Blog

The meeting on 26.09 was Extemporaneously MAGICAL, with unrelenting grandeur and style. If humour was human like, it would’ve bow before our feet.

Our President Andreea Turcu, opened the meeting with such grace and style, welcoming the guests, and giving each who attended the opportunity introduce themselves. Madam President then decided that we would alter the meeting by, making the evening an evening of Table Topics.

The meeting was turn over to the Toastmaster of the evening (TME) @Al Green, who led the meeting in Table Topics. Table Topics consisted of various questions, which rendered caused and rollercoaster of emotions….

@Ben, after 5 years of waiting to give his first table topic, it was a sight to see; his responses the questions given led us to his office settings and some aspects of memory lane to when he was in his youth.

Geoffrey Huck, he was outstanding! His response to his questions were utterly French. His words carried us along with accent, while keeping each of us the edge of our seats for more….parfait!

@Jaya, dazzled us with his philosophical response to each question. He was quite thought provoking, leaving us with a serious takeaway message: Be in the Now.

@Natalie, who visited from one of the neighbouring clubs, Esprit de Corps Toastmasters Club showed her graceful manner when faced with some penetrating questions, but she was able to let her toastmaster skills lead the way; her eye contact, body language, vocal demand was a sight to see, she was superb.

@Philly, took us on a social journey in her response to the questions given to her – having to decide rather being with an older partner or younger -she decided on the ladder, but reiterated that, a mixture of the two; wisdom & youth is a must.

@Al, his questions gave us the opportunity to hear about his fondness of is grandparents, and if he had the to talk with some great stature, it would be them.

The table topic evaluations were led by @Al, who give some construction criticism in response to each table topic question, and how table topics is an excellent tool to use when in building confidence.

The Timer’s report was rendered by Andreea Turcu, in which she made clear that the responses to the table topics were all within the allotted time.

The guests and members stated that, they really enjoyed the meeting and promised to return very soon – I think we’ll see them again.
The meeting was then adjourned by Madam President Andreea Turcu

Quote: “There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humour.”

Details of the next meeting will be published soon. : )

On 12.09 evening, 7 members and guests met at “The Good Coffee”, and in the strong international tradition of Famous, there were five nationalities present. We knew it was going to be a small meeting as several members were either unwell or had other commitments, so there was a chance for a 100%-participation evening with everyone taking part in both speaking and evaluating.

The theme was listening – and there’s no better way to develop listening skills and increase focus, than to evaluate a speech. @Russel, the TME has organised the meeting excellently, so everyone has the opportunity to practice the public speaking and have fun at the same time.

We all took a turn to deliver a Table Topic speech (also valuable practice) and everyone took notes, then one person delivered a brief evaluation based on “2-up, 2-down”. The evaluator explained two strong points and two areas where improvement would be possible. Everyone else then had a chance to join in and agree, disagree or add further points to the evaluation. Andreea Turcu, the Timekeeper, took note of all the speeches and gave the report at the end of the meeting.

We discovered some great skills in our first-time guests, and huge enthusiasm for learning. Another fun and enjoyable meeting, and a good way to spend “an evening with friends”.

The next meeting will take place on 26.09. More details will be posted shortly. :

At our latest Famous Toastmasters Club meeting in Mainz, we enjoyed a delightful evening guided by the theme of the Olympics. President Andreea Turcu opened the gathering with a warm welcome, setting a positive tone. Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia, our Toastmaster of the evening, led a dynamic speech creation workshop, emphasizing that everyday inspirations can be transformed into captivating speeches. By the end of the session, all attendees had crafted their own 5-7 minute speeches, complete with a clear beginning, middle, and end.

The break that followed allowed everyone to mingle and connect. @Philly then hosted an engaging Table Topics session, prompting lively participation and enjoyment from all. Daniel’s insightful evaluation of the Table Topics provided valuable feedback, as did Michael May‘s report as Time Keeper, who made sure everyone kept to their time limits.

