The role of Table Topics Evaluator (TTE) is a relatively new one for Maidenhead. Some people may be wondering how to do it. My first club, like many others, has this as a role at every meeting so I’ve had lots of practice. Here are my tips on being the TTE.

Scope of the role:

Give useful feedback to each of the table topics speakers.

But how ?

Essentially the TTE role is very similar to the General Evaluator (GE). You’re giving feedback to a number of people in a short amount of time. Time is your enemy here, a good TTE, like a good GE will effectively use the time they have.

A struggling one will waffle on and waste it. You will have about 5 minutes to evaluate 6 or 7 speakers. This is why this role is so good to do – it teaches you to get to the point and be disciplined in your content.

What’s the key? Structure

Every speaker gets a Commend / Recommend / Commend (CRC). And nothing more.

For each speaker state one thing you

1. liked (C);
2. one thing you thought could be improved (R);
3. then one other thing you liked (C).

Then move on to the next speaker.

e.g. Bob’s question was about his favourite holiday.

I like the way Bob came striding to the front, he really looked confident and that big smile put us all at ease. I’d recommend that Bob keep his hands out his pocket, it looks a bit too casual and fidgety, so try to gesture or keep the hands in a comfortable neutral position. What I really loved was the story Bob told about the waiter in Ibiza. It was really funny and the vivid language out us there with him. Next up was Charlene…”

Keep it short and to the point.

How long? 45 seconds per speaker. 15 seconds commend, 15 seconds recommend, 15 seconds commend. It’s longer than it sounds, but it will make you get to the point.

Some things you could look out for in your evaluation:

• Did they answer the question? (That’s important)
• Did they waffle a lot at the start?
• Did they have any distracting nervous habits?
• Did they spend all of their thinking time looking at the floor or the ceiling?
• Did they tell a good story?
• Did they use an effective structure?

Whatever you talk about, remember to be encouraging. Lots of people are very nervous about table topics so try to finish on a positive.

Things not to do:

• Don’t evaluate the topics master. The GE will take care of that and it wastes time.
• Don’t spend a lot of time talking about the first speaker. Do theirs quickly and move on. Many TTE spend loads of time talking about the first two speakers then realise they only have a minute left to do the other 5.

Now, sign up! Remember – stay focused, get to the point, don’t waffle, use CRC and enjoy yourself!

Chris Boden

‘Battle of the Sexes’, ‘Definitely Weird But Is It Funny?’ ,’Life Changing Events’.. just some of the humorous speeches delivered on the night.

Energy in the room was high when the S@A opened the meeting, the room was buzzing in anticipation.  As well as the regular members of the club there were 3 visitors from other clubs and 4 new guests.  For Club President Tom, it was his first meeting back after a holiday in the US where he had attended the International Speech Contest in Chicago and had seen the top 10 Toastmaster’s speakers in the world delivering there speeches to an audience of 1,500 – 2,000. He encouraged members to think about attending the next conference in Denver, saying it was an inspirational experience.

Contest Chair Clayton then opened the contest proper, assisted by Chief Judge Vidya.  He opened as always with an very amusing anecdote.  Then onto the serious business of the contest and he ran through the rules.

Humorous Speech contest first of all and Micheal was up first with his very funny speech entitled ‘Battle of the Sexes’ a story about when he had a sty removed from his eye.  Tony was up next with his speech entitled ‘Definitely Weird But Is It Funny?’ where he asked the ultimate question.. would we do anything for love?  Tony had some problems with his audio equipment which definitely added to the laughs.. Steve then delivered a speech ‘Life Changing Events’.. do you remember a life-changing event was the question he asked of the audience. His life changing event was parenthood.  Nick was the final speaker in the contest with he speech ‘Me and My Flannel’ , opening with a proverb..when in Rome do as the Romans do..but when Japan ??

Judging then took place, counters counted the votes and we broke for tea, coffee , biscuits and croissant.

We reconvened for the Table Topics contest;7 contestants taking part.  Angela was first up to hear the Table Topics question while the other 6 contestants where led out of the room. The questions was ‘ My friend was invited to a house with a 80 million pound super-car collection. If money was no object what would you collect and why?’.  The other contestants Michael, Chris, Tony, Doreen, Steve and Kathleen where brought into the room to give their response to the table-topic question in turn.

Judging then took place and award presented.

Humorous  Speech Contest Results

• 1st: Steve
• 2nd: Tony
• 3rd: Nick

Table Topic Contest Results

• 1st: Chris
• 2nd: Doreen
• 3rd: Kathleen

A thoroughly brilliant evening, well done to all who took part. A big thank you to those members who organised the contests, you did a brilliant job and thank you to members of other clubs who assisted in the evening.

