Lovely to see so many of you at the start of a new Toastmasters year! I was the Toastmaster for the evening and asked members to share summer reading recommendations (more at the bottom of his email). Debbie was our timer and Laura was our grammarian and introduced Plethora as the word of the day. 

We heard three great speech from Jo, Irina and Kate. 

Jo shared everything you need to know about the technicalities of sound proofing a wall, what you need to make it more effective and the materials required to succeed your DIY project.  

Irina shared an inspiring story of why she felt in love with her husband and how to keep the magic in a relationship by continuing to look for the things that made you fall in love with your partner at the beginning as the years pass by. 

Our third speaker Kate shared all the reasons why she loved camping and with summer fully here shared some great tips to convert us all to camping and how to have an enjoyable time through knowing what your must haves are, picking a good location and being well prepared.

The speeches were evaluated by Aga, Katie and Lynn.

In the second half of the meeting Siobhán was our tabletopics master and delivered an amazing session, giving 12 (!) people a chance to practice their impromptu speaking and give their views on some difficult choices. Questions included would you rather save for a deposit or splurge on a holiday; Sharing the whole trip on Instagram or not taking any pictures at all; Queuing up to get to the top of Mount Everest or lying on the beach; Planning your holiday on an excel spreadsheet or going with the flow… any many more. Well done all in navigating these holiday related dilemmas! The tabletopics were evaluated by Ailsa.

Irina won the award for best speaker, Ailsa the award for best evaluator and Eve the award for best tabletopics.

See you soon and enjoy the reading this summer. Below is a list of book recommendations from our members.

13 things that don’t make sense, Michael Brooks

Love what is, Katie Barron

What do I talk about when I talk about running, Haruki Murakami

SPQR, a history of ancient Rome, Mary Beard

This is going to hurt: the secret diaries of a junior doctor, Adam Kay

Why the Dutch are different, Ben Coates

Airhead, Emily Maitlis

Autobiographies by Paul O’Grady and Dawn French

Castle Dor, Daphne du Maurier

Best wishes,

Esmé