Congratulations President’s Distinguished Clubs!d71toastmasters.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/May-2018-D71-ne… · Toastmasters International District 71 Newsletter May 2018 District

Toastmasters International District 71 Newsletter May 2018 www.d71toastmasters.org

District 71 Newsletter May 2018

Congratulations President’s Distinguished Clubs!

The following clubs have achieved

President’s Distinguished status as at

31 May 2018. Well done!

Division A

West Cork Toastmasters

Bishopstown Toastmasters

Division B

Killarney Club

Division C

Castleknock Toastmasters Club

Dundalk Toastmasters Club

Division D

Clonmel Toastmasters

Kildare Toastmasters

Division E

York EbOrators Toastmasters Club

Shropshire Speakers

Warrington Toastmasters

A1 Speakers

Division F

Westport Club

Division G

Cambridge City Communicators

Saffron Walden Speakers

Division H

East Herts Speakers

Luton Speakers Club

Elder Gate Toastmasters

Division M

Dublin Club

Dun Laoghaire Club

Greystones Club

Lucan Club

Dublin 18 Toastmasters

Division S

Capital Communicators Club

Haymarket Toastmasters

If you club is not listed above, it’s not too late. Put on a final push and

see how well you can do! There’s still time to join this esteemed list!



Congratulations to the winners of the D71 Speech Contests!

With her speech entitled “DOB’s Army”, Deirdre Linehan is the winner of the 2018 International Speech Contest. She will go on to represent District 71 Toastmasters at the World Championship of Public Speaking in August in Chicago. In second place was Anne Dooley with “Take that Chance”. Third place went to John Duncan with “Dream the Possible Dream”.

Deirdre Linehan with District Director Red Skelton

From left: Anne Dooley, 2nd place; John Duncan, 3rd place, and winner of the International Speech Contest, Deirdre Linehan



The winner of the 2018 Evaluation Contest is Pat Sexton from Division B. In second place was Eric Fitzpatrick from Division C. Third place

went to Richard Foster Fletcher, from Division H. Pat Sexton from Division B (centre) with Contest Chair Helen Tait and District Director Red Skelton

Eric Fitzpatrick from Division C came second in the Evaluation Contest.



Contest Chair Helen Tait with third-place winner Richard Foster Fletcher of Division H.

Entitled “Why you must neglect the housework”, the Test Speech was given by the District 71 Public Relations Manager Laura Bruce.

Contest photos by Fergal O’Callaghan



News from the District Council meeting

Members of the District Council elected the following individuals to the District Leadership Team: The incoming District Director is Patricia O’Reilly.

The incoming Program Quality Director is John Cox.

Gerard Mannix was elected Club Growth Director.

Daniel Sandars was elected Public Relations Manager.

Division Director Elections:

Division A: Maura Meeney was acclaimed. Division B: Larry Lyons was acclaimed. Division C: Barry Lane was acclaimed. Division D: Shaun Durkin was acclaimed. Division E: Andy Nichols was acclaimed. Division F: Pat Croke was elected. Division G: Alex Knibbs was acclaimed. Division H: Steve Campion was elected. Division S: Avril Stringer was acclaimed. Their term will commence 1st July 2018 and run until 30 June 2019.

Motions: 1. The Realignment Committee’s recommendations for new boundaries was approved. 2. On the motion for future contests, Option 3 was approved: all 4 contests will be held at District Conference

each year. 3. Motion: From 1 July 2018, Area Directors in District 71 will be appointed by the District Director through a

nominations committee: the motion was defeated. 18 Clubs have already achieved President’s Distringuished Status. There are 22 DTMs this year, and 22 members have achieved a Triple Crown.

At the closing of the Safe Haven conference, incoming District Director Patricia O’Reilly DTM welcomed the new members of the District Leadership Team. Brenda Lannon, left, was appointed Administration Manager. Martin Foran, not pictured, was appointed Finance Manager.



News from Division A – our featured Division for May

By Ted Mellamphy. Division A Director

Where has this Toastmaster

season gone!

1st July 2017 I was handed the

reins of this Division, it's hard

to believe we have a mere 4

weeks left.

The whole year was a highlight

but some of those were standout.

My thanks to Area Directors, Assistant Area

Directors & Assistant Division Directors Sharon O’

Neill and Moira O’ Brien.

(3) Mary Walsh, (11) Phillip O' Brien, (23) Maura

Meany (incoming DivA Director) and (49) Damian

Loftus.