Closing the evening, Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia motivated us to continue honing our public speaking skills, and President Andreea Turcu wrapped up the event on a high note. The camaraderie and enthusiasm left us eagerly anticipating our next meeting.

😍 Yesterday we enjoyed the evening with the theme “Inspire to Achieve” together with our colleagues and guests. Although not many of us were there due to the holidays, the exam period and the hot weather, which is perfect for outside :), we managed to organise a smooth meeting where all the important roles were covered.
😇 The meeting was opened by Andreea, the TME, who introduced the topic and challenged everyone to tell when they were last inspired and if they also managed to inspire someone.
🧠 The first speech was given by Michael May l who talked about neuroplasticity, the importance of food, sleep and exercise for our brain and reminded us the importance of this complex organ, that controls all the processes in our body.
👀 The second speech belonged to @AL, who shook us awake and made us realise how important it is to always say “yes” when an opportunity “knocks” on your door. As one quote says: “When an opportunity presents itself, don’t be afraid to take it”. (EK)
🌺 The Table Topics Master, Cleiton Pires, had prepared some interesting questions on the topic of the meeting and invited both members and guests to give a short speech. The guests gladly agreed to step in and overcome their fear of public speaking.
🖊 As there were only a few of us, each speaker evaluated the other’s speech and gave each other valuable feedback, mentioning the strengths but also things that could be improved.
📗 The role of Timekeeper and Ah-counter was taken on by Andreea Turcu, who kept a close eye on all the speakers, taking notes on their ahs and uhms and also keeping track of the time of their speeches.
The meeting ended with a positive feedback from our guests, who openly said that they would like to come again. 😊
See you next time on 11.07. More details will be announced soon.

“Adaptation and Growth” was the theme of an enjoyable evening, where we had the honor of hosting our colleagues and friends from the Word Weavers Club, Wiesbaden.

@Russell started off the meeting by welcoming the guests and handed over command to Philly, who was the Toastmaster of the evening for the very first time. Well done, @Philly! : )

@Chen from Word Weavers, presented a powerful speech titled “Yes, You can!”, leaving everyone feeling inspired.

Table Topics master, @Martin, also from Word Weavers, put the creativity of the guests to the test. Everyone had fun and was happy to take up the challenge. The impromptu speeches were nothing short of brilliant.

@Rita shared her insightful observations as the grammarian + Ah Counter of the evening and @Russell made sure everyone was sticking to their time limits in his role as the Time Keeper.

@Chen received a constructive evaluation of his speech from Nadine Meisel, who like everyone else, was impressed by his prowess in public speaking.

@Joanne from the Word Weavers Club ended the evening with an overall assessment of the meeting, pointing out what we did well and what needs to be improved.

The heartfelt laughter, friendly chats and great learnings are evidence that everyone enjoyed the evening. Members of Word Weavers agreed that the two clubs should do more joint activities in future. 😍

Creative sparks

With the great weather and a fantastic atmosphere, the meeting with the theme “Creative sparks” was a phenomenal experience.

The evening was opened by @Cleiton who did a good job with his guidance as the Toastmaster of the evening for the very first time.

Led by @Russell, the meeting started with a ‘creative’ session where participants were asked to discuss in groups of five how best to write a structured icebreaker speech.

Our Table topics master @Eddy brought literal “sparks” and ignited real “creativity” with the impromptu speaking session, which was enriched with eloquent and brave guests who were definitely great at public speaking.

@Fiona did a great job and made sure that all speakers kept to the time limits.

Our Ah-counter was @Rita, who counted how often a speech contained unnecessary interjections.

@Russell shared with us his impeccable grasp of the English language and served as our grammarian.

The session ended with @Michael’s role as General Evaluator, showing us his great eye for detail.

Embracing Diversity

“Embracing Diversity” was the meeting theme, when Famous Toastmasters Mainz met on Thursday, 4th of April for yet another enjoyable and inspiring meeting.

