U-Speak Toastmasters

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Nederland
Utrecht
U-Speak Toastmasters

Developing your public speaking and leadership skills in a professional, fun and warm environment. Toastmasters and U-Speak! So at U-Speak! work.

For the dates of the meeting please look here:
https://www.meetup.com/U-Speak/events/

The U-Speak club is made up of a lively mix of Dutch people, internationals, expats and people from all over the world who live, study and/or work in (or near) Utrecht. While everyone has a different motivation as to why they have joined U-Speak!, or come to visit our club; we all have the same thing in common a

nd that is to improve our speaking and leadership skills and to support each other in an open, safe environment in a fun and professional way! While we want to develop these skills in a professional way, we also want to enjoy and have some fun so we do our best to make sure everyone feels comfortable and we do tend to laugh a lot on the Tuesday evenings! is not just all about giving speeches, we also learn how to give feedback to each other in a positive and constructive way, as well as how to take feedback (sometimes easier said than done!)

On an average Tuesday evening, many people play a role in making our evening and experience so enjoyable. It can be that someone is giving a speech, someone else is hosting the evening, someone else is setting up the room for our meeting, or getting some water for the room, should we get thirsty! Everyone has a role and we work closely together to make it enjoyable for everyone involved. Please do come a long and join us and experience it for yourself! We are always happy to welcome guests and new members and we believe that many hands make U-Speak! We usually meet on the 2nd and last Tuesday of every month at 19.15 at the Florin (upstairs), Nobelstraat 2-4, Utrecht until about 21.30. You can send us an email via: [email protected] or fill in the contact form below to let us know that you are interested to join us. You can also find us at MeetUp: https://www.meetup.com/U-Speak/

16/05/2026

Relationships and Trust.
That was the theme of our latest U-Speak! Toastmasters meeting.

Our Toastmaster of the Evening, Yasin, opened by sharing why he chose the theme, he’s been researching human relationships for the couple of months already as part of his project: running matchmaking events. His insight? Every relationship is built on trust.

He warmed up the room with a round robin: Who is your emergency contact (the person you trust the most), and why? Answers ranged from a partner with access to the bank account to Bob Ross the painter.

Santiago served as Grammarian and introduced “harmonious” as the Word of the Day. Bert kept count of filler words. Sandeep kept us on time. Arnaud oversaw the evening as General Evaluator.

We had four prepared speeches:
✨ Linda delivered her icebreaker — a story of growing up across several countries: Los Angeles, Mexico City, and Laredo, Texas, before landing in the Netherlands. She left the room with one unanswered question: what actually defines where you’re from?
✨ Geraldo took us into the Amazon, where he encountered a stranger sleeping in his hotel bed, and a very real anaconda. His conclusion: the most uncomfortable journeys are almost always the ones that change you the most.
✨ Ajai explored mentorship as a compass. Drawing on his experiences at work, in Toastmasters, and in an active job search, he made the case that the best mentors don’t give you answers, they teach you to ask better questions.
✨ Matthijs opened with a story about how we learn best when we’re comfortably confused, not clueless, but right in the space between, where question “What do you think?” has space to land.

Peter, Aiva, Madhupreetha, and Markus each evaluated a speech, offering specific and thoughtful feedback to help our speakers grow.

Table Topics was hosted by our club president Bram.

Congratulations to our award winners:

🏆 Best Speaker: Matthijs
🏆 Best Evaluator: Aiva
🏆 Best Table Topic: Arnaud

See you at our next meeting on June 2nd! Sign up on Meetup!

27/04/2026

Life Before and After 40! That was the theme of our latest U-Speak! Toastmasters meeting.

Our Toastmaster of the Evening, Aiva, set the tone with a favourite quote: “The idea is to die young, as late as possible.” Stay curious, keep learning, never stop chasing your dreams.

We welcomed six guests and kicked off with a round robin: What keeps you feeling young? Answers ranged from surfing to taking naps.

