SHANNON TOASTMASTERS are celebrating 27 years and will be holding an open night on Wednesday (September 20th).
Following a summer break, Shannon Toastmasters returned to Treacy’s Oakwood Hotel for their first get-together since the summer recess.
President of Shannon Toastmasters, Patrick Hynes outlined, “Having received Distinguished Club status from Toastmasters International this year, we are delighted to continue with our communication and leadership programme in our club”.
Part of Toastmasters International, Patrick was hopeful their open night would lead to an increase in members which currently stands in the region of twenty ranging from people aged in their twenties to those in their senior years.
He described it as a vibrant and fun club where “you develop many public speaking skills. This can include for example preparing a speech for a Best Man’s speech at a wedding, or a college presentation. We would encourage anyone who is anxious about public speaking to come to Toastmasters. Other aspects of Toastmasters include impromptu speaking, critiquing and evaluating speeches, and practicing leadership skills such as chairing a meeting or producing the meeting agenda.
“The skills that members develop are wide ranging. There is a space for creativity at meetings and some members have commented that their ability to articulate themselves has developed both from a speaking perspective and from a written perspective. Some members write their speeches in their entirety, while others use bullet points, and of course some use no notes at all. This is a skill that really progresses when you are in Toastmasters,” he added.
Members have represented Shannon Toastmasters Club at various speech contests both at club level and at other Toastmasters contests regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Patrick said, “Our mission is to be a club that is visible and valued in Shannon, so therefore we would be delighted to have some new members join. While it may sound daunting to come to a meeting that has public speaking as part of it, the consensus of new members is that after the initial step of going to the meeting, it is fun, easy going and interesting”.
Shannon Toastmasters meet on the first Wednesday and third Wednesday of every month (except July and August) at Treacy’s Oakwood Hotel, Shannon at 8pm.
