Alliteration Tips For Travelling Toastmasters and MCs: A Marvellous Monday and more alliterations

Arriving at a new venue to be an MC (master of ceremonies) or Toastmaster of the Day or Evening is a challenge, especially when faced with a lot of strange names.

What can you do?

1 Name Badges For All
Ask for all the visitors and members and organizers to wear badges. Make sue the names are large enough to see. I have been known to invest a pound or dollar or two in a roll of address labels and a broad tip felt tip pen.

2 Your Own name Badge
Wear your own name badge. Send a picture of yourself with your name badge so that everyone gets the idea that if they don't wear theirs they will be upstaged by you.

3 VIP name Badges
Ask appointment holders to wear their own name badges.
Ask the organizer to print name badges, with the organization's logo - much smarter than hand written.

4 Writing Badges In Advance
Failing all else, to save time at the meeting, write the names in advance on your roll of address labels. Writing out the names and checking the spelling will help you remember them.

5 Pronunciation
Say the names aloud. If you are not sure of the pronunciation, email and ask.

Prepare A Jolly Opening
An alliterative opening can be planned in advance for the day of the week.

Super Saturday
Special Sunday
Marvellous Monday
Terrific Tuesday
Wonderful Wednesday
Thoughtful Thursday
Fantastic Friday

Alliterative Introductions
Start with a Warm Welcome to everybody.

Plan some alliterative introductions. If you can make them fit the personalities, so much the better. Some of them will fit. If they are totally opposite, this can create humour.

Ask for three words to describe each person, their country, profession, hobby.
You can ask if the speaker likes or dislikes something.
"Cathy - do you like cooking?"
You then, according to her answer, continue, "Cathy, who loves cooking / Cathy who hates cooking ..."

Amusing, Angelic Angela. Alex. Alluring Alicia.
Brilliant Brian begins the evening. Bea (pronounced be or bee) whose motto is, 'Be prepared!'.
Conscientious Catherine. Cath the cook.
Charming Chan.
Debonair David is dashing on stage. Dynamic.
Efficient Elizabeth. Earnest who never ers.
Funny Fiona. Frank in Finance. (First / Finally ..) Fast but never furious.
Gorgeous Gertrude. Genial Gina.
Happy Harriet. Handsome Harry. Help me welcome ..
Idealistic Irene. Innovative Ingrid.
Jolly Jennifer. Jovial John.
Kate the Clever one.
Lovely Linda. Lawrence the Life Coach. Last but not least. Lionel the listener.
Marvellous Michael. Mary/ Maria, the mother of five.
Nora is next.
Omniscient Oliver.
Pretty Penny. Peter the plumber. Please applaud Penny.
Philip the father of Three.
Queenie, the quick one.
Reliable Richard. Rich Richard.
Successful Susan, our Secretary. (Starting with Stephen.)
Tall Thomas. Tiny Thomas. Tim our Treasurer, and timekeeper is on time.
Theo, who we must thank. Thoughtful Theo.
Ursula ... says to err is human, but to Ursula is divine.
Valuable Valerie. Victor the VIP. Visionary
Wonderful William, Welcome to Wendy. Worthy Wong.
Xanthe the zoo keeper.
Yvonne, who believes we can achieve.
Zoe - Glowing Zoe, who likes visiting zoos / hates zoos, will tell us the A to Zed (UK) /A to  Zee (USA) of ....

You can create humour by contradicting what you said about them.
For example:
Queenie the Quick is making her way slowly towards the stage.

Make your own desk nameplate.
You can make a triangular Toblerone shape from a folded piece of blank A4 paper. Folded it twice or more to get the desired shape and thickness. It should stand on its own.

Alternatively, you can stick it together with Sellotape (UK brand of sticky tape) or Blutac. Or look for a paperclip, stapler, or elastic band. Look around to see what is spare or can be borrowed for the duration of the meeting and then returned.

Write your name or position in black felt tip pen.

Carry a washable felt tip pen for writing on white boards and on flipcharts and making your own badge to wear, or desktop name plate.

Or make a three-

Here I am displaying my badge.

sided name card from three business cards.

Useful website
https://www.rhymer.com/eve.html

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, workshop leader.

   

Storing Travel Brochures and Video CDs In Shoe Boxes With Labels

Problem
I have a stack of brochures from a trip to Italy but they are creating a clutter. They slide off the table onto the floor. I put them in a plastic bag. Disaster. Too many bags. I'll never be able to find them.

 I pack them in a shoe box. Now I have them neat but I still can't find them.

Answers
Shoe Box Labelled with Pen
1 You can write the name Italy on the end of the shoe box in pen. Yes, I do that. It does not look tidy, organised, professional. Besides, the writing is too small and I still can't find it.

I have not taken the time to do what I was advised by a much-moved mother in Rockville, Maryland. She told me, when moving house, label every box on all six sides, the four sides and the top and bottom. That way, however the boxes are stacked, you can sill see the label from every angle.

I could then use a black felt tip pen. It would not look tidy, even if I used a ruler to keep the bottom of letters straight, drew a faint pencil line an inch above, marked the spacing of the letters with dots.

Better to print. I could print out the word Italy in large black type, by enlarging the font to the largest size allowed. But that takes a lot of ink. I then have to fix the flimsy paper onto the box.

I get out a brochure entitled Umbria to read and put it back down on top of the box. The width is just the right size. I could tear off the cover and stick it down.

I don't like to destroy a brochure - even though I often have two copies of brochures. Besides, I don't have time.

I reach for a long elastic band, the sort you get on parcels held together by the postman. (In the USA you would say mail man). You find elastic bands on the ground everywhere, all over the world. I have seen them in Italy and Singapore. Lets over the whole top. Find another brochure.

My first effort was simply to leave the brochure on top of the box, attached with a big rubber band. That worked very well when the shoe box was on a long table.

But sideways on, the original shoe box name on the lid is a distraction.

My next effort was to look for other items to stick on the sides.

You can also make a collage of travel brochures. All from one country, or from several. This works on a small box, a shoe box.

Of course the answer for a DIY or craft enthusiast is to completely cover the box with a holiday theme. Stick on duplicate photos. (I have loads from America in the late 1900s.) Print pictures from the computer, maybe print from my own photos on the laptop or mobile phone.

Or cover a box with Xmas birthday or gift wrapping paper. Add a window in the centre with the word Italy.

Or cover a box in white and draw a freehand sketch. Add large curly calligraphy of the country name. Make six matching boxes from different states of the USA. Or stack boxes for countries in South America, Europe or Asia, Russia or China and satellite countries.

I hate cardboard boxes. yet they are too good and stiff to throw away. They keep dust off the contents. They group things together. They stack neatly.

For more details on Umbria:
www.umbriatourism.it

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker. Please share posts.