The Soup

After the delicious public speaking soup we were able to concoct last Wednesday, why not savor it –again or anew- in a different presentation (I will omit the original, less palatable expression used…)

For indeed, we have cooks in this club, from new and promising scullions to fully fledged chefs; and it is precisely the art of Mentoring -the way in which experience flows from old hands to new ones, endlessly distilling into different ways of cooking rhetorical greatness – that was chosen as theme of the day by Sandra Duarte and introduced in her usual classy, effective style.

A great technical team was assembled for the occasion: Judit Permanyer acted as our Timekeeper; Lukasz Zagroba was the Grammarian –offering ‘Exasperate’ as our word of the day- and Jelena Vetockina covered the role of Ah-Counter to help us keep an eye on filler words.

Paul Conde was our first speaker of the evening, impressing us with his controlled, confident and lively speech about the expat life in Barcelona. ‘Nobody stands alone’ was the story of how he had begun from scratch multiple times, but had always been able to learn something from those hard beginnings and look for ways to network and socialize – ending up as the Barcelona Ambassador for a well-known international expat organization; so if you need diplomatic influence, just ask Paul – he might be able to hook you up. Good job, sir!

We then listened to one of those cooks that has been around the kitchens for a while, and it shows – it is rumored he doesn’t need a knife to cut vegetables anymore; he just asks them and they oblige. With such mythology around the man, one has to listen him very carefully. In ‘Live to Give’, Christian Clottu proposed a thick, nourishing puree of insightful reflections aimed at trying to avoid a world rid with tranquilizers and anxiolytics. His porridge is not for the faint of heart, but it can always make a mind smell new and interesting aromas.

Javier Macías is not new at the stoves either. How can we effectively mentor if we’re unable to refine our taste and keep an adequate attitude in relaying whatever points of improvement there are in speeches? His expertise covered the educational part of our session, providing with techniques and approaches such as the GLOVE method of evaluation (Gestures, Language, Organization, Vocal Variety, Enthusiasm). I saw a lot of us taking notes on this one in order to refine our recipes.

Speaking of fine sense of taste and great food acuity, let me write a line about speech evaluators Rayane Bachamar and Marion Chevalier. These two stood in front of us while slowly savoring every mouthful of the speeches and offering a detailed report on their strengths and weaknesses. The two are accomplished, charming critics and would make great company in any meal – just make sure you please their taste…

I hear you ask: this is all very well, but can one cook without a recipe? Well indeed! Madalina Burghelea called out for brave souls and it was promptly answered by Doriana Bagnoli, Lidia Plaza - and a very special guest from a Toastmasters club in China who was in town for the World Mobile Congress. They all did a wonderful job, more as psychologists than cooks, making a frog overcome its fear of kissing princes, a thief quit stealing mobile phones, and a ‘slightly’ out of shape Superman fly and walk on water.

In came now the Master Food Critic. M. A. Garcias skillfully pointed out strong points and areas of improvement for future meal preparations ensuring that we avoid 'kitchen nightmare' situations.

When everyone was satiated, happy, and thinking of the drink at the post-session bar meeting Paul and Sandra jumped from behind the bushes asking for volunteers for the upcoming speech contest, with a very convincing and direct approach that almost gives a few people a slight indigestion...

Off we went! The session was over and the bangs and clatter of pots and pans flooded the room. Subtly, almost inadvertently, through the ovens, sauces and aprons, the experience had kept flowing from old into new hands –and growing for us all.