Meeting No.4.

Speakeasy Toastmasters held another successful meeting on October 13th. Following the opening remarks by Club President Angela Sheehan, Pat Sexton took control of the meeting as presiding Toastmaster. The first speaker was Pat Duggan, who delivered a speech entitled “The Meaning of Life” which was a stage nine project from the basic manual. Pat described his garden and the trees, plants and vegetables that he cultivates. Pat also shared with the audience the benefits of gardening. Mary Buckley evaluated Pat’s speech. Following Pat was Tony O’ Regan who delivered a speech entitled “Water, Water Everywhere”, which was a project from the Speaking to Inform Manual. After astounding the audience by estimating the average annual rainfall on the typical house, which amounts to 26,000 gallons, Tony outlined how rainwater can be utilised to supply our domestic needs. Jerry Mulcahy evaluated Tony’s speech.

The next speaker was Ray Ryan Jnr who read an extract from “Stone Mad”, the memoirs of the famous Mallow-born sculptor Seamus Murphy. This was a project from the Interpretative Speaking Manual, where the reader is expected to alter their voice to bring the characters in the extract to life. The extract read by Ray described the reaction of the Cork Stonemasons to the introduction of concrete. Michael Cronin was Ray’s evaluator. The final speaker was Loretto Barry who delivered a speech entitled “My sojourn at the C.D.U.” This was a project from the Storytelling Manual where the speaker had to recount a personal experience in a story-like manner. Loretto easily achieved this in describing her experiences as an overnight patient in a hospital( not local!), which ranged from the humorous to the hellish.
Jeremiah Roynane was Loretto’s evaluator.

After the speeches, Noel O’ Connor conducted an absorbing Topics Session, while Margaret O’ Regan as General Evaluator delivered her verdict on the meeting in a friendly and incisive manner. Speakeasy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting on Thursday October 27th at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow at 8:00 PM. Non-members are welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on the Club Website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com.