Giving Impromptu Speeches
Have you ever had work commitments keep you from practicing a speech? Have you ever been asked to speak for someone at the last minute? When I started my consulting practice and became a father of twins in the same year, I often found myself lacking time to prepare and practice my speeches.
One of my evaluators wisely pointed out that it is not how long you prepare for a speech, but how efficiently you prepare. If you learn how to refine your preparation and delivery skills, you can deliver a great impromptu speech from your own foundation of knowledge and personal style.
I would like to share with you some of the tricks I have learned about this important skill from my own recent "trials by fire":
1. Don't quit your day job. Your day job in Toastmasters is preparing, practicing, and delivering manual speeches. You should attempt impromptu speaking only after you have completed a number of manual speeches and are already comfortable as a speaker. By this time you should know your natural style and the skills needed for successful impromptu speaking. Speeches in the beginner's manual should never be performed impromptu the first time. Each manual speech is focused on the development of a particular skill. Giving these speeches impromptu is like trying to learn calculus without knowing how to add. If you find that your speeches are becoming increasingly impromptu, you may need to reexamine your business and personal priorities.
2. Know your natural style. Impromptu speaking is much easier if you know your own natural speaking style. I discovered my natural style on my fourth or fifth manual speech. I discovered that I can easily tell short, humorous stories of things that have happened to me. As a result, my best speeches are those that consist of stories which come from my heart. What is your natural style?
3. Use positive self-talk. My early impromptu speeches were hobbled by negative self-talk. My inner voice kept telling me that I was inadequately prepared and was destined to falter. When I hit the stage, I focused on my self-consciousness instead of the audience, and guess what - I faltered. I turned around this self-talk by realizing through evaluations that I was speaking to friends who enjoyed my personal stories, and who often did not notice when I forgot a point I wanted to make. Suddenly, I found myself connecting with my audience, as if I was talking with each one of them personally.
4. Make a point. Even when you give an impromptu speech, you need structure. The classic "opening, body, and conclusion" falls in place if everything you say relates to a point which you reveal at the end. For example, I recently gave a speech about a family vacation to visit relatives. I opened by saying how much we needed the vacation to escape from work and stress at home. Then I created a body by telling stories like how we stayed in a converted garage which seemed more like a cave, and tried to sleep on a leaky air mattress. Finally, I told how relieved we were to return home, where I drove home my point: a vacation is not so much an escape as it is an opportunity to appreciate what you already have. By making a point, I turned what could have been a boring recitation of a family vacation into a funny story with a memorable lesson.
5. Avoid using notes. An impromptu speech is like a flash flood - it goes where it wants to. If you only have ten minutes to create your notes, you are bound to come up with better ways to express your ideas while you are speaking. Trying to force your speech back to your notes is at best awkward and at worst will throw you completely off track. Abandon your notes, and let the rest of your speech flow from your heart. If you must use notes, they should contain only the point you wish to make, plus a couple of words to trigger any stories you wish to tell.
6. Deliver it as if you've practiced it many times. Don't reveal beforehand that your speech is impromptu. This will undermine your audience's reception of your speech before you even begin. Approach the audience with confidence, as if you've practiced many times before. Deliver it with vigor and confidence, letting your ideas flow as if you are talking to friends. Present your conclusion as if you're revealing something very important. Prepare yourself for the praise you receive when your evaluator reveals that this speech was impromptu!
About apologies: When you're in the spotlight, do not apologize for nervousness, lack of preparation, missing functionaries, or poorly run meetings. The spotlight will turn immediately toward the very flaw you are trying to overcome. I've seen too many cases where a perfectly good speech or meeting was ruined because a problem which otherwise would have gone unnoticed, became the foremost thought of the audience. Let the evaluator or general evaluator judge the severity of any errors you make and point them out at the appropriate time.
