Greetings fellow Toastmasters and Guests,

Just to get you through your withdrawal symptoms from no London Cardinal meetings until 9th January 2012 (!!) – here are the last two meeting notes, plus a round up of what happened at the Christmas meal.

 

London Cardinals Meeting: Monday 5th December 2011

Our President, Jessie Macneil-Brown, opened the evening by telling us all how Toastmasters had helped her to listen.

Toastmaster, Laura McCracken, set the theme for the evening – “Which child are you in order or birth?”

Our Timekeeper – Olga Pirog – explained the Timekeeper role.  Gino Coquis-Ortiz was the evenings Harkmaster listening to all the speeches and roles – and asking questions later in the evening.

Jessica Forster was the evening’s Table Topics Master leading everyone through a Table Topics session of ‘the 12 days of Christmas’.  Caroline Ellingham: Memories of Christmas morning and Father Christmas; Jessie Macneil-Brown: why being a turtle is better then a dove, Jessie would be ‘Tracy the Turtle wearing bright red lipstick’.  Henry Lam: Eating his mum’s chicken at Christmas. Alex Hancock: Hating Christmas songs.  Andrew Chuks: boxing at the Olympics. Denise Tyrell: the best eggs are the chocolate ones “a soft, mallow centre; rich, deep caramel flavour and a dark, intense chocolate “. Gilly Cutts: “I lived for ballet as a child.”  Richard Russell: running over a cow in India. Catherine Slater: Favourite type of dance is ballet.  Danny Callaghan: Passing a law to outlaw the use of phrases that get on his nerves. Nigel Cutts: Adoring the haunting sound of the Scottish bag pipes. Paul Walsh: standing in for a pop group back in the day and playing the drums.

Monica Chong, Table Topics Evaluator, expertly evaluated 12 table topics.  Sergeant at Arms: Jessica Forster introduced 3 guests.

Henry Lam videoed the prepared speeches in the second half.

Richard Russell, Speech No 2 – ‘It is better to give then receive’ “I’m going to talk about jigsaw puzzles and a teapot”

“Powerful title – great opening.” Gilly Cutts, Evaluator

Sally Maier-Yip, Speech No 3 – ‘The happiness formula’ “Happy things happen to happy people.”

“An enjoyable speech – Sally gave depth to the meaning of happiness”  Paul Walsh, Evaluator

Glenn Jones, Advanced Speech, Humorous Speaking Manual – ‘999′ “This job, that I was once proud of, is down there with the traffic wardens”

“I could tell it was going to be a brilliant speech from the minute Glenn walked up to the stage” Denise Tyrell, Evaluator

Andrew Chuks, Advanced Speech, Humorous Speaking Manual – ‘Planes, trains and automobiles’ “Trains, planes and automobiles – sometimes it’s better to walk!”

“Andrew was wonderful – as he always is – tonight” Jenny Cutler, Evaluator

General Evaluator: Nigel Cutts gave the club and those that had not yet been evaluated some useful feedback. “Tonight was a really great vibe – so London Cardinals!”

WINNERS! Table Topic:      Paul Walsh Best Evaluator: Jenny Cutler Best Speech:    Sally Maier-Yip

London Cardinals Christmas Dinner: Monday 12th December 2011

The London Cardinals Christmas Dinner had an excellent turn out.  Expertly hosted by our President, Jessie Macneil-Brown – “This is the best club in the world because we have some of the best people in our club!”; and very well organised by Monica Chong (who sadly couldn’t make it on the night) and Gino Coquis-Ortiz, who managed the introductions, was Table Topics and did the Invocation at the end.

The table topics included delights from: Sally Maier-Yip: most memorable Christmas day was in France; Jessica Forster: most memorable Christmas present was her Sindy Doll Kitchen Cafe; Maggie Etheridge: wanting this Christmas to be a memorable occasions; Trang Le: Santa Claus wearing red heels; Denise Tyrell: “If we didn’t have a commercialised Christmas then what would the elves do?” Catherine Slater: How to celebrate Christmas her way.

Prepared Speeches:

Simon O’Mahony:“The United Nations asked me to step in at short notice to deal with Father Christmas.”

James Barnett: “What are you looking for in 2012?”

