Toastmasters' workshop (report)
After a few brief words of welcome from the president, the roles and the general procedure were explained. Monika Gradl guided the participants through the afternoon in her function as toastmaster, and qualitative feedback on the speeches was provided by a timekeeper and an "Ah"-counter in addition to the evaluators. The evaluator gives the speakers feedback on what is good about their speeches and what needs improvement. The timekeeper informs the speakers when they have reached a certain time in their speech and measures how long the speech lasts in total, while the "Ah"-counter adds up all the filler words such as "Ah", "Um" or "So" for each speaker.
Three members of the Rhetoric Club gave five to seven minute speeches on the topics of Public Speaking and Toast. After the evaluator's assessments and feedback from the other roles, all members voted on which was the best performance. Here, attention was paid not only to the content of the speech, but also to the language used and the presentation, as well as the eye contact and gestures.
Table Topics - Charged with trespassing and egg eating
In order to give all participants a chance to show their oratory skills, a small game called Table Topics was played, in which a court case was simulated. Three members of the "Blue Danube Speakers" acted as judge, lawyer and prosecutor respectively, while the remaining participants were divided into witnesses and jury. The defendant in this case was accused of trespassing as well as cooking scrambled eggs.
After an opening statement by the prosecutor and an objection by the attorney, the witnesses were called to the stand one by one. The testimonies ranged from serious information and a statement from the defendant's girlfriend to wild conjecture and twin brother conspiracy theories. The jury then had the task of reaching a verdict with the help of the partly confusing testimonies. In the end, the jury agreed on a verdict of guilty on all charges,the verdict is not final.
Who had the best performance?
The game allowed everyone to get the chance to speak freely and spontaneously in front of a small audience and contribute a part to the story. After these incredible performances, the best was again voted on by the participants.
After everyone had received feedback on their "Ah" and "Um" behavior, it was time to announce and award the Best Speaker, Evaluator and Best Performance in the Courtroom. Here Mario Mauracher, Monika Gradl and Mario Rubenzer respectively could prevail.
A group photo was followed up by brief explanations of the club and membership and by casting the roles for the next meeting.
Infos
Every two weeks the members of the rhetoric club "Blue Danube Speakers" meet in Linz to show off and improve their speaking skills in English. You can find more information here.
Next Dates:
When:
Monday, May 23, 2022
Starting at 7.00 pm
Where:
Hybrid: Zoom (link on the website) and Brucknerstraße 20, 4020 Linz (Pfadfinder OÖ)
When:
Monday, June 13, 2022
Starting at 7.00 pm
Where:
Hybrid: Zoom (link on the website) and Brucknerstraße 20, 4020 Linz (Pfadfinder OÖ)
When:
Monday, June 27, 2022
Starting at 7.00 pm
Where:
Hybrid: Zoom (link on the website) and Brucknerstraße 20, 4020 Linz (Pfadfinder OÖ)
