Peter Matthews, Managing Director of Battle company Global Reinsurance Consultants, was a co-founder of the club twenty months ago, and now becomes its second President from July 2010.  He takes over from Giles Robinson, a family solicitor at Gaby Hardwicke’s.

Peter is delighted.  He says the club has made a positive difference to his work, increasing his confidence in meetings and as a presenter, and expanding his skills.  Peter said: “I have gained so much from being a member.  I have recently had to chair a large meeting of fellow insurance professionals and it was a daunting task.  All the learning I gained at Battle Speakers meant that I had the confidence I could do it.  I really enjoy learning with such friendly and encouraging people.  We all support one another.  It’s an exciting time to become President, as we have had a number of people join the club recently, some on their very first meeting.  They are from all walks of life, and come to have a good time, too – we have a drink or two in the pub at the end of the evening!”

While some speakers like to have verbatim notes, as apparently the great orator Winston Churchill did, Mr Barker prefers key notes with bullet points, to aid spontaneity and keeping your place when there are interventions.  He believes this can often make for a more natural and flexible speaker, who is able to hold an audience’s attention well.

A different skill is needed in front of a TV camera, where there is an art to getting a message across in such a short time.  “Meeting discipline” is taking a line and keeping to it, making it simple to understand and creating well-crafted and tightly worded messages.

We were fortunate to have a second guest, Mr Chris Howell, who is the Division Governor for the Battle Speakers club region, part of Toastmasters International.  He presented the club with its Chartered certificate, giving it the formal status of a Chartered member of Toastmasters International, the international speaking organisation, and presented a certificate to each of the individuals who were members at the time of the club chartering on 19 February 2009.  It’s a great achievement to have a club successfully charter (ie have twenty members), so quickly after starting only four months previously.

Battle Speakers Club had its origins in a dinner party conversation between Peter Matthews and Giles Robinson (probably after too much red wine).  Both had been, and Giles remained, members of Eastbourne Speakers Club, but being Battle residents were interested in setting up a club closer to home. 

On 18th September 2008 the steering committee (Giles Robinson, Peter Matthews, Mike Robertson, Jason Rudland and Graham Gardner) got together to discuss the possibility of forming a club.  The enthusiasm for the club was such that by the end of the evening the venue for the meeting had been found, the first date chosen and the programme for the first meeting largely decided.  The club launched successfully on 6th November 2008 with 28 people attending the inaugural meeting.  It was supported by Samantha Babister, the Division Governor.  A dozen people joined at the first meeting and it continued to grow from there.  Significant support was received from Linda Hooper, the Area Governor, who also joined. 

and the story continues …

PREVIOUS MEETING SUMMARIES:

We had an evening for new, and newish, members to shine, on 16th December, when Battle Speakers heard from three members with little experience in the club.  As always, it was a pleasure.   The meeting was hosted by Caroline Sherrard, who introduced speakers concisely.

The club welcomed Alex Dawson as a new member, and Denise Mulligan with her ‘maiden’ speech, entitled ‘The Luck Factor’.  Denise’s first speech to the club was interesting and informative about her background, and left the audience looking forward to her next speech.  Gillian Reid gave only her second speech to the club, using an intriguing analogy to challenge us to take risks, while John Morris inspired us with a moving speech about his love of Ernest Hemingway’s novels

The speeches were skillfully evaluated by Giles Robinson, Wendy Turner and Judy Tarling, who gave their personal opinions on the strengths of the speakers and possibilities for improvement.  Linda Hooper then chaired a fun and lively table topics session.  She was well prepared, and gave speakers a wrapped present and complete permission to give a short, unprepared speech sharing their honest reaction to the imaginary Christmas present.  Presents were returned to givers and new uses for the gifts were found!

“I haven’t laughed so much in ages”, someone remarked at the end of the last Battle Speakers meeting.  The speaking club is not just a place for interesting speeches – and we had four of those on the 18^th November – but also a good evening out.  Tracey Bond gave her fourth speech to the club and was fluent and open about her fears and enjoyment on a holiday to the South of France.  Mike Edwards lamented about exercising in the gym but decided it was worth it for the benefits.  Our third speaker, Al Dixon, shared research into the thinking and creative brain and how we can limit ourselves if we only use the logical, analytical part of our brain.  Finally, Dec Cluskey spoke about how the bands, and the music industry, lose out to imitators and tribute bands.

