July marks
the beginning of new term 2013-2014 for the Exco. Daryl in his maiden toastmasters of the day
appearance energized and engaged the audience with his funny stories and
anecdotes. He started off by asking everybody to share one good thing that
happened to them in the last few weeks.
Rudy Tan,
our Area Governor installed the new Exco in a colourful ceremony.
Incoming
President Ching in his opening address shared his vision, which he summed up in
a line - “Living the moments of truth”.
Ching
articulated the club motto for new Exco term in six points :
1. First impressions – Extend warm welcome to guests and members.
Take them through the toastmasters concept and meeting formats
2. Member Orientation – Guide the new members on various project
requirements and help them setup their development / project completion
goals
3. Fellowship – Build fellowship and support system to encourage
each other in their learning journey
4. Variety of activities – to keep the members engaged and
connected.
5. Program planning & organization – Close coordination with
all to ensure club programs are planned in advance and supplement member’s
development goals.
6. Achievement recognition – celebrate / recognize success of
members achievements with gusto and gumption.
John Sih in
his LE role introduced us to a noun ‘VERVE’ - means liveliness, enthusiasm,
vigor, talent. ‘Only a writer of ‘verve’
could make this potentially deadening subjects compelling.
Prepared Speeches
Shahnawaz in
his Advance Project 1 – Specialty Speeches toasted the two ‘Iron Ladies’ and
past presidents Catherine and Sharon who mentored him in his toastmasters
journey. The ladies highlighted to him in several occasions that toastmasters journey
require dedication, time and effort and the learning path maybe filled with
obstacles, hurdles and frustration but it builds a tremendous bounty of success
for those who persists and persevere. Their continuous support and
encouragement kept Shahnawaz going and he thanked and saluted them in his
toast.
Vince in his
Ice Breaker Speech shared his childhood stories with the audience. He talked
about how as a younger sibling he used to get bullied by his elder sister in
getting him to do household chores. His eyes lit up when he talked about how
proud he was of his father who despite of limited means worked extremely hard
to provide for the family by driving bus for 14/15 hrs a day for 20+ yrs. Vince
who has kids of his own now has a goal to be respected by his kids like his own
father.
Project Evaluation
1st evaluator Richard Sng provided a very succinct and relevant feedback to Shahnawaz on his Toast. He highlighted the requirements of certain formalities for the toast like formal attires, use of proper wine glasses and requesting audience to stand and join the toast and raise their glasses in unison. He liked the use of personal anecdotes about Shahnawaz’s Toastmasters learning journey and how he was supported in his quest by the two iron ladies. Richard liked his sincerity, conviction and generous eye contact given to audience during the toast.
Table Topics
Table topic
session led by Simon Goh challenged audience to speak on non monetary benefits
of professions they were completely unfamiliar with and then asked to compare
these professions with their own jobs.
Linda Lee
- Undertaker vs. Insurance Agent
Daryl Tan -
Environmentalist vs. Financial Accountant
John
Sih - US President Barrack Obama vs.
Public Speaker/Trainer
Ching - Banker vs. Teacher
Sharon Siow
- Soccer Player vs. Mom/Toasmaster
Michael Lau - God vs. Retiree Rvs. A
John Sih was voted best Table Topic Speaker for drawing fascinating comparisons between President of United States and his own job as a public speaker/trainer. He mentioned that each time the US President speaks he has a message for everyone that enriches listeners mind with knowledge and ideas. As a public speaking trainer he works with his students to help them improve their speaking skills by setting-up a goal to make subsequent speeches better than the prior ones.
Language Evaluation
John Sih
started his evaluation by putting up a light bulb on his palm which magically
lighted up without any electrical power. He said failure is not in falling down
but staying down and encouraged everyone to keep improving and keep
speaking.
John commented
on speakers excellent use of vivid imagery, alliterations, triads and outstanding language
by singling out few examples like …send shivers up my spine, dedication, time
and effort…tremendous bounty of success….my mom is crying and mumbling in
anxiety…sparse audience…air of decorum…multiply their joy…knees use to buckle
at the sight of a needle….make an obscene amount of money….you do what you like
and like what you do.
Word of the
day, ‘Verve’ was used by Shahnawaz in his toast
Mistakes
/other language shortfalls - speaking of
the cuss vs speaking of the cuff.
Presidents opening address –
club has only one president. Use of acronyms VDO, CFO must explain once as to
what such terms mean as some of the audience member may not be familiar with
them. True public speaker – use of
‘true’ is confusing. Speaker mentioning
my name is ….my name is redundant, as TME has already introduced the speaker.
Pitfalls in
several words pronunciation were highlighted.
These included Spiker vs. Speaker.
Gestures, Celebrity, Three, Opportunity
Ah Counter
- Sharon Siow
Timer - Benjamin Ting
Ice Breaker
Award - Vince
Best table
topic speaker: John Sih
Closing
Remarks by President Ching “start living the moments of Truth”
Next Meeting - August 3rd, 2013
Regards,
Shahnawaz Lalani
Vice President Education
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