ALLAN Roberts' ingenious idea of turning round speakers' own previous speech subjects in the impromptu table topics section produced a good deal of hilarity.

Among others, Elaine Watt was called upon to promote vegetarianism at a beef producers' conference; dedicated conservationist Jackie Preuss bravely explained how to cook white rhino (a species whose cause she had passionately pleaded in her last talk); and newest member Adrian Lane gave a humorous account of a not-so-funny escape from a pair of Alsatians. But it was Geoff Richardson's swiftly thought-up formula for selling kitchen cupboard doors with the wrong size of hinges that won the prize ribbon.

Things turned more serious after that. The first prepared contribution was an educational PowerPoint presentation from Caroline Bellhouse on the subject of mentoring, which included the little-known information that the original Mentor was a trusted adviser to Telemachus, son of Odysseus. Then came Jabba Riaz with an impressive and powerful address on managing one's mind to improve one's confidence and self-image and – in a memorable phrase – free ourselves from the mental prison we create for ourselves. Lighter in tone, but still with a serious point to make, was Jackie Preuss's spirited case for living without TV in the house – leaving time for more active and creative leisure activities. Best speech vote went to Jabba, while Geoff Richardson's lucid appraisal of Caroline's tutorial saw him back to receive the Best Evaluator shield.

Next meeting will be on Tuesday, October 13 at the usual place and time – the Great Malvern Hotel at 7.30pm. As ever, interested guests and potential new members will be made welcome.

COLIN JACKSON