Holiday season is in full swing but that didn’t stop members from coming down and listening to some great speeches. With some of our regular committee members taking a well earned break, other members stepped in and held the meeting together. Special note to Steve who managed to take on 2 roles at once (timer and GE), not an easy task.

The table topics session was led by Ian, and what seemed initially as an easy ask, stumped a few regulars. Ultimately, a guest Speaker (but soon to be member), Alistair, was crowned the best Table Topic speaker for the night, with his ability to describe the useful, yet challenging position of telesales. Congratulations.

We then where treated to 3 prepared speeches from Jack, Riccardo and Cheryl .

Jack challenged the group with a powerful speech about how important it is that we have space to talk about topics that are difficult or risk creating space for those who are ignorant or not as honest as others to hold and sway the conversations.

Riccardo then took us on a tour of Opera and how it relates to your voice, how using Toastmasters provides a way to train your vocal muscles to help you deliver better speeches.

Finally, Cheryl took us on a magical tour of a recent experience she had in the forests of Bedfordshire. She told us how we can help ourselves to create a better connection to nature and open ourselves to listen.

Best Speaker – Aug 20th 2018

Our evaluators, Alan, Tony and Micheal then provided valuable feedback to the speakers with Tony taking top honours for best Evaluation.

At the end of the meeting, we closed with a general evaluation from Steve and awards where Cheryl ended up taking Best Speaker for the night.

Maidenhead Speakers New committee brings new ideas to the table

This years committee has started work on preparing and planning out the new year. Each year in July, club members are nominated to take up roles that help to keep the club running and aligned to the Toastmasters International mission.

We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.

In fact, part of that missions ‘personal growth’ is directly related to gaining new experiences by taking part in the committee roles. Each role, challenges people to step into an area of skills they may have little to no experience in but allows them to learn in an open and safe environment.

Weather it be learning how to manage the finances of a club, running the PR activities or even running the whole club as the president does, each of these roles gives people the opportunity to learn and try out new things.

Who knows, maybe it sparks an interest in making a career change?

MSC Meeting – Monday 13 February 2017

With Guest Blogger – Doreen

What An Absolute Treat!

Looking at the original schedule and what actually happened on the night, one would be forgiven for thinking it was a Friday 13th. Chopping and changing going on all over the place, with no less than 7 changes. On one hand it’s concerning that members were not committed to their allocated roles. On the other hand, it’s a huge tribute to the members who dug deep and pulled the meeting from the brink. Mohammad stepped in as TME to run the show, sliding in 3 minutes late almost unnoticed as Mike and Chris got the evening rolling.

If you weren’t at the meeting you missed an absolute treat of a Table Topic session led by Tony. In his creative and novel way he ingeniously managed to involve the whole audience by running a Quiz alongside his theme of Music. All I can say is never ever miss an evening when Tony is Table Topics Master. As speakers were dropping like flies there was time for 10 lucky speakers. Of which Monica came out shining as the winner with her thoughts on the song ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’.

We were treated to no less than two Ice Breakers. Paul M with his speech ‘I Paul’. His personal story of what made him the man he is today and what inspires him for the future was touching and powerfully delivered. Paul has a bag of skills tucked under his belt and willing to learn lots more.

Our second Ice Breaker was by Gerry who touched us with his poem which shaped his life. Then continued to light up the room with his story of how he is part of a team who designed a bulb which will last 100,000 hours.

It was indeed a night for the poets and singers as Chris working from Specialty Speeches Reading out Loud, entertained us with two poems by Australian poets who had very contracting writing styles.

Paul took away the Best Speaker Ribbon. Well done Paul.

The three evaluators for the evening Grant, Sandra and Mary all gave high quality feedback to the speakers. It was Mary who went away with the coveted Best Evaluator Ribbon.

Well done everyone for turning what could have been a pancake into a soufflé.

The meeting ended on time and a few members meandered down to the pub to chew over the evening, life and the universe.

MSC Meeting – Monday 12 December 2016

With Guest Blogger – Paul

T’was the meeting before Christmas

Our final meeting of 2016 began on time with stand-in Sergeant at Arms, Tom, calling the room to order in his usual calm relaxed manner before handing over to our Club President, Chris.

Chris spoke with great energy of the history of Toastmasters as well as the importance of the leadership manual. All under the watchful eye of Timer, Chrys.

The high energy continued with Toastmaster of the Evening, Nick. He channeled the qualities of three of his speaking inspirations, the humour of toastmaster Ian, the energy of Tony Robbins and the care free attitude of his Uncle Richard. A combination of talents that Nick embodied throughout the evening.

