7th June 2016 – Why Worry?

Ramadan Kareem to our Muslim friends and readers.

“If you can solve a problem, then what is the need of worrying?

If cannot solve it, then what is the use of worrying?” – Shantideva

Everyone, have you been feeling a little stressed lately? Inspired by the quote, our cheerful Toastmaster of the Evening, TM Syatrah Roslan, opened up the meeting with her bright smile and advised us to not worry too much and just enjoy life.

In order to have a powerful effect, strong impression or great influence on someone or something, we need to ensure that our words and actions are impactful when needed. One way of achieving this in our speech is to use a rhetoric called Oxymoron, a two-word phrase that is made up of an adjective and a noun with contrasting meaning. Some examples are seriously funny, deceptively honest, rush-hour traffic, and work-life balance. Thank you, TM Maudena Hamid, our Grammarian, for introducing the Word and Grammar of the day.

What’s the difference between crutch words and filler words? Our ‘Ah counter and Who say What’, TM Kelvin Lai, reminded us that crutch words are not real words – for examples uhm, ah, er – while filler words are real words – for examples you know, like, so – which do not have meaningful impact in a sentence.’ It’s great to see you back in the club, Kelvin.

Many of us have difficulties in managing time due to multi-tasking. TM Mei Ann Lim, our ‘Timer and Tip’ of the evening, advised us to find one thing we can do well, and do the common thing uncommonly.

“Wakey wakey, Sleeping Beauty”. TM Awfa Nawawi, a sleeping beauty who had difficulty in waking up, attempted her third project in the ‘Competent Communication’ manual – “Get to the Point”. Remember a day when nothings goes as planned? Blame it on waking up late. Based on her personal experience and a few researches, Awfa outlined the causes of our sleepless nights to electronic devices, stress, and late night meals. She also suggested a few solutions such as putting alarm at a distance from the bed and not eating late night supper. Despite a few pauses, Awfa had shown us great determination to speak without notes. Well done, Awfa! Keep it up.

“What’s your story?” Inspired by the book “True North” by Bill George, TM Aziman Nasir hoped to persuade us to reflect on ourselves and give back to the society through his ninth project in the ‘Competent Communication’ manual – “Persuade with Power”. Using three stories from three characters – a world leader who once suffered from dyslexia, Aziman’s father who struggled through hardship and financially tight situation at a young age, and Aziman himself who felt empathetic for job seekers, Aziman reflected on his capabilities and what he could do to help others. Through his speech, he hoped to inspire us to do the same and give back to the society. Great job, Aziman. Thank you for sharing your insights with us.

Rano Iskandar, CC, CL attempted his fourth advanced project “The Persuasion Approach” in the Public Relations manual. With Brunei Conference (to be held on 28^th-30^th of October 2016) around the corner, organizing chair Rano provided a step-by-step walkthrough of the conference program and the values that participants could benefit. For those with financial constraint, Rano also proposed a savings plan of $40 per month. In addition to that, since it will be held in Brunei, cost for transport and accommodation is out. Members, the conference will be a great learning and networking opportunities outside the club, with the attendance of 2014 World Champion of Public Speaking, Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, CTM. Do not miss the chance to develop yourself and to support Brunei Toastmasters! “I see something in you!”

For our B.E.S.T Speaker session, Pranika Lama, ACB, ALB conducted a short workshop on “Giving Motivational Feedback”. The sad truth about feedback is … we do not like to receive feedback. There are three things that we should consider while giving feedback – purpose, content, and manner. Always evaluate the speech and not the speaker. Besides the usual ‘sandwich method’ encouraged by all Toastmasters, Pranika emphasized that the most important thing of all is to put ourselves in others’ shoes. Thank you, Pranika, for sharing your knowledge and experience with us.

With a comprehensive and extremely thoughtful evaluation, Kelvin won the Best Evaluator ribbon for the night. Keep it up, Kelvin!

Our Vice President Public Relations hosted the closing remarks for the night. Appreciating the effort and time contributed by his Meeting Recaps team, TM Gerald Goh handed out pins and certificates for the blog’s writers, proofreaders, and photographers. This blog would not be as lively as it is today without their help and support.

Starting as a newbie in Public Relations, Gerald has grown to master his role as a VPPR by constantly exploring and pushing himself beyond limits; all because he was greatly inspired by the values of Toastmasters when he participated in the Kuching Annual Conference in 2014.

Thank you, Gerald, for your dedication to spread Toastmasters to a bigger audience inside and outside of Brunei, and for being a leading example to the club. We look forward to your next role as the Vice President Education!

Photography by;

Reuben Chin, ACS, ALB, TM Gerald Goh, Hilman Omar, CC

Written by;

TM Supatra Lee