SYNOPSIS OF CHAPTER MEETING ON 21 APRIL 2011

There were 2 guests Xiang Zhen and Brice and 3 visiting toastmasters District Governor Aziz Mustajab from Civil Service College & Siglap TMCs, April Tan from ACCA Singapore TMC, and Steven Choon from Joo Chiat Culture TMC.

SAA Joni welcomed everyone warmly and invited everyone to introduce themselves and share about one thing that had brightened their day. These included the bright room, being able to attend the meeting, and having DG Aziz grace the meeting.

The meeting kickstarted with the installation of incoming EXCO by District Governor DTM Aziz Mustajab. Each officer held the gavel in turn and promised to fulfil their duties to the best of their abilities. The following officers were present:

President Ida Lee

VPE Joni Siah

VPM Leena Santore, Cynthia Koh

VPPR Yeo Choon Liang

Secretary Zhuang Yan

Treasurer Merry Tjandra

SAA Patrick Ang

In her opening address, incoming President Ida motivated us to become a part of something great. Great teams run on FAST track. F for Focus, A for Alignment of our efforts to meet members' needs, S for Synergy found in fellow toastmasters outside of our club, and T for Trust, the building block for a great team.

The prepared speeches segment featured 3 speakers. 1st speaker Merry Tjandra shared about her hometown Padang, well-known for its pristine beaches and delicious food. Nasi padang originated from Padang and is cooked only once a day. The culture in Padang is such that the woman is the head of the family.

2nd speaker Zhuang Yan asked the question "Do you have a religion?". Is it still relevant in today's world that is dominated by science and technology? Religion is often a reflection of heritage and family life, passed down from generation to generation. It is a moral guidepost and a comfort in times of catastrophe. He ended with the quote: "Let your religion be less of a theory and more of a love affair."

3rd speaker Leena gave us insights into the "five love languages" that are universal: words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gift, acts of service and physical touch. She encouraged us to log on to the website http://www.5lovelanguages.com/ to assess our dominant love language, and to get our loved ones to do the same, so we can learn to speak each other's love languages.

1st evaluator April Tan commended Merry on having a clear opening and closing for her speech and for presenting it without using notes. She recommended having a strong opening such as using visual images or questions. The pictures used were too small and were distracting, causing loss of eye contact.

2nd evaluator Patrick Ang commended Zhuang Yan on projecting confidence and having strong speech content. Recommendations include better pacing and improved dressing. The pace was too fast and the presentation could be slowed down. The dress code can be more formal, in other words, dress to impress.

3rd evaluator Steven Choon highlighted Leena's confidence and excellent use of language. She was able to achieve the speech's objective of speaking to inform competently. The anecdote used in the opening could be changed to be more appropriate for the speech content. The speech title could be more indirect and intriguing to arouse the audience's interest.

For the table topics sesson conducted by Table Topics Master Joni, the topics centred around first-time experiences. Cynthia told us about her first kiss... it must have been a mountain-top feeling and tasted moist, or bland depending on what she had eaten. It gave her a chance to savour her long-ago romances.

Brice regaled us by recounting how his first date went. He troubled about how to dress and having to ask mom for money to buy Canvas shoes for the date. And how the candle-light dinner somehow went awry.

Xiang Zhen shared his impression about his first toastmaster meeting (which was the current meeting). He told us how scary it was arriving at 7pm and seeing an empty room. Luckily he was rescued by an 'aunty' who welcomed him and his friend, and then he enjoyed the food. He thought the English used was superior compared to the level of English he was used to in polytechnic.

Nik recounted his first trip overseas to Genting Highland and how he missed out on enjoying an outing to the casino as he was underaged.

Patrick shared a recent experience where he took part in a contest 'the most weirdly-dressed person'. He undressed to reveal fig leaves and did a song and dance about women being too complicated to be understood, which won him the first prize.

Language Evaluator Benjamin highlighted the excellent use of language. Some examples included:

"Its popularity has waxed and waned through time" (alliteration)

"to add insult to injury" (alliteration)

"speak to be heard, to be followed, to be understood" (triad)

"trader by day, agent by night" (contrast)

Mispronounced words included : 'thus', 'conduit', 'specific', 'triads'.

Ah Counter Cynthia gave a detailed and meticulous report of the pause-fillers uttered by the various speakers that night.

VPM Leena & President Ida jointly announced some exciting membership incentive schemes: New members fees for the 1st year will be reduced from $180 to $160 with a further reduction to $140, thanks to generous sponsorship of $20 by Charter president Benjamin Gan. Registration fees will also be reduced from $40 to $30. All other existing members will also enjoy a $20 discount on fees renewals in October this year.

Any member who brings a guest who signs up as a member, will be rewarded with cash vouchers of $10 or $20, depending on the sign up period (6-mth or 12-mth).

President Ida will also sponsor two tickets to the District 80 Semi-Annual Convention from 11 Nov to 13 Nov 2011 at SRC, YWCA & Hotel Fort Canning, each worth $248 for the two most deserving club members who have shown improvement in their speaking skills and been consistent in attending meetings.

Best Speaker Leena Santore

Best Evaluator : Patrick Ang

Best Table Topics

Speaker : Patrick Ang