Mary was assisted by Mari Manning, Phillip was

assisted by Alun Rees (Contest Chair

International Speech Contest Safe Haven), Maura

Meany by Damian Lynch and Damian Loftus by

Maria Gillen (Entertainment Manager Safe

Haven, Craic) and Carol O’ Donovan.

All of the above have contributed to this

Newsletter ably assisted and abetted by Club

Presidents and committees.

Division A takes in South West Cork, in all its

beauty from Garryvoe in the South East, to

Bantry in the South West.

Last September when our 17/18 season kicked

off we had 18 clubs. Our target was to increase

the number of Clubs in the Division by at least

one club per Area. Area 11 was the first to oblige

with Lee Valley Speakers reaching charter level in

April breaking and creating new records, from

the longest pre-charter, 3 years to the 200th Club

in District 71, Congratulations to Moira O' Brien,

President and founding member, watch out for

LVS TM in years to come. This brings Area 11 to 5

clubs.

McAfee TM was born in March and is well down

the road to Charter status, which will be achieved

before end of June. Sponsoring Club is Blarney,

well done and congratulations to Mary Christine

Nolan, founding member and mover. This

Corporate Club is joining Area 3 which brings this

Area to 6 Clubs.

Another pre-charter Club which will charter

before the end of June is Republic of Work TM,

bang in the centre of Cork City, South Mall,

opposite the Imperial Hotel, a weekly Club,

Monday 6.30-8.00pm.

Visitors are always welcome to visit the club and

enjoy the Toastmaster experience.

Founding member and President is John Keating,

sponsoring Club Bishopstown, well done John

and Bishopstown members. Republic of Work is

assigned to Area 23, which brings this Area to 5

Clubs.

Par Excellence Tm (PET)m, a hybrid advanced

Club, alternate meetings in the Bank of Ireland,

St Patrick’s Street Cork and virtual, from your

own front room or wherever you do your

interneting, great challenge and great fun,

founded by Moira O’ Brien ably assisted by

Maura Meany and Phillip O’Brien. Again, the goal

is to Charter before the end of June, pedal to the

metal. This Club is assigned to Area 49, which

brings the Area to 6 Clubs.

The Steel City Conference, the final Autumn

Conference in District 71 from 3-5 November

2017 was memorable in so many ways, but to

come away with the award of Toastmaster of the

year, Sharon O’ Neill, Blarney TM, Area 3 Division

A, wow. My claim to fame, same club.

(continued)



SHARON O’NEILL WITH THE TROPHY

The self-same Sharon at that stage

was ¾ of the way through her

campaign of bringing the

Conference to Cork as Director of

SAFEHAVEN 2018

Enjoy the pictures.

Relive the contests, the friendships, the new

friends made, the old friends met, the Craic, the

Gab, Improv. . .

The songs, the stories, late nights, early

mornings, the workshops, the presenters, THE

DISTRICT COUNCIL MEETING, the food, the

smiles, the miles travelled, the memories

banked, on the banks of our own lovely Lee.

The expanding enrichment that we all enjoy

because we were fortunate to discover this

organisation, Toastmasters.

Ted Mellamphy Division A Director

Ted Mellamphy with Maura Meeny. Maura was elected Division A Director at the Distict Council Meeting Saturday.

Safe Haven 2018 Conference Photos





Photos courtesy of Ted Mellamphy



Area 3 – Area Director Mary Walsh

Midleton TM

In January, Midleton Toastmasters hosted a

workshop presented by Eric Fitzpatrick, one of

Ireland’s leading sales presenters. Eric gave a

workshop on delivering effective and powerful

presentations. He has recently published a book

"Persuade with power" with insights into to the

Do's and Don't of good presentations.

In April, Midleton hosted a well attended

International Speech and Evaluation contest final

for Area 3. Midleton member, Maria Hurley went

on to compete in both Area and Division level of

the Evaluation contest.

Photo: Midleton member Maria Hurley

competing in the Division A Evaluation Contest

Talking Heads

Talking Heads Toastmasters meet on a fortnightly

basis from early September until the end of May

in the comfortable surrounds of the Garryvoe

Hotel. It maintains its ethos of fun filled

meetings, followed by the third half in the

Lighthouse Bar afterwards!