Kashmira ran the festive Table Topics section of the evening. She began with a great explanation of the importance of table topics as well as how the skills developed here can be applied in our everyday lives. Kashmira delivered a polished table topics session, a particularly impressive task as it was her first time as Table Topics Master.

Following the table topics section we launched into the prepared speeches with a fantastic educational speech from Steve on the importance of a powerful opening to your speech. Steve gave many examples of techniques that can be used to really grab an audiences attention.

Next to speak was Jon, who spoke about “Things that shouldn’t happen.” In a speech that covered everything from the faking of the moon landings to the assassination of President Kennedy, it was a conspiracy theorists dream. Jon covered everything from illegal drug use in sports to horses in our hamburgers, no stone was left unturned in this speech.

Following Jon we had Marco speaking of how “Cash isn’t King anymore.” Taking inspiration from Steve’s advise he began his speech by throwing a £20 note away as he made his opening point. He then proceeded to explain his theory by giving a series of incredible tips for getting the most out of online transactions and the digital world of credit transfers. His speech drew gasps from the audience as well as frantic scribbling as we all rushed to write down his recommendations and helpful hints.

Following the break we were treated to an advanced speech from Doreen. Doreen had the difficult task of giving an impromptu speech for an extended time period. Her evaluator Lorraine had a selection of five topics from which to choose a speech from. The topic chosen was mindfulness and Doreen launched into a five minute impromptu speech on mindfulness, it’s benefits, uses and helpful advise and techniques.

Honor then took us on an adventure into the murky world of human resources. Honor’s experience and enthusiasm for her subject matter shone through as she skilfully navigated us through her speech with a masterful use of Powerpoint slides to drive home her main message.

Following the speeches we had the evaluation section of the evening. General evaluator Paul introduced a crack team of experienced evaluators.

First off Michael gave a positive and encouraging evaluation of Jon speech, highlighting the improvements Jon continues to make.

Next to evaluate was Sandra. Sandra was evaluating Marco’s speech and highlighted the strong opening as it related to Steve’s earlier educational speech. She then gave Marco a healthy mix of commendations and recommendations.

Our third evaluator was Lorraine. Lorraine highlighted the difficult task Doreen had undertaken and was able to offer constructive feedback regarding the structure of Doreen’s approach to the subject, as well as worthwhile recommendations for improving the delivery.

Our last evaluator of the evening was Mary. She was evaluating Honor’s speech. Mary was quick to point out the ease with which Honor managed to use her powerpoint slides and the difficulty using Powerpoint can often bring to a speech. Mary also took the time to remind us of Honor’s objectives and also highlighted Honor’s ease at interacting with the audience.

Next the General Evaluator gave a report of the evening. Paul spoke of the way so many had come forward to help make the evening possible as well as the events of the evening itself.

Finally the Grammarian of the night Alan gave us a run down of the use of fillers and crutch words for the evening. No “Ums, and’s, so’s or err’s” went unnoticed with Alan on duty.

At the end of the night Club president, Chris, gave out the ribbons before ending the year with an invitation to join the club members for a Christmas drink after the meeting and to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New year.

Best Table Topics ribbon went to Tom, Best Evaluator ribbon went to Sandra, and the Best Speaker ribbon was awarded to Marco. Continue reading →

MSC Meeting – Monday 14 November 2016

With Guest Blogger – Cheryl 

Our Childhood Can Be the Making of Us

Maidenhead Speakers Club never fails to entertain, educate and inspire and Mondays meeting was no exception.

Sergeant at Arms Mike called the meeting to order on time, despite a last minute hitch regarding the timer system, which had mysteriously gone missing. President Chris saved the evening by arriving in the nick of time with the missing equipment, which had needed a repair.

Chris welcomed the guests and then spoke of his experience at the District 91 conference. Although his speech did not get placed his experience had been enriched by coaching the Keynote Speaker, and International Speech finalist Thien Trang. While there he received an award in recognition of his services to the District for mentoring. Chris emphasized how important it is to support one another.

Toastmaster Sandra who has been a member for over 10 years said she had attended the conference for the first time and wished she had gone earlier. She found it invigorating and motivating. She said it provided an opportunity to step out of your comfort zone.

Jan led the table topics session with questions that encouraged speakers to use their imagination and connect with the child within. The winner was Tony Searby who, as a 10 year old, would like Mind Reading as a super power. He could look into the teachers eyes and see the answers.

Sandra introduced the prepared speeches, which were a broad representation of the Competent Communicator Manual. First up was Darren with his Icebreaker Me, Myself and I. He gave a frank account of his challenging childhood when as a teenager he was described as a “highly intelligent juvenile delinquent”. His was an inspirational speech illustrating how he had turned his life around and become a better, stronger and more compassionate person. He left us with “It is impossible to be grateful and depressed”.

