Speakers of Croydon Toastmasters Speaking Club

The Speakers of Croydon is one of the most successful and celebrated Toastmasters clubs in London. Like any volunteer organisation the club doesn’t run itself and it is reliant on all its members to maintain these high standards - this is especially reflected by the club’s elected committee. The club’s committee give their time and energy to ensure the club is run effectively and for the benefit of all its members. Committee members are required to go through bespoke leadership training to develop and refine key skills to help grow and sustain the club.
The 2023/2024 committee were pivotal in keeping the Speakers of Croydon as a President’s Distinguished club nationally. Taking on these designated leadership roles within the club is not easy and there were definitely challenges that needed overcoming, but collectively the committee have ensured the club is jn a great position for the incoming 2024/2025 committee! All the committee members can be proud of their personal and collective growth over the last Toastmasters term. A massive thank you to the 20234/2024 committee your effort and service to the club!

Keep your eyes peeled for our incoming posts to find out who will be leading the club as the new committee for the 2024/2025 term commencing on July 1st!

Last night the Speakers of Croydon held an in person meeting on the theme of “change” led by Lauren who served as the toastmaster of the day.

Prepared speeches were delivered by Ruban, Robyn, Anne and Patricia with evaluations given by Debbie, James, Clementine and Lydia. All the prepared speakers performed excellently but the winner of the Best Speaker award for the night was won by Patricia for her fantastic speech about leadership styles. Best Table Topics was won by one of our guests Mark and best evaluator was won by Lydia! The good times didn’t stop there as we celebrated one of our newest members Ruban who expertly completed his level one Pathway in double-quick time with his moving speech on the importance of connections!

We will be back on the 18th of June again with another in person meeting that will be a bit special as it will be celebrating the completion of another Toastmasters term ahead of the new term starting on 1 July 2024! As always all guests are welcome regardless of their level of experience. If you would like to know or attend a meeting please do not hesitate to get in touch
and get a flavour of the BEST toastmasters club around!

Whether you want to hone your skills delivering presentations virtually or in person at Speakers of Croydon we have you covered alternating between both!

This week’s meeting was a virtual one which saw 3 prepared speeches and the usual impromptu fun that is table topics. Awards for the night were won by Chris (Best Speaker), one of our guests Jacques took the Best Table Topics award and our very own President Emmanuel won Best Evaluator.

Our next meeting is on 16 April and will be in person and it will be a debate with our Toastmasters pitting their persuasive speaking skills against each other in teams to win the title of debate champions! All guests are welcome - come along to get a flavour of the best Toastmasters club around 😬. Get in touch if you have any questions

Happy New Year! This Tuesday the Speakers of Croydon returned for their first meeting of 2024. It was a meeting themed on new beginnings and “rebirth”. All our Toastmasters came in refreshed for a new year and demonstrated motivation of how they intended on making 2024 their best year yet! Winners for the evening were Roza for Best Speaker with her insightful speech on negotiation tactics, Dorothy won best Table Topics and best evaluator was Shirleen.

There’s still time for you make 2024 your best year ever too! Click the link below to secure one of the last remaining places for Speechcraft 2024 starting next Tuesday (9 January 2024) via Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/speechcraft-2024-registration-764503970957?aff=oddtdtcreator). This is truly one of the best investments you can make in your personal development for 2024. Tickets are £60 (plus admin fee). Book now and don’t miss out on making 2024 your best year yet!

                               

The Speakers of Croydon is turning 20 years old and you’re all invited to celebrate with us. Join us this Tuesday for an evening of fun, games, festivities, and some excellent speeches thrown in for good measure. We will be sharing snacks, beverages and experiences this Tuesday and reflecting on two decades of developing excellence in public speaking, leadership and development.

Spaces are limited so click the link below to reserve your place if you wish to celebrate with us!

https://blaqpix.wixsite.com/games-night

                           

Do you dread speaking in front of others?

YOU ARE NOT ALONE!
Conquer that fear, painlessly and enjoyably, by attending the Speechcraft Program with Speakers of Croydon.
This program comprises 4 weekly sessions starting from 9 January 2024 to 30 January 2024. Three of the sessions will be in-person and one will be on Zoom.
To allow more time to support attendees, we keep the workshops small (10 people maximum).
Take advantage of our early bird offer of £50 per ticket, valid until 3 December 2023. Tickets are £60 thereafter.

