462nd Meeting (17th Oct 2013) Meeting Recap

Best Prepared Speech: Gladys Tye

Best Evaluator: Roger Yap, CC

Best Table Topics: Christina Ho

WOW, WHAT AN AMAZING MEETING! Two Toastmasters, Gladys and Nui, graduated with their "Competent Communicator" titles, seven (7) more participants signed up for Speechcraft 2013 and we had an awesome General Evaluator Ken Lie!

First, Club President Gurmit Singh, CC talked about the advantages of ageing gracefully in his speech "Look on the Bright Side". These include becoming more like a baby (less hair, less teeth), having more attractive women around you (the poorer your eyesight, the more attractive women there are) and not having to worry about a bulging tummy.

Next, Nui Thantong Bang-on, gave a speech on how her life has changed after joining Toastmasters, and what motivated her to join in the first place. She did this to overcome language barriers and many unpleasant incidents at job interviews. Her mother told her to get help with those challenges, and that was when she had her radar switched on. She saw a Speechcraft banner with Andrew Chen's contact number on it, and Andrew asked her to do one thing: "Come and pay!" The rest, is history.

Gladys Tye's speech was about how when she was a child, she monopolized her parents' attention for the first 10 years of her life because she didn't have a sibling yet. Then her younger brother arrived, and her parents' attention shifted to him. Later, she found a boyfriend and "a girl's task is to find the perfect man, and make him yours" (If I found the perfect man I'd sell him for money, but hey, that's me) Gladys then told us about her recent break up with her boyfriend, and how her friend said to learn from the relationship and move on. The finale was when Gladys whipped out her ukulele and made us sing "I'm Yours" by Jason Mraz. Exquisite! Gladys knows how to work the crowd. I confess to singing only 1 line from that whole song: "I'm yours...". But then this is me, the same guy who tore the One Direction song "What Makes You Beautiful" into an awful rap version...

The final prepared speech by Shaun Li, ACS, ALB, was an Advanced Project humourous speech on a serious topic (Leave Them with a Smile). Shaun talked about how he learned how to communicate through his relationships, how he thought "tau" (arrogant or proud, in Hokkien) was "handsome". "The Most Handsome Man on the Planet" also shared how to strategically contrive a meeting with a girl at a bus stop, which I will not share here, and which I also intend to sell for money... "Going Home? - How to meet the girl of your dreams at bus stops and MRT stations"

The evaluator Roger Yap, CC from Anchorvale TMC, gave us thought-provoking questions about Gladys' speech, and asked how many of us would pay money to watch Gladys perform. Many hands went up (mostly guys, but that's beside the point: she has an audience). IPP Ted Chong, ACB, CL, evaluated Shaun's speech by suggesting a more relevant joke.

Table Topics Master Ronnie Wang told a classic joke that will forever be remembered : "For those of you who know me, I'm Ronnie. For those who don't know me, you can also call me Ronnie" Nice one, brother!

Questions include "If you could star in any movie, what would it be, and why?" and "If you could author any book, what would it be, and why?". Christina Ho said she would love to star in the movie "Titanic" by James Cameron, because it is THE romantic movie and it's about how your love is remembered when your lover's not there. (Hint: take long vacations away from each other) And we can all remember what book Peter Koh would have liked to 'author'...

Below are the photos from the event. Till next time, love each other and yourself, communicate, and make money!

-Carl Wong, VPPR

Best Prepared Speech: Gladys Tye

Newly-crowned CCs: Gladys Tye and Nui Thantong Bang-on

Best Evaluator: Roger Yap, CC from Anchorvale TMC

Best Table Topics: Christina Ho

461st Chapter Meeting (3rd October 2013) or "A Day of Many Firsts"

A Day of Many Firsts

Best Prepared Speech: Jane Yeo
Best Evaluator: Coen Tan, ACS, ALB
Best Table Topics: Roger Yap, CC
Word of the Day: STRIDE

