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President Howard Herbert opened the meeting on 16^th February which was chaired by Caroline Boom. Tim Hunter gave the first speech which was a practice for a Business Presentation about his Internet Radio venture called ProgYes.  The second speaker was Peter Wilson whose speech was an assignment to help develop Audience Rapport. The speech was entitled “Living On The Edge” and was about how to approach our later years in life through involvement in the University of the Third Age (U3A).  The final speaker was Jocelyn Brooks who gave a highly descriptive account of a visit to India and the Himalayas entitled “The Gods Are On Fire”. Howard Herbert, John Holian and Jeff Denton assisted the speakers by offering constructive advice on how to improve the speeches.

John Holian then chaired a topics session where members were required to speak for three minutes without preparation on a variety of topics which had a common theme, which John did not announce until after the topics  – the titles were all related to the names of Life Assurance Companies (eg The Life of the Royals, Abbey Life etc). Peter Wilson evaluated the topics session.  Peter Ryans then summed up the meeting as a whole in his role as General Evaluator.

The meeting was structured differently on this occasion and after the President, Howard Herbert had opened the meeting he handed over to the Chairman for the evening, John Holian who, in his role as Education Director for the club, had devised a new and interesting format.

John divided the members into two teams. Working as a group, each team had to prepare two speeches which were delivered alternatively by two volunteers from each team.  The first speech from Team A was given by Chris Clissitt on the subject ‘Money Talks’. The second speech was by Howard Herbert of Team B who spoke about ‘Home is where the Heart is’. Ann Wickert then represented Team A with ‘Reality TV’ and the first session ended with Scott Stephenson’s speech ‘1970s – The Golden Age’ for Team B.

After the break Neil Wilson and Jocelyn Brooks from Team A evaluated the speeches of Howard Herbert and Scott Stephenson respectively whilst Mavis Cryer and her colleague, Jan Millar, from Team B evaluated Chris Clissitt and Ann Wickert.

This novel and challenging departure from the usual format was enjoyed by everyone and the evening ended with a new member, Michael Cardis introducing himself to the group before John Holian handed the chair back to Howard Herbert who closed the meeting.

The President, Howard Herbert welcomed everyone and gave a resume of the content of the meeting before introducing Neil Wilson, the Chairman for the evening. The timekeeper was Jeff Denton.

 The first speech was given by Ann Wickert who spoke about the benefits of Golf Croquet under the title Come and Join Us. Ann made a good case for everyone to become involved with their local club. An evaluation of the speech was given by Niki Boersma. This was followed by Jan Millar’s speech about the infamous Glencoe massacre entitled Murder Most Foul which evoked strongly the terror and the sense of betrayal felt by Clan McDonald. The evaluation was by Chris Clissitt.

 The chairman for the Topics session was Howard Herbert and the theme was kept a mystery initially until it became evident that all the words on which people were asked to speak were related to the Universe in its many forms.

 Jocelyn Brooks evaluated the Topics session and Caroline Boom gave a full appraisal of the whole meeting. Neil Wilson then handed the chair back to Howard Herbert who closed the meeting.

Wetherby Speakers Club member Chris Clissitt was a double winner in the Association of Speakers Clubs Area Contests held in York on Sunday.  There were three separate categories of speaking skills under scrutiny in the contests. The first was Topics where each contestant was required to speak for three minutes on the title “Actions Speak LouderThan Words” without advanced knowledge of the subject and with no preparation time.  This gave Chris his first win of the afternoon with Clive Dawson of York Railway Institute Speakers Club coming second.

The second category was a Prepared Speech which was won by Helen Tait of York Railway Institute with a fascinating speech entitled “Whispered Words of Wisdom” about Helen’s success in developing the ability to communicate with horses, acquired on a Horse Whisperers Course.  In second place was Helen’s co-member of York RI Club, Lindsay Dutch, with a speech about the sinking of the Titanic. It will be the 100^th Anniversary of the disaster on 12^th April this year.

The final contest challenged the contestants’ skills at Evaluation, where they were required to analyse another Speaker’s performance and provide constructive advice on how to improve. The contestants all evaluated a speech by Aileen Minns entitled “Causing a Flutter” about her experiences in raising chickens.  The speech was designed to allow Aileen to develop her vocal skills.  The Evaluation Contest gave Chris his second win, beating Andrew Hodge into second place.  Chris will represent the Vale of York Area in the next round of the National Speaking Contests on 19^th February.

President Howard Herbert opened the first meeting of 2012 which was chaired by Jeff Denton. The Club’s Evaluation Contest formed the main part of the meeting. Contestants were required to demonstrate their ability to give comprehensive and constructive advice to enable a speaker to improve his or her performance. All contestants evaluated the same speech which was given by John Holian and entitled “Mind Your Business”. In this speech John gave his views on what is good and bad about modern business methods. Judges Mavis Cryer and Peter Wilson announced Howard Herbert as the winner and Peter Nellist as runner up. Both will go forward to the Area Contests in York on 15^th January.

