak to blueberry muffins and Dubrovnik orange cake - not to mention several items of crockery and even Julie Christie as Lara in the film of Dr Zhivago!  However It was Jackie Baker’s mouthwatering description of sticky toffee pudding which won the vote. 

President Granville’s winning speech was a consideration of the contemporary phenomenon of “fake news”.  We were living in what he called an “Age of Anti-Enlightment” which contrasted starkly with the 18th-19th century “Age  of Enlightenment” with its emphasis on proven evidence rather than rumour and old wives’ tales.  Today people were cherry-picking the news (real, fake or propaganda) from social media to suit what they wanted to believe.

The club’s 2018 Toastmaster of the Year Jane Anson gave us a thoughtful piece about the role of art in society, to a striking background slide show of cave paintings. She left us with the memorable quote “If you can say it in words there’d be no need to paint”.  Romanian-born Andrei Rezmeriţã impressed everyone by beginning his fluent critique of this speech by quoting Sigmund Freud - no wonder it was voted best evaluation!

Finally, Kevin Bennison, who must have  arrived expecting a relatively quiet evening , bravely stepped into the vacant Third Speaker slot and in a matter of minutes produced a polished and lucid speech on the tension between logic and emotion in decision making.  It was illustrated with easy-to follow flip charts and delivered with  totally um-free confidence. A remarkable effort from one of the club's newer members.

The next meeting, a contest for unprepared and humorous speeches which could lead to a District final in London, will be at Great Malvern Hotel at 7.30pm on Tuesday September 10th.

 
 
Meeting 13th August
Malvern Speakers Picnic in the Park 13th Aug 2019

Club Journalist - Colin Jackson

The sweeping lawns and wonderful century-old trees of Malvern’s Priory Park made a new setting for the club’s first-ever outdoor meeting. And the special nature of the occasion was underlined when Toastmaster for the evening Stuart Watt, whose relaxed style and cheerful humour was a key element of the meeting, turned up in full dress of scarlet coat complete with brass buttons and top hat!

Because of the practical difficulties of the normal paper slip voting system, a novel two-part approach was used: a “Clapometer” for each speech, tempered by a PDI (President’s Discretion Index). This role was embraced with enthusiasm by Geoff Richardson, standing in for new President Roger Granville who had organised the picnic meeting but sadly was unable to attend owing to illness.

A lively set of unprepared Table Topics set by Steve Birch produced some startling images – Graham Sterry’s early work experiences at a brickworks, Jackie Preuss’s curious passion for Nutella and cheese together, and Jackie Baker’s mouthwatering description of her Best Sandwich Ever. But the winning speech was Kevin Bennison’s explanation of how, even as a father of four children, he had not quite yet become a grown-up.

Notable among the prepared speeches was Tom Ellison’s well-researched, myth-busting case for nuclear power as the answer to current energy problems. But this was as much for the aplomb with which he reacted to the arrival of the rain which had threatened all evening, and resumed his speech seamlessly after the audience had hastily moved from the lawns into the cover of the bandstand, as for the speech itself.

Karen Lowen’s musings on the advantages or disadvantages of being single - “alone” or “lonely”? -were typical of her mix of careful research and charming fluent delivery, and contained surprising information about some of the 800 dating sites currently online – one even judging on how you like your bacon cooked!

The comfortable winner, under the by now tried-and-tested Clapometer/PDI voting system, was Tristan Mitchell. His totally original and somewhat surreal contribution could have been entitled Fantasia On The Letter B – a lengthy and highly improbable tale about four children Benny, Billy, Biff and Bongo and their parents. This suggested that he had spent some time with a dictionary studying words beginning with the second letter of the alphabet, and although he tripped up over the repetition of his B-words at one point, had his audience in stitches.

Best evaluator vote went to Isaac Baker for his comprehensive review of the seven Table Topics.
The club will retire for its next meeting to the cover of its usual venue, the Great Malvern Hotel, on Tuesday August 27th at 7.30pm.
 
