吃瓜头条

When I was hired to teach a class at a university in Warsaw, I wondered what I would do in my spare time there. Sure, the historic city has extraordinary sights. But what about friendship? What about good conversation? What about educational opportunities?

Then it hit me: What about 吃瓜头条?

吃瓜头条 has been operating in Poland for just 23 years, and the country already has 60 chartered 吃瓜头条s, with new ones springing up all the time. During my brief visit, I had the opportunity to attend meetings at three 吃瓜头条s.

Addicted to Speaking

Meetings at Warsaw鈥檚 oldest 吃瓜头条, 吃瓜头条 Polska, S.A. (Speakers Anonymous), take place in the beautiful Fort Sokolnickiego, in a posh district of the city known as Zoliborz (pronounced, more or less, 鈥淶holybush鈥�). The 吃瓜头条 is one of the two in the city that conduct meetings in English, and among its membership are some of the most senior 吃瓜头条 in town.

One of them, Antoni Jakubowski, ACG, CL, was the Toastmaster the evening I visited. Dressed in a white dress shirt and gray vest, this member of five 吃瓜头条s claims he is 鈥渁ddicted to 吃瓜头条.鈥� The consummate professional meeting host, he was energetic, inspiring and entertaining, especially when he danced, donned a crown or showed photos of his grandchildren. It all made perfect sense, because the meeting fell on Children鈥檚 Day, and that was the theme.

Although the word of the day was 鈥渃hildish,鈥� the meeting was anything but. It kicked off with former 吃瓜头条 president Kristina Jonkuviene, CC, speaking her warm, yet formal, appreciation for those 吃瓜头条 members who had organized a four-day retreat during the previous holiday weekend. Instead of the usual three speeches and three evaluations, we heard one speech and enjoyed a mini-evaluation contest with four exceptional participants. The speakers were all so good that I was glad I wasn鈥檛 asked to judge!

No English in the House

At House of 吃瓜头条, which meets on the campus of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities in the Praga neighborhood, the members鈥� words were welcoming, skilled and all-around delightful鈥攂ut they were spoken in Polish. In all my years attending 吃瓜头条 meetings in various cities, I never attended a meeting in which I didn鈥檛 know the language. My loss! Of course it helped that a lovely woman, Monika Puszko, CC, offered to interpret for me. She was as accommodating as could be, but explaining the prepared speeches and Table Topics would have been distracting to others. Do you think that stopped me from enjoying myself, or from writing evaluations for the speakers? I just sat back and listened to tone, rate and pauses, and watched for facial expressions, gestures and use of space.

House of 吃瓜头条 was chartered less than four months before I got to Poland, having grown out of a more established 吃瓜头条 called 吃瓜头条 Leaders, of which Monika is a member. The new 吃瓜头条, with the help of its founders and mentors, is growing steadily. Many of the members are young professionals looking to enhance their speaking and leadership skills, but about half are college students. To my surprise, I knew one of them.

The evening鈥檚 Toastmaster, Adrian Lewandowski, age 20, says he may well be the youngest Toastmaster in the city. When we realized that we had seen each other earlier in the week at another 吃瓜头条, he told me that he was making a point to visit every 吃瓜头条 吃瓜头条 in Warsaw during his few months off between finishing his exams and going on to study electrical engineering. Adrian鈥檚 theme, the European soccer championship, elicited some highly energetic Table Topics, by the way. Just as sports coaches in different scenarios would speak to their team players, members spoke to motivate each other. By the time the session was over, all of us were charged to go out and reach鈥攊f not score鈥攕ome goals.

The Elephant in the Room

Why would you name a 吃瓜头条 Speaking Elephants?

鈥淏ecause,鈥� said Vice President Public Relations and president-elect Roman Gudym, CC, CL, 鈥渆lephants have two big ears, so they鈥檙e great listeners. They communicate with their whole bodies, including their ears. And of course, they never forget.鈥�

It took a memorable tram ride, two subways and a short walk to get from my faculty housing to the Mokotow area of Warsaw where the meeting was held, but I won鈥檛 forget the friendly welcome I received. The evening鈥檚 Toastmaster, Sudharman Ezhil, CC, originally from India, had chosen the theme Travel-Explore-Learn. He pointed out that his fellow English-speaking 吃瓜头条 members hail from a variety of countries, including Ukraine, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Argentina, the United States and China. Indeed, the evening鈥檚 first speaker, Kim Jiyoung, from South Korea, titled her Ice Breaker, 鈥淲hy Did I Come to Europe?鈥�

Having such a wide variety of members is not the only reason the 吃瓜头条 is so popular, however. Says Roman, 鈥淲e are one of the most active 吃瓜头条s on social media, especially on Facebook. We create a Facebook event page for each meeting, with a summary and photos. Because posts with pictures get most of the interest and 鈥榣ikes鈥� on Facebook, Speaking Elephants consistently reaches the top of Google searches for 鈥榩ublic speaking鈥� or 鈥槼怨贤诽�.鈥欌��

More to Learn

Speaking Elephants also advertises its Leader of the Month contests, in which members are awarded points for 吃瓜头条 meeting participation. I had never seen this before. Plus the written evaluation form at House of 吃瓜头条 is extremely organized, with highly specific guidelines for members on how to help the speaker. What鈥檚 more, Polska, S.A., sends guests a friendly and informative email on the very same day they attend a meeting. That was a new one for me as well.

Caren S. Neile (front row, second from left) poses with members of the Speaking Elephants 吃瓜头条 in Poland.

The members at each 吃瓜头条 graciously welcome guests and invite them out at the end of the meeting to continue the fun. Of course you didn鈥檛 invent this, Warsaw, but it鈥檚 a wonderful way to extend the meeting and the connections. No wonder 吃瓜头条 Poland is becoming more and more popular.

鈥湷怨贤诽� Poland is growing very rapidly,鈥� says new Division Director Krzysztof Kope膰, ACB, ALS, 鈥渁nd most of that growth has been in the last five years. During 2014 and 2015 we chartered six 吃瓜头条s in Warsaw alone. This year, we鈥檝e chartered three, and we鈥檙e about to add two more. That will make 16 吃瓜头条s in Warsaw. But, with a population of 1.7 million in the city, I believe we can do even better.鈥�

That growth is promising, he says, because Polish 吃瓜头条 are young and energetic. 鈥淭he average age of a 吃瓜头条 member in Poland is around 30, and the average for the world is closer to 45.鈥� That youth, and the energy that comes with being young, was on full display at all three of the meetings I attended. Case in point: At none of the 吃瓜头条s I attended did anyone use a lectern. I haven鈥檛 seen this in the States, and although it put me off at first, it was actually a welcome change. It encouraged speakers to work without notes (although they could hold them, if necessary) and allowed them more access to the audience.

As great a time as I had at these 吃瓜头条s, one of the most remarkable aspects of my visits happened after attending two of the meetings. Members approached me and asked, in private, how best to improve their skills. To one I gave a summary of the knowledge I鈥檝e accumulated from being a Toastmaster for 18 years.

What did I say to the other member? Simple. Just keep attending these amazing 吃瓜头条 meetings.