With a bang of the gavel our president Jonas opened the meeting, extended a spirited welcome to the 8 members and 4 guests who had found their way to our central location in Mainz before handing over to Michael, who was to lead through the evening as toastmaster of the evening.

The word of the day (“implicit”) was then presented by Jonas Ritzer and with that the floor was open for our prepared speeches.

We had the pleasure to listen to two of them, one by @Russell and duly pre-scheduled, the other one an unexpected boon to our agenda by @Darian, one of our guests.

It was at first @Al who, as evaluator, called Darian to the floor, who did not flinch from sharing his passion for cryptography and explaining some basic concepts in a humorous, playful way, making great use of props and active audience involvement.

Next it was @Willy’s turn to present the 2nd speaker @Russell wo would endeavour to explain neural networks both in humans and in AI (large language models, machine learning), and who did an excellent job in explaining commonalities (the “firing and wiring” of how are neural connections formed).

After a short break, diverging a little from the agenda and owing to time constraints of one of the evaluators, we brought forward the speech evaluations by @Al (for Dorian) and @Willy (for Russell) and both evaluators offered helpful tips for improvement besides the much earned praise.

But now it was finally time for table topics, very well prepared and presented by @Fiona as table topics master. @Fiona had “enlisted” ChatGTP as her assistant in generating the some table topics that, as 5 volunteers were to find out, were really all very stimulating and pertinent questions and cues closely related to the meeting theme.

The exercise was great fun as always and could have gone on for much longer, but Michael May, mindful of the time, had to give the evaluation section its due space. We thus heard the reports first from the Ah-Counter (Andreea Turcu) and Grammarian (Jonas Ritzer, who rather than being nit-picking chose to focus on good uses of language, followed by the report that of the time-keeper (@Eddy) and a very much appreciated general evaluation by our guest @Darian, who gave particular attention to giving feedback to the speech evaluators.

Another bang of the gavel officially ended the meeting, as it did open the informal “mingle and talk part” that always succeeds our meetings at Famous.  

Innovative Minds

The evening on 14. March was a whirlwind of creativity and camaraderie- With 13 eager participants, we explored the theme of “Innovative Minds” and experienced some truly inspiring speeches. From out-of-the-box thinking to quick-wittedness during our table topics session, we embraced the spirit of innovation and got energised. Thanks to the valuable feedback from our evaluators, ah counter and time keeper, we all felt empowered and ready to keep going and achieve the best version of ourselves .Here’s to fostering connection, learning and application in our Toastmasters community!

Leadership Unleashed

Tonight’s meeting was full of EXCITEMENT & ENTHUSIASM filled with awesome surprises – almost like PAELLA.

The meeting was opened by @Al, the Toastmaster of the evening, who charmingly hosted the entire evening.

The exceptional educational rendered by the Club President Jonas Ritzer, put things in perspective, the Toastmasters way. And the forever memorable speech rendered by @Russell was so colorful and explosive, each word had us on the edge of our seats.

Table Topics was all about tapping into our expressive leadership traits, the responses were inspiring, thanks to Michael May’s lead.

Andreea Turcu did an excellent job in making sure we understood the importance of Green, Yellow & Red – she made every second count.

@Eddy’s report on our filler words and Michael’s on the use of grammar helped us understand how important it is to have someone paying close attention to every word we say. Well done guys!

The meeting ended with Cleiton Pires´s feedback, who acted as General Evaluator for the first time and gave a superb final synopsis of how the meeting ran.

The guests and returned guests were so elated about the meeting, we could see the excitement in their body language and eye contact – I think we’ll see them again.

A meeting well done! The TME, @AL, quoted: Enthusiasm is Contagious!