7. Be willing to cut it short. Sometimes you'll have covered only half your thoughts, and you'll find a great way to end your story, right there. If you think you're close to the green light, cut to the conclusion! Even though I have to force myself to drop things I wanted to say, my speeches are much better when I dump unnecessary content in favor of a clean conclusion.
8. Tell your evaluator that your speech is impromptu. Ask him to focus their evaluation on what you did to make your impromptu speech successful, and on suggestions that you can use to improve your impromptu speaking technique. It's OK for the evaluator to point out that impromptu speeches should be an exception in a Toastmasters club. It's not OK for the evaluator to chastise you for not spending more time preparing (unless you are making this a habit.) You may want to ask the General Evaluator to assign you an experienced evaluator who has been in your shoes.
9. Practice at table topics. Be bold, and ask the Table Topics Master to choose you during table topics. If you can master table topics, then you will be able to string together an impromptu speech from a series of anecdotes.
10. Volunteer to be an evaluator. This is a great opportunity to learn how to organize thoughts quickly and effectively, and deliver them seamlessly. Force yourself to leave your notes behind when you give your evaluation, so that you learn to think on your feet.
About evaluating without notes: The idea of giving an evaluation without notes used to give me the willies. Then I realized that the worst thing that would happen would be that I might not remember all I wanted to say. I realized that this would mean that my evaluation would merely be too short to qualify for "Best Evaluator." What a small price to pay for learning how to impress my audience with my hands free of notes!
11. Relive the high points. Immediately after your speech, think about the places where you were on a roll. It's likely this is where your self-confidence peaked and you connected with your audience. This is your natural style! Think about your state of mind, and how you got there. Then, do more of it in future speeches.
Conclusion
In real life, many speeches and calls to action are impromptu, and being able to deliver one expertly is a valuable skill. It requires you to organize your thoughts quickly before you reach the stage. This skill can be learned by doing evaluations. It requires you to approach the podium with confidence, as if you've done this many times before. Then you must deliver your speech in your own style, with vigor and energy. When you are done, you can enjoy remembering what you did that made your speech successful.
The ability to perform an impromptu speech well is a skill shared by the best speakers and leaders of the world. When such a speech is prepared and delivered so well that the audience does not even know it, your self-confidence will reach new levels that will carry over into other aspects of your business and personal life. In Toastmasters, these speeches are the exception rather than the rule, but being able to give them is a skill that should be in every Toastmaster's repertoire.
Sean Sheedy V
THE RIGHT WAY TO SPEAK
The RIGHT Way to Speak"
In an effort to maximize our ability to communicate publicly, we often search for the "right" way to speak.
Finding the "right" way, however, is like grabbing a handful of water.
Why? It is because the right way is slightly different for each person.
It's a combination of who, what, and where we are at the moment.
Of course, we can all apply certain fundamentals and techniques to elevate our skill, but each of use will use them with varying results.
Have you ever heard the same joke from two different people and one time it was funny and the other time it was not?
Chances are high that the first was simply a funnier person than the second.
Here's the secret to speaking the right way...
1. Know your speaking ability at the moment and use a majority of techniques that fit within that level.
Go with what works for you right now.
2. Continue to learn and apply new skills as you master your present set.
For most, public speaking does not come naturally; it is an acquired and admired skill that comes through education and application.
3. Use one new speaking technique each speech or presentation.
Try out a new story, or a new prop, or a new close.
I say one because if it doesn't work out the way you expected, you have your sure bet techniques already doing a great job for you.
The right way is simply YOUR way at the moment.
Do your best. Share the greatest value with the audience.
Don't beat yourself up if you are just starting.
Don't give yourself too much slack if you've been speaking for years, but refuse to learn and apply new things.
(Paul Evans - Instant Speaking Success)
In an effort to maximize our ability to communicate publicly, we often search for the "right" way to speak.
Finding the "right" way, however, is like grabbing a handful of water.
Why? It is because the right way is slightly different for each person.
It's a combination of who, what, and where we are at the moment.
