Ireka & Friendship Joint Meeting - 26 Nov 2009

The first joint meeting for the term 2009/2010 was held yesterday, 26 November 2009. This idea was mooted when Friendship Club members requested for speaking slots. Both Club Presidents agreed. Members of both clubs took up roles and it resulted in a fantabulous (Word of the Day) evening for all who attended.

We were honoured to have a very experienced