Open Evening Success
The message about the Speak Easy Open Evening was spread far and wide and what a great success it turned out to be. We welcomed 15 guests and a number of members from other Toastmaster Clubs and showed them what our club is all about.
With members and guests in deep conversation before the start, a loud bang on the gavel by Frances Crane go the evening underway spot on 7:15.
The revised agenda allowed for plenty of time to have a long refreshment break and also a 20 minute Q&A at the end. We omitted Wordmaster and only had two speeches which were evaluated on a 1:1 basis after the meeting.
As Toastmaster I had to concentrate very hard to ensure the formalities were not only included but clearly explained to guests. However hard a Toastmaster concentrates and prepares in advance it's still possible to drop off ... as Ian Crane reminded me when I dived straight into the Topics session with out introductions. This helped break the ice and showed that even long standing (not old!) members don't get it right all the time !!
Ian Crane encouraged guests to dive in the deep end and have a go at topics. With one word titles including Apple, Bar and Car it didn't take long for the first brave guest to step forward. Anne Rayner recalled her driving skills, or lack of them, to an impressed audience. Her confidence and fluent delivery was so good that I'm sure it scared off other guests from trying and resulted in her taking home the Topics Certificate. David Atherton-Cooper provided an excellent evaluation of the topics and showed the guests one of the techniques that aids development.
Teresa Dukes overviewed the club and detailed what becoming a member will give to our guests. This was quite a challenge as speaking about the club is her favourite subject and ten minutes just isn't enough time.
[Image: Members and Guests enjoying the evening]
The agenda allowed 30 minutes for refreshment and gave members and guests plenty of time to share information and learn more about the club and each other. This also allowed everyone time to enjoy the buffet that Howard Smith had kindly prepared, thanks Howard.
Another bang of the gavel brought an end to the discussions and allowed the prepared speeches to get underway.
Liz Parker explained the benefits of using mind maps for preparing speeches. Using a flip chart with a colourful diagram clearly conveyed the differences between pages of dull A4 notes and a single colourful mind map. The speech was informative and showed a great technique when preparing a speech
Mike Watts used the often troublesome PC Projector to assist his speech about small businesses. No problems this time as both Mike and equipment performed smoothly.
The evening concluded with a Q&A session. Guests were also encourged to say how the evening was for them. Comments included 'welcoming', 'friendly', very interesting' and 'pleased I came'. A show of hands to see how many will return in two weeks time was very encouraging as all guests put their hand up.
[Image: The Q&A Session provided any final information we\'d missed]
Two guests signed up before they left, with another 4 promising to return with their cheque book or employers money next time.
Thankyou to all members of Speak Easy and visiting clubs who helped with the preparation and attended on the night. You made the guests welcome and showed us off in an excellent light.
A thankyou also to all the guests for coming along and taking part. The club is here to help you become a better speaker and feel free to tell friends and family and bring them along next time.
*** A very successful Open Evening ***
Jeff Bartrop
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