The Club has taken a break over the summer, but the new season starts very soon. We recommence on Thursday 11th September 2025 in the Bramham Room at Wetherby Town Hall, Market Place, Wetherby at 7.45 for 8pm. Click on the “dates” link for the full programme for the 2025/26 season.
Author Archive
New season starts 11th September 2025
Tuesday, May 20th, 2025Next meeting 15th May – AGM
Saturday, May 10th, 2025Our Annual General Meeting takes place via Zoom at 7pm on Thursday 15th May 2025
We will then take a break over the summer, reconvening in September.
Next meeting 8th May
Saturday, April 19th, 2025Our next meeting is in the Bramham Room at Wetherby Town Hall, Market Place, Wetherby LS22 6NE at 7.45pm for 8pm on Thursday 8th May 2025.
It will include the usual ingredients of great speeches, challenging and enjoyable topics and a chance for all to speak and have fun!
Next meeting 20th March in York
Friday, March 7th, 2025Our next meeting is a joint meeting with York Speakers Club. It takes place at the York Railway Bowls Club, Ashton Lane, Holgate, York YO24 4HX on Thursday 20th March at 7.30pm.
It is a good chance to speak in front of a different audience and maybe learn a trick or two from our neighbours.
The next meeting at Wetherby Town Hall will be a fortnight later on Thursday 3rd April at 7.45pm for 8pm.
Good showing at area
Thursday, February 20th, 2025For the first time in many years four clubs were represented at the Yorkshire & North East contests in York on Sunday 9th February. Newcastle, Sheffield, York and Wetherby all fielded contestants and all four clubs were well represented in the audience.
Wetherby provided the winners of two contests. Our Evaluation contestant, John Holian, was sadly unwell on the day and unable to compete so Neil Wilson stood in – and won! The target speech was “Misconceptions of Motherhood” by Helen Rosbottom of Sheffield SC. Joe James of Newcastle was runner up.
Chris Clissitt won the topics, speaking on the subject “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” with Torin Zieboll of York SC runner up.
Niki Boersma did the club proud with a fine delivery of her speech “Observation Deck” but was denied by Joe James of Newcastle SC with ” Beware the Ides”. Torin Zieboll was runner up in this contest too.
Gwendolen Rowe and Denise Adlard of Yorkshire Dales area kindly judged the contests. Winners and runners up will represent the area at the regional contests in Bramhope on Saturday 8th March.
Evaluation and Topics contests
Sunday, January 26th, 2025Jeff Denton gave the target speech for the club Evaluation contest on 23rd January entitled “In Front”, a relevant look at how to handle yourself in front of an audience, especially when answering questions. There were two entrants with judge Chris Clissitt declaring John Holian the winner. He will represent the club at the Yorkshire & North East area contests on 9th February in York.
Chris Clissitt won the Topics contest in a field of three as judged by Jeff Denton.
Here is the club line up for the area contests:
Speech: Niki Boersma
Evaluation: John Holian
Topics: Chris Clissitt
Next meeting 23rd January – Evaluation and Topics Contests
Wednesday, January 15th, 2025Our next meeting is in the Bramham Room at Wetherby Town Hall, Market Place, Wetherby LS22 6NE at 7.45pm for 8pm on Thursday 23rd January 2025.
The evening features two of our annual club contests: the evaluation and topics contests.
The evaluation contest gives us a chance to hone our feedback skills, and in the topics contest participants are asked to speak impromptu for two or three minutes on a subject they have just been given. Both offer the opportunity to progress to the Area, Regional and National contests.
Dinner is a winner
Tuesday, November 26th, 2024At the club’s annual speech contest on 21st November Niki Boersma reclaimed the trophy she won three times in the mid 2010s with “Dinner for One”, a humorous and entertaining piece about a genuine recent dining experience.
John Holian was runner up, same as last year, with a speech entitled “Music”. The contest was judged by Neil Wilson.
Niki will represent Wetherby at the area contests in York on Sunday 9th February.
Club Speech Contest 21st November
Sunday, November 17th, 2024The annual club speech contest takes place at 7.45pm for 8pm on Thursday 21st November in the Bramham Room at Wetherby Town Hall, Market Place, Wetherby LS22 6NE.
