Style is eternal.

"Fashion fades but style is eternal", this was the core message delivered by Maria Connolly at last week's Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting. Her fascinating speech - "Style" provided a thorough guide on how to "dress to impress". She dealt with the hugely entertaining issue of body shapes,be it the"inverted triangle",the "pear shape" or the "hour-glass". Even Kim Karadashian got a mention with her "large hour-glass figure! Ultimately, the best advice she proffered to her audience was" be yourself".

Advice was readily given by Susan Hegarty in her humorous tale of holiday stress. "Don't sweat the small stuff" was the usual story of pre-holiday rush - emptying the fridge of everything yet going on a diet before the holiday splurge on junk food. Packing enough clothes for a six month stay in America is also part of that pre-holiday stress! And then Susan discovers the book by Richard Karl's on that gives the speech it's title. The book proves to be a treasure trove of wisdom that eases the stress. Pick your battles wisely - you don't have to be right all the time. And Smile! It releases happy hormones and it's free.

Rachel Liston delivered an utterly absorbing speech - "Caught in a flash". We have all experienced the disappointment of having photographs sullied by "Red Eye". It is usually the combination of dim light and the enlarging of the pupils of the eyes. But Rachel told us the tale of how the presence of "Red Eye" denotes good health and how it's absence led to the early diagnosis of a rare form of eye cancer in a young child. While one eye was lost, the spread of cancer was prevented. Losing an eyedoesn't mean mean you lose your vision. Moreover, people adjust to the inconveniences. So "Red Eye" is a sign of optical good health and not just a photo ruined. 

Speakers:Susan Hegarty, Rachel Liston & Maria Connolly. 

Three informative and entertaining speeches were greeted with three insightful and helpful evaluations from Don McSweeney, Claire O'Connell and Maire Fitzpatrick respectively. Each evaluation focused on the strengths of the presentation and highlighted areas where the speaker could improve. In Speakeasy, this is called "the sandwich method" of commend, recommend and commend. 

The impromptu section of the meeting - the Topics Session - was conducted by Verna Byrne. A diverse range of topics covered subjects like the protests that will inevitably greet a Trump visit to Ireland, which sport arouses most fear and how each day is a learning experience. The skills acquired by engaging in a Topics Session are of benefit everyday, be it at work, in social situations and in general conversations. 

At the Meeting's conclusion, awards were presented to Susan Hegarty - Best Speaker, To Best Evaluator - Don McSweeney and to Best Topics - Theresa O'Reilly. 

The next Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting will take place in the Hibernian Hotel Mallow on Thursday, 30th May at 8.00PM. As always, guests are welcome to attend and observe the fun and the learning. Visitors are never coerced into speaking unless they wish to do so. For more details, please check out the website speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook.