Toastmasters welcome guests from Soroptimists

The first Toastmasters meeting of the year took place on January 16 and it was great to get back in action following the Christmas period. There was a great turnout of 21 people, who included 15 members and six guests from the Soroptimist Mullingar District. We were entertained by Toastmaster for the evening, Philip Howlin, who amused everyone with a tale about the ‘Chipper with no chips’.

The first speaker of the evening was Fintan McGill, who delivered his first Toastmasters speech, ‘A true story of greed’, which was evaluated by Deirdre Bigley. One thing was clear to both Deirdre and the rest of the audience – that Fintan is a natural storyteller.

The second speaker was a welcome guest, Aoibhinn Hanley, a student at St Joseph’s Secondary School, Rochfortbridge. Aoibhinn impressed everyone with her speech quality and delivery.

She was practising for the Soroptimists public speaking competition. Aoibhinn delivered her speech with confidence and professionalism. That view was backed up by her evaluator on the night Lorraine Murphy, who also gave some good advice on how Aoibhinn can take her speech to an even higher level. Mullingar Toastmasters wish Aoibhinn the best of luck in the next stages of the competition.

Eilish Fox was the final speaker of the evening, with a speech entitled ‘What is the one certainty in life?’. Sprinkled with humour, Eilish’s speech reflected on her career as a funeral organiser and gave everyone an insight into the profession. During his evaluation, John Waldron completed Eilish on her great wit, clarity and structure of her speech. Her self-depreciating humour made it an entertaining speech for all.

One of the newest members, Jeff Schwartz, took on the role of Topics Master and made everyone consider their new year resolutions (or lack thereof).

The second meeting of January took place on the 30th, which was the open night, and members welcomed author and Toastmaster from the Tullamore club, Siobhán Keenan Fitzgerald as she launches her book ‘Listen: How Child and Student Voice Can Change the World’. There were 25 in attendance at the meeting.

Experienced Toastmaster, Pat Kavanagh, chaired the meeting for the evening and ensured that the programme ran smoothly. Pat Kenny warmed everyone up with his tale about new year resolutions in the Creative Corner and told us just to keep things simple and not set out to make an unrealistic future self – it turns out crisp sandwiches should be an all year round thing.

Julie Kiernan delivered the first speech of the evening. It was entitled ‘Be yourself, everyone else is taken’, a famous Oscar Wilde quip. Julie is a fantastic speaker, and her skills are growing at a rate of knots. She gave a clear and structured speech on how to improve confidence and cope with stress.

The second speaker of the evening, Hijesh Lohidhakshan, entertained with his speech ‘The Cost of Kindness’. Hijesh is a confident speaker and has a knack for using beautiful language. Members look forward to hearing his next speech, which builds on the feedback he received on the night.

Tony Viney invited members to consider the message in his speech about ‘The boy who wouldn’t listen’. It was informative, humorous and dynamic, and it was accompanied by brilliant props which kept the audience engaged throughout. Siobhán Keenan Fitzgerald was the final speaker of the evening and provided the audience with insight about her new book ‘Listen’.

They learned about Siobhán’s journey and the inspirations for her book. Siobhan has completed a PHD in education and encourages everyone to listen to the children and give them a voice. There is so much we can learn by tuning in to them and their natural wisdom. Members were lucky enough to have some time for a Q&A session.

The Table Topics session was organised by Brian McLoughlin, who is always energetic, enthusiastic and entertaining. Brian encouraged the attendees to give three reasons for why they agreed or did not agree with his topic, which forced them into well structured responses.

As always, the meetings at Mullingar Toastmasters would not be possible without members taking up various roles throughout the evening and club would like to express appreciation to those who ensure the meetings run smoothly.

The next meeting is on February 13 at 8pm at the Greville Arms Hotel – come on down; Toastmasters might be your new year resolution.

If you have any questions about Mullingar Toastmasters, make contact on Facebook or at mullingartoastmasters@gmail.com.