On Tuesday evening, October 25^th, the members and friends of Fermoy Toastmasters gathered at the riverside Youth Centre for a memorably convivial and successful meeting.

Ours is a most welcoming group and this was once again most generously and cordially extended to all by our charming Club President Eilish Ui Bhriain together with warm congratulations to all four of our contestants Frank O’ Driscoll and Mary Whelan, John Kelly and Fanahan Colbert, in the recent Area Humorous Speech and Topics Contests respectively, where all had turned in outstanding performances and in particular Frank O’Driscoll who handsomely won the Mitchelstown Area competition and went on the following Sunday, the 23^rd, to participate in the Divisional Contest in Limerick with honour and distinction. A most heartfelt round of applause signalled the admiration and respect of the club for one of our very finest members and best friends. Most aptly, Frank was our Toastmaster or chairman of the evening, who graciously acknowledged these warm sentiments and emphasised that we come together to maximise our potential through enjoyment and pleasure, sharing happy time with special people on our journey of discovery where the road ever rises to meet us.

Now there is no better way of making every meeting truly sparkle than a good and enjoyable Topics session. Fermoy Toastmasters has no better and more devoted friend than Michael Sheehan who took on that task then. He adroitly introduced each theme and then gave it to the initial respondent to be followed by that eager spontaneity and refreshing quickness of mind and speech that is ever so uplifting and stimulating.  Whether it was how past adversity makes for tomorrow’s good old days, evoking the age of railways or recalling the late Munster Rugby Coach Anthony Foley or the traditions of Halloween, to name just a very few, a good topics forum like this brings out the best in us all. Our Acting Area Governor, Johanna Hegarty, truly spoke on behalf of us all when she said how there was a time when she found topics a little challenging but now she loves what is everyone’s favourite section of the meeting as any initial hesitation soon gives way to free-flowing and engaging contributions from all. This is a measure of personal growth for the more you take part, the more you receive with improved communications skills, enhanced proficiency of thought and expression and the greater the enjoyment that sends you home feeling so glad you came. Like everything that is beautiful, it makes you feel good to be alive and part of this wonderful world.

But if all is immediate and spontaneous with topics, an essential balance is struck with the serene and measured quality of the prepared speeches. With set objectives laid down, the speaker attempts to fulfill the requirements of the stage with a presentation that is thoughtful, well-crafted, illuminating and informative as well as being witty, sincere and full of warm conviction, with all of these strands brought together to make a truly lovely and elegant speech.

John Sherlock carried us far above the genial confines of our meeting room in a journey of imagination to the rippling waters, the wayward wild winds and the billowing clouds with a very fine and well-researched presentation about our ever changing weather patterns and the vast traditional lore and sayings by which past generations have tried to read the signs to know what the days and indeed the seasons will bring.  If a red sky at night is the shepherd’s delight it is because the air mass coming from the west is clear promising a fine day to come; red sky in the morning is shepherd’s warning because approaching clouds in the western sky are fringed and flecked by the rays of the rising sun heralding rain. A ring around the moon reflects a build-up of ice crystals in the atmosphere likewise associated with precipitation. But when sheep climb the higher slopes and fan out across the mountainside as John often sees from his home looking out to the majestic Galtees the weather will be calm, dry and pleasant and as delightful as was John’s fascinating and magisterial speech.

Kevin O’Neil is a recently joined member who assumed the great responsibility of becoming our meeting organiser and arranger, the most demanding and complex role in any club, but one in which he is proving himself with marked accomplishment and grace. The scope and reach of his ample talents were fully displayed in a concise and very effective talk on the elements of a successful job interview.  Such as the need to dress well and smartly for you don’t get a second chance to make a good first impression.  Also it is essential to be affable and at ease, projecting yourself well.  To thoroughly study the company for whom you are hoping to work and to ask intelligent questions shows real commitment. Set up a memorable hook for yourself by telling the panel something engaging and positive drawn from your life and interests thus far that will fix yourself in their minds.  Never be negative about yourself or allow attention to fall on what you may not have done, but instead draw attention to what you have done and the range of your capabilities. Once again courtesy is all important and always remember to thank the interviewers for their time, interest and attention, not forgetting to ask when you may reasonably hear from them that shows enthusiasm and a positive outlook. Kevin rounded off with a quote from Alexander Graham Bell that if one door closes, another surely opens but that sometimes we fail to see this for we remain fixated on the closed door. There is no better place than Toastmasters to learn the art of walking through the open door leading to opportunity and a better life.

Far more time is given attentive listening than to speaking as the evaluators Mary Whelan and Denis O’Brien did that evening praising the speakers wholeheartedly and offering positive suggestions to even further improvement while the General Evaluator Fanahan Colbert gave a very fine overall impression of the meeting.  All of this and so much more can be readily enjoyed at our next meeting at the Fermoy Youth Centre on this coming Tuesday, November 8^th, at 8.15 pm to which we all eagerly look forward.  For further information, please contact Eilish Ui Bhriain at 087 1235203 or Kevin Walsh at 058 60100 or log on to our mobile-friendly website toastmastersfermoy.com or find us on Twitter @ FermoyT.