Athlone Toastmasters get out and about in the community
Community was the big theme for Athlone Toastmasters at the resumption of their fortnightly meetings and there certainly was a strong, warm, friendly sense of community in the meeting room in the Creggan Court hotel on Tuesday, September 26.
The group is delighted that the number of members and guests attending in-person and online is steadily growing.
Staying with community, members of Athlone Toastmasters have been making quite an impact on the local community in recent weeks. Last week, Club President Sharon Dooley and Club Secretary, Francis Keenan promoted Athlone Toastmasters and the potential of improving communication and leadership skills to students in the Athlone campus of the Technological University of the Shannon.
Students readily practised their impromptu speaking skills, selecting topics from the ‘Chit-chat jar’. As a result of this promotion, the group was delighted to welcome many students to our club meeting last Tuesday and look forward to supporting them along their Toastmasters journey.
Staying with the topic of ‘Topics’ or as we call them in Toastmasters, ‘Table Topics’, last Sunday, members of Athlone Toastmasters brought ‘topics on tour’, visiting some of Athlone’s most famous and beautiful landmarks whilst speaking impromptu about related topics as they toured.
The group was delighted to be joined by members of ‘Foyle Speakers’ Toastmasters club in Derry who were thrilled to experience a small flavour of what Athlone has to offer. The sights we visited included Athlone Castle, the Luan Art Gallery, the Cathedral and Séan’s Bar.
Topics spoken about were varied. The group spoke about which room in the castle we would most like to decorate, what can members could learn from the history of Athlone Castle, your home is your castle, and if you were queen/king for a day, what would your priority be.
The Luan gallery prompted topics such as: how important is it to support local artists, the new cycling and pedestrian bridge over the Shannon and how rivers inspire art.
And Sean’s Bar, well, what can we say?! Once we sat down to enjoy a tipple and each other’s company, it was hard to stand up to speak again but in true Toastmasters style, group members did. A name for an Athlone cocktail was proposed, there was talk about the church's place in local history, the best thing about Seán’s Bar, why pubs are an important part of Irish culture and our President performed a party piece we won’t forget for a while.
The next meeting of Athlone Toastmasters will take place on Tuesday, October 10th at 8.15 pm in the Creggan Court Hotel. This will be a slightly different meeting to our usual meeting structure as it is Competition Night. Why not join us as a guest. Don’t worry, you won’t be required to compete but as it is the Club Humorous Speech and Table Topics contest, you will be entertained, intrigued and inspired by speakers who are pushing themselves outside their comfort zone to take part in competitions. It promises to be a fabulous occasion and a great laugh! All are welcome.
This invitation is open to all members of the local community. In Athlone Toastmasters, we are very aware that ‘Community is the foundation of success’. The group provides a safe, supportive community where you can practice, progress and perfect your communication and leadership skills.
Come along and join us. The group meets on the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month in the Creggan Court Hotel, but you can also join us online, as our meetings are hybrid. You can find out more about Athlone Toastmasters here: https://athlone.toastmastersclubs.org/