6th October 2015 – From a Different Angle

The Toastmaster of the Evening, TM Dalton Lim, started the evening by introducing the office bearers.

The Grammarian of the day, TM Gerald Goh, informed the audience that he would be focusing on one grammar rule – the use of pronouns. He also introduced the word of the day, ‘boisterous’, which is an adjective for a person who is noisy, energetic and cheerful. Alternatively, it could be used to describe weather that is wild or stormy.

On overcoming public speaking jitters, the Timer & Tip of the evening, TM Rahmat Tarsat, advised speakers to ‘look for helpers’ in the crowd. These include people with reassuring smiles, supportive nods and silent approval.

The first speaker of the evening was TM Macalister Mak, attempting his CC2 project entitled ‘From a Different Angle’. He shared how he was addicted to video games as he was growing up and had unexpectedly learnt a lot from the past three years of gaming. He expounded on how it had led him to develop three skills – critical thinking, communication and teamwork. The strategy required during one-on-one battles in games like League of Legends, coded communication to overcome language barriers with international online players and reaching agreements in a team helped improve these skills.

TM Pooja Shivanand proceeded to persuasively call the crowd to action with her CC7 project entitled ‘Carbon’. Pooja first described climate change as a phenomenon that is more than just rhetoric This was backed by facts and figures from credible sources such as NASA, which revealed that the Earth’s average temperature has increased by 1.5 degrees Fahrenheit. She also made the crowd ponder about their role towards global warming, hitting the audience close to home by revealing how Brunei has the highest carbon dioxide emission in the region, as quoted by World Economic Forum and the Brunei Times. Since the majority of carbon emissions stem from human activities, she strongly suggested the audience to reduce their individual carbon footprints by reducing, reusing and recycling.

The final prepared speech, ‘Misconception of Cement’, came from TM Amran Jamaluddin, who was attempting his CC8 project. Drawing from his 18 years of work experience with Heidelberg Cement and with the use of visual aids, he increased the audience’s understanding on cement type, building reinforcement and structure foundation. He described the different types of cement, aggregates and cement mixture. He also informed the audience about structure connector, building support and architectural preference. Providing the Leaning Tower of Pisa as an example, he then described the importance for a structure foundation to have long-term purpose, structure stability and strong base.

After the break, Brunei Speakers’ Club President, CC Chris Woo shared tips through his presentation on ‘The Essentials to Speech Writing’ as the Brunei Educational Speaker for Toastmasters. The essential elements he outlined included the type of speech, speech writing technique and audience. He explained the various types of writing techniques that could be employed for different types of speeches.  These include speeches that are informative, persuasive as well as hybrids such as persuasive and motivational ones. Finally, he emphasized the importance of considering the audience during speech writing by reminding that speakers cease to exist without their audience. The tips disseminated by CC Chris Woo will hopefully help the audience write more effective and impactful speeches. The presentation will be made available in the Brunei Speakers’ Club website.

Before the end of meeting, the Vice President Education, CL Jordan Yau, announced that next week’s Toastmaster of the Evening will be TM Jidun.

CC, ALB Pranika Lama, who competed last Saturday in the Division K Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest, gave an uplifting speech regarding her experience competing in the Evaluation category. Although she met with disappointment on getting awarded third place, she learnt that being champion would not necessarily mean she was perfect either. She advised the audience to put themselves out there and do things because there will always be supportive people, just like how Toastmaster members had her back throughout the contest.

ACB ALB Ruey Narcis informed the audience that there will be an education session by winner of the Toastmasters’ 2015 World Championship of Public Speaking, Mohammed Qahtani from the United Arab Emirates. The session will be taking place from 29^th October to 1^st November and those interested in attending may contact her or other club officers.

Before wrapping up the meeting, Vice President of Education, CL Jordan Yau, shared his thought of the day, ‘Always say yes. Make mistakes. Go with the flow. Fake it till you make it’.

 

Written By;

TM Tieng Chwei Peng

Photography and Caption by;

Saiful Zamhor