We had three speeches this week including a longer Level 5 keynote-style speech from Liam. Charlotte told us about an eventful boating trip involving a missing ladder, and Mahmoud talked about how not to lead… and then how you should do it.
We had six table topics all on incremental growth and all the usual evaluations.
Our first meeting of October got off to a fantastic start with an inspiring welcome from our President, Emma. A special shout-out to Ashley, who took on her first role as Sergeant at Arms, and Estelle, who did a brilliant job as Toastmaster for the first time. Our theme for the evening was wellbeing, close to Estelle’s heart and especially fitting with World Mental Health Day coming up this week.
We enjoyed two excellent prepared speeches. Krystyna delivered an extended speech on Leadership Without a Leash, while Geoff demonstrated how to make a complex topic informative and accessible. Both are seasoned Toastmasters, and it certainly showed.
Our Table Topics session brought plenty of memorable moments, with many of our guests getting involved in questions around our theme of wellbeing. We heard about Kerry’s famous Nana naps, while Andrew, a first-time visitor, treated us to a wonderfully structured and engaging story about relaxing with his guitar and morning coffee.
We hope to see you at our next meeting on Wednesday 21st October.
Another fantastic evening at Didsbury Toastmasters, with a great turnout of members and guests.
We enjoyed two entertaining prepared speeches. Mahmoud delivered his Icebreaker speech, while Jan gave her first speech since rejoining the club, sharing a humorous look at A-levels and how her daughter’s experience compares with her own.
The second half of the meeting featured our Table Topics competition, which was open to both members and guests. Ten people took part, and for many it was their first experience of a Toastmasters contest.
Congratulations to Karen Lee, who took first place, followed closely by Natalie in second and Jan in third.
A special mention also goes to Becky, one of our newest members, who stepped straight into her first meeting role as Timekeeper.
Thank you to everyone who spoke, competed, took on a role, or came along to support the evening.
Newcomers are always welcome - come along to our friendly club for a taster. Search ‘Didsbury Toastmasters’ on Meetup for more info. We meet every 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month at 7:15 at Withington Golf Club.
Our latest meeting at Didsbury Speakers was all about food, with plenty of entertaining speeches and some memorable Table Topics.
Lydia took on her first role as Table Topics Master, coming up with a selection of food-related questions. We heard some great impromptu speeches, including Nisha on the overrated avocado, Sam taking Ronaldo to Greggs, and Matt revealing his death-row meal.
Mus delivered a speech on procrastination and won Best Speaker, while Karen Lee gave us a useful reminder of how to use the club website and EasySpeak. If you haven't already, take a look around and familiarise yourself with them.
There was also a double celebration for Liam, who achieved his Level 4 ribbon and won Best Evaluator. Congratulations to Mus and Liam, and thank you to everyone who spoke, took on a role or came along to support the evening.
We thought everyone might be away on holiday and we'd have a quiet night. We couldn't have been more wrong! Didsbury Speakers was packed with members and new guests, and it turned into a great evening.
Luke kicked things off with the hilarious story of how he became a sausage-dog convert. We then had two Ice Breaker speeches. Mohammed took us on his journey from Saudi Arabia to Manchester. Sadly for us, he'll soon be returning home, and we wish him all the very best for the future. Raja followed with an eloquent speech about gratitude, cleverly weaving in a parable along the way.
The evening's theme was "new beginnings", and Table Topics brought out stories about moving countries, trying new things and even taking up meditative sword fighting. Lots of our guests got up and had a go too, which is no mean feat when you're asked to speak without any preparation.
Our president, Emma, introduced the club's new buddy scheme, Toast Buddies, designed to help members find mentors as they make their way through the Toastmasters programme. Members are encouraged to connect with more experienced speakers at our meetings and ask if they'll buddy up and help them develop their speaking skills.
Karen Lee also told us about the club's upcoming Table Topics competition, where contestants all answer the same mystery question and wait outside the room until it's their turn. Winners can progress to the next round of the competition, with more details to follow.
Our next meeting is Wednesday 19 August. Come along, challenge yourself and have a good laugh while you're at it.
I sat in the car park of Didsbury Speakers (Toastmasters) club, feeling like I was about to have a panic attack at the thought of walking into a public speaking class.
6 months later I’m president of the very same club and have performed stand up comedy in front of over 100 people at the Frog and Bucket Comedy club.
My fear of public speaking had completely gone away.
Toastmasters (Didsbury Speakers) was a big part of that, but there were a few other things that helped too.
I’ve shared these consistently during my presidency, but as that comes to an end I wanted to document this here to hopefully help someone else in the future.
And here’s my promise to you: if you do as I say, you will destroy your fear of public speaking in 6 months (or less).
I truly believe that the only way you’ll still have high anxiety when speaking in public, is if you don’t take action on what I’m about to share.
So if you really want to fix this and you’re not willing to accept that you’re just someone who’s scared of public speaking, here’s what to do:
Didsbury Speakers Christmas 2025
This one’s obvious so I won’t bang on about it too much. I learned about Toastmasters from Dan Pena and Brian Tracy.
The idea is that by getting up and speaking in front of a room full of people every few weeks, your nervous system eventually realises it’s safe.
It’s all about consistency, so if you can join a second club and get 4 reps in per month - do it. I joined Salford Speakers as well as Didsbury Speakers and got so much from that club.
Every club has a different vibe, so going to a couple will help if you’re trying to improve as fast as possible.
Dan M. Jones at an open min in Manchester
I understand this one seems scary at first, but there’s a lot of open mics in Manchester for comedy and spoken word.
And initially you might think “well I’m not a comedian”, but if you actually go along to these open mics you’ll soon realise that many of the people there aren’t comedians either.
