Adventures, consequences and Gaelic football
Nenagh Toastmasters hold Humorous Speech Competition
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Rowena Bisschoff won second place in the Topics competition and was presented with her certificate by Meena Verma.Image 2 of 4
Sean Butler won first place in Table Topics and was presented with his prize by Meena Verma.Image 3 of 4
Meena Verma with Jim McGuire, who won second place in Humorous Speech.Image 4 of 4
Meena Verma with David Healy, third in Humorous Speech and Table Topics.Nenagh Toastmasters met at the Abbey Court Hotel on Tuesday, October 29, for their Humorous Speech Competition night.
Five people in the Nenagh group competed in the preliminary round to select the most amusing speech. The winner would go forward to the Area final round. John Spillane, as acting President opened the meeting, outlining the process, then passed the baton to Meena Verma, who laid out the process for this evening in terms of the contest, the speakers and the importance of timing.
The speech should be five to seven minutes long, the clock starting with the first word spoken. Those who fell short of 4.5 minutes, or exceeded the time allowed by more than 30 seconds, would be disqualified.
Meena described the sequence: Speakers would step forward in turn, shake her hand as host and deliver their speech. Speakers would remain facing the audience to acknowledge response, before returning to their seats. After drawing lots to decide the order, speakers were invited by Topicsmaster Emma McCarthy to respond to the topic: ‘What Makes Me Laugh’.
These were the speakers and their chosen topics: Jim McGuire spoke about ‘Adventures’. Tony Spain’s topic was ‘Consequences’. Sean Butler: ‘A Day in the Life’. David Healy: ‘The New Rules Enhancement of Gaelic Football’. Eileen Dight: ‘Only Joking’.
Following the speeches there was a 20 minutes break for coffee, tea, biscuits and general conversation. Topicsmaster Emma McCarthy then invited the five competitors in turn to respond with two minutes of comment on the topic ‘Time Waits for No One’, to select a speaker for the inter club Table Topics Contest (two minutes spontaneously on the given subject).
Again, they drew lots to decide the sequence of speakers, then waited outside the meeting to be called upon in turn to speak on the same topic. Certificates for the top three winners of both competitions were awarded at the end of the meeting, presented by Meena Verma.
The results of the contest were as follows: Sean Butler was first in both competitions. Jim McGuire was second in the Humorous Speech category, and David Healy was third in both competitions.
The Area Final will be held in Nenagh on Friday, November 15, at the Abbey Court Hotel. Members of the public are always welcome to join us. The next meeting of Nenagh Toastmasters will be at 8pm on Tuesday, November 12, at the Abbey Court.
Toastmasters International recently celebrated its first centenary.