Four speeches:
✨ Valentina — a box of old letters, and what they revealed about identity and memory
✨ Yasin — a Bollywood car chase that turned out to be real life
✨ Arnaud — a “useless speech” that was anything but
✨ Peter — back on stage after six months in Asia, with stories of glaciers, monkeys, and dental surgery.

Markus hosted a masterclass in Table Topics, with questions like “Is there such a thing as the perfect age?”

🏆 Best Speaker: Arnaud
🏆 Best Evaluator: Matthijs & Nichol
🏆 Best Table Topic: Vincent

Happy King’s Day from all of us at U-Speak! 🧡
See you May 12th, sign up on Meetup.

10/03/2026

Last Thursday’s Toastmasters meeting celebrated the start of meteorological spring with the theme “The First Bloom.” 🌱

Our Toastmaster of the Evening, Geraldo, reminded us that growth doesn’t start when conditions are perfect, but when something shifts within us.

We welcomed wonderful guests who shared how they found the club and a curious or funny fact about themselves — because growth starts with courage (and sometimes unusual hobbies).

The evening featured four inspiring speeches:
• Thomas took us to a freezing Siberian night in 2007.
• Rahul reflected on leadership and the powerful question: “What do you think?”
• Vincent challenged us to “Quit Like a Millionaire.”
• Nichol shared a vibrant wedding story from Gambia full of music, color, and community.

Our evaluators provided thoughtful feedback, helping each speech grow stronger roots.

Table Topics brought brave improvisation and creative stories, from childhood farming in Iran to ambitious 40,000-step days and learning skiing through YouTube tutorials.

🏆 Awards of the evening:
Best Speaker: Thomas
Best Evaluators: Markus & Bram
Best Table Topic: Yasin

If spring teaches us anything, it’s that growth may start quietly, but in this club, it certainly doesn’t stay that way.

📅 Join our next meeting on March 17. Register via Meetup!

03/03/2026

Our U-Speak! Toastmasters members stepped onto the Area Contest stage to compete in the International Speech and Tall Tale categories.

They represented our club alongside speakers from other Toastmasters clubs across the Utrecht region and they made us proud.

🏆 Results:
• 2nd & 3rd place in Tall Tales
• 3rd place in International Speech

We also wish the very best of luck to Kevin, winner of both contests from our sister club Utrecht Toastmasters, as he represents our Area at the District contest in the English speech category — go Kevin! 👏

Why do these contests matter?
Participants refine speech until every word counts.
They learn to handle pressure, timing, and audience.
They go beyond their comfort zone and that’s where development happens.

If you would like to see the best compete at the next level, join us at the Division C Contest:
📅 Saturday, 28 March | 9:30 – 16:00
📍 De Enk, Zwolle
Registration is required! Send us DM for a link!

Curious about what we do at our regular meetings?
Join U-Speak tonight at Florin Bar in Utrecht at 19:15
(RSVP via Meetup).

We’d love to see you there!

18/02/2026

Our meeting yesterday took place right after Valentine’s Day, which led our Toastmaster of the Evening, Thomas, to choose “Celebrating Love” as the theme of the evening, with the message that we should celebrate love in all its shapes and forms.

We were delighted to welcome six guests and two members from another club to the meeting.

Omar led Table Topics by spinning a digital wheel of fortune to decide who would answer each question. Not knowing who Bad Bunny is turned out to be a blessing for Ajai, as he won with his energetic improvisation about Bugs Bunny on a boat!

We had four prepared speeches, all very different but engaging in their own way. We heard about the importance of having your lights on while biking, about vocal variety and pitch, and about meeting your partner on a dating app and not daring to tell your parents about it. The winner, however, was Aiva, with a speech about a fictional and unusual yoga class involving world leaders.

Bram was chosen as the Best Evaluator of the evening.

Admittedly, it was a packed agenda. Nonetheless, time seemed to fly by even though our timer, Geraldo, worked hard to keep us on track amid all the excitement and laughter.

Special thanks to our guest and General Evaluator, Abraham. In his evaluation, he confirmed that we are a very friendly club!

Our next meeting will be on March 3rd, and you can already sign up for it on Meetup!

