St. Patrick, Education Reform and the Truth.

Galway Toastmasters Meeting from the 22nd of March 2017.

The meeting was opened by Pat who welcomed members and guests alike and swiftly introduced Doireann as our Toastmaster. Doireann gave us a fabulous 60 second introduction to the sense of softness which relaxed everyone. Our first speech was an educational speech given by Margaret who gave a personal insight into how she prepares speeches and emphasised the importance of preparation and practice, as well as a strong beginning, an informative middle and a creative end. She also explained the rules of 3 and the importance of timing.

We then had our Topics session conducted again by Margaret. These revolved around the theme of St. Patrick and varied from preparing a Toastmaster float for the parade to bringing President Donald Trump an alternative present to the shamrock.

It was followed by a stage 3 speech by Tara, its title was ‘Education Reform in Ireland’ and the question was posed whether the education system today is fit for purpose and capable of preparing people for 21^st century modern jobs. The speech also suggested alternative assessments for qualifications and even touched on resistance or fear of change to more modern methods within the teaching community. It was a very well researched, informative speech which was confidently delivered. Martin followed with an inspiring, very well organised stage 10 speech which was titled ‘Leadership Matters’. Completing 10 speeches is a true mile stone! In the speech we got a glimpse of great leaders past and present, but often, we were told, leadership is closer to home. Indeed all of us are leaders in our daily lives; parenting, working, serving the community and in our past times. Martin mentioned that there is no better place to learn the skills of leadership than at Toastmasters itself. The last prepared speech was by Liam who spoke about ‘The Devotion to the Truth’. It was an amusing speech about Liam’s own personal spiritual journey exploring awareness to find the truth. Although he might not have felt he reached the same levels as other well known ‘Spiritual Leaders’, he found it to be a worthwhile learning experience.

Pat, in the creative corner, gave us the lovely thought provoking Ancient Greek fable of Narcissus and Echo.  He then concluded the evening by mentioning that our next meeting is on April 5^th, which is a competition night and he encouraged all members and guests alike to attend. Between now and then, slán agus beannacht!