Monday 3rd October 2011 saw the Chaucer Speakers Club present a workshop on Persuasive Presentations.

Chaired by Julie, the evening saw many of our established members sharing their wisdom and skills to a packed meeting, where numerous guests were also made more than welcome.

After Will’s brief introduction into how the ASC’s handbook provides the framework for developing skills, Geoff spoke enthusiastically about the three C’s of persuasion; confidence, context and congruity.

Hot on his heels came Peter with his top tips of do’s and don’ts, followed by Rachel who shared her practical experience in fundraising; both of which, judging by the furious note-taking were definitely a word (or ten) to the wise.

Lisa and Carol then gave brief accounts on how the Chaucer Speakers Club has benefitted them both, such as boosting confidence at work as well as providing an enjoyable Monday social.

After an adjournment to the bar for a quick breather, Jim gave the assembled a swift lesson in how to speak ‘off the cuff’, which led into an impromptu speaking session where many of our guests rose to Stewart’s two minute challenge, speaking on topics ranging from Shakespeare in schools to flavours of ice-cream!

In amongst all of this, Phil found time to deliver his B2 speech, which was declared a successful pass.

Judging by the comments from members, old and new, the night was a triumph.

6th June 2011 saw this year’s Hopper Cup being held at the Chaucer Club. Chaired by Cliff Earl, the meeting was a packed affair, with representatives from the three Kent clubs: Thanet, West Kent and Chaucer.

With the theme of ‘If only I had the time’, the teams of four speakers were set the challenge of presenting their prepared speeches within a time limit of 20 minutes.

Opening proceedings, the Chaucer Team, led by Peter, had decided on a nautical theme, shaped around the achievements of John Harrison in creating an accurate means of measuring longitude. Stewart had already set the scene with an amusing piece based on Magellan’s arduous circumnavigation of the globe, when Will vividly brought the character of Harrison to life. Lisa then developed the theme further with her dramatic portrayal of the achievements of Dame Ellen MacArthur, before Peter then brought the entry to a close.

Despite stiff competition offered by our fellow Kent teams, Chaucer were the unanimous choice of the panel of judges. A hearty congratulations to all the team for their success!

The meeting also saw incoming President, Will, present Rachel with her certificate of achievement, having successfully completed her 10 speeches. She now moves onto the Advanced series.

Rachel receiving her certificate of achievement

Chaucer Victorious!

New Committee;
President: William Warren
Treasurer: Nick Rennie
Education Director: Geoff Cooke
New member co-ordinator: Rachel Holliday
PR: Peter Curtiss
Member without portfolio: Carol Grimmer

Immediate Past President: Julie Pratt
Webmaster: Stewart Thomson

Lisa won the President’s Trophy for the best improver.

Three cheers to Jim who is resigning from the committee after many years of invaluable service to the club.

We were pleased to welcome Bridget, a sign language interpreter, to interpret most of our meeting. Having an interpreter was surprisingly unobtrusive.
Carol gave a fascinating speech entitled My East End Boy about Thomas a Becket. Peter had us laughing about his visit to local hospitals with a fly in his ear. Lisa chaired the impromptu speaking session which was evaluated in detail and with aplomb by Stewart. Jim brought his constructive general evaluation in on time.

Jim chaired a full evening last night with three superb speeches by Will, Suzanne and Stewart. If you missed the evening you may be missing out on a dream body and a crusade for men to reclaim handbags. Congratulations to Stewart on gaining his Intermediate Certificate of Achievement. The impromptu speaking session was on the theme of pilgrimage in its widest sense and members and guests spoke with confidence, passion and sincerity. Peter summed up the evening and ensured that every contribution to the evening was constructively evaluated.

Our next meeting is on Monday 23rd May

24 of us enjoyed an entertaining evening commencing with a delicious meal provided by the Kent and Canterbury Club followed by speeches. Our main speaker, the Rev Dr Canon Edward Condry, captivated us all with an inspiring speech entitled Painful Pursuits on the subject of his long-distance sponsored journeys and pilgrimages rowing and by bicycle. Julie, our very proud president, gave the reply on behalf of the club, Stewart gave a sincere and amusing toast to the guests and Margaret Jones from Thanet Speakers Club responded with a warm and witty speech emphasising the links between our two clubs.
Debonair gentlemen and ladies wearing elegant dresses with pretty shoes (especially the shocking pink strappy ones) made it a real occasion.

Congratulations to Rachel on a superb Masterpiece speech to earn her Certificate of Achievement with flying colours.
Thanks to Terry Nunn from West Kent Speakers for doing the honours as external evaluator.
Peter inspired passionate responses in an impromptu speaking session with the theme of art and antiques, sparked by the opening of the nearby Turner Contemporary gallery at the weekend.

Peter conjured an excellent meeting from an agenda that was looking thin and wan after last-minute apologies. Rachel gave an entertaining and accomplished Masterpiece speech about low-cost airlines. You will have a second chance to hear it on 18th April when it will be evaluated by Julie and an external evaluator from West Kent SC for her Certificate of Achievement. Lisa demonstrated the use of gestures in her humorous speech about dating. Stewart’s thought-provoking speech asked ‘who wants to be a millionaire?’ Julie led the impromptu speaking session on the theme of fear; everyone who comes to Chaucer SC has the courage to face up to their fear of speaking in public. Is it really more scary than spiders, snakes and heights? Our guest rose to the challenge and confidently told us about her greatest fear being public speaking. Everyone received encouragement and useful advice from our evaluators and Ian gave an enlightening education session on overcoming fear.

Our next meeting is on Monday 18th April – come and join us for another interesting, entertaining and fun session where you’ll learn so much just from being there.

Geoff chaired a splendid meeting last night. Chaired by Richard gave his B3, which was evaluated by Rachel. Then we had a debate; This house believes a woman’s place is in the home. Proposed by Julie and Rachel and opposed by Jim and another experienced male – the opposition won a thumping victory!! Stewart chaired topics for the first time and it was an interesting and thought provoking session. All speakers spoke fluently three minutes. That included our two guests, whom we look forward to seeing at our forthcoming meetings. Julie gave the general evaluation.
A warm welcome awaits you at our next meeting on Monday 4th April.

Ian Price the SE District president organised an enjoyable event with all participants excelling in the competitions.

Ian and Will from Chaucer SC were the contestants for the Kent Area in the speech contest and Ian was the sole Kent Area representative in the topics and evaluation contests.  Congratulations to both of them on giving great speeches and Ian for being within a whisker of winning the other two contests. Sadly, neither made it through to the ASC National Finals in Edinburgh. There is always next year…

Chaucer SC members who helped with the running of the day were; Jim the SE District Secretary, Nick the SE District treasurer, Carol as timekeeper and Nick and Julie as judges.

Evaluation Contest B6 – vocabulary and word pictures – speech given by Julie Pratt from Chaucer SC

Winner: Michael Ronayne        London Area (Wimbledon SC)

Runner-up:     Ian Price             Kent Area (Chaucer SC)

Topics Contest

The topic was, ‘Here’s One I Prepared Earlier’.

Winner: James McGinty            East Area (Ipswich SC)

Runner-up: Ian Price                 Kent Area (Chaucer SC)

Speech Contest

Winner: Alice Herron                         London Area (Wimbledon SC)

Runner-up: James McGinty            East Area (Ipswich SC)

Ace of Clubs: City SC

Moscow Trophy (for advancing communication):    Ian Lockyer (Thanet SC)

President’s Award: Jim Gascoyne (Chaucer SC)