Meeting 23rd July

David Evans | Jackie Baker | Kevin Bennison

 

Malvern Speakers Report (Colin Jackson)       Tuesday July 23 2019
 
Word of the Day – which the meeting Grammarian challenges speakers to work into their offerings – was OLEAGINOUS, meaning oily or greasy, or such personal characteristics as fulsome or smarmy. It was chosen by Colin Jackson, who threatened dire penalties for the use of overworked clichés like amazing, fantastic, awesome, the widely mis-used ‘like’ - and the superfluous and ubiquitous ‘so’ when answering a question. Speakers did well on all these counts.
 
There were three stimulating prepared speeches. First came Karen Lowen with a typically original and breezy analysis of different management styles. She lightened what she admitted could be dry subject with the aid of props as varied as as an onion, a pineapple, a shepherds pie and a box of chocolates (which, oddly, did not survive the evening!)
 
Following the club’s trademark Cake Break, members were treated to a powerful speech from Kevin Bennison on the theme of Taking The Leap. He used a vivid description of the experience of his first parachute jump to draw parallels with having the courage to take similarly scary plunges in one’s personal or business life.
Finally, new club President Roger Granville drew on his own work experience to give a fascinating insight into the research methods of the chemical industry. He amused his audience with an account of an explosion which had projected pieces of debris “as big as himself or former President Steve Birch” (both solid citizens!) at least a kilometre
 
Biggest laugh of the evening, however, came in the unprepared Table Topic speech from Stuart Watt, who mused on the changing style of football anthems,from “Abide With Me”to, as he said, “Olé, Olé,OLÉ...AGINOUS”, making clever use of the Word of the Day !
 
Winners on the evening were Kevin Bennison(Best Speech), Jackie Baker (Best Evaluation) and David Evans (Best Table Topic).
 
Next club event (weather permitting) will be a picnic meeting at the bandstand in Priory Park on Tuesday August 13th at the earlier time of 7pm
 
Meeting 9th July

Stephanie Bilton, Steve Birch, Manon Trebaul

 

Meeting Report 9th July 2019        Club Journalist Caroline Bellhouse


The postcode of Wimbledon Tennis: SW19 5AE provided the ingenious inspiration for impromptu topics dreamt up by Tristan Mitchell which led to an inspiring and amusing session won by Stephanie Bilton who described her father’s first post war family swim, complete with trendy knitted swimming costume which utterly embarrassed the young Stephanie. Humour shone through but was eclipsed by an honest and emotional delivery. Other speakers regaled with tales of stag-do go-karting contests (Paul Davies) , digging a latrine on Beef Island in sweltering heat (Steve Birch), watching wildlife in wellington boots (Caroline Bellhouse), the domain of darkness being overcome by light and positivity (Anna Simpson), having to wait a whole two years for strawberry plants to fruit (Manon Trebaul) and feeling like a king at The Granville Hotel in Vancouver (Roger Granville).

Prepared speeches began with a fascinating discussion of leadership – styles, ethos and methods from Jackie Baker. Jackie explored styles from Hitler - ‘come with me or else’ to Ghandi – ‘come with me and have a group hug on the way’.
Graham Sterry’s talk ‘Is Alexa Dangerous?’ was an unsettling and informative presentation about artificial intelligent, including ‘the rogue intelligent being’ predicted by Stephen Hawkins. Graham concluded by agreeing with Bill Gates that ‘humans should be a bit worried’ about the future with artificial intelligence. Evaluator Roger Granville praised Graham for ‘not going all nerdy’ and using terms such as ‘gigaflops and nanobits’ in order to reach his audience.

But the winning speech was given by sixteen year old visitor Manon Trebaul – her first ever - in her second language. Manon compared and contrasted her native France with England and described superbly her roller coaster of emotions and experiences during her three month stay locally. She received a standing ovation and the audience seemed to agree with her evaluator Steve Birch’s comment that ‘the future is golden, Manon is golden’.

President Roger Granville delivered the splendid news that the club is ranked 38th in the world (achievements and growth) and urged for yet more improvements.
 
Next meeting Tuesday 23rd July 7.30pm at The Great Malvern Hotel. All welcome.

 
 
Meeting 25th June

Malvern Speakers – 25th June meeting report


Club Journalist - Colin Jackson

This meeting included youthful visitors from France and Russia (Manon, Dasha & Nikita) some of whom even bravely (and impressively) took active parts in proceedings. It was opened by new president Roger Granville, who introduced his term of office by announcing that the August meeting (weather [permitting) would take the form of a picnic on the Priory Park bandstand – an original idea for the club.