Each speaker received feedback from one of four evaluators, who observed and listened attentively.  They were Kirsti Matthews, John Morris, Peter Matthews and Caroline Sherrard.  Dorothy Margison gave an inspired impromptu speaking session, asking members to speak without notice, on why they had won an imaginary gallant award. 

On 4^th November, we had three informative speeches at the recent Battle Speakers evening.  The meeting was hosted by Giles Robinson, who was our Toastmaster and brought his trademark sharp humour and clever introductions.  Al Dixon gave us a reminder of how important it is to connect with our bodies and be aware of what we feel.  The second speaker, Caroline Sherrard considered the increasing trend of adults who end up without children. Finally, Gordon Piggott spoke of his visit to a Canadian speaking club, where the role of listener is assigned to come up with questions from speeches to see how well the audience has been paying attention.  Mark Mulcahy and Gordon Piggott gave their considered feedback of the first two speeches.

Kirsti Matthews, in another entertaining and highly creative table topics session of impromptu speeches, asked audience members to select an envelope from a number which she had prepared.  Inside each envelope, was a picture of an animal or plant that was the springboard for the speaker to say why she or he believed that species should be the one to get onto ‘the ark’ after a flood.  We had a number of interesting and varied ideas voiced in the name of each species!

On 21^st October, Four very different speeches and a topical impromptu presentation session made up a varied and enjoyable evening at the last Battle Speakers meeting.  Gillian Reid’s warm up asked the audience to reveal the car they drive (assuming they have a car!) as an insight into their personality!  Tracey Bond’s speech on her experience of Chiari malformations, an inbalance of the brain, was informative, moving and held the audience’s attention so well that you could have heard a pin drop.  Wendy Turner’s in-depth look at chilies was amusing and anecdotal.  We are delighted that Judy Tarling gave her tenth speech to the club, a milestone as she has now achieved her Competent Communicator award.  Our fourth speech was from Dorothy Margison.  We were enraptured by her story of the Pied Piper to an imaginary group of children.

Al Dixon, Dec Cluskey and Caroline Sherrard were supportive, objective and informative evaluators, who provided useful feedback to the speakers.  Al Dixon then gave some members a challenge, to persuade the audience of some none-to-plausible persuasions; including that they should invest in mines and oil at the moment, and that Battle was the place to build a nuclear power station, right next to the abbey!

The speeches at Battle Speakers’ on 7^th October were an interesting range: from travelling the globe and an imagined management briefing to a topical look at Hastings pier.  The variety of presentations is one of the many things that makes the evening enjoyable.  The evening was hosted by Gordon Piggott, who is always enthusiastic and positive.  Silvia King’s first speech to the club, entitled ‘life is a journey’ was of a very high standard and what we would hope for from an experienced speaker.  She shared excellent visuals, plotting her life across the world and introducing us to her life, work and expatriate living.  Peter Matthews was in business mode and gave a team briefing to motivate and encourage the audience.  Finally, Caroline Sherrard was not alone in lamenting the recent fire on Hastings pier and believes the restoration of the pier is important to bring regeneration to the town - economically for local jobs and for increased tourist spend – and to bring the community together.

The speakers received feedback from Dec Cluskey, Judy Tarling and Mark Mulcahy respectively.  Their observations were pertinent and perceptive, with helpful tips.  Gillian Reid chaired a creative and fun table topics session.  Speakers pulled out an item from her ‘box of tricks’ without knowing what it was in advance and, imagining themselves as the inventor of the item, proceeded to make up a story of their invention.  The audience thoroughly enjoyed speakers who were wonderfully inventive, funny and spontaneous.

Normally our speaking is in a non-competitive environment but a couple of times a year, members of Battle Speakers have the opportunity to challenge themselves in a speaking competition.  On 16 September, we had a well-deserved winner of the humorous speech contest in Judy Tarling, who gave an excellent, well-crafted and very funny performance as a music maestro.  Her precision, timing, wonderful use of silence, amusing accent and clever presentation had the audience truly engaged and entertained.

Will Hirst took the plunge, stepping into the contest as a new member and sharing a recent experience, complete with illustrative slides.  Caroline Sherrard spoke about the difficulties of putting together a humorous speech when humour doesn’t come naturally to you, and even a good friend doesn’t laugh at your jokes!

