Speak Easy Toastmasters, Weekly News Updates

Let the numbers do the talking.

2012-01-17T19:31:00.001Z

Speakeasy toastmasters had their meeting on Thursday 12th January a large crowd attended there were four speeches on the night .The first of these was an interpretive reading from Noel O Connor which was the speech ex president Mary McAleese gave to UCC in 2006 on a conference on1916.

The second talk was given by Sean Corcoran on the joys of student life. This was very entertaining from which we learned all about fish bowels and jelly shots. He was looking forward to becoming a mature student and being able to keep up with his fellow students.

Claire O Connell gave the third speech called let the numbers do the talking. This was about history repeating itself. Claire outlined the numbers of unemployed during the 80’s and hopefully if we are lucky the numbers will go down like they did in the 90’s Claire finished off with a nice poem that she wrote on Ireland’s situation.

Pat Connelly gave the final speech called the jewel in the bay. This was about the marine research station on Sherkin Island and the fantastic work it is carrying out. We heard how it developed and all the areas of research it is carrying out.

The lively topics session was conducted by Anne Buckley with topics from internet dating to shopping in pyjamas

Our next meeting is on Thursday 26th January at 8pm in the HI Bi every one is welcome to come
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

The Christmas Goose

2011-12-28T16:44:00.001Z

Speakeasy toastmasters had their Christmas party night on Thursday 22nd December which was a very enjoyable night. With the food and decorations it created a very warm Christmas atmosphere.

The first talk was given by Bill Martin called solstice in which he outlined why we should celebrate at this time of year and plan the rest of the new year by drawing up our own mission statement and keep it that we can look it up every now and again to refresh ourselves. We should put in mood lifters in it to make it easier to keep. We should remember that there is always a path to go forward we should become inspired instead of being frightened.

The second speech was given by Mary Moynihan in which Mary acted out the story of the Christmas goose. In this she painted out very vivid pictures of being sent by a neighbor to buy a goose for Christmas we found out that it was not dishonest for country people to pull the wool over town people’s eyes and that people will go to any length to sell an old goose to someone innocent like Mary.

The third talk was given by Liam Flynn and its objective was to uplift the spirit which it did. In this talk Liam out lined all that toastmasters has done for him. He likened it to getting on a train and going into a carriage of people and going on a journey together they have all got different backgrounds but they are all going on the same journey only in toastmasters every one helps one another .This was a story from the heart how toastmasters gave him the confidence to speak his mind with confidence.

The final speech was given by Margaret O Regan; this was a very witty speech in which she outlined her big plans to write a great speech. Margaret outlined all the hurdles that you have to jump to get that speech.

The topics for the night were given by Mary Buckley and they ranged from men cooking to getting a gift for Mrs. Clause. The meeting was then addressed by Brendan Doherty area governor area 50 he was advertising the summer conference in Wexford next May entitled Words of Wisdom conference.

Nice and Easy meets Speak Easy

2011-12-12T15:20:00.000Z

Speakeasy toastmasters had a very enjoyable meeting on Thursday 8th December. There were five speeches on the night; the first was from Tony O Regan. This speech told us of the joys of a skiing holiday and the drama involved when things go wrong. It was a very descriptive speech and we could see the pictures he was painting.
The second speaker was Helen Buckley from the nice and easy club in Cope, this was another very descriptive speech on a trip to Scotland we could imagine the views and shopping to be had in Scotland. The third speaker was Patrica Colman from the nice and easy club in Cope in this we were taken on another holiday this time to Spain. In this speech we heard how Patrica her sister and niece had a wonderful time in Spain. The fourth talk was given by Cait Murray this was a motivational speech in which Cait out lined how to cope with nerves and give a good speech. By setting a goal helps with anxiety, practise informally and imagine a good ending all help to give a good speech and we should live in the moment to help with shyness.
The fifth speech was given by Mary Buckley called what lies ahead. In which Mary tried to predict what would happen next year. It would be an interesting year if it all comes true.
The meeting was then addressed by Catherine Kelly Division Governor in which she outlined how she was a shy person until she joined toastmasters and Catherine never looked back since. After our tea and coffee break we had a very lively topics session from Liam Flynn with topics from celebrity chiefs to the seven dwarfs.
The next meeting is on 22nd December At 8pm in Hi Bi which is our Christmas party night it is open to everyone so if you have a chance come along for an enjoyable night www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

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Schools Contest

2011-12-04T19:26:00.000Z

Schools contest
Speakeasy toastmasters held their annual schools contest on Wednesday 30th November. Six schools took part in the competition with two contestants from each school which gave a fantastic night of informative and entertaining speeches.
The schools and contestants were
Colaiste Treasa Kanturk, Orla Kelleher, Ginger Inequality
Aimee McCarthy, War is futile
Davis College Mallow Aidan James O Flynn, Ambition mankind’s propensity to begrudge
Eilis O Callaghan Visitors the universal code of customary procedures
Patrician Academy Mallow Jack Murphy, A close shave
John Linehan, A load of books that’s not my bag
Colaiste Mhuire Buttevant, Jenny Whyte, Super models the gods of our generation
Rian Jones, Irish youth do their fair share to help end poverty and hunger in the developing world
Scoil Mhuire Kanturk, Donal Finn, Negative words and incorrect descriptions
Edel Twohig, Take care of your mental health
St Mary’s Secondary school Mallow, Hazel Hennessy, Accents
Aisling Walsh, My guide to life.
On the night Hazel Hennessy came first, Eilis O Callaghan came second and Donal Finn came third.
The best schools were 1st Davis College, 2nd Patrician Academy,
3rd St Mary’s
The night was sponsored by Mallow Credit Union.

Thinking outside the box

2011-11-28T18:48:00.001Z

Speakeasy toastmasters had their meeting on 24th November; there were four speeches on the night. The first was an interpretive reading from Jean Sayer’s. Jean read Steve Jobs speech at Stanford University in 2005.Jean brought this speech to life and brought out the feelings expressed in it.
Pat Sexton gave the second speech entitled While you were sleeping. This was about the history of 9/11, and what was missed by the authorities. This was a memorable speech which was well researched and delivered.
The third talk was given by Bridget Breen. In this talk she had had to use visual aids. Bridget tried to get us to think outside the box. Bridget explained the difference between the left and the right side of our brains and put up some brain teasers on over heads for us to solve which as well as being educational it was very enjoyable.
The final speech was given by Michael Cronin entitled it is never to late .In this talk he told us the story of Mary Delany who at the age of 72 developed a new form of flower art.
The second half of the night was the topic session with Cait Murray giving out lively topics from the mystical power of tidiness to if we should have a cork passport.
Our next meeting is on 8th December in Hi Bi at 8pm
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Schools competition

2011-11-26T22:26:00.000Z

Schools competition
Speakeasy toastmasters Mallow are holding their annual schools contest on Wednesday 30th November 2011 in the Hi Bi hotel .

There are schools from Mallow, Kanturk, Buttevant, and Boherbue taking part. There will be two contestants from each school. Speakeasy toastmasters are very thankful to Mallow Credit Union for sponsoring this contest.

It is always a great night so if you have a chance come along.
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

All in a days walk

2011-11-22T09:30:00.001Z

Speakeasy toastmasters had their meeting on 10th November. There was great variety on the night with five speeches.

The first speech was given by Marie Lyons. This was a wonderful speech in which Marie introduced herself to the club. It covered where she grew up her education and her work. Marie then told of how she traveled as part of her work and the different places she saw and how she ended up back in Mallow. There was some great humour through out the speech.

Michael Dineen gave an ice breaker in which he introduced himself to the club.
The main theme of his tack was on being an Irish paramedic. Michael outlined all the training that went into becoming a paramedic. He told us of the different standards between being an Irish paramedic and the standards in other countries. He outlined the changes that have taken place and, Michael told us how proud he was of his work.
The third speech was a poem from Jerry O Callaghan. This was a poem on the insights and thoughts of an elderly person it was very well crafted and made us think that things are not always as they seem

The next talk was by Pat Duggan. This was a dramatic talk in which he told us of a dream he had, and it was about where are they now. He named all famous and popular pop stars and wondered where are they now.

The last talk was given by Jerry Mulcahy and entitled All in a days walk. This was a demonstration talk in which he described the various scenery shrubs and plants that you would see on a walk on the mountains of Ireland.

The tea break was followed by a very lively topic session with Mary Moynihan as topic master.

The schools contest is on Wednesday 30th November.
Next meeting is on Thursday 24th November at 8 pm
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Bare Stairs

2011-11-01T08:53:00.001Z

Congratulations to Michael Cronin and Pat Sexton for winning the Division A final of the humorous speech and table topics competition .They are now going on to represent us in the District final in Glasgow on the 12th and 13th of November.

Speakeasy toastmasters had their last meeting on Thursday 27th October. There were four speeches .First was an ice breaker or first speech from Ronan Condon in this he introduced himself to the club outlining his work and hobbies it was a very confident speech and well prepared.

Next was Bridie O Connell with a talk about adult literacy called second chance .It was surprising to hear that up to 25% of people had some problem with reading or figures. She outlined all the work that adult literacy were caring out to help.

Liam Flynn gave an interpretive reading of Sean O Faolain’s short story Up the Bare Stairs. This was followed by Noel O Connor with a reading of an extract from The Year of the Hiker.

After the tea break we had a very lively topic session from Pat Sexton. The next meeting is on 10th November at 8pm in the Hi Bi.
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Barn Brack's and Maths

2011-10-16T18:24:00.001+01:00

Speakeasy toastmasters had their meeting on Thursday 13th October.
Anne Buckley was toastmaster for the night. There were four speeches on the night.
The first was a demonstration from Jean Sayers on how to bake a Halloween brack. We got a history of the name and why it was called a barn brack. This was very seasonal. We got a list of the ingredients and a demonstration on how to mix them and other items to add and their significance such as the ring, pea, cloth, coin and match stick. To make it all the better Jean had a brack that she baked the night before which looked delicious and beautiful to taste when we got some during the tea break. The word has it that Michael Cronin got the ring. Jean ended with a quote “A little bit of baking is good for the soul as it is some thing that you can enjoy making that other people enjoy eating”.
The second talk was from Bill Martin. The topic he chose was neuro linguistic programming. The main theme was to think good and feel positive. He outlined some points that he had learned on a course that he was on. And some methods that can help you to feel positive and assertive it was very interesting and enjoyable.
The third speaker was David Clarke with a speech called does maths matter. If any one could make figures talk he could he made maths interesting and enjoyable. He outline that you can be more successful if you have studied maths. He out line that most courses in university and colleges require some level of maths. It was a very enthusiastic speech.
The fourth talk was from Kieran Butler in which he had to persuade the audience .The topic he chose was that an Irish woman was the best a man could get. He outlined all the traits of Irish women some of which were. Their looks, intelligence their ability to socialize and travel .This was a very colourful speech and very up lifting.
After the tea break Tim Aherne gave out the topics which very varied and enjoyable .They varied from taking the first steps in any job to how Mallow could be revitalized.
Our next meeting is on Thursday 27th October in the Hi Bi 8 pm.
Every one welcome
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Noel O Connor pro

Chocolate and Aran Jumpers

2011-10-04T09:00:00.000+01:00

Speakeasy toastmasters had their humours speech contest and topics contest on Thursday 29th September. Ray Ryan was contest chair for the night. There were six contestants in the humours speech contest.

Mary Moynihan gave a very funny and entertaining speech entitled what possessed me it was about obtaining an outfit for a wedding and it being a bit snug after being altered Pat Connolly gave a speech about making toys and bartering them for sweets when he was a child and the consequences when it went wrong.

Claire O Connell gave us her views on life with out chocolate and how serious it would be and how good chocolate is for us.

Marie Fitzpatrick Gave us advice on knitting an arn jumper and the advice she got from her close knit friends, there were lots of turns and twists before the last button was sewn on.

Bridget Breen gave a talk on the difference between men’s and women’s brains. It gave us an insight into why men can be happy doing nothing, and women get frustrated if they can’t talk. Bridget won second prise for this speech.

Michael Cronin gave a speech entitled trolley folly in which he gave us the wisdom on how to do the perfect shopping how to pick bargains and get good value. Michael won first prise for this.

In the topics competition there were five contestants Michael Cronin, Liam Flynn, Mary Buckley, Pat Sexton, and Pat Duggan. The topic was what your most important value is. Pat Sexton won it with his view that the truth should not get in the way of a good story. Second was Liam Flynn with the importance of loyalty.

A very entertaining night was had by the large attendance. Our next meeting is on Thursday 13th October guests are always welcome.
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

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A Poor Boy at Speak Easy

2011-09-17T18:27:00.001+01:00

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow had a meeting on 15th September. There was a large attendance of members and guests. There were five speeches on the night.

The first was given by Anne Buckley this was an educational talk on impromptu speaking or speaking of the cuff. The theme of the talk was to listen to the topic confirm it to yourself, pause focus on your answer and end your reply. There is no silver bullet just practice. A quote from the speech “your brain stars to work when you are born and stops when you want to speak in public.

The second speech was given by Ian Kingsley and this was an icebreaker or first time speech. This was an excellent speech in which Ian introduced himself to the club, and how toastmasters will help him in giving a speech his sisters weeding. It would also help him to conquer his fear of speaking in public.

The third talk was given by Jerry Mulcahy on how to improve your skills at judging in competitions. A quote from his talk was that there is no substitute for honesty.

The fourth speech was given by Pat Sexton. This was an interpretative reading from Patrick Galvin’s book Story of A Poor Boy. Pat brought the story to life and you could imagine you were there listening to the characters.

The final speech of the night was given by Liam Flynn, and was an impromptu speech on town twinning. He outlined how rewarding it was for the towns and the people involved.
After the coffee and tea break we had a lively topic session overseen by Pat Duggan.
Our next meeting is on September 29th 8pm in HiBi. This is a humours speech contest so it would be a very enjoyable night for you to come and enjoy a night at toastmasters

A Good Yarn

2011-09-08T15:41:00.000+01:00

Speakeasy toastmasters had their first meeting this season on Thursday 1st September. It was a very interesting and enjoyable meeting with a large crowd present. There were four talks on various topics both interesting and informative.
The first talk was given by Tony O Regan who is president for the year. The theme of his talk is that we should listen, think, and then talk. He outlined that toastmasters would help you to attain these skills.
The second talk was given by Mary Moynihan. This was a demonstration on how to give a very humours after dinner speech .The most memorable quote was that old age was all in the mind but the trick was to keep it there and not to let it travel down the body.
The third talk was given by Marie Fitzpatrick titled on how to spin a good yarn. This was a speech on the clever use of words it was very humours on how to knit an Aran jumper which had the audience in bouts of laughter.
The fourth talk was given by Ray Ryan which was a story with a moral after which you would wonder could you trust an eye witness.
After tea, coffee and a chat there were some lively topics given out by Jerry O Callaghan which varied from the rose of Tralee to the value of good neighbours.
The next meeting is on 15 Th September @8pm everyone is welcome

Speak Easy are Returning

2011-09-08T15:40:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters club Mallow are returning after their summer break for a new season on Thursday 1st September.
For people who have not been at toastmasters meetings previously they can be assured they would enjoy themselves .
The night consists of four or five five minute talks on various subjects both very informative and enjoyable. Then we have a tea and coffee break for fifteen minutes followed by various topics for half an hour.
The meetings start at eight pm , finish at ten pm and are held every two weeks.
Visitors and guests are always welcome.

Dancing at the Crossroads

2011-05-25T11:03:00.001+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmaster’s meeting on May 19th 2011 was another in which members enjoyed themselves, it was Speak Easy Toastmaster’s final meeting for 2010-2011.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Bridie O’ Connell, Topics Master and Loretto Barry, Toast Master.

First to the lectern was Cait Murray with a speech entitled ‘Good Times’. Cait gave an informative speech on how to manage our time including setting goals as well as maintaining a to-do-list as part of a time journal. She stressed that it is important to check the journal after 30 days as it gives one an awareness of how one is managing their time. Cait reminded the audience that procrastination is the thief of time.

Following Cait was Angela Sheehan with a speech entitled ‘Brain Food’. Angela gave a thought provoking speech on breakthroughs in medicine and science since the 16th Century to the present day. She highlighted to the audience the power the media can have on the success of a product.

Next to the lectern was Mary Buckley with a speech entitled ‘There is hope’. Mary’s speech was enthralling and emotive. Mary recounted a story, which spanned 12 months, from her own life. She shared with the audience the lesson she learnt from the experience ‘there is always hope, there is no situation hopeless’.

Following Mary was Anne Buckley with a speech entitled ‘Dancing at the Crossroads’. Anne relayed the fun and sociable activities happening at Laharn Crossroads on a Sunday evening from May to September, 8pm-10pm. As part of her speech Anne gave the audience a historical insight into the tradition of dancing from pre –famine to present day.
Next to the lectern was Jerry Mulcahy with an interpretative reading from a speech given by Mary McAleese entitled ‘Their Deaths rise far above the Clamour’. Jerry’s choice of speech on an historical subject was stimulating and gathered the attention of the audience.

Finally it was the turn of Liam Flynn with a fact finding report on ‘Japanese Knotweed’. Liam in his interesting report provided a description of the weed, the aggressiveness of the species as well as ways of controlling it. Liam stressed to the audience that vigilance is required at all times to ensure properties, roadways and streams are not affected by this plant.

Congratulations to all the members who achieved milestones in their Toastmaster career tonight or during the year.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Bridie O Connell. Bridie kept members on their toes with a well thought out range of topics for members to practice their speaking ‘off the cuff’ skills.

Timekeeper Noel O’ Connor reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Marie Fitzpatrick gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. Marie encouraged the use of the word ‘incumbent’ which means ‘needing to be done/obligatory’ during the course of the meeting

Pat Duggan, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Mary Moynihan, Jean Sayers, Pat Sexton, Bridget Breen, Ray Ryan and Michael Cronin. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

At the end of the meeting the President Margaret O’ Regan welcomed the incoming President for 2011-2012 Toastmaster Tony O’ Regan.

Speak Easy Toastmasters Club would like to take this opportunity to thank you for reading its Articles over the last year and to wish you an enjoyable and safe Summer.

The Area Tall Tales will be held at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Friday June 3rd 2011 at 7:50PM. Why not come along to hear an interesting tale.

Speak Easy Toastmasters first meeting for 2011-2012 will be held at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Thursday September 1st 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not follow us on Facebook

‘Toastmaster Awards’

2011-05-18T19:51:00.000+01:00

The 2010-2011 Season for Speakeasy Toastmasters is drawing to a close. At the next meeting, which is scheduled for the 19th of May 2011, 6 members of the Club will be achieving educational awards, based on the number of manual speeches delivered. This will be a big night for these members as they will all be reaching milestones in their speaking careers.

The Competent Communicator award is bestowed on Toastmasters who complete the Competent Communicator manual which consists of ten speeches. Subsequent educational awards are based on completing advanced manuals, with five speeches in each manual. The Advanced Communicator Bonze is awarded for completing two advanced manuals, the Advanced Communicator Silver is awarded for completing a further two advanced manuals and the Advanced Communicator Gold is achieved when another pair of advanced manuals is completed.

Organizational achievements are acknowledged by leadership awards. The Competent Leader award recognises members who have performed meeting duties, such as timekeeper, the Advanced Leader Bronze recognises Toastmasters who have served on the Club Committee while the Advanced Leader Gold recognises Toastmasters who have taken up leadership positions outside of their Club. Toastmasters who have achieved both the Advanced Communicator Gold and Advanced Leader Gold are eligible for the Distinguished Toastmaster Award (DTM).

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Thursday May 19th 2011 at 7:50PM. Why not come along and join us for a taste of toastmasters in what promises to be a great evening. Remember non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com and follow us on Facebook

‘Should I stay or should I go?’

2011-05-17T06:15:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmaster’s meeting on May 5th 2011 was another in which members enjoyed themselves, it was Speak Easy Toastmaster’s AGM.

Our AGM night began with a regular meeting with speeches, evaluations and topics. Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Noel O’ Connor, Topics Master and Liam Flynn who was Toast Master.

First to the lectern was Bridget Breen with a speech entitled ‘Some people cannot handle the truth’ Bridget gave an informative speech on how one can tell whether people are telling them the truth or not through body language including nose wrinkles, eye movements and mouth curls. People sometimes may be economical with the truth but their body language always tells the truth.

Following Bridget was Bill Martin with a speech entitled ‘Should I stay or should I go’. Bill gave a very philosophical and optimistic speech about emigration. At this time of recession Ireland needs people to emigrate in order to soften the blow. Emigrants will return and bring back expertise with them. He reminded the audience that Ireland needs to look to the future to sustain employment.

Finally it was the turn of Jean Sayers with a speech entitled ‘A day to remember’.
Jean gave the audience an insight into Alzheimer disease, the work the Alzheimer’s Society of Ireland does as well as urging the audience to support Alzheimer’s Tea Day events in their Neighbourhoods.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Noel O’ Connor. Noel kept members on their toes with a well thought out range of topics for members to practice their speaking ‘off the cuff’ skills.

Timekeepers Claire O Connell and Tony O’ Regan reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Joe Hassett gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. Joe encouraged the use of the word ‘mores’ which means ‘customs or conventions regarded as essential to or characteristic of a community’ during the course of the meeting

Jerry Mulchay, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Marie Fitzpatrick, Sean Corcoran and Pat Sexton. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

After the tea break it was time for the AGM and after the minutes of the last AGM were read and matters arising were dealt with, each member of the committee gave a report to the meeting.

