Ray Ryan is our author today. He has served in many roles in Speakeasy Toastmasters Club including Club President. Ray has also held leadership roles in the broader Toastmaster organisation and is currently Division A Governor.
Toastmasters provides the opportunity to improve one’s communication skills, not alone by delivering speeches in a supportive environment, but through practicing one’s ability to speak unprepared. At every meeting we have a topics session where club members (important to say not guests!), are asked to speak on an unprepared topic for up to two minutes. Other club members and guests can then “add on” or say something related to that topic, and have one minute to do so.
Speech evaluations are of benefit, not alone to the Speaker, but also to the person delivering the evaluation. The evaluator has to listen to the speech and then has about twenty minutes to prepare the evaluation therefore improving one’s ability to absorb information and express oneself concisely.
Having been a member of Toastmasters for ten years, I have found that participating in Topics Sessions and delivering evaluations have been of benefit when it comes to interviews or having to respond to unexpected situations.
The Speakeasy Club is part of a wider Toastmaster community. Toastmasters is an international organization divided worldwide into District. Our district is District 71, which consists of Ireland and Britain. The District is divided in turn into Division, our local division is Division A, comprising of all the Toastmaster clubs in Cork, Kerry and Limerick County. Finally the Division is divided to Areas. Speakeasy Toastmasters forms part of Area 17, which also includes the clubs in Fermoy, Mitchelstown and Charleville.
Tonight at 8pm in the Hibernian Hotel Speakeasy Toastmasters will hold the last meeting of this season. It will be packed programme with six speeches and evaluations and the usual Topics session. Non members are most welcome and will not be asked to speak.
Contact Jerry 0863752895,or Noel 0872427485.
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