Of course, we can all apply certain fundamentals and techniques to elevate our skill, but each of use will use them with varying results.
Have you ever heard the same joke from two different people and one time it was funny and the other time it was not?
Chances are high that the first was simply a funnier person than the second.
Here's the secret to speaking the right way...
1. Know your speaking ability at the moment and use a majority of techniques that fit within that level.
Go with what works for you right now.
2. Continue to learn and apply new skills as you master your present set.
For most, public speaking does not come naturally; it is an acquired and admired skill that comes through education and application.
3. Use one new speaking technique each speech or presentation.
Try out a new story, or a new prop, or a new close.
I say one because if it doesn't work out the way you expected, you have your sure bet techniques already doing a great job for you.
The right way is simply YOUR way at the moment.
Do your best. Share the greatest value with the audience.
Don't beat yourself up if you are just starting.
Don't give yourself too much slack if you've been speaking for years, but refuse to learn and apply new things.
(Paul Evans - Instant Speaking Success)
STAGE FRIGHT STRATEGIES
Stage fright Is Good and Makes You Better Looking Too!
Before you learn how to deliver your lines, it is important to be ready to deliver your lines. Stage fright is a phenomenon that you must learn to control. Actually, stage fright isn't the most accurate term for the nervousness that occurs when considering a speaking engagement. In fact, most of the fear occurs before you step on-stage. Once you're up there, it usually goes away. Try to think of stage fright in a positive way. Fear is your friend. It makes your reflexes sharper. It heightens your energy, adds a sparkle to your eye, and color to your cheeks. When you are nervous about speaking you are more conscious of your posture and breathing. With all those good side effects you will actually look healthier and more physically attractive.
Many of the top performers in the world get stage fright so you are in good company. Stage fright may come and go or diminish, but it usually does not vanish permanently. You must concentrate on getting the feeling out in the open, into perspective and under control.
Remember Nobody ever died from stage fright. But, according to surveys, many people would rather die than give a speech. If that applies to you, try out some of the strategies in this section to help get yourself under control. Realize that you may never overcome stage fright, but you can learn to control it, and use it to your advantage.
Symptoms of Stage fright
Dry mouth.
Tight throat.
Sweaty hands.
Cold hands.
Shaky hands.
Nausea.
Fast pulse.
Shaky knees.
Trembling lips.
Any out-of-the-ordinary outward or inward feeling or manifestation of a feeling occurring before, or during, the beginning of a presentation.
(Wow! What a dry mouthful!).
Here are some easy to implement strategies for reducing your stage fright. Not everyone reacts the same and there is no universal fix. Don't try to use all these fixes at once. Pick out items from this list and try them out until you find the right combination for you.
Visualization strategies that can be used anytime
Concentrate on how good you are.
Pretend you are just chatting with a group of friends.
Close your eyes and imagine the audience listening, laughing, and applauding.
Remember happy moments from your past.
Think about your love for and desire to help the audience.
Picture the audience in their underwear.
Strategies in advance of program
Be extremely well prepared.
Join or start a Toastmasters club for extra practice
Get individual or group presentation skills coaching.
Listen to music.
Read a poem.
Anticipate hard and easy questions.
Organize.
Absolutely memorize your opening statement so you can recite it on autopilot if you have to.
Practice, practice, practice. Especially practice bits so you can spit out a few minutes of your program no matter how nervous you are.
Get in shape. I don't know why it helps stage fright, but it does.
Strategies just before the program
Remember Stage fright usually goes away after you start. The tricky time is before you start.
Be in the room at least an hour early if possible to triple check everything. You can also schmooze with participants arriving early.
Notice and think about things around you.
Concentrate on searching for current and immediate things that are happening at the event that you can mention during your talk (especially in the opening).
Get into conversation with people near you. Be very intent on what they are saying.
Yawn to relax your throat.
Doodle.
Draw sketches of a new car you would like to have.
Look at your notes.
Put pictures of your kids/grandkids, dog, etc., in your notes.
Build a cushion of time in the day so you are not rushed but not too much time. You don't want to have extra time to worry.
If your legs are trembling, lean on a table, sit down, or shift your legs.
Take a quick walk.
Take quick drinks of tepid water.
Double check your A/V equipment.
Don't drink alcohol or coffee or tea with caffeine.
Concentrate on your ideas.
Hide notes around the stage area so you know you have a backup if you happen to draw a blank.
Concentrate on your audience.
Listen to music.
Read a poem.
Do isometrics that tighten and release muscles.
Shake hands and smile with attendees before the program.
Say something to someone to make sure your voice is ready to go.
Go somewhere private and warm up your voice, muscles, etc.
Use eye contact.
Go to a mirror and check out how you look.
Breathe deeply, evenly, and slowly for several minutes.
Don't eat if you don't want to and never take tranquilizers or other such drugs. You may think you will do better, but you will probably do worse and not know it.
Strategies when the program begins
If legs are trembling, lean on lectern /table or shift legs or move.
Try not to hold the microphone by hand in the first minute.
Don't hold notes. The audience can see them shake. Use three-by-five cards instead.
Take quick drinks of tepid water.
Use eye contact. It will make you feel less isolated.
Look at the friendliest faces in the audience.
Joke about your nervousness. "What's the right wine to go with fingernails? "
Remember nervousness doesn't show one-tenth as much as it feels.
Before each presentation make a short list of the items you think will make you feel better. Don't be afraid to experiment with different combinations. You never know which ones will work best until you try. Rewrite them on a separate sheet and keep the sheet with you at all times so you can refer to it quickly when the need arises.
Use these steps to control stage fright so it doesn't control you.
- by Tom Antion
end of artcle...
Before you learn how to deliver your lines, it is important to be ready to deliver your lines. Stage fright is a phenomenon that you must learn to control. Actually, stage fright isn't the most accurate term for the nervousness that occurs when considering a speaking engagement. In fact, most of the fear occurs before you step on-stage. Once you're up there, it usually goes away. Try to think of stage fright in a positive way. Fear is your friend. It makes your reflexes sharper. It heightens your energy, adds a sparkle to your eye, and color to your cheeks. When you are nervous about speaking you are more conscious of your posture and breathing. With all those good side effects you will actually look healthier and more physically attractive.
Many of the top performers in the world get stage fright so you are in good company. Stage fright may come and go or diminish, but it usually does not vanish permanently. You must concentrate on getting the feeling out in the open, into perspective and under control.
Remember Nobody ever died from stage fright. But, according to surveys, many people would rather die than give a speech. If that applies to you, try out some of the strategies in this section to help get yourself under control. Realize that you may never overcome stage fright, but you can learn to control it, and use it to your advantage.
Symptoms of Stage fright
Dry mouth.
Tight throat.
Sweaty hands.
Cold hands.
Shaky hands.
Nausea.
Fast pulse.
Shaky knees.
Trembling lips.
Any out-of-the-ordinary outward or inward feeling or manifestation of a feeling occurring before, or during, the beginning of a presentation.
(Wow! What a dry mouthful!).
Here are some easy to implement strategies for reducing your stage fright. Not everyone reacts the same and there is no universal fix. Don't try to use all these fixes at once. Pick out items from this list and try them out until you find the right combination for you.
Visualization strategies that can be used anytime
Concentrate on how good you are.
Pretend you are just chatting with a group of friends.
Close your eyes and imagine the audience listening, laughing, and applauding.
Remember happy moments from your past.
Think about your love for and desire to help the audience.
Picture the audience in their underwear.
Strategies in advance of program
Be extremely well prepared.
Join or start a Toastmasters club for extra practice
Get individual or group presentation skills coaching.
Listen to music.
Read a poem.
Anticipate hard and easy questions.
Organize.
Absolutely memorize your opening statement so you can recite it on autopilot if you have to.
