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Monday 12 November 2007

Inspirational Speeches Series - Part 1 The Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln

As promised here is the first of the series which I very wish that all members and Toastmasters can make as much use of as possible.

Both the video and full text of the speech is included here. Do take your time to fully comprehend the ingenuity of Lincoln's brief and simple but thought-provoking and motivating speech. Learn how he uses metaphors, triads and repetitions to slowly but very surely rouse the patriotism of his countrymen. And of course, you will never missed one of the most oft quoted phrase in modern history - "...government of the people, by the people, for the people..."

Enjoy.


The Gettysburg Address, President Abraham Lincoln



Fourscore and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting-place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us -- that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion -- that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth.

Sunday 11 November 2007

318th Chapter Meeting President's Opening Address and Launch of the Inspirational Speeches Series

Every once in a while, everyone of us will come across an inspirational speech, a speech that might just change our lives.

When I was young, I knew who Martin Luther King Jr. was – the civil rights leader of America who was gunned down in 1968. I knew he delivered one of the greatest speech ever delivered in public – “I have a Dream”. It was a speech so moving and so motivating that it brought a country once divided by colour, unity.

But it was only 3 days ago when I finally saw Reverend King spoke, on the ever popular YouTube, an archive of his speech that day on 28 August 1963. And when I heard and when I saw, I wept. Yes, I cried. I cried because never did I know the power of people. Never did I understand the strength of us humans. Never did I once realise the priceless quality called freedom, that I possess, that so many of us in the world still do not have. I finally felt it.

What I also felt was that indeed the pen, or in this case, the voice, is more powerful than the sword. Without a single shred of doubt. That a single person, out of passion for his fellow people and the rights of others, could change the world. I bow to this man and would have gladly fight for his cause alongside him.

There was also another man who made me cry, someone from Toastmasters. It was May 2006 and the World Champion of Public Speaking, Jim Key, re-presented his winning speech to us delegates at the District 80 Annual Convention in Singapore. He spoke about how “It is never too late” to achieve what you want to achieve. I thought of myself and the little achievements that I had – and started crying. This man touched my heart too.

Being in Toastmasters and benefiting from the Toastmasters Program is one of the best things in life. While it never ceases to amaze me how powerful and motivating some of the speakers in our district and elsewhere can be, what is more satisfying, just like a parent looking at his/her child, is to watch how an awfully awkward speaker metamorphosed into the polished presenter he or she is now.

As President of the club, I have often encouraged you to learn and continue your journey of learning from the better speakers and from the Toastmasters Educational Program. It is with this education goal in mind for each of you that I’ve decided to launch a new series of educational resources to encourage, motivate and inspire you – the Inspirational Speeches Series.

This is a series of yes, inspirational speeches, found on the web and/or recorded by our club and others, complete with video/audio and text. Amongst them will be some of the greatest speeches made by Reverend Martin Luther King Junior, President Abraham Lincoln, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy, Malcolm X, Senator Barack Obama and many many more great speakers of our time. You, as members of our club and of Toastmasters, now have a valuable tool and resource to learn not just from our fellowship in Toastmasters, but from the best the world has to offer. Right at home.

As the saying goes, while we might not become giants, but if we stand on the shoulders of giants, we can see as far as they do. It is now your duty and mission to learn from these giants what you have always wanted to achieve. And we will always be beside you in this journey.

318th Chapter Meeting, Table Topic: If there is one thing you can change in history, what would it be and why?

Foreword by President

Dear members, I am in no doubt that Tampines Changkat Toastmasters is one of the best clubs in Singapore if not in the entire District 80.

That our club is great simply because of one reason - we have some of the best Toastmasters in the District.

Especially for our newer members, as you come for chapter meetings, you'd start to meet those gems amongst us - members who have benefited from the Toastmasters program, and who are not only professionals in their own fields but they have also demonstrated clearly their ability to address an audience.

I am proud to reproduce a Table Topic speech here by Jin Hwui, our seasoned member and who is, as you will realise from his speech below, a gem indeed amongst us. And for those of you who knows The Gettysburg Address by President Abraham Lincoln, considered one of the most influential speeches of all time, will find that Jin Hwui's speech, while brief, and thought of on the spot, carries that same intellect, wisdom, and motivation that I'm sure so deeply moved his audience that night.

As President of our club, I continue to encourage you, members, to attend our meetings. Reach out to those gems amongst us. Learn from them, consult them, seek advice from them. Because in no time, you will become as polished a Toastmaster as them.

And as a member of our club, I can only enjoy each and every chapter meeting that our club offers us.


With permission from Jin Hwui

Table Topics Master, Mr President, District Officers, Ladies and Gentlemen. World history is certainly a lot more interesting than my personal history and that's what I will be focusing on for this topic. Historical events can be categorised into two broad categories - Good Events and Bad Events. For obvious reasons, should there be anything I want to change, it will come from the Bad Events category. In any case, people generally tend to remember the bad news better than the good news - thus the saying "Good news never last and bad news travel fast."

Over the course of our history, there gave been numerous bad news. The 2 World Wars, the Great Depression, Genocides in Africa, Cambodia, Famine, Floods, Natural Disasters, just to name a few. People have suffered throughout these unfortunate happenings - resulting either of nature's or man's doing, bringing about fears, hunger, deaths, desperation and more.

Yet inspite of these, I would chose not to change anything. The ability to alter history notwithstanding. This is because, I believe that this world thrives on balance. With deprivation, comes appreciation; with disasters, comes great fortune; with grief, comes love. I believe there are no coincidences in this world. Everything that happens, happened for a reason. It is in the case of the Bad Events that happened, that propelled us to greater heights of human achievements. For it is not what happened to us that determines our destiny. Our destiny lies in what we choose to do everyday of our lives and in every situation that life unfolds before us.

Ladies and Gentlemen.