John Holian then chaired an unusual topics session where members were required to undertake two tasks simultaneously. They were asked to speak for two minutes on a variety of topics based on topical phrases without any preparation time, and were also given a specific related task such as to focus on the use of gestures or humour etc. Jeff Denton evaluated the topics session.

The Annual Club Speech Contest

The President, Howard Herbert opened the meeting  and introduced Peter Wilson, who would chair the Club Speech Contest and Barbara Cresswell from the White Rose Ladies Speakers’ Club who would judge the speeches.

There were seven entrants and the speeches were varied and interesting. Each speech must last for a minimum of six minutes and not exceed eight minutes otherwise the contestant would incur penalties. The speakers were as follows:

 The order of speaking was decided by lot.

Barbara Cresswell gave a very helpful and constructive summary and announced that the winner was Neil Wilson and the runner-up, Jocelyn Brooks both of whom will go forward to the Area Speech Contest to be held in York on 15^th January 2012.

Jan Millar planned the Topics session which had a very seasonal flavour. Club members had to give their reasons for being considered for various jobs associated with Christmas such as Santa’s little elf and Rudolph the reindeer.

Mavis Cryer evaluated the Topics session and Howard Herbert thanked Barbara Cresswell, congratulated the winner and runner-up, wished everyone a happy Christmas and closed the last meeting of 2011.

President Howard Herbert opened the latest meeting of Wetherby Speakers Club which was chaired by Peter Wilson. The first part of the meeting was taken up by the Club’s Annual Topics Contest. Members were asked to speak for three minutes on a variety of topics based on modern phrases in current use, without any preparation time. The topics included “Silver Surfers” and “Spin Doctor”. All those taking part spoke to a very high standard. The winner was John Holian and the runner up was Chris Clissitt. Both will represent the club at the Area Topics Contest to be held in York in January.

John Holian then presented an unusual session based on the TV Programme, Dragon’s Den. Speakers were given ideas for various business ideas and were given a few minutes to prepare their presentations to the “Dragons” asking for funding for the idea. This led to some humorous presentations on ideas such as “An Exercise Machine Based on Dog Walking”. The session was evaluated by Caroline Boom. Neil Wilson then gave valuable advice on how to improve the member’s speaking abilities while explaining his views on the evening as a whole.

The club President, Howard Herbert opened the meeting and introduced Scott Stephenson who chaired the remainder of the meeting.

New member Ann Wickert delivered an excellent maiden speech and entertained the audience by explaining the humorous effects of her habit of procrastination on her life.

John Holian followed and his task was to demonstrate the ability to “Mean What You Say”. John compared the pros and cons of British Rail the way it was back in the days when the late Sir Jimmy Saville fronted their advertising campaign, with the current complex set up. Ultimately John thought it better to change it back to the way it was.

Mavis Cryer and Howard Herbert evaluated the speeches respectively and their comments and developmental points were both helpful and constructive.

Tim Hunter presented an entertaining Topics Session when members were asked to give a 3 minute, unprepared talk based on humorously modified book titles, such as “The 38 Steps” and “Moderate Expectations”.

Peter Ryans evaluated the topics session and the General Evaluator was Niki Boersma who gave her helpful comments on the meeting as a whole.

The club President, Howard Herbert opened the meeting and handed the chairmanship to Peter Wilson.

Colin Remmer spoke first. He demonstrated speech construction in a talk entitled ‘The Magic of Words’. Speaking without notes, Colin told the group about the powerful use of language. He explained how sometimes small words could be used to create barriers, but employed in a positive way, they could be enabling.

Jeff Denton followed and his task was to speak without the use of notes. In ‘Rustle in the Wind’ he related interesting information about the times he had been privileged to umpire cricket matches where all the team members had some form of visual impairment. The undertaking was challenging but very rewarding.

Chris Clissitt and Peter Ryans evaluated the speeches respectively and their comments and developmental points were helpful and constructive.

The Topics session was presented by Mavis Cryer and members were asked to give a short, unprepared talk on ‘Catch Phrases’. These were chosen at random from a list and everyone accepted the challenge with alacrity.

Peter Nellist evaluated the topics session and the General Evaluator was Howard Herbert who also closed the meeting in his role as President

President Howard Herbert opened the latest meeting of Wetherby Speakers Club, and welcomed a visitor, Anne Wickert who was attending her second meeting.  The remainder of the meeting was then chaired by Peter Nellist.  The first speech, entitled “Know Your Roots” was by Caroline Boom in which she encouraged the audience to celebrate their background and family tree. Caroline’s objective in the speech was to practise the most effective use of her voice. Peter Wilson then gave a speech entitled “Modern Times – The Rise of the Machines” in which he practised Speech Construction while arguing that to a certain extent we are all ruled by Computers. The third speaker was Jocelyn Brooks whose assignment featured reading aloud to an audience.  Her piece was entitled “Three Faces of Poetry”. All the speeches were well received by the evaluators, Howard Herbert, Chris Clissitt and Niki Boersma, who offered constructive and valuable advice on how to improve.