Next up was Yacine who was also giving his Icebreaker “How Did Sport Shape Me As a Person? He speech looked back at his childhood training as a gymnast in Morocco. Whilst he didn’t like the competitive nature of his sport he said there is excellence in craftsmanship.

Esther stepped in at the last minute to present This Is Not A Fight. She started by taking us on a guided visualization, which packed a powerful punch when she revealed that we were bulls bred for the bullring. A powerful, impactful speech highlighting the plight of the 70,000 bulls killed every year for a sport subsided by the EU to the tune of 130 million euros.

Before the interval Chris gave each of our guests an opportunity to say a few words about themselves and why they had come along. Sergeant at Arms Mike organized the refreshments for the interval.

Tom’s speech The Grotto was another inspirational speech about struggle and endurance. Mike gave a presentation on “Beyond the Submit Button” explaining what goes on behind the scenes once we have placed an order on line.

Best Speaker went to Tom.

General Evaluator Cheryl led the evaluation section of the evening giving a clear explanation of why we give evaluations. She introduced her team of evaluators – Vidhya, Mell, Mohammed, Richard and Mary all of whom gave competent evaluations. She concluded with her report of the evening.

Best Evaluator went to Mell Sheppard who said it was always a pleasure to evaluate for an Icebreaker speech. “It is the first opportunity to shape their journey. “

Timer was Melissa and Grammarian was Clayton.

Doreen reported on her experience as a guest on Marlow FM. She had been invited as winner of the Area Table Topic Contest and came third in the District Contest. She hoped that the increase in guests on Monday might have had something to do with her promotion of the club, but sadly no one present had heard her. Mike said he had been Master of Ceremonies at his company annual event. When asked how Maidenhead Speakers had helped him, he said it would not have happened without Toastmasters.

Chris concluded the evening with the presentation of ribbons for the best Speaker, Evaluator and Table Topics.

The next meeting is on Monday 28 November.

MSC Meeting – Monday 31 November 2016

With Guest Blogger – Doreen

A Very Special Evening: A Night to Remember!

If you debated coming to toastmasters on Monday the 30th of October and choose not to, you missed out is all I can say. It was an extraordinary evening like no other MSC meeting I have ever attended. Being the 3rd Monday of the month, Chris Boden had arranged for Paul Carroll a seasoned and passionate debater from 104 London Debaters to give us a workshop on the skills of debating. Volunteers had been called upon in advance to create two teams for the night. The topic was chosen ‘This house would allow performance enhancing drugs in sports’.

 No one knew which side they would be representing, the room was filled with anticipation.

 Paul Carroll opened the evening by introducing us to the absolute essentials for debating.

1. A definition for the topic being debated.

2. Reasoning or logic

3 The clash 

The purpose of debating is to discover the truth.

 Paul alerted us to watch out for the ‘slippery slope’ arguments and the ‘fallacy arguments’ and the ‘straw man’ all of which would leave their arguments to have little or no weight at all.

For some practice and full audience participation, Paul divided us up into small groups. Each group were given a different topic to practice a debate before presenting the summary of the debate to the audience.

After the break with our bellies full and our throats lubricated, Mary chaired the debate keeping order and ensuring the flow. Those arguing for ‘This house would allow performance enhancing drugs and sports’: Tony, Michael and Vidhya those debating against the motion were Mohammed, Sandra and Chrys Fisher.

Michael opened the debate confidently and passionately stating his points that athletes are given the choice to take drugs or not. Secondly, banning drugs would drive them to go underground. Finally modern competitive world athletes will do whatever is needed to win.

Mohammed responded with equal passion. The debate was in full flow.  Before the final speakers summarised their team’s case, the debate was handed over to the floor. Further opinions were aired by Rajeev, Paul Aherne, Chris, and my good self, raising the emotional temperature even higher in the room. Vidhya and Chrys then summarised their positions before Paul Carroll feedback on the performance of the clubs first debate.  

Paul was impressed with the quality of debating of both team and concluded that while the motion failed to be passed, those arguing for the motion had managed to persuade more of the audience to change their minds. This was seen as a win, win in its own right.

It was truly a night to remember and the debate continued as we walked through the doors at the end of the night either heading home or to the pub. What was agreed by all was, a good night was had by all and much was learnt about debating.

A special big thank you to Chris Boden for arranging this very special evening and to Paul Carroll for coming all the way out from London to share his time and knowledge.

Hope to see you on the 14th November when we resume our normal format of interesting and inspiring speeches, informative evaluations and surprise Table Topics.