ALLAN Roberts, a visually impaired ex-soldier who regularly makes the difficult train journey from Droitwich to attend club meetings in Great Malvern, arrived last week to learn that one of the scheduled speakers had not turned up, and was invited to take their place at a few minutes’ notice with an unprepared six-minute speech.
Alan rose to the challenge so successfully that he was voted the evening's best speaker, and well deserved the standing ovation traditionally given to debutant speakers.
His talk My Young Days was well titled, as some of the content referred to imaginary conversations with his mother about the time he was born!
The intriguing title of Colin Jackson's talk - Boiled Boots – turned out to be a description by Thackeray of the flavour of tea served on Rhine steamers.
The talk was an impassioned plea for a return to properly brewed whole-leaf tea instead of the ubiquitous teabags which now enjoy 96 per cent of the market.
The third speaker was Cassandra Zoro, who felt the arrival of spring awaking her wanderlust. She joyfully encouraged her audience to travel – not so much to broaden the mind as for the many pleasures it could bring.
The general evaluator of the meeting was a far-travelled guest, German-born Gilda Westerman. She has lived in Britain for 25 years and was in Malvern from Inverness to take part in a study course. An experienced member of Toastmasters, she gave a brilliant assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the evening's proceedings, from which we all learned.
C JACKSON
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