Originality was a key feature of the winning speech from Karen Lowen on “Riding the Coaster” of life. Contemplating the ups and downs of life, she drew up a list of guidelines, the first of which was to accept that happiness in your life was nobody’s responsibility but you own. Another, touchingly, was to” forgive everything, and everyone, all the time”. Although serious in content, the speech was delivered in Karen’s smiling, light-hearted and self-deprecatory style and clearly won the hearts of her audience,

An upbeat note also pervaded the unprepared Table Topics session compèred by Hilary Benoit, who asked speakers to talk about some of their best experiences. This brought out a wide range of memories, from Jackie Baker’s run on a wet day and Roger’s going to see the Beatles in a Hard Day’s Night to a sea voyage up the Norwegian coast by Stephanie Bilton and Steve Birch’s best meal ever – which was voted best in a vintage set of talks.

The two other man speeches were of a more serious nature, both elaborating on the Toastmasters’ recently introduced Pathways programme. Tristan Mitchell pondered the importance of self-awareness in public speaking and understanding the impact of one’s own particular style on an audience. Senior member and experienced speaker Steve Birch also discussed what he had learned from the Pathways programme which he had recently completed – one of the first to do so.

Next meeting will be at the usual venue, the Great Malvern Hotel, on Tuesday July 9th at 7.30pm.
 
Meeting 11th June

Malvern Speakers Club Meeting Tuesday 11th June 2019

Roger Granville, Jackie Baker, Nikita, Dasha, Manon, Tristan Mitchell, Isaac Baker

 

There was a distinctly cosmopolitan flavour to the meeting, with visitors and members from Japan, France and the Ukraine and Steve Birch even delivered an impromptu short speech in (schoolboy/Kenneth Williams) French (much to the chagrin of the French visitor).

Not only that, but it was as though Nicholas Parsons was in the room as Tristan Mitchell deftly ran a Just A Minute session based on the Radio 4 show. Teams Donkey, Kangaroo and Cow and had to make their animal noise when an opponent deviated, paused or repeated a word.

The impromptu session run by Will Dutton had speakers feeling for an object in a deep bag and speaking to the room about it; Jane Anson described her hedgehog as more rotund than ones we usually see on the road, Tristan Mitchell’s colourful description of ‘cow experiences good and bad’ including Florence the cow who leapt around like a lamb in spring was voted best Topic Speech. Stephanie Bilton’s miniature vodka bottle brought back to her mind a wonderful Cossack welcome in Russia and Jackie Baker explained that while she liked the feel of the fur lined rubber glove, she would prefer it in yellow rather than lurid pink.

Geoff Richardson’s poignant speech on ‘The Lost Art of Serving’ explored the meaning of service, from tennis to domestic and even national service and coined the delightful phrase ‘in the privacy of your own shopping trolley’. Jackie Baker’s thorough and thoughtful evaluation of Geoff’s speech earned her the Best Evaluator ribbon.

Roger Granville’s ‘I didn’t do it, it was…’ speech - skilfully evaluated by Jane Anson - included the inspiring concept from Pericles: what you leave behind is not engraved in stone monuments but is interwoven in the lives of others.

A full and fun evening was had by all, with tasty cake in the break. The next meeting is on Tuesday 25th June at 7.30pm at The Great Malvern Hotel. All welcome.

 
Meeting 28th May

Malvern Speakers Club Meeting – Tuesday 28th May 2019

The meeting was started by our stand-in Sergeant at Arms, Stuart Watt complete with his showman attire, top hat and glittery cane. Wow, we were all wowed! Stuart has a natural ability to lift any meeting with his humour, enthusiasm and pizzazz!

Theme of the night was Kylie Minouge’s birthday. This was expertly, and humorously, used by our Toastmaster Karen Lowen with hidden Kylie song titles used throughout the meeting.

The table topics session was expertly presented by Jackie Baker asking each speaker to choose an object and weave it into a continuing story. Yuri Douse was the well deserved winner telling us all about the magic of mobile phones. Rick Cooper evaluated the table topics with his usual skill ensuring every speaker left with both commendations and recommendations.

