Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club - 105th Chapter Meeting

Tonight, I have attended my club's 105th Chapter Meeting and commenced on my first Advanced Project 1 - The Briefing. The time was well-spent. In the words of our Club President, David, he shared with us his motto in the Toastmasters' Journey is "to join and enjoy".

The Education

My evaluator had been very encouraging and generous with his feedback. He was spot-on when he advised me not to have my nerve get the better of me. The topic which I presented was something which I knew at my fingertips. Yet, I felt uncomfortable without my script. One area of improvement was to personalising the topic. This technique would be useful to get the speaker closer to the audience.

On the Q&A portion, things that I had done well included repeating the question which allowed for other audience to listen to the question again. At the same time, it gave me some time to think about how to answer. One good way to answer a difficult answer was to use the following sentence structure "Yes, .... but ..." instead of challenging it head on.

Language Skills

The beautiful phrases which I have learnt tonight included:

- eyes gazing at
- anger turned into rage
- found many hands around her
- disillusioned and devastated
- disappointment and dissatifaction
- beautiful and hostile
- sober and serious

Thinking on Your Feet

I used to think that some people were naturally good speakers who could speak off the cuff. After I joined the Toastmasters Club, I realise that everyone can do that with practise. Starting from now, I will also be focusing on my speech evaluation skills and table topics.

I have done a silent evaluation on a speech entitled CPR which is on project 5 based on the technique using acronymn.

C - onfident, the speaker has spoken without using any notes.
P - oise. This was a Project 5 which was on body language. A story-telling mode instead of a narrative-mode will help to give more opportunity for the use of body language.
R - elating to the audience. The speaker told us that 7 minutes meant a lot to the person receiving the cardiopulmonary resuscitation. I will like to suggest the speaker linked to his speech - a 5 to 7 minute speech which can impart so much knowledge to the listeners.

Moving on to table topics. Below were a list of questions which our Table Topic master, Gary had used.

1. My family - For such a question, I could perhaps handle it with relation to the toastmasters family. In a club setting, our club president takes on the role of our father setting the direction for our club and our toastmasters journey. VP of education is like our mother who is the nurturing character, guiding us to do our projects. Finally, fellow toastmasters are our brothers and sisters - giving us support and encouragement when we do our projects.

2. The person I love most - have many persons whom I loved. Two years ago when I just learnt golf, I idolized Tiger Woods. He is the best golf player in the world. I love to watch him play. His eyes would be gazing over the fairway. His mind busily calibrating that perfect shot and like a skilled technician, he executed the perfect swing. He is simply fantastic. Then last year when Mr Obama campaigned for US Presidency. I was inspired by his speech, especially his slogan "Yes, we can." Encapsulated in these two great men were some of the qualities which I also see in my husband. Though he may not be a great golfer like Tiger Woods or a charismatic leader like Mr Obama, he always aims for the stars. And this is the man I love most.

3. My hobbies - sleep, eat and do nothing. Sleeping is very important as it allows our body to rest and get re-charged to face the new challenges that await us. Eating may sound easy but it is not easy to eat correctly. Many people do not eat, they swallow their food. The correct way to eat is to slowly mince the food in your mouth and savour the taste. This way, you will not need to eat so much. Finally, doing nothing is one effective way to relax our mind. Imagine if we keep stirring a pool of murky water, it will continue to be murky. Once a while, we need to let the mud settle down and clear water will emerge.

4. My career - From a very experienced toastmaster, Mr Bruno, I learnt the use of acronymn. C-areer in toastmasters, A-pplied the knowledge that we acquired, R-esources. E-ntertain the audience. E-ducate ourselves and R-ejoice.

Beyond Education

Besides language skills,I knew another great and inspirational athlete by the name of Julie Moss. I have always been enthralled by the sheer determination of athletes to break the shackles of limitation.

I have done a Google and this is one inspiring read.

Julie Moss

Do I need to give you another reason to join a Toastmasters Club? It is cost-effective, inexpensive and most important of all, it works wonders.