The contest is always good fun, a chance take part in a speaking competition and the opportunity to progress to the Area, Regional and National contests.
There will also be time for a few topics and as always, the programme will give a chance for all to speak and have fun!
National trophy for Neil
Wednesday, May 1st, 2024Hearty congratulations to Neil Wilson who took 3rd place in the national speech contest in Glasgow on Saturday 20th April with a fine rendition of his speech “Glasgow Belongs to Me”. Neil wore his University of Glasgow tie as he regaled the audience with thoughts and anecdotes inspired by recollections of his time there as a student.
It was a close thing for 2nd place which went to Rob Waldron of Midlands region with a speech entitled “Making Your Mind Up” – yes, it was about Eurovision! – and the winner was Rob Parsons of South West and Wales Region with the snappily entitled “Your Worst Enemy And Your Best Friend – Understanding Stress”.
A big round of applause for Torin Zieboll of York SC who won the national evaluation contest on his first appearance in a national final. It was a perceptive and well-constructed evaluation and a thoroughly deserved win in my view (and clearly in the view of the judges too!)
Congratulations also to Trevor Millar of Halifax & Huddersfield SC who came 2nd in the topics contest speaking on the title “Never judge a book by its cover” with a witty and imaginative mini speech.
It was a superb effort by all three of the Eastern Region contestants – they really did our region proud. Eastern picked up three trophies, more than any other region.
Success at region – a 1-2 for Wetherby in speech contest
Thursday, March 21st, 2024At the Eastern Regional contests in Bramhope on Saturday 9th March Neil Wilson was triumphant in the speech contest with his persuasive and evocative pitch for watching films on the big screen entitled “Going to the Pictures.” John Holian made it a Wetherby 1-2 with “Warriors of the Road”, a humorous look at sales reps of decades past and the heroic mileages they would accomplish in their estate car repmobiles.
Torin Zieboll of York SC won the evaluation contest and for good measure took runners up spot in the topics contest. The winner was Trevor Millar and the subject was “Fair Game.” Anne Todd of Halifax & Huddrsfield was the evaluation contest runner up.
The chief judge was Anne Bouget who endured a long, long journey that morning courtesy of closed motorways, detours and roadworks but did a fine job of judging our contests in a good spirit despite time pressure.
Congratulations particularly to Wetherby member Neil who will compete in the national speech contest in Glasgow on 20th April. Congratulations too to Torin and Trevor who will represent our region in the evaluation and topics contests repectively. Best of luck to all!
Wetherby carry the day at area contests
Sunday, February 25th, 2024Wetherby Speakers Club won all three trophies at the Yorkshire & North East contests in York on Sunday 11th February. John Holian won the speech contest with “If It Grew On Trees”, a look at what life would really be like if money did indeed grow on trees. Neil Wilson was runner up with “Memories Are Made Of This”, a speech unsurprisingly about some of Neil’s memories, delivered with both colour and vigour.
John Holian was declared winner of the topics contest, where the subject was “Green Spaces”, while Neil triumphed in the evaluation contest.. York took second place in both topics and evaluation through Torin Zieboll. John, Neil and Torin will represent the area at the regional contests in Bramhope on Saturday 9th March.
It was great to see Sheffield Speakers Club so well represented at the contests. They fielded 4 competitors and brought several supporters too. Let’s hope we see more of them at future events and that we see members of the newly formed Newcastle Club
These were the first area contests since 2020, with 2021 ruled out by the pandemic and competitors going straight from club to region in 2022 and 2023. It was good to brush the dust off those old trophies and give them an outing!
Evaluation and Topics contests
Saturday, February 3rd, 2024Jeff Denton gave the target speech for the club Evaluation contest on 18th January entitled “Cheers”, an informative and humorous look at the prohibition era. There were three entrants with judge Peter Wilson declaring Neil Wilson the winner. He and runner up John Holian will represent the club at the Yorkshire & North East area contests on 11th February in York.
The same three entered the Topics contest with John Holian coming out on top and Howard Herbert runner up.