This is a unique opportunity to accelerate your learning in a supportive environment hosted by an award-winning Public Speaking and Leadership training organisation.

If this appeals to you please express your interest at [email protected]

Alternatively if you have any questions please get in touch!

                              

Continuing our introduction to our current committee members introducing our Immediate Past President - Adrian Moore!!

Adrian was introduced to Toastmasters by one of the delegates on an IT course he was delivering and hasn’t looked back since! Adrian joined The Speakers of Croydon in June 2010 and has remained an active member to date holding roles of Vice President of Membership, Vice President of Education (twice), Area Director, and President (twice), most recently last year.

Adrian brings an invaluable amount of experience and guidance to the committee and is ensuring the 2023-2024 cohort continue to steer the club in the correct direction of further growth and improvement.

For more information about Adrian’s Toastmasters journey in his own words check out our recent blog post (IPP 2023-2024) on our website www.speakersofcroydon.com/ipp-2023-2024/

                              

At Speakers of Croydon we are always seeking to improve our public speaking, confidence and leadership but this doesn’t stop at just the members. Last night’s meeting included an educational segment and was themed on stepping out of your comfort zone and saw the club as a whole assessing how it was performing across a number of areas to identify where we could improve going forward.

In addition to this educational insight we were provided with a rousing prepared speech by Debbie Williams on the benefits of mentoring and then enjoyed some table topics. Our Toastmaster of the day Shirleen Nelson shared how she had challenged herself and stepped out of her comfort zone by joining Speakers of Croydon and won the evening’s Best Table Topics Award!

At Speakers of Croydon members are given the opportunity to step out of their comfort zone at their own pace in a friendly and supported environment. The opportunities for development and growth are huge so step out of your comfort zone and start your development journey with us! Our next meeting will be in person on Tuesday 21 November 2023 at St Mary’s Church on Wellesley Road in Croydon. All guests are welcome and if you have any questions then please don’t hesitate to get in touch!

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This Sunday (5 November) will be will see the Speakers of Croydon’s very own competing in the Division H - District Table Topics Contest! The contest will take place both in person (at Landsdowne Hotel in Eastbourne) or remotely via ZOOM. Registration link below

https://us06web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZAoceqoqDMuHdQTO4zBUJLo16K3LK0kx7kZ

As well as exciting contests there will also be expert tips on improving your own speeches by keynote speaker Simon Bucknall. Come and support expert public speaking

                               

After both sides gave their arguments and rebuttals there could unfortunately only be one winner. The best debater award was won by Chris who doubled up with Emmanuel to win the Champion Debate Team Award. The best Table Topics award was won by one of our guests Lewis who had the audience in stitches talking about when honesty is the best policy!
All of our debaters are experienced speakers but they definitely didn’t start off that way. We all start somewhere and have to work on developing our skills and Speakers of Croydon is the BEST place to do that. If public speaking is an intimidating prospect for you then our Speechcraft Training sessions (retuning in January 2024) could be just what you’re looking for. More information will be provided in the near future on Speechcraft but if you have any questions in the meantime then don’t hesitate to get in touch.
Our next meeting is next Tuesday (7 November) and will be a virtual meeting online - all guests are welcome so please get in touch if you would like to attend!

Last night was a meeting to remember at Speakers of Croydon which saw the club holding a fierce intellectual debate on the reasons what was more important in a successful marriage economics or love!?!
The debate was hotly contested with Emmanuel Karamagi and Chris Bovell arguing for the proposition versus l Debbie Williams and Andrew Oyasemi with the opposition! We also threw in some quirky table topics because what is a TM meeting without table topics! Check out our next post and story for more details and to find out which side won the day!

Last Tuesday saw the top two members from the Club contests compete in the Area H15 Area Contests. Once again the Speakers of Croydon were represented by top performers with Lee Townsend taking home the top prize in the Table Topics Contest and Adrian Moore taking home second place in both contests! Congratulations to Dan McGill from Purley Speakers who won the Humorous Speech contest with Jasmine McClymount taking home third place. Congrats also to Gemma Callander who took home third place in Table Topics.
We are incredibly proud of Lee and Adrian and will continue to support Lee as he progresses to the Division Contest this Sunday (5 November 2023)!

If you can’t wait until then for your next fix of top public speaking come along to our debate at our next club meeting tomorrow (Tuesday 31 November) at our normal venue at St Mary’s Church. Get in touch if you want more details!