Greetings fellow Toastmasters, Ladies & Gentlemen!
Realizing that a lot of people actually filled with self-doubt, our Toastmaster of the Evening Sharon shared that we should ignore negativity and go for what we want. Her enthusiastic and fervent spirit most definitely brightened up the meeting. ‘Fervent’ means having or displaying a passionate intensity.
Sharon, our Toastmaster of the evening
Time is like a flowing river. Seng Yee, our Timer of the evening, advised us to cherish every moment that life gives you as her tip for the meeting.
The prepared speeches session started with Rahul attempting his Competent Communication Project 2 with his speech titled ‘How do you define nothing?’ Since young, he was always intrigued by math and wondered how the numerical system was invented. This led him to discover that in the beginning ‘0’ had no significant system value. It was only in the 400th century, the first ‘0’ was founded in India. Thank you Rahul for sharing such interesting knowledge.
Rahul feeling very excited
Allen attempted a project from an Advanced manual, Impromptu Speech. Given a random choice from 5 pre-selected topics, his topic was ‘Life is like a Traffic Light’. Before the Green light turns to Red, the Amber light comes first as a warning sign to slow down. Just like in life, when we are too busy doing things, we need to take a break. The Amber light of life is our friends and loved ones telling us to take things easy and rest. Many thanks Allen, for enlightening us with such sage wisdom.
Allen, steady as always
Ruey also attempted a speech from an Advanced manual. Ruey has been in management positions for most of her professional career. By doing a live demonstration with Pranika, Ruey showed that it is always more efficient and effective to appraise with praise rather than criticizing when giving feedback. Some tips she shared was to Articulate, Respect and Engage and to not Accuse, Reject and Embarrass. Well done Ruey. A speech truly worthy of praise.
Ruey sharing her experiences
Gerald the Table Topics Master held a very interesting session with topics ranging from fun to serious. Our first Table Topic speaker and winner for the Best Table Topics speaker, Tan, shared an interesting approach to weightloss when he told us that watching horror films is a great way to lose one’s appetite.
Delwin descibed his ideal working environment as a Toastmasters meeting because of the positive and supportive environment that it provides. Kendrick argues that the only addiction playing video games could cure was an addiction to reading.
Tan makes the audience laugh
Peng shared how she learned to take a break and reach out to friends when under high pressure from meeting tight deadlines. Our last speaker Dalton thought that staying childish is one way for us to release stress, at whatever age. Good job and thank you to all Table Topics Speakers for the insightful speeches.
Congratulations, Tan!
Brunei Advanced Speakers’ Club will be having their next meeting on the 26th March 2015 at Radisson Hotel. Kindly contact Shawn Narcis at 872 8123 for more information.
Next weekend, fellow Toastmasters will also going to Labuan to support our Area champion, Reuben Chin in the division level of International Speech and Table Topics contests. All the best to Reuben and remember to have fun.
Closing the meeting, our acting president Seng Yee encouraged everyone to help each other get back on the right track whenever we lose focus. Attend meetings regularly and be more proactive in taking up roles. Only by participating and engaging with one another can we improve and move beyond our limits.
Congratulations to Sharon and Rano for their first times taking up the roles of Toastmaster of the Evening and Grammarian respectively. A big thank you to those who have attended the meeting.
Written By
TM Chang Seng Yee
Photography By
TM Gerald Goh