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 – RIP Sidney Harold Richardson
“A Load of Old Codswallop” – you can just see him, now, tutting with a wry grin and a twinkle in his eye as he says it. Friends and […]
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 how […]
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 […]
A Letter from George – Storytelling #5
Betsy Loveless was beating the back out of a piece of meat with a weighty rolling pin. The occasional trapped rabbit with wild vegetables regularly put food on the family […]
Robert’s Rules of Order
In the last 9 months I have been involved in a number of political (small p) meetings where Robert’s Rules of Order have been applied. Whilst I have been to […]
Passing the Baton – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
What are you doing to ensure the ongoing success of your club? Planning an effective succession strategy for your club’s committee is not easy. We are all busy people, but […]
Variations on the Death of Trotsky – Interpretive Reading #4
Laura McHarrie has chosen and for the purpose of timing edited, a short one-act comedy-drama written by David Ives. The play fictionalises the death of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky through a […]
Variety is the Spice of Life – an Educational Speech
Introduction “Laura McHarrie, is here on her 2nd official visit to the club in her role as Area Director. Laura is close to getting her AC Silver award this year. […]
It’s All About the Numbers – a Toastmasters Successful Club Speech
How to be a distinguished club Take your felt tip pen and change the Goals Met in the top right-hand corner from four to five! As of 6 pm tonight […]
Entelechies! A Toastmaster’s Area Director’s Diary
Interesting how the half way point creeps up whilst you were snoozing over Christmas and slap bam wallop two clubs in the area have achieved Distinguished Club Status with a […]
The Flood – Interpretive Reading #3
Laura McHarrie has chosen The Flood, one of The Vagina Monologues, a compilation of plays written and performed originally by Eve Ensler in 1996. This is one that Laura thinks […]
Step Out Tuesday – An Area Directors Toastmasters Diary
I mentioned Blue Monday in a blog post yesterday, it affects many of us in business when all the good intentions of our new year resolutions have dissolved. My antidote […]
David Bowie is … Interpretive Reading #5
For the purpose of this project, Laura McHarrie, self-confessed, Bowie-obsessed, fan from the age of 15 has chosen Tilda Swinton’s after dinner speech at the opening of ‘David Bowie is’. The exhibition has proved to be one of the most popular exhibitions in the Victoria & Albert Museum’s history. Moreover, Tilda Swinton’s contemporary speech has been voted as one of the top 100 speeches given by women ever. With this project entitled ‘David Bowie is’ please welcome Laura McHarrie
Going Public in Dorset – High Performance Leadership part I
Laura McHarrie has chosen this Contest to deliver the first of two speeches in relation to her High Performance Leadership Project. As its name suggests, the aim is for the […]
Be Bold! Be Brief! Be Gone! – A Toastmasters Area Director’s Diary
I think I’m addicted to the Corporate Club Meetings. Having been to three at Chaseside, the JP Morgan Toastmasters club – I think I should reveal their hidden secret. There […]
The Perfect Storm – Storytelling #2
Christmas 1997, I helicoptered into the best year of Excel Clothing’s 10 year history. Full of excitement at taking on my new role as Managing Director of this successful ladies […]
Stepping In or Stepping Up – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
I went to Ferndown Speakers in my official capacity as Area Director this week. An unbelievable example of people ‘stepping in’ at the last minute to ensure the meeting was […]
Follow Through and Follow Up – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
For a period of five years, I was the Regional Controller of what became a very successful remote team of New Look Area Managers. The success was theirs and theirs […]
One Small Step – A Toastmaster Area Director’s Diary
What a brilliant day! The evaluations from the officer training day suggest there is some room for improvement so I look forward to honing my skills for the next one […]
So Wot -Speciality Speeches #3
Speciality Speeches #3 – Sell a Product (10:00-12:00 min) Use the four steps in a sales presentation: attention, interest, desire, action; Identify and promote a unique selling proposition in a […]
A Mob of Kangaroos
I love some of the descriptive nouns we, humans, allocate to a collective or should that be a cluster? Last week, was the final of three, in a land down […]
From Woking to Weymouth – a Toastmasters Speech (1)
I’d like to invite you to share my journey from Woking to Weymouth via a 14 year stop over in Worthing. I should say that there was a six-month pit […]
Laura McHarrie @ The Hidden Edge 