The table topics contest had Gillian Reid, Will Hirst and Caroline Sherrard coming up with a short, less than two minutes, speech on the subject of ‘digging for gold’ with only a few seconds’ notice.  Caroline Sherrard won with a plea for how we can all ‘dig for gold’ by looking inside of ourselves and dig for our talents and strengths.

Judy Tarling goes on to represent Battle Speakers in the area competition in Eastbourne on 9 October.  We wish her every success.

Two new members took their first steps with Battle Speakers on 19th August 2010, and gave their maiden speech to the club.  Caroline Sherrard was Toastmaster for the evening and she welcomed members to an excellent meeting.  Gillian Reid kept the audience riveted with her ice-breaker speech “Life is what you make it”, sharing her eventful life without the aid of notes.  William Hirst focused his original ice-breaker on his name and connection with Hastings.  Gordon Piggott, a very experienced speaker, spoke about the benefits of business people becoming involved in supporting young people to gain entrepreneurial skills.

Each speech was evaluated and the evaluations were particularly thorough and pertinent on this occasion.  Graham Gardner and Mark Mulcahy were encouraging and supportive, while making a couple of useful recommendations for Gillian and William, respectively, to consider next time and Al Dixon was positive about Gordon’s speech, giving suggestions for improvement.

Giles Robinson, as Topics Chairman, introduced the idea of ‘firsts’, handing out a subject for audience members to speak about, without preparation.  We had creative twists on first loves, a first holiday and first camera.  As always, table topics lead to laughter and fun.

At the last Battle Speakers Club meeting on 15 July, we welcomed one guest, a new feedback process and a few people doing a role for their first time.  It was good to see so many newcomers developing new skills.  Gillian Reid was an excellent first-time timekeeper and Kirsti Matthews a friendly, competent first-time Toastmaster, keeping us to time and to the agenda.

Wendy Turner’s second speech came hot on the heels of her first, and was equally interesting.  She discussed western globalization in developing countries, noting how its expansion took consumerism to some interesting places.  Gordon Piggott gave us a report from a Toastmasters conference in Ireland and Caroline Sherrard presesnted a speech from an advanced manual, as if to an audience of graduates on their graduation day, with words of inspiration, reminding them that “the world is your oyster”.

Mark Mulcahy provided a robust evaluation of Wendy’s speech and Judy Tarling reviewed Caroline Sherrard’s speech.  Jennifer Beaumont-Whyte gave a wonderfully visual table topics, presenting as a TV presenter with audience members asked to speak from the point of view of a cartoon character.  Martin Riley’s evaluation was helpful and insightful feedback for each table topics speaker. Peter Matthews rounded up the evening with a general evaluation of those who had not already received feedback.  Another first-rate evening.

Our meeting on 1 July was a particularly varied and engaging evening, with many new members enjoying a first speech or a first time in a role.  Martin Riley was our Toastmaster, hosting the evening with warm introductions and business-like links between speakers.  We were delighted to welcome two ice-breakers: Wendy Turner and Tracey Bond gave their maiden speeches to the club.  Wendy regaled us with a fascinating tale, full of a wonderful description of her time on an Indonesian uninhabited island with only her boyfriend and a local drug dealer for company!  Tracey showed her natural humour, with her moving story of ‘rags to riches’ that was personal, moving and a good start.  Finally, Alan Dixon gave his third speech, which had us thinking about thinking!

Giles Robinson chaired an excellent table topics, asking members to speak without preparation, either supporting or disagreeing a traditional proverb.  People showed their skill at thinking on their feet.

Peter Matthews opened our last meeting on 17th June 2010 at Battle Speakers with a warm welcome, followed by our enthusiastic host for the evening, Gordon Piggott.  Wendy Turner, a relative newcomer to the Club, asked each of us to warm up with fifteen seconds of the strangest place we had slept in!  Many an outdoor adventure was shared.

