This week at the Startup Engine weekly dinner we had a private room booked at Piccolina (great food, great service!). We were lucky enough to be joined by Sylvia Cohen, an expert in public speaking.  There were 11 diners, all keen to finely tune their public speaking and presentation skills for a variety of reasons ranging from fund raising to career changes.

We had an hour taster session where Sylvia shared her wisdom, worked through some exercises with us, explained breathing techniques and offered tips. She then opened the floor for questions. There was only enough time for Sylvia to give us a whistle top tour of her program, which she would usually take hours to work through with clients. I had a presentation the following day so there was a chance to test out some of what I learnt.

After the session we dined and chatted and found out a little about what everyone was working on.

Piotr Zając joined us again from Untitled Kingdom, who is in the UK for 3 months looking into business opportunities here for his crack team of iOs and android developers.

After meeting Mateusz J Łapsa-Malawski and his business partner graphic designer Gosia Lapsa-Malawska at a pitch event at Google Campus, it was great to see them at their first TableCrowd dinner. Their startup is Chayamuni, which provides gamification experience to travelers on their mobiles. A really interesting concept; these guys are looking to partner with top-notch creative writers. Get in touch if this is up your street.

Alessandro Philip Maiano stepped up boldly and tested out his presentation skills on us – very effectively. He is a trainee solicitor by day and runs an incubator style business in Milan by night. Wilbe is a one-stop-shop for innovative entrepreneurial projects looking to incorporate, start and grow their business. Being an ex-lawyer myself, I have no idea how he fits everything in. He’s looking to bring his operation to London this year, which is good news for London’s tech community. Watch this space!

The other diners included people who were scheming and planning – their startups yet to emerge.

The Startup Engine dinner next week is on Thursday; not the usual Tuesday. I’m already looking forward to it. We’re dining at Thai Thai near Old Street, so book on if you’re free.

Until then…

Kate
@katejacksonk