17 November 2016 Synopsis

SAA INTRODUCTION

With the buzz of the U.S.A. presidential elections going around, Sergeant-At-Arms Tracey Yuen began the meeting by asking members and guests, “What would you do if you became the President (of a particular country)?”

Participants gave both logical and humorous answers such as compulsory dining at hawker centres, giving 28 days of annual leave, introducing cycling routes on all roads, parenting courses for parents, more jobs for talented foreigners, allowing cats in HDB flats, and having Kids’ Cook Out Day.

PROJECT SPEECHES

There was a line-up of 3 speakers, all presenting from the advanced projects manuals.

First speaker Leanne de Souza presented AP1 The Keynote Address from the Professional Speaker Manual at an imaginary HR Summit with the title ‘How to Future Proof Your Career’. She began by painting a dystopia where jobs for humans were slowing being replaced by robots due to new technologies and globalization.

She shared current examples of how iPads, smart cars, and translation apps are already taking over some of our professions. She also introduced to the audience, Quill – a new era of storytelling and automated writing. She continued with her personal sharing of how rationalization has restructured her work scope, allowing her to be part of her company’s global team by working remotely with no boundaries and integration work-life balance into her schedule.    

Leanne went on to mention that 50% of today's jobs will disappear by 2026 but the hope for the future is that new jobs will also be required, encouraging the audience to focus on critical thinking, emotional intelligence, cross culture competency, new media & digital technology literacy, and personal branding.

Second speaker Malcolm Chen gave a short but touching speech AP4 Presenting an Award, titled ‘V.I.P.’ from the Special Occasion manual. He thanked and recognized a dear friend and special member Ida Lee for her contributions at the District, Club and personal levels.

Third speaker Leena Santore told an engaging story of Rosa Louise McCauley Parks in her AP5 Bringing History to Life from the Storytelling manual. Rosa Louise McCauley Parks was an American civil rights activist, whom the United States Congress called "the first lady of civil rights" and "the mother of the freedom movement". At work, she was the best seamstress and was allowed to go home earlier to celebrate a special occasion.

She boarded the bus from the back door. As the Black section of the bus was full, she took a seat at the neutral section. Rosa refused to move when bigoted white man demanded her to do so and she was arrested. This stirred up the nonviolent movement to stay off the buses and eventually overturned segregation on buses, making discrimination illegal.

TABLE TOPICS

Our Table Topics Master Roann Burgos prepared a series of topics along the theme of time and life.

Tracey was asked what month had an impact on him this year. He shared that February was the month he had change of direction in career and began another new journey in life.

Visiting Toastmaster from Deutsche Bank TMC, Saptarshi spoke about his bucket list. He has dived in the Great Barrier Reef with a mélange of fishes and his wish is to visit Antarctica next year.

Guest Joslyn spoke about memorable events and how happy she felt when her 4 years of hard work to complete ACCA course was fulfilled through commitment and self-discipline.

Visiting Toastmaster from Chong Pang TMC, Yee Keong wished that he had a longer holiday before entering work force and shared his observations while traveling in USA and Canada.

Jacky from Thomson TMC recalled what he had done this year and would wish to continue… that is to take up the challenge to be a business owner and being able to instill confidence in others.

Rosalind talked about what she wants to accomplish before the year ends and to become a certified trainer.

PROJECT EVALUATIONS

First evaluator Saptarshi used the acronym ROBOT for his evaluation. R for Rhetoric – on the good use of questions in the speech. O for Objectives – Leanne has met the objectives of her presentation. B for Body language – where there was lots of beautiful smiles and excellent use of space. O for On our toes – by asking a lot of questions to set our imagination wild. T for Technology and fine use of examples on new digital developments. He also commented on the use of certain unnecessary words, the importance of quoting our sources and more effort in dramatizing the speech.

Second evaluator Joni Siah commended Malcolm for showing appreciation to Ida who is a pillar of support for the club. She recommends that attention be paid to enunciation and a dramatic closing.

Third evaluator Yee Keong commended Leena for capitalizing on TME to introduce Rosa Parks. The speech was thoroughly prepared and well delivered with clear, crisp diction and a melodious voice. He described her as an expert wordsmith with the strategic use of rhetorical devices. He recommended more intense role play to dramatise the story further and to bring the audience into the story.           

GENERAL EVALUATION

General evaluator Jacky Tan commented on SAA Tracey’s great introduction, TME Ida’s friendly, sincere and polite manner, and Acting Club President Joni’s inspirational opening speech.

He touched on additional points regarding the speakers – Leanne for using stories and recommends using a clicker to minimize movement; Malcolm – for his ability to see the goodness in other people; and Leena – who is the master storyteller. He noticed that the Table Topics questions by Roann are relevant and easy to attempt.

AWARDS

Congratulations to the following who were awarded ribbons based on audience votes:

BEST SPEAKER – Leena Santore (Katong TMC)

BEST TABLE TOPICS SPEAKER – Kok Yee Keong (Chong Pang TMC)

BEST EVALUATOR - Kok Yee Keong (Chong Pang TMC)

A big thank you to our visiting Toastmasters Jacky, Yee Keong and Saptarshi!

Another awesome meeting concluded!

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