Practice, practice, practice. Especially practice bits so you can spit out a few minutes of your program no matter how nervous you are.
Get in shape. I don't know why it helps stage fright, but it does.
Strategies just before the program
Remember Stage fright usually goes away after you start. The tricky time is before you start.
Be in the room at least an hour early if possible to triple check everything. You can also schmooze with participants arriving early.
Notice and think about things around you.
Concentrate on searching for current and immediate things that are happening at the event that you can mention during your talk (especially in the opening).
Get into conversation with people near you. Be very intent on what they are saying.
Yawn to relax your throat.
Doodle.
Draw sketches of a new car you would like to have.
Look at your notes.
Put pictures of your kids/grandkids, dog, etc., in your notes.
Build a cushion of time in the day so you are not rushed but not too much time. You don't want to have extra time to worry.
If your legs are trembling, lean on a table, sit down, or shift your legs.
Take a quick walk.
Take quick drinks of tepid water.
Double check your A/V equipment.
Don't drink alcohol or coffee or tea with caffeine.
Concentrate on your ideas.
Hide notes around the stage area so you know you have a backup if you happen to draw a blank.
Concentrate on your audience.
Listen to music.
Read a poem.
Do isometrics that tighten and release muscles.
Shake hands and smile with attendees before the program.
Say something to someone to make sure your voice is ready to go.
Go somewhere private and warm up your voice, muscles, etc.
Use eye contact.
Go to a mirror and check out how you look.
Breathe deeply, evenly, and slowly for several minutes.
Don't eat if you don't want to and never take tranquilizers or other such drugs. You may think you will do better, but you will probably do worse and not know it.
Strategies when the program begins
If legs are trembling, lean on lectern /table or shift legs or move.
Try not to hold the microphone by hand in the first minute.
Don't hold notes. The audience can see them shake. Use three-by-five cards instead.
Take quick drinks of tepid water.
Use eye contact. It will make you feel less isolated.
Look at the friendliest faces in the audience.
Joke about your nervousness. "What's the right wine to go with fingernails? "
Remember nervousness doesn't show one-tenth as much as it feels.
Before each presentation make a short list of the items you think will make you feel better. Don't be afraid to experiment with different combinations. You never know which ones will work best until you try. Rewrite them on a separate sheet and keep the sheet with you at all times so you can refer to it quickly when the need arises.
Use these steps to control stage fright so it doesn't control you.
- by Tom Antion
end of artcle...
HOW TO RECOGNISE A STROKE
From: Alan Subject: BLOOD CLOT----STROKE
How to Recognise a StrokE !!!!!!!! ?????
Some don't die, they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this .. .
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim
within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a
stroke .. . to tally . He said the trick was getting a stroke
recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient
medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters .. .. S.T.R.
If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.
Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' STEPS: STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple
questions:
S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMP LE SENTENCE
(Coherently) i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY O NE of these tasks,
call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke ------- Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person
to 'stick' out his tongue .. If the tongue is 'cr ooked',
if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an
indication of a stroke.
How to Recognise a StrokE !!!!!!!! ?????
Some don't die, they end up in a helpless, hopeless condition instead.
It only takes a minute to read this .. .
A neurologist says that if he can get to a stroke victim
within 3 hours he can totally reverse the effects of a
stroke .. . to tally . He said the trick was getting a stroke
recognized, diagnosed, and then getting the patient
medically cared for within 3 hours, which is tough.
STROKE: Remember The 1st Three Letters .. .. S.T.R.
If everyone can remember something this simple, we could save some folks.
Thank God for the sense to remember the '3' STEPS: STR . Read and Learn!
Sometimes symptoms of a stroke are difficult to identify.
Now doctors say a bystander can recognize a stroke by asking three simple
questions:
S * Ask the individual to SMILE.
T * Ask the person to TALK and SPEAK A SIMP LE SENTENCE
(Coherently) i.e. It is sunny out today)
R * Ask him or her to RAISE BOTH ARMS.