It was a day of many firsts:
1. The First time our VPE took over in Gurmit's absence, giving his inaugural Opening Address as as Acting President for the day.
2. Joe Wan's First time as Toastmaster of the Day. Joe was totally awesome and energetic. WOOHOO! Go, First Wan!
3. Christina Ho's First time as Language Evaluator, with "STRIDE" as her Word of the Day. Well done, Christina, so full of courage and enlightening observations!
4. Chan Chee Wai did his First Speech, talking about how he takes evening walks with his parents in his hometown of Ipoh, and how he came to Singapore. Ipoh is well-known for its pretty ladies and affordable, delicious food, so perhaps one day we can go visit Chee Wai's hometown as a group! Not just for the single guys, also the MBAs (Married but Availables)...
5. Andrew Chen, ATMB, ALB did his First prepared speech that we've seen in a long, long time. Andrew was very convincing as a Master Salesman, talking about the main causes of death in the Singapore population, and how someone could provide for his family in his absence, in the form of a "Love Letter" (as my best friend Al says, "Cash is the most sincere gift", usually said in jest, but here it has a serious meaning)
6. And also the First time I've seen a Toastmaster so young, handsome and with so much potential: Hayden, Michael and Cheng Lee's grandson, paid us a visit. Since Michael and Cheng Lee are both DTMs, I have a strong feeling that Hayden will walk down that same path.

And if a picture is worth a thousand words, here are several thousand words' worth of pictures:

Birthday Baby for October: Michael Wee, DTM

The icing on the cake...

Best Prepared Speech: Jane Yeo, whose P9 speech was about persuading us to join a sponsored trip to Korea for shopping, a spa in Japan, and cosmetic surgery in Korea!  

Best Evaluator: Coen Tan, ACS, ALB, evaluated Andrew Chen's speech. There are two (2) million-dollar smiles here!!

Best Table Topics: Roger Yap, CC from Anchorvale TMC, talked about how "A piece of cake" doesn't so much represent an easy task as it is a challenge to be overcome. I really like the positive spin on something that seemed so simple on the surface.

459th Meeting on 5th September 2013

Meeting Recap:
Best Prepared Speech: Tan Mingjian "Take The Next Step" CC P10
Best Evaluator: Roger Yap, CC
Best Table Topic: Jack Chu

Word of the Day: Ecstasy

President Gurmit Singh, CC, kicked off the meeting by talking about "The Power of Words", and he illustrated this by telling the story of a motivational speaker who could make a member of his audience angry or calm, just by using the right words.

Toastmaster Richard Jia did his P1 from the CC manual, "The Ice Breaker", by talking about how he came to Singapore, studied in NUS and how he got to his present job. He also explained about his personality profile.

Toastmaster Gladys Tye did her P8 ("Get Comfortable With Visual Aids") with her speech entitled "Law of Attraction", showing how grateful she is to have her parents and sibling, colleagues and us Toastmasters at Tampines Changkat. Aww. Also our brains eliminate the word "not", so if I keep saying "I do not want moths flying into my mouth", guess what I'll get? Moths flying into my mouth!

Toastmaster Carl Wong, CC, told the story of George Eliot's "Silas Marner", about a man preoccupied with gold and obssessive saving, who lost it all one day, but he instead got a child with golden hair, who brought much joy into his life, some unexpected happiness.

Toastmaster See Shunwei did his P6 (Vocal Variety) and talked about how laughter can boost our immune system, and reduce stress. Most fascinating of all, is his ability to laugh spontaneously!

Toastmaster Tan Ming Jian did his P10 (Inspire Your Audience) entitled "Take The Next Step", which is about stepping out of his comfort zone, and how he broke through his limitations to participate in the International Speech Contest a few months ago.

Table Topics Master Linda Huang, CC, gave "interview questions" as Table Topics, the likes of "Why are you leaving your current position of Project Manager?" and "What makes you a good telemarketer?"

