Athlone Toastmasters holds its first hybrid meeting

After moving its meetings online during the pandemic, the Athlone Toastmasters group held its first hybrid meeting earlier this week.

The in-person and online gathering took place from the Prince of Wales Hotel on Monday.

Toastmasters promotes public speaking and leadership skills, and the Athlone group's meeting was opened by its president Somesh Kumar who said improvements in technology showed that hybrid meetings were the way forward.

The meeting was open not only to Irish clubs but to Toastmasters groups worldwide.

Topics for the meeting, selected by Francis Keenan, were on the universal theme of Halloween, and ranged from scary films to death!

Sharon Dooley, who won the club competition recently, gave an interesting speech on 'Motherhood', while Anna Howard chose to deliver a speech on 'An Adventure'.

Helen Keenan commented on how well the evening went, given that it was the first attempt at a hybrid meeting.

"We can only look to a better future for all members and improve the art of public speaking," the group concluded.