On November 10th a team from Sutton Coldfield Speakers’ Club competed for The Blarney Stone Trophy in Stourbridge. Our opponents were the Stourbridge and Wolverhampton Speakers’ Clubs and the theme for the evening was, ‘Trains, Boats and Planes’.
The competition audience was whisked off on a journey through time and space as the orators spoke about the history, emotion and possible future of these modes of transport. We learned about the first flight of the Wright brothers, the magical experience of travelling by steam and the expense of re-fuelling a boat.
Sutton Coldfield was represented by Gary Allmark, speaking about his fascination with trains, our experienced sailor and nautical history expert was Shirley Guy and Bob Green compared the luxurious early days of passenger aviation to today’s budget airlines and strict airport security. Richard Larkin acted as chairman and provided a series of extremely humorous links between the three speakers to make our team’s performance an absolute credit to themselves and the Club.
Unfortunately it was not our lucky night and the coveted trophy went to Stourbridge Speakers’ Club. But we had a great evening and learned a lot – and there’s always next year’s competition …
Competitions are only a minor part of Sutton Coldfield Speakers’ Club annual calendar. Our main aim is to encourage inexperienced public speakers to practise in front of a sympathetic audience in a relaxed and friendly environment. Each speech is evaluated by another member in a positive and helpful manner.
People join us for a variety reasons – to prepare for a best man’s speech, a work presentation or to build confidence – and new members are always welcome.
Sally Jenkins