This past year has been yet another very

successful one for our club. It will achieve Select

Distinguished Status in the DCP and has a healthy

membership of 27 active toastmasters. Club

members Eleanor Herlihy competed in the

Division A Humorous Speech final in October,

Sheila Mc Govern in the International Speech

contest and Margaret O’Flynn got to D 71 final of

the Evaluation contest at the recent wonderful

Safe Haven conference in Cork.

One of the highlights of our year was our Poetry

night. Founder member Bernadette Hegarty

recited a poem she wrote honouring the late

Paul G Murphy, club sponsor and mentor and

also a member of Blarney Toastmasters. The

Division A Toastmaster of the Year award is

named in his honour. The poem, titled ‘A Tribute

to Paul G’, resonated with those who were

privileged to have known him. The final verse:

This club has now been going for almost thirty

years

And, in that time, many have conquered their

public speaking fears.

But what’s maybe more important since the club

was first begun

Is that we’ve all made such a lot of friends and

with the friends had fun.

So thanks to Paul G. Murphy, the man who

refused to hear No

And insisted that he sponsor a Toastmasters club

in Garryvoe.



Talking Heads Toastmasters Christmas night out

Guardian TM

Guardian Toastmasters recently turned 10 years

old and celebrated by hosting the Anglo Irish

meeting on the night before SafeHaven began.

Each past president of Guardian TM attended

and was presented with an award and the

meeting was followed by a whisky tasting.

Blarney TM

Blarney Club in Cork (President Sharon O'Neill.

Founded 1975 - meets in the shade of the

Blarney Stone - the club where everyone

deserves the Gift of the Gab.)

This year we've had Super Members, Sensational

Meetings & Superb Learnings. Blarney's been

home to (1) Division A Director Ted Mellamphy

(2) Area 3 Director Mary Walsh (3) District 71

Toastmaster of the Year, Division A Toastmaster

of the year and District 71 #SafeHaven2018

conference director Sharon O'Neill &

three/quarters of the conference team (Lisa

O'Sullivan, Eddie O'Mahony, Lukasz Madrzak,

Mary Walsh, Paul O'Mahony). Blarney is proud to

have sponsored Lee Valley Speakers (chartered

on 24th April) - & also provided President Moira

O'Brien & Vice-President for Education Beryl

Cronin.

Blarney is on track to achieve President's

Distinguished status for the third year in a row.

We've added 8 new members this year. Many are

already enrolled on Pathways and have given

their "Icebreakers".

Blarney ran two Member Induction nights

(October & January) with educational speeches

on Officer & Meeting Roles, Mentoring, Pathways

(plus presentations on speech-writing and

evaluations). Blarney "Induction Nights" are for

all Division A members & prospective members -

they'll be a feature of Blarney Toastmasters

contribution & service to the Division in future.



Blarney TM - October 2017 New Members Night

District 71 Toastmaster of the Year

Division A Toastmaster of the Year

District 71 #SafeHaven2018 Conference Director

President of Blarney Toastmasters Sharon O'Neill

Cork East Toastmasters

Cork East Toastmasters club situated in the Radisson Blu, Little Island, Co. Cork had a successful calendar year - 2017/2018, increasing our membership by 8. This was achieved through members publicising the club and by officers engaging with local businesses, advising them that there was a Toastmasters club in the area and asking them to put up promotional material in areas where staff could view it. We plan to encourage membership via popular social media platforms in the coming year.

William Kelleher, a member of Cork East TM club was the winner of the 2018 Area 3 Final Contest, delivering a poignant speech on Dyslexia, doing the club proud. He subsequently went forward to the Division A Regional Finals where he also placed well. (Above) Group photo taken at the Area 3

Final Contest in April: L to R: Dr. Shirley

Gallagher, Hon. Secretary; Eric Downey,

EVP; C. Kelleher; William Kelleher, winner

Area 3 final; Mari Manning, MVP; Ann

Walsh.



Area 11 – Area Director Phillip O’Brien, ACG,

ALB

Welcome to Area 11, Division A.

We started the year with four clubs and one

pre-charter and I am delighted to say that we

end the year with five chartered clubs!!!

Area 11 consists of Kinsale & District, Bantry,

West Cork Toastmasters, Bandon (my home

club) and the newly chartered Lee Valley

Speakers in Macroom.

West Cork is President’s Distinguished – the

first club in District 71 to achieve 10 DCP

points! Bandon is Distinguished and will most

likely be Select Distinguished before the end

of the year. Kinsale & District and Bantry are

struggling with membership numbers but

both have coaches appointed. Lee Valley

Speakers has chartered in late April, 2018.

