Speakeasy toastmasters Club is hosting it's annual Humorous Speech Contest on Thursday,4th October at 8.00PM. Since the Club's inception, the Humorous Contest has occupied a special place in the Club's calendar, providing members with the opportunity to regale their audience and make them laugh. The contest is not a stand - up comedy routine with a bunch of one-liners strung together.The aim is to present a speech that is humorous in nature.
Over the years, many members have excelled in Humorous Contest at several levels, winning different stages of the event in Ireland and Britain. Matt Lawlee participated in the District 71 ( British and Irish) Final on two occasions, winning
in 1995 with his hilarious speech on the fear of flying entitled "The First and Last". This feat was emulated by four time finalist Michael Cronin with his humorous tale about his laptop - "Feel the fear and blow it up anyway" winning top prize in 2008. Other
notable successes include Gerry O'Callaghan who competed in the 2003 District Final in Glasgow with the eulogy to his pet rat - "Toby".
In conjunction with the Humorous Contest,the Club will also stage the Table Topics Contest. Here, the contestants are challenged to give an impromptu response to a topic with points awarded for content,logic, relevance to the topic and delivery.Both
the winners and runners up in each contest will go forward to participate in the North Cork Area Final which take place in late October.
At last week's meeting, members were treated to a wonderful array of speeches, overflowing with challenging ideas, fascinating detail and humour. Ray Ryan presented "A re-introduction". Like many members of the Club, Ray is participating in
the new Toastmasters Programme - "Pathways" and presenting an Ice-breaker speech again.With a dollop of understated humour,he spoke of his "dancing achievements" and his role as a magician's assistant. He described his fascination with astronomy and "the beauty
of the stars shining against the blackness of the night sky".Ray spoke too about his various employments and what the future may hold. If, as seems likely, Ray moves on to pastures new, his contributions to Speakeasy has been immense.
John Sherlock of Fermoy Toastmasters presented a stark potrait on the constant erosion of our privacy with his speech - "The numbers are in - 1984 is here!" He cited the many everyday examples of how we leave an indelible mark of our activities
- from Credit Cards, Barcodes to mobile tracking devices that are our Smartphones. It poses the question - is exchanging our personal privacy for the benefits of modern technology a price too high to pay?
The price we pay was also the theme of Don McSweeney's speech - "Biodiversity".Who would have thought that the Spider Monkey in the jungle in Borneo plays a huge role in the Earth's continued existence? Don provided fascinating examples of the
interaction between the earth's species and the corrosive impact of human intervention .It is estimated that about half of the species alive in 1970 exist today as mankind continues to kill, chop and eat it's way through the Earth's resources. Is the survival
of the Planet at risk because of human behavior?
By way of light relief, Kieran Butler spoke about "Addiction".He confessed in moving, graphic and hilarious detail of " Breaking Bad" with his addiction to self-development.
Be it courses,classes,online tutorials and under graduate degrees, Kieran is hooked. Initially,he dabbled but now has become a hard core self-improvement junkie.He has gone cold turkey but alas, despite watching "Love Island"found himself succumbing once again to his cravings! Another class beckons and like Oscar Wilde he finds out that the best way to resist temptation is to yield to it.
Be it courses,classes,online tutorials and under graduate degrees, Kieran is hooked. Initially,he dabbled but now has become a hard core self-improvement junkie.He has gone cold turkey but alas, despite watching "Love Island"found himself succumbing once again to his cravings! Another class beckons and like Oscar Wilde he finds out that the best way to resist temptation is to yield to it.
 |
| Don McSweeney, John Sherlock, Anne O'Donovan, Ray Ryan & Kieran Butler. |
Each speech was comprehensively evaluated by Marie Fitzpatrick, Michael Cronin,Marie Lynes and Bobby Buckley who provided incisive feedback to the speakers, offering commendation and recommendations where appropriate. The art of evaluation is
another skill that members develop in Toastmasters, a skill so valuable in our daily interactions at work and in the community.Better speaking, better listening and better thinking are the three vital skills we learn in Toastmasters.At the meeting's conclusion,awards
were presented to Don McSweeney - Best Speaker and Michael Cronin - Best Evaluator.
And so ended another highly satisfactory and entertaining Speakeasy meeting.More fun will follow at our Humorous Speech night.If you haven't been to Toastmasters or if you would like a good night's entertainment, why not drop along to The Hibernian
Hotel, Mallow on Thursday, October 4th at 8.00PM? Indeed, bring a friend and double the fun. Guests are never obliged to speak, unless they wish to do so.Looking forward to seeing you.
For more information about Toastmasters, please check out our website
speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook.l
1 comment:
I would also like to praise the Topics master Noel O'Connor. Noel's topics have a way of remaining in your mind for days , so well thought out are they. My only regret was that Noel did not ask me to speak and to be fair I did not speak myself.
Post a Comment