In her President’s address, Margaret O’ Regan outlined the activities of the club over the past year including the social activities of the club, successful contests and achievements of members and also what being President of Speak Easy Toastmasters meant to her personally. She thanked her team of committee members for their work during the previous year.

Then followed the election of the new officers for the next year and they are as follows: President, Tony O’ Regan; Educational Vice President, Jean Sayers; Vice President Public Relations, Noel O’ Connor; Vice President Membership, Cait Murray; Secretary, Mary Moynihan; Treasurer, Bill Martin; Sgt at Arms, Bridget Breen, Ray Ryan and Liam Flynn.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Thursday May 19th 2011 at 7:50PM. Why not come along and join us for a taste of toastmasters in what promises to be a great evening. Remember non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com OR or why not follow us on Facebook

5 tips to sound more....

2011-05-04T14:35:00.000+01:00

Should you ever find yourself in the following situations namely having to speak in public, make a presentation or just ensuring that you are heard, I set down hereunder 5 tips which may assist:

1. To Sound More Intelligent:
Speak just a bit slower to allow yourself to select your most appropriate vocabulary and to give the impression of thoughtfulness.

2. To Sound More Powerful:
Use short, simple declarative sentences. You say what you mean and you mean what you say. Cut out any useless connectors, adjectives and adverbs, especially superlatives.

3. To Sound More Polished:
Never answer a question with a blunt 'yes' or 'no.' Append a short phrase of clarification. For example, "No, I did not see it." "Yes, I know Mary."

4. To Sound More Articulate:
Make a special effort to pronounce the final sound in a word and use its energy to carry over to the following word. Pay special attention to the final 't' and 'ng.'

5. To Sound More Confident:
Carry your body up. Hold your head as if you had a crown on it. Don't let your arms and legs have side to side motion when you move. Keep your elbows and knees close to the midline of your body.

With the above in mind why not come along to the 2nd last meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters and see for yourself how we practice the skills of prepared speaking, speaking “off the cuff”, listening, and leadership.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Thursday May 5th 2011 (Club AGM) at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not follow Speak Easy Toastmasters on Facebook?

‘I should have said nothing’

2011-04-25T21:47:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmaster’s meeting on April 20th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves.

Joining Immediate Past President Michael Cronin at the top table was Loretto Barry, Topics Master and Cait Murray who was Toast Master.

First to the lectern was Claire O’ Connell with a speech entitled ‘Jump Suits Fashion Supreme or Fashion Dud’. Claire’s speech was very entertaining. She informed the group of her fashion dislikes including the jump suit, culottes and skinny jeans on men. Claire gave some of the practical uses where jump suits could be used but was adamant that they should not be seen on the cat walk.

Following Claire was Pat Duggan with a speech entitled ‘Grumpy old men’. Pat decided to do his ice breaker again. His speech was very philosophical and optimistic. He reminded the audience that happiness happens without money and recommended to the audience that they should ask for support when they require it.

Pat was followed by Angela Sheehan with an educational session on giving an impromptu talk. Angela’s presentation was very informative as impromptu speaking is a valuable skill to be acquired for every day living. This skill can be developed in Toastmasters and used elsewhere. The key aspects of giving such a talk include listening; pausing; confirming; telling and most importantly knowing when to stop.

Next to the lectern was Mary Buckley with a speech entitled ‘I should have said nothing.’ Mary’s speech was entertaining and emotive. Mary recounted a true story from her childhood. The lesson she learnt from the specific incident came to light at a recent school reunion where the story was retold.

Mary was followed by Kieran Butler with a speech entitled Pieta House- Bringing Hope’. Kieran gave a very effective speech on the subject of Suicide. He informed the group of the great work Pieta House does in the area of suicide prevention and the assistance it gives people in regaining the zest for life.

Finally it was the turn of Jerry Mulcahy with an interpretative reading from the poem ‘Lines from Adonais’ by Percy Bysshe Shelley.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Loretto Barry. Loretto had a huge amount of topics which were varied and various.

Timekeeper Mary Moynihan reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Bridget Breen gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s.

Sean Corcoran, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Michael Cronin, Bill Martin, Tony O’ Regan, Bridie O’ Connell, Ray Ryan and Dave Clarke. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Thursday May 5th 2011 (Club AGM) at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not follow Speak Easy Toastmasters on Facebook?

‘Effective Communication’

2011-04-20T13:55:00.000+01:00

Effective Communication is a ‘must have’ in this electronic age. Being an effective communicator takes real skill. Communication skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going basis. Communication is the basis of interpersonal skills and the greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective your communication will be. To be effective in business, you have to communicate well. To be a good manager, you have to communicate exceptionally well. Communication is individual. We are not all the same. There is never one right way to communicate. Authentic effective communication always happens when we reply on those things we know to be true about or for ourselves. Your personal style can say more for you than all the words you use can. Most people look at what is wrong with themselves and other people, rather than focusing on what already works. Remember many things have to be working well for you to have got this far already. The communication cycle works as follows and you can take responsibility for every stage:

Spoken - Heard - Understood - Agreed To - Acted On - Implemented.

In Toastmasters you will become aware of where you or others tend to fall off the cycle. So, can I give you any greater reason for joining Speakeasy Toastmasters?
As we are nearing the summer break, why not come along and see for yourself what we are about? You will be delighted you did.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Thursday May 5th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not follow Speak Easy Toastmasters on Facebook

A crowd is not company’

2011-04-14T19:10:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmaster’s meeting on April 7th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves. The club was holding The Area 17 Finals of the International Speech and Evaluation Contests.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Ray Ryan, Contest Chair and Johanna Hegarty who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Michael Cronin (Speak Easy Toastmasters, Mallow) with a speech entitled ‘Heroes’. Michael’s speech was thought provoking. He reminded us that there are heroes all around us, including those who care for the sick and look after the less privileged. He concluded his speech by reminding the audience that ‘we are all ordinary people but capable of doing extraordinary things’.

Following Michael was Dick Lyons (The Galtees Toastmasters, Mitchelstown) with a speech entitled ‘Free at last’. Dick recounted in a very humorous manner the impact of acquiring a family dog and what he learned from the experience. He ended his speech with a quotation from John O’ Donoghue, author of ‘Anam Cara’; ‘the forgiving heart knows the art of liberation.

Dick was followed by Colette Noonan (The Failte Toastmasters, Charleville) with a speech entitled ‘The spirit of Granuaile’. Colette recounted a documentary she heard on the radio as she traveled home from a funeral one evening. The documentary detailed how one particular Dublin rowing group was founded. This rowing group was set up by 3 women who suffered from cancer. She compared the spirit of these women together with that of the lady whose funeral she had attended to the spirit of Granuaile which is still alive and well in these women.

Finally it was the turn of Kevin Walsh (Fermoy Toastmaster’s Club) with a speech entitled ‘A crowd is not company’. During his speech Kevin spoke about loneliness, the impact that it can have on peoples’ lives and gave the audience examples of how people can overcome it through for example reading and observing nature. Kevin concluded his speech with a thought provoking statement ‘Every stranger is a friend that you have not met. If we embrace each other in harmony and closeness the world is your oyster and we will never walk alone’.

Kevin Walsh (Fermoy Toastmaster’s Club) won the speech contest and Dick Roche (The Galtees Toastmaster’s Club, Mitchelstown) was runner up.

Following the speech contest Ken Armstrong (Killarney Toastmaster’s Club), test speaker, gave a very inspirational speech entitled ‘Why are we here?’ which gave reasons as to why people join toastmasters. This speech was the speech which was used in the evaluation contest.

There were four evaluation contestants- Frances Lowry (Failte Toastmaster’s Club, Charleville); Pat Sexton (Speak Easy Toastmasters Club, Mallow); Fanahan Colbert (Fermoy Toastmaster’s Club) and Eamon Rea (The Galtees Toastmaster’s Club, Mitchelstown).

Pat Sexton (Speak Easy Toastmaster’s Club, Mallow) won the evaluation contest and Eamon Ray (The Galtees Toastmaster’s Club, Mitchelstown) was runner up.

Kevin Walsh (Fermoy Toastmaster’s Club) and Pat Sexton(Speak Easy Toastmaster’s Club, Mallow) will represent Area 17 in the Divisional Finals of the International Speech and Evaluation Contests, which will be held in the Hibernian Hotel on Sunday the 17th of April 2011 at 2.30pm.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Johanna Hegarty. Johanna had a huge amount of topics which were varied and various.

Timekeepers Michael Sheehan and Ann Lyons reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Jerry Mulcahy and Liam Flynn.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, Wednesday April 20th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or follow us on Facebook

The Power of Habits

2011-04-06T15:48:00.001+01:00

Don’t get trapped in a routine. The secret of success is to practice what you are not good at. Get uncomfortable. A sport’s man, when asked to identify the secret of his success, replied ’I practiced what I was not good at’.
All successful people both in and out of Toastmasters have had to overcome obstacles in life. What determines their ability to transcend those obstacles and fears is a great willingness to stretch their comfort zones. In a Toastmaster’s Club your comfort zone is measured by the speeches you give and the assignments you take on. Successful Toastmasters have one thing in common – they form the habit of thorough preparation and active listening. People who clock watch and day dream do not get far.
Your habits reflect your personality. They influence how you dress; walk; sit; smile and laugh. As part of your internal makeup most habits are formed early in life. By adulthood those habits are much easier to follow than change. If you want to be more successful both in and out of Toastmasters, you must make an effort to reject stagnation, and form habits of self improvement. To evaluate your personal habits – ask yourself
• Do successful happy people seem to enjoy my company?
• Do others seek my advice?
• Do I continue to grow through careful reading and exposure to stimulating ideas?
• Do I surround myself with positive uplifting influences including people?
• Do I usually feel good about myself?
• Do I look for new ways to improve my speaking, writing, and listening skills?
The ability to invest time wisely is a habit acquired through deliberate choice. Success requires passion and is governed by the laws of habit. To develop habits, one must have an objective. It is never the strength of a goal that will make you do anything in life. It is the strength of the purpose behind it. If your goal in life is to make money to put bread on the table, then that is all you will do. This standard requires you to cross the finish line only because it exists. In order to achieve a far greater level of success, you must have passion to go the distance.
Remember: “Never be content with what you are, if you want to be what you are not”.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting (The Area Finals International Speech and Evaluation Contests) at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, April 7th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not follow Speak Easy Toastmasters on Facebook

Hero's

2011-03-30T15:12:00.001+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters-‘Heros’

Speak Easy Toastmaster’s meeting on March 24th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves. The club was holding its Club International Speech and Evaluation Contest.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Ray Ryan, Contest Chair and Anne Buckley who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Lorretto Barry with a speech entitled ‘Expressions’.
Lorretto gave a very interesting speech regarding the origins of every day expressions including ‘nitty gritty’; ‘face the music’; ‘feathering your cap’; ‘chalk and cheese’ and ‘look a gift horse in the mouth’. She concluded her speech by reminding the audience of another every day expression- the ‘ball is in your court’.

Following Lorretto was Pat Sexton with a speech entitled ‘Time of our lives’.
Pat informed the audience that there is no past, no future, there is the gift of time called the present. All our lives consist of now moments. He concluded his speech by advising the audience to endeavor to spend time well and to enjoy it whole heartily because now is the time of our lives.

Pat was followed by Marie Fitzpatrick with a speech entitled ‘The Black Hole’.
Maire’s speech provided the audience with information and statistics regarding the huge amounts of money spent in the health service in Ireland. She referred to the benefits that will arise from the introduction of the smoking ban a few years ago.

Marie was followed by Liam Flynn with a speech entitled ‘Does the Dragon live here?’ Liam’s speech provided the audience with examples of where the poor portrayal of the ‘Mother-in-Law’ has originated from. Mother-in- Laws have been portrayed like wolves and sharks. In fairy tales the Mother –in-Law has been portrayed as the dark person. Liam counteracted this poor perception of Mother-in-Laws’ by speaking highly of his own Mother-in-Law.

Finally it was the turn of Michael Cronin with a speech entitled ‘Hero’s’. Michael’s speech was thought provoking. He gave us examples of who his hero’s are. He reminded us that there are heros all around us, including those who care for the sick and look after the less privileged. He concluded his speech by reminding the audience that ‘we are all ordinary people but capable of doing extraordinary things’.

Michael Cronin won the speech contest and Pat Sexton was runner up.

Following the speech contest Anne Roche, guest speaker, gave a very humorous entertaining speech entitled ‘Party Animal’ which was about a dinner party she hosted. This speech was the speech which was used in the evaluation contest.

Pat Sexton won the evaluation contest and Margaret O’ Regan was runner up.

Michael Cronin and Pat Sexton will represent Speak Easy Toastmasters in the Area finals International Speech and Evaluation Contest, which will be held in the Hibernian Hotel on the 7th of April 2011 at 7.50pm.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Anne Buckley. Anne had a huge amount of topics which were varied and various.

Timekeepers Bridget Breen and Joe Hassett reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Jerry Mulcahy and Liam Flynn.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting (The Area Finals International Speech and Evaluation Contests) at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, April 7th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not become follow us on Facebook

Contests Coming

2011-03-23T19:41:00.001Z

One of the highlights of the toastmaster year is the international speech and evaluation competition night. To compete in the international speech competition, one deliverers a five to seven minute speech.

The winner at club level then progresses onto the area stage, which locally is area 17, including the clubs in Fermoy, Mitchelstown and Charleville. The Area winner then competes at the Division Final. Speak Easy Toastmasters is part of Division A, which includes all clubs in Cork, Kerry and Limerick County.

The Division Winner then progresses onto the District Final, competing against speakers from other divisions, across the UK and Ireland. The district winner then competes at the Toastmasters world convention.

In the evaluation competition, a guest speaker from another club delivers a speech. The competitors in the evaluation competition are led away to another room to prepare their evaluations. The competitors are then brought back one by one to deliver their evaluations. The evaluation competition progresses to district level.

You can see this in action when Speakeasy Toastmasters will hold its club evaluation and international speech competition, on March 24th at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 7.50pm. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not become a Speak Easy Toastmaster Facebook.

‘Say Cheese’

2011-03-17T16:28:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters-‘Say Cheese’

Speak Easy Toastmaster’s meeting on March 10th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Bridget Breen, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Sean Corcoran who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Marie Fitzpatrick with a speech entitled ‘Sew Sew’.
Marie gave a very interesting demonstration speech on how to use a sewing machine. She looked to the audience for a member to participate in order to show how simple a sewing machine is to use.

Following Marie was Claire O’ Connell with a speech entitled ‘Life without chocolate’. She pointed out the health benefits of chocolate in our lives particularly dark chocolate. Claire concluded her speech by giving comparisons of what life would be like without chocolate eg a cat without a house; Laurel with out Hardy.

Claire was followed by Cait Murray with a speech entitled ‘All abroad’. Cait gave a very interesting speech on why people should take the train. Trains should be used inorder to reduce the carbon footprint, assist in maintaining a link with our heritage as well as for the pleasure involved (including drama, mystery and romance)

Finally it was the turn of Mary Moynihan with a humourous speech entitled ‘Say Cheese’. Mary recounted a family event where numbers were restricted at the event thus making photographs an important element for the wider family circle.
Unfortunately the photographer did not live up to expectations on this occasion.
Mary advised the audience not to be fooled by a tripod.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Sean Corcoran. Sean had a huge amount of topics which were varied and various.
Timekeeper Bridie O’ Connell reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Bill Martin gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. He encouraged the use of the word ‘innate’ which means ‘inherent’.

Jean Sayers, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Angela Sheehan, Anne Buckley, Joe Hassett and Pat Duggan. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Jerry Mulcahy and Tony O’ Regan.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting ( The Club International speech and evaluation contests) at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, March 24th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not become a Speak Easy Toastmaster Facebook follower.

‘Tir gan teanga, tir gan annam’

2011-03-08T19:06:00.000Z

Irish is one of the oldest and most historic written languages in the world. The earliest evidence of this is preserved in OGHAM inscriptions dating from the 4th Century. Much has changed since then and it can now be found in more than 4,500 books, on the television, on the radio, in the newspapers, magazines, and on the internet.

A question the Irish nation has been asking itself since the creation of the State is –Is the Irish Language in decline and is there any point in trying to revive it? Since Douglas Hyde founded the Gaelic League in 1893, there has been a constant battle to revive the Irish Language and Culture throughout the Country. Down through the years this revival has not been helped by large scale emigration and by the attitude taken by many Irish people who felt using the English language was the only way forward.

Despite the relative lack of Irish speakers in the country supporters of the language point out that the interest among the general public has never been greater. The language has seen a resurgence over the last few years with the advent of TG4, recognition on an EU level and the adventures of Des ‘King of the Gaeilge’ Bishop to mention but a few.

It has never been easier to improve ones Irish-even if one does not happen to be a stand up comedian who can relocate to the Gaeltacht for a year and make a successful TV show- in the name of the fada. What one can do is make a few simple and subtle changes in ones lifestyle.

Firstly, everyone knows a few words, so why not substitute ‘siopa’ for shop, ‘bainne’ for milk and everything else one remembers from school days. As they say in Irish, ‘bionn blas ar an mbeagan’ –a little tastes well.

Secondly one can take a step to increase one’s vocabulary. On the daytime commute why not tune in to Radio na Gaeltachta. The news bulletins may sound depressing but at least one can take comfort in the fact that ones Irish has improved- even if the economic climate has not. With a wide and varied output TG4 has had a positive impact on promoting the language especially amongst teenagers. Since it first went on air in 1996 it has gained a reputation for innovative programming in film, arts, drama, documentaries and sports has something for everyone from soaps to exceptional documentaries.

Thirdly there are also a number of options if one wants to brush up on ones written word. Weekly news is offered in the newspaper FOINSE. In addition a number of websites host interviews and feature pieces in our native tongue.

Fourthly if one wants to achieve full fluency, one can take the plunge and join an Irish language class. Conradh na Gaelige run classes for beginners, intermediate and advance levels all around the country. The organisation also arranges social evenings and events.

Young enthusiastic presenters like Daithi O Se, Sile Seoige and Hector O hEochagain along with programmes like Ros na Run have shown that Irish can be relevant in the Celtic Tiger.

As well as being a celebration of the Irish Language, Seachtain na Gaeilge which ends on the 17th of March is a reminder that we can all add to our cupla focal. Remember the words famously spoken from the man from Moneygall ‘yes we can’ and lets reply with a resounding Sea is feidir linn for 2011.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, March 10th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not become a Speak Easy Toastmaster Facebook.

A Cut Above The Rest

2011-02-23T13:53:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmaster’s meeting on February 10th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Joe Hassett, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Dave Clarke who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Angela Sheehan with a speech entitled ‘Select your topic’.
Angela was very enlightening on how to find topics from speeches. Ideas can come from personal experiences ie family events, professional encounters or interests. Ideas for speeches can also come from books and newspapers.

Following Angela was Jean Sayers who did a monodrama entitled ‘ A love song of J Alfred Prufrock’ by T S Eliot.

Jean was followed by Liam Flynn with a speech entitled ‘A cut above the rest’. Liam demonstrated to the audience how to prune roses. He advised on the types of tools and gloves to use when pruning. He concluded by informing the men in the audience to buy a rose bush this Valentine’s Day rather than a bunch of roses for their loved ones as they will have roses for the year.

Finally it was the turn of Jerry O’ Callaghan with his Folk Tale entitled ‘Three Wishes’. Jerry recounted a folk tale with a morale to the audience. Although the folk tale related to a time long ago the morale is as relevant today as it was back then- ‘be very careful what you wish for because you just might get it’.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Dave Clarke. Dave had a huge amount of topics which were varied and various.

Timekeeper Michael Cronin reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Mary Buckley gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. She encouraged the use of the word ‘propensity’ which means a natural propensity, disposition or inclination throughout the meeting.

Marie Fitzpatrick, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Sean Corcoran, Bridget Breen and Anne Buckley. Angela Sheehan’s presentation was not evaluated. The Sergeant at Arms for the meeting was Liam Flynn.

Speakeasy Toastmasters is hosting a night of Humour on February 24th 2011 at 7.50pm to give its members, as well as everyone who wishes to attend, a much needed tonic having being totally saturated with talk of recession and all that goes with it. The night will consist of ten humorous speeches from renowned toastmasters both from the Speakeasy Club as well as members from Toastmaster Clubs from much further a field.

Non members are welcome to attend. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or why not become a Speak Easy Toastmaster Facebook.

“A Feast of Humour” on Feb 24

2011-02-14T19:54:00.000Z

On Thursday 24th of February, Speakeasy Toastmasters in Mallow is hosting a night of Humour to give its members, as well as everyone who wishes to attend, a much needed tonic having being totally saturated with talk of recession and all that goes with it. The night will consist of ten humorous speeches from renowned toastmasters both from the Speakeasy Club as well as members from Toastmaster Clubs from much further a field.

