Well a week has passed and it is time to look forward. The committee is in place for next year, you’ll find them listed along with some member profiles on the “Who We Are” page (See the link above).

Also, we have a provisional calendar in place with meetings due to kick off on Thursday September 23rd. (See “When we meet”).

All that is left to decide is the venue. Following an extensive search last year, only two venues emerged as suitable for our Toastmasters meetings. While we don’t need anything special, we do need to be able to seat 20 people in a private room and have access to tea/coffee facilities. The two venues are:

• The board room of Macroom-E.
• The Bealick room at The Castle Hotel.

Which venue would you prefer to see us in? Please vote below.

Have a good summer!

We had three prepared speeches for the evening. Kris Meulemans presented a masterful stage 2 speech entitled “When life hands you lemons…, which was a huge endorsement for a positive approach to life and making margaritas. Fiona Cotter completed her sixth competent communicator level with a thought provoking speech regarding the state of the nation. She intelligently echoed Kris’s idea’s in advocating a more positive approach to life in these recessionary times with a speech entitled “Taking Action”. Our third speech for the evening was given by Peter Neville, which was the anniversary of his last presentation. His speech Planes, trains and automobiles was an excellent travel diary of his recent trip to Austria. We hope we won’t have to wait such a long time for his next presentation.

The evaluation of the meeting was admirably accomplished by Michael Murphy who has taken to the roles at Toastmasters like a duck to water.

At the conclusion of a very successful season we wish to thank all our patrons, members and guests for their contributions and help throughout the season.

We would especially like to thank John Skeates who is stepping down after three years of doing Trojan work as treasurer.

Our next meeting will be on September 23rd. New members and guests are most welcome to come along and remember you need not speak unless you wish to.

Its the perfect night to get an idea of whether or not Toastmasters is for you.

Darren provides tips on speaking to two Irish business owners and finishes with a comparison of speeches by David Cameron and Brian Cowen – You may be surprised by Darren’s comments.

To listen to the mp3 of the show, click here.

Got your interest? Why not come along to Macroom’s next Toastmaster meeting on May 27th, 8pm,  at the Macroom E centre.

Our first speech was from John Skeates, one of our most experienced members. In a 14 minute advanced speech, “That’ll do ferry nicely”, John took us on several trips: Cork – Fishguard in the 50′s, Portsmouth – Bilbao, and even as far as Bergen, Norway and Hong Kong.

Our second speech was from Kieran Coffey who is in training for a best-man’s speech. I don’t want to give away the game here, but it’ll be gas!

Finally, Kris Meulemans, our newest member, gave his Ice Breaker speech. This is where a new Toastmaster gets to speak for about 5 minutes on themselves. No easy task – But Kris did an excellent job. We are looking forward to his coming speeches.

The night finished on a high with the inaugural presentation of the perpetual Cremin-Connolly trophy to Michael Murphy, Macroom’s representative in the recent International Speech contest. Pictures will follow soon.

The only thing the night was missing were guests, so please do come along on the 27th if you think Toastmasters is for you.

Photo owned by mozzercork (cc)