He was born with an extraordinary name. Lowell (‘dearly loved’) spent much of his early childhood as a lone introvert. After years of studying at Chung Hwa school, he was forcefully removed and tossed into the wild frontiers of St. Andrews school. He was too shy, lacked confidence in his English abilities but eventually conquered those challenges and blossomed out of his shell. He is now sure of himself and ready to take on the world. Lowell’s icebreaker speech showed how an introvert has transformed over the years.
From her command of the English language after years of studying Shakespeare in England, it is no surprise that she inspires her secondary six students day in and day out. We can see that Sharon has no fear of public speaking. However, as she gave her icebreaker speech, Sharon had to overcome what she dreaded, talking about herself. We learned she is competitive, highly critical of herself, and a perfectionist. With that in mind, we can only expect more from Sharon in the near future.
The major takeaways from Chris Woo’s Competent Communication 5 speech were to be aware of three types of handshakes that people can throw at you. Why? Well, first when someone throws you a fishy handshake, this tells you he or she prefers to be a wallflower. Secondly when someone throws you a dominant handshake, be wary as he or she is out to intimidate you. Lastly when someone throws you a knuckle-cracker handshake, well, he or she purely enjoys inciting pain as a sadist. We will keep these in mind, Chris!
As a goal-oriented business man, Ling went straight to the point in his Competent Communication 6 speech. There are three indispensable employee types. One is the employee who can get the job done efficiently and in a timely manner. Two is the employee who doesn’t accept any nonsense from others. Three is the employee who gathers intel and reports back all the shenanigans to the boss. Get the job done and quickly, take no nonsense from anyone, and spy for the boss. Solid gold advice from a savvy business owner.
A spinster and an old maid. Are these what you call women of a certain age who don’t marry yet? No! Ong Yin’s insights from her Competent Communication 6 speech proves a woman can have the choice to be single. Ong Yin is a career-oriented independent woman in the modern world and does not have the time to take care of a partner amidst being an active Toastmaster. However, never say never. She will happily settle down if she can become Mrs. Leonardo Di Caprio. It was a delightful speech, Ong Yin!
Kudos, Donna for taking up the General Evaluator role for the first time. You reminded us of how effective the evaluators’ methods and reports were and sternly disciplined misbehaving members. Our experienced speech evaluators exemplified how we can all provide highly critical yet encouraging feedback. Cheers, Stuart, Del, Genevieve, Nur, and Shawn. Thank you role players for a pleasant evening. Gong xi fa cai and/or a very happy long weekend, everyone. May this year fill with abundance for all.
Hazwan