The first prepared speaker, Steph Bilton, regaled us all with three humorous accounts of travelling with exotic animals on various forms of public transport. With barely a glance at her notes Steph had the audience roaring with laughter at the various animal antics and deservedly won Best Speaker of the evening.

Next up was a duo of DTMs with Steve Birch and Rick Cooper presenting an educational entitled Roll with the Roles which was all about the roles needed during a meeting. Laurel and Hardy must have been turning in their graves.

Our last speaker was Elaine Watt, still in her Strictly come Dancing attire, telling us about getting out of your comfort zone. No notes but no twirl! Elaine really commands the stage and grabs the audience’s attention, especially in her 50s style shorts!

Best Evaluator went to Claire Davies for presenting one of the best evaluations seen at Malvern Speakers for quite some time. Her use of language, grammar and insight was amazing. As Sam Warner stated: “that evaluation was competition standard”.

Karen Lowen, our Toastmaster, presented a certificate for the most Kylie song titles to Steve Birch for his obvious knowledge of Kylie Minogue songs.

At the end of the meeting our Area Director, Sam Warner, presented Hilary Benoit with her DTM Plaque (Distinguished Toastmaster). Hilary has supported Malvern Speakers and its members since its inception in 2013, very well deserved. Sam then presented Steve Birch with TOTY (Toastmaster of the Year) for District 71 for his work and dedication to Toastmasters and its members.

Our next meeting is on Tuesday 11th June 2019. 7.15pm for a prompt 7.30pm start. Bring a friend, bring a relation.

 
Meeting 14th May

  

Caroline Bellhouse | Claire Davies | Karen Lowen

Malvern Speakers Meeting 14th May 2019.

Journalist - Caroline Bellhouse

The sixth anniversary meeting of Malvern Speakers aptly began with the announcement that founder and stalwart member, Steve Birch was recently voted UK’s Toastmaster of The Year. The award recognises dedication and exceptional service; certainly, members are proud and grateful to have Steve in our club.

David Evans sobering presentation on The Perils of Manufacturing highlighted how very costly ‘the indecision of Brexit’ is to so many industries. Due to the back log of supplies leaving Calais, parts now take weeks rather than days which has resulted in panic buying on a huge scale; BMW for example, have increased storage in the UK by 70% to cope with the backlog. Claire Davies positive and analytical evaluation of the presentation was justly awarded Best Evaluation.

In ‘How to send your trousers by Fed Ex to Indianapolis’, Roger Granville amused his audience with his frustrating experiences of hotel laundry services, complete with prop of ‘bio-hazard’ dirty washing in a plastic bag.

Caroline Bellhouse took members on a sun-soaked journey from sunrise to sunset through a cascade of colourful images of skies around the world taken on recent travels. The sunshine wooed the audience to vote the presenter Best Speaker on the night.

The impromptu session brought out the amateur dramatists in the audience; Graham Sterry became an incensed Che Guevara, David Evans was a remarkable likeness of Winston Churchill on discovering he was a twin of Adolf Hitler but it was Karen Lowen's portrayal of Ms Important Double-Barrell that was voted best Table Topic Speaker.

A varied and enjoyable evening was had by all and the next meeting is on 28th May at Great Malvern Hotel 7.30pm start.
All welcome and free entry.
 
Meeting 23th April

Paul Davies | Stephanie Bilton | Will Dutton | Jen Cashmore | Hilary Benoit

Malvern Speakers report April 23 2019 Colin Jackson CC

Recent unseasonably summery weather had led Isaac Baker to opt for a holiday theme for his Table Topics session. Most participants rose bravely to the challenge, with cherished memories of places as far apart as Morecambe, Cornwall and Banff in the Canadian Rockies. Two speakers rather let him down, however. Jen Cashmore, invited to recall a favourite outdoor meal, revealed a preference for the comforts of home, the sofa and the TV to open-air gastronomy; while Caroline Bellhouse, asked about her favourite ice cream, explained that she didn’t like the stuff at all, and amazed her audience with a description of a Malaysian equivalent featuring shaved ice and sweet corn!