It is worth noting in this time of doom and gloom that much research has been done on the effects of humour and laughter on our health. The benefits are enormous and include boosting our immune system, reducing stress and hastening the healing process. By now, almost everyone is familiar with the link between our body and mind that has been proven.
Humour is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together as well as being the best medicine.
Use the acronym L.A.U.G.H.T.E.R. to remind yourself of some of its benefits: 'L' stands for LIVE life to the fullest. When we share humor, we are living in the moment and spreading.
'A' stands for an AWARENESS and APPRECIATION for the incongruities of life. The inconsistencies and ironies you face offer unlimited opportunities to laugh at them.
‘U' stands for USE your brain to drain pain with laughter. USE humor to discover delight, joy, and peace of mind.
‘G’ stands for GOOD HUMOUR at all times.
'H' stands for HEALTH. Laughter detaches us from our problems and releases negative emotions; it is the best medicine.
'T' stands for TRANSFORM. Laughter transforms our thoughts, which in turn transforms our feelings for the better.
'E' stands for EXUBERANCE, which is the zest that laughter brings to our lives and
'R' stands for the RESILIENCE we acquire by learning to deal with hardship and pain, for humour is the strongest weapon against adversity.
By the 24th of February you will need some light relief before you face the ballot box the following day. Make your way to the Hibernian Hotel in Mallow for what promises to be one terrific night of laughter.

Remember Laughter is the best medicine, so you can become your own best medicine by joining Speakeasy Toastmasters for a “Feast of Humour” at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, February 24th at 7:50pm.

For more information log onto: www.speakeasytoastmasters.com.

“A Feast of Humour”

2011-02-10T14:34:00.000Z

Speakeasy Toastmasters invite you to

“A Feast of Humour”

An evening of hilariously funny speeches displaying toastmasters’ skills at their best.

Speakers:
The Master of them all … Noel O'Beara
The pretender to Noel’s throne … Gerry French
From Mullingar, the one and only … Brian McLoughlin
From Cork, and famous for her performance at this year’s district final … Ellen O’Mahony
The man, who can’t sing, can’t dance (but that doesn’t stop him)… Michael Buckley
Winner of this year’s Speakeasy Schools contest with his observations of the Irish… Radek Zuk

From the Speakeasy stable,
Multi award winner… Michael Cronin
“We’ll give her a push”…Michael Walsh
Memory man himself … Jerry O’Callaghan and
IT expert extraordinaire …Sean Corcoran

Date: Thursday 24th February 2011
Time: 7.50pm
Venue: The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow

Open to everyone.
Admission €5

There are 336 hours in a fortnight, why not reserve just 2 to enjoy yourself?

For further information visit our website
www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

-‘The need for Speech Training in the age of Communication’

2011-02-09T18:23:00.000Z

One needs Public Speaking skills to live productively in the age of Communication. Unless one has speaking talents necessary to engage in Committee discussions, presentations to clients, one may be in trouble in one’s job. One’s speechmaking skills also affect one’s ability to change peoples’ minds at meetings, student councils, political conventions etc. or in pressure groups that lobby the Government.

One will become a fully developed, thinking, and forceful human being to the degree that one has learned and practiced speech making skills and oral communication skills. Ultimately one speaks not only to serve others, but also to achieve one’s own goals on the job and in the public forum. Speeches are one form of the general activity called communication.
Some speeches are read to the audience - watch the next press conference on T.V. Other speeches are given in an impromptu manner. After dinner speeches tend to be light.
All speeches, despite differences in formality are –
o Continuous oral messages
o Delivered by a communicator (speaker)
o Through various channels (electronic etc)
o To others (the listeners) who can feed back reactive messages.

The primary purpose of joining Toastmasters is to gain confidence, to learn to communicate effectively. Just think what a relief it would be to be able to meet people on an equal footing, make your point diplomatically but firmly, and leave knowing you have not been ‘brow beaten’. This is a good feeling, which will allow you then, to perform to your optimum.

While it is not easy to participate at the beginning – with time and perseverance it will become second nature to you to stand up and give your opinion voluntarily. By doing this you will slowly notice the change in yourself. You will feel more confident, more decisive, and happier in yourself. Toastmasters’ gives you that opportunity to obtain speech training.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, February 10th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Speak Easy Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Easy-Toastmasters167687469936952

‘What possessed me?!’

2011-02-02T15:14:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters-‘What possessed me?!’

Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting on January 27th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves. There was a great atmosphere during the course of the meeting.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Pat Duggan, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Bill Martin who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Mary Moynihan with a speech entitled ‘What possessed me?’ Mary entertained the group with her humorous speech about a family wedding. She recounted her efforts about trying to find the right dress and shoes before the wedding as well as the funny events that happened on the night as a result of her carrying out some further alterations to her dress after the meal.

Following Mary was Liam Flynn with a speech entitled ‘Single Transferable Vote and all of that.’ Liam clearly explained to the group how the system worked. The group learnt that Ireland and Malta are the only two countries where this system is in operation.

Liam was followed by Claire O’ Connell with a speech entitled ‘Our digital world is killing us’. Claire opened her speech by informing the group that the Digital World is all around us. She referenced a number of digital objects and the negative impacts they can potentially have on our lives including the television which can lead low attention span as well as impacting on friendships; computer games which can be addictive as well as mobile phones which can affect our creative abilities. Her speech was very thought provoking.

Next to the lectern was Noel O Connor with a speech entitled ‘Is our green image important?’ Noel informed the group of the importance of promoting our green image which is used to sell Irish products. He stressed the need to encourage and support small food businesses which are doing well at the moment.

Finally it was the turn of Angela Sheehan with a speech entitled ‘A taste for success’. Angela was promoting the taking up of ‘a Diploma in Specialty Food Production’. She encouraged people in the group who have a love of good food to do the course and set up their own business. The course is good for networking.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Bill Martin. Bill’s topics were very varied and included ‘Describe your perfect evening’ to ‘Farmers Market’s- overpriced or undervalued’.

Timekeeper Jerry Mulcahy reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Cait Murray gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. She encouraged the use of the word ‘adept’ which means thoroughly proficient or a skilled performer throughout the meeting.

Bridget Breen, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Bridie O’ Connell, Michael Cronin, Marie Fitzpatrick, Joe Hassett and Margaret O’ Regan. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, February 10th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Speak Easy Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Easy-Toastmasters167687469936952

‘An open invitation’

2011-01-26T15:59:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters is one of approx. 11.000 clubs affiliated to Toastmasters International which is a voluntary organization dedicated to training its members in the art of public speaking, speaking off the cuff, listening and leadership skills.
Each meeting of a toastmasters club is a unique learning experience. We learn by doing and by observation.

Doing is taking part in a toastmasters meeting program, be it as a speaker, evaluator, toastmaster etc and by observing what the more experienced members do and say and of course how they do and say it.

Learning is a personal journey, whether it is learning by being involved with toastmasters or learning to drive or use a computer. There are many different theories and ideas on how people learn but they can be put into four main areas.

1. How the brain works- The brain has different parts and each part has a function. Our brain is wired to learn new things and when we learn, our brain changes in some way. This is how memory and learning develop and this sets the pace for lifelong learning. In fact, our brain changes with use, throughout our lifetime. As we se the brain, we strengthen certain patterns of connection, making each connection easier to create next time.

2. Learning styles – Each of us has a different way of learning, some of us may learn by seeing and some of us by doing.

3. Social learning – The world in which we live in can play a big part in what we learn, how we learn and also what we know and think about lots of different things.

4. Multiple Intelligence – This explains why some people are better than others at learning some things. For example, one person may be good at playing sport, while others may be good with numbers.

Learning the skills of toastmasters comes under the same headings and it becomes obvious when the toastmaster is a member of a club for a length of time. One person may find that they have skills of leadership which they develop by becoming involved with toastmasters committees.
Another may find that they have a skill in humorous speeches while another may find that they have evaluation or speaking off the cuff skills.

Whatever way a person learns, in toastmasters the one most important factor in which we all strive to accomplish, is that we enjoy our two hours a fortnight in the company of like minded members in Speak Easy Toastmasters.

If you are interested, why not come along to our next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, January 27th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Speak Easy Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Easy-Toastmasters167687469936952

Packing Woe's

2011-01-19T14:37:00.001Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting on January 13th 2011 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves. There was a great atmosphere created by the Toastmasters during our first meeting pack.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Pat Sexton, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Michael Walsh who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Anne Buckley with a speech entitled ‘Packing Woes’.
Anne told the group about some of her past experiences on holidays. She has learnt over the years that packing a case is a strategic exercise for maximizing space and minimizing wrinkles. She concluded by informing the group that it is not what you put in your suitcase it is what you leave behind that tests your metal

Following Anne was Loretto Barry who interpreted ‘The Gettysburg Address’. Loretto interpreted Abraham Lincoln’s address with great dramatic effect totally captivating the audience with her performance. Loretto informed the group that despite the fact that the original address was brief, lasting only 3.5 minutes, its message has endured the test of time and is still quoted. It still is a wonderful example of speech writing.

Loretto was followed by Marie Fitzpatrick with a speech entitled ‘The Black Hole’. Maire’s speech provided the audience with information and statistics regarding the huge amounts of money spent in the health service in Ireland. She referred to the benefits that will arise from the introduction of the smoking ban in a few years ago.

Finally it was the turn of Ray Ryan with his presentation entitled ‘The Galtee Evaluation Workshop Report’. Ray presented a report on a High Performance Leadership Program which he had recently completed. The program was devised by Toast Master International to allow one exercise one’s leadership skills in a project. The audience found presentation very informative.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Michael Walsh. Michael’s topics caused great amusement.

Timekeeper Dave Clarke reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Bridie O’ Connell gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. She encouraged the use of the word ‘propensity’ which means a natural propensity, disposition or inclination throughout the meeting.

Liam Flynn, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Mary Moynihan, Cait Murray, Jean Sayers and Tony O’ Regan. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, January 27th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Speak Easy Facebook www.facebook.com/pages/Speak-Easy-Toastmasters167687469936952

‘Have you made a New Years Resolution for 2011?’

2011-01-12T13:41:00.002Z

Happy New Year from Speak Easy Toastmasters and we hope you had a great Christmas.

Oh, and by the way, have you made your new years resolution yet?
It is said that 90% of New Year resolutions will be discarded by the end of January and some of the reasons are, setting yourself too high a goal, not having a specific plan, keeping your resolution to yourself, not having the will power and so on.

So what about making a resolution that you really can keep, one whose goals are readily reachable and in which you will have a specific plan.

One with whom you do not have to keep to yourself and as for will power, all you need, is to want to, and you won’t believe the will power that you will achieve.

No one, but no one, will disagree that communication or lack of it is a serious issue in today’s world and it seems that face to face communication, in some situations, is a dying art.

So what about in 2011 learning the art of communication? Communication is a two way process, talking and listening, meeting and interacting with people as well as enjoying yourself and having fun while you are at it.

Ok, I hear you asking, “what’s in it for me?, why should I?”
How about this then? Personal Impact for a start.

You see, personal impact includes key elements of Communication; Presentation; Assertiveness and Influencing techniques. All these components enable you to make the impact you want. We all can improve our ability to influence others. You all cringe at that interview that went badly wrong or that appraisal you wish to forget.

Here is an opportunity to ensure that you will not repeat these experiences. In order to know making an impact works, there are a few areas you have to consider, and study.
 Knowing how and why things go wrong
 Improving your ability to influence others
 Understanding rules and conventions and boundaries
 Speaking your mind without offending
 Finding out how others see you

An awareness of all of these will increase confidence and raise self esteem. Come along to the next meeting, of Speak Easy Toastmasters, as a guest and see for yourself how we put these skills into practice. We do it in stages and in an encouraging way and you will be most welcome and don’t worry, guests are never asked to speak at a Toastmasters meeting and you can come as a guest as often as you like.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet just once a fortnight, on Thursday nights, for two hours, 8-10pm in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow and our first meeting of 2011 is on Thursday, January 13th.

Now, two hours every two weeks to learn the art of communication, meet new friends from all walks of life and all ages, and to really enjoy yourself is a must for 2011, don’t you agree?
After all, “you’re worth it”

So put Thursday, January 13th at 8pm, in your brand new 2011 diaries and alternate Thursdays from then on until the end of May.

'Out of the Frying Pan’

2010-12-15T16:05:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting on December 9th 2010 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves. There was a very festival atmosphere created by the Toastmasters.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Tony O’ Regan, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Mary Moynihan who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Cait Murray with a speech entitled ‘Pause for Thoughts’.
Cait provided the group with expert advice on the use of punctuation including the coma, the apostrophe and the exclamation mark. She concluded by informing the group to take our time when using punctuation and to always have a notebook at hand.

Following Cait was Liam Flynn with a speech entitled ‘Out of the Frying Pan’. Liam provided the group with an insight into the dangers and side effects of using teflon. Teflon has many uses including providing a non stick coating in frying pans, the lining of gortex coats, take away pizza boxes to mention but a few.

Liam was followed by Marie Corbett with a speech entitled ‘The love of the land’. Maura’s speech brought history to life from the period 1880-1906 in Wexford. She gave the group an insight into some of the activities associated with the Land League at that time.

Next it was the turn of Jean Sayers with her speech entitled ‘Think Fire, Think Safety’. Her speech focused on Fire Safety in the Home. She advised the group to adhere to certain rules including the importance of installing and maintaining smoke detectors in the home.

Jean was following by Pat Sexton with an interpretative reading from a poem written by Joseph O Connor entitled ‘Baby Come Back Ode to the Celtic Tiger’.
Pat captured the emotions and thoughts within the poem with his use of vocal variety, facial expressions and gestures. The choice of poem was very suitable for the occasion.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Mary Moynihan. Mary’s topics caused great amusement and were very seasonal.

Anne Buckley, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Sean Corcoran, Joe Hassett, Jerry Mulcahy, Ray Ryan and Marie Fitzpatrick. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, January 13th 2011 at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Speak Easy Toastmasters-‘Cultivating Hope’

2010-12-08T19:15:00.000Z

In time of doom and gloom it is important to cultivate a sense of hope. The power of hope allows us to pull through just about any kind of dark demanding time. In the extreme, it can mean the difference between life and death.

Hope is a learnable practice. Here are thoughts that offer insight on the subject:
1. Surrender
This is the remarkable ability to go with the flow without expecting a predetermined outcome. It is a willingness to let events unfold in their time- not our time.
2. Vision
When hope is fading, it is easy to think negatively. Work to keep the bleak aspects of your life in perspective. Rather than saying to yourself ‘ My world is falling apart’ try saying and thinking to yourself-‘ This is a very difficult time for me, but I will take on the challenge and see it through.’
Consider what steps you need to take in order to strengthen yourself for these challenges. Do not be afraid to seek help from family and friends or alternatively experts in order to guide you through this difficult time.

3. Persistence
This is the determination to keep moving forward no matter what happens. Life rewards those who are persistent.

4. Humor
No matter how difficult and complex your circumstances may become work to retain a sense of humor.

5. Present Time
Live in the present tense, not the past tense nor the future tense. Health, happiness and hope emerge when we live in the present moment. Learn from the past but do not limit hope by constantly reliving unhappy yesterdays or fearing the future.

Whether a challenge is personal, financial, business related or all three… the aforementioned thoughts and the wisdom they carry can save lives. One must not forget that others have survived seemingly impossible situations in the past. The first step, for all, was a sense of hope.

As Eric Aronson once said-
‘Things may not seem to be working out for me right now, but I know that I will make the best of the situation. I know that I will do everything that I can, one day at a time….I will not worry but rather look at what I am going through as a challenge: a time to develop patience and self confidence and realise that I can change my attitude even if I cannot change my circumstances. I am a survivor. I am going to handle this. I am going to find strength I did not know I had.’

‘We did it once’

2010-12-01T19:32:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting on November 25th 2010 was another in which guests and members enjoyed themselves.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Sean Corcoran, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Michael Cronin who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Bridget Breen with a speech entitled ‘Goal Setting’. Bridget informed the group that goal setting does work. If one believes in it, write it down and it will happen. The only thing that will stop one from achieving ones goals is oneself. She advised the group to make a habit out of setting goals

Following Bridget was David Clarke with his icebreaker entitled The E Mathematician. David’s ice breaker speech provided the group with details on the significant areas of his life in a chronological order. It was very entertaining speech peppered with humor. A night which includes an icebreaker speech (the first speech a member gives to the group) is always an exciting the night for a Toastmaster Club.

Next it was the turn of Claire O’ Connell with her imaginative, entertaining thought provoking speech entitled ‘The Death of a Picnic’. She commenced her speech by setting out the origins of the picnic, continued with where the word picnic originated from and how it was the central part of family life and concluded by informing the group that life is not a picnic anymore.

Claire was following by Mary Moynihan with her humorous speech entitled ‘Driving Test Blues’. Mary relayed to the group her niece’s experience of learning to driving as well as giving a detailed account of her niece’s actual driving test. Mary’s advice to her niece is to practice, practice before she re-sits the test.

Finally it was the turn of Pat Duggan with his speech entitled ‘We did it once’. Pat gave a thought provoking speech regarding the suicide epidemic taking place in Ireland at present. At one stage Finland had a similar problem to Ireland regarding suicide but the situation has been alleviated there as a result of the Government taking the decision to provide funds for better research, better education as well as increasing support for people at risk. Pat concluded on a positive note- ‘we did it once with deaths on the road, I believe we can do it again.’

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Michael Cronin. Michael’s topics were both varied and topical and caused great amusement.

Timekeeper Bill Martin reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Loretto Barry gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s. She encouraged the use of the word ‘ perspicuity’ which means clearly expressed, easily understood throughout the meeting.

Joe Hassett, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Bridie O’ Connell, Jerry Mulcahy, Ray Ryan, Margaret O’ Regan and Marie Fitzpatrick. The Sergeant at Arms for the meeting was Jerry Mulcahy.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, December 9th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

‘Changing Times’

2010-11-19T22:08:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting on November 11th 2010 was another in which guests and members both learned from, and enjoyed and enjoyed themselves.

Joining President Margaret O’ Regan at the top table was Angela Sheehan, Toastmaster who chaired the meeting and Ray Ryan who was Topicsmaster.

First to the lectern was Helen Buckley with a speech entitled ‘Changing Times’. Helen told us about the differences she has experienced in her life as a result of moving from living in the country to living in a town. While living in the Country Helen enjoyed listening to the birds as well as gazing at the stars at night. Living in a town now allows her to be in close proximity to shops and services as well as meeting people.

Following Helen was Jean Sayers with her reading of the poem ‘The Highwayman’ written by Alfred Noyes. The poem was tragic with the death of both the Highwayman and his lover Bess. Alfred Noyes was best known for his Ballads, ‘The Highwayman’ being his most famous.

Next it was the turn of Bill Martin with his speech entitled ‘From oil tankers to ice breakers’. Bill’s ice breaker speech provided the group with details on the significant areas of his life in a chronological order. It was very entertaining speech peppered with humor. A night which includes an icebreaker speech (the first speech a member gives to the group) is always an exciting the night for a Toastmaster Club.

Finally it was the turn of Ellen O’ Mahony with her speech entitled ‘Important matters of State, Philosophy and Chocolate. Ellen was invited by Speak Easy Toastmasters to give her speech to the Club prior to competing in the District Humorous Speech Contest Final to be held in Dublin on the 13th of November 2010. Ellen concluded her speech by advising the group that ‘arrogance and stereotyping can lead to an unforgivable waste of perfectly good chocolate’. It was an excellently structured speech with a chocolate image weaved throughout it.

The topic session for the evening was conducted by Topicsmaster Ray Ryan. Ray’s topics were both varied and topical and caused great amusement.

Timekeeper Sean Corcoran reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Jerry Mulcahy gave feedback at the end of the meeting on how the group performed regarding the use of ‘crutch words’ and ‘fillers’ e.g. um’s and ah’s.

Noel O’ Connor, conducted the General Evaluation Session and conducted the part of the meeting in which speakers received feedback from their assigned evaluators who were Pat Duggan, Bridget Breen, Anne Buckley and Pat Sexton. The Sergeants at Arms for the meeting were Liam Flynn and Jerry Mulcahy.

Speak Easy Toastmasters is hosting the ‘Public Speaking Schools Contest’ on the 18th of November 2010. To support the students speaking in public come along to the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow at 7.50pm.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, November 25th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Speak Easy Toastmasters-Schools Contest

2010-11-10T14:55:00.000Z

On Thursday the 18th of November 2010 Speak Easy Toastmasters is hosting the ‘Speak Easy Public Speaking Schools Contest’.

Each year students from Local Schools participate in the Contest. This is a very important opportunity for students to acquire the skills that allow them to stand up before a group of people and present on a topic. As their confidence in speaking grows so too does their ability to research a topic and understand the issue arising in the public speaking forum.
The importance of acquiring public speaking skills at an early age cannot be underestimated.

Everyday we interact with people- we talk to our family, say hello to neighbours, converse with our workmates/school friends; in effect we communicate with those around us. Communication is the transfer of meaningful information that can be understood, anything that sends a message is communication.

There are many ways to communicate including body language, writing, facial expression, sounds, posture, hand gestures to name but a few. However the best way to communicate is through Speech. A picture may be worth a thousand words, but if you have a question about the picture you need to use words to explain it. And through communication we can see the importance of public speaking. This is why it is important to learn to present our thoughts and feelings meaningfully. If we are not effective in expressing ourselves then miscommunication can arise. Many issues and misconceptions come from someone misinterpreting what someone else said.

Public speaking IS an essential ingredient to a successful, empowered life. If as human beings we can master the finer points of public speaking, there's a fairly good chance we will be able to tackle and master other opportunities and obstacles that come our way.

So why not come along on the 18th of November 2010 to the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, at 7:50PM and support the students in their forthcoming ‘Speak Easy Public Speaking Schools Contest’. I am sure the students would value your support.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, November 11th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Speak Easy Toastmasters-‘Dog Days’

2010-11-03T17:45:00.000Z

Speak Easy Toastmasters recent meeting was opened by the Club President, Margaret O’ Regan. Toastmaster Bridie O Connell chaired the meeting.

Speaker No 1 Cait Murray delivered a stage 7 project from the basic manual.
In her speech entitled ‘Dog Days’ Cait informed the group how the bond between humans and dogs originated. The strongest instinct in dogs is the pack instinct. This led them to find the pack leader in human beings. Dogs originated from wolves. It was a very informative and interesting speech. Cait’s speech was evaluated by Ann Buckley.

Cait was followed by Liam Flynn who did a project from the Interpretative Reading manual. Liam read John Fitzgerald Kennedy’s inaugural address of 1961. In his introduction Liam informed the group that John F Kennedy was the youngest man ever to be elected President of the United States as well as being the first President of the United States to visit Ireland. The famous line from the speech is as thought provoking in today’s world as it was back in 1961- ‘"Ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country ". Liam’s speech was evaluated by Michael Cronin.

The third speaker of the night was Bridget Breen, who delivered a stage 4 project from the basic manual. Bridget vividly described to the group in her speech entitled ‘That is one off my bucket list’ her experience of hand gliding. Bridget had dreamt about flying but said that her hand gliding experience was 10 times better. It was one of her life long ambitious. She encouraged all the thrill seekers in the audience to go hand gliding. Bridget’s speech was evaluated by Noel O’ Connor.

The final speaker for the night was Sean Corcoran. Sean did a project from the Interpretative Reading Manual. Sean read ‘A letter from a Matchmaker’ by John B Keane in the form of a soliloquy. In his introduction Sean explained that the Matchmaker Dickie Mick Dickie was writing to his brother Jack in America. The group was highly entertained by the humourous letter. The sincerity of Dickie Mick Dickie was borne out through Sean’s excellent delivery. Sean’s speech was evaluated by Jean Sayers.

The topic sessions for the evening were conducted by Topicsmaster Joe Hassett. Joe’s topics were both varied and topical

Timekeeper Mary Buckley reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Angela Sheehan encouraged the use of the word ‘obdurate’ meaning stubborn or hard hearted during the course of the meeting.

Loretta Barry, conducted the General Evaluation Session. The Sergeant at Arms for the meeting was Liam Flynn.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, November 11th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

The Power of Persuasion

2010-10-27T11:30:00.000+01:00

Have you ever needed to persuade anyone in your life?

- your kids to clean their room
- your co-worker to assist you
- your boss to give you time off.

Research shows that while most people believe they cannot be sold, the fact is those same people can indeed be persuaded if they do not recognize that a ‘sales’ technique is being used.

For persuasion to work, whatever message you are conveying must be based in truth and delivered with the right intentions. After all you are persuading someone to your point of view, not conning someone to do or think something questionable.

Tips that will give you an edge in getting others to adopt your ideas are listed hereunder:

1. Aim at a narrow target

When attempting to coax someone to adopt their ideas, many people give every possible fact, figure and feature in hope that some of the information will stick and persuade the other party.
However, if you want to be effective at persuasion then you need to keep your focus during the conversation as narrow as possible. One of the ways to uncover what is important to the other person is either to ask directly or couch your question within a statement.
Allow the person to answer and give you the information you need. Then you can gauge how to direct your conversation based on their response.

2. Use stories to convey your message

Stories are an extremely effective way to persuade. One of the best ways to use stories as a persuasion tool is to simply tell your listener about something that is similar to your concept.

This indirect approach works wonders and keeps people from feeling like they are being sold.

3. Use a quote

The goal is to deliver truthful news or make a point in a way that does not reflect poorly on you or make you appear insincere.
An example would be to say ‘My father always used to tell me…..’ and then tell them what you want to tell them. Who could argue with your father?

None of these persuasion tools are magic or ‘smoke and mirrors’. They are designed to give you a slight edge in your dealings with others. A slight edge goes a long way.

Participating in Speak Easy Toastmasters would allow you to practice these persuasive tools. By using these tools you will find that others are more apt to adopt your ideas, resulting in more winning solutions for everyone involved.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, October 28th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

‘Sharpen your mind’

2010-10-14T00:09:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters-‘Sharpen your mind’

Sharp thinking and reasoning processes are at the heart of clear speaking. However not enough people use their thinking skills. Mental stimulation improves brain function and protects against cognitive decline.

The brain is a muscle. Just as physical exercise helps keep your body in shape mental exercise helps your brain increase its power to analyze. You can improve your thinking processes at any age. As the Franklin Institute once wrote

‘Your brain is a thinking organ that learns and grows by interacting with the world through perception and action.’

Here are some suggestions for improving mental processes:

Ask Questions:

Asking questions is the core of critical thinking. Your mind should be alive to possibilities. Seek out reasons behind rationales. If an issue contains several elements, separate the aspects and arrange them in different order.

Become a skeptic:

Never accept anything at face value. Know that people can make both sides of the argument simply by marshaling different facts. Realize that experts do not necessarily have the answers.

Become a reader:

Reading is to a person what fuel is to a car. It stimulates the mind to keep churning. It increases your vocabulary and challenges your perceptive. As you read take down thoughts and ideas. The act of writing down something helps you to remember it.

Make people your school of life:

Everyone has something to share. Never end a personal encounter without learning something.

Participating in Toastmasters is a great form of mental stimulation.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, October 14th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Rich Pickings

2010-10-07T18:41:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Club Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest was opened by the Club President, Margaret O’ Regan. Toastmaster Gerry Kelleher chaired the meeting.

Four experienced speakers took part in the Humorous Speech contest. Speaker No 1 Jerry Mulcahy’s speech was entitled ‘You don’t have to believe it’. He spoke humorously about the various drinks and cocktails available today but concluded that his orange with ice was what gave him his good health.

Gerry was followed by Margaret O’ Regan with a speech entitled ‘Free holiday how are you?’ Margaret was wined and dined in France with her family but pay back time came when she had to return the compliment and invite the French family to her Irish abode. A good time was had by all but not without parting with some hard earned cash.

Next came Michael Cronin who has successfully represented Speak Easy Toastmasters in the District 71 final and came home with the Silver. Michael’s speech on this occasion was entitled ‘Rich Pickings’. He gave several tips on how to embrace the recession during these recessionary times including substituting candles for 100 watt bulbs as well as taking out batteries out of alarm clocks in the morning and putting them back in at night (this action would allow the batteries to last for a year).

The final speaker was Michael Walsh who discussed the value of ‘Ghost Writers’.
He had a humorous take on pseudo experts in sport or weight management or other such so called important people who decide to publish books at Christmas to augment their already full bank account.

The humorous speech contest was followed by the table topic contest. Here there were 5 contestants who spoke on the topic ‘The best thing about memories is creating them. What do you think?’

All contestants were winners but unfortunately as in all competitions there can be only one winner and one runner up. (There were Judges from outside clubs so all was fair as they say in love and war.)

The winner of the humorous speech contest was Michael Walsh and the runner up was Michael Cronin. The winner of the table topic contest was Pat Sexton and the runner up was Liam Flynn.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, October 14th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Laughter is the best medicine’

2010-09-28T08:52:00.001+01:00

Humour is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. When laughter is shared, it binds people together.
Good humour springs from the heart, not the mind. It is a shock absorber that helps us get over the bumps in life. Those with a good sense of humour have a good sense of life.

Much research has been done on the effects of humour and laughter on our health. The benefits are enormous and include boosting our immune system, reducing stress and hastening the healing process.

By now, almost everyone is familiar with the link between our body and mind that has been proven. For example, it has been shown that our attitude is more important than our physical health in determining how long we live. That is, people with a good sense of humour and a positive attitude, but poor health, survive longer than those that are in good health but have poor attitudes.

Use the acronym L.A.U.G.H.T.E.R. to remind yourself of some of its benefits when the skies are grey for you:

'L' stands for LIVE life to the fullest. When we share humour, we are living in the moment and spreading joy.

'A' stands for an AWARENESS and APPRECIATION for the incongruities of life. The inconsistencies and ironies you face offer unlimited opportunities to laugh at them.

'U' stands for USE your brain to drain pain with laughter. USE humour to discover delight, joy, and peace of mind.

'G' stands for GOOD HUMOUR at all times.

'H' stands for HEALTH. Laughter detaches us from our problems and releases negative emotions; it is the best medicine.

'T' stands for TRANSFORM. Laughter transforms our thoughts, which in turn transforms our feelings for the better.

'E' stands for EXUBERANCE, which is the zest that laughter brings to our lives.

And 'R' stands for the RESILIENCE we acquire by learning to deal with hardship and pain, for humour is the strongest weapon against adversity

Laughter and good fun are two things that Speak Easy Toastmaster Club has an abundance of.
This is a club with people who laugh easily–both at themselves and at life’s absurdities–and who routinely find the humour in everyday events. Their playful point of view and laughter are contagious

Remember Laughter is the best medicine, so you can become your own best medicine by attending Speak Easy Club Humourous Speech and Table Topics Contest at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, September 30th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

A Moment of Calm

2010-09-28T08:51:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters recent meeting was opened by the Club President, Margaret O’ Regan. Toastmaster Jerry Mulcahy chaired the meeting.

Speaker No 1 Jean Sayers did an interpretative reading from the short story ‘My Confirmation Suit’ written by Brendan Behan. Jean’s reading was evaluated by Pat Sexton.

Jean was followed by Mary Moynihan who did a speech from the Entertaining Speaker manual entitled ‘My First Flag’. Mary, who is an avid Kerry Supporter, entertained the group as she recounted how her first flag, which was made from the jacket of her Confirmation suit, was wrenched from her hand by a Cork Supporter as she waved it out the car window as she and her family returned from a Munster Final. Mary’s speech was evaluated by Loretta Barry.

The third speaker of the night was Claire O Connell. Claire’s speech was entitled ‘Breaking the ice’. Claire recently joined the Club. The first speech a member gives at their Toastmaster Club from the basic manual is called the ice breaker. During her speech Claire told the group that one of her greatest loves is writing poetry and with that she recited a verse of one of her poems. Claire’s speech was evaluated by Pat Duggan.

Claire was followed by Bridget Breen, who delivered a stage 3 project from the basic manual. In her speech entitled ‘The Present’ Bridget informed the group that we cannot manage time but that we can manage ourselves. She encouraged the group to live in the present and by doing that we would live happier, healthier and more successful lives. Bridget’s speech was evaluated by Angela Sheehan.

The final speaker for the night was Bridie O’ Connell. Bridie did a project from the Speaking to Inform manual. In her speech entitled ‘A moment of calm’ Bridie demonstrated to the group how music has the power to effect our mind, body and spirit. Music can bring harmony to our lives by listening to our favourite pieces. Bridie’s speech was evaluated by Sean Corcoran.

The topic sessions for the evening were conducted by Topicsmaster Marie Fitzpatrick. Marie’s topics were both varied and topical

Timekeeper Mary Buckley as time keeper reminded speakers/people contributing to topics when their allocated times were up while grammarian/ah counter Michael Cronin encouraged the use of the word ‘limpid’ meaning clear or transparent during the course of the meeting.

The Sergeant at Arms for the meeting were Mary McCarthy and Liam Flynn.

Ray Ryan, conducted the General Evaluation Session. Ray also addressed the meeting in his capacity as Area Governor.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, September 30th at 7:50PM. An enjoyable night is expected by all as it is the Club’s Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contest. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Toastmasters assist people in developing life skills

2010-09-16T14:36:00.000+01:00

Many people join toastmasters to develop public speaking skills. However they soon realise that they are also developing life skills to be a better friend, daughter/son, husband/wife, co-worker. I would like to share with you hereunder the experience of a member of Speak Easy Toastmasters Club since that person has become a Toastmaster.

‘Since joining Speak Easy Toastmasters Club I have developed in the flowing ways:

Speaking:
By giving prepared speeches and participating in Table Topics Session (this is where members learn to think and speak on their feet) , I have learned that telling stories from my own life experiences is one of the best ways to connect with an audience.

After I realised this, I started sharing stories with family and friends, about experiences that have shaped me. I tell them about my dreams-some became goals that I have achieved, some are still work in progress while others have been replaced by an obligation to focus on current needs. I talk about the lessons I am learning such as taking responsibility, not expecting life to be smooth and seeing challenges as opportunities.

Listening:
By being an evaluator of other fellow toastmasters’ speeches and by participating in Table Topics I have become a better listener. Since I started sharing about my stories, family and friends have opened up about events in their lives. I listen intently to them.

Evaluating:
When I evaluate speeches in Toastmasters my goal is to try to help a fellow toastmaster improve. I present my evaluation in a positive way because I want the speaker to be receptive. I do not hurl insults. Since joining toastmasters, if asked for feedback by family and friends, I give it in a positive way.

Leading:
Additionally my toastmaster training helps me to improve in unexpected ways. For example when I encourage people to come to a meeting, I am doing it for the club. I soon realised I am also benefiting personally by developing skills to influence people.

By continuing to be a member of Speak Easy Toastmasters I am benefiting personally by developing life skills. So why not come along and take your first step in your own personal growth.’

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, September 16th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

One For The Road

2010-09-07T15:16:00.001+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters First Meeting 2nd of September

Speak Easy Toastmasters commenced the 2010-11 Season on September 2nd, with our first meeting being opened by the new Club President, Margaret O’ Regan. Toastmaster Jean Sayers chaired the meeting.

The first speaker was Joe Hassett, who delivered a speech entitled “One for the Road” as a fact finding report from the Speaking to Inform Manual. After the report, Joe conducted a question and answer session with the audience. Joe provided the socking statistics that 37 out of 100 road deaths are caused by alcohol. Cait Murray was Joe’s evaluator.

Joe was followed by Kieran Butler, who delivered a stage 7 project from the basic manual. In his speech entitled “The Burning Question”, Kieran highlighted the fact that Climate Change is everybody’s responsibility. Kieran’s speech was evaluated by Angela Sheehan.

The third speaker was Liam Flynn, who did an interpretive reading from the play ‘The Field’. Liam brought the piece to life with his excellent use of vocal variety. Liam’s reading was evaluated by Jerry Mulcahy.

Following Liam, came Sean Corcoran who did a project from the story telling manual. The humorous story entitled ‘All is not as it seems to be’ gave an insight into the fact that most publications are geared towards a certain section of society. Sean was evaluated by Noel O’ Connor.

The final speaker for the night was Pat Sexton who delivered a stage 7 project from the basic manual. In his speech entitled ‘The evening recital’ Pat gave us an insight into the importance of music as a backdrop to our lives. Pat’s speech was evaluated by Marie Fitzpatrick.

A humorous topics session was conducted by Topicsmaster Pat Duggan, with Pat leaving everybody at the meeting in a positive frame of mind after the topics session.

Timekeeper Jerry O Callaghan kept everybody on their toes as time keeper while grammarian/ah counter Ray Ryan encouraged the use of the word ‘paragon’ meaning a model of excellence during the course of the meeting.

The Sergeant at Arms for the meeting were Josephine O’ Sullivan-Lenihan, Mary McCarthy and Liam Flynn.

Michael Cronin conducted the General Evaluation Session. Finally, the Club’s achievements for the previous year were recognized by Toastmaster International with the presentation of an award to Michael Cronin, the immediate past president of Speak Easy Toastmasters.

Speak Easy Toastmasters will hold their next meeting at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, September 16th at 7:50PM. Non-members are more than welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the Club are available on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Speak Easy Toastmasters Club, Mallow return on Sept 2nd 2010- one week to go

2010-08-26T12:13:00.000+01:00

Where can you meet new friends, learn interesting and unusual information, develop your unrealised public speaking and leadership skills, and, most of all, enjoy yourself! The Speakeasy Toastmaster Club, Mallow offers all this and more.

We are different to other clubs/organisations. We like to provide an environment where you are centre stage. We bring to you entertainment and good coffee. You choose whether you want to speak or not. You are welcome to SPEAKEASY TOASTMASTERS Club, where a little difference makes all the difference. There is no pressure, just come, sit back and relax.

Speakeasy Toastmasters Club, Mallow, new season starts on Thursday 2nd of September 2010, at the Hibernian Hotel, at 7.50 p.m. We meet alternate Thursdays.

For more information go to www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Speak Easy Toastmasters Club, Mallow returns on Sept 2nd 2010

2010-08-19T12:08:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters Club, Mallow returns on Sept 2nd 2010

Are you afraid of speaking in Public?
Does the thought of your next presentation send shivers down your spine?
Surveys show that presentation skills are crucial to success in the work place.

Speakeasy Toastmasters is a Public Speaking Club, founded in 1992, that helps people develop life enhancing presentation, communication, and leadership skills.

The Club continues to develop and grow, so in joining our Club you will be part of that growth and will have made the right first step in your own personal growth.

With job shortages at present, it is a good idea to enhance your communication and body language skills before presenting yourself at an interview.

This is a wonderful place to meet new people, make new friends and enjoy yourself while improving yourself and helping others to improve.

You will find a warm welcome and a supportive atmosphere on your first and every visit. So come along and we will give you a ‘cead mile failte’ when you arrive, and a cup of tea

Speakeasy Toastmasters Club, Mallow, new season starts on Thursday 2nd of September 2010, at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, at 7.50 p.m. We meet alternate Thursdays.

For more information go to www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Toastmaster Awards

2010-05-21T19:11:00.000+01:00

The 2009-2010 season for Speakeasy Toastmasters is drawing to a close and the final meeting of the year, to which all are welcome, will be held on the 27th May, at our usual venue, the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 8:00pm. This year, a number of our members will be achieving educational awards, based on the number of manual speeches delivered. The Competent Communicator award is bestowed on Toastmasters who complete the basic manual of ten speeches. Subsequent educational awards are based on completing advanced manuals, with five speeches in each manual. The Advanced Communicator Bronze is awarded for completing two advanced manuals, the Advanced Communicator Silver is awarded for completing a further two advanced manuals and the Advanced Communicator Gold is achieved when another pair of advanced manuals are completed.

Organizational achievements are acknowledged by leadership awards. The Competent Leader award recognizes members who have performed meeting duties, such as timekeeper, the Advanced Leader Bronze recognizes Toastmasters who have served on the Club Committee while the Advanced Leader Gold recognizes Toastmasters who have taken up leadership positions outside of their club. Toastmasters who achieve both the Advanced Communicator Gold and Advanced Leader Gold are eligible for the Distinguished Toastmaster Award (DTM). Former and current members of Speakeasy Toastmasters who achieved the DTM include Joe O’ Connor, Matt Lawlee and Pat Sexton. Further details about the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com, which features a blog containing our press release archive, or from Ray at 086-3675706.

Speak Easy's AGM

2010-05-17T16:28:00.000+01:00

Speakeasy Toastmasters held their regular fortnightly meeting and the club AGM on the 13th of May.
Delivering speeches were Bridget Breen, who completed stage 2 of the Competent Communicator manual, and Declan Curtis who completed Stage 7 of the same manual. Mary Moynihan evaluated Bridget while Joe Hassett evaluated
Declan. The officers for the meeting were Ray Ryan, Toastmaster, Tony O' Regan Topicsmaster, Cait Murray General Evaluator, Noel O' Connor Timekeeper and Marie Fitzpatrick Grammarian.

Following the meeting the Cllub AGM was held and the following committee was elected for 2010-11.
Margaret O' Regan President.
Tony O' Regan,Education Vice President,
Jean Sayers, Vice President Public Relations
Mary Moynihan, Vice President Membership
Cait Murray, Secretary,
Noel O' Connor, Treasurer.
Liam Flynn, Mary McCarthy & Joesphine O' Sullivan-Linehan, Sergeants at Arms.

Speakeasy Toastmasters will hold their final meeting of the 2009-10 season on May 27th, at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, 8;OOpm. Members of the public are welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak, Details about the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com, which features a blog or from Ray at 086-3675706.
Finally, Speakeasy Toastmasters wishes to express our sympathies to the family of the late Pat Owens, who was an invaluable ally of the club in its early years.

Speak Easy's AGM next Thursday night

2010-05-09T20:13:00.000+01:00

Speakeasy Toastmasters will meet on May 13th, at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 8:00pm. After the regular meeting the Club AGM will be held and the 2010-2011 committee elected. In addition to the President, the other officer roles are Vice-President Education, who draws up the progamme of speakers for each meeting, Vice-President Public Relations, Vice-President Membership, Treasurer,Secretary and finally the Sergeants at Arms who set up the meeting room.

The final meeting of the year will be held on the 27th May. Members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com, which features a blog containing our press release archive, or from Ray at 086-3675706.

Communication and Leadership with Speakeasy

2010-05-04T21:23:00.001+01:00

Members of Speakeasy Toastmasters have extended the opportunities provided by Toastmasters, the development of communication and leadership skills, beyond our organization. Toastmaster member Jerry Mulcahy established the Nice ‘n Easy Club at the COPE foundation in Quartertown. Members of the Nice ‘n Easy Club have delivered speeches at Speakeasy Toastmasters for many years.

