Meet, greet and maybe dip your feet at our club

THE words of Creedence Clearwater Revival’s ‘Bad Moon Rising’ aptly describe last week’s dominant news story - Hurricane Lorenzo. And in Cork, the question being asked is - are weather warnings more disruptive than the weather?

Acting on the Orange Weather Warning, Speakeasy Toastmasters took the responsible decision to postpone last week’s meeting. It was more a case of ‘meeting delayed not meeting denied’ as they host a rescheduled meeting in the Hibernian Hotel on this Thursday, October 10 at 8pm.

Speakeasy Toastmasters is all about the meetings. Everything that the Club stands for is exemplified by the Club meeting. Members are given the opportunity to participate in various roles - each one being equally significant.

Members can present prepared speeches which are assigned an evaluator who provides the speaker with appropriate feedback.

Other roles include the Toastmaster of the evening who acts as chairperson and introduces each speaker. Moreover, the Topics Session is conducted by the topics-master who is the discussion leader.

Each meeting has a time-keeper who ensures that speakers cannot ramble on for too long. And, for those members who have not an assigned role, they can participate in the Topics Session which is the impromptu part of the meeting.

Toastmasters works on the principle that they ‘ learn by doing’. Nobody ever learns to swim by walking around the swimming pool. At some stage, they need to get into the water. In Toastmasters, members are encouraged to ‘ dip their feet into the water’.

Communication is a ‘ learned skill’ - the more you do it, the better you become and confidence grows. Toastmasters’ involvement assists members in several areas of communication and leadership. The members bring the skills that they learn in Toastmasters into the workplace and into various voluntary organisations.

Speakeasy Toastmasters has a very busy schedule over the coming weeks. It begins with Thursday night’s meeting and continues with the Annual Humorous Speech and Table Topics Contests. These will take place at the Club meeting on Thursday, October 17 in the Hibernian Hotel at 8pm. Down the years, these contests have provided great entertainment for members and guests alike.

Guests are always welcome to attend meetings. If your curious about Speakeasy or if you wish to take up a beneficial new hobby. If you feel that acquiring good communication skills can help you at work or in those special occasions, why not pay a visit? Guests are never obliged to speak unless they wish to do so.

For more information, please check out website speakeasytoastmasters.com or on Facebook.