James Gilpin: “The 12 Days of Toasties”

 

London Cardinals Meeting: Monday 19th December 2011

Our President, Jessie Macneil-Brown, opened the evening by praising the achievements of London Cardinals over 2011.  “What a year!  We need to celebrate the amazing achievements of London Cardinals! Are we or are we not the best club in the world?”

Toastmaster, Nigel Cutts, set the theme for the evening – “Who would you like to spend Christmas day with and what one question would you ask them?”

Our Timekeeper – Stephan von Posern – explained the Timekeeper role.  Catherine Slater was the evenings Harkmaster listening to all the speeches and roles – and asking questions later in the evening.

Sally Maier-Yip was the evening’s Table Topics Master leading everyone through a Table Topics session of the ‘Resolutions’.  Jenny Cutler: Her perfect body shape at the age of 18; Paul Walsh: Skiing with torn ankle ligaments.  Jessie Macneil-Brown: Tips on how to speak French.  Catherine Slater: Going to back to China to visit her home.  Alan Mustor (guest): Almost becoming a professional football player.  Laura McCracken: ‘The way I will bite the dust will be falling off a boat.” Gilly Cutts: Her favourite book: Shantaram.  Jessica Forster: Why London Cardinals is the best club in the world. James Barnett: Surfing in Cornwall in September.  Saket Modi: London is a great place in the summer. Caroline Ellingham: Learning French to go to Paris. Sinead Ni Mhuircheartaigh: How to keep your energy levels up.

Maggie Etheridge, Table Topics Evaluator, expertly evaluated 12 table topics.  Sergeant at Arms: Jessica Forster introduced 9 guests.

Laura McCracken videoed the prepared speeches in the second half.

Gino Coquis-Ortiz Speech No 2 – ‘My Christmas as a kid in Peru’ “My first memory of Christmas in Peru was the annual visit of my Godmother.”

“Real passion!  Gino really drew us in with his description of Christmas in Peru.” Craig Haffey, Evaluator

Deborah Henley, Advanced Speech, Entertaining Manual – ‘Journey to the ends of the earth’ “If you stroke your Babel fish in just the right way, you’ll be able to hear the glaciers speak.”

“I commend Deb’s freedom to be silly with confidence.”  Jo Holmes, Evaluator

James Marshall, Advanced Impromptu Speech– ‘Kazakhstan, Flying and Rupert Murdoch’ “I need a hug!”

“How many of us in here could take three words and turn it in to a speech?  I was blown away!” Gilly Cutts, Evaluator

James Gilpin, Advanced Speech – ‘The 12 days of Toasties’ “Such a privilege to be invited to give the last speech of 2011.”

“What an honour to evaluate such a fantastic speech – and what a memorable message.” Stewart Lewis, Evaluator

General Evaluator: Ola Aralepo gave the club and those that had not yet been evaluated some useful feedback.

WINNERS! Table Topic:      Paul Walsh Best Evaluator: Gilly Cutts Best Speech:    Deborah Henley

 

Our next meeting – 09.01.12

Hope to see you at the first London Cardinals meeting of 2012 on Monday 9th January. Please check following emails for the line up.

Announcements

Facebook page

If you have a Facebook account please visit the new London Cardinals Facebook page.  Copy and paste this link in to your browser: http://www.facebook.com/groups/londoncardinals/.  The Facebook page will have updates, news, links to newsletters, photos and more!  But do not fret – if you do not use Facebook everything will still be sent to you via email.

Bring your friends
We love guests at London Cardinals and we love to also promote the club – so why not spread the news to friends, family and colleagues about how fab we are and bring them along to the next meeting?

Other news

Gilly Cutts is now overseeing Competent Leaders and encouraging everyone to complete the Competent Leader manual.  Please help Gilly by making sure we have your correct email address.  If you have any questions about competent leadership skills please do not hesitate to contact Gilly or have a chat to her at a meeting.

Finally, please remember to let our VPE, Laura McCracken, know about when you want to do your next speech, and also about any roles you want to fulfil (e.g. Toastmaster, Timekeeper, Grammarian, TT Master, TT Evaluator, and Speech Evaluator).  You may email Laura at cardinalsvpe@yahoo.com or catch her at the next meeting.