Former club President Mary Buckley inaugurated the Speakeasy Toastmasters Schools Public Speaking Competition. Held each November, teams representing various secondary schools throughout North Cork have taken part.

The contribution made by members of Speakeasy Toastmasters to Mallow has been recognized by the Sports and Leisure Council. Pat Sexton, Matt Lawlee, Jeremiah Roynane and Michael Cronin have received awards from the Sports and Leisure Council.

Our next meeting will be held on May 13th, at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 8:00pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com, which features a blog containing our press release archive, or from Ray ay 086-3675706.

Gardai swoop on meeting.

2010-05-04T21:22:00.001+01:00

Gardai swoop on meeting.

There was a very strong Garda presence at the clubs last meeting. Four non-uniformed members of the force from Cork City sat in on and took control of part of the meeting. However everything was above board as they members of the Guardians Club in Cork city and the Speakeasy Club was delighted to host a joint meeting with them.

One of their members acted as topicsmaster for the evening and as nobody decided to exercise their right to remain silent, he got a great response to his entertaining topics. Also one of their members gave an excellent speech about dreams that had the audience enthralled.

From Speakeasy, Anne Buckley gave an excellently written speech about her memories about her time in Irish college and it struck a chord with many in the audience. Angela Sheehan followed with a very strong speech regarding the problem of litter and how if everybody did their share of cleaning up great improvements could be achieved for all to enjoy. Finally Sean Corcoran shared a very entertaining folk tale entitled ‘The Wise Washerwomen of Mungret’ which had us all laughing out loud.

The Speakeasy clubs next meeting will take place on this Thursday 13th May. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in Club Xperience in the Hibernian Hotel. Everybody is welcome and guests will not be asked to speak.

Paul G Murphy Award for Sean Corcoran

2010-05-01T19:32:00.000+01:00

Tall Tales and True

2010-04-19T21:00:00.001+01:00

Speakeasy Toastmasters held the tall tales competition and a regular meeting on April 15th. Noel O’ Connor was Toastmaster for the normal meeting and chaired the competition. Kieran Butler was Topicsmaster. The evening commenced with the regular meeting. Delivering speeches were Mary Moynihan who described the economic and health benefits of farmer market produce, Cáit Murray who explained the phenomenon of spring and Michael Buckley, a long-standing member of the Crusaders Toastmasters Club in Cork, who delivered an entertaining speech, which described the attraction between the sexes. The speech evaluators were Tony O’ Regan, Pat Sexton and Ray Ryan Jnr.

After the tea break the Tall Tales competition was held. The speakers had to deliver a quirky speech of a humorous nature. Taking part in the competition were Sean Corcoran, Michael Cronin, Mary Buckley, Ray Ryan Jnr and Danielle Lenihan. Michael Cronin won the competition with Ray Ryan Jnr placed second. Finally Pat Sexton was congratulated on winning the Area 17 speech evaluation competition, and will be representing the area in the division final, which will be held at the Oriel Hotel, Ballincollig on April 25th.

Our next meeting will be held on April 29th at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, starting at 8:00pm. Members of the public are welcome to attend our meetings and will not be asked to speak. Further details about the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com, which features a blog containing our press release archive, or from Ray ay 086-3675706.

Speak Easy Members as Leaders

2010-04-11T14:28:00.001+01:00

Members of Speakeasy Toastmasters have made a significant contribution to the wider Toastmaster organization. Club members who served as area governors since the 1990’s include Joe O’ Connor, Matt Lawlee, Jeremiah Roynane, Jerry Kelleher, Michael Cronin, Sean Corcoran, Pat Duggan, Margaret O’ Regan and Tony O’ Regan. Division Governors drawn from our have been Pat Sexton, Jeremiah Roynane, Tony O’ Regan and Sean Corcoran, while Pat Duggan served as an assistant division governor. Jeremiah Roynane served as District 71 Governor in 2003, the highest ranking Toastmaster in Ireland and the UK. Dermot Meaney and John Stack have also served on the District 71 Committee.

Not alone have members of Speakeasy Toastmasters served in leadership roles but they have contributed to the wider Toastmaster community through the establishment of new clubs and supporting the efforts of our neighbouring clubs. The contribution of Sean Corcoran was recognized recently when he was presented with the Paul G. Murphy award which honours the Toastmaster of the year in Division A. In addition to Sean’s work with Toastmaster clubs in the Division, Sean maintains our club website and was webmaster for the District 71 website.

Details of the Tall Tales competition will feature on next week’s report. Our next meeting will be held on April 29th at our usual venue; the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 8:00pm. Further details about the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com , which features a blog containing meeting reports and a photo gallery, or from Ray at 086-3675706. Non-members are more than welcome to attend our meetings and will not be asked to speak.

The Glass Half-Full Club

2010-04-05T12:20:00.001+01:00

Speakeasy Toastmasters met on Wednesday March 31st. Jerry Mulcahy was Toastmaster for the evening and Bridie O’ Connell was Topicsmaster. The other officers for the meeting were Joe Hassett who was general evaluator, Pat Sexton who was timekeeper and Jean Sayers who was grammarian.

Four speakers were on the night’s program. Helen Buckley, from the Nice ‘n Easy Club, delivered a speech about soil cultivation. Kieran Butler argued in favour of equality for both men and women, Ray Ryan Jnr recounted humorous incidences of heckling at political meetings. Pat Duggan invited us to join the “Glass half-full Club” and embrace the power of positive thinking. The speech evaluators were Angela Sheehan, Anne Buckley, Noel O’ Connor and Sean Corcoran.

The next meeting of Speakeasy Toastmasters will be held at our usual venue, the Hibernian Hotel Mallow, Thursday April 15th, commencing at 8:00pm. On that night we will be holding the club Tall Tales contest. Contestants will deliver a short humorous speech which will have bizarre twists. Further details about the club are available from our website,

www.speakeasytoastmasters.com , which features a blog containing meeting reports and a photo gallery, or from Ray at 086-3675706. Non-members are more than welcome to attend our meetings and will not be asked to speak.

The Toastmasters Community is.........

2010-03-28T14:10:00.000+01:00

The Speakeasy Club is part of a wider Toastmasters Community. Our club is a constituent of Area 17, which includes other clubs such as the Galtees Club in Mitchelstown, Fáilte Toastmasters in Charleville and Fermoy Toastmasters.

In turn Area 17 is part of Division A, which comprises of all the Toastmaster Clubs in Cork. Kerry and Limerick County. DivisionA forms part of Toastmaster District 71, which includes Ireland and Great Britain.

The other Toastmaster Divisions in Ireland are Division C, which comprises the Greater Dublin area, Division D which covers the South-East of the country, and Division F which consists of the West , North-West and the Midlands.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday April 15th at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 8:00pm. Non-members are more than welcome and will not be asked to speak. Details of our previous meeting, which was held on April 31st, will appear in next week’s issue of the Mallow Star.

Further details about the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com , which features a blog containing meeting reports and a photo gallery, or from Ray at 086-3675706

Contests Coming

2010-03-13T19:46:00.000Z

One of the highlights of the toastmaster year is the international speech and evaluation competition night. To compete in the international speech competition, one deliverers a five to seven minute speech.

The winner at club level then progresses onto the area stage, which locally is area 17, including the clubs in Fermoy, Mitchelstown and Charleville. The Area winner then competes at the Division Final. We are part of Division A, which includes all clubs in Cork, Kerry and Limerick County.

The Division Winner then progresses onto the District Final, competing against speakers from other divisions, across the UK and Ireland. The district winner then competes at the Toastmasters world convention.

In the evaluation competition, a guest speaker from another club delivers a speech. The competitors in the evaluation competition are led away to another room to prepare their evaluations. The competitors are then brought back one by one to deliver their evaluations.

The evaluation competition progresses to district level.
You can see this in action when Speakeasy Toastmasters will hold our club evaluation and international speech competition, on March 18th at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 8:00pm.

Further details about the club are available from our website www.speakeasytoastmasters.com which features a blog containing all our past press reports, or from Ray at 086-3675706. Non-members are welcome to attend our meetings and will not be asked to speak.

Tinsmiths, Radio Eireann and Hairstyles

2010-03-07T20:37:00.001Z

Speakeasy Toastmasters held yet another successful meeting on March 4th. The Toastmaster for the evening was Liam Flynn, who chaired the proceedings with his characteristic good humour. Our most recent new member, Bridget Breen, delivered her first speech. The first speech delivered by all new members is one where the member introduces themselves to the other club members. Bridget delivered an accomplished and entertaining “icebreaker”, describing her childhood in North Kerry and her interest in traditional music. Bridget’s speech was evaluated by Jean Sayers.

Following Bridget was one of our former Presidents, Anne Buckley, who gave a witty account of the importance of the hair styling industry. Loretto Barry was Anne’s evaluator. The third speaker was Jerry O’ Callaghan who spoke about the famous Radio Eireann personalities of past years, such as Joe Lynch, Bridie Gallagher, Frankie Byrne and Din Joe. Joe Hassett evaluated Jerry’s speech.

Following Jerry was Angela Sheehan who read an extract from Alan Bennett’s novel “The uncommon reader”, which is a fictional depiction of the current monarch of the UK. Noel O’ Connor evaluated Angela’s speech. The final speaker was Jerry Mulcahy, who described the art of the tinsmith. Declan Curtis evaluated Jerry’s speech.
After the tea break Ray Ryan jnr conducted the topics session, while Sean Corcoran conducted the General Evaluation Session. The other officers for the night included Mary Buckley, who was Timekeeper and Pat Duggan who was the Grammarian. Finally the room was set up by Mary Moynihan and Declan Curtis, the Sergeants at Arms.

Our next meeting, which will be held on March 18th at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, commencing at 8:00pm, will feature the club evaluation and international speech competitions. Further details about the club are available from our website www.speakeasytoastmasters.com which features a blog containing all our past press reports, or from Ray at 086-3675706. Non-members are welcome to attend our meetings and will not be asked to speak.

And the beginning was in....

2010-02-27T19:00:00.000Z

The Speakeasy Toastmasters Club has been in existence for seventeen years. The club emerged from trial toastmaster meetings held in Mallow in 1992, and was officially established, or chartered, in the following year. Over the years that time members of the Speakeasy Club have performed exceptionally at competition level and have held leadership roles in the Toastmaster organization. Speakeasy Toastmaster members have assisted in establishing other Toastmaster clubs, including the Failte Club in Charleville and the Galtees Club in Mitchlestown.
Toastmasters provides a world of experience, offering development of communication skills, leadership abilities and an added bonus: enjoyment and friendship. All this is waiting for you at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, first and third Thursday of the month. Our meetings are open for non-members to attend and you will not be asked to speak. Our next meeting is on March 4th, Hibernian Hotel, commencing at 8:00pm. More information about the club is available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or from Ray at 086-3675706.

Hew we work

2010-02-20T15:17:00.001Z

Expect to find the following at a typical Speakeasy Toastmaster meeting. One of the club members will chair the meeting, acting as “Toastmaster for the evening”. A different club member acts as Toastmaster for each meeting. Then the prepared speeches will be delivered. We have an average of four speeches each night.

All our speeches are based on manuals from Toastmasters International. The manuals comprise different projects which set criteria, such as organizing one’s speech, and so on. However, speeches can be on any subject once the manual objectives are adhered to.

After the tea break, we have a topics session. A club member, again a different person for each meeting, acts as Topicsmaster. The Topicsmaster asks other club members to speak on an unexpected topic for up to two minutes. Needless to say, non-members will not be asked to speak in the topics session, but are welcome to contribute. Following the topics session, the evaluation session takes place.

A club member will act as General Evaluator, making observations on how the meeting was organized. The prepared speeches will be evaluated by other club members, who will comment on the features on the speech, and make recommendations on how the speaker can improve. Recommendations are given in a friendly and constructive manner. Finally, all contributions are timed by a Timekeeper.

See the above in reality at our next meeting which will be held at the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, February 18th, at 8:00pm. We meet on the first and third Thursday of each month. Further details on the club are available from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com.

"Speak Easy" plus "Nice and Easy"

2010-02-20T15:11:00.001Z

Speakeasy Toastmasters had a notable joint meeting with members of the Nice ‘n Easy Club , based at the COPE foundation, Quartertown, on February 4th. The Nice ‘n Easy Club was set up by Toastmaster member Jerry Muclahy and members of the Nice ‘n Easy Club have delivered speeches at Speakeasy Toastmasters for many years.

Gerry Mullane, Manager of COPE Mallow, made a presentation to Speakeasy Toastmasters in recognition of the cooperation between both organizations.

Participating at the meeting were Nice ‘n Easy members Michael Broderick and Patricia Coleman who delivered speeches, while Helen Buckley was the Toastmaster for the evening. Speakeasy participants were Pat Duggan, Mary Moynihan and Joe Hassett who delivered speeches. Jerry Mulcahy was Topicsmaster,

Anne Buckley was General Evaluator while Mary Buckley was Timekeeper. The evaluators for the speakers were Noel O’ Connor, Tony O’ Regan, Marie Fitzpatrick, Sean Corcoran and Cait Murray.

Our next meeting will be held at the Hibernian Hotel on Thursday February 18th at 8:00pm. Non-members are welcome to attend and will not be asked to speak. Further details on the club are available from our website www.speakeasytoasmasters.com.

Speak Easy Toastmaseters and Schoil Mhuire, Kanturk

2010-02-18T15:20:00.000Z

Speakeasy Toastmasters held another successful meeting on Thursday 18th February. Declan Curtis was the Toastmaster for the meeting and chaired the proceedings in a very capable and affable manner. Other officers for the meeting included Pat Duggan Timekeeper and Anne Buckley Grammarian.

In attendance were students from Scoil Mhuire, Kanturk, three of whom delivered speeches. Sinead Butler spoke on the futility and waste caused by war, Danielle Linehan spoke on the Haiti Earthquake and Sharon Buckley spoke about the experience of being a substitute member of a football team. Sinead’s speech was evaluated by Ray Ryan jnr, Danielle’s speech was evaluated by Michael Cronin and Sharon’s speech was evaluated by Tony O’ Regan.

The remaining speeches were delivered by club members Mary McCarthy who spoke on the adverse effects of procrastination on our lives and Jean Sayers who described the environmental and financial benefits arising from domestic composting. Mary’s speech was evaluated by Bridie O’ Connell while Jean’s speech was evaluated by Jerry Mulcahy.

The Topicsmaster for the night was Marie Fitzpatrick who asked club members to comment on a selection of famous quotations. The General Evaluation session was conducted by Pat Sexton. The meeting concluded with an address by Brian O’ Farrell, Area 17 Governor. Brian is a long-standing member of Fermoy Toastmasters. As Area Governor he is the link between the local clubs and the higher levels of the Toastmaster organization.

Our next meeting will be held on March 4th at our traditional venue and time; the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow 8:00pm. More details about the club can be found on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com, which features a club blog and photo gallery, or contact Ray at 086-3675706.

Toastmasters is also a "Great Craic"

2010-01-17T19:53:00.000Z

While toastmasters is an excellent way of improving a persons communication and leadership skills there is also a great social side to being a toastmaster. The meetings are run on time so that we can all have ample time in the bar afterwards so as to carry on the fun and banter that may have begun at the meeting. Also during the year we would have a number of nights out. On previous occasions we have gone mystery tours, meals out and visits to see a show.

As there are so many toastmasters clubs in the area, it provides a great opportunity to visit their meetings and meet others that are involved in toastmasters. The Speakeasy club shares an area with the clubs in Fermoy, the Failte club in Charleville and the Galtee’s in Mitchelstown. There is also a club in Blarney and a number of clubs in Cork city.

In both May and November of each year there are District conferences held. On these weekends members from clubs in both Ireland and the United Kingdom come together for a number of days. These are great social events as there are hundreds of people present and they are all out for a good time. The last conference took place in York and the next one will be held in Sligo.

The Speakeasy clubs next meeting will take place on this Thursday 21st of January. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Hibernian Hotel. Everybody is welcome and guests will not be asked to speak.

Meeting for Jan 7th is cancelled

2010-01-06T15:46:00.002Z

The Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting scheduled for Thursday January 7 is, unfortunately, cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. The next meeting is on Thursday 21nd.

Your New Year's Resolution

2009-12-28T21:04:00.000Z

New years resolution.

What not try something new in 2010? Learn some skills that will be of benefit in all aspects of your life. Maybe you need to speak at a social function, give a presentation at work or improve your communication skills for an interview. Then toastmasters can help you. As a member of a toastmasters club you learn communication and leadership skills that and you will learn these skills in a very supportive environment and in an atmosphere of fun.

The members of toastmasters come from all different walks of life, and from all different age groups. It does not matter how much previous education a person has as toastmaster’s members learn by doing. So come along and see for yourself.

The clubs next meeting will take place on this Thursday 7th of January. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Hibernian Hotel. Everybody is welcome and guests will not be asked to speak.

Christmas Cheer

2009-12-21T09:47:00.001Z

The clubs final meeting of 2009 took place on the 10th of December and those present were treated to five excellent speeches. The toastmaster for the evening Pat Duggan put all the speakers at ease as he gave all of them a great introduction.

The first speaker of the evening was Jean Sayers who gave a very powerful speech on why everybody should carry an organ donor card. Her speech gave very compelling reasons as to the benefits of organ donation ever though it’s a time of sadness for the family of the donor. Jeans evaluator Mary Buckley commended her on the great work she put into the speech.

The next two speeches were readings. First we had Noel O’Connor who read a very funny story by Joseph O’Connor, which had the audience in fits of laughter. Following this we heard a speech from Winston Churchill, which was read by Joe Hassett. Joe set the scene for the reading, which allowed the audience to fully understand the message of the speech.

Our final two speakers for the evening had very strong festive themes. Anne Buckley gave a very though provoking speech as to what the spirit of Christmas should be. She encouraged us all to think back to times past when there was a real spirit and maybe it was now time to find again the true values of this time of the year.

Sean Corcoran was our final speaker of the night. He shared with us a very entertaining story about how as a young electrician in the 70’s he put up the Christmas lights in Limerick city. He then gave us the full story as to how the Lord Mayor switched them on and how that all was not as it seemed.

The clubs meeting will take place on the Thursday 7th January 2010. In the meantime we would like to wish everybody a very happy Christmas and peaceful New Year.

Happy Christmas from Speak Easy Toastmasters

2009-12-15T16:47:00.000Z

The clubs final meeting of 2009 took place last Thursday night with a good crowd present. It was a Christmas themed meeting. Santa Claus greeted members and guests on their way in and also handed out little gifts people to everybody. This put everybody in good form especially after the budget from the day before.

Pat Duggan who was toastmaster for the evening. He introduced each speaker by telling the audience what their best ever Christmas present was. On the night we were treated to five excellent speeches. I will give more details of these speeches in next weeks report.

Cait Murray was our topicsmaster for the night and got everybody thinking and speaking on their feet with her wide variety of topics. They ranged from ‘favourite Christmas memory’ to ‘is laughter the best medicine’ to ‘best sporting memory of 2009’. The room was filled with laughter when Tony O’Regan was asked where would be the best place to buy a goose for Christmas. Following this Pat sexton was asked to tell us how he thought people would describe him. Liam Flynn as general evaluator commended Cait on her great choice of topics for the evening.

The clubs meeting will take place on the Thursday 7th January 2010. In the meantime we would like to wish everybody a very happy, peaceful Christmas and New Year.

Have your cake

2009-12-01T17:33:00.001Z

There was a very nice surprise for Michael Cronin at our clubs last meeting. The club organised a lovely cake to acknowledge his recent participation in the Ireland and UK humorous speech contest, which was held in York. This added greatly to the fun of our tea break as people fought for a second slice.

It was also a special night for toastmaster Mary McCarty as she evaluated her first speech. She did a great job and gave the speaker Marie Fitzpatrick some very helpful suggestions regarding her future speeches.

Mary Buckley was our topicsmaster for the evening and she engaged the audience in a very different and lively topics session. She would ask individual members to talk about an emotion but they had to talk about it from their own point of view. This really got people thinking and there were some great responses.

Details of the five speeches that we had the pleasure of hearing will follow in next weeks report.

The clubs next meeting will take place on this Thursday the 10th of December and will have plenty of festive cheer. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Munster room in the Hibernian Hotel. Please note the change of room for this meeting. Everybody is welcome and no guests will be asked to speak.

Hit the Ground Running

2009-11-24T09:49:00.000Z

Ready for 2010

Hit the ground running in 2010 with the skills that you will learn at toastmasters. The skills that will give you an edge in all aspects of your life. Its also great value for money.

Do you need to speak at a social function, give a presentation at work or improve your communication skills for an interview then toastmasters can help you. As a member of a toastmasters club you learn communication and leadership skills that will benefit you in all aspects of your life. You will learn these skills in a very supportive environment and in an atmosphere of fun.

The members of toastmasters come from all different walks of life, farmers, nurses, electricians, people who work at home, retired people and students to name but a few. The club has members who are in their late teens to people who are in there eighties. You need not worry about being educated enough to join as the club is open to all people no matter how much schooling they have received. So come along and see for yourself.