The next meeting will take place at “The Good Coffee”on 14 March. Details will follow shortly. 😊

Communication Dynamics

Despite the rainy and cold weather, we managed to gather 11 nationalities and have an amazing evening together.
The meeting was opened by Andreea Turcu the TME, who introduced the theme of the evening and invited some participants to share their experiences with miscommunication.
The first speaker was our new joiner, Cleiton Pires, who gave his first Ice Breaker. With his confidence on stage and his well-structured speech, it was hard to believe that it was his first speech. Bravo, Cleiton Pires! : )
The second speech was delivered by our experienced Toastmaster Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia, who gave us some secrets about body language: such as the importance of women’s hip movements, the position of the legs when we talk to someone, etc.
Creative @Susana offered a cute table-topic session and brought some small objects: a heart, a ring, a frog, cards and asked the participants to talk about different topics for a maximum of 2 minutes. Good work, Nadine Meisel, Giacomo Viscardi, @Fiona, @Eddy!
The masters of our team, the 2 evaluators @Al and @Russell gave a very fruitful insight into what our speakers did well and also what needs to be adjusted. It’s not too much, but there is always room for improvement.
The word of the day and the Ah-Counter roles were taken by our ever energetic Nadine Meisel who did a great job of reproducing our ahhs and hmms and counting who used the word “gratefully”.
The minutes we spent on each speech were counted by @Fiona who carefully paid attention on the timing. Well done, @Fiona!
The meeting concluded with the thoroughly General evaluation from Michael May, who gave positive feedback on how smoothly our meeting went. Way to go!
Guests were asked for their opinions and were more than enthusiastic about the evening and are already looking forward to coming back next time. In a couple of words – a successful meeting. 🎉

Details of the next meeting will be announced shortly. : )

“Path to Success”

Eight members and guests of Famous Toastmasters Mainz met online for a special meeting where everyone had the opportunity to practice their skills at impromptu speaking and also evaluating.

@Russell, TME, introduced the topic “Path to Success” and everyone briefly introduced themselves in the first round and presented their view of “success”. The second round was about “paths” and role-playing, e.g. giving advice to a friend on their path or rejecting bad advice without offending a friend. Half of the group gave improvised speeches, while the other half honed their evaluation skills by pointing out good points and suggestions for improvement in a short “two up, two down” process. We then swapped roles between speakers and evaluators. We discovered a wealth of improvisation skills in the group and had a lot of fun and laughter.

We ended the meeting with the timekeeper’s report and a grammar and general evaluation by our president Jonas Ritzer. We are already looking forward to the next meeting at “The Good Coffee”, in the heart of Mainz city. See you there! : )

“New Beginnings”

New year, new start – the Famous Toastmasters Mainz met for the first time in 2024 on 11 January to celebrate “New Beginnings”.

Our President and Toastmaster of the evening Jonas Ritzer opened the meeting by asking all members if they were making New Year’s resolutions and why – the jury is still out on whether this is a helpful tool or just a crux, as our members were not in agreement.

A particular challenge for the meeting: 3 roles had to be filled at short notice, but our prospective members @Soughbik, @Clayton and @Eddy stepped in at short notice – in true Toastmasters style!

After an interesting Table topics session from Anna Birk Hellenes, our first time Table Topics Master, focussing on how events have changed our lives, there were some fantastic reports from our first role-takers, revealing for example that no one used more than 4 “uhms”, or our unique phrases.

Another entertaining meeting ended on time – we are already looking forward to the next one!

The next meeting will take place online on 25 January. Details will follow shortly. 😊

“Sugar and spice”

Famous Toastmasters gathered for a delightful evening filled with charm and camaraderie. ❄️ President Jonas Ritzer set the stage, prompting members and guests to share their ideal Christmas meals, fostering a warm start.

Our Toastmaster, Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia, weaved the theme “Sugar and Spice” into a magical Christmas narrative, evoking images of snow ❄️, candy 🍬, and crackling log 🔥 fires. The roles, from Timer Jonas Ritzer to Grammarian @Russell, and @Fiona as Ah and Ahm counter contributed seamlessly.

Christiane Reichwein’s “Secret of Life” speech and Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia’s nostalgic “Christmas 1988” captured hearts, sending us on a sentimental journey. 🍷 Amidst shared stories and contacts during the break, the warmth of Christmas enveloped us.

