A typical club meeting consists of a short warm-up session, a brief business session, a speaking tip, prepared speeches, impromptu speeches and evaluations of all of the speeches and evaluators. Experienced members take it in turns to chair each meeting.

The warm-up session is a relaxed ice-breaker for the evening. Every member introduces him or herself and speaks light-heartedly for about 20 seconds on a topical subject. Guests can opt to be introduced by a member of the club if they prefer.

The first half of the evening is dedicated to members who have prepared speeches based around a set of Association of Speakers Clubs (ASC) assignments. The ASC Speakers Guide sets out 10 progressive speech assignments, each of which focuses on a specific speaking skill, from speech construction to building rapport with an audience. The speaker is free to choose any subject suitable for demonstrating their chosen speaking skill.

The first speech is an opportunity to introduce yourself to the club to build your confidence speaking in front of an audience; speakers are not expected to be proficient at this stage.

Members follow the ASC Speakers Guide at their own pace and move onto the next speech assignment when they have mastered each skill. You will be a competent speaker before you reach the tenth speech. Eventually, you will be capable of incorporating all of the skills that you have learnt (use of voice, body language, gestures and eye contact etc) from the first nine assignments and feel happy to deliver your final masterpiece. Certificates of achievement are awarded after successful completion of the fifth and masterpiece speeches.

Constructive evaluations are a major factor in improving your communication skills. After each speech, an experienced member evaluates the speaker’s performance in relation to the specified assignment in the ASC Speakers Guide. Positive points are highlighted and then suggestions and recommendations for improvement are offered to help the speaker to improve their speaking skills.

Learning to evaluate builds your listening and analytical skills, tact and diplomacy and the art of presenting your views in a succinct four minute speech.

We then adjourn to the bar for what is sometimes called the most important part of the evening.

The second half of the evening is devoted to impromptu speaking. Each Chaucer member is given a topic to speak about for up to two minutes without any preparation. Guests are welcome to rise to the challenge. Experienced members are allowed to continue for 3 minutes in preparation for competitions. The topics can be on absolutely anything from current affairs to your favorite... and are usually linked by a unifying theme.

This is the either the light-hearted or the most terrifying part of the evening depending on your experience. You will soon learn to think fast on your feet and walk very slowly to the lectern. As with the structured speeches, the topics session is also evaluated. Finally, the entire evening, including the chair and the evaluators, is evaluated and assessed for its educational, entertainment and informative content.

Getting to Chaucer Speakers Club...