The clubs next meeting will take place on this Thursday the 26th of November. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Munster room in the Hibernian Hotel. Please note the change of room for this meeting. Everybody is welcome and no guests will be asked to speak.

Win for St Mary's Secondary School

2009-11-17T17:24:00.000Z

The Speakeasy Club hosted a very successful Schools public speaking contest last Thursday night. Five schools took part. Representing Davis College were Amanda Coyne and Eoin O’Connor, Patrician Academy Brian O’Regan and Cian Cronin, St. Mary’s Secondary school Ruth Lenihan and Marie Cogan, Nagle Rice Secondary School Doneraile Jane Stafford and Martin Sheehan and Boherbue Comprehensive School Cliona Lawton and Julie O’Sullivan.

The standard was very high and the speeches were very enjoyable. There was great support for each speaker as there was a large crowd present. After a long time deliberating the judges arrived with a result. The best school prize went to St. Mary’s Secondary School. In the best speaker section the winner was Marie Cogan of St. Mary’s, in second place Brian O’Regan of the Patrician Academy and in third place Eoin O’Connor of Davis College.

Also last Sunday in York, Kevin Walsh of Fermoy Toastmasters put in a great performance to win the Ireland and England impromptu speaking competition. The Speakeasy club would like to congratulate Kevin on his wonderful achievement.

The clubs next meeting will take place on this Thursday the 26th of November. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Munster room in the Hibernian Hotel. Please note the change of room for this meeting. Everybody is welcome and no guests will be asked to speak.

Toastmasters of the future.

2009-11-10T06:40:00.000Z

The clubs next meeting will take place on this Thursday the 12th of November. It’s a very special night for the club as it will host the Annual Schools Contest whereby students from the local secondary schools will get an opportunity to demonstrate their public speaking skills. Going by the standards shown in previous years we know we will again be treated to a night of great speeches. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Munster room in the Hibernian Hotel. Please note the change of room for this meeting.

At our last club meeting Liam Flynn filled the role of topicsmaster. Liam did a great job in getting us to think and speak on our feet and got a great response not only from members but also from guests who also wanted to get their views out in the open. Liam gave out a wide variety of topics both topical and humorous which ensured a very lively session, which continued after the meeting in the bar of the hotel.

If you are free this Thursday night come along and enjoy a great nights entertainment. Guests are always very welcome and will never be asked to speak. For more information about the club please go to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Woodhouse and Italy

2009-11-04T22:48:00.000Z

A great attendance

The club had a great meeting last Thursday night with over thirty people present. Many of those present on the evening were guests and they enjoyed what they saw. Anne Buckley chaired the meeting. As Toastmaster Anne ensured the meeting ran smoothly throughout.

We had four excellent speakers on the night and Joe Hassett was the first to speak. Joe gave us a very entertaining reading from the works of PG Woodhouse, which went down very well with the audience. Joe’s evaluator on the night was Declan Curtis and he gave some great suggestions to Joe for his future speeches.

Jean Sayers then followed with a speech about Halloween, which was very topical with Halloween just around the corner. Her speech enlightened the audience to the meaning behind many of the traditions of the time of the year. Marie Fitzpatrick gave Jean a very motivating evaluation. Sean Corcoran followed with a very powerful display of speechmaking whereby he took a famous historical speech and delivered it to a present day audience with great effect. Tony O’Regan as evaluator commended Sean on his fine delivery.

The final speech of the night was a very entertaining one delivered by Cait Murray in which she described her cycling holiday in Italy and questioned as to whether or not you could call it a holiday with all the steep hills that had to be negotiated. Loretto Barry gave Cait a very helpful evaluation.

The clubs next meeting will take place on Thursday 12th of November. It’s a special night as it will be the annual Schools Contest whereby students from the local schools will get an opportunity to demonstrate their speaking skills. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Munster room in the Hibernian Hotel.

Guests are always very welcome and will never be asked to speak. For more information about the club please go to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Great night again at Speakeasy

2009-10-30T22:58:00.000Z

The club had a very enjoyable meeting last Thursday week with a great selection of speeches and a great topics session, which was chaired by Pat Duggan who got the audience really going.

The first speaker of the night was Liam Flynn who read a number of poems and he had the audience enthralled by the way he delivered them. His evaluator on the night recognised this and commended him on it & also gave him a very good suggestion on how he could enhance his next presentation. Anne Buckley followed with another one of her very funny speeches. This time she was celebrating all the different birthdays of different pieces of technology that we all come in contact with these days, such as the Internet and the computer mouse. Anne brought a birthday cake to add impact to her speech and it also added greatly to the tea break as we all got stuck in.

Our third speaker of the night was Loretto Barry who gave us a very informative speech on how to set goals and how to achieve them. Loretto’s evaluator on the night Bridie O’Connell gave very helpful hints on how her next speeches can even have a greater impact on the audience. Our final speaker on the night was Joe Hassett who entertained us all with a monodrama and Pat Sexton evaluated this.

After the tea break Pat Duggan as topics master for the night got us all thinking and speaking on our feet. He had a wide range of topics, which got a great response from the audience and created a great buzz in the room.

The club would like to wish the beast of luck to past member Maire Welford on the upcoming launch of her new book, which takes place on Thursday 29th October in the town library at 6pm

The clubs next meeting will take place on Thursday 29th of October. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Garden room in the Hibernian Hotel.

Guests are always very welcome and will never be asked to speak. For more information about the club please go to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Lifelong Skills

2009-10-23T14:46:00.000+01:00

Do you need to speak at a social function, give a presentation at work or improve your communication skills for an interview then toastmasters can help you. As a member of a toastmasters club you learn communication and leadership skills that will benefit you in all aspects of your life. You will learn these skills in a very supportive environment and in an atmosphere of fun.

The excellent speaking and communicating skills of some our more experienced members were on display at our last meeting. These speakers have developed their skills by practice and by the help of the other members of the club. Every occasion a member gives a speech another member evaluates the speaker. The aim of the evaluator is to motivate the speaker and not to criticise. The evaluator commends what the speaker did well and gives a suggestion on how the speaker could improve for their next speech. If the speaker takes on board the suggestions the improvement in their speaking skills becomes very evident. I will give a more detailed report on our last meeting in next weeks report.

The clubs next meeting will take place on Thursday 29th of October. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Garden room in the Hibernian Hotel.

Guests are always very welcome and will never be asked to speak. For more information about the club please go to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Thinking on your Feet

2009-10-12T21:00:00.001+01:00

EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

Effective Communication is a ‘must have’ in this electronic age. Being an effective communicator takes real skill. Communication skills have to be developed, honed and added to on an on-going basis. Communication is the basis of interpersonal skills and the greater your awareness of how it all works, the more effective your communication will be. To be effective in business, you have to communicate well. To be a good manager, you have to communicate exceptionally well. Communication is individual. We are not all the same. There is never one right way to communicate. Authentic effective communication always happens when we reply on those things we know to be true about or for ourselves. Your personal style can say more for you than all the words you use can. Most people look at what is wrong with themselves and other people, rather than focusing on what already works. Remember many things have to be working well for you to have got this far already. The communication cycle works as follows and you can take responsibility for every stage:
Spoken - Heard - Understood - Agreed To - Acted On - Implemented.
In Toastmasters you will become aware of where you or others tend to fall off the cycle. So, can I give you any greater reason for joining Speakeasy Toastmasters?

PERSONAL IMPACT

Personal impact includes key elements of Communication; Presentation; Assertiveness and Influencing techniques. All these components enable you to make the impact you want. We all can improve our ability to influence others. You all cringe at that interview that went badly wrong or that appraisal you wish to forget. Here is an opportunity to ensure that you will not repeat these experiences. In order to know making an impact works, there are a few areas you have to consider, and study.
 Knowing how and why things go wrong
 Improving your ability to influence others
 Understanding rules and conventions and boundaries
 Speaking your mind without offending
 Finding our how others see you
An awareness of all of these will increase confidence and raise self esteem. Come along to our next meeting as a guest and see for yourself how we put these skills into practice. We do it in stages and in an encouraging way.

Thinking & speaking on your feet.

There may be an occasion when you may be asked to stand and say a few words without being given any prior notice. This is where being involved in the table topics session of a toastmasters meeting really helps out. It trains us how to think and speak on our feet. A club member gives out a topic to another member and they can speak on that topic for up to two minutes. The person giving out the topic is not trying to catch anybody out but to encourage another member to come up with a structured and response.

At our last meeting Gerry Kelleher was the topics master for the evening and he has a great skill in putting people at ease and allowing them to come up with very good replies to his topics. His topic regarding whether or not supporters should be left on to the pitch after the All-Ireland drew a great response.

Also on the night we had the club table topics contest, there were five contestants and they all replied to the topic very well. The topic while challenging ‘Marriages are all happy, its having breakfast together is the trouble’ brought many humorous responses from the contestants. A special mention for one of the clubs newer members Declan Curtis who replied very well to the topic even though it was his first time taking part in a toastmasters contest. The winner on the night was Ray Ryan and the runner up was Tony O’Regan. Ray now goes on to represent the club in the Area Final, which takes place on the 20th of October in the Galtees club in Mitchelstown.

The clubs next meeting will take place on Thursday 15th of October and will return to its usual format. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and takes place in the Garden room in the Hibernian Hotel.

Guests are always very welcome and will never be asked to speak. For more information about the club please go to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

A Night of Laughter

2009-10-05T22:42:00.000+01:00

A Night Of Laughter.

The Speakeasy toastmasters season of meetings are back in full swing with up to thirty people present at the clubs humorous speech and table topics contest. There was a great atmosphere in the room as the contestants in both competitions got the audience laughing out loud on many occasions.

The contest was chaired by Sean Corcoran who ran the meeting very efficiently and ensured all business was completed by ten o clock. Pat Sexton spoke first in the humorous speech contest and greatly entertained the audience by telling us what Ireland needed to produce another writer to win the Booker prize. He claimed the three essential items needed were poverty, precipitation and chastity.

Ray Ryan followed with a speech entitled ‘extra luggage’ in which he had the audience in stitches as he related to the audience about his urge to remove items for hotels that he stays in and he had a great selection of items, which he showed to the audience. The final contestant was Michael Cronin who entertained the audience with some humorous points about the recession, which included how parents will be able to keep their children quiet in the car next year until May as it will be probably by then a 2010 registered car will be spotted.

Following the speeches there was a tea break and the guests present enjoyed mixing with the members as they got to know each other and also learning more about the benefits of joining toastmasters. The table topics contest followed and there will be a report about this next week.

The clubs next meeting will take place on Thursday 15th of October and will return to its usual format. The meeting will begin at 8pm and finish at 10pm and take place in the Garden room in the Hibernian Hotel.

Guests are always very welcome and will never be asked to speak. For more information about the club please go to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Humorous Speech Contest and Rehearsing that Speech

2009-10-03T13:07:00.003+01:00

Previously, we discussed the way to structure a speech or presentation with the “Opening, Body and Conclusion”, this week we look at preparing yourself to make that presentation.

How do you do that? By rehearsing.

Practice the talk until you are comfortable with it.
You won’t need to memorise the body of the talk since you already know all about the subject. As mentioned already, you should memorise your opening and conclusion.
Present the talk to a family member or friend and ask for comments.

They may give you some helpful suggestions. If you have a tape recorder, record the talk and listen to it carefully making any necessary improvements to improve your speaking ability. Rehearse as often as it takes until you are comfortable with your presentation. Use visualizing techniques in which you imagine yourself in front of your audience delivering that perfect presentation.

Another very important aspect of making your presentation is appearance.
Be well groomed and appropriately dressed. When you look right, you feel good about yourself. You will then forget about your appearance and concentrating about presenting your talk. You will have increased confidence because you know you have made a good first impression on your audience.

All these presentation skills and many more are learned and practiced at every toastmaster meeting. A toastmaster meeting is not a classroom or lecture but a workshop in which the emphasis is on mutual support, learning but most importantly on enjoyment, fun and friendship.

Don’t just take my word for it, come along and see for yourself.
As a guest you will be most welcome and you will not be asked to speak.

Last Thursday night saw the Club Finals of the Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests.
Entrants in the Humorous Speech Contests were Ray Ryan with his speech, "Extra Luggage", Michael Cronin with, "Bright Spots", and Pat Sexton with, "Winners Podium".

Club members taking part in the Table Topics Contest were Michael Cronin, Pat Duggan, Tony O'Regan, Ray Ryan and Declan Curtis.

Winners were Michael Cronin in the Speech Contest and Ray Ryan in the Table Topics Contest.

Both will represent the club in the Area 17 Final on October 20 in the Firgrove Hotel, Mitchelstown.

Further information on The Speak Easy Toastmasters Club can be obtained by logging on to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

A Fools Poetry and The Green Murphy

2009-06-04T00:00:00.000+01:00

Yet another brilliant meeting took place in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, last Thursday night as members of Speak Easy Toastmasters and friends gathered for the last meeting before our summer break.

We were treated to great speeches, entertaining topics and skilful evaluations that made the evening most memorable.

President, Ray Ryan was officiating at the final meeting of his very successful presidency of the club and welcomed us warmly before introducing Toastmaster of the evening, Noel O’Connor.

Noel introduced the officers of the meeting before beginning the programme and introducing the first speaker, Joe Hassett.
Joe was doing an interpretive reading project, interpreting poetry, in which he introduced the poetry of Spike Milligan with a speech entitled “A Fools Poetry”

Following Joe was Angela Sheehan with her speech, “Fashion To Die For” in which she told the of model Isobel Carrow, and how she is dealing with the illness “Anorexia Nervosa”.

Then it was the turn of Ray Ryan with, “The Green Murphy” which was a humorous look at the life of builder, John Murphy.

Finally, Pat Sexton gave us a fascinating account of the history of German Cinema complete with facts and anecdotes.

Topicsmaster, Grant March kept the speaking off the cuff skills of the members in shape with his many well though out and researched topics.

Michael Cronin as General Evaluator, conducted the part of the meeting where the speakers received feedback on their speeches and also how the officers of the meeting performed and suggested how improvements could be made.

Other officers on the night were, Neil McAuliffe as Timekeeper, Cáit Murry, Liam Flynn and Jean Sayers as Sgt at Arms and Tony O’Regan as Ah-Counter/Grammarian.
Evaluators, Liam Flynn, Bridie O’Connell, Margaret O’Regan and Pat Duggan.

President Ray Ryan then welcomed each of the new committee, introduced them to the members and wished them luck in their roles for the coming year.
(Photographs here)

Speak Easy Toastmasters are now on their summer break and our next meeting is on September 3rd

If you would like to become proficient in public speaking (family occasions, interviews, presentations etc), speaking “off the cuff”(never again be caught for words), learn how to give feedback and do all this in an atmosphere of fun and friendship then Speak Easy Toastmasters are for you.

Our meetings are workshops and not classrooms where guests are most welcome at any time.

Why not think about Toastmasters over the summer and look us up on the internet at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com for more information.

Don’t forget, we meet again on September 3rd in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow from 8-10pm and we’d be delighted to meet you, so until then have a great summer.
Slán agus Beannacht.

That Special Speech

2009-05-28T19:37:00.000+01:00

Occasionally you may be called upon to give a special kind of speech, one presented in honour of a friend, relative or co-worker. Perhaps a loved one has passed away and you will be saying a few words at the service. Or you have been invited formal awards dinner at which you will be a recipient.

Speeches such as these can be difficult to give because they often involve sentiment or special decorum. If the occasion is a sad or even a happy one, you may be hesitant to speak for fear of breaking down or inadvertently saying something that will offend. Perhaps modesty and embarrassment also contribute towards making you hesitant to accept an award.

Such speeches are indeed challenging, but you can give them successfully.
The Speciality Speeches Program in Toastmasters contains five speaking assignments which will help a person develop the necessary skills for giving special occasion speeches.

In the first project, one would present a special occasion toast. In project two, requires one to give a speech in praise of another individual. In the third project, a person can have fun participating in a “roast”. The following project asks a person to present an award to someone and finally, in the last project, one will learn how to accept an award with style and ease.

Skills such as these can come into play not just during the dramatic events of your life, but during day-to-day experiences when a special comment or reply is required. However you apply the skills acquired in The Speciality Speeches Program you will be sure to expand your presentation skills and become a proficient special occasion speaker.

The Speciality Speeches Program is just one of the many programs that are practiced by Toastmasters to hone their presentation skills. Before a Toastmaster “graduates” to the more advanced programs he/she must complete the Competent Communicator Program.

This is where the basic skills of public speaking are learned.
Of course, as well as the skills of speaking, we also practice listening or evaluating. This is how we learn to give feedback to a speaker in such a way that gives praise and encouragement but also to tactfully make suggestions for improvement.

Speak Easy Toastmasters Club in Mallow was founded in 1993 and has been meeting fortnightly, September to May ever since.

The Club has approximately 30 members, with an equal gender balance, who meet from 8 to 10 pm in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, to practice the skills of public speaking, listening and giving feedback and unprepared speaking (speaking “off the cuff”).

The club is a workshop where members practice the above skills in an atmosphere of fun and friendship and is open to anyone over 18 years of age.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet tonight, May 28th is the Hibernian Hotel for our last meeting until early September so between now and then why not consider joining a toastmasters club?

Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had by logging on to our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com

Skin Shedding and The Driving Test

2009-05-21T00:06:00.002+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters held a dual purpose meeting last Thursday evening, May 4th insofar as it was both a regular meeting and also the club’s AGM.

Joining President Ray Ryan, at the top table were, Toastmasters Mary McCarthy and Topicsmaster, Tony O’Regan.
Mary introduced the first speaker of the evening, Josephine O’Sullivan Lenihan with her speech, “Skin Shedding” in which she challenged anyone approaching mid life to evaluate themselves and ask what is it all about.

Following Josephine was Mary Buckley with a speech entitled, “The Joys of Motoring” in which she humorously told a story of the ups and downs on the road to passing the driving test.

Topicsmaster, Tony O’Regan had us really practicing our “speaking off the cuff” skills as he asked members to speak for two minutes of famous and not so famous quotations.

General Evaluator Gerry Kelleher conducted the evaluation session where the speakers received feedback on their speeches from Jean Sayers and Marie Fitzpatrick.

After the coffee break the AGM took place and each officer made a presentation on their role for the past year.
The new committee elected for 2009/10 were as follows, President, Michael Cronin; Vice President Education, Margaret O’Regan; Vice President Public Relations, Liam Flynn, Vice President Membership, Joe Hassett, Treasurer, Cáit Murry; Secretary, Jean Sayers; Sgt at Arms, Declan Curtis, Josephine O'Sullivan Lenihan, Mary Moynahan

Our next meeting is on May 28th and will be the final one until the club resumes again in early September.

Speak Easy Toastmasters Club is a member of Toastmasters International (TI) which is a nonprofit educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking and leadership skills.

Through its thousands of member clubs, Toastmasters International offers a program of communication and leadership projects designed to help men and women learn the arts of speaking, listening, and thinking.

A Toastmasters Club is a workshop in which members practice these skills on a fortnightly basis in an atmosphere of fun and friendship.

Guests are most welcome at Toastmasters meetings and are never asked to speak so why not come along and see for yourself what Speak Easy Toastmasters have to offer?

We meet on alternate Thursdays, September to May in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow from 8 to 10pm
As our next meeting on May 28th is our last one before the summer break, why not come along and see for yourself what we are about? You will be delighted you did.

Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had by visiting our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO Seán on 086 6054784

Toastmasters for the Toast

2009-05-14T00:00:00.000+01:00

Somewhere, sometime you will be asked to propose a toast. Be it a wedding, retirement or birthday or many other events. No problem to me I hear you say.
Great, but like all things in life there is a correct way and wrong way, and if you would like to do it correctly and prevent a major faux pas, we have today, some tips to make sure you are remembered for all the right reasons.

The purpose of a toast is to shine a gentle spotlight, and pay tribute to, the honoured guest. Toasts typically offer good wishes, good health, long life, health, happiness etc.

Composing a toast that is eloquent, poignant and witty can be a challenge but well worth it.

Depending on the situation you may start by introducing yourself and stating your connection with the guest of honour and then present the toast.

There are three rules to follow, all beginning with the letter B.

Be Brief: Keeping your remarks short gives the toast a greater impact and gets you in and out of the spotlight quickly.
Well crafted words will be appreciated by the attendance and make your tribute more likely to be remembered.

Be Bold: Stand proud and speak out loud. Ensure that everyone in the room including people sitting in the back row can hear your toast. Shouting out loud may not be needed and a survey of the room before people assemble will help you gauge how far you need to project your voice.
It can also help calm your nerves and provide some practice time.

Be Done: When finished, sit down. Resist the urge to take a bow or an encore. Smile, nod and accept any applause or acknowledgements then focus your attention on the guest of honour.

Like all aspects of public speaking no matter what they are, only practice will make you confident, will calm those nerves, and will make you be remembered for what you said and how you said it.

This is where being a member of Toastmasters International is of great benefit. Toastmasters are never caught for words, or the art of presentation, no matter what the occasion is.

In Speak Easy Toastmasters, on alternate Thursday evenings from 8.00 to 10.00 pm, we practice all those skills and much more. A Toastmasters Club is a workshop where members practice and learn, in an atmosphere of fun and friendship. (In other words “it’s a great craic”)

Being a member of Speak Easy Toastmasters is much, much more, it is an experience and you can see this for yourself just by coming along to any of our meetings, as our guest you will not be asked to speak.