It has been my pleasure to visit each and

every one of the clubs and to meet the

members. I have enjoyed the warmth and

the welcome extended to me.

Area 11 Toastmasters took part in Division-

wide club officer training and two successful

club contests where one Area 11

Toastmaster – Dave Ryan of Bandon

Toastmasters – came third in the Division A

Final of the International Speech Contest.

A major speaking and confidence building

event was held by Bandon Toastmasters

which attracted a crowd of over 150 people.

This is detailed in the Bandon Toastmasters

section.

Area 11 and Area 17 in Division B have been

able to provide Test Speakers and Chief

Judges for each other’s contests throughout

the year – thanks to Liam Flynn, Area 17

Director and Helsa Giles, incoming Area 17

Director.

I am very grateful also to the Area 11

Assistant Area Director Alun Rees, President

of West Cork Toastmasters for his help and

support during the year. Alun is the incoming

Area Director for 2018/2019 and I know the

Area will be in good hands.

Bandon Club President Imelda Westcott with

inspirational and motivational speakers Henk

van der Klok (left) and Walt Hampton.



Area 11 Director Phillip O’Brien with Helsa

Giles, President of Speakeasy Toastmasters,

Mallow, Division B who was Test Speaker at

the Area 11 Contest.

Now over to the clubs!

Bandon Toastmasters #7364 – President

Imelda Westcott

Bandon Toastmasters a year in review.

When Bandon Toastmasters returned in September 2017 we had a dramatic decrease and lost some very experienced members. Early in the year we ran our annual open night which brought in a good crowd and we gained some new members from this.

However, a turning point for Bandon Toastmasters in 2018 was when the club organized a very successful event called ‘Ignite Your Potential’. The sell-out event was considered a massive success by all who attended.

The club secured two high calibre motivational speakers. Serial adventurer and TedX speaker Henk Van der Klok and former Tony Robbins business consultant and international speaker Walt Hampton. Both gave inspirational and hugely engaging talks on facing your fears, challenging yourself to do what you always wanted to do, and inspired the over 150 attendees to ‘follow your dreams and live a life that matters’. In addition, Division A Director and Blarney Toastmaster, Ted Mellamphy inspired everyone with his personal journey from redundancy at the age of 52 to starting out on his own, and building a successful business. He spoke about how his local Toastmasters club Blarney played a part in that success by helping him improve his communication and presentation skills.

The advertising from the event has benefited all Toastmasters clubs in Cork. We pulled out all the stops and managed to get excellent advertising for the event on a small budget. We printed flyers, posters, ran Facebook ads, had newspaper articles and a radio interview. We contacted all Toastmasters clubs in Cork and they all helped to make this event the success that it was. #wearetoastmasters

Later in the year we have had competitors in both the Speech and Evaluation contests at Division level. Dave Ryan took 3rd place at the Division A International Speech contest.

In addition, during the year our club President has achieved her HPL, Bandon Toastmasters is home to the Area 11 Director Phillip O’Brien and Philip has recently completed his Advanced Communicator Gold award while over 50% of our members are enrolled in Pathways with 4 members having completed their Pathways Icebreaker.

In summary, Bandon Toastmasters has developed from some early struggles in September to adding on extra meetings in

https://www.facebook.com/hashtag/wearetoastmasters?source=feed_text



June to cater for the many new members we’ve gained during the year. We are looking forward to starting strong in September as Bandon Toastmasters will be heading into its 30th year since chartering in 1989.

Bandon Toastmasters, May 2018.

Club President Imelda Westcott presenting member Phillip O’Brien with a certificate for completing his Advanced Communicator Gold Award.

Club president Imelda Westcott with Bandon’s longest term member Colette O’Donovan on completing her Competent Communicator in April 2018. Colette gave her icebreaker speech in 2011. Fantastic achievement for Colette.

***

Kinsale & District Toastmasters #1223085 – President Joey O’Leary

The cosmopolitan harbour town of Kinsale has provided a safe haven for travellers for centuries. It is now renowned as a quality tourist destination, welcoming visitors from around the world and it is frequently referred to as the gourmet capital of Ireland.

Similarly, Kinsale & District Toastmasters has

been providing a safe environment for

people who wish to improve their

communication skills, for over 9 years.