Table Topics with Nadine Meisel turned into a delightful enactment, transforming members into festive icons, from trees to presents 🎁, and ending with a poetic Christmas Candle. 🕯️ Frozen in character, we posed for memorable pictures.

Speech evaluations by Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia and Jonas Ritzer fostered encouragement and interactive feedback, creating a cozy atmosphere that led to festive group photos. 📸

As the evening wound down, Ivan S.’s review added the perfect touch of “Sugar and Spice.” The Jül log 🔥 bid us goodnight, followed by heartfelt gifts 🎁 and an Ugly Sweater contest winner.

Guests departed feeling warmly welcomed, motivated, and part of our close-knit gathering. It was a joyous celebration, blending old and new friendships. Here’s to another wonderful year of togetherness and growth in the coming year!

“Everyday charisma”

The #1 answer of our meeting participants what “Everyday charisma” means for them? Having a fascinating aura and attracting people – and attract we did! A three-way collaboration of the Famous and Word weavers Toastmasters from Mainz and Wiesbaden meant we had a fully packed online audience.

Of course, charisma is also to adapt to new circumstances quickly and always stay calm and collected. So, a new platform (MS Teams) and a completely reshuffled agenda? No problem for our charismatic speakers Mithun Sdridharan & Leonie Bodeving, or their experienced evaluators Russel Gasser and Al Green – who did an amazing evaluation with exactly zero (!) minutes of preparation.

A question: Do you know what it means to “paint the dragon’s eyes”? An entertaining Table topics session guided by Chen Hing Yap challenged us to explain Chinese proverbs – and according to his explanations, we did quite well!

Overall an amazing evening – thank you to all who have contributed!

“Forge connections”

Cold weather, rain, sick members? These were not reasons that stopped us from coming together, “connecting” and having fun at “The Good Coffee”. Andreea Turcu opened the meeting as TME and even with few people, we managed to show guests that our approach is “famous” because nowhere does one feel more at home away from home than at the Famous Toastmasters Club. With Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia‘s speech about the time we have left until we turn 80 and how we should make the most of it, followed by the fun table topics @Russell had prepared (about the dream job, name confusion, fake robbery etc.) in which all members participated with much enthusiasm, and concluding with Jonas Ritzer‘ thorough evaluation of Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia‘s speech, in which he emphasised Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia‘s great skills as a speaker and Michael May’s precise report on the time, we ended a meeting that brought us even closer together as a team. : )

The next meeting will take place online on 23 November. Details will follow shortly.:)

“Approaching the unknown”

The meeting on 28.09 was about “Approaching the unknown,” and we jumped into it!

Anna Birk Hellenes was the Toastmasters of the evening and started with the question, “Is it worth it to move towards the unknown”? The answer we got was a resounding YES! Our guest T-Neshia shared that, even though she admittedly likes to stick with the same dish at her favorite restaurant, it enriches her life to travel, see the world, and meet new people. Your story truly inspired us!

The meeting then transitioned into Russel’s speech, “In a time of deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act,” named after a George Orwell quote. Russel combined personal storytelling and convincing imagery to show that, to enact change, scientists and politicians need to communicate by weaving their truths together in compelling stories. An inspiring speech, Russel. : )

With table-topics, our guests launched into the unknown. @Joy vividly told how she had never been skiing but found herself atop a mountain one winter. She was in awe of the beautiful, new perspective of the landscape around her. Fantastic job using vivid storytelling, Joy!

Jonas Ritzer evaluated the meeting, congratulating everyone for making the meeting smooth and for gracefully stepping up to new roles, including the guests.

To round off, we at Famous Toastmasters will leave you with a final quote:

“Fear not the unknown. It is a sea of possibilities.” — Tom Althouse, writer of The Matrix Redeemed.

The next meeting will take place online on 12 October. Details will follow shortly. : )

“The impact of authenticity”

😊 The theme of the evening on September 14 was “The impact of authenticity”. Guests and members met for a nice club meeting where a family atmosphere prevailed.