Here is the club line up for the area contests:
Speech: Neil Wilson and John Holian
Evaluation: Neil Wilson and John Holian
Topics: John Holian and Howard Herbert
York SC are our guests on 15th February
Saturday, February 3rd, 2024We welcome members of York Speakers Club to our next meeting. The programme will include all the usual ingredients of speeches, topics and evaluations with the added bonus of contributions from our colleagues from York. It is a great opportunity to learn from another club and of course to enjoy the company of our fellow speakers.
The meeting takes place at 7.45pm for 8pm on Thursday 15th February at Linton Memorial Hall on Linton Lane, Linton, Wetherby LS22 4HL.
Neil’s fourth win on the bounce
Sunday, November 26th, 2023
Neil Wilson won the club speech contest for the fourth consecutive time on Thursday 16th November with a speech entitled “Live to Work or Work to Live” as he took stock of his career and his plans for an active and fulfilling retirement.
John Holian was runner up with a speech entitled “A Good Night” and Howard Herbert completed the contest with “Fitzroy”, the title derived from the shipping forecast area. The judge was Niki Boersma.
Neil and John will represent the club at the Area contests, likely to be in February 2024.
National Conference, Cardiff
Friday, April 28th, 2023The Cardiff Masonic Hall was the venue for the ASC National Conference on 21st and 22nd April.
Chris Clissitt was runner up in the topics contest on Friday evening. The subject was “Quality or Quantity”. The winner was Rob Waldron of Stourbridge – the same winner as 2019 in Edinburgh when John Holian secured 3rd place.
Chris took 3rd place in the evaluation contest on Saturday morning when the target speaker was Ian Brown of our newly formed Newcastle Club who delivered a speech entitled “Land”.
Anne Todd of Halifax & Huddersfield delivered a marvellous speech on Saturday afternoon, “Wainwright or Wainwrong” and secured 3rd place (behind winner Diana Douglas of Garstang and runner up Grace Hendry Nash of Glasgow.) This is the 3rd consecutive year in which Halifax & Huddersfield have been placed in the speech contest after Anne’s 2nd in 2021 and Kathryn Loftus’s 3rd in 2022. Next time….
So a second and two thirds for Eastern – no golds, but we did win more trophies than any other region.
Certificate for Jan
Sunday, April 23rd, 2023Jan Seymour received her Foundation Certficate of Achievement from our Club President, John Holian, in April. The certificate is awarded for completing the first five assignments in the Speakers Guide, which Jan has achieved with some aplomb, delivering several entertaining and memorable speeches
Regional two timer
Monday, March 20th, 2023At the Eastern Regional contests in Bramhope on Saturday 11th March Chris Clissitt won the evaluation and topics contests. The speech contest was won by Anne Todd of Halifax & Huddersfield with “The Wave”. Neil Wilson represented Wetherby in this contest and gave a fine rendition of his speech, “Sink or Swim.”
The runners up were; speech Jayaraj Nambiar (Craven); evaluation Anne Todd (H&H); topics Jonathan Millar (H&H).
Four clubs took part (Craven, Halifax & Huddersfield, Wetherby and York) and the winners will represent the region at the national contests in Cardiff on 21st and 22nd April. The judges, Tom Scott (national vice president) and Tony Scott (past national president) travelled down from Edinburgh for the day and helped to make the day a success with an excellent suimming up and some great pieces of advice.
Area AGM, Regional contests and next meeting
Monday, March 6th, 2023Our next meeting is at Linton Memorial Hall on Linton Lane, Linton, Wetherby LS22 4HL at 7.45pm for 8pm on Thursday 16th March 2023.
Before then, we have two events:
Regional Contests at 2pm on Saturday 11th March at St Giles Church Hall, Church Hill, Bramhope LS16 9BA. Please come and support the Wetherby competitors, Neil and Chris.
Yorkshire and North East Area AGM Monday 13th March at 7.30 via Zoom. Please contact your club president for joining details
Bill Mitchell
Sunday, February 12th, 2023We were saddened to learn of the death of Bill Mitchell on the 23rd January at the age of 87.
He was a talented speaker and contributed a great deal to the ASC over many years. He was a great supporter of our club too, attending our dinners, judging our competitions, delivering educational sessions and taking part in many an inter club visit.