We always enjoy hearing people speak from different backgrounds and with varied experience.  It is a particular pleasure to listen to an ice-breaker, the first speech at the club for a new member.  Peter Stott’s ice-breaker took us into the realms of some of his interesting life experiences.  Jennifer Beaumont-Whyte, with a speech entitled “Food for thought” gave a traditional tale some interesting interpretations.  Congratulations to Peter Matthews who gave his tenth speech to the club, and became officially a ‘competent communicator’, having completed the first manual of speeches.  His very aptly-titled speech “Public speaking – conquer your fear” gave us a personal insight to Peter’s journey with improving his public speaking skills, and was an inspiration to us all.

Martin Riley gave us a visual feast, with downloaded colourful pictures of the fascinating, the obscure and the bizarre!  He then challenged members to make up a story to explain how they got into the situation depicted in one of the pictures, which ranged from Darth Veda, a look-alike of the Queen and some very high-heeled boots!  John Morris rounded off the evening with his first-time evaluation on the night’s proceedings when he was General Evaluator.

Battle Speakers enjoyed a wide-ranging meeting on 3 June, with Linda Hooper hosting the evening.  Linda’s warm, friendly style set the tone.  We were delighted to welcome two guests who were so impressed with the club that they joined that very evening!

Peter Matthews gave an educational speech about the role of the Toastmaster – the person who chairs and introduces speakers at Battle Speakers, and other Toastmasters Clubs.  Alan Dixon, giving only his second speech to the club, fluently told us about personal change, and shared with us some of the changes he has been through recently.  Finally, Dec Cluskey showed us how to wear a hat in his speech with a number of props, all hats worn with either Michael Crawford of ‘Some mothers do ‘ave ‘em’ style or with panache!

We welcomed Wendy Turner, a new member, keeping an eye on time-keeping.  John Morris, a relatively new member who is already giving evaluations, gave his feedback on Dec’s speech and Caroline Sherrard gave her feedback on Alan’s.  Kirsti Matthews yet again showed her creativity when she asked audience members to imagine being an artist who was describing the pictures Kirsti had downloaded from the computer and enlarged.  We had French accents, surreal interpretations and great impromptu speaking.

Our last meeting, on 15th April 2010, was hosted by Dec Cluskey, an experienced speaker who enjoyed lightening the evening with a joke or two.  We had three prepared speeches, and plenty of unprepared impromptu speeches.  The first prepared presentation was from Mark Mulcahy, who successfully met his aim of opening our minds as to why people get into debt and how it is often not self-inflicted.  Martin Riley gave the second speech, with vignettes and phrases from films that had left a lasting impression on him, while Jason Rudland sold us the benefits of social media to enhancing our businesses.

Given we were meeting on the night of the political debate, Peter Matthews injected some  political debate of our own, with audience members taking to the hustings.  We had Peter Pumpkin, the Space Aristocracy Party and ‘Margaret Thatcher’ – complete with handbag – among the excellent range of speakers to inspire us with their off-the-wall policies!

John Morris, Linda Hooper and Giles Robinson each gave a personal evaluation of the prepared speeches and Gordon Piggott rounded the meeting off with a general report on the evening’s proceedings.

A mini-debate and hearing great speeches were the highlights of the Battle Speakers meeting on 18 March.  We had a first-time Toastmaster, in Mark Mulcahy, who excellently hosted the evening and provided good links and introductions of the speakers.  Members progress and practice by taking on different roles over time, developing useful skills for work and leisure.

We were delighted to welcome a special guest all the way from Syria.  Nada Khayer was on a business trip, staying in Battle.  She not only visited the club; she gave us the opportunity to warm-up when she asked us to each say how we would prepare for a business trip in 15 seconds.

Gordon Piggott spoke to us about the club officer roles, throwing light on just how much work these volunteers do.  Judy Tarling had us wondering about her speech when we heard it’s title: ‘Up New Bond Street with a paddle’.  In the event, Judy wasn’t battling against a recent torrential downpour, but telling us of the adrenalin rush when bidding for a violin at Bond Street auctions  Giles Robinson gave us a beautifully vivid description of his experience of dragon boat racing in the winter; and the surprise and delight of winning as complete beginners.

In a fun balloon debate, members took on the role of a famous person and spoke about why they needed to be the one who would remain in the hot air balloon, as it was running out of air.  Winston Churchill, alias Gordon Piggott, was particularly memorable, with his slow, deep voice, jowled look and strong stance.  ‘Victoria Beckham’ and ‘Jesus’ – Mark Mulcahy – were voted with Mr Churchill to go into round two, with Caroline Sherrard as ‘Posh’, winning the final vote.

