Singlings, Doublings and Wrack

One of the things that Speak Easy Toastmasters prides itself on is time keeping and the meeting of January 22nd was no exception as President, Ray Ryan started proceedings at exactly 8pm.
Ray welcomed members and guests and then handed control of the meeting to Michael Cronin guided us, in his own style, through the rest of the evening.

The speeches kicked off with Cáit Murry being first to the lectern with a speech entitled, “Cambodian Journey” in which she told us of her visit to that country. Cáit used vivid verbal imagery to bring us with her on that journey as she told us about Cambodia’s history, it’s people and much more.

Following Cáit to the lectern was Jean Sayers with a speech entitled, “Born Again”, in which she told us of New Year’s resolutions, why they don’t work and how we can make changes to our life at any time.

Then it was the turn of Mary McCarthy with her speech, “Be Patient and Wait”. Mary told of her adventures in Heathrow Airport as a result of a flight being cancelled and her observations of people and incidents as she waited for her flight home.

Finally it was Liam Flynn who brought the speech section of the meeting to a close with his speech, “Singlings, Doublings and Wrack” in which he enlightened us with great detail and humour on the history and making of a particular traditional Irish drink.

After the customary coffee break it was the turn of Anne Buckley who was Topicsmaster for the evening and Anne certainly kept us on our toes and the “little grey cells” exercised with her choice of topics. The topics session is the part of every toastmasters meeting where the members strive to speak for two minutes, without any preparation, on a subject that they are just given.

Gerry Kelleher was our General Evaluator for the evening and conducted the part of the meeting in which the members received feedback from designated members on how they kept to the required aims of their speech project and how they could improve.

A toastmasters meeting is divided up into four separate parts with each designed to improve the skill of the member.
1. Speeches; this is where members hone their presentation skills.
2. Evaluation; the part where members give feedback to other members but also the
evaluators are improving their listening and one to one communication skills.
3. Table Topics Session; where members work on their “speaking off the cuff” skills.
Have you ever been in a position where you were suddenly asked a question and you
couldn’t think of an answer? Embarrassing isn’t it? It wouldn’t happed to you if
you were a member of Speak Easy Toastmasters.
4. Tea/Coffee break; where members and guests can mingle, chat and get to know each
other better.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet on alternate Thursdays from 8-10pm (precisely) in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow and “you” are invited to come along as our guest and see what we are about.
You will not be asked to speak and you can come along as many times as our guest as you wish, without obligation.

Our next meeting is on February 5th with the following one on Feb. 19th.

Further details can be had from our website www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO, Sean on 086 6054784