In the first of the prepared speeches, a more serious note was struck by Isaac’s Mum Jackie Baker, with her thoughts on the importance of managing her personal time. This brought out the surprising detail that one day she had to admit to an unimpressed husband that she had spent 4½ hours looking after the dog!

Humour was never far from the surface in the confidently delivered icebreaker speech by new-dad-of-three-months Paul Davies. His subject – French Kids Don’t Throw Food – examined differences between the French and British ways of bringing up children. He identified three key principles: teach them to wait, give treats at just one time of day: and feed kids the same food as adults – giving them their veg first while they are really hungry!

“...and I thought he was such a nice young man” was Steph Bilton’s wistful comment as she began her evaluation of Will Dutton’s provocatively titled How To Lose Your Friends. It turned out that this was through the game of Monopoly, in which Will is obviously an expert. His advice: be as greedy as possible; drive a hard bargain when trading properties; and build houses and hotels aggressively. His tongue-in-cheek talk really engaged his listeners, generating an animated post-speech discussion and the evening’s Best Speech ribbon for Will.

Steph Bilton’s recollections of her time as a maid-of-all-work and a marine attraction in Morecambe won her the Best Table Topic vote, while Jen Cashmore’s forensic appraisal of Jackie Baker’s speech was judged best evaluation.

Next meeting will be at the Great Malvern Hotel at 7.30pm on Tuesday May 14th guest welcome.
 
Meeting 9th April

Steve Birch | Karen Lowen | Jackie Baker | Isaac Baker

 

Malvern Speakers Report Tuesday April 9th 2019 

Attendance of members was somewhat depleted, as on the previous evening many had been to share the celebrations as Malvern’s daughter club Worcester had achieved Toastmasters International Charter status. However this deficiency was made up for by an unusually large number of guests who enjoyed a typically lively and varied meeting.

It opened with Mike Snoswell’s slightly surreal Dr Who-themed Table Topics session. Speakers responded with suitable flair and imagination with unprepared talks on some pretty weird subjects. It was the contribution from the club’s youngest member Isaac Baker, who also had a busy evening as Toastmaster, that was voted best.

There were two sparkling prepared speeches, the first from Tristan Mitchell, who considered The Problem with Problems. He pointed out that we are constantly solving problems without even realising it – for instance deciding which of 40,000 possible combinations of the order of putting on just eight garments when we dress in the morning!  He ended (with appropriate actions!) with the famous tale of Archimedes’ Eureka moment when solving a problem in the bath.

The other main speaker was accountant Karen Lowen, who set out to demonstrate that far from being a bean counter, her profession was daily full of interest and surprises.  Her point was convincingly (and entertainingly) made by her citing tax relief claims made by her clients for fertility treatment and a ‘nose job’ (one of which  was actually successful)!  She also quoted HMRC’s Top Ten list of totally ridiculous excuses offered for late tax returns, and outpointed Tristan for the Best Speech ribbon.

Annual committee elections saw veteran member Roger Granville elected President for the coming year.  Next meeting will be on at 7.30pm on St George’s Day, April 23rd at the usual venue, the Great Malvern Hotel.

 
Meeting 26th March

 

Tristan Mitchell | Stephanie Bilton | Steve Birch | Andrei Rezmeriță

Malvern Speakers report Tuesday March 26th 2019 - Colin Jckson

There was a rare achievement at last week’s meeting when a member making his debut ‘icebreaker’ address won the evening’s vote for Best Speech.  It was the more remarkable because it came from someone for whom English is not his first language.  Romanian-born Andrei Rezmeriță, now resident in Hereford, spoke with confidence and a fine command of English as he mused on life and happiness.  It was an additional accomplishment in that he outpointed  two other very experienced speakers in Jen Cashmore (President of the recently formed Worcester club and a Divisional finalist  in this year’s Toastmasters International speech competition) and Karen Lowen, who had stepped in at the last minute to fill a gap in the evening’s programme.

Jen’s speech, remarkably entitled The Body Is Its Own Pharmacy And Delight Writes The Prescriptions, was a plea for a positive and cheerful attitude to life as the best antidote to ill health.  As always she seasoned her talk with relevant statistics, including the remarkable one that 90 per cent of all illnesses treated by the NHS are stress-related.  Stress, she claimed, suppresses the natural pharmacy of the body.

