Taking the Plunge
A large attendance at last week's Speakeasy
Toastmasters meeting was rewarded with a highly entertaining and diverse range
of speeches. As is customary in Toastmasters, speech topics are self - chosen
and the five speakers delivered speeches that were poignant, poetic,
informative and motivational. "Pulling out all the stops" was the
description used to describe the performances of the speakers.
Theresa O'Reilly posed a fascinating challenge to
"take the plunge" in a highly motivational talk - "What you don't
use, you lose". She spoke of how modern central heating and air
conditioning systems have removed temperature variations and degraded our
immune systems. She cited examples of Ice Swimming in Nordic countries and
Russia and the exploits of Wim Hof who has dedicated himself to extreme cold
water and icy pursuits, including climbing Everest in shorts! From the relative
comfort of our own bathrooms, we can invigorate ourselves with cold shower
treatments that are extreme, energising and exhilarating! Forget about Global
Warming, try "Cold Exposure"!
Ann Nyhan's speech - "Should I stay or should
I go?" explored the long and chequered history of emigration in Ireland.
Perhaps, Ireland's insular nature on the periphery of Europe would
indicate isolationism. Yet, emigration has been the Irish way. Between the
sixth and ninth century, Irish monks brought Christianity, culture and
civilisation to Europe. In the wake of the Tudor conquest of Ireland, thousands
of our soldiers - The Wild Geese - fled to Europe and served in the French and
Spanish armies. Sadly, economic necessity and oppression sparked the mass
emigration rate in the nineteenth century. Famine ridden Ireland was no place
for young women and men and millions made their way to Van Diemans Land and America.
The Irish Wake is etched in our phyche as families were torn apart - children
never saw their parents again and parents lost their offspring. Like all
migrant communities, we brought a fearless spirit to our chosen destinations.
We became the "man who built America".
Vincent Harris took "A second chance to make a
first impression". He spoke about his hens who have decided that "no
layers pellets means no eggs". He spoke about how time changes attitudes -
when he was younger, he couldn't wait to leave small town Tralee. Now, the
qualities that repelled him as a young man now attract him. Toastmasters has
given him the opportunity to speak on his many and varied opinions - on Trump,
Brexit, the sickness industry and the future of the polar-bear! In short,
Vincent's approach to life is informed by his motto - "Do the best you can
until you know better and when you know better, you do better".
"Sliding" was the title of Sean
Corcoran's demonstration of playing the Dobro. Invented in 1928 by a Slovakian
immigrant, John Dopyera, this resonator guitar is synonymous with country
bluegrass and folk music. Sean deftly demonstrated the unique sound of the
Dobro. Moreover, he discussed the technique used by guitarist, Ry Cooder and
his distinctive "bottleneck" style. He explained the different types
of Slide and Pedal Steel guitars. All that was missing from Sean's speech was a
soundtrack of Bob Wills and the Texas Playboys or Lowell George and Little
Feat. Sean celebrated the unadulterated joy of music and the playing of musical
instruments. Play on, Sean.
After four speeches, Pat Sexton's chosen topic was
speeches. "It's About the Speech" was a tribute to the wonderful
opportunities that present themselves when Toastmasters members organise their
ideas into speech form. Our interests, our opinions and our creativity are
developed when we commit to presenting a speech. Everyone has a story to tell,
Speakeasy provides the ideal forum to sound off, grow in confidence and find
our voices. No speech is perfect. Indeed, the speaker humorously referenced a
less than stellar presentation which could cure insomnia! Pat's speech was a
call to members and guests to "take the plunge", a dive into
acquiring self confidence that is somewhat warmer than Ice water swimming!
As is customary in Speakeasy, all speakers were
evaluated by a team of evaluators that included Helsa Giles, Claire O'Connell,
Marie Fitzpatrick, Don McSweeney and Rachel Liston. All evaluators provided
worthy commendations and appropriate recommendations to their assigned
speaker.
An entertaining Topics Session was presented by
Noel O’ Connor who provided members with an impromptu challenge. A huge
discussion on the passing of Broadcaster, Gay Byrne and his contribution to
Irish life. The vexed question of our attitudes to alcohol was analysed in a
topic on Christmas Day Pub openings. The perennial subject of the generation
gap was examined in a hilarious "role play" by Deirdre Linehan and
Margaret O’Regan on a daughter's inappropriate dress code for a night out!
At the meeting's conclusion, the General Evaluator,
Margaret O' Regan presented awards to Ann Nyhan - Best Speaker and Don
McSweeney - Best Evaluation. In truth, all contributors were winners.
In other news, the North Cork Area Finals of The
Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests took place in Fermoy Community Centre
last week. Speakeasy was represented in both Contests by Michael Cronin and Pat
Sexton. On a night when speeches were punctuated with laughter Pat Sexton
emerged as winner in both Contests, with Kevin Walsh of Fermoy in Second Place.
Both contestants will go forward to the Division B Finals in Listowel on
Sunday, 24th November. They will cross verbal swords with participants from
Kerry, Limerick, Clare and North Tipperary.
The next Speakeasy Toastmasters meeting will take
place in The Hibernian Hotel Mallow on Thursday, 28th November at 8.00PM. As
always, guests are welcome to attend and are never obliged to speak unless they
wish to do so. For more information on this club, please check out our website speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook.
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Club meets on alternate Thursday Nights of each
month, September to May at 8.00 PM Sharp in The Hibernian Hotel, Mallow:
Speak Easy Toastmasters was founded in April 1993
speakeasytoastmasters.com
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