Niki Boersma  then presented the Topics Session setting speakers the challenge of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of subjects based on titles of songs in the current top 40. Scott Stephenson evaluated the topics session. Finally Past President Neil Wilson as General Evaluator gave his helpful observations on the meeting as a whole.

Wetherby Speakers’ Club’s final meeting of the season took place last Thursday. The President, Neil Wilson, opened and chaired the meeting which featured 4 speeches delivered with the help of Powerpoint. John Holian gave a helpful and informative speech on how to use Powerpoint effectively and not so effectively, with plenty of illustrations and humour; Chris Clissitt presented “Tulip Mania” about the first financial bubble in the 1630s; Jocelyn Brooks spoke about “The Seven Wonders of My World” and displayed stunning pictures from exotic places, but saved the best (England!) until last; and Caroline Boom gave an intriguing talk entitled “Louis Wain and his Cats”, the life story of the prolific artist illustrated with many of his fascinating cat themed pictures.  The speeches were evaluated by Howard Herbert, Jan Millar, Mavis Cryer and Neil Wilson who gave constructive comments on each performance. John Holian then set speakers the challenge of speaking off the cuff on a random picture displayed on a slide. Peter Nellist evaluated the topics session and Scott Stephenson gave his views on the evening as a whole in his role as General Evaluator.

President Neil Wilson chaired the latest meeting of Wetherby Speakers Club.  Neil welcomed two visitors – National Evaluation Final winner Lindsay Dutch and Rosalie Harrop, from York Railway Institute Speakers Club.  The first speech was by Peter Wilson who achieved his New Year Resolution by delivering a 9 minute speech without notes.  The speech, titled “Speakers”, concerned the speaking achievements of four famous people (Adolf Hitler, Winston Churchill, John F Kennedy and Martin Luther King). The second speaker was Niki Boersma who delivered a delightfully descriptive speech about the Autumn, entitled “Fall”.   Neil Wilson then gave an impromptu 8 minute speech chosen from three titles after only 10 minutes preparation. Neil’s speech was entitled “A Good Citizen” in which he posed the intriguing question “is it worth the effort to be a good citizen?”.  Chris Clissitt, Howard Herbert and John Holian evaluated the speeches offering constructive advice on how to improve.

Mavis Cryer  presented the Topics Session setting speakers the challenge of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of subjects based on titles from the Guildhall 19^th Anthology. Caroline Boom evaluated the topics session. Finally Jocelyn Brooks as General Evaluator gave her helpful observations on the meeting as a whole.

Vice President Terry Ryan opened an interesting meeting and welcomed four visiting  members of Wharfedale Speakers Club and two members of York Railway Institute Speakers Club. The meeting  was chaired by Jocelyn Brooks. Terry himself prepared for the imminent National Speech Contest Finals in Edinburgh by delivering his speech entitled “7 Billion Day” about the forthcoming milestone when the world population will reach 7 Billion. Also preparing for the National Finals was Lindsay Dutch from York Railway Institute Speakers.  Lindsay was preparing for the National Evaluation Final and evaluated Terry’s speech, offering valuable advice on how Terry might claim the winner’s trophy for a second time.

Other Speakers were John Holian with a speech entitled “How to Be Rich” which focussed on how to lead a rich and fulfilling life without financial wealth, and Peter Wilson who was given only 10 minutes to prepare an eight minute speech chosen from three titles.  Peter’s topical speech was entitled “Phone Hacking”.  Sandra Barton from Wharfedale Club  and Scott Stephenson evaluated John and Peter’s speeches.

John Holian was soon in action again  presenting the Topics Session setting speakers the challenge of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of subjects based on phrases he had come across during the day. Nikki Boersma evaluated the topics session. Finally Howard Herbert as General Evaluator gave his helpful observations on the meeting as a whole.

The President of Wetherby Speakers Club, Neil Wilson, opened a lively and entertaining meeting which was chaired by Peter Wilson. Marian Kempson gave an interesting speech about the environment entitled “What Does Being Green Really Mean?”  The focus of the speech was to display good Speech Construction and the evaluator, Chris Clissitt agreed that Marian had succeeded in her task. Neil Wilson then tackled an impromptu speech where the speaker was given a choice of three titles and only 10 minutes to prepare an 8 minute speech. Neil’s chosen title was “Healthy Mind, Healthy body”. His speech was evaluated by Howard Herbert who congratulated Neil for his performance and gave constructive advice on how to improve.

