A Moment of Calm

Speak Easy Toastmasters recent meeting was opened by the Club President, Margaret O’ Regan. Toastmaster Jerry Mulcahy chaired the meeting.

Speaker No 1 Jean Sayers did an interpretative reading from the short story ‘My Confirmation Suit’ written by Brendan Behan. Jean’s reading was evaluated by Pat Sexton.

Jean was followed by Mary Moynihan who did a speech from the Entertaining Speaker manual entitled ‘My First Flag’. Mary, who is an avid Kerry Supporter, entertained the group as she recounted how her first flag, which was made from the jacket of her Confirmation suit, was wrenched from her hand by a Cork Supporter as she waved it out the car window as she and her family returned from a Munster Final. Mary’s speech was evaluated by Loretta Barry.

The third speaker of the night was Claire O Connell. Claire’s speech was entitled ‘Breaking the ice’. Claire recently joined the Club. The first speech a member gives at their Toastmaster Club from the basic manual is called the ice breaker. During her speech Claire told the group that one of her greatest loves is writing poetry and with that she recited a verse of one of her poems. Claire’s speech was evaluated by Pat Duggan.

Claire was followed by Bridget Breen, who delivered a stage 3 project from the basic manual. In her speech entitled ‘The Present’ Bridget informed the group that we cannot manage time but that we can manage ourselves. She encouraged the group to live in the present and by doing that we would live happier, healthier and more successful lives. Bridget’s speech was evaluated by Angela Sheehan.

The final speaker for the night was Bridie O’ Connell. Bridie did a project from the Speaking to Inform manual. In her speech entitled ‘A moment of calm’ Bridie demonstrated to the group how music has the power to effect our mind, body and spirit. Music can bring harmony to our lives by listening to our favourite pieces. Bridie’s speech was evaluated by Sean Corcoran.

The topic sessions for the evening were conducted by Topicsmaster Marie Fitzpatrick. Marie’s topics were both varied and topical

Timekeeper Mary Buckley as time keeper reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Michael Cronin encouraged the use of the word ‘limpid’ meaning clear or transparent during the course of the meeting.

The Sergeant at Arms for the meeting were Mary McCarthy and Liam Flynn.

Ray Ryan, conducted the General Evaluation Session. Ray also addressed the meeting in his capacity as Area Governor.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, September 30th at 7:50PM. An enjoyable night is expected by all as it is the Club’s Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com