Nostalgia and New Beginnings

Paul Gallagher acted as Toastmaster/ MC for our first meeting of the new season. To open, Marie Lynes presented the poem of the evening, The Wild Swans at Coole by W.B. Yeats.

Bobby Buckley presented the first speech, ’The Magic Of a Speech for Me’. In it he took us on a humorous and nostalgic tour of the Mallow of his youth in the 1950’s. He shared his passion, challenges and ultimate success in the activity of long distance running. He recalled a previous speech that he gave in this club, ‘The Man on the Bike’, a tribute to his father, his coach. He confessed that giving that speech about his early experiences proved very cathartic for him. He expressed the hope that his example would motivate other members to create and share a speech from their own life journeys.

Paul Corcoran has been busy over the Summer refurbishing and remodelling our club website. In his speech, ‘Like and Subscribe, he gave a clear and informative talk on how somebody can set about building a strong social media presence. He explained how key information can be put on many platforms like Facebook, Instagram, X and Whatsapp and then all made more accessible by combining them on Linktree. He even solved the mystery of using a QR code for some of us technophobes. We are now even on Google Maps! He hopes many will ‘Like’ us and become followers.He succeeded in presenting a clear and engaging speech on a technical subject. 

Michael Cronin evaluated Bobby’s speech and Pat Sexton evaluated Paul’s. They both presented interesting and positive evaluations.

Rachel Liston posed a great variety of topics for members to express their opinions on, in the course of the evening.. Her topic on ‘What does Autumn signify for you?’ elicited a very emotional response from Jillian. She evoked images of golden and crimson leaves in New England, the taste of apple and cinnamon, memories of nuts and berries and Halloween. Pat, in contrast, declared he felt that the aura of Autumn is much diminished for him, since the much anticipated, annual G.A.A. finals are no longer played and celebrated in September. On the question of ‘Who would you pay €400 for a ticket to go to see?’ There was only one dissenting voice to Don’s reply ‘Nobody’.

A very enjoyable night was had by all with some very welcome guests. 

Our next meeting is on Thursday the 19th of September in the Tudor Room, upstairs, in the Hibernian Hotel.

Everyone is welcome and no pressure to speak.

Bobby, Rachel, and Paul

Pat, Michael, Bobby, and Paul

A New Season at Speakeasy Toastmasters

Speakeasy Toastmasters begins its new season of meetings on Thursday the 5th of September at 8pm in the Hibernian Hotel. Meetings are held on a fortnightly basis.

So our next meeting will be on the 19th of September and so on.

Guests are always most welcome.

So, what can you expect at a Toastmaster meeting?

Meetings last approximately two hours.

We begin the night with three or four prepared speeches by members and

sometimes a short poem. The speeches are usually between 5 and 8 minutes in

length. They can cover a wide variety of subjects reflecting the diversity of interests

of our members. It has been remarked by many that they have never left a meeting

without hearing something interesting or learning something new!

Next comes the impromptu speaking or Topics Session. This can be a very

entertaining part of the meeting. A different member takes on the role of Topics

Master at each meeting. The Topics Master calls on individual members to speak on

particular topics for two minutes and then anyone else can choose to add a

contribution for one minute. Guests will NEVER be called on to speak by the Topics

Master but are always welcome to offer a one minute add on if they wish to.

Halfway through the meeting we have a welcome 15 minute break for tea/coffee,

biscuits and chat. This is a good time to ask any questions you may have about

Toastmasters. Members will be happy to chat and answer them.

final part of the meeting is called the Evaluation Session. Individual members

give a short constructive evaluation of the prepared speeches. Here, speakers

receive great encouragement and advice for future speeches. In this session,

listening skills are developed as much as speaking ones. It requires the evaluators to

listen attentively to the presentations and offer positive suggestions. In observing

others, members can be inspired to try different techniques in their own speeches.

Members can take on different roles each meeting. For example, as Toastmaster,

they may act as MC for one meeting but may choose to give a speech or act as an

evaluator in subsequent meetings.

A favourite Toastmasters’ motto is ‘we learn best in moments of enjoyment’.

Many have gained confidence and communication skills at Toastmasters.

Come as a guest for as long as you like and, if you decide to join as a member, you

can be sure of a warm welcome and plenty of support.

Usually we charge everyone €7 to attend. This covers the room hire and

refreshments but our first meeting is free for guests!

So why not come along on the 5th of September, sit back, observe and enjoy!

For more information see www.speakeasytoastmasters.com 

Incoming Speakeasy Toastmasters President Bobby Buckley pictured at The Spa House in Mallow.

Marie, Helsa and Claire in good spirits at Toastmasters

Marie, Jill and Trevor are looking forward to a new season at Toastmasters