If he or she has trouble with ANY O NE of these tasks,
call 999/911 immediately and describe the symptoms to the dispatcher.
New Sign of a Stroke ------- Stick out Your Tongue
NOTE: Another 'sign' of a stroke is this: Ask the person
to 'stick' out his tongue .. If the tongue is 'cr ooked',
if it goes to one side or the other , that is also an
indication of a stroke.
160th meeting 11th Nov., 2008; A Success
This report should have been written by Huey Yee. But last minute she "threw the pen" at me.Like it or not I have to do it. I'll try my best to write down what happened at the meeting.
The meeting was attended by: The President, Hj Hashim, who played the role of an invocator. As usual Hj Hashim gave a very inspiring invocation entitled "GET UP WHEN YOU FALL". The gist of it, is that every success must experience failures and mistakes in life. Everyone should learn from their failures and when you fall down, you will get up and rebounce upward far greater than your drop-down. Anyway I will post the actual text in our BLOG so you can read it there.
The President was suppose to be the evaluator for Derrick Teh, but he did not turn up. Hopefully Derrick will attend the next meeting on 25th Nov. to do his Ice-breaker speech.
The VPE Siew Yin, also took up a dual role as Ah Counter as well as Table- Topic Master. She gave a very interesting topic to the five speakers led by Hj Naburi, then KL Loh, followed by our guests, Duncan and Kumaran and lastly Raymond Sii, the member who was MIA (missing in action) for some time. He was lost for words due to his long absence. But he made a courages comeback by delivering his first advance speech from the Professional Speaker Series. "Welcome back Raymond", and from now on, we will see more of you at our future meetings.
Congratulations to our guest Kumaran who won the Best Table Topic Speaker award. Both Duncan and Kumaran have decided to join our club. Congratulations to both of them for making the right decision in choosing our club. WELCOME Duncan and Kumaran.
As Ah Counter, Siew Yin had a field day ("night") in making money for the Club. Abu Bakar, the TME who did a very good job in conducting the meeting also had to pay the most fines of RM4.20 for having 42 speech crutches. So much so he had no small change for car park. As usual Hj Naburi, the next champion contributed RM2.30. I presume it's a record collection for the club and Song,the club treasurer, will be laughing his way to the bank. Unfortunately he was absent.
The evening was made hilarious by KL Loh's jokes with interjection from the members especially Hj Naburi with his letter from Osama to Bush with the message :
370H-SSV-O773H. To understand it you have to read the code upside down then you get the message.
The project speeches were all from the Advance series with Victor Wan's "Roasting" of Hj Naburi, who got carried away when he was doing the evaluation. Instead of evaluating Victor he went through the history of the club and definitely overshot his time allocations. Not only was Hj going overboard with time, but the other two speakers, Raymond Sii, and Wan Chee Wing and their evaluators, Huey Yee and Janice Ooi respectively, also overshot their time allocation. For the first time there was no Best Speaker and no Best Evaluator award given tonight.
The absence of our advisor, Francis Ng was greatly felt by the meeting especially to Victor Wan who was supposed to Roast him. This is one of the rare occassion that Francis did not come to the meeting as he is attending the District 51 Convention in Bali. Without Francis we still manage to run a successful meeting. Touche to the President, who was the earliest to arrive to arrange table and chairs and placing the banners and helping Paul to prepare the nasi lemak. He was the last to leave the meeting room to rearrange the table and chairs with the help of Paul, Duncan, E.K. Yeo and Hj Naburi. Normally, all these were done by Francis.
The birthday cake was also prepared by the President. Hj Naburi and Janice and Wan Chee Wing except for Alwin who left early, had their birthday song and blowing candles ceremony and Huey Yee helped to cut the cake for everyone.
Well done to all the role players. Abu Bakar, the TME,- a well run meeting. Cindy Foong, the Timer, even though with an injured hand after being attacked by snatch thieves a couple of nights before, Cindy still turn up to take up role. Thank you and kudos to Cindy. We pray that you will overcome the trauma soon and our sympathy to you Cindy.
