‘What possessed me?!’

Speak Easy Toastmasters-‘What possessed me?!’

Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting on January 27th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves. There was a great atmosphere during the course of the meeting.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Pat Duggan, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Bill Martin who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Mary Moynihan with a speech entitled ‘What possessed me?’ Mary entertained the group with her humorous speech about a family wedding. She recounted her efforts about trying to find the right dress and shoes before the wedding as well as the funny events that happened on the night as a result of her carrying out some further alterations to her dress after the meal.

Following Mary was Liam Flynn with a speech entitled ‘Single Transferable Vote and all of that.’ Liam clearly explained to the group how the system worked. The group learnt that Ireland and Malta are the only two countries where this system is in operation.

Liam was followed by Claire O’ Connell with a speech entitled ‘Our digital world is killing us’. Claire opened her speech by informing the group that the Digital World is all around us. She referenced a number of digital objects and the negative impacts they can potentially have on our lives including the television which can lead low attention span as well as impacting on friendships; computer games which can be addictive as well as mobile phones which can affect our creative abilities. Her speech was very thought provoking.

Next to the lectern was Noel O Connor with a speech entitled ‘Is our green image important?’ Noel informed the group of the importance of promoting our green image which is used to sell Irish products. He stressed the need to encourage and support small food businesses which are doing well at the moment.

Finally it was the turn of Angela Sheehan with a speech entitled ‘A taste for success’. Angela was promoting the taking up of ‘a Diploma in Specialty Food Production’. She encouraged people in the group who have a love of good food to do the course and set up their own business. The course is good for networking.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Bill Martin. Bill’s topics were very varied and included ‘Describe your perfect evening’ to ‘Farmers Market’s- overpriced or undervalued’.

Timekeeper Jerry Mulcahy reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Cait Murray 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 ‘adept’ which means thoroughly proficient or a skilled performer throughout the meeting.

Bridget Breen, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Bridie O’ Connell, Michael Cronin, Marie Fitzpatrick, Joe Hassett and Margaret 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, February 10th 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