Our author today is Liam Flynn, a Wexford man who now lives in Millstreet and among his many interests, luckily for Speakeasy Toastmasters, is a great interest and dedication to the club. He has served in many roles on the club committee and is an enthuasiastic participant at meetings and contests.
Great Big Melting Pot
Take a pinch of White man
Wrap him up in black skin
Add a touch of blue blood
And a little bitty bit of red Indian Boy.
These are the opening lines of a hit song from the 70’s byr British Band “Blue Mink”. Their relevance to Toastmasters is as profound now as when they first appeared.
When you to go to a Toastmaster meeting you leave your luggage at the door. Colour, Creed, Education level, Degree of shyness doesn’t matter. Neither does social standing, affiliations or past achievement. When you enter the meeting only the self is present.
Firstly you will feel welcomed and put at ease. You will not be asked to speak or cajoled to perform. Everyone at the meeting will understand your state of nervousness because we all have experienced the “first” meeting.
If you have not experienced a toast master meeting before you may have a pre conceived idea that it is only for the highly proficient speaker who can do a presentation at the drop of a hat. Nothing could be further from the truth!
If you decide that you would like to progress through Toastmasters you will be given a Competent Communicator manual. This lays out a 10 step progressive programme of speeches and when completed makes you a “CC” or “Competent Communicator” in the eyes of Toastmasters.
The speed with which you do these 10 speeches is up to yourself. You are in total control. In the meantime you will have gained enormous experience from listening to other speakers both novice and experienced going through their programmes. Listening is the key.
After the first 10 speeches you can then pick from different speech manuals to diversify the type of speech you would like to make.These can include Story Telling,
Special Occasion, Business Presentation, etc.,
“All you need is a great big melting pot
Big enough for the world and all it’s got
Stir it for a hundred years or more
And turn out Coffee Coloured people by the score.”
For Coffee Coloured people read “Competent Communicators”
Liam Flynn
CC ,ACB
Speakeasy’s Speech and Evaluation Contest which will at 8pm Hibernian Hotel on March 21st.
The Celebration of Speakeasy's 20th Anniversary and tickets will be on Saturday March 23rd in the Hibernian Hotel. There will be a meal, speeches and an entertaining Topics Session to boot. It is an opportunity for non members to take a look at a Toastmaster Club and all are welcome. Contact Ronan at 0862758501 or email toastmastersmallow@gmail.com for tickets.
Speakeasy Toastmasters meets every 2nd Thursday in the Hi-B, next meeting at 8pm Hibernian Mallow, Thursday 21st March. Non members are most welcome and are never asked to speak. Contact Jerry 0863752895,or Noel 0872427485.
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