The Drunken Toastmaster and other stories

We are all familiar with the Drunken Sailor and his travails. At  the last Speakeasy Meeting,  we were treated to the tale of The Drunken Toastmaster from the pen of Helsa Giles. And thankfully, the speaking skills he had acquired in Toastmasters helped him navigate his speaking assignment unscathed.

Paul Corcoran 

Steven Day presented his Icebreaker Speech  - "The Scenic Route". Among his many interests is a fascination with dancing, especially the Argentinian Tango. In Toastmasters, we are given the opportunity to appreciate so many different ideas and hobbies that nembers share, some quite mundane and some like Steven's - quite fascinating. 

We also travel a mile in speakers' shoes. In Trevor O'Sullivan's Speech - "Lightning Strikes Twice" we got to experience the frustrations of the house hunter - experiencing the magic of the photography that can "transform a gargoyle into Prince Charming" by making the dingiest of property into a "big, bright,  warm and welcoming home". We got to feel the burn of the Auctioneer's trick of advertising a shared viewing with five other clients as "a private viewing"!

And then we had "An Appointment with Mr. Yeats". Pat Sexton spoke about the continued relevance of the poetry of Ireland's first Nobel Laureate William Butler Yeats. His poetry continues to shine,  be it "When  you are old" or his other doomed love poems for his muse Maud Gonne or his sharper political poems like "No Second Coming". The time is about right,  so this speaker suggests to host an afternoon devoted to sharing his wonderful poetry with the local community. 

In Toastmasters,  we develop our skills of communication through expressing our experiences, our ideas and our stories. We can entertain, inform, inspire and sometimes, we provoke our audience. And we achieve that in front of an audience that is helpful and supportive. 

Our next Meeting will take place on Thursday 15th October in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow at 7.45pm.  As always,  guests are welcome to attend our Meetings and are never obliged to speak unless they wish to do so. For more information about this Club,  please check out our website speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook.   

Helsa Giles presents Best Speaker Award to Steven Day.

A well run Meeting

There are certain Meetings that we dread - they are overlong, chaotic and some people ramble on and on. Recently,  this writer was asked to chair a Meeting of an investment group. The request was simple  - encourage everyone to participate and ensure that a few people didn't dominate. My Toastmasters experience ensured that a reasonably constructive exchange of opinions took place. It was just another example of how the Toastmasters experience can be put to good use in "the real world".

In Speakeasy,  we don't just give Speeches. We learn who to conduct Meetings in an orderly and positive fashion. The Toastmaster of the Evening acts like a Chairperson,  introducing each Speaker and segment of the Meeting and aiming for a timely conclusion at 10.00PM.

The Topicsmaster is like a Discussion Leader who conducts the Topics Session or impromptu speaking.  At our last Meeting,  Bobby Buckley fulfilled this role with an abundance of flair and humour. A question on "Your least favourite day of the week" turned into a battle of the bands between The Boomtown Rats "I don't like Mondays" and The Cure "Friday, I'm in Love". The division of household chores in the tricky question  - "Does your partner share the burden?" brought much laughter and an interest in robot hoovers! Pre teenage ambitions elicited the revelation of wanting to be an Astronaut but ending up as a spacer. The curse of over engrossment in phones and body image brought contrasting views to the topic. And we learned that the accountancy term "Deprecating Assets" can have other meanings!

A Topics Session helps our Members to muti task  - to think on their feet and speak simultaneously. It can be entertaining,  informative and fun. In the capable hands of Bobby, it was all three.

Mastering roles like Chairing a Meeting and leading a discussion are important life skills. It is no coincidence then that so many voluntary Sporting and Charitable groups in our community have members who learned valuable leadership skills in Toastmasters. 

Speakeasy meet again on this Thursday night, October 1st at 7.45pm  in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow. As always,  guests are welcome to attend. You will not be obliged to speak unless you wish to do so.For further information on Speakeasy Toastmasters,  please check out our website speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook. 

The Officers at last week's Speakeasy Toastmasters Meeting - Topicsmaster,  Bobby Buckley; President, Rachel Liston and Topicsmaster of the Evening, Juan Camaraso.