IARA AMARAL L. was the TME for the first time and started the meeting reflecting on how “certain behaviors and models” influence our life while highlighting the importance of being true and authentic to ourselves. She quoted Coco Channel “Hard times arouse an instinctive desire for authenticity,” to seal the introduction as she then invited guests and members to introduce themselves. Well done ! : )IARA AMARAL L.

🕕 The role of Timekeeper was taken over by Michael May, who successfully contributed to ensure discussions were timely conducted.

✍ Naomi Kiptoo took the double role as the Ah-counter and Grammarian, and later gave us feedback in such soft but clear way inspiring us to keep our focus on learning.

😇 Since we didn’t have any prepared speeches, we came up with something creative and @Russell led the Table topics in a unique way: He combined authenticity and storytelling and got each participant to share their thoughts. Guests and members shared views and feelings about authenticity in arts, places, movies, sports, books, and last but not least, social media. And in the spirit of spontaneity, insightful evaluations from both members and guests were given for each Table Topic. It was such a joy to share feedback and ideas.

🌈 Wendy Santilhano served as the General Evaluator, genuinely giving her view, highlighting the team spirit and encouraging the participants.

It was indeed a special evening and authenticity proved that it plays an important role when life is unrehearsed.

The next meeting will take place online on 28 September. Details will follow shortly.:)

24.08.2023

 “Don´t just talk to talk”

 Another famously enjoyable Famous Toastmasters event kicked off on 24.08 with 7 members and 5 guests from near and far coming together on Zoom to explore and challenge the theme of the evening; “Don’t just talk to talk”.

💥@Russell began the meeting by welcoming everyone equally on behalf of the president and gave the newcomers a brief introduction to our “work” before turning the helm over to the Toastmaster for the Evening.

🗣 The TME of the evening, @Michael, opened the evening with the quote “Wise men speak because they have something to say; Fools because they have to say something” (attributed to Plato), to provoke reflection on the evening’s topic and have everyone use the introduction round to opine when it’s ok (or not) to “talk for the sake of talking”.

👂 The Word of the day was introduced by Wendy Santilhano, who gave us the fitting word of the day, “garrulous” along with a memorable explanation: “characterizes a person speaking with 2 mouths and requiring listeners with 4 ears”.

🏖 Since we didn’t have any prepared speeches, this was the best opportunity to bring impromptu speeches to the forefront and achieve higher leverage than usual in engaging and involving the guests. The table topics were organized by Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia, The table topic Master, who gave us 2 different rounds of table topics: Round 1- picturing a place, which resulted in introducing the most amazing places, from the humble balcony, which turned out to be the perfect place to dream, to different beaches, such as the spectacular ocean beach in California, the tiny but cool city beach in Mainz and to the mind-blowing diversity and cultural richness like India. Round 2 – the selection of one object out of 10 where the most chosen was a photograph. The “exercise” sparked a huge amount of fun. 😊

✨ Wendy Santilhano took on a second role, that of Ah-counter, and gave us very helpful feedback so that we could understand which filler words were used in which speaking situations.

🕙 The role of Time Keeper was taken over by @Willi, who carefully watched the time we used for our speeches.

🖋 @Russell has once again proven himself to be an attentive Grammarian who doesn’t pick at petty errors, but focuses on the finer points of the English language.

🌸 Anna Birk Hellenes served as the General Evaluator and gave a very thoughtful and overall positive report on how our meeting went.

The next meeting will be held in person at “The Good Coffee” on 14 September. Details will follow shortly. 😊

10.08.2023

Speakers anonymous

💫 „ Anonymous speakers” was the theme of the evening on August 10. 7 members and 7 guests gathered and created a homely evening at “The Good Coffee”.

🚀 Jonas Ritzer opened the evening with a warm welcome to the guests and members.

🙌 @Willy Bücker as the Toastmaster of the evening for the first time, started the meeting by introducing the roles and the meeting´s structure and also the Word of the day, “Encomium,” which refers to an expression of glowing and warm praise. Congratulations Willy! : )

🗣 The first speaker was @Russell with a eulogy for the singer, songwriter and activist Sinéad O’Connor. His experience, great speaking skills and warm personality captivated everyone to their chairs and left them wanting to know more and more. He ended his touching speech with a powerful quote from Sinéad O’Connor: “They wanted to bury me, but they didn’t know I was a seed.”

🔥 The role of Table Topics Master was assumed by Naomi Kiptoo, who was able to encourage not only the members but also the guests to step out of their comfort zone.

🖍 Jonas Ritzer provided a helpful evaluation of Russell’s speech, offering both constructive and positive feedback.

🌈 Jasmin Noll took on the role of Grammarian and made sure we had good grammar and word usage.

⭐@Michael May was the Ah counter, counting all the filler words like ah, um, so, etc., and Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia took on the role of Timekeeper, making sure the speakers were on time.

🖋 In addition to his role as speech evaluator, Jonas Ritzer also took on the role of General Evaluator, pointing out everything that happened during the meeting and giving us a very useful assessment, so we could improve our skills.

💟 The evening ended with very nice feedback from our guests, who said that our club is very cheerful and encouraging and exudes a certain warmth that makes people who come for the first time feel very welcome. We were very happy about that : )

The next meeting will be held online on August 24. Details will follow soon. 🙂

27.07.2023

The Magic of Storytelling

🌟 Fun, humour, heart-warming, wonder, wisdom, learning and growth were all part of a magical evening held by our club on 27th of July. The theme of our event was ´´The magic of Storytelling´´.

😊 We had a wide array of participants: 9 members and 10 guests, who soon found themselves added to the ‘usual’ characters in our story and took the evening from good to great.

🙌 Wendy Santilhano opened the meeting for the first time as Toastmaster for the Evening and invited members to share their thoughts on the topic “What makes a story magical for you?”. Very well done, Wendy! : )

🎤 The first speaker was Nikolaos (Niko) Kavakiotis renowned TEDx speaker. Niko distilled the essence of good speech into a powerful and profoundly helpful message. In the 3 parts of his speech, he pointed out the most important aspects that make a strong speech and how it can leave a strong impression on the audience.

🔮 Andreea Turcu challenged our minds to think mystery and magic with the word “spellbinding” as the Word of the day.

🌈 Jasmin Noll continued the intrigue be creating a wonderful sense of mystery which challenged our bravery to take up the table topics speeches. The courageous in our midst invited us into their journey, elaborating on how they went from bankruptcy to owning a mega-yacht, heart-felt persuasion of those strict gate agents to be allowed onto a flight last minute, or, wondering how you woke up one morning in a monastery.

🕖 Naomi Kiptoo as Time Keeper, @Russell tracking all the empty words (ah, um, so etc.) as Ah Counter and Michael May as Grammarian ensuring our use of language was rich, each made certain we learned as we created our “story”.

🖋 Paper and pen needed to give way to the digital era.Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia prepared an educational speech and took us on a digitised journey of how to navigate Easy Speak.

📜 Stories need wisdom, and we were privileged. The Area Director, Patience Chisanga – Mayer took on the role of General evaluator and was the wise voice listening and then helping each of us with her encouraging and insightful feedback to stretch and grow.

🍸 After the story was told, Jonas Ritzer as president, closed the meeting and welcomed everyone to learn more about each other. : )

“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” ― Maya Angelou

13.07.2023

The Art of gathering and speaking

💫 The theme of the evening on 13 July was ´´The Art of gathering and speaking´´. 8 members and 6 guests came together and created an atmosphere full of warmth and togetherness.

💪 Taking on the role of Toastmaster of the Evening for the first time, Naomi Kiptoo enthusiastically led the event by introducing the various roles and inviting members to share their insights on stage.

✨ Setting the tone, Jonas Ritzer, the club’s president, introduced the word of the day “Gathering,” which fitted perfectly with our theme for the evening.

