Toastmasters show plenty of resolve at first meeting of year
It may be midwinter but all participants enjoyed a heart-warming night at Toastmasters. The session was opened by new club president, Brian McLoughlin, who praised past presidents, Pauline McCabe and Geraldine Smith, for their heavy-lifting over the last year.
Toastmaster of the night, John Waldron, welcomed old and new faces, then highlighted a range of New Year’s resolutions declared by failte officer Pauline, timekeeper Jacqui Wiley, grammarian Lorraine Murphy and general evaluator Anke von Bunau. All eager to tell the audience about their best intentions. Promises, promises!
Lorraine then entertained with her ‘ bag of tricks’, deciding to ditch her digital app for an old fashioned dictionary and thesaurus.
First speaker, Eilish Fox, with a speech entitled 'A New Year’s Resolution Worth Considering’ challenged the audience to consider what makes them happy. It’s volunteering, she insisted, taking us on a tour of her own volunteering experiences with the group, Aware.
Next, Tom Byrne with his past year review showed us how we should focus on past success rather than guesswork about what might work in the future.
Speech evaluators Linda Gavagan and Anthony Viney praised both speakers for their great engagement with the audience while highlighting the need for eye contact and vocal reach.
After a break for tea and chat, table topics master Ian Cahill launched a quick-fire session, asking attendees to tell us what traditions we should celebrate and what resolutions we can ditch. Respondents didn’t disappoint, with many skilfully employing the word of the night, ‘Fit’.
General evaluator Anke praised the overall quality and elegance of the evening’s contributors as well as the organisers of the session. ‘A perfect fit,’ she concluded.
The meeting was rounded off by toastmaster John with concluding comments by our very own ‘Il Presidente’, Brian. The next meeting of Mullingar Toastmasters takes place at the Greville Arms Hotel on Thursday January 25 at 8pm.All are welcome.