Katong Toastmasters Club

CHAPTER MEETING DATES 2016-2017 (3rd Thursday) 21 July 2016 (EXCO Installation) 18 August 2016  (Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests) 15 September 2016 20 October 2016 17 November 2016 15 December 2016 (Christmas-themed meeting) 19 January 2017 (Joint meeting with Tampines Changkat TMC at Katong CC) 2 February 2017 (Joint meeting with TCTMC at Tampines Changkat CC) 16 February 2017 (International Speech and Table Topics Contests) 16 March 201 7 20 April 2017 18 May 2017 (12th Anniversary Celebration) 15 June 2017 AREA/DIVISION Z EVENT DATES 2016-2017 1. Division Z Club Officers' Training (COT) I 30 July 2016 Saturday 1-5pm Singhealth, The Academia Level 2 2. Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests Area Z3: 16 September 2016 Friday 7-10pm Chong Pang CC  Division Z: 22 October 2016 Saturday  1 - 9pm Singapore Conference Hall 3. Division Z Club Officers' Training (COT) II 14 Jan 2017 Saturday 1.30-5pm Sin...

PRESIDENT Rajendra Tiwari, ACB ( rttiwari@hotmail.com) VP (EDUCATION) Joni Siah, DTM       (jonisiah@yahoo.com) Defriceni Ng, CC     ( defriceni@gmail.com) VP (MEMBERSHIP) Malcolm Chen, CC  ( chenmalcolm@gmail.com) VP (PUBLIC RELATIONS) Roann May Burgos, CC  ( roann.kuan@ngaiheng.com.sg) Geri Kan, CC        (geri_kan@yahoo.com) TREASURER Aarti Kabra, CC  ( atkabra@gmail.com) SECRETARY Ida Lee, CC, CL   ( ida.lee@ngaiheng.com.sg) SERGEANT-AT-ARMS Eliz Wong, CC      ( elizwongse@gmail.com) Marjane Pulvera   ( finchjane@yahoo.com)

SAA Jane kickstarted the meeting by asking what we would like to accomplish this year. A few of our members (Aarti, Swapna and Geri) would like to be calmer, Roann is looking forward to going home to celebrate her baby girl's first birthday, Malcolm can't wait to complete his wine specialist course and Joni intends to run a half-marathon in August. Club President Aarti, in her opening address, confessed that she has missed many developmental opportunities due to fear of exposing her flaws. She recounted how she gave up on learning chess because of repeated defeat. Years later, she is confronted with the choice of playing chess with her son and realises that the " walls of incompetence " confining us is often self-imposed and we can break them down to free ourselves. (Read the entire speech  here .) VP Membership Leena conducted a short and sweet New Members Induction for our two new members Swapna and Rosean. They also received notebooks for them to take notes dur...

President's Opening Address by Aarti Kabra Presented on 16 June 2016 Have you ever stopped yourself from doing something just because you thought you were not good at it? Or worse, because you did not want to appear silly or incapable to people around you? Fellow Toastmasters and guests, it's confession time! I am guilty of doing that many a times. Many a times, I have changed course or looked away the other side, telling myself, that’s not my cup of tea. With this attitude, as a student, I gave a miss to some very good developmental opportunities that came my way. Whether it was joining the student elite mathematics club or participating to qualify for school athletics team or any other activity that could expose my flaws. One such opportunity was playing the game of chess.  My early memory of the game is about losing to a smarter but younger cousin who carried a smirk on his face every time he slaughtered me in the game! When I had had enough of it, I decid...

Congratulations to our club member Leena Santore who represented Division Z at the District 80 International Speech Contest on 22 May 2016 and came in 1st runner-up with her speech Just Get Up and Dance . We're so proud of you!!  😘  Leena Santore with her 1st runner-up trophy  The winners of the International Speech Contest: Champion: Darren Tay, 1st runner-up: Leena Santore 2nd runner-up: Ranjana Devesh  Leena receiving her trophy from the contest officials  Supporters out in full force!  Ida busy running around with her light sabre  Feeling happy with our winner! 

19 May 2016 marks a special occasion for Katong Toastmasters Club.  We celebrated our 11th Anniversary with a special theme UNITY IN DIVERSITY. Club President Aarti in her opening address opines that an anniversary  is a time to reflect and rejoice. She is happy to see our club members thriving under the guidance of mentors. When she joined Katong TMC, she wanted to learn how to be a better speaker but along the way, she learnt so many other things such as running a 5km race and mindfulness to become a better mother.   PREPARED SPEECHES In her P2 speech, Rosalind spoke about My experience as a local tourist .   She recounted her exploration of the p ark connector network, in particular the  Labrador nature park reserve. She considers it a gem, a hidden secret.  Every tree has a story and some trees in the park are older than her.  She enjoyed the peace and quietness at the park and gave vivid descriptions of what she saw there. Ben...

Our April chapter meeting featured a special workshop Mindfulness for Public Speaking by Toastmaster Ratna Juita from Brahms Toastmasters Club. According to Jon Kabat-Zinn (founder of mindfulness-based stress reduction), m indfulness is paying attention in a particular way, on purpose, in the present moment and non-judgmentally . Ratna shared with us three useful tips on using mindfulness to reduce speaking anxiety: 1. Shift your focus from self to others 2. Be courageous - stand up and talk - putting growth above fear 3. Mindfulness Practice - body awareness - breathing in (there's a fear in me) - breathing out (I smile) Prepared speech segment P3 (Get to the Point) speaker Jane tells us to take up the challenge by learning to bend, adapt, re-shape and reform. She illustrated this with stories from her childhood and school days, and how she was able to overcome the challenges she faced to win a singing competition scholarship to further her education. Leanne pres...