Decluttering your life.

"In the event of a fire, what precious items would you salvage from your house before you escape?"This was the challenging question posed by Marie Fitzpatrick in her wonderful presentation at last week's Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting. Entitled "Minimalism", Marie encouraged her audience to stock take the items that surround them to ascertain what is useful and what is clutter.Do you have a jar of biros that don't write? Or meat knives that won't cut butter? Or wardrobes of clothes that are never worn? If so, it is time to clear your house and create much needed head -space.

Advice was in plentiful supply too in Kevin O'Neill's speech - "The perfect interview". Imagining his audience as a group of College students, Kevin asserted the importance of first impressions - " you never get a second chance to make a first impression".He stressed the necessity to " be the best version of yourself"and how it is essential to show knowledge and interest in the company.Ultimately, a positive approach is the best way of making a good impression.

John Brennan gave a fascinating talk on Daylight Saving Time. "Turn back time" dealt extensively with the history and the rationale behind the twice yearly changing of the clock. Initially championed by the English builder, William Willett, who argued that the efficiencies were worthwhile, wartime Germany was the first Country to introduce"daylight savings"as a means to improve production in munitions factory and to reduce coal consumption. Recently, the European Union has conducted a review of this topic and have suggested discontinuing the practice. With the advent of Brexit, it could mean two different time zones on the island of Ireland!

Speakeasy was privileged to have two Ice-breaker speeches at our meeting.Presenting her first speech in the Club, Margaret O'Keeffe, spoke about "My life to this day", outlining her path through school and college.She spoke about her interest in Science and nature and her fondness for holidays in Ireland.

Gordon Sharp-Bolster spoke about "American Passport".He led his audience on a journey from New England to New York to the State of Virginia in the"antebellum South".He worked in Citibank and Time Warner before moving to Castlemaginer outside the town of Kanturk. He spoke humorously about his exploits as a saxophone player and his love of sailing on OPBs - other people's boats! With a rich and varied back story, it seems that Gordon only broke the tip of the iceberg!

Kevin O' Neill, Margaret O' Keeffe, John Brennan, Marie Fitzpatrick & Gordon Sharp-Bolster

All the speeches were subsequently evaluated in a comprehensive and sensitive fashion by the assigned evaluators - Ray Ryan, Noel O'Connor, Bridie O'Connell, Helsa Giles and Don McSweeney.

Claire O'Connell assumed the of Topics Master for the evening. Her topics ranged from the fluffy and light hearted to darker themes.The issues of artificial sweeteners, beards, conversations with pets rubbed shoulders with questions on consent, homelessness and car parking. A topic that received several nods of approval was -  to what Charity would you donate all your lottery winnings?
At the meeting's conclusion, awards were presented to the Best Speaker - John Brennan; Best Evaluator - Bridie O'Connell and Best Topic - Pat Sexton.

With the imminent changing of the clock, we will have a longer evening which means there is more time for Toastmasters! And as the dust settles on Halloween, the next meeting of Speakeasy Toastmasters takes place on Thursday,1st November in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow at 8.00PM. As always, guests are welcome to attend any of our meetings and are never coerced into speaking 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.