12 March

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

Two break the ice

It’s always a very special occasion when a member delivers their first speech at a Toastmasters meeting. Last Thursday night was doubly special when two members ‘broke the ice’ and treated the members and guests to two wonderful speeches. First to speak was Denise O’ Callaghan, with a speech entitled ‘Here at last’ who took the scenic route to Speakeasy meetings; originating in Kinsale, and on to Mallow via Rockchapel and Tralee. She described her attendance at Toastmasters meeting as either total commitment or total madness, and whichever it is, we hope that it keeps driving her to the meetings – we want to hear more. Denise’s speech was evaluated by Mary Stack. ‘Birthday wishes’ was the title of the second ‘Icebreaker’ of the night, and was delivered by Paula Lane, and evaluated by Tony O’ Regan. This was another very entertaining speech and described Paula’s first encounter with Speakeasy when she sorted out the heating problems. We look forward to hearing much more about Paula’s many travels in future speeches. Gerry Kelleher delivered the next speech, ‘Never too late’, in which he described how those who are responsible for children might abuse their position of authority and offer humiliation and discouragement, instead of praise and encouragement. As Gerry demonstrated though, it’s never too late to do something about it. Gerry’s speech was evaluated by Joan Linehan. In the next speech Mary Buckley described the history and present usage of a single alternative to the many hundreds of drugs available to us today, which is often described as a ‘First Aid kit in a bottle’. The objective of this speech was to ‘sell a product’ and was as such a sales presentation. I think Mary convinced everyone present that Tea Tree oil is a powerful and wide ranging treatment with very many applications. Tim Ahern evaluated Mary’s speech. The final speech of the evening was delivered by Barry McCarthy with an interpretive reading of a short story entitled ‘Spanish Silk’. Everyone was drawn into this fascinating, sensual tale of obsessive love which was set in Argentina and was woven around a set of red silk undergarments. We were all spellbound and left wondering at its dramatic conclusion. The speech was evaluated by Pat Sexton.

The club will host a Tall Tales contest at our next meeting which is on Thursday, 1st April which will start at 8:00 pm. This promises to be a very entertaining night and as usual guests are very welcome to attend. We ask everyone to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.