Synopsis of Chapter Meeting on 15 Dec 2011

SAA of the evening Merry started the session by asking what each individual would want for Christmas. She received some funny responses like wanting to keep 2 front teeth intact, for the turkey to turn out well and to shed some weight.

Game Master of the evening Choon Liang flashed seven alphabets (E, W, E, T, A, S, R) and divided the audience into two teams. The objective of the game is to form as many words as possible using the seven alphabets within two minutes. i.e. Are, Ate, Eater, Erase, Sweater. Subsequently, Choon Liang issued some Santa hats for the audiences to wear during the session.

For the prepared speeches, Justin Fong presented his P3(Get To The Point), How social media has changed crisis communication. He explained that everyone is using social media on a daily basis, and through platforms like emails and blogs, this has changed the environment. Everyone has the power to tell the world a thought or an idea.

Next, Kok Peng gave his P4(How To Say It) speech, A tale of two cities. He started the speech by asking if the audience read Charles Dicken’s novel on A tale of two cities. His own version of the story revolved around Mumbai and Beijing. He vividly explained his experience of taking a train in India and his internship as a baker in Shanghai.

The third speaker was Leena. Her P5(Your Body Speaks) is titled New Year, New You. It is time to set new goals and she shared five simple steps to achieve resolutions for the New Year. The five points are to 1)Picture reaping rewards, 2)Plan your resolutions, 3)Understand the Pitfalls, 4)Share your goals with People and 5)Prize, reward every step on the way. She urged everyone to create a vision and work towards it.

Last but not least, Chee Leong staged his AP1(The Effective Salesman). He shared with us how a good promoter should sell their products by using the acronym BAR, building rapport, asking questions and recommending. He also explained that how consumers are enticed by the samples, visuals(articles, charts) and price(buy 2 get 1 free).

After the break, Nishant began the evaluation for Justin’s speech. Justin had achieved his speech objectives with a clear and specific purpose. He also uses relevant content like the use of email and facebook. However, he would need to work on his speech organisation.

Malcolm evaluated Kok Peng’s vivid and humorous P4 speech. Malcolm commented on his good use of language like naïve, jaded and confident and “jumped onto the train like a rage bull”. There was also a good use of vocal variety. One point to take note for Kok Peng is that he managed to relate 5 senses(hearing, touch, smell, taste and sight) on his experience to India, but did not do so on his experience to China.

Our next evaluator Seh Leng commented that Leena appeared confident and assured. Her speech was organised into 5 main points and Leena uses rhetorical devices. She also ended her speech with an acronym. Leena must note not to look down at the floor and there were 2 moments that she was caught trying to recall her speech.

The final evaluator was Joni and she evaluated Chee Leong’s AP1 speech. Chee Leong has an effusive attitude and manages to create humour. He also uses acronym to allow the audience to follow his speech easily. In order to bring his speech up a notch, Chee Leong should ask more questions(to interact with audience) and avoid overloading information to the audience.

For the language evaluation, Language evaluator John Sih performed a magic trick before listing the below pointers:

Commendable usage of English

- naive, confident and jaded(triad)

- illuminated through the cracks in the room

- swell up like a balloon(simile)

- catching a train is just like jumping onto an enraged bull

- he who fails to plan, plan to fail

- devise and revise your plan

- effusive attitude

- bring your presentation up a notch(tactful use of words)

To Note:

- pronunciation of project as a noun or verb

- price versus prize - emphasize on the C and Z

- open palm instead of open hands

- repeat instead of just repeat