Although we are a small club in terms of



numbers of members, we are well known for

the quality of our meetings and we regularly

welcome visitors from other clubs in Cork

and further afield. Our meetings are always

entertaining and educational reflecting the

fact that we believe wholeheartedly in the

wisdom of Ralph Smedley’s assertion, that

“We learn best in moments of enjoyment”.

We are looking forward to celebrating the

10th anniversary of our club charter next

year. Throughout those years we have

helped people from all walks of life to

prepare for special events in their lives such

as: wedding speeches, business

presentations and gaining confidence in

speaking English as a second or third

language. We enjoy interacting with other

organisations in the Kinsale area, visiting

Kinsale Men’s Shed and Active Retirement

groups, to provide entertainment evenings

for their members, in addition to raising

awareness of Toastmasters. Of course we

also take great pleasure in participating in

Toastmasters speech contests.

Kinsale & District Toastmasters meet on the

1st and 3rd Wednesdays of the month, in

Saint Multose Hall, which has ample parking

and is easily accessible to everyone. Our

Christmas meetings are always special, such

as back to front or secret Santa. We are

currently planning our end of season

meeting in June, to be held at an interesting

and unusual venue.

Some of the members of Kinsale & District Toastmasters, May 2018

Kinsale & District participants in the Area 11 International Speech and Evaluation Contest –

Left to right: Joey O’Leary, Gavin Falk, Willie Grainger and Naomi Cullen.

***

West Cork Toastmasters #5303564 – President Alun Rees

Situated right on the Wild Atlantic Way, with members from all across the region, West Cork Toastmasters invites anyone who is passing through to experience our welcome. We meet weekly on Saturday mornings at the Celtic Ross Hotel in Rosscarbery and have been joined by several Toastmasters over the



past few months who found themselves staying in the hotel and fancied a taste of West Cork speaking. Although we aren’t around during peak summer, do feel free to get in touch and we’ll see if we can arrange for a member to come and say “Failte". In our second full year as a chartered club we have again achieved President’s Distinguished status and were proud to have been the first club in District 71 to do so. We enjoyed success at the Area Speech Contests and have made contributions at Division and District events. Our President, Alun Rees will be the Area 11 Director for 2018/2019. Alun was also the Contest Chair at both Division A and District 71 International Speech Contests. West Cork Toastmasters hosted the Area 11 International Speech and Evaluation contest which was a great success with almost forty members from the Area present. Our photograph shows several of our new members who all made their icebreakers on the same day and received their new members’ certificates in a special ceremony. With an emphasis on fun, welcome and mutual encouragement and support our club appears to be going from strength to strength.

West Cork Toastmasters members.

West Cork Toastmasters present at the Area 11 Final hosted by the club.

***



Bantry Toastmasters #772301 – President Ciaran O’Driscoll

Bantry Toastmasters were welcomed to host a meeting by Durrus Men’s Shed, near Bantry. It was a regular meeting with table topics which the Men’s Shed members participated in. There were 2 good speeches, a reading followed by a tea break. The men's choir ended the night with a few songs to thank the Toastmasters for showing them the meeting format and methods.

Bantry toastmasters held an open meeting on May 9th. Club coach Joey O’Leary and Division Director Ted Mellamphy were in attendance. Guests were treated to some great topics, 2 speeches, one from an experienced Ursula Kingston and a second speech from newcomer Dolf D'londt. Past member Hazel Vickery returned for the night and in any other business gave a succinct and resounding testimony of how Toastmasters has really helped her in many aspects of life.

Bantry Toastmasters Michael Leahy and Finn O’Mahony.

***

Lee Valley Speakers #4858276 – President Moira O’Brien After nearly three years of gestation Lee Valley speakers finally chartered on April 24th 2018. The club was the brainchild of President Moira O’Brien when she moved from Cork City to the countryside outside Macroom in 2015 and found that the former club there had folded some years before. Wanting to have a local club, she cajoled and persuaded a few friends from Blarney Toastmasters, her then home club and the sponsoring club, together with two of the original club members, to restart, holding the first meeting in September 2015 with just 7 people attending. The second year started with losing three of the original members so restarting was delayed until November, with the intention of holding a make or break open meeting. Thankfully this was successful and from then onwards attendance at meetings never fell below seven and two more open meetings later we had build membership up to 15. A last push in early 2018 produced the necessary final 5 members and the club now boasts 22 members with average turnout at meetings of 14-15. As a newly chartered club we have not had the opportunity to gain DCP points, but the atmosphere in the club is so good that we are attracting members from other clubs to attend regularly – such that we are moving to a larger meeting room from our next meeting. We are confident of producing positive educational achievements in Pathways in the coming year.



