Nenagh Toastmasters group ended the year on a happy note and with a festive theme

Nenagh Toastmasters' last meeting of 2023 was held on December 12 at the Abbey Court Hotel.  

On the night we had three speeches. The first speaker, Eileen, gave a speech entitled Writing One’s Memoirs, an interesting speech on composing a life story.

Our second speaker, Stephen, gave a speech entitled Christmas Traditions, a seasonal speech on the festivities of Christmas.

Our third speaker, Willie, gave a speech entitled A Little Positivity, and his speech was focused on nature and all it has to offer.

These speeches were evaluated by Tony Spain, Brendan O'Brien and Joe Ryan, who gave positive feedback to the speakers and some practical suggestions for their next project. All the speeches were hugely enjoyable and educational for all present.

Jim McGuire very efficiently chaired the meeting.

The second half of the meeting dealt with topics.

Our Topics master, Sean Butler, had a seasonal theme to the topics on the night. Here we practice unprepared speaking on a range of topics and this section of the meeting always provides great fun and experience.  

A selection of the topics on the night included The Great Christmas Cookie Debate, Chewy versus Crunchy; How to Keep your New Year’s Resolution, a guide by Frosty the Snowman.  

Margaret McGuire completed the role of grammarian. The grammarian’s role each night is to keep check on our efforts to eliminate or reduce what is termed as crutch words, or filler words as we speak.

Our word of the evening was Happy. By introducing a word of the evening, we are challenged to bring this word into our speaking during the evening.  

Operating our timer lights was Natasha Gavilovska, which helps us keep track of time for the meeting. The structure of our meetings affords everyone the opportunity to speak or deliver a report if they so wish.

First meeting of the New Year for Nenagh Toastmasters begins on Tuesday, January 9, at 8.15pm in the Abbey Court Hotel. Come and see what we do. You are under no obligation to join and will receive a very warm and friendly welcome.