The Great Bamboozle session!

Last Toastmasters meeting was a jubilant one – the Galway Toastmasters banner was reinstated with all the awards from over the years on display and our jubilant president Sarah welcomed every one, including Toastmaster Christoffer whom she had bumped into on the top of Croagh Patrick! He bravely took on the role as toastmaster for the first time.

The “bamboozle” master and Topicsmaster for the evening Eugene, challenged even the most experienced members to decide what their first decree as benign dictators would be... Frances, having just returned from Copenhagen, shared her passion for cycling and as a benign dictator she would single-handed transform Dublin with free bikes whilst also resolving the housing crisis. Jenny took on the benign dictatorship role by inviting all the Michelin star chefs to her palace!

During the topics discussed we discovered Aisling’s passion for zumba, salsa and Irish dancing, that Sarah’s father is a musician and Cormac has a penchant for “knock, knock” jokes when he is not teaching kayaking on the Corrib!

Christoffer then introduced our first speaker for the night Margaret, a visionary communicator speech “Plot to plate”, whom delighted us with insights into growing what she eats when not swooning over her cardboard cut-out of Liam Neeson.

The second speaker Cormac and his speech “The thing that changed my life” involved sharing his experiences whilst volunteering for the Special Olympics in L.A. and  Austria. The leadership skills he developed teaching kayaking on the river Corrib helped build his confidence. Our third speaker Brian introduced “Don’t just be a spectator in life” referencing the Glastonbury festival and encouraging us all to step up and get more out of life. The last and fourth speech of the evening entitled “Kevin” was a personal account delivered by Pat, and the generosity of his accidental mentor when he was a junior programmer.

After the tea break Jamie, as the General Evaluator, introduced the different members who evaluated the four speeches.  The creative corner revealed Francis as an accomplished writer and poet, and her story underlined the value of everyone’s lives in our communities.

Our next meeting will be the May 1^st and we will then welcome back our Vice president Declan who is currently away on his honeymoon!