We meet in the Garden Room of the Hibernian Hotel in Mallow so why not come along and experience the Speak Easy Toastmasters Experience?

We meet tonight, Thursday May 14th and our final meeting before the summer break in on May 28th.

Further information can on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had by visiting our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO, Seán on 086 6054784

Show Consideration, Please!!!

2009-05-07T00:17:00.003+01:00

Last Thursday was the last day in April and hence the last day of spring, so hopefully we will get the good summer we have been waiting for.
In Speak Easy Toastmasters, we do not particularly mind what the seasons are, nor what kind of weather we get, as we look forward to our fortnightly meetings.

Last Thursday night it was also our last meeting of April and what a fantastic meeting it was.
We had four brilliant speeches, and the club were delighted to welcome Toastmasters from two other clubs who were on the programme.

After a welcome from President, Ray Ryan, Toastmaster for the evening, Jerry Mulcahy got the programme rolling by introducing the first of our speakers to the lectern, Declan Curtis.

Declan’s speech was entitled, “Show Consideration, Please” and was a tale of a journey from Derry to Cork and his humorous observation of various characters he met on the way.

Mary Buckley delivered a Storytelling project entitled, “The Fight at Burgishe House”, is which she told of an incident from the War of Independence.

Following Mary was Michael Buckley from The Crusaders Toastmasters Club in Cork City with his speech, “A Jewel in the Debris” which was the story of our planet, Earth.

Finally it was the turn of another visiting toastmaster, Sean Roche, from The Galtees Toastmasters Club with his speech, “You have to see it to believe it”, in which he explained and demonstrated the science of kinesiology.

After a most enjoyable table topics session with Topicsmaster, Jean Sayers, General Evaluator, Marie Fitzpatrick conducted the evaluation part of the meeting. This is where the speakers receive feedback from other members on how their speeches were received and how they could improve for the future.

During the AOB, President Ray Ryan congratulated Tony O’Regan and Pat Sexton on their recent performance in the Division Finals, Tony was placed 3rd in the evaluation contest.. Ray also congratulated Sean Corcoran on being awarded the Paul G Murphy Award (Toastmaster of the Year) for Division A (Cork, Kerry and West Limerick).

Toastmaster from all over Ireland and the UK will be making their way to The Cotswolds over the weekend of May 8-10th and Speak Easy Toastmasters send their best wishes to, Stanley Knott of Glanmire Toastmasters and Liam Cunningham of Carrigline Toastmasters who are representing Division A in the International Speech and Evaluation Contests, respectively.

If you would like to become comfortable speaking in public and to do so in an atmosphere of fun and friendship, why not come along to a Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting?

We meet in The Hibernian Hotel on alternate Thursdays, September to May from 8-10pm.
You can come along as our guest to any of our meetings. Guests are never asked to speak at a toastmasters meeting and you can come as many times as you wish.

Our next meeting is on Thursday May 14th with the final meeting before our summer break on May 28th.
Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had by visiting our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO, Seán on 086 6054784

Even more Toastmaster Skills

2009-04-30T00:00:00.001+01:00

While most of public speaking/toastmaster training is centred on a person giving a presentation and the audience listening, i.e. you talk, they listen. This type of communication is training is extremely important when one’s job or community activities require such presentations.

Think about your daily life, however, and another kind of communication becomes equally important.

Each day we interact with many people in a variety of situations. We may deal with clients and co-workers at work, our family and friends. We may be called upon to calm an upset customer/friend/relation or convince a sales assistant to refund your money. Persuade your son or daughter to clean their room or negotiate a raise with your employer.

And especially in the times we live in (I will not use the “r” word), being a good communicator and member of Toastmasters International can and will, give a person the edge over someone who is not.

Special skills are needed to successfully handle the above types of situations and Toastmasters International; “Interpersonal Communications Program” will help you to develop them.

The program consists of five projects that require different interpersonal communication skills.

In the first project we learn how to start a conversation with a stranger.
Project two requires one to negotiate using win/win strategies to achieve a goal.
In the third project, we learn how techniques on how to diffuse verbal criticism.
In the next project we practice coaching someone who is not performing on your satisfaction and finally, you’ll learn to assert yourself effectively.

The projects in this program are challenging but they will provide you with valuable experience in communication with others.

As with all Toastmasters programs, toastmasters are firstly required to complete the basic program, called “The Competent Communicator” program in which all the basic skills of speaking are learned and practiced.

So why not come along to any of our meetings and see for yourself? Speak Easy Toastmasters meet in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow on alternate Thursdays from September to May.

Toastmaster meetings are not a classroom but a workshop in which members learn at their own pace in a mutually supportive atmosphere where the emphasis is on fun and friendship.

Summer is almost on us, we hope, and there are only two more Speak Easy Toastmasters meetings left before our summer break. Now is the time to experience the “Speak Easy Toastmasters” experience, think about what we have to offer come back to us in September when we start our meetings again.

You’ll be glad you did.

You are welcome to come along as our guest for as often as you want and rest assured, you, as a guest, will never be asked to speak.

Our final two meetings are May 14th and 28th and tonight April 30th of course.
Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had by visiting our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO Seán on 086 6054784

Whirlpools and Crocodiles

2009-04-23T00:35:00.000+01:00

It’s not too often in our lives that we are encouraged to tell whoppers but that is what happened at the Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting last Thursday night as the club hosted its Tall Tales Contest.

The meeting was as usual opened by President, Ray Ryan , and Michael Cronin was our Toastmaster for the evening.

The programme for the evening was started by a type of speech and speaker that every toastmasters club looks forward to hearing and that is the “Icebreaker” speech. It is the first speech that a new toastmaster delivers to the club in which he/she introduces themselves.

On Thursday night the members were privileged to hear a speech entitled, “The Vibrant 70’s….Not” by Norrie O’Sullivan which was her view of growing up in 70’s Ireland.

Taking the lectern after Norrie was Máire Corbett from The Galtees Club in Mitchelstown with an interpretive reading project in which she delivered Shirley Chisholm’s Speech to Congress.

And finally after Máire was another guest speaker also from The Galtees Toastmasters Club, Conor O’Brien with his speech, “You are what you eat”.

Then it was the turn of Pat Sexton who was Topicsmaster for the evening who had us all thinking about things that we were not prepared for, which is exactly what the a topics session in toastmasters is all about. Practicing, speaking “off the cuff”.

After the coffee break it was the Tall Tales contest and boy, what tall tales they were.
There were three club members in the competition and they were Jerry Mulcahy with his speech, “My Transport” in which he told of his unusual car. Jerry was followed by Ray Ryan with this speech, “Arthur and I”, a tale of his pet crocodile, and finally Grant March with, “A Close Call” which was a story about being caught in a giant whirlpool.

When the votes by the judges were counted, Jerry Mulcahy was declared the winner.

Last Sunday, the Division A finals of the International Speech and Evaluation Contests took place in the Oriel House Hotel in Ballincollig where representatives of toastmasters from Cork, Kerry and West Limerick took part in the contests.
Pat Sexton and Tony O’Regan represented the clubs in North Cork and fantastic performances were delivered by both.
When the votes were counted, Tony was in 3rd position in the Evaluation Contest. Congratulations Tony.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet again on Thursday, April 30th in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow and you are invited to attend. If you would like to learn to speak comfortably before an audience on any subject, learn how to give constructive feedback, learn how to speak completely unprepared and to do all this in an atmosphere of fun and friendship, why not come along to the next meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters?

We meet in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow on alternate Thursday’s at 8.00pm and we would be delighted to welcome you as our guest to come along and experience, the toastmasters experience.

You will not be asked to speak, guests never are and you can come along as our guest as many times as you like without obligation.

Further information from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or from our PRO, Seán on 086 6054784.

Rakes and Rebels

2009-04-09T16:33:00.000+01:00

Last Thursday night saw members of Speak Easy Toastmasters take part in a very special meeting with the title “Rakes and Rebels” which was a historical meeting, with a difference.

Members over the past number of weeks researched different people who lived in Mallow in the late 17 and early 1800’s and of course the events and social issues of that time.

But, as well as delivering their speeches, the speakers spoke in the first instance, putting themselves in the place of the characters they were researching, and the result was nothing short of phenomenal.

The Garden Room in the Hibernian hotel, was for a couple of hours transported back into the 1700’s as the famous “Long Room” complete with an assortment of pikes, candles, jugs and various other items from that era.

Members and guests signed the register using goose quills and those taking part in the program were in period dress.

The entire meeting was conducted as if it was taking place in that bygone era, including the topics session.

The meeting was opened by The Hon. James Walsh of Skahana (Tony O’Regan) who told us where we should have tied our horses and also warned us of the no spitting rule.
He told us of the purpose of the meeting which was to hear the stories and experiences of those sitting round the table with him.

The first speaker was, Mortimer Murphy esq. Of Manor of Mallow (Ray Ryan) and also the manager of the long room who told us of the range of entertainment and food and drink that he provided. Mallow Spa was he said, on par with Bath and Tunbridge Wells.

Next to speak was Mrs. Welstead (Anne Buckley) who told us that the life of the gentry was certainly not enjoyed by everyone. She told how she was cured by drinking the spa waters, some of the local entertainment of the time and finished with a rendition of “The Ballad of the Hot Wells”.

Mrs Canty (Angela Sheehan), Landlady of a rooming house in Ballydaheen told us of a conspiracy by members of the Meath Militia stationed in the town, how it was discovered and the resulting consequences.

Mrs Mary Davis (Cáit Murry), mother of Thomas Davis told of her memories of Mallow, the layout of the town and the plans that were being made at the time for the building of the new churches, a Bridewell and marked but also the living conditions of people living in mud cabins in Mallows lanes.

Finally the V Rev Richard Cannon Smiddy (Joe Hassett) who spend four years as curate in Mallow and who is not PP of Ahada, shared with us his memories of the time he spend among the people of Mallow and its surrounds. His memories included the great flood, the tales of rescues, and the misery that people suffered. He also described the emigration of the time and even that the blackwater froze over.

The second half of the meeting was conducted by Captain D’Arcy (Liam Flynn) the local Magistrate. He got the audience involved by speaking of issues of the day and what we thought of them.

Speak Easy Toastmasters would like to thank Kevin Myres of The Mallow Field Club who provided invaluable assistance to our members in compiling the historical data for this meeting.
Photographs from the meeting as can be seen via our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com.

Our next meeting is on April 16th in the Hibernian Hotel at 8.00pm sharp and you are invited.

Rakes, Rebels and Good Advice

2009-04-02T00:00:00.000+01:00

Speak Easy Toastmasters are holding a Theme meeting tonight
Thursday night, April 2nd, in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow.

The title of the meeting is "Rakes and Rebels" and is a look at
Mallow in the late 1700 and early 1800's........but with a difference.

The members presenting speeches will be doing so through the eyes of actual people who lived
at that time and who will also be dressed accordingly.

The meeting takes place in the famous "Long Room" (aka The Garden Room) and you will meet

President, Mortimer Murphy Esq. of Manor of Mallow (Ray Ryan)
Toastmaster , The Hon, James Murphy of Skahana (Tony O'Regan)
Topicsmaster, Captain D'Arcy RN (Liam Flynn)

Speakers,
Mrs Welstead (Anne Buckley)
Mrs Canty of Ballydaheen. (Angela Sheehan)
Mortimer Murphy Esq. of Manor of Mallow (Ray Ryan)
V Rev. Richard Cannon Smiddey (Joe Hassett)
Mrs Mary Davis (Cáit Murry)

Come along to the Hibernian Hotel tonight at 8.00 sharp, where members of Speak Easy Toastmasters will be bringing the history of Mallow to life.

Five tips for any kind public speaking, making a presentation or just making sure that you are heard in any situation.
(from http://www.fripp.com/art.sound_intelligent.html by An article on Public Speaking by Patricia Fripp, CSP, CPAE)

1. To Sound More Intelligent:
Speak just a bit slower to allow yourself to select your most appropriate vocabulary and to give the impression of thoughtfulness.

2. To Sound More Powerful:
Use short, simple declarative sentences. You say what you mean and you mean what you say. Cut out any useless connectors, adjectives and adverbs, especially superlatives.

3. To Sound More Polished:
Never answer a question with a blunt 'yes' or 'no.' Append a short phrase of clarification. For example, "No, I did not see it." "Yes, I know Mary."

4. To Sound More Articulate:
Make a special effort to pronounce the final sound in a word and use its energy to carry over to the following word. Pay special attention to final 't' and 'ng.'

5. To Sound More Confident:
Carry your body up. Hold your head as if you had a crown on it. Don't let your arms and legs have side to side motion when you move. Keep your elbows and knees close to the midline of your body.

With the above in mind why not come along to any of our meeting in Speak Easy Toastmasters and see for yourself how we practice the skills of prepared speaking, speaking “off the cuff”, listening, and leadership.

We meet on alternate Thursdays, September to May in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow at 7.50 for an 8.00pm start. We would be delighted to welcome you as our guest and guests at our meetings are never asked to speak.

Our next meeting is on April 16th which is the club’s Tall Tale Contest night.
Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had on our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our club PRO, Seán on 086 6054784

The Skeleton Woman

2009-03-26T00:00:00.000Z

Last Thursday night in The Hibernian Hotel in Mallow saw another brilliant meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters. Joining President, Ray Ryan at the top table was Toastmaster, Margaret O’Regan and Topicsmaster Cáit Murray.

Our first speaker was Declan Curtis with a speech entitled, “Adaption” in which Declan told us how we naturally adapt to various situations and that we would do so again in the climate that we find ourselves in.

Then it was the turn of Grant March who kept us in suspense with his speech, which was his interpretation of, “The Skeleton Woman”

Jean Sayers told us of the history of the Irish language in her speech, “Tír Gan Ainm” and how we could use the language more in our everyday lives..

Last on the programme was Eugene O’Connell with his speech, “In the beginning was a word” which was a history of Thehttp://www2.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=12277963# Word magazine from its inception in 1953 to its final edition last December.

Cáit Murray kept us on our toes with her topics. This is the part of the meeting where members are asked to speak for two minutes on a subject that Cáit had chosen. Great training for those times when a person is caught unawares to comment on something unexpected.

Other members who were on the programme were, General Evaluator, Anne Buckley, Timekeeper, Jerry Mulcahy, Evaluators, Michael Cronin, Bridie O’Connell, Liam Flynn and Ray Ryan.

Our next meeting on April 2nd is a theme meeting with the title “Rakes and Rebels” and is dedicated to Mallow in the late 1700 and early 1800’s. Toastmasters, Joe Hassett, Cáit Murray, Ray Ryan, Anne Buckley and Angela Sheehan will be delivering speeches, in the first person, on various people and events of that time.

For the evening, our normal meeting room in the Hibernian Hotel will for the evening become the famous Long Room.
If you are interested in the history of Mallow, why not come along to our meeting next Thursday, April 2nd at 7,50pm for an 8.00pm start.

Upcoming Toastmasters events are the Area 17 Finals in The Grand Hotel, Fermoy on April 7th, Division Finals on April 19th in The Oriel House Hotel, Ballincollig.

So to conclude, you are invited to come along to any of our meetings and see what toastmasters is all about? Guests are most welcome and will not be asked to speak.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet on alternate Thursday nights in The Hibernian Hotel from September to May and further information can be had by visiting our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact club PRO, Seán on 0866054784

Don't get Trapped

2009-03-19T00:25:00.000Z

Don’t get trapped in a routine. The secret of success is to practice what you are not good at. Get uncomfortable. A sport’s man, when asked to identify the secret of his success, replied ’I practiced what I was not good at’ All successful people both in and out of Toastmasters have had to overcome obstacles in life.

What determines their ability to transcend those obstacles and fears is a great willingness to stretch their comfort zones. In a Toastmaster’s Club your comfort zone is measured by the speeches you give and the assignments you take on.

Successful Toastmasters have one thing in common – they form the habit of THOROUGH PREPARATION and ACTIVE LISTENING. Those who clock watch and day dream do not get far.

Your habits reflect your personality. They influence how you dress; walk; sit; smile and laugh. As part of your internal makeup most habits are formed early in life. By adulthood those habits are much easier to follow than change. If you want to be more successful both in and out of Toastmasters, you must make an effort to reject stagnation, and form habits of self improvement. To evaluate your personal habits – ask yourself
• Do successful happy people seem to enjoy my company.
• Do others seek my advice
• Do I continue to grow through careful reading and exposure to stimulating ideas.
• Do I surround myself with positive uplifting influences.
• Do I usually feel good about myself
• Do I look for new ways to improve my speaking, writing, and listening skills

Remember a lack of time is almost always a lack of organization and management. The ability to invest time wisely is a habit acquired through deliberate choice. Success requires passion and is governed by the laws of habit.

To develop habits, one must have an objective. It is never the strength of a goal that will make you do anything in life. It is the strength of the purpose behind it. If your goal in life is to make money to put bread on the table, then that is all you will do. This standard requires you to cross the finish line only because it exists. In order to achieve a far greater level of success, you must have passion to go the distance. So finally “Never be content with what you are, if you want to be what you are not”

The dates for upcoming Speak Easy Toastmasters meetings are as follows,
March 19th, April 2nd and April 30th at 7.50 for an 8.00pm sharp start.

The meeting of April 2nd will be slightly different that usual insofar it is a “Theme Meeting” with the title “Rakes and Rebels”. It is dedicated to Mallow in the late 1700 to early 1800.

Members will be presenting speeches, speaking in the first instance, and is sure to be a fantastic evening so put it in your diaries.

Michael Cronin’s winning humorous speech, “Feel the fear and do it anyway” can now be viewed on Youtube. Just search for “Speak Easy Toastmasters Mallow.

Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had by visiting our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our PRO Seán on 0866054784

Club Contest Night

2009-03-12T00:09:00.000Z

Last Thursday night in The Hibernian Hotel in Mallow saw the club heat of both the International Speech Contest and the Evaluation Contest.

In Toastmasters International there are five contests each year, The Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests which are held in the Autumn and the International Speech and Evaluation Contests which are held in the spring.There is also a Tall Tales contest held in April.

The International Speech Contest is a contest in which there is a world champion, the final will be held at the International Convention in Connecticut USA on August 12-15th.
Each toastmasters club in the world are holding their contests about now and from one of them will come a world champion.

Before a large audience on Thursday night saw four of our club members delivering their speeches in the contest, and as the contest aims are to show how members benefit from their toastmasters training then no one could disagree on the benefits of toastmasters.

First to the lectern was Ray Ryan with his speech “Sword and Spear” followed by Michael Cronin with, “Making It”
Then it was Pat Sexton with, “Meeting with Martha” and Anne Buckley with, “The Red Crane”.

For the Evaluation Contest, Speak Easy Toastmasters were delighted to welcome the test speaker,
Paula Kelleher with her speech, “The Rules”. Paula is a member of Glanmire Toastmasters, and five of our members were in this contest to evaluate Paula’s speech and they were, Ray Ryan, Tony O’Regan ,Pat Sexton, Michael Cronin, and Margaret O’Regan.

The highest of standards once again prevailed in both contests and at the end of the meeting, when the judges votes were counted, Contest Chair, Pat Duggan announced the winners which were, 1st in the International Speech Contest was, Pat Sexton with Michael Cronin in 2nd place.

In the Evaluation Contest, the winner was Tony O’Regan with Pat Sexton as runner up.

Both Pat and Tony now go on to compete in the Area Final which will be held in The Grand Hotel, Fermoy on April 7th.The Division Final will be held in The Oriel House Hotel, Ballincollig on April 19th .

All toastmasters meetings require a team each night to make the meetings run smoothly and efficiently and this contest meeting was no different. With President Ray Ryan was Contest Chair, Pat Duggan, Topicsmaster, Bridie O’Connell.
Timekeepers were Mary Moynahan and Joe Hassett, and Demonstreation Speaker, Paula Kelleher.
Counters, Loretto Barry and Grant March with Sgt at Arms, Cáit Murray, Jean Sayers and Liam Flynn. Chief Judge was Sean Corcoran.

The Club would like to thank the judges on the night, both members and, especially judges who came from the other clubs.

Also last Thursday night the TV Programme, Capital D ran a segment on Dublin Toastmasters which can be seen on the RTE website, http://www.rte.ie/news/capitald/

Michael Cronins winning speech is now on Youtube and can be seen by searching for “Speak Easy Toastmasters Mallow”

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet again on Thursday, March 19th and also our theme meeting, “Rakes and Rebels” on April 2nd.

Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had on our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO, Seán on 0866054784

Humour is the thing

2009-03-05T00:19:00.000Z

Whether you are an aspiring TV star, or a member of a local organization or just like to have a craic in a group you will at some stage need to use humour when you speak.

Humour is a great “ice breaker”. It shows especially, if you are in a position of authority over your audience that you are indeed human and you don’t take yourself or the occasion too seriously. Humour is also a great tool to win over audience, people pay more attention to a speaker who uses humour and of course humour keeps a presentation from becoming boring not to mention that an audience will be more likely to remember your message if you use humour to illustrate it.

But, caution is needed when using or attempting to use humour, as used incorrectly it can backfire. Let’s have a look at a few simple rules for using humour in a presentation.

