Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells,

“Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way” , Not only was there bells a-jingling at Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting last Thursday night in the Hibernian Hotel but the sound of glasses tinkling as members and guests were met by a combination of the delicious aroma of mulled wine and seasonal music.

There were also mince pies, Christmas crackers and a raffle during the evening.

What more could one ask for, as 30 Speak Easy members and guests enjoyed another fabulous evening which was started off by a warm welcome, from our President, Anne Buckley.

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Sean Corcoran was our Toastmaster for the evening and he welcomed Brian McLoughlin from Mullingar Toastmasters and Conor O’Biren from The Galtees Toastmasters who were guest speakers.

First to speak was Liam Flynn with a speech entitled “The Red Planet” in which he told us some fascinating facts about Mars and its moons.

Next to the lectern was Conor O’Brien with his speech, “Experience Trumps Knowledge” A speech interspersed with anecdotes, quotes and personal experience to emphasise that you can’t beat experience.

Following Conor was Michael Walsh with an interpretive reading project which was a poem by Brendan Kenelly called “Begin”.

Next it was the turn of Brian McLoughlin with a speech entitled, “It’s only a Joke”, in which he gave us the theory of stand up comedy jokes, how they are formed and gave some brilliant examples.

Finally it was the turn of Mary Buckley who was doing a Speciality Speech called “The Roast” in which she poked fun at a toastmaster and praised at the at the same time. The subject of “The Roast” was none other than the previous speaker, Brian McLoughlin.

After the speeches it was the coffee break where we consumed those delicious mince pies and performed a most important part of any toastmaster meeting…. a chat among members and guests.

Immediately after the break it was the Table Topics Session in which Topicsmaster for the evening, Dennis Taylor got us to entertain ourselves by answering his topics. This is the part of the meeting where members hone their “speaking off the cuff” skills by talking for 2 minutes on any subject, unprepared, chosen by the Topicsmaster.

Finally, the “Evaluation Session”. This is the part of the meeting where members who gave speeches are evaluated by fellow members. The purpose of evaluations is twofold. A, to give positive feedback to the speaker, praise good points of the speech and recommend what improvements the speaker could make for future speeches and presentations and B, to practice and improve the listening skills of the evaluator.

Lorretto Barry was General Evaluator and she gave us her opinion on how the evaluators performed, commented on how the meeting was run and made recommendations on number of points.

Finally, as this was our final meeting before Christmas, President Anne Buckley wished all members of Speak Easy Toastmasters, guests and friends (and of course, readers of these notes) a happy and peaceful Christmas.

The next meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters will be held on Thursday, January 10’th.

Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com