Packing Woe's

Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting on January 13th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves. There was a great atmosphere created by the Toastmasters during our first meeting pack.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Pat Sexton, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Michael Walsh who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Anne Buckley with a speech entitled ‘Packing Woes’.
Anne told the group about some of her past experiences on holidays. She has learnt over the years that packing a case is a strategic exercise for maximizing space and minimizing wrinkles. She concluded by informing the group that it is not what you put in your suitcase it is what you leave behind that tests your metal

Following Anne was Loretto Barry who interpreted ‘The Gettysburg Address’. Loretto interpreted Abraham Lincoln’s address with great dramatic effect totally captivating the audience with her performance. Loretto informed the group that despite the fact that the original address was brief, lasting only 3.5 minutes, its message has endured the test of time and is still quoted. It still is a wonderful example of speech writing.

Loretto was followed by Marie Fitzpatrick with a speech entitled ‘The Black Hole’. Maire’s speech provided the audience with information and statistics regarding the huge amounts of money spent in the health service in Ireland. She referred to the benefits that will arise from the introduction of the smoking ban in a few years ago.

Finally it was the turn of Ray Ryan with his presentation entitled ‘The Galtee Evaluation Workshop Report’. Ray presented a report on a High Performance Leadership Program which he had recently completed. The program was devised by Toast Master International to allow one exercise one’s leadership skills in a project. The audience found presentation very informative.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Michael Walsh. Michael’s topics caused great amusement.

Timekeeper Dave Clarke reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Bridie O’ Connell gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. She encouraged the use of the word ‘propensity’ which means a natural propensity, disposition or inclination throughout the meeting.

Liam Flynn, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Mary Moynihan, Cait Murray, Jean Sayers and Tony O’ Regan. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, January 27th 2011 at 7:50PM. 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 or on Speak Easy Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Easy-Toastmasters167687469936952