It came down heads.
And I am so glad it did!
What an evening we had at West Herts Speakers last night. Confidently and good-naturedly guided by our Toastmaster of the Evening Anthony Boboe - described by our President Corinne as "young and sporty" (and who are we to disagree?) - we launched straight into Table Topics, unprepared two-minute speeches on a subject the speakers learn only at the time of being asked to speak. We knew they were two-minute speeches thanks to new Toastmaster Laurence, who stepped into the breach at the last moment to give a competent, confident and entertaining performance in the role of timekeeper at his first full meeting. Well done, Laurence, and thank you.
Tonight, it was Table Topics with a difference. Colin Donald, our Table Topics Master, tried something new - picking the speech topics out of a hat. Nobody, not even Colin, knew who would speak on what.
Eight speakers participated - new members, established members, and Syed, our guest for the evening, all tried their hand. In the end, Sheila Richardson took the coveted blue ribbon with an engaging tale of childhood games (involving a pack of cards and a wager or two).
Then came the prepared speeches. Eleanor Hatherley took us on a trip down memory lane to the Lyons Corner House at Piccadilly Circus just after the war, there to start the story of her journey from 'cellist to punk and back to 'cellist again. Corinne Frydman then used all her guile and inveiglement to persuade us to buy a car (a used one by the look of it).
After the break, it was the turn of the evaluators to offer their views on the speeches, praising as always what went well and offering the odd suggestion for what might perhaps be done differently next time. Congratulations to Richard Beagle on being voted best evaluator for the evening.
Here are Sheila and Richard, celebrating their "best of's" at West Herts Speakers:
Yes, a grand night out! I'm going to spend that mental coin - I know what I want to be doing on the second and fourth Wednesdays of the month.
So I'll see you at West Herts Speakers!
