FIFTY three members were welcomed to the meeting of the Forum on April 9.

A reminder was given that the Annual General Meeting will be held on April 16.

The speaker finder, Duncan Verity introduced Miss Margaret Green, a retired Headteacher whose talk was entitled ‘Adventures of a Speaker’.

There were many amusing anecdotes relating to the difficulties of a speaker, such as not being given the exact directions of the venue, and sometimes arriving to find that the wrong subject has been agreed.

Wrong dates are given and there is always difficulty finding a venue in the dark and the wrong venue may have been given by the secretary who does not apologise for causing the speaker difficulties.

There is occasionally delay in the agreed time to speak and this is due to the inconsiderate organiser and sometimes the talk starts an hour late.

One never knows what is going to happen and how attentive the audience may be, and someone in the audience always knows more about the subject than the speaker.

A member of the audience will almost certainly ‘cap’ the speaker with an anecdote much funnier than the speakers.

Occasionally a speaker may request that the room has a blackout when colour slides are being shown and arrives to find that this is not possible.

It is always advisable to travel to find the venue a few days before the actual date.

The speaker should always know the length of time allocated for the talk. One of the most difficult times is to speak after lunch when some of the audience may nod off.

Forum member Ron Mathews responded and thanked the speaker for an amusing talk.