With our ebullient President, Giles Robinson, away at the last meeting, Peter Matthews did an good job of introducing and closing the evening.  Speakers were given a tip by guest Dorothy Margison that is one of the best tips for speakers: be yourself.  Caroline Sherrard was Toastmaster for the evening, introducing a wide-ranging agenda that included a new speaker and a very experienced one.

We do not use microphones at Battle Speakers, preferring to learn how to project how voice naturally.  For those speaking to large audiences, though, a microphone might be needed and Dec Cluskey gave us a practical demonstration of the skills involved in using one.  We had a first-time speech from John Morris, known as an ice-breaker.  John gave a fascinating insight into his life, comparing himself to a Renaissance Man, and an excellent start to the club.  Peter Matthews created an interesting speech to meet the Leadership manual objectives, considering how to build a speaking club. 

Gill Rothery and Dec Cluskey shared their views on the speeches, reviewing what worked and ideas for improvement that can be practiced in the supportive environment of the Club in future speeches.  Judy Tarling created a fun Topics session, asking speakers to speak in the style of a weather forecaster, which not only gave us the opportunity to appreciate what a skill this is, but also gave us plenty of laughter!  Kirsti Matthews then evaluated the topics speakers, noting how easy it is to lose connection with an audience when turning away from it.  A thoughtful and reflective review of the evening was given by Mark Mulcahy.

Battle Speakers is for the novice, experienced and even terrified speaker.  On 18 February Giles Robinson chaired a contest; an infrequent event that gives members an opportunity to see how they are progressing.  Dec Cluskey, Peter Matthews and Gillian Rothery ably competed in the international speech competition with diverse speeches.  Dec Cluskey won with a humorous and inspired look at old age, from the perspective of someone in an old age home.  Peter whet our appetite with the delights of eating out in New York and Gillian took an unusual angle for a speech, when she gave an insight into living in the area through extracts from letters written from a ‘Margaret’ to her aunt Mabel.

Graham Gardner and Caroline Sherrard competed in the evaluation contest, showing two very different feedback presentations.  Caroline won and went on to chair a light-hearted session of questions to members on dilemmas she might put to an agony aunt or uncle!  As always, members rose to the occasion, with accounts of dying their hair blond in their youth and why men needed to dress with style.  Linda Hooper rounded the evening off with an excellent summary of how well the speakers did and a couple of ideas for improvement.

Greg Barker, MP for Battle and Bexhill, was our guest speaker in a special, one-off event on the 4th February, when he talked on speaking and politics.  He spoke engagingly without notes, finishing right on cue of his thirty minutes slot.  From the politician’s maiden speech, when an MP is eased into the parliamentary lion’s den gently, to the full roar of being cut short by Menzies Campbell, Mr Barker shared some of his speaking dos and don’ts.  He emphasised the importance of the flexible, passionate and well-prepared speaker.  As Shadow Minister for Climate Change and the Environment since December 2005, Mr Barker has the advantage of knowledge of his subject and continuity in post that is a luxury to some MPs.

It is easier to talk from the dispatch box – where we see Ministers stand and the Prime Minister take Question Time – than from the back benches, where there is little space for papers, a lack of visibility of the whole House and nowhere even to put a glass of water!

Snow stopped even the intrepid and loyal members of Battle Speakers club meeting on 7th January, so our 21st January meeting allowed us to brush up on rusty speaking skills.  Graham Gardner was our precise and time-focused host for the evening and introduced three speakers.  The first, Peter Mathews, made the world of reinsurance interesting, and practised using visual aids – some colourful PowerPoint slides on the computer – which are not commonly used by our speakers.  Judy Tarling researched what to grow in her garden and used pace and repetition to great effect.  The last speaker, Dec Cluskey, took on an ambitious project of appreciating and reading some of Ulysses, and pulled it off very ably.

Giles Robinson, Gordon Piggott and Mike Edwards gave their personal opinion on the skills they want to see the speakers continue, and ideas for improvement.  Giles then chaired a table topics session that gave members a chance to briefly speak, unprepared, on their escapades and adventures in the snow.  These impromptus speakers were then given warm and perceptive feedback by Mark Mulcahy.