Paul Tan was Grammarian and as usual gave his lengthy report and advice.
The General Evaluator was Chen Voon Hann who is no stranger to our club, our friend from MIA TMC, did a very good job in his duty and tried to bring us to the next level by suggesting that we ought to think seriously about practising open evaluation which is a good idea. We should try it sometime.
Not to forget Tan Ben Hoe our cool IPP in his usual style was the Table Topic evaluator, appreciated by everyone.
All in all, it was a successful meeting and everyone had a good time. Our guest, Kumaran who came for the first time was very impressed with our performances decided to join as a member of our club together with Duncan.
Well done guys and gals. Keep it up.
Report by:
Hj Naburi
VPPR
The meeting was attended by: The President, Hj Hashim, who played the role of an invocator. As usual Hj Hashim gave a very inspiring invocation entitled "GET UP WHEN YOU FALL". The gist of it, is that every success must experience failures and mistakes in life. Everyone should learn from their failures and when you fall down, you will get up and rebounce upward far greater than your drop-down. Anyway I will post the actual text in our BLOG so you can read it there.
The President was suppose to be the evaluator for Derrick Teh, but he did not turn up. Hopefully Derrick will attend the next meeting on 25th Nov. to do his Ice-breaker speech.
The VPE Siew Yin, also took up a dual role as Ah Counter as well as Table- Topic Master. She gave a very interesting topic to the five speakers led by Hj Naburi, then KL Loh, followed by our guests, Duncan and Kumaran and lastly Raymond Sii, the member who was MIA (missing in action) for some time. He was lost for words due to his long absence. But he made a courages comeback by delivering his first advance speech from the Professional Speaker Series. "Welcome back Raymond", and from now on, we will see more of you at our future meetings.
Congratulations to our guest Kumaran who won the Best Table Topic Speaker award. Both Duncan and Kumaran have decided to join our club. Congratulations to both of them for making the right decision in choosing our club. WELCOME Duncan and Kumaran.
As Ah Counter, Siew Yin had a field day ("night") in making money for the Club. Abu Bakar, the TME who did a very good job in conducting the meeting also had to pay the most fines of RM4.20 for having 42 speech crutches. So much so he had no small change for car park. As usual Hj Naburi, the next champion contributed RM2.30. I presume it's a record collection for the club and Song,the club treasurer, will be laughing his way to the bank. Unfortunately he was absent.
The evening was made hilarious by KL Loh's jokes with interjection from the members especially Hj Naburi with his letter from Osama to Bush with the message :
370H-SSV-O773H. To understand it you have to read the code upside down then you get the message.
The project speeches were all from the Advance series with Victor Wan's "Roasting" of Hj Naburi, who got carried away when he was doing the evaluation. Instead of evaluating Victor he went through the history of the club and definitely overshot his time allocations. Not only was Hj going overboard with time, but the other two speakers, Raymond Sii, and Wan Chee Wing and their evaluators, Huey Yee and Janice Ooi respectively, also overshot their time allocation. For the first time there was no Best Speaker and no Best Evaluator award given tonight.
The absence of our advisor, Francis Ng was greatly felt by the meeting especially to Victor Wan who was supposed to Roast him. This is one of the rare occassion that Francis did not come to the meeting as he is attending the District 51 Convention in Bali. Without Francis we still manage to run a successful meeting. Touche to the President, who was the earliest to arrive to arrange table and chairs and placing the banners and helping Paul to prepare the nasi lemak. He was the last to leave the meeting room to rearrange the table and chairs with the help of Paul, Duncan, E.K. Yeo and Hj Naburi. Normally, all these were done by Francis.
The birthday cake was also prepared by the President. Hj Naburi and Janice and Wan Chee Wing except for Alwin who left early, had their birthday song and blowing candles ceremony and Huey Yee helped to cut the cake for everyone.