Toastmaster of the night Claire O’Leary

congratulating one of our newest members,

Joanna Canny, on her Icebreaker, our first in

Pathways.

Our first post-charter meeting.

Area 49 – Area Director Damian Loftus

The area consists of both Corporate and

Community clubs. The Corporates are EMC

and VMWare, while the community clubs are

Bishopstown and Powdermills with an

advanced hybrid pre-charter club Par

Excellence Toastmasters beginning to gain

some serious support and targets to charter

by the end of June.

DellEMC Ireland Toastmasters Forum

Dell EMC Toastmasters members John

McCarthy, Niamh Tobin and Laura Ryan

travelled to Dell Limerick and took part in a

Toastmasters Demo meeting held for the

newly formed Dell Limerick Toastmasters

Club, the meeting was well attended with 42

new Dell Limerick members in attendance.

The meeting was well received and has

created momentum for the newly formed

Dell Limerick club.

The Dell EMC club holds meetings at 2

different sites one its main campus in Ovens

and at its CityGate Office in Mahon. Recently

the club has held a joint video meeting

between the two sites which was well

received.

Since the turn of the year we have attracted

14 new members with 3 Pathways

Icebreakers having taken place thus far. The

future looks good.

------------------------------------



Powdermills Toastmaster, Ballincollig

Powdermills Toastmasters is a warm

welcoming friendly community club where

members needs are the priority and which

also has an enviable record in the

Distinguished Club Programme where it has

been a Presidents Distinguished Club for the

past 12 years in a row. For eight years in a

row it achieved 10 out of 10 D.C.P. goals.

Serving all members is a club priority and this

years VPE Des Meade, eagerly supported by

the President Aisling O'Leary, thought that it

would be right to facilitate the Irish speakers

in the club by running one meeting entirely

in the Irish language for St Patricks Day. Club

members worked to set up this unique

meeting with help from members of other

clubs. One Toastmaster, Eoin Ó Broin, came

all the way from Dublin to enjoy the meeting

and do an evaluation. There was a large

attendance of Toastmasters and guests at

the meeting and it was a great success. So

much so we plan on making it an annual

event.

The club and club members actively

participate in Toastmaster activities and

contests in the Area, Division and District.

Michael Barrett won the division humorous

contest and ably represented us at the

district contest last Autumn.

Bishopstown Toastmasters, Wilton

What a great year for Bishopstown

Toastmasters here in Area 49, Division A.

Since this Toastmaster calendar year began

on 1st July the club and its members have

achieved the following significant awards in

the first term alone:

Competent Communication x 4

Advanced Communication Bronze x 2

Advanced Communication Silver x 3

Advanced Leader Bronze x1

Also, we have achieved for the second time

in our club’s history The Smedley Award in

September 2017, for 5 or more new, dual or

reinstated members. This was thanks to a

huge team effort with our committee and

fellow members.



Not only that we had two fantastic 2nd place

achievements by members of our club in our

Division A final before Christmas with the

Table Topics and Humorous Speech contests.

To wrap it all up we also proudly achieved a

President’s Distinguished status for the

2016/2017 Toastmaster year for our eighth

year in a row!!!

Apple-Cork Toastmasters

Toastmasters Apple is a corporate club which has both veteran and new Toastmasters in regular attendance. Our club holds weekly “Toastmasters on Speed” meetings of 30 minutes where folks can take a break from the daily grind and give or hear a speech and participate in Table Topics. We also hold celebratory Toastmasters meetings at some of Cork’s finest pubs for festive occasions.

As a corporate club we work within the constraints of business hours with the dynamism of a fast-paced environment oftentimes dictating meeting attendance. We also strive to engage with the wider Toastmasters circle and have conducted joint meetings with neighboring clubs over the years. Additionally, some members regularly visit with other clubs and bring back feedback and ideas to incorporate into our club. Finally, we are constantly engaging with other departments, Apple’s social clubs and via word of mouth to bring more people into the fold and introduce people to the world of Toastmasters.

Par Excellence Toastmasters

In the middle of 2017 Moira O’Brien (Lee

Valley Speakers and Blarney Toastmasters)

started her High Performance Leadership

Project with the intention of forming a new

advanced club in Cork. The project started to

take wings in December 2017 with a

prospective start date of early March, but

this was put back to April and the inaugural

meeting took place at 6pm on April 9th in The

Workbench, Bank of Ireland, St Patrick’s

Street, Cork.

