A dream...takes sweat, determination and hard work

In her opening address, club President Leena congratulated the club on achieving 4 DCP (Distinguished Club Program) goals and having 7 new members join the club so far.  She posed questions for the members to consider:  

1.    Has joining Toastmasters made a difference in your professional or personal life?

2.    Are your goals being met?

3.    Are you becoming a more competent and confident speaker and leader? 

Quoting Colin Powell: "A dream doesn't become a reality through magic; it takes sweat, determination and hard work.", Leena encouraged all members to continue to work towards their personal goals, while thinking about how they could serve the club in leadership positions in the upcoming EXCO.

Evaluation Workshop

A mini-workshop on Evaluation Skills by Marco Rubi-Cruz, ACB, ALB helped members to understand the value of effective evaluations and how to prepare an evaluation speech. He shared tips like using an evaluation template to prepare the outline, numbering key points and using keywords for each point.  How we deliver the evaluation is also important. We were advised to stay away from authoritative words like ‘You didn’t’, ‘you should have’ and instead use personal comments like ‘I believe’, ‘My reaction was’, ‘I suggest that…’.  Overall, the tone should be positive and encouraging.

Prepared Speeches

New member Aarti presented her P1 Icebreaker speech about how learning can start anytime. She shared about her joys, frustrations and dreams as a homemaker. She is learning new skills like public speaking, swimming and playing the piano, which forces her out of her comfort zone. In the words of Henry Ford, anyone who stops learning is old, anyone who keeps learning is young.

Second speaker Shamala embarked on her P3 speech by sharing secrets to keeping our 2013 resolutions. Firstly, be specific about your goals and have an action plan in place to achieve them.  Secondly, try positive phrasing of the goal instead of negative, for example, instead of saying “Don’t eat fried food”, rephrase it as “Eat healthy meals”. Thirdly, be self-forgiving when you go off track. Anticipate interruptions to your goals, adjust your plans and keep going.

Final speaker Raj presented a (P6 Vocal Variety) moving speech about the path you choose. He learnt from his grandmother, who taught him that the path towards achievement will be tough, tiring and turbulent and requires courage. A lake passed down to his family by ancestors was taken over by corrupt officials who were bribed. The entire family looked up to Raj to do something about it.  They fought it out in the legal system to take back the lake, which was rightfully theirs. They not only won the case in the high court but also ignited a review of “grabbed land” in India by lawmakers.  In his recent trip back to India, he visited the lake and promised to always protect it.

Aarti was voted the Best Speaker for her fluent, confident and poised delivery.

Table Topics

Table Topics took on a twist as members were asked to describe their conversation with a famous personality they had met at a New Year’s Eve Party.

Ajay met Madonna, who used to be his object of desire.  She is now in her 50s, so he prefers younger starlets like Lady Gaga, Kate Perry and Selina Gomez, who is much more vibrant and whom he can connect with.

Burt met Bill Gates, whom he used to play marbles with. They knew each other so well they did not even have to say anything to each other and Bill had told him not to let any his secrets out.

Joanne met Michael Palmer, whom she didn’t think very highly of and Ariel met the local celebrity Gurmit Singh, and knows all the good makan places in Singapore.

Burt was voted the Best Table Topics Speaker for the evening.

Evaluations

Hoe Koon commends Aarti for her poise and excellent delivery. She was able to use contrast and relevant quotes to enhance her message. He suggested that she could create an opportunity for audience to give her a standing ovation to encourage her to overcome her challenges.

Shahnawaz was impressed by Shamala’s confidence and use of interesting anecdotes to enhance her message. His recommendations include varying the pitch, use of pauses between points and minimising use of pause-fillers. 

Burt Choo liked Raj’s unique use of melodious vocal variety, which was enhanced by his natural body language.  He demonstrated the true mark of a great speaker with his humility and sincerity. He encouraged him to play out the characters in the story to add drama to the presentation. Demonstrate greater vocal variety through use of dialogue and direct speech.

Once again, Burt was voted Best Evaluator!

Important event dates coming up:

12 February 2013 Tue Club Social: CNY potluck gathering at Joni’s house at 12.30pm.

15 February 2013 Fri NUS Alumni TMC’s International Speech & Table Topics Contests

21 February 2013 Thur Katong TMC’s International Speech & Table Topics Contests

Watch out for more details via email.

To view photos taken during the meeting, go to http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151420263446798.541184.119437361797&type=1