Monthly Archives: January 2013

Breaking ice with the Asgard

It’s always good to get an Icebreaker speech.

A new member’s first speech at Toastmasters is known as the Icebreaker. It offers the new member a chance to introduce themselves to the club, and to say something about their interests. We had an excellent one at our last meeting, as Paul Stephenson told us some accounts of his life on the Asgard.

Paul came to a few Tullamore Toastmasters meetings as a guest, before joining the club. In this, his first speech, he told us a little about his childhood, education, and time in the navy. But the centrepiece of the speech was the tale of the time he spent on the training ship Asgard. In his telling, Paul evoked the feel of the small sailing ship, bringing his audience with him on a tour of the vessel. from the cabins (which smelled) to the rigging (which soared). He described his fellow-crew members, and spoke to us of evenings ashore and nights aboard; of nights in port and nights at sea; and of trainees young and trainees old. (There were always two separate groups in the pub of an evening, he told us.)

Paul left the Asgard not long before she was lost (luckily with no loss of life) in the Bay of Biscay. His time aboard had come to an end, but people he’d spent a lot of time with in close quarters were on the ship when it sank. Paul’s speech was an excellent demonstration of the art of storytelling, and we look forward to his future contributions to the club.


Tullamore Toastmasters is always open to visitors. Come and see for yourself what we’re at.

Welcome to 2013!

It’s a new year, at least in the calendar we use in this part of the world. And, in the Mayan calendar, we’ve been in a whole new b’ak’tun for a few days now. I haven’t checked where we are in the Jewish, Islamic, and Chinese calendars.

Anyway, for us in Ireland, this is a new year. And after a brief break, Tullamore Toastmasters are back in action, with our first meeting of 2013 on Thursday the 3rd of January, at 8:30 p.m., in the Tullamore Court Hotel.

See you there!