September Baby: Desmond Ang, CTM

Best Prepared Speech: Tan Mingjian

Best Evaluator: Roger Yap, CC

Best Table Topics: Jack Chu

458th Meeting 15th August 2013

Wesley gets his Golden Gavel

Best Prepared Speech: Jane Yeo

Best Evaluator: Roger Yap, CC, CL from Anchorvale TMC

Best Table Topics: Christina Ho

458th Chapter Meeting- 15 August 2013

Meeting recap:
President Gurmit Singh, CC told us a story about a marble tile and a marble statue, and how the two ended up in different places due to their resistance to being sculpted.

Toastmaster Joe Wan brought a guest, Jack, and his speech was about how he felt like he had known Tampines Changkat TMC for years.

Richard Lam, ATMB, CL, told us about the dangers of consuming aspartame, an artificial sweetener, and the insidious dangers of it because of its symptoms.

Toastmaster Ronnie Wang, gave a stellar performance in his "The Power of Picture" speech, talking about, what else, the power of pictures. His gruesome illustration of the dangers of smoking will be imprinted in my mind.

Toastmaster Jane Yeo showed us the Stuffed Strawberry Doll she got for her 18th birthday, one of her wedding photos and a video of an ex-Area Governor dancing... unforgettable.

All the project evaluators: Toastmaster Gladys Tye; Coen Tan, ACS, ALB; Roger Yap, CC and Wesley Ho, CC, gave insightful, enriching and helpful evaluations to our prepared speech speakers.

The Table Topics consisted of a sentence-completion exercise, such as completing "I had a dream of...", "I was on top of...", "My Mum always said that..." and making that your Table Topic. Table Topics Master Nui Thantong Bang-on is always innovative with her Table Topics. For some strange reason, Toastmaster June Tan's words "Happiness is spending time with my 2 boys" resonated with me and brought tears to my eyes later when I thought about it some more.

Our Language Evaluator Yew Run Bin, ACS, CL, gave our Word of the Evening as "profound" and she gave many examples of when we used the word, and emphasized the cuteness of the phrase "Polka-dot Strawberry"

What a marvellous meeting it was!

18th July Demo Meeting at LTA Academy

We had a wonderful demo meeting at LTA Academy, initiated by Lee Jin Hwui, DTM and Lai Seng. Great job!

Joe Wan's philosophies of "Commit first, panic later" and "Be the First One in your life" and the examples from his own life, were educational and entertaining. Next Gladys Tye's "PHD- Purpose, Hunger and Drive" give us a guide to a remarkable life. Ng Kin Foong, CC, told stories from his life about finding love, all the way from his teenage years till the time he was studying German. Yew Run Bin, ACS, CL, delivered a moving speech about opening our hearts to love, and "The Virginia Effect", had some audience members in tears.

Also I felt President Gurmit Singh, CC gave a timely opening address about the history of Toastmasters and how it all began, was appropriate because many of us do not know the origins and history of Toastmasters.

Thomas Tan, CTM, ALS, was hugely entertaining as Toastmaster of the Day.

Photos of the event:

President Gurmit Singh, CC

Our LTA friends. You don't know it yet, but there's a Best Table Topics speaker in this photo

On the right is Lai Seng, one of the organizers of this demo meeting

Ronnie Wang and Magdalene Thia, CC

Gail from WDA Toastmasters (extreme right)

Roger Yap, CC from Anchorvale Toastmasters (left) talking to Kevin Tan

Luan Eng (left) and Jane Yeo (right)

Nui Thantong Bang-On (middle) and Jing Mei from WDA Toastmasters (right) 

Birthday girl Juanna Chew cutting the cake in style

Best Prepared Speech: Yew Run Bin, ACS, CL

Best Evaluator: IPP Ted Chong, ACB, CL

Best Table Topics: Jay from LTA

Quiz winner: John Lee

Quiz winner: Richard Lam

Quiz winner: Desmond Ang

 Our next meeting on 1st August, 2013 will be at our usual venue of Tampines Changkat CC. See you there!

Amazing Chapter Meeting!

There were euphoric moments in our club where we have a larger than usual crowds.
NUS toastmasters, our speechcrafters and visitors had certainly made our meeting very exciting .
Lets review the memorable moments!

 

    

       

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