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

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’

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