Confidence, connection and competition at Mullingar Toastmasters
The room filled with anticipation as Mullingar Toastmasters held their competition night on Thursday October 9, at the Greville Arms Hotel, and members and guests were eager to hear a selection of speeches from the club’s most prolific speakers. Those speakers hoped that their speeches would win and lead them to the next level of the competition with other Toastmasters groups from the surrounding area.
The competition chair introduced the rules and roles as pens and judging slips were provided to those present.
Some speeches were heartfelt, some were humorous, and others were motivational. Regardless of the topic, each speech demonstrated Toastmasters’ power to inspire confidence. In the end, Patsy Fagan’s speech, ‘Letter Writing’ took first place. It touched on the ‘special something’ the recipients feel when handwritten letters arrive in the post. As those reduce in number, the wonderful feeling increases. Proud of his win, Patsy treated all to a round in the Greville bar after the meeting. Of course, they intend to write him handwritten notes of thanks.
Toastmasters meetings include Table Topics to help members prepare for spontaneous moments when they need to speak in front of people at work or school, or when introducing ourselves in a social situation. Thursday night included a Table Topics Competition, for which those participating had a few seconds to prepare one- to two-minute responses to the question, ‘What makes a person truly memorable?’. The winner was John Waldron. For John, a truly memorable person had a few different aspects, including being socially aware, decent, and fair-minded.
A list of competition participants is below.
The next Toastmasters meeting is Thursday October 22, at 8pm in the Greville Arms Hotel, and you’re invited to be a guest.
Build your confidence and connection. Meetings are on the second and fourth Thursdays of the month at the Greville Arms Hotel. See Facebook or email mullingartoastmasters@gmail.com.
Speech Competition Participants
Brian McLoughlin, ‘What Gender Are We Today?’; Caroline Finn Carey, ‘The Demise of Javier Halfcabbage’; John Waldron, ‘Should Have Gone to Specsavers’; Pat Kenny, ‘The Long Goodbye’; and Patsy Fagan, ‘Letter Writing’.
Table Topics Participants: Mags Healy Donoghue, Brian McLoughlin, John Waldron, Pat Kenny, and Tony Viney.