Following Moira’s attendance at some online

clubs, it was decided to make Par Excellence

a hybrid club allowing online attendance. The



first meeting was thus well attended with

eighteen attending in person and six from

the internet, five of those being from

overseas. The meeting was a great success.

The second and fourth meetings (the third

having been cancelled due to it being on a

bank holiday) were online meetings and

though attendance was small, the meetings

were exceptional.

All in all, the club has made a very positive

start and with fifteen members committed

(including two from overseas) and a further

fourteen Toastmasters in the visitors list, we

are hopeful of chartering before the end of

June.

President Moira O’Brien in her online

presence

VMware Toastmasters

VMware Toastmasters achieved a milestone in its development in August 2017 when Ciara Conlon became the first VMTM member to deliver a tenth speech from the Competent Communicator manual. By October two more members had achieved CC10. The new year brought an outreach programme where VMTM made connections with other corporate clubs in the IT industry in Cork. In February 2018 DELL EMC Toastmasters and VMTM held a joint meeting at DELL which drew large attendance from both clubs. In March, VMTM held a demonstration meeting for our colleagues in McAfee, which was hugely enjoyable.



Did you know. . . ? . . . Ireland was never formed into an Area until

1972, when D71 was constituted.

It is no coincidence that the exception was granted

just a few months after the setting up of the ASC and

the commitment of the Irish clubs to TI. What had

been impossible in 1958 and 1965, was now feasible

seven years later. Seventeen months after the letter

to Rory Stokes of the Dublin club advising him that,

“the Board of Directors of Toastmasters

International granted exception to the standard

membership criteria for the three Irish clubs that

traditionally had open membership”, the delegates

voted at the International Convention in Houston,

Texas, in August 1973, to change the constitution of

TI and permit women to join officially for the first

time. Today, over half the members worldwide are

women.

At the British meeting in London, in May, 1972, an

Irish Area was recognised for the first time – it hadn’t

been so recognised under the TCBI structure – with

Rory Stokes as Area Governor.

Gaylord Giles, in a letter to Bill Moloney, expressed

his gratitude, “for the splendid effort you have given

to the formation of the Irish Area”. Gaylord laid the

foundations of the new D71. He had the knowledge

and experience from his previous toastmasters

service in the U.S. and the diplomatic skills to bring

the British and Irish clubs together. At the first D71

Conference in London in May, 1973, he and his wife

Nora were made a presentation, as well as a framed

statement of appreciation for a man “who during his

stay in the United Kingdom devoted his time and

energy towards the betterment of Toastmasters

International in Great Britain”. And very richly

deserved it was. In honour of his tremendous

contribution to the new district, the Gaylord Giles

Trophy was thereafter presented annually to the

Toastmaster of the Year. Like a lot of such trophies,

its whereabouts now is unknown.

And so D71 took its first hesitant steps. There was

very little growth in the ’70s. Although the Blarney,

Clonakilty, Waterford, Dun Laoire and Ennis clubs

were chartered in Ireland, overall the number of

clubs in the district declined to slightly more than 20.

In this decade, therefore, the number of clubs,

despite the addition of new clubs, had more or less

halved. The number of clubs in Ireland doubled, in

England halved, and the three Scottish clubs

disappeared completely.

Contributed by Ted Corcoran, DTM, Past International

President of Toastmasters “Did you know. . . ?” is a

regular feature of the District 71

newsletter Ted has documented the

development of Toastmasters in Ireland

and Britain in A Comprehensive

History of Toastmasters in Great

Britain and Ireland: 1935–2014. (click

link to open)

To read more of Ted’s history of

Toastmasters, visit

http://d71Toastmasters.org/history/

You need to keep your

bank informed!

Your bank will require an update of changes to your club

committee and constitution.

If you are changing Treasurer it important that more

than one person has authority to operate the bank

account. There have been instances this year when

Treasurers have left their club and the club has been

unable to operate the bank account.

Most clubs will use online banking. The downside of

this is that it is not usually possible for 2 people to

authorise payments. To ensure good control

Treasurers should ensure that they only make

transactions authorised by the club committee and

that the second operator of the account monitors

activity on the account.

If you are thinking of changing banks I have always

found Santander to be very helpful. They have a

dedicated “Treasurers account”. If you are going to

change, always open the new account before closing

the old one – the account opening process can be

lengthy.

