The Water Boatman’s Willy
The things you learn, listening to podcasts on a Sunday morning. The Blue Whale the largest mammal is the loudest creature on earth, no great surprise there. But this little […]
Battle of the Sexes
Introduction “Laura has been fascinated by the study of communications or rather miscommunications, since 2007, when she picked up a copy of John Gray’s book entitled Men are from Mars, […]
“Everything changes, but nothing changes.”
New Parenting Model for the 21st Century – I don’t think so Fellow Toastmasters I am not a biological parent, I have three step children, a sibling, a nephew and […]
Sowing Seeds for Impromptu Speaking
The level three Pathways ‘Active Listening’ project asks the Table Topics Master to really ‘listen’ to the table topic responses. Then to make an appropriate comment on the talk as […]
How to be Heard
Introduction “Here at Toastmasters, we live and die by our presentation successes and failures. The intros can have a massive impact how the audience reacts to the speech. I’m so […]
I’m Not Deaf – You Know …
“Our next speaker is Laura McHarrie. This speech was inspired by Rachel Knowles. When Rachel answered Julia Martineau’s table topic question – what invention could you not live without, she […]
Listen to Learn..
Introduction “The first three months of any Toastmaster year is called the Golden Quarter. The more that is planned and actioned in the first three months, the smoother the club […]
Distinguished Toastmasters Indeed!
In April 2008, 7.15pm for a strict 7.30 kick off, Steve Graham, Jan Thorpe with much bugging and instance from yours truly, Casterbridge Speakers was launched. That day, I started […]
Earworms?
And what are they … exactly? They are the songs that you cannot get out of your head. Recently Kylie did it again to me. This time with “when I […]
Petrol Heads – thanks Mark
There are people that like their cars and there are people that lurve their cars. These are the so called petrol heads. At first glance at tonight’s meeting theme, I thought […]
Martin Luther-King Jr Day
On this day in history, Martin Luther-King Jr was born (Jan 15th 1929). He was assassinated before his 40th birthday. He’d have been 89 today, if he’d have lived this […]
Learning from Honks & Hinks
Don’t you think it’s a wonderful sound when a flock of geese fly into Weymouth? Theirs is not the most attractive sound but it is very distinctive. For me, it […]
Much Ado About Nothing!
Last weekend, Dave and I went to the open air Globe Theatre for our biennial visit. We always go in July and … it always rains! To date, we have […]
Clubs and Camaraderie
A few weeks ago I went to the pub for breakfast, dressed in this year’s Lion’s gear. We were supporting England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales in the battle for the […]
Summer Solstice
It has been the hottest day on record, previously registered in 1976. I was 14 that year. I don’t remember that day – in 1976 it was hot – all […]
Watch out little legs. My lanky ones are after you! – Special Occasions #3
This is Laura McHarrie’s 40th evaluated speech and the penultimate tick in the box towards Advanced Speaker Gold. She was the first member of Casterbridge Speakers having persuaded Steve Graham […]
The Five Es – High Performance Leadership part II
Laura is close to the end of her journey towards Distinguished Toastmaster. This is the penultimate project towards Advanced Leadership Silver. In this speech Laura takes a long hard look […]
COT MOP – Area Director’s Diary
(Club Officer Training – Mop up! Part 1) The joint area 1 and area 42 club officer training turned out to be a tremendous success. In pooling our resources, Diane […]
Live 2017 – Your Best Year Yet!
On Thursday evening, eight highly energised, exited and enthusiastic Hallmark Speakers took to the floor to give an amazing showcase of ideas on how to live life to the full […]
Talk Up Toastmasters – Area Director’s Diary
Talk Up Toastmasters is one of three challenges during the Toastmaster’s year to engage five new members to each of our clubs. Every club achieving five new members in this […]
Grow and Be Strong Pt 2 – Speeches by Management #3
Hey Hallmark Speakers – how are you doing? Me? I’m not doing too bad … now … after a few false starts and some key learning. In fact the learning […]
10 out of 10! Andrew – Special Occasion Speeches #4
Sausages, Sparkers and Fireworks! With this speech entitled The Secrets of the Seaside Andrew Knowles has completed the competent communicators manual. That’s ten out of ten! Lady President, Mr Toastmaster, […]
A Load of Old Codswallop -Special Occasion Speeches #2
A Load of Old Codswallop – you can just see him tutting with a wry grin and a twinkle in his eye as he says it. Friends and Family […]
Breaking the Rules – Speeches by Management #5
Houston, we have a problem! Tis not as bad as the Apollo 13 incident but neither are we NASA. However, according to the 2016/7 speech contest rulebook says a club […]
Grow & Be Strong – Speeches By Management #1
Laura McHarrie, introduced a project as part of her high performance leadership project in October 2015. The project floundered in the first few months. Having reviewed the initial plans, […]
Over to You! – Special Occasion Speeches #1
The Toast – On 6th July, Laura McHarrie officially handed over the running of Toastmaster’s Area 42 to her successor Linda Parkinson-Hardman, simultaniously completing another in the special occasion speeches manual. […]
From Foolish to Flourish – Special Occasion Speeches #5
The Acceptance Speech The thing about Toastmasters is there is always the next challenge. Just when you think you have nailed one set of skills another advanced manual opens up […]
Wrapping Up … A Toastmaster’s Area Director’s Diary
Wrap up, tie up any loose ends and reflect before gifting! With little over a month to go before the end of the Toastmaster’s year, it is time to do […]
Hitting the Target
How do you get your message across when you are in a client meeting? Do you use PowerPoint? Explain a brochure? Deliver a pre prepared speech? This post is about […]
Beat The Clock – A Toastmaster’s Area Director’s Diary
As we draw to the close of the Toastmaster year, nothing stops! The clock keeps ticking! With two months to go we still have a lot to play for; not […]
A Marxism …
“Surround yourself with people who make you happy. People who make you laugh, who help you when you’re in need. People who genuinely care. They are the ones worth keeping […]
