Thursday, May 27, 2004

27 may 2004

Welcome guests

As usual guests are very welcome at Speakeasy Toastmaster meetings, and last week two visiting Toastmasters from the UK got actively involved in proceedings. Imke Halberstadt, who is the current Area 6 governor, took on the role of General evaluator and Jane Riddell, Division B governor evaluated Michael McMahon’s speech. Following on from a very entertaining speech session, the role of Topicsmaster was taken on by Margaret O’ Regan. The topics included; do you believe in fairies?, what will you say to the canvassers on your doorstep?, what tactics do you use to get rid of unwelcome guests?, and the benefits of Playstations over robbing orchards’. As usual the response was spontaneous and entertaining.

Our next meeting will be our last for this year and will be held on Thursday, 27th May at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.
If you would like to know more about Speakeasy Toastmasters club you can ring Angela at 022 51071 or Sean at 022 22755 for information. Or you can log onto our website www.speakeasytoastmasters.com. The club’s e-mail address is speakeasymallow@eircom.net

27 May

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

Welcome guests

As usual guests are very welcome at Speakeasy Toastmaster meetings, and last week two visiting Toastmasters from the UK got actively involved in proceedings. Imke Halberstadt, who is the current Area 6 governor, took on the role of General evaluator and Jane Riddell, Division B governor evaluated Michael McMahon’s speech. Following on from a very entertaining speech session, the role of Topicsmaster was taken on by Margaret O’ Regan. The topics included; do you believe in fairies?, what will you say to the canvassers on your doorstep?, what tactics do you use to get rid of unwelcome guests?, and the benefits of Playstations over robbing orchards’. As usual the response was spontaneous and entertaining.

Our next meeting will be our last for this year and will be held on Thursday, 27th May at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

20 May

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

Roy is the boy!

Members and guests were treated to five very diverse and interesting speeches last Thursday night during the penultimate meeting of Speakeasy Toastmasters club. First up was Elizabeth O’ Brien with a speech entitled ‘8 day wonder’ which described the preparations and activities associated with the Lenten stations which can be accomplished with just 8 days notice. Another myth was shattered, though, as she discovered that men CAN pour tea. Michael McMahon told the very strange true story of the effects of a drug used in the 60’s which resulted in the birth of 6 exceptionally good but ‘different’ children. Each of the children provoked violence towards themselves as a result of being totally non-prejudiced. The speech was entitled ‘The little victims’. The subject of Mary Buckley’s speech was Roy Keane and she read a variety of very interesting and insightful extracts from his autobiography. As a result everyone present wants to buy a copy of the book for themselves. Vivien Buckley gave an impromptu speech on the subject of ‘Excellent communication skills essential’ which described how conventional communication skills as we know them can be completely useless in certain circumstances. Appropriate skills have to be learnt in order to be able to communicate effectively with autistic adults. The final speech of the night was delivered by John Dillon, entitled ‘A unique opportunity’. In the year 2016 Ireland will be celebrating the 1916 centenary. It would be an ideal opportunity to recognise the peacemakers rather than place the emphasis on the heroes of the physical force movements. John’s hope is that the 2016 centenary will mark an end to violence and will be used as an opportunity for peace. Michael Cronin, Jane Riddell, Kieran Buckley, Jerry Mulcahy and Barry McCarthy were the speech evaluators on the night.


Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 27th May at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.

Thursday, May 13, 2004

13 May

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

The final part of our recent meeting was taken up with the club’s AGM. Following the various reports from the outgoing officers, the following new committee members were elected;

President; Sean Corcoran
Educational Vice President; Angela Sheehan
Treasurer; Mary Buckley
PRO: Sean Dillon
New Membership: Michael Cronin
Secretary: Dierdre Lenihan
Sergeant-at arms; Anne Buckley
Paula Lane

If you want to get a taste of Toastmasters before we finish for the summer you only have two opportunities left. Our final meetings will be held on May 13th and 27th. So put a note in your diary or you’ll have to wait until we start up again in September.

Finally – the very best of luck to Dierdre Lenihan in the District International speech contest to be held in Limerick at the weekend.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 13th May at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.

Thursday, May 06, 2004

6 May

Speakeasy Toastmasters Mallow

Congratulations, Dierdre
Dierdre Lenihan delivered a powerful speech in the Vienna Woods hotel, Cork last Saturday night during the Division A International speech contest. Such was the calibre and content of her speech that she was declared the winner on the night and will go on to represent the Division in the District finals in Limerick on the 15th May. She will be competing against other Divisional winners from Ireland and the UK. The very best of luck to her.
And on to the meeting held last Thursday night; What is the most fascinating and useful piece of equipment in your house? Well in Mary Stack’s opinion it’s got to be the remote control. Sitting comfortably, feet up, and away she goes – spoilt for choice with 200 channels and a huge variety of programme choice. The documentaries and the health shows are particularly fascinating and educational. Did you know that you can cure hiccups with a paper bag? Fortunately, as Mary makes all the big decisions, she controls the remote and she decides whether to ‘switch or not to switch’. Mary’s speech was evaluated by Michael Walsh.
Following the speech session Eugene O’ Connell took control of the meeting with a spirited and interesting Topics session. The topics included; Beverly Cooper-Flynn – what should she do now; Your worst travel experience; Most disliked newspaper columnist; and Which professional manager would you have as manager of Speakeasy. As usual this was a most entertaining part of the evening, with plenty of participation and a wide variety of opinions aired.

Our next meeting will be held on Thursday, 13th May at 8:00pm and we ask everyone attending to be at The Hibernian Hotel (Chapel Lane) at 7:50 pm.