Then, you're asked to speak - first - about how to make an impact if you have thirty days left to live.
What do you do?
You win the award for Best Table Topics speaker, of course!
This is exactly what Paul Thistlethwaite did last night. With a confident, articulate speech, Paul told us how he would save the world - and as you can see from the photograph, he left the other six Table Topics speakers standing.
And that was not all.
Our other two guests, Laurence and Anthony, also threw their hats into the ring and gave assured, entertaining Table Topic speeches, though they, like Paul, had known West Herts Speakers for less than half an hour.
All three of our guests gave confident, engaging performances that left many a long-toothed Toastmaster wondering how many more "best" ribbons would come their way.
Nor did the evening's excellence end there.
Sola gave her sixth speech from the Competent Communicator manual, using captivating vocal variety to tell us of the lessons she has learned from her children.
Then Ope Sebastian gave us his icebreaker speech. The icebreaker is the first step on a Toastmaster's speaking journey. Ope held us spellbound from first word to last, telling us about his childhood, his education, his family and his aspirations - an excellent, polished presentation, without notes, that was not only a first-class icebreaker but also spoke eloquently of great speeches to come.
Hats off all round! A tremendous evening - the sort of stuff of which West Herts Speakers is made!
