Big turnout at Nenagh Toastmasters meeting
By Joe Ryan (PRO)
The fourth meeting of Nenagh Toastmasters club for the 2022-2023 season was held on Tuesday, October 18, in the Abbey Court Hotel and we were welcomed by our president, Tony Spain, who introduced our Toastmaster for the night, Danny Doyle.
The only permanent fixture at the top table is the president for the 2022/'23 season and the other roles are rotated for each meeting, so every member gets an opportunity to perform a role and learn a new skill or reinforce a previously learned one.
At this meeting we had a huge turnout of 24, including six guests, some of whom were members of other Toastmasters clubs and some who just came along to find out what Toastmasters was all about. While I would love to claim that the latter attended having read the notes submitted to the Nenagh Guardian or put on the Nenagh Toastmasters Facebook page by yours truly, upon further inquiry, I was informed that it was mostly because of word of mouth that they came along. Nevertheless, I will persist with the notes in the hope that someone will attend as a result of having read them!
As usual, the first part of the meeting consisted of two prepared speeches. The first speech was delivered by Saurabh Gurgule from Thomond Toastmasters entitled ‘That Decision’, and Saurabh gave us a fascinating and entertaining speech about how a young Indian man ended up in an Irish Toastmasters club in Limerick. Suarabh’s speech was evaluated by John Spillane, who provided Saurabh with valuable feedback on how he delivered his speech and where he could make improvements for his next speech, which John said he really looked forward to.
The second speech was delivered by Natasha Gavilovska entitled ‘About the goodness of reading’ and Natasha’s speech was evaluated by Joe Ryan, who praised the content and delivery of her speech, considering that English is not her first language. Natasha’s speech was thought-provoking and gave the audience a perspective on the value of reading and the difficulty in these modern times to get children to read books.
The final part of the first half of the meeting consisted of an interview by a club member of a senior club member so newer (and younger) members could become familiar with some of the more experienced members. John Spillane was the interviewee, and he was ably interviewed by Willie Grace, giving an insight into John’s life involved in sport, his childhood in Mountrath and his working life from working in a co-op in Mitchelstown to running his own business in Nenagh with a partner operating in Dublin.
HALF-TIME BREAK
We then broke for tea and coffee, and it has long been noted that the hospitality in Nenagh Toastmasters is excellent and this part of the meeting tends to show the club members at their best, making guests feel welcome and encouraging them to return and perhaps consider joining the club, all without being too pushy! And a number actually signed up on the night, so we must not be half-bad at it.
The second part of the meeting was a topics session and Brendan O’Brien gave the meeting a varied and interesting variety of topics ranging from: 1) The four main personality types are Driver, Analytical, Amiable and Expressive, which one are you? 2) Would you like to see a bridge linking Ireland and Great Britain? 3) Name one top skill you brought from the military to your present role? 4) A person of words and not of deeds is like a garden full of weeds. What do you think? 5) We have many different ways of communicating, but are we better communicators?
No one has advance notice about the topics and you will be asked to speak for up to two minutes on one of those topics, and anyone can add on for up to one minute. Guests will not be asked to speak but if you want to say something and feel comfortable enough to do so, you will welcome to speak on the add-ons.
NEXT MEETING - NOVEMBER 1
Our next meeting is a special meeting when club members challenge themselves and take part in the Humorous Speech competition and the Table Topics competition, some doing both to stretch themselves. That night promises to be even more interesting and entertaining than usual, so do come along on Tuesday, November 1, at 8.15pm in the Abbey Court Hotel and see for yourself!