Toasting Cookstown!

Formerly known as Cookstown Speakers, the club affiliated to Toastmasters International, has been running in the town for the last ten years bringing people together from across the community.

Since its inception, the club has helped some 60 members who joined the club with the common goal to improve public speaking skills, leadership skills, and build confidence.

Toastmasters International is a not for profit worldwide organisation with nearly 300,000 members worldwide, with members benefitting from a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure environment.

Due to the unique learning experience offered by the club in Cookstown, its current members are drawn from as far afield as Ballymoney, Omagh, Armagh and Maghera.

It is because of this that the current committee decided to rebrand the club to reflect the larger geographical area, as well as a stronger link to the Toastmasters brand, whose Competent Communication programme has helped many locally and hundreds of thousands worldwide.

The open night had a number of guest speakers including past member Michael Donnelly, who spoke passionately about his life journey as someone who suffered from stammering, and the considerable benefits in his life of the Maguire program and his time at Cookstown Speakers.

The second guest speaker was Michael Crozier of Belfast, who treated members to an entertaining speech, entitled ‘Speaking of Journeys’.

If you have an interest in public speaking then contact the group for further information via [email protected] or visit the Facebook page www.facebook.com/midulstertoastmasters or come along and see first-hand the workings of the club.

The next meeting is on Tuesday, April 1 at Gortalowry House, Cookstown at 7:30pm.