Les Hodgson, District 71 Finance Manager

A tale of a Travelling Toastie

http://d71toastmasters.org/history/







Three years ago, I joined Manchester Orators, the

local Toastmasters club. Born and bred in Spain, I

had never given a speech in English. So I found

myself in front of my first all-English audience.

Two years ago, I stumbled across the Division 71

Travelling Toasties programme. The penny dropped:

visiting others clubs was not only allowed but

encouraged. Said and done. In no time, I found

myself in front of my first audience of people, who

had never seen or heard me before.

So much I enjoy the experience that on Christmas,

while I was in Madrid, I decided to visit the local

clubs: 4 in one week. Needless to say, this

Toastmaster dose only kept my curiosity satisfied

for few months. The next extreme public speaking

binge came in London few months later. In a 48-

hour-period I managed to attend and participate in

another 4 clubs. Task only possible by the fact few

some clubs start their meetings at 7am. So, I was

myself in front of my first morning audience. That is

a commitment (those matinal meetings I mean).

On holidays in Europe, I would always manage to

find a local club, either in Berlin, Budapest or

Florence, to my partner’s despair. Despite not being

a Toastmaster, she has done pretty well visiting a

few clubs abroad.

However, the most exotic yet was still to come. In

November last year I quit my job to go backpacking

around South America: From Costa Rica to

Argentina. Believe it or not, in that region of the

world there are Toastmasters clubs too! That is how

I found myself in front of my first American

audience.

From all the clubs I recalled, I have always met warm

and welcoming Toastmasters willing to share their

personal stories. Those visits are not only a

preparation for my first next audience but a learning

process on how people, like you and me, run their

clubs, organize their meetings and take care of

members and visitors. That is the essence of

Toastmasters: a continuous learning process.

Knowing my whereabouts, many people ask me for

the best club I have ever visited and I honestly

cannot answer since all clubs are different and

helped me in my development in one way or

another.

Julian Cereceda is VP of PR at Salford Speakers. He also

tries to run, not very successfully to be honest, the

youtube channel skintmillennia.com where you can see

some of his visits to other clubs.

Julian F Cereceda, has been member of

Toastmasters for 3 years. He has attended

meetings in 23 different clubs all around the globe!

His home club, Salford Speakers is in Division E,

Area 48.



Lima Toastmasters. Julian with the Lima Toastmasters members. Some of them have been in the

club for over 60 years. February 2017.

Skylark Toastmasters. Best

speakers picture at the end of

the meeting at Skylark

Toastmasters. July 2017.

Covent Garden Toastmasters. Julia Gubar,

VP of E at Covent Garden Toastmasters and

Julian. April 2017.



Congratulations Travelling Toasties!

The Travelling Toastie scheme was developed by Karen O’Donnell, our 2016-17 D71 PR Manager. It

encouraged members to visit other clubs, and ideally, to take on a role. The idea was to support struggling

clubs, and one benefit was the sharing of best practice by observing how another club does things.

This scheme was so popular that when I was elected last May in Manchester, I knew I would continue it! It

has been great sharing the photos our Travelling Toasties have shared, and you can find many of them on

the District 71 PR Facebook page. Click here to have a look.

Overall, our most travelled Toastie was Clare Crowther from Division E, pictured here with Epsom Speakers President Peter Paul Parker. Clare visited a whopping 14 clubs this year. Her trail-blazing pace was nearly matched by Phillip O’Brien from Division A, who ventured to 12 clubs. Then from Division H came Phillippa Collier with 9 TT visits, and Steve Campion with 7. With 6 visits each we have Deirdre Walsh of Division D, and our jet-setting TT Julian Cereda from E! Here are the Division with total TT visits.

Division A: 13

Division D: 6

Division E: 20

Division H: 17

Division M: 3

Division S: 13

Are you wondering, “Where is Division B, Division C, Division F and Division G?” Me too! Maybe next year!

– Laura Bruce, District PR Manager

Hope you have enjoyed this issue of the newsletter.

Thank you for contributing to the newsletter, sending me your feedback on the newsletter, and often, just

letting me know you have enjoyed reading the latest issue. It’s been a pleasure to bring together news

from across our District. Next month will feature Division E – so I still have another issue to go before I

complete my term!

Wishing you continued success in your Toastmasters journey.

--Laura Bruce, D71 PR Manager

https://www.facebook.com/d71toastmasters.org

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