Clear goals, Collaboration, Commitment!

SAA Ida kickstarted the meeting by asking the audience to introduce themselves and share about their favourite song. The answers varied from pop classics to Hokkien song to a Cantonese lullaby!

In her Opening Address, President Leena presented her P7 Research Your Topic speech 'What makes an organization successful?" She used the 3 Cs to elaborate on the factors of success: clear goals, collaboration and commitment to customers.

Prepared Speeches

Welly explained that he only has one name, which is Welly, as that is a common practice in Indonesia. He has worked in the pharmaceutical industry for 10 years and is now a project manager. Despite an unhappy childhood, he has worked hard to build a happy family life consisting of a beautiful wife, a handsome boy and a newborn girl. He holds fast to the values of commitment, determination and hard work.

Roann spoke about "My Addictions". She was given a book about Harry Potter but did not read it until it was made into a movie. She was so hooked onto it that she wanted to learn everything about the movie and the character roles. The magical world of wizardry entranced her so much that she dreams of visiting the production set of the movie in London one day.

Shamala expounded on the topic of prejudice through the quote: "We have conquered the atom, but not our prejudices." She examined how our natural thought processes predisposes us towards prejudice and persuades us to use our rational minds to counter that so we can root out the problem of prejudice. She was voted Best Speaker for the evening.

Malcolm shared his story about his search for purpose, direction and a job that will help him achieve his dreams of travelling to Europe. The trials and challenges he faced have helped him to become stronger.

Mini workshop on Table Topics

Workshop presenter Kan Kin Fung explains that most Table Topics can be divided into 3 broad categories:

Imaginative (e.g. What would you do if you won a million dollars?),

Proverbs / Sayings (e.g. A stitch in time saves nine),

Opinions (e.g. Do you think Singapore should have casinos?)

Techniques for tackling Table Topics

1. PREP: Point, Reason, Example, Point (Repeat)

2. Past, present, future (timeline)

3. Metaphor

The technique of metaphor is especially useful for nonsensical topics like "What did the durian say to the banana?" or topics on objects like "Talk about a pen."

Participants were invited to apply the techniques to the following topics:

1. What is your favourite beer? (PREP)

2. Are mothers-in-law a blessing or a curse?

3. Who is the person you would hate most to love?

4. How would you market toastmasters to a group of prospects?

5. What is the significance of the clock to you?

Guest Nicholas Khoo was voted Best Table Topics Speaker for sharing about his favourite beer and why beer is good for us.

Evaluations

Justin commended Welly for engaging the audience, having good pace and rhythm, and the use of vocal variety. Two areas of improvement include the use of movement, and not using notes. Believe in yourself that you can do it!

Agree used "good, better, best" to evaluate Roann's speech. The good parts were the selection of topic that we are familiar with and a strong, magical conclusion. To make it better, slow down and use the power of pauses. The next best thing is to work on voice projection, vocal variety and hand gestures.

Peter praised Shamala's for her use of humour and ability to connect with the audience. Audience can get easily distracted so use signposts to signal transitions in the speech. Give a strong call to action in the conclusion.

Kelvin commended Malcolm for his tempo and pace and the emotions he portrayed in his speech. He highlighted the problems of pacing, standing on one foot, and distracting hand gestures. He recommended the use of dialogue and more vocal variety to enliven the story.

John used the 3 Cs to evaluate Leena's speech. It had clear goals and was creatively crafted. He encouraged collaboration with the system and with the materials to be a credible speaker. Being customer-focused means having the audience's needs in mind.

Justin was voted Best Evaluator for his well-organised evaluation.

View photos taken at the meeting here.