I had enjoyed a great start to
the week and I got even more excited come evening as I was headed to Mid Valley
Toastmasters Club’s meeting after work. It was the first meeting for the month
of February 2015, and upon arrival, I was happy to see familiar friends and new
guests enjoying the light refreshment served by Cititel Mid Valley Hotel. We
always enjoy this period of chit-chat and food, as it allows us to fill our
stomachs before the meeting!
As I was the Sergeant-At-Arms
(SAA) for the night, I started the meeting at 7pm sharp after calling all
members and guests into the meeting room. I welcomed everyone to the meeting
and introduced the word of the day, “Cherish”. The word has multiple meanings
such as:
(i)
to hold or treat as dear;
(ii)
feel love for, to care tenderly;
(iii)
nurture or to
cling fondly or inveterate to;
As part of the club’s meeting
culture, we encourage members and guests to use the word of the day as often as
possible during the meetings.
Our President, Shim Chee Loon,
had some personal matters to attend to, so our club’s Sergeant-At-Arm Chong
Chee Siong, was Acting President for the meeting. He used his humorous
personality to good effect, engaging the crowd with an Ice Breaking session that
saw both members and guests introducing themselves, often in a funny manner!
The meeting proceeded with the Love
Edition of Table Topic, whereby volunteers would receive a random topic and
speak about it extemporaneously. Many guests volunteered to brave their first
ever attempt at public speaking. And bravo! They did a good job!
The meeting then proceeded to the
Prepared Speeches session.
Our first speaker of the evening
was Yeap Wei Leeng with his speech “Cash”. The premise of his speech was on how
we should all spend our cash wisely. Wei Leeng gave examples of his own experience
in doing so, like the time where he had decided to buy a new pair of glasses
for himself.
The title of his speech “Cash”
was presented as an acronym – C.A.S.H. The C stood for Comfort, whereby he
suggested that, like the pair of glasses he purchased, we should buy things
built for quality and comfort. The A stands for appearance, whereby we should
purchase only those items that look good on us, which will in turn make us even
more confident in ourselves. The S stands for security, in which we should look
for purchases that offer consistency and durability, and those which can last
for the long-term. Lastly came the H, which stood for health – purchases should
keep us in good health, or at the very least, not be harmful to us. Wei Leeng
then tied all four letters back into his experience of buying quality glasses
for himself, which he did in order to ensure that his eye vision stayed
healthy.
The meeting took an even more
interesting turn when Wong Mi Shan delivered a speech about Peter Singer. As an
audience member, I had to admit, I was curious as to who this Peter Singer was.
The setting for Mi Shan’s speech was at the 2015 Animal Rights Conference,
where she was delivering a speech praising Peter Singer’s good work on animal
rights and how it has inspired her and others to do more for animal rights.
One scene that was described
especially well was Singer’s Eureka moment: it was Singer’s friend and
colleague at the University of Oxford, Richard Cancion, who had piqued Singer’s
curiosity when he ordered a meatless salad. When Singer quizzed Cancion on his
choice of food, Cancion’s answers on the cruelty dealt upon animals made Singer
realize that that cruelty was similar to the oppression of women by men and the
cruelty that was inflicted upon the Jews by the Nazis during the Holocaust.
Sitting there as an audience
member, I too felt her passion for the topic and I dare say I felt inspired too.
Good speech, Mi Shan!
The last speaker for the night
was Timothy Nakayama, with his speech “The Desire and the Will”. He lured us in
at the start of his speech by revealing that he had a secret to share with us,
which certainly caught our attention. When he then went on to reveal the big
secret that he was an introvert, nobody really believed him as many of us had
already witnessed him delivering great speeches during speech contests. Timothy
went on to state that his profession as a writer allowed him precious little
opportunities for face-to-face contact with others, and that early on in his
career, he had pondered on the possibility that he might have to do a book
reading one day, which also meant that it would be in his best interest to
brush up on his communication skills. Which is how he found out about Toastmasters,
or Mid Valley Toastmasters Club in particular!
After joining Toastmasters,
Timothy began to observe, learn and practice his public speaking skills. He
then gave the audience 3 fundamental tips on becoming a better speaker, based
on what he had observed from proficient speakers. These are:
- Say
something that you very much want to say.
- Speak
with enthusiasm.
- Love your audience.
Timothy concluded his speech by
mentioning that age is never a limit when it came to learning anything,
including public speaking skills. He implored members to recall the reason why
they had joined Toastmasters as well as to make the most out of their journey
in the realm of public speaking – nothing is unachievable in this world.
Brave to all the speakers! As an
audience member, I felt that the topics today were very inspiring. The second
half of the meeting was focused on giving feedback to all the speakers, for the
speech evaluators to let the speakers know how they had done on their speeches
and what they could do to improve further. It was an enlightening session for
speakers and audience alike!
Well, I am certainly looking
forward to the next meeting! See you all soon!
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