09/02/2026

Last Tuesday Toastmaster of the evening, Valentina, led her first meeting with confidence and charm. She chose the theme “Home Sweet Home,” inviting us to explore the places where we feel most comfortable.

We were delighted to welcome 7 guests to the meeting, one of whom, Marnix, went on to win Table Topics.

Thomas led Table Topics with a creative twist, offering questions at multiple levels - beginner, intermediate, and advanced - allowing participants to choose their comfort zone and challenge themselves accordingly.

We had an impressive lineup of 4 prepared speeches. Each speaker took us on a different journey, challenging and inspiring us along the way. Topics ranged from life lessons learned during a family trip with a baby to important fire safety reminders.

Madhupreetha took first place with her thought-provoking speech “Do actions speak louder than words?” and Vincent was recognized as the best evaluator of the evening.

Join us for our next meeting, it will take place next Tuesday, you can sign up for it on Meetup. Look for U-Speak club.

Bring open mind, positive energy and enjoy great evening!

29/01/2026

🏠 Home Sweet Home at U-Speak! Toastmasters

On Tuesday, 3 February, we’re excited to welcome Valentina as Toastmaster of the Evening for our next meeting.

The theme is “Home Sweet Home”.
A celebration of the place where you feel safe, grounded, and fully yourself.
The place where you recharge and feel a sense of belonging.

Expect warmth, stories, and a lot of supportive energy.

👉 RSVP link in our Meetup & bio!

29/12/2025

This autumn, Santiago from Argentina joined U-Speak! Toastmasters club for the first time.

He’s already given his first speech and learned something important: getting feedback isn’t something to fear, it’s actually helpful. 💡

Santiago’s story shows you just need to be curious and willing to give it a go.

If you want to grow in 2026, U-Speak! is a friendly place to practice speaking, learn new skills, and make connections (plus enjoy a drink at the pub downstairs after! 🍺).

21/12/2025

On our last meeting this year, U-Speak! had a Christmas Tea party!

Host of the evening, Markus, opened the meeting with a history of tea. Did you know that in the 17th century, a British spy dressed up as a Chinese person and ended up with the secrets of tea production?!

This evening we had 2 speakers. Thomas told us of a fear-filled evening he had as a student in Siberia. On his way back from grocery shopping, he encountered two prison escapees. Knowing something was wrong, he chose action and escaped by crossing the street filled with passing cars. From this experience, he learned that he does not freeze when faced with dangerous situations.

On a lighthearted note, Matthijs informed us in his speech how a long-anticipated holiday can also bring stressful situations. He traveled from Portugal in a mobile home with his wife and 2 kids (one of whom was 3 months old). Situations ranged from sleepless nights filled with music from an illegal rave party to an emergency call to have his infant checked out for injuries by an ambulance crew. The trick is to continue breathing and find time to relax.

Both Gertjan and Omar gave critical evaluations of the speeches, informing us where they were captivated by the stories and how to make the speeches even better.

The evening was coming to a close with the Table Topics led by Vincent, who asked us to choose a topic from one of 3 categories: Difficult, Medium, or Easy. It was an interesting experience to hear how we should all buy a used sponge from Nichol and how our guest Marloes would prefer to always go surfing if she didn’t have to think about money. But it was the book pitch of Matthijs that stole the evening, likely it was the jumping around the room and the impressive body language that he used to secure our votes and made him the winner of Table Topics.

Naturally, we closed the evening by drinking more tea and enjoying some homemade sourdough bread and crumpets from Santiago.

We’ll take a break now and will be back with meetings on January 6th!

16/12/2025

The last meeting of the year! This requires a subtle celebration. So the theme of the meeting is:
Christmas tea party!

Make sure you attend, as we have scheduled 3 speeches with each their own evaluation. To round of the evening an inspiring impromptu speech session where all can participate.

Looking for a great way to fill a Tuesday evening, have great fun, learn about public speaking by listening to some great speakers and have a glass if tea. Look no further and sign up.

Adres

Nobelstraat 2
Utrecht
3512EN

Openingstijden

19:15 - 21:15

Website

http://www.toastmasters.nl/clubs/utrecht/u-speak/

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