TARA TOASTMASTERS NEWSLETTER

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 31^st May: 8.00 p.m. Tara AGM and Club Meeting

Summer Outing: (to be confirmed). We may go out for the afternoon (Saturday or Sunday) to Wicklow and go for a meal that evening in Dublin. Those not free for the afternoon could join in for the meal. Suggestions welcome.

Poem by Jacqui Gilbourne

Rent a Gob

Shiny and bright,
All polished and new
Danced the sign
On the street
All painted in blue.
The queue stretched for miles,
As each client in turn
Paid his few bob
Filled in his form.

They left by the back door
The roar was too great,
For the quiet of the crowd
Bowed at the front gate.
But the roar got too strong
They were many and wild,
Their delight could be heard
By man, woman and child.

The ranks broke with the strain
Of so much held back pain
And sound blew the roof
Of "rent a gob's" spoof.
There was singing for free
Flat, in tune, out of key,
As gobs rusty and tight
Squeaked with delight.

Now the sign is no more
They've knocked down the store.
There's a playground, a café,
A band, a good laugh.
There's lovin a plenty
Accounts that are empty,
'Cause speakin's the call
No charge, none at all.

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Promising Toastmasters

When we join Toastmasters and we sign our membership forms we also sign the Toastmaster’s Promise.

A Toastmaster's Promise

As a member of Toastmasters International and my club, I promise...

	To attend all club meetings regularly.
	To prepare all of my speeches to the best of my ability, basing them on projects in the Communication and Leadership Program manual or the Advanced Communication and Leadership Program manual.
	To prepare for and fulfill meeting assignments.
	To provide fellow members with helpful, constructive evaluations.
	To help the Club maintain the positive, friendly environment necessary for all members to learn and grow.
	To serve my Club as an officer when called upon to do so.
	To treat my fellow Club members and our guests with respect and courtesy.
	To bring guests to Club meetings so they can see the benefits Toastmasters membership offers.
	To adhere to the guidelines and rules for all Toastmasters educational and recognition programs.
	To maintain honest and highly ethical standards during the conduct of all Toastmasters activities.

Tara is a wonderful, friendly club and there is no reason why our members should not attain high levels of achievement within the Toastmasters organization. To do this there must be participation in meetings, competitions, acting as a club officer, and inter club mingling to gain valuable experience from members of other clubs. The more you put in to the club the more you will get out of it.

In order that meetings may be fulfilling, challenging and entertaining, members must be there and must bring their guests along. It is appreciated of course that not all members can attend every meeting.

I am sure everyone agrees that well attended meetings are the most challenging and, therefore, most beneficial to each and every one of us.

Valerie Pedlow V.P. Membership 2006-07

Jacqui talks rhetoric

On A Sunday evening last November the Emer Halpenny School of Drama held a Rhetoric night in Kiely’s in Mount Merrion.

The evening was an opportunity for the senior students of the school, aged between 13- 17, to display some of their skills for their parents and friends, including improvisation and dramatic improvisation.

The Tara Toastmasters club was invited to participate in the evening, as a way to show the drama students how it is possible to develop public speaking skills by following a structured programme with plenty of practice. This was also an opportunity to publicise Tara Toastmasters to the students and their parents – who are all potential members!

Jacqui Gilbourne agreed - very enthusiastically - to speak at the rhetoric evening, even cutting short a surfing trip in the West of Ireland (in November??) to return to speak on the Sunday evening.

Jacqui delivered a speech entitled “the Stickman”, which some members will have heard Jacqui deliver in Tara. It was a very motivational speech, which was well received by the students and gave an excellent representation of what Toastmasters has to offer the public speaker.

Niamh Gourlay CTM