Well done to all the role players. Abu Bakar, the TME,- a well run meeting. Cindy Foong, the Timer, even though with an injured hand after being attacked by snatch thieves a couple of nights before, Cindy still turn up to take up role. Thank you and kudos to Cindy. We pray that you will overcome the trauma soon and our sympathy to you Cindy.
Paul Tan was Grammarian and as usual gave his lengthy report and advice.
The General Evaluator was Chen Voon Hann who is no stranger to our club, our friend from MIA TMC, did a very good job in his duty and tried to bring us to the next level by suggesting that we ought to think seriously about practising open evaluation which is a good idea. We should try it sometime.
Not to forget Tan Ben Hoe our cool IPP in his usual style was the Table Topic evaluator, appreciated by everyone.
All in all, it was a successful meeting and everyone had a good time. Our guest, Kumaran who came for the first time was very impressed with our performances decided to join as a member of our club together with Duncan.
Well done guys and gals. Keep it up.
Report by:
Hj Naburi
VPPR
Presidential Invocation at the 160th meeting on 11th Nov., 2008
The President, Hj Hashim had to do the invocation since Khoshim Malim who was assigned to do it did not turn up. The attendance at this meeting was not up to expectation as only 13 members were present. We had 2 guests, Duncan and Kumaran who later signed up to be members and Chen Voon Hann from MIATMC was the General Evaluator and a guest speaker, Wan Chee Wing from Maxis who did advance speech.
Hj Hashim's invocation: "GET UP WHEN YOU FALL"
Have you ever failed or made a mistake? If your answer is "YES" then it's good for you. The fact that you've failed is proof that you're not finished. Failures and mistakes can be a bridge, not a barricade, to success. Successful people believe that mistakes are just feedback. It's not how far you fall but how high you bounce that makes all the difference.
One of the riskiest things you can do in life is to take too many precautions and never have any failures or mistakes. Failure is the opportunity to start over more intelligently.
No one has ever achieved genuine success who did not, at one time or another, teeter on the edge of disaster. If you have tried to do something and failed, you are vastly better off than if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded. The person who never makes a mistake must get awfully tired of doing nothing. If you are not making mistakes, you're not risking enough.
Vernon Sanders says, "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." Experience is what you get when you are looking for something else.
Success consists of getting up just one time more than you fall down. So get up and go on. Proverbs says, "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful, but if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance."
Remember the old poem that says:
Success is a fiure turned inside out,
the silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are:
it may be near when seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you"re hardest hit;
it's when things seem worse that you must not quit.
(Unknown)
Hj Hashim's invocation: "GET UP WHEN YOU FALL"
Have you ever failed or made a mistake? If your answer is "YES" then it's good for you. The fact that you've failed is proof that you're not finished. Failures and mistakes can be a bridge, not a barricade, to success. Successful people believe that mistakes are just feedback. It's not how far you fall but how high you bounce that makes all the difference.
One of the riskiest things you can do in life is to take too many precautions and never have any failures or mistakes. Failure is the opportunity to start over more intelligently.
No one has ever achieved genuine success who did not, at one time or another, teeter on the edge of disaster. If you have tried to do something and failed, you are vastly better off than if you had tried to do nothing and succeeded. The person who never makes a mistake must get awfully tired of doing nothing. If you are not making mistakes, you're not risking enough.
Vernon Sanders says, "Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first, the lesson afterwards." Experience is what you get when you are looking for something else.
Success consists of getting up just one time more than you fall down. So get up and go on. Proverbs says, "A man who refuses to admit his mistakes can never be successful, but if he confesses and forsakes them, he gets another chance."
Remember the old poem that says:
Success is a fiure turned inside out,
the silver tint of the clouds of doubt.
And you never can tell how close you are:
it may be near when seems so far.
So stick to the fight when you"re hardest hit;
it's when things seem worse that you must not quit.
(Unknown)
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