💋 The first speaker of the evening was Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia, who delivered the speech titled “The Art of Flirting.” With eloquence and charm, he took us back to the days of flirty encounters and explained how to use the HOT APE acronym for successful flirting.

💚 The second speech was given by Jasmin Noll, who gave us a vulnerable insight into her personal journey with a captivating Pechakucha presentation, emphasising that ´´The only limitation is your mind´´.

🍹 The role of Table Topic Master was taken on by Nadine Meisel who brought a creative touch to our session. Volunteers were asked to present flirting scenarios at a beach party in which both guests and members could actively participate. The moments of laughter and joy were unforgettable.

💥 Jonas Ritzer provided a thoughtful evaluation of Daniel Lopez-Bonaglia‘s speech, highlighting the attention-grabbing title and commendable use of the stage, the interaction with the audience, as well as his good skills as speaker.

✍ @Russell took on the evaluation of Jasmin’s speech, appreciating her for introducing us to the concept of Pechakucha while also noting the strengths and areas for improvement in her speech.

🕥 In addition to their evaluation roles, Jonas Ritzer served as Ah counter and @Russell diligently kept us in check with time, taken on the role of Time keeper. Both provided comprehensive and insightful reports at the end of our session.

🌞 At the end of the meeting, Andreea Turcu gave a thorough evaluation of the evening. She praised the engaging and well-run meeting with the support of members and guests, acknowledged the good time management and expressed her satisfaction with the overall performance of the evening.

💟 Our guests who attended a Famous Toastmasters Club meeting for the first time gave us warm and positive feedback, underlining the welcoming and inclusive atmosphere of our club. 🙂

22.06.2023

Aliens welcome

💥 “Aliens welcome”, was the theme of the evening on June 22 as we all met at our cozy second home, @The Good Coffee.

🌍 11 members and 1 guest gathered for a very warm club evening. The international side of Famous Toastmasters was on full display as eight different countries of origin were represented..” Strong by Variety.” : )

🚀 @Al Green opened the evening as Toastmaster of the Evening by introducing the roles and inviting members to explain them on stage.

🌞 Nadine Meisel delivered the hearty word of the day – ´´Welcome´´, which can be described as a form of greeting, but at the same time emphasizes the feeling of being accepted.

📷 Naomi Kiptoo gave the first speech titled “The Photographer” and told us how she followed in her father’s footsteps and became a photographer, even though her parents would have preferred her to be a teacher. An inspiring, well-presented story.

🌸 Andreea Turcu was the second speaker who underlined the importance of being “imperfectly perfect”. In her speech, titled “Perfection vs. Imperfection,” she gave suggestions of how we can stop striving for perfection, because that’s how we burden ourselves with the feeling of “never being or having enough” and begin to accept our imperfections.

🗣 IARA AMARAL L. took on the role of Table Topic Master for the first time and asked volunteers to tell us – without preparation – how they would greet aliens, what they would ask aliens, and what they would say to visiting aliens. Great questions for impromptu speeches. Way to go, Iara!

🖍 Nadine Meisel evaluated Naomi’s speech, highlighting the emotional thread of Naomi’s story and the strenghts of her presentation.

🌈 Andreea Turcu‘s speech was evaluated by Jonas Ritzer, who pointed out both the great aspects and some ideas that resonated with him, such as the idea of imperfect role models, the scars that have their own history.

🕚 Jonas Ritzer also took on the role of Ah counter, along with Anna Birk Hellenes as Timekeeper and @Russell as Grammarian, all of whom delivered detailed and great reports at the end of our session.

⭐ The General evaluation of the meeting was done by @Russell, who gave the club meeting an A+, so to speak. He commented favorably on the interesting and well-run meeting, with good timing by the evening’s Toastmaster, and was very pleased with the attendance.

💟 The meeting concluded with an amazing feedback for our club from a guest who was attending a Famous Toastmasters club meeting for the first time. Esra was asked to comment at the end of the meeting and she said:

“I don’t feel like a guest. I like how you guys make me feel like I’m already a member.” : )

---