Morning Club (1) - Early Bird Toastmasters Club

This is the club which typically met in the amazing Freemasons Hall in Covent Garden. Nothing really can beat the location! But the club is temporarily meeting on line.







The club meeting is 90-minutes, and a few things really impressed me:


1. Flexible Table Topics Time + immediate evaluation

The speaking time was 45 second - 1 min 15 second on my visit. This is not the typical 1-2 min duration, which nicely fit into the 90-min meeting.
I also like the immediate TT evaluation after the session, which was conducted by an experience member. Many think that impromptu speech is hard to make, and harder to evaluate. However, the well-trained speakers will tell you that impromptu speeches can be practiced and you should practice before you're called upon to talk about important matters.
I like the TT master who have a very clear instruction on timing rule at the beginning. He also offer tips for beginners (to just jump in and do it) and for more experienced members (to plan is like a speech with a proper structure).

2. Guest Host

A member is assigned to introduce guests. The Host gave very clear instructions to guests on what to speak about at the beginning - your favorite potato chips flavor and a bit about yourself in 20 seconds. This is a good way to avoid the cliché in a typical self-introduction.

3. Linguist

Instead of the typical Ah-counter + Grammarian + the word of the day, the assignment of linguist covers a wider interpretation of the role. 

4. Vote for the Best Evaluator

In addition to the individual evaluators, it is a nice surprise to see that the voting sheet also includes linguist (who offers linguistic use evaluation) and general evaluator.  I do think all facilitators share a similar skill set on providing feedback and these roles should be included in the vote.



 What impressed me most is ......... 

 
  How did you all manage to get up so early (7 a.m.) together with your humor and a clear mind? 




   I enjoy the visit a lot, and may return again!

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