Firstly, humour has to fit the content and tone of your speech. If humour doesn’t fit your speech then don’t use it.
Don’t tell an unrelated joke at the start of our speech, what is a lot more effective is a humorous story that introduces the theme of the talk.

You must also consider not only the age of your audience but also their cultural background and their mood when choosing humour for your speech as not all audiences respond the same type of humour. I.e. references local characters or events would not be understood outside your area.

Needless to mention, off colour humour is not appropriate around children and audiences who would be offended by it. Be careful here.
The best way to use humour is to illustrate a point and the best humour comes from your own experience. Talk about a humorous situation you had and what you learned from it. Your audience will be drawn to your story because it is personal and real. They can also relate to similar experiences they had. Using your own experiences will make you speeches fresher than if you culled jokes out of joke books.

Humour is an integral part of Toastmasters. It is a skill that all Toastmasters aspire to use confidently in all our presentations. It is what makes a Toastmaster stand out from the crowd when delivering a speech or presentation.

In April on BBC2 an entertainment series called “The Speaker” begins an 8 program run.
The program is searching for Britain’s best young speaker and features 14 to 18 year olds from around the country.

But guess what? Speak Easy Toastmasters, in Mallow have been training speakers and leaders since 1993 at our meetings every second Thursday night so why not come along and see it “live” so to speak?

Tonight, Thursday, Speak Easy Toastmasters will be holding their annual heat of the International Speech Contest so why not come and join us.

You will be most welcome and if unfortunately you cannot make tonight we will be meeting on March 19th and of course our theme meeting on April 2nd called “Rakes and Rebels”

Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or from our Club PRO, Sean on 086 6054784.

St Valentine and Tsunami's

2009-02-26T00:01:00.000Z

Maybe it’s the fact that spring has come at last, or maybe it was because St. Valentines day was just gone. Whatever it was, if you were not at the meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters last Thursday night you missed it, because members and guests alike were treated to a marvellous meeting (another one, of course).

President, Ray Ryan invited us all to forget about economic woes, bad news and anything negative and to enjoy the following two hours and boy, did we what!.

Jerry Mulcahy was our Toastmaster for the evening and Loretto Barry as Topicsmaster.

Our first speaker was Josephine O’Sullivan Lenihan who was delivering her first speech to the club. As I have mentioned before, when a member delivers his/her “Icebreaker” speech, it is special to both the new member and existing club members. The title of Josephine’s speech was, “My Experience Of Growing Up In Life”.

Following Josephine was Mary Moynahan with her speech, “St Valentine” which was a history of St Valentines day right from the time of St Valentine to the present day including various customs and fascinating facts.

Liam Flynn followed with a speech entitled, “Tsunami” which was a well researched and critical look at local government. This speech was also special for Liam as it was his 10th speech before the club which means that he as achieved his Competent Communicator Award.
Liam was presented with a certificate from Ray Ryan in recognition of this milestone.

Next was Pat Duggan with a project from the Speciality Speeches Programme. Pat prepared five separate speeches and one of these was chosen (immediately before he spoke) by the Toastmaster for Pat to deliver. Pat then spoke without notes on the chosen subject which was on the travel book called, “The Lost Continent” by Bill Bryson.

Finally Pat Sexton delivered an educational workshop on the skills and importance of members being able to give effective, constructive and genuine evaluations of other member’s speeches.
He explained that this was the most beneficial way for members to learn from their from each speech project and to become even better speakers.

After the coffee break (where members and guests alike were able to relax and chat), Topicsmaster, Loretto Barry conducted the topics session. This is the part of the meeting where we practice our speaking “off the cuff” skills an such was the atmosphere generated that even all the guests joined in.

General evaluator was Tony O’Regan and evaluators were Noel O’Connor, Mary McCarthy, Gerry Kelleher, Angela Sheehan and Ray Ryan,
Timekeeper was Declan Curtis and “Ah Counter” Michael Cronin.
Sgt at Arms, Liam Flynn, Cáit Murray and Jean Sauers.

Speak Easy members are busy organizing a “Theme Meeting” for April 2nd which has the title “Rakes and Rebels”. Put this date in your diaries as it is going to be great.

To the many guests on the night, we were delighted to meet you and are looking forward to your company in the very near future.

Our next meeting is on March 5th which will be our Speech Contest night.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet fortnightly and you are most welcome to come along and join us.
Further information from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO, Sean on 086 6054784

Speak Easy Toastmasters in the Spring

2009-02-19T00:00:00.000Z

As you look around you, now that we are mid way through February you can see the signs that spring is here. The daffodils are well above ground and indeed in some sheltered places they are even flowering. New growth can be seen on plants and hedging and there is a notable stretch in the evenings.

It makes one feel good.

Of course there is another way to feel good whether it is in spring, or the dead of winter. “Really, and how is that, I hear you ask” and the answer is of course to join Speak Easy Toastmasters.

You see, in Toastmasters we have fun at every meeting and indeed some of us even specialise in fun and good humour.

The Toastmasters International Program is structured in such a way that when a member has mastered the basics of public speaking we then go on to complete more advanced projects and this week we have a look at the Toastmasters Humorous Speech Program.

People like to laugh, right? Of course they do because laughter is a release and an escape from problems and situations that people encounter daily. Laughter has even been found to have positive physical benefits. It relieves stress and tension and relaxes us.

The purpose of the Toastmasters Humorous Speech Program is not to make one into a comedian but to simply help one to use humour in speeches and presentations and indeed when one is talking among a group of friends or one to one.

Using humour in the above situations will help establish a bond with ones audience.
It certainly helps win over a hostile audience and keep them interested.
It will certainly make people remember you.

The Humorous Speech Program is divided up into five separate modules,

A, how to use a short humorous story to open a speech or presentation.

B. to start a speech with a humorous story and to use one to emphasize the main point of the speech when closing the speech.

C. this module requires one to use jokes to emphasize the presentation’s main points.

D. teaches one how to tell an opening joke and string together several jokes in the presentation.

E. this project allows you to use your creativity to tell a long humorous story.

All the material to master using humour is contained in the Toastmasters Humorous Speech Manual and remember that the skills learned in this program are just as valid for someone telling a humorous story at a party, family gathering or, yes, even in the pub.

Don’t just take my word for it, come along to any meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters and see for yourself. We will be delighted to welcome you as our guest for the night and don’t worry, guests at a Toastmasters meeting are never asked to speak so come along, relax and enjoy yourself.

We meet, tonight in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, at 8pm sharp and the meeting lasts for two hours. If you cannot make it why not put our next two dates in your diary, March 5th and March 19th.

Further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters can be had from our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or from our Club PRO, Seán on 086 6054784

Say What?

2009-02-12T00:00:00.000Z

Where can one go to on a Thursday night and hear highly informative speeches and fascinating facts together with a great atmosphere? Yes, you’ve guessed it, a Speak Easy Toastmasters meeting.

Last Thursday night, despite the cold and frost we had a large attendance of members and guests who were privileged to her four brilliantly researched and delivered speeches and just to put icing on the cake, one of our new members gave his first speech in the club.

President Ray Ryan as usual presided, and started us off at 8pm sharp. Mary Moynahan was Toastmaster for the night and Grant March as Topicsmaster. For both, it was their first time in the role and they brought with them, their own style and personalities.

Mary introduced our first speaker, Declan Curtis who delivered his Icebreaker speech which was entitled, “From There to Here”. The Icebreaker Speech is one that every member delivers to the club, the purpose of which is to get the member to statr speaking before an audience and also for club members to get to know the new member. A toastmaster never forgets his or her Icebreaker speech.

Following Declan was another of our newer members, Máire Welford, who delivered a marvellous and highly informative speech entitled, “Newgrange, A World Heritage Site” in which she told us the history of Newgrange and the people who built it.

Then is was the turn of Anne Buckley with her speech, “Left, Get it Right” in which she informed us, backed up with research, statistics and fascinating facts, about people who are naturally left handed.

Finally, Angela Sheehan, delivered her speech entitled, “Say What” which was a most fascinating look at cheese making. Angela told us of the history of cheese and also the modern process of cheese making.

After the break, Grant March, conducted the topics session in which the members (and only members, are asked to speak on a topic) practice their skills of speaking “off the cuff” on a variety of different topics in which they have to speak, unprepared, for two minutes.

Jerry Mulcahy was our General Evaulator for the evening and conducted the evaluation session.
This is the part of every meeting in which members receive feedback from other designated members on how they delivered their speeches and suggestions made on how they could improve.
Just as every member delivers a speech, members also get the opportunity to evaluate other members speeches. Evaluating another member’s speech is a skill in itself and is learned by practice.

The next meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters is on February 19th and also on March 5th which will be our club heat of the International Speech and Evaluation Contests.

The Area final is being hosted by Fermoy Toastmastes on April 7th with the Division Finals on April 19th .

If you have never been to a Toastmasters meeting, why not come along to our next one and see for yourself what happens?. Don’t worry, you will not be asked to speak, guests never are, and, you can come as many times as you like as a guest.

For further information on Speak Easy Toastmasters, visit our website at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO, Seán on 086 6054784.

Storytelling, A Toastmasters Art.

2009-02-05T00:00:00.000Z

Are you fed up with all the doom and gloom reports in the media? Afraid to switch on the TV or radio for fear of hearing of more closures and job losses? Would you like to be in the company of people who think positively, and who enjoy themselves and each other company? Of course you would.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet one a fortnight, on Thursday evenings, in the Hibernian Hotel so why not come along and see for yourself what we are about.

The Toastmasters education programmes are many and varied and our meetings are workshops rather than classrooms. The following is an example of one such toastmasters programme.

Storytelling, has been a form of communication throughout the history of mankind. It’s part of every civilisation on every continent. Early storytellers told of the deeds of their heroes; these stories were expanded over the years to include tales and fables.

The earliest known epic was “Gilgamesh” first told by the Sumerians. Later, came the Anglo Saxton tale of “Beowulf”. Storytellers related the Greek myths, which included gods with supernatural powers.

Storytelling continued during the Middle Ages, with tellers delighting their listeners with tales of war and love. In the 14th century Geoffrey Chaucer retold the stories he’d heard from a band of pilgrims travelling from London to Canterbury. Chaucer put the stories on paper in his “Canterbury Tales”.

In Ireland we have a long tradition of storytelling and tales from “Na Fianna” “Cuchullan” etc are well known to generations. We also are so lucky to have our Seanchai (which means a bearer of old lore), The late Eamon Kelly possibly being the most famous. Speak Easy Toastmasters were indeed honoured that Eamon launched the Area 17 book of speeches, “ A Taste of Toastmasters” in March 1996.

Storytelling continues to be popular. People love to hear and tell stories.
Storytelling is great entertainment, yet it has a purpose, too. We tell stories to children to introduce them to the world of literature.

In many families, tales about family history and ancestors are passed down from generation to generation through storytelling. Many public speakers tell stories as part of their presentations. They find that a well-told story will attract listener’s attention and can emphasize or illustrate a point.

Toastmasters International have a program which is very popular with members and is aptly named “Storytelling”. This program has 5 projects, “The Folk Tale”, “Lets Get Personal”, “The Moral of the Story”, “The Touching Story” and “Bringing History to Life”

Each of these projects are designed to progressively increase the Toastmasters skills in the art of Storytelling and great emphasis is placed on such skills as tempo and rhythm, bringing a story to life, keeping a story simple, introducing a twist and to arouse emotion.

So you see, in Toastmasters we have a much varied program that keeps members both entertained and constantly increasing their communication skills.
Why not come along to any of our meeting and see for yourself. You will be very welcome and don’t worry, you will not be asked to speak as guests at a Toastmasters meeting never are.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet. tonight, February 5th and on February 19th and March 5th.

Further information from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or from Seán our PRO on 086 6054784

Singlings, Doublings and Wrack

2009-01-29T00:01:00.000Z

One of the things that Speak Easy Toastmasters prides itself on is time keeping and the meeting of January 22nd was no exception as President, Ray Ryan started proceedings at exactly 8pm.
Ray welcomed members and guests and then handed control of the meeting to Michael Cronin guided us, in his own style, through the rest of the evening.

The speeches kicked off with Cáit Murry being first to the lectern with a speech entitled, “Cambodian Journey” in which she told us of her visit to that country. Cáit used vivid verbal imagery to bring us with her on that journey as she told us about Cambodia’s history, it’s people and much more.

Following Cáit to the lectern was Jean Sayers with a speech entitled, “Born Again”, in which she told us of New Year’s resolutions, why they don’t work and how we can make changes to our life at any time.

Then it was the turn of Mary McCarthy with her speech, “Be Patient and Wait”. Mary told of her adventures in Heathrow Airport as a result of a flight being cancelled and her observations of people and incidents as she waited for her flight home.

Finally it was Liam Flynn who brought the speech section of the meeting to a close with his speech, “Singlings, Doublings and Wrack” in which he enlightened us with great detail and humour on the history and making of a particular traditional Irish drink.

After the customary coffee break it was the turn of Anne Buckley who was Topicsmaster for the evening and Anne certainly kept us on our toes and the “little grey cells” exercised with her choice of topics. The topics session is the part of every toastmasters meeting where the members strive to speak for two minutes, without any preparation, on a subject that they are just given.

Gerry Kelleher was our General Evaluator for the evening and conducted the part of the meeting in which the members received feedback from designated members on how they kept to the required aims of their speech project and how they could improve.

A toastmasters meeting is divided up into four separate parts with each designed to improve the skill of the member.
1. Speeches; this is where members hone their presentation skills.
2. Evaluation; the part where members give feedback to other members but also the
evaluators are improving their listening and one to one communication skills.
3. Table Topics Session; where members work on their “speaking off the cuff” skills.
Have you ever been in a position where you were suddenly asked a question and you
couldn’t think of an answer? Embarrassing isn’t it? It wouldn’t happed to you if
you were a member of Speak Easy Toastmasters.
4. Tea/Coffee break; where members and guests can mingle, chat and get to know each
other better.

Speak Easy Toastmasters meet on alternate Thursdays from 8-10pm (precisely) in the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow and “you” are invited to come along as our guest and see what we are about.
You will not be asked to speak and you can come along as many times as our guest as you wish, without obligation.

Our next meeting is on February 5th with the following one on Feb. 19th.

Further details can be had from our website www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our Club PRO, Sean on 086 6054784

It gives me great pleasure..........

2009-01-22T00:00:00.000Z

“It gives me great pleasure”……these are the words that give so much anxiety to those preparing a wedding speech or a presentation. Whether you are there to introduce, dedicate or accept or are giving a wedding speech, your speech should leave no doubt as to why you and your audience have gathered.

Writing or giving a ceremonial speech should have an introduction; body, and conclusion.

• Create a sense of anticipation.
• Keep the general principles short
• Speak for one to three minutes depending on how well the audience knows the speaker.
• Resist the temptation to list all of the speaker’s accomplishments!
• Be relentlessly positive
• Never miss a chance to sincerely compliment the speaker.
• Humorous anecdotes are fine as long as they reflect positively on the speaker.

STRATEGIES FOR CREATING A SPEECH

Use a quote. Look for a gem of a quote about your speaker. Begin with the speaker’s organization, cause or topic. Tell the audience what it is and why it is important. Then move into your discussion of the speaker.

Check to see who has the same birthday as your speaker. You may find the speaker has something else in common with his or her ‘birth mate’. The ending is extremely important. It must build to a climax. It should summarize the speaker’s strengths, virtues, and accomplishments. And ideally raise the audience’s sense of anticipation to the point where they just cannot wait for the speaker to begin.

The same rules pertain for ‘a Mother/Father of the Bride Speech.’ - Only this time the speaker will have 20 + years of experiences to draw from. Please do not include the full 20 years. Always remember brevity is the sole of wit.

You do not want to turn all your guests into pillars of boredom while you pontificate on the virtues of your ‘little girl’. Don’t forget to welcome the groom into your family, whether you hate his guts or not! Political Correctness I think it is called.

We have a section in Toastmasters where you can give speciality speeches. These cover social. Corporate and family occasions. Some people join toastmaster for this very section. So come along to Speakeasy Toastmasters Club Meeting tonight, January 22nd at the Hibernian Hotel Mallow at 7.50 p.m. Sharp and you can practise for your next big event. To date the feedback from our guest is so good, that some guests have graduated to members.

They are making great progress and are contributing greatly to the success of the meetings. For that we thank them and we are delighted to have them aboard. We continue to roll out the red carpet for guests. You will be most welcome, and relax, you will not be asked to speak unless you wish to do so. See you all next Thursday. We have a fresh programme which holds great hopes for an enjoyable night.

Our next meetings are on February 5th and 19th.

Further details at www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact club PRO, Sean on 086 6054784

King Lear and Nature

2009-01-15T00:00:00.001Z

Last Thursday night at the Hibernian Hotel saw the members of Speak Easy Toastmasters and guests return for the first meeting of 2009 and what a meeting it was.
Yes, every meeting of Speak Easy Toastmasters is special but last Thursday night saw was just that little bit extra special as we had the privilege of having members of other Toastmasters clubs on the program.

The evening started off with President, Ray Ryan welcoming members and guests and wishing us all a happy new year.
Máire Corbett from the Galtees Club in Mitchelstown and also Area 17 Governor, was our Toastmaster for the evening and Noel O’Connor was out Topicsmaster.

First to speak was Marian Harnett who is a dual member of both Killarney and Newcastlewest Toastmasters Clubs. Marian was receiving and award for her services to Toastmasters, which was presented by Michael Cronin, and her project was to give an acceptance speech.
Marian told us of life before toastmasters and what a difference toastmasters made her.

Then it was the turn of Ray Ryan who gave us a presentation entitled, “Right to know” in which he gave us a detailed account of the Freedom of Information Act and what it means to us.

Ray was followed to the lectern by Michael Buckley from The Crusaders Toastmasters Club in Cork. Michael was doing a speech project from Interpretive Reading in which he choose to recite a work written by Seán Fada O’Driscoil entitled, “King Lear” which was a hilarious look at Shakespeare’s famous play.

Finally it was the turn of Michael Broderick from the Nice and Easy Toastmasters club, with a speech entitled, “Nature”, in which he told us of his observation of fascinating nature all around him.

Following the break, in which members and guests mingled and chatted for 20 minutes, it was the turn of Topicsmaster, Noel O’Connor in which he helped us hone our “speaking off the cuff” skills with a well researched bunch of table topics.
This of course is the part of the meeting in which the members get to speak for two minutes on a subject in which they have no time to prepare.

Tim Ahern conducted the evaluation session in which the speakers received feedback from designated members on how they performed, and how they may improve, which is what every toastmaster aims to do.

Speak Easy Toastmasters return to the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow on Thursday, January 22nd at 8.00pm and also on February 5th.

If you would like to be comfortable speaking before an audience, be it a work situation, a school presentation, community meeting, reading off the altar etc, or you would just like to make some good friends why not com along and see what we are about?

As a guest, you will not be asked to speak and you may come along as a guest as often as you want.

Further information can be had from our website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com or contact our club PRO Sean on 086 6054784

We are back for 2009

2009-01-08T00:21:00.000Z

Tonight, Thursday 8th, all roads lead to the Hibernian Hotel, Mallow, why?

Because it’s the first meeting of 2009 for Speak Easy Toastmasters, that’s why. We are facing a couple of more months of dark and maybe cold evenings and where better to spend one evening every fortnight than with friends, enjoying oneself, having a chat, learning and having fun.

Speak Easy Toastmasters are part of Toastmasters International which is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations.

Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization has nearly 220,000 members in 11,500 clubs in 90 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience.

A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a friendly atmosphere. A typical group has 20 to 40 members who meet fortnightly to practice public speaking techniques. Meetings last for 2 hours 8-10pm

Members learn communication skills by working in the Competent Communication manual, a series of 10 self-paced speaking assignments designed to instil a basic foundation in public speaking. Participants learn skills related to use of humour, gestures, eye contact, speech organization and overall delivery. When finished with this manual, members can choose from 15 advanced manuals to learn skills related to specific interests.

Members also learn leadership skills by taking on various meeting roles and serving as officers at the club and district levels, and by working in the Competent Leadership manual and the High Performance Leadership program. In our learn-by-doing approach, we don't lecture our members about leadership skills; we give them responsibilities and ask them to lead.

There is no instructor in a Toastmasters meeting. Instead, members evaluate one another’s presentations. This feedback process is a key part of the program’s success. Meeting participants also give impromptu talks on assigned topics, conduct meetings, serve as officers in various leadership roles and learn rules related to timing, grammar and parliamentary procedure.

Speak Easy Toastmasters in one of many clubs that can be found all over Ireland and was formed in 1993. The Club has approx. 30 members from all walks of life and is gender equal.

Since it’s formation Speak Easy members have won numerous toastmaster contests at both local and district (Ireland and UK) level.
The club are constantly recognised by Toastmasters International by being presented with the “Presidents Distinguished Award” which is the highest award that a club can get.

Now that 2009 is well and truly with us, why not come along to any one of our meetings as a guest.
Guests are never asked to speak at a toastmasters meeting so come along, relax and enjoy the evening.

Our next meeting is January 22’nd and every fortnight thereafter.

Further details of the club history and awards can be obtained by logging on to the club’s website, www.speakeasytoastmasters.com. Or contact club PRO Sean on 086 6054784