We brought the season to an end in May with our AGM, followed by a lively debate, at Karter’s Cafe.

Our Club President, Allan Rimmer, chose Edward Taylor for ‘Most Improved Speaker of the Year’, particularly in light of his recent hilarious rendition of a drunken vicar. Allan Heggs also received the President’s Award for his outstanding contribution as our Education Director, a role in which he provides advice and training sessions for club members on all the various aspects of what makes a good speaker.  Then Allan Rimmer himself received a heartfelt Vote of Thanks for his indefatigable work promoting the club in the local community. This has brought in a number of new members this year and considerably raised our profile.  Congratulations to all.

Then followed a lively, and heartfelt, debate. The motion was ‘This house believes that the female of the species is deadlier than the male”.  Lydia Oatridge led the team speaking for the motion, whilst Margaret Baldwin led the team speaking against.  Despite some lighter moments, e.g. discussing Adam and Eve’s contribution to the subject, the issue was taken seriously and the theme thoroughly explored. The opposing team had the stronger arguments.  Domestic violence is largely committed by men; the atom bomb was invented by a man, and Adolf Hitler was, of course, a man. Case closed, and the motion was lost.

We meet at Karter’s Café on Church St, Lutterworth, Sept to May, 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, 7.30 to 9.30pm.    We welcome guests and visitors; just drop in any time.    We break until Monday, 4^th September.  In the meantime, for further information see our website, LutterworthSpeakersClub.com, or ring Maggie Barlow on 01455 207774 for details.

We had a very entertaining night before Easter. Eileen Fox, recently returned from a trip to South Africa, took us on a trip to Durban and gave us an imaginary tour of that beautiful country. Her wonderful descriptions of the beaches and mountains made us all want to see them for ourselves.

Then we had a special event – Wedding Speeches.  Instead of our normal impromptu Topics, Allan Heggs invited us to choose in advance from a selection of characters, each with a different angle on the wedding, and prepare a mini-speech. The mother of the groom thought her son was marrying beneath him; the bridesmaid, sister of the bride, told us what a pain her big sister was; the hotel manager was desperate to avoid any damage to his newly-decorated hotel, and the vicar was partial to ‘a drink or six’.

We had great fun with this. New members Lydia Oatridge and Steve Wagstaff threw themselves into their characters, Lydia as the carping bridesmaid and Steve playing the best man as a highly-amusing Shrek. Margaret Baldwin gave a great spontaneous turn as the snooty mother of the groom and Allan Heggs was a wonderfully two-faced hotel manager. But the star turn of the night was Edward Taylor as the drunken vicar, who had us all in stitches with a brilliant comic performance.

We meet at Karter’s Café on Church St, Lutterworth, Sept to May, 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, 7.30 to 9.30pm.  We welcome guests and visitors; just drop in any time, ring Maggie Barlow on 01455 207774 or see our website LutterworthSpeakersClub.com.

We are very sad to announce the death of Mary Evans.  Mary was our longest-serving member, having joined the then Lutterworth Ladies speaking club over 30 years ago. She was a fount of wisdom and expertise, and had the knack of making new members feel welcome and appreciated, and gave us all invaluable advice and encouragement in her lovely lilting Welsh voice.

Mary played an active role in the club throughout her time, taking roles such as President, Treasurer, and Publicity Officer. She always maintained a sharp mind, clear judgement, excellent memory and a lively sense of humour, coupled with an optimism that things would always get better.

Mary played an active role for many years in the wider community. She was well known throughout the town through its various associations and institutions. A fuller obituary will follow in the May edition of the Lutterworth and District Journal.

Mary will be much missed and our thoughts go out to her family at this sad time.

Our club recently had two very successful evenings at Karter’s Cafe.  We held a special guest night and amongst a gathering of 20 welcomed three new members.

The following evening saw us entertain – or rather, be entertained by, members of the Leicester Speakers Club.  Kamal Dhutia spoke about the basics of photography, a new passion of his; Ramesh Bellur mused on the nature of time, and Mohamed Kasam gave us his history of accidental injuries – a lurid account dating back to early childhood. Carmen Gilfillan ran a fascinating Topics session, encouraging us with famous film titles to spark interesting memories or stories. A good time was had by all, both evenings helped to foster a spirit of friendliness and inclusion, and the new members had a useful introduction to the ways of the South East Midlands Area of the ASC.

We meet at Karter’s Café on Church St, Lutterworth, Sept to May, 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, 7.30 to 9.30pm.    We welcome guests and visitors;  just drop in any time.

In December we ran a special event – a Mock Trial.  David Hanger was in the dock, accused of painting the words ‘Lutterworth Needs HS2!’ on the Whittle aeroplane on our beloved roundabout just south of the town.

There was plenty of mocked-up evidence against Dave, who is a self-confessed train nut. A faked-up photograph of graffiti on the plane, and paint-spattered clothing and dustsheet (kindly supplied by Dave’s wife Sue) all pointed to him being guilty.

The scene was set, with our Area President Dora Mack acting as Judge and other visitors taking a place on the jury. There were two witnesses – Maggie Barlow for the prosecution and Edward Taylor for the defence.  Prosecuting counsel Allan Heggs tried to convince the jury that Dave had done the deed, while defence counsel Eileen Fox argued his innocence.  The jury, with guest Foreman David Grayson from the Market Harborough Speakers Club, unanimously decided he was not guilty. The judge, in two minds herself, reluctantly agreed to set him free.

It was a fun evening, enjoyed by all, and thanks go to the Frank Whittle studio on Bitteswell Road, who helped us out when we had a late change of venue.

Lutterworth Speakers held a special American themed night just before the US election. We had two speeches.   Eileen Fox did an excellent and informative speech concerning unknown facts about US Presidents – such as Obama’s fondness for collecting Spiderman and Conan the Barbarian comic books.   Then Maggie Barlow gave an impromptu speech about MacDonalds. Maggie described the two occasions in her life she has eaten there, and what she knows about the fast-food chain. Safe to say it was not her favourite food, though their ice-cream and children’s parties were stoutly defended by others afterwards.  Edward Taylor completed the session with a reading on American culture.

Then Allan Rimmer set the Topics session. Resplendent in a stars-and-stripes tie, he gave everyone a different angle.  Visitor Nina flew over New York in a hot-air balloon; Edward lived in an eerie house in Death Valley; Dave Hanger queried the moon landings; Sarah Waters travelled along Route 66; Allan Heggs had a chat with Abe Lincoln, and visitor Roy Sutton discussed his Presidential priorities. Eileen revisited Hound Dog for us and Maggie celebrated Independence Day with line dancing and a rodeo. All in all, a very enjoyable evening.

Our club meets 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, 7.30- 9.30 p.m. at the Indian Lounge, George Street, and visitors will receive a warm welcome. See our website LutterworthSpeakersClub.com for more details or ring Maggie Barlow on 01455 207774.

Lutterworth Speakers Club – Victory once again!

Chatterbox Winners 2016

Congratulations to our team who ensured victory for the club, for the fourth year in a row, in the Area ‘Chatterbox’ team-speaking competition.

Sarah Waters, David Hanger and Eileen Fox (l to r above) went to town with the theme of ‘Hare/Hair and Hounds’ with all manner of fascinating references – with lots of puns and jokes – from the notorious nudity in the stage musical ‘Hair’ to a tale of a hairy Afghan hound jumping out of an Aston Martin.  The highlight was perhaps the rendition by Eileen Fox, complete with Elvis-like swivels and hair-smoothing gestures, of ‘Hound Dog’. Opposing teams from Barwell and Market Harborough clubs also did extremely well and we had a very entertaining evening.

Back at the club Sarah engaged us all again with a speech about the many health-promoting aspects of lemons, and Allan Rimmer gave a fascinating talk about his season running an Alpine ski chalet with his wife.

We are a fun club with a serious purpose – to help people to improve their speaking skills.  Visitors can just drop in to the Indian Lounge, George Street, Lutterworth, 1st & 3rd Mondays of the month, 7.30 pm. For more details ring Maggie Barlow on 01455 207774 or see http://www.LutterworthSpeakersClub.com.

Lutterworth Speakers like a challenge, and our attempt at winning a fourth  ‘Chatterbox’ Area Team Speaking competition has meant much planning and rehearsal.  Preparation, especially in public speaking, is all!

But we don’t always allow time to prepare. Our regular ‘Topics’ session challenges members to speak for up to 3 minutes on…well, anything. The latest theme was ‘Monday Night at the Lutterworth Palladium’ and we had great fun with it. The brief was to describe, using meaningful gestures, your act – from Snake Charmer to Plate Spinner, Strong Woman or Magician.

First came Sarah Waters as ‘Fire Eater’. It transpired she was a novice and as nervous as her audience, but she warmed us up nicely. Mary Evans’ Snake Charmer revealed her secret – the snake was real but her playing of the flute was not; she relied on a recording. Nevertheless, we all started swaying along. Edward Taylor’s Plate Spinning was a treat – we could almost see the plates atop his sticks, and the way he managed to hold one in his mouth whilst speaking was amazing.  And so on through Juggler, badly behaved Performing Dog, to the finale – Allan Heggs’ Drag Queen, which he downplayed admirably.

We welcome visitors and guests.  If you want to learn more about us, come to the Indian Lounge, George St, Lutterworth, 1st or 3rd Monday of the month, 7.30 – 9.30pm.  For more details visit our website lutterworthspeakersclub.com, or ring Maggie Barlow on 01455 207774.

We start our new season with an exciting programme ahead.  Saturday 24th September sees our bid to win our fourth ‘Chatterbox’ in a row – the Area team-speaking contest which has been set the challenging theme of ‘Hare and Hounds’, or possibly ‘Hair and Hound’, depending on spelling and interpretation.  Our team will be going all out to win.

Then in November we host the annual Area Evaluation and Topics Contests night, in which our own club representatives will again try for glory. Club competitions leading up to this night will precede it, along with the usual mixture of speeches, readings, impromptu speeches and topics that are the standard fare for club evenings.

We are also looking forward to experimenting in December with a Mock Trial, which hopefully will provide much entertainment.

Public speaking is among the most feared of activities – but it can also be amongst the most rewarding.  At Lutterworth Speakers Club we have a lot of fun as well as help people improve their speaking skills.  If you are interested, feel free to just come along.  We meet 1st and 3rd Mondays of the month, 7.30- 9.30 p.m. at the Indian Lounge, George Street, and visitors will receive a warm welcome. See our website LutterworthSpeakersClub.com for more details or ring Maggie Barlow on 01455 207774.

Lutterworth Speakers’ Club – here to help you speak!

Do you secretly want to try public speaking, but haven’t plucked up the courage?  Do you want to develop your speaking skills, or perhaps have to give a speech at a special occasion and would like some help?

If so, our club could be for you.  Lutterworth Speakers’ Club aims to give people the skills they need to speak with confidence.  We are part of the national Association of Speakers’ Clubs (ASC) and follow a structured programme that enables you to progress at your own pace, with encouragement and feedback from more experienced members.

A typical meeting will have a variety of speeches, with constructive feedback, and a topics session of impromptu speaking with the emphasis on fun. We also run occasional special evenings such as our Wedding Night Special last year. Every year too there is a programme of friendly competition with other clubs in the area, starting in September with a team-speaking event called  ‘Chatterbox’ which Lutterworth has won three years on the trot!

You are welcome to drop in. We are a small group and you will find a warm welcome. We meet on the 1st & 3rd Mondays of each month, Sept – May, 7.30-9.30 pm. at the Indian Lounge, George Street, Lutterworth. For more details ring Maggie Barlow on 01455 207774 or see our website LutterworthSpeakersClub.com