More light-hearted was Karen’s address ‘Man: The Instruction Manual’ in which she fancied she had obtained a bionic man by mail order and she imagined what such a book of rules might say.  She used it to make a few telling feminist – if not sexist! - points, all delivered in her usual upbeat humorous manner.

The evening had begun in somewhat surreal style with Roger Granville’s Table Topics session.  Somerset-born Roger, using his authentic Wurzel accent, invited speakers to be witnesses at the trial of two youths accused of the heinous crime of having tipped over a cow in a field on Christmas Eve – yes really!  Victims rose imaginatively to this unusual challenge, with Steph Bilton’s use in evidence of the imprint of shoe sizes in the muddy field voted best. Steve Birch won the best evaluator's ribbon for his assessment of Jen Cashmore’s speech.

Next meeting will be at the Great Malvern Hotel on Tuesday April 9th at 7.30pm.  Visitors from near or far are always welcome – there was one from Liverpool this week!

 
Meeting 13th March

 

 

Graham Nelson | Jackie Baker | Isaac Baker | Karen Lowen | Tristan Mitchell | Jen Cashmore | Stuart Watt

Malvern Speakers report 12.3.2019  -  Colin Jackson

Those who attended the club round of the Toastmasters International Speech and Evaluation contest – a multi-round competition in which teams from around the world will fight out the final in the USA during the autumn- were rewarded by an enjoyable evening of excellent public speaking.  Three candidates for best speech were led off by Graham Sterry.  His musings on the vexed subject of computer passwords must have struck a chord with many of his listeners, who enjoyed his closing image of St Peter having been replaced at the Pearly Gates by a computer, which greets the latest arrival with the dread words Access Denied!.

Graham was followed by Karen Lowen, with a highly original critique of the “ethnicity” box people are required to fill up on census forms.  Revealing that her own ancestry included Turkish and Armenian strains, she concluded that such questions were out of order, since nobody was 100 per cent anything and that we were all multi-ethnic members of the human race.

Thirdly came a welcome return of former member Jen Cashmore, now president of the recently formed Worcester club under the title The Stories We Tell Ourselves asserting, with some moving examples from her personal experience, that the way we react to life’s most difficult problems can influence their outcomes for the better.

The high quality of these speeches was well maintained by the four contenders in the evaluation contest, each of whom had to give an appraisal of the same speech by Steve Birch – a parable of a poor peasant who becomes rich and greedy only to drop dead.  All were delivered with panache and conviction, and deciding between Isaac Baker, his mum Jackie Baker, Stuart Watt and Tristan Mitchell was a tough call for the judges. They named Tristan and Stuart the two best evaluators, while speech-makers Jen and Karen will join them in progressing to the Area Final in Cheltenham.

 
Meeting 12th February
Club Meeting Tuesday 12th February 2019 Colin Jackson

The membership of Malvern Speakers spans a remarkable age range – literally from18 to 80 – uniting the generations in pursuit of its aims of public speaking and leadership skills. Just how successful it has been in its five years of existence was highlighted by visiting Area Director Sam Warner, who praised its style and organisation, revealing that it stood in first place out of 164 Toastmasters International-affiliated member clubs in a District which covers most of southern England and Wales.

Senior members set the ball rolling at last week’s meeting, with Roger Granville and Stephanie Bilton’s polished unprepared responses to subjects set by Tristan Mitchell in an Oscar-themed Table Topics session. And despite warm competition from other speakers – including two gallant visitors – it was Steph’s tongue-in-cheek appeal for sympathy for Men as an Endangered Species that won the night’s Best Table Topic ribbon.

All round, however, it was very much Tom Elliston’s night. His speech The Making of a Family, described by Toastmaster Elaine Watt as ‘hugely personal and very moving’ was an account of the (eventually successful) – endeavours of his wife and himself over many years and traumas to have a child of their own. Not only was it voted Best Speech, but it provided the material for Geoff Richardson’s thoughtful and sympathetic appraisal which was n turn voted Best Evaluation.