Bill was a founder member of Wharfedale SC in 1979, helped to establish York RI SC and served as National President 1987-88. He was the instigator of ‘speaking to a declared purpose’, originally known as prescription speaking, but which now comes under the heading ‘Applied Speaking’ and can be found in the Speakers Guide. He spent his final years devoted to his wife, Margaret, following her stroke.
Joe James, past national president, wrote: “My memories of Bill are that at first meeting he seemed rather severe and forbidding, but as one got to know him his wonderful dry sense of humour became an absolute delight. What at first appeared to be severity gradually revealed itself to be truly a meticulous sense of what was right and appropriate, and a manifestation of the highest standards of speaking and organisation which he set for himself and encouraged others to set for themselves. When you knew Bill was in the audience, you would not dare to deliver anything less than your best performance.”
And this from Denise Adlard: “His stern rather formal demeanour disguised a generosity of spirit, a willingness to help, guide and support and most of all a wicked dry sense of humour.”
Evaluation and Topic Contests
Saturday, January 21st, 2023Peter Wilson gave the target speech for the club Evaluation contest on 19th January entitled “Apocalypse Fatigue”. There were three entrants with judge Jeff Denton declaring Chris Clissitt the winner. He will represent the club at the regional contests in March.
The same three entered the Topics contest with Chris Clissitt selected as the winner by judge Jan Seymour.
As for last year, there will be no Area contests this year. There are only four clubs in the region entering contests (Wetherby, York, Craven and Halifax & Huddersfield) and all will progress directly to the Eastern Regional contests on 11th March in Bramhope.
Here is the club line up for the regional contests:
Speech: Neil Wilson
Evaluation: Chris Clissitt
Topics: Chris Clissitt
Club Speech Contest 2022/23
Friday, November 18th, 2022Neil Wilson made it a hat trick as he retained the club speech trophy on Thursday 17th November with a speech entitled “Cup of Dreams” about the joy and excitement of the forthcoming World Cup.
Jan Seymour was runner up with a speech entitled “Roots” which explored where we feel that we truly have our roots, appropriately enough!
There were four competitors in all with Niki Boersma and Howard Herbert also delivering fine speeches. The judge was Peter Wilson. Neil will represent the club at the next stage which will be at the Area or Regional contests. Jan may also represent the next stage depending on the number of clubs in the region who choose to participate.
National Conference St Anne’s On Sea
Wednesday, May 4th, 2022The Dalmeny Hotelm, St Anne’s On Sea hosted the 2022 National Conference on Friday 29th and Saturday 30th April.
All three Eastern Region contestants were from Halifax & Huddersfield – Jan Millar in topics, Anne Todd in evaluation and Kathryn Loftus in the the speech contest.
Kathryn took third place in the speech contest with “The Humble Potato”, a most entertaining and superbly delivered speech. A remarkable achievement when you consider that Kathryn only joined the ASC last November! The winner was Jill Finney of Leamington SC and Chris Clissitt was chief judge.
A report on the event can be found here on the main ASC website.
Next meeting via Zoom 5th May
Friday, April 22nd, 2022Our club venue, Linton Memorial Hall, is being used for local elections on 5th May and therefore we will meet via Zoom.
Our next meeting takes place on Thursday 5th May 2022, 7.45 for 8pm.
Please e-mail our Secretary, Chris Clissitt, for joining details.
Treble silver at regional contests
Friday, April 8th, 2022John Holian made it a hat trick of silver medals at the Eastern Regional contests at Bramhope on Saturday 26th March. With unerring consistency John took the runners up spot in the speech, evaluation and topics contests, a very fine achievement tinged with the frustration of missing out so narrowly three times. John’s speech was entitled “A Place In The Sun”, while Neil Wilson also represented the club with his speech, “I’ve Got A Little List.” Here’s to next year!
Halifax & Huddersfield supplied the winners of all three contests, Kathryn Loftus in the speech contest (“The Curious Monocle”), Anne Todd in evaluation and Jan Millar in topics.
Congratulations to all three who will represent Eastern Region in the National Contests on 29th and 30th April in St Anne’s on Sea.