Open night successes at Mullingar Toastmasters

Photo shows - Mullingar Toastmasters, Philip Howlin, Dermot Carey, Anne Malone, Anne Drury, Ciara Kinnarney, Billy Gough, Timothy Green and Des Regan.

Mullingar Toastmasters Open Night 2020 produced another wow! night for members, visitors and guests. Toastmaster Pat Kenny embodied the essence of aplomb which was the appropriate word of the night chosen by Grammarian Mags Healy-Donoghue.

Inspirational speeches were expertly delivered by Billy Gough and Philip Howlin. Both relatively new members performed like seasoned professionals as they used props, easily connected with the audience and appeared at ease while speaking.

Billy shared lessons learned through his love of running, including completing numerous marathons, and the self-management strategies he deployed in achieving his dreams.

Philip spoke of his Toastmaster experience from the beginning until now and displayed how one year can make such a difference in our abilities and self confidence.

Huge thanks must go to our guest speaker Dermot (The Calculator) Carey who travelled down from Dublin, taking time off work, to be with us. Toastmaster of the year 2013/14, Dermot provided a hilarious account of accountants and the excitement of their profession. The room was in stitches!

Evaluators Ronan Murtagh and Lorraine Murphy impressed in their feedback and recommendations.

Table topics Master Brian McLoughlin succeeded in raising interesting questions with the whole room adding on.

Timer John Waldron kept us all on tracks and Fáilte Officer Maureen McCormack was outstanding in the role of welcoming everyone and looking after them. Extra thanks to Sergeant At Arms Joshua Yoon, ably assisted by Anke Von Bunau, for setting the room up perfectly.

Double jobbing is Anke’s middle name as she then moved to expertly evaluate the evening in her role as General Evaluator.

Back in the reigns after a spell in a warmer climate, president, Anne Drury, brought her Janus symbol as her guest of honour for the month that was in it.

Anne highlighted upcoming events including Pathways training on Tuesday February 11 in The Congress Centre. She also spoke of the club round of the International Speech Competition being held on Thursday March 12.

We are so very lucky to have such a safe place to grow, learn and connect in the heart of Mullingar. Here’s to a year of many more laughs and lessons.

Toastmasters Mullingar meet every second and fourth Thursday of the month in The Greville Arms Hotel at 8.30pm. Next meeting Thursday February 13.

Check us out on Facebook and at our website www.mullingartoastmasters.org.