The other two prepared speeches were both excellent, but were perhaps unlucky to have come up against Tom’s memorable address. Angela Davison, a more experienced home-maker, gave an entertaining account of ‘My Life In DIY’ which must have awoken many memories (some painful!) in her audience. Finally, one of the youngest members Daisy Davies in a charming first ‘icebreaker’ speech, spoke amusingly of how she had successfully overcome the problems of being dyslexic through her schooldays and since.
Next meeting will take place at the usual venue, the Great Malvern Hotel at7.30pm on Tuesday March 26th.
Club Meeting Tuesday 12th February 2019 - Colin Jackson
 
Meeting 23rd January

Sarah McCarten-Williams | Roger Granville | Isaac Baker | Stuart Watt

 

Malvern Speakers       January 23rd  2018    Club Journalist: Colin Jackson

A veteran, a novice and a recently joined member (who doubles as husband to a club past president!) between them collected the honours at last week’s meeting, which also welcomed a record number of guests.

Stalwart founder member Roger Granville had some surprising information in the evening’s exceptionally well researched Best Speech, entitled It’s All A Matter Of Time. For instance, that the first clock we all take for granted to measure time was first recorded as late as 1309 AD, And that at one time people would carry personal sundials. And how it was the railways that led to the standardisation of time measurement and ultimately to today’s universal GMT.

There could hardly have been a greater contrast with Sarah McCarten-Williams’ hilarious account of the life and times of her cat called John, which provided lots of laughs for the audience and the subject for a poised and confident evaluation by the club’s youngest member, 18 year-old Isaac Baker.

The third speech was an explanation by past president Elaine Watt of the role of Mentor – an important part of the Toastmasters’ philosophy of members helping each other to improve their public speaking and leadership skills.

Earlier Elaine’s husband Stuart Watt – who only recently became a member of the club – had won a Burns-themed kilt/sporran/haggis/bagpipe-laden session devised by Angela Davies which set the tone for a lively set of impromptu Table Topics.

Next meeting will be at the usual venue, the Great Malvern Hotel, on Tuesday February 12th at 7.30pm, when we hope still more guests may join us (no charge) and home-made cake.
 
Meeting 8th January

Andrew Graham | Jackie Baker | Stuart Watt

Report on Malvern Speakers Club Meeting 8th January 2019

Although we were not sure how many would be coming to our first meeting of 2019, as several of our regular members were either unwell or enjoying an extended New Year holiday, but the meeting proved to be a great success.  We were delighted to welcome no less than eight guests – probably a record for the club!  This included a group of four ladies from Hereford who were keen to pick up some tips for public speaking and to see how the club ran.  Although they may not become regular members, they might be starting a Hereford Club! 

The meeting got off to a good start with an Educational Bite from the Presidents on the value of including questions in a speech, and how to do so to good effect.  Then our Table Topics Master, Ben Colyer, brought on an inspiring group of impromptu speakers telling us about their reflections on 2018 and their resolutions for 2019.  We learned that Manda Graham had decided to “do something” rather than just talk about stuff, and Stuart Watt had decided to “be interesting”.  He finished his speech with a rendering of Happy Birthday as a tribute to David Bowie, sung in a stunning Bowiesque style.  Although that had little to do with his topic, it was probably what won him the Best Table Topic Award!

Prepared speeches were, as usual, of a very high standard.  Jackie Baker enthralled us on the subject of dog psychology under the title Think Dog, in which we learned, among other things, that although a labrador might be motivated by food, a German shepherd dog is much more interested in a bit of fuss and tlc!  Then Graham Sterry scared us with hilarious stories of two occasions when he forgot to apply the handbrake on his car.  And finally, Jane Anson impressed us with her knowledge of the significance on colours.  Did you know that blue is the most popular colour in national flags – and that Cadburys are so proud of their purple logo that they tried to patent the colour? Choosing a Best Speaker was certainly not easy, but the award went to Jackie and was certainly well deserved.

Everything was evaluated in our normal encouraging and constructive manner and we benefitted from having Kate, a visitor from the Gloucester club, to serve as a very competent Table Topics Evaluator.  But the start Evaluator of the evening was Andrew Graham, who won the award.  The whole event was very ably steered by Roger Granville, our Toastmaster for the evening, and everyone agreed that a high standard had been set for the year ahead!

 

Geoff Richardson

Journalist in Residence

 

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