Jocelyn Brooks presented the Topics Session and set speakers the challenge of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of subjects based on overheard snatches of conversation. Jan Millar evaluated the topics session. Finally Mavis Cryer as General Evaluator gave her helpful observations on the meeting as a whole.

The President of Wetherby Speakers Club, Neil Wilson, opened the latest meeting with a warm welcome to four visiting members of York RI Speakers Club. Howard Herbert chaired the lively meeting. Clive Dawson from York gave an interesting and entertaining speech about a Roman Soldier’s visit to Hadrian’s Wall. This was followed by a more serious speech by Peter Wilson entitled “Nuclear Power – Friend or Foe?” This was an impromptu speech where the speaker was given a choice of three titles and only 10 minutes to prepare an 8 minute speech. . The third speech of the meeting was entitled “Lets Fly” by Jocelyn Brooks about people who motivate others to reach their full potential. Terry Ryan, Nikki Boersma and Lindsay Dutch from York gave their constructive views to help all the speakers to improve their performance.

The President of York RI Speakers Club, Mary Donahoe, chaired the Topics Session and set speakers the task of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of subjects based on days or nights out. Neil Wilson evaluated the topics session. Finally Rosalie Harrop from York gave her helpful observations on the meeting as a whole. Neil Wilson closed the meeting by wishing luck to both Terry Ryan and Lindsay Dutch who are competing in the National Finals for Speaking, Evaluating and Topics next month in Edinburgh.

President of Wetherby Speakers Club, Neil Wilson, opened the latest meeting with a warm welcome to five visiting members of Bradford Speakers Club. Scott Stephenson chaired the lively and entertaining meeting. Bradford President Martin Bishop gave a thought provoking speech which questioned the motives and effectiveness behind the fundraising charity, red nose day.  This was followed by Colin Remmer who gave his first speech at the Club.  The speech was of the highest quality for someone new to the club and revolved around the trials and tribulations of learning the new skills of Archery. Nikki Boersma then finished the formal speeches with a talk entitled “Wakey, Wakey” about the frustrating barrage of noise we all face at the beginning of the day, including Radio DJs

Howard Herbert, Peter Wilson and John Holian gave their constructive views to help all the speakers to improve their performance.

Jan Millar of Bradford Speakers Club then chaired the Topics Session and set speakers the task of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of themes based on Book and Poem Titles. Mavis Cryer evaluated the topics session. Finally Philip Solity of Bradford Speakers Club gave his helpful views on the meeting as a whole.

President of Wetherby Speakers Club, Neil Wilson, opened the latest meeting which was used as a warm up for the semi-finals of the National Speaking Competition in which Wetherby member Terry Ryan hopes to repeat his success of two years ago. Terry gave an amusing speech with a serious message condemning the views of Conspiracy Theorists.  The speech was an entertaining commentary on this strange cultural phenomenon.   Caroline Boom then gave her views on Terry’s performance.

The semi finals also include a competition for Evaluators who help Speakers to include. Jocelyn Brooks gave a serious speech on Freedom which will be used as the object of the Evaluation Contest semi-finalists.  Chris Cissitt gave his views on Jocelyn’s speech.

Howard Herbert then chaired the Topics Session and set speakers the task of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of idioms in common use. Scott Stephenson evaluated the topics session. Finally John Holian gave his helpful views on the meeting as a whole.

President Neil Wilson opened the latest meeting of Wetherby Speakers Club and welcomed three first time visitors, James Ellis, Colin Remmer and Struan Dott .  After a short business session Chris Clissitt chaired the meeting and introduced Julia Frater who gave her first speech at the Club. Julia took the opportunity to practise the launch speech of a Networking Venture she is setting up, named Bon Ami.  Next Speaker was John Holian who was given only 10 minutes preparation time to give an 8 minute speech entitled “Speculative Bubble”. Both speeches were excellent and Howard Herbert and Scott Stephenson gave constructive advice on how to improve each Speaker’s performance. Peter Wilson then chaired the Topics Session and set speakers the task of speaking off the cuff for two minutes each about a variety of phrases in common use. Jan Millar evaluated the topics session. Finally Jeff Denton gave his helpful views on the meeting as a whole.

President Neil Wilson opened the latest meeting of Wetherby Speakers Club and welcomed another first time visitor, Anne Beddis.  After a short business session Caroline Boom chaired the meeting and introduced Peter Wilson who gave an informative speech about how a six point plan to ensure that New Years Resolutions are kept. Terry Ryan, 2009 National Speech Contest Winner, then gave an educational talk on the use of humour in speeches. Evaluators for the speeches were Neil Wilson and Peter Nellist.

Niki Boersma then chaired the Topics Session and set speakers the unusual challenging task of imagining they were a variety of famous people writing a letter to their mothers. Chris Clissitt evaluated the topics session.