At least I hope they’re not, because they’re not very funny. So when I got up and wasn’t funny either, I fit right in.
Same thing with spoken word, there were people there who shared some beautifully deep poetry. And there were also people there who shared the most boring things I’ve ever heard.
So when I got up and shared a story about how fat my dad is, no one really cared.
(except for my dad when I told him).
My point is, the worst that can happen is that you’re boring, and if that’s the case, they’re all going to forget about you anyway.
None of this really matters in the grand scheme of things.
Similar to your ah counter report, do you think anyone is going to say 2 years from now “do you remember when they said 28 ums during their speech? Despicable!!”
No one really cares, except for you.
I know, improv probably isn’t your sort of thing and if you’ve ever seen improv you’re probably thinking you don’t want to be like those people.
A lot of people get into public speaking for professional reasons, so improv likely seems like moving in the wrong direction.
It was again Dan Pena who first mentioned it, and then Toastmasters District 71 Area Director Clésia Mendes told me about it. And at that point I finally decided to give it a go.
Dan M. Jones, Clesia Mendes and Steve Campion
I did a 6 week course at Salford Uni and got so much from it. I found myself so much more at ease when on stage. And it became much easier to deal with the difficult things that come with public speaking, like thinking on your feet when people shout out while you’re on stage.
At times it felt somewhat humiliating, but that’s good. Because if you can act like an elephant in front of a room full of people (who I should add, are also acting like an elephant), you can give a presentation at a conference or workplace.
I do this a lot, and early on it made me feel like an absolute weirdo.
But I got used to it. And hopefully my neighbours have too. I like to think that they’ve probably learned a lot from overhearing my late night speeches in my apartment.
The main thing here is that this is another rep, even if there’s no one there watching. It’s like hitting a punch bag, there might not be anyone hitting back and no audience - but you’re still training for the same event.
And watch yourself back and ask, is this how I want to look while speaking?
Am I keeping my energy small because I’m afraid people will judge me?
Am I moving around at all, or do I look like a deer in headlights?
Don’t over obsess to the point where it becomes self hate, but knowing your weaknesses is often enough to allow your subconscious to start working on them.
Or more specifically, get the audio versions of:
Speak Like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln
Speak To Win
I found these 2 really helpful as they break down some of the tactics that’ll help your public speaking.
I also think listening to books like these help because it normalises the idea of public speaking in your mind.
Like me, you may not have grown up around people who spoke in public. And hearing the thoughts and ideas of people who do makes it feel that little bit more normal.
I’ll also add that being around other people who speak in public (such as at your TM club, helps with this too), as you start to think “if my peers are doing this, so can I”.
I understand I’ve given a lot of info here and it’s easier if there’s a clear plan of action, so here it is.
This is exactly what I’d do if I was starting again:
Immediately join a Toastmasters club and start taking on roles straight away. You don’t even need to worry about speeches to be honest, you’re just trying to get used to speaking in front of people so take on the ah counter role, time keeper role and then grammarian role. Listen to the evaluations people give so you can learn how to do the same and then start giving them too. You don’t need to be an experienced speaker. Try to take the toastmaster role as soon as possible, it’s not that hard and gives you loads of stage time. Also consider joining a second club so you’re getting 4 times speaking in front of people per month
Join an improv class after 1 month of Toastmasters. I know this sounds intimidating but the sooner you do this the better. You don’t need to do this for 6 months, just do a 6 to 8 week course so you get the experience. If you do it early, everything you learn there will compound - making toastmasters much easier. And speeding up your journey. So join the improv class after month 1, don’t wait until you’ve built more confidence. Trust me.
After 1 month of Toastmasters, also start filming yourself at home. And do it daily for 2 months. The reason I say do a month of TM first is because the main thing is just getting in front of people. How you come across really doesn’t matter at that point. You can start filming yourself sooner, but I don’t want you to get too self critical early on. So it depends on the person. You know yourself best!
At month 3, get the 2 audiobooks I mentioned and stick them on while you're walking or doing monotonous work. I wouldn’t do this early as it’ll make you focus on things in the wrong order. Get your confidence up with TM and improv first.
At month 4 get up at an open mic. Do spoken word first, it’s easier. Just share something that happened to you. It doesn’t need to be deep, you can share a fun memory that made you happy, something funny that happened - anything you want.
After that it’s just more of the same - keep doing Toastmasters and taking any opportunity to speak in front of people that you can. Like I say, spoken word and comedy open mics are good for that.
And look, I’m not stupid (despite what those IQ tests say!) I know it’s not as easy as “just do it”. But I promise you: if you put yourself through this for 6 months - you will come out the other end a stronger, more confident person.
And that’ll affect everything you do from then on. For the rest of your life.
So you might as well, even if it’s stressful as hell for the first few months. You won’t regret it 10, 20 years from now. You’ll be bloody pleased.
So make it happen. Enjoy the journey. And then tell me about it one day. Dan M. Jones
Please note: the views expressed in this article are those of Dan M. Jones and not those of Didsbury Speakers or Toastmasters International.
If you’d like to get started at Didsbury Speakers, come along to our next meeting (it’s free to attend as a guest and see if it’s for you!).
Details of our next meeting can be found here: https://www.meetup.com/didsbury-speakers/
Best Speaker - Karen Lee, Best Table Topics - joint winners Jacqui & Guest, Best Evaluator - Matt
Best Speaker - Zinhle , Best Table Topics - Kate , Best Evaluator - Kate & First Timer Role Ribbon - Dan
Best Speaker - Dan , Best Table Topics - John , Best Evaluator - James
Meeting Theme - HAPPY 2025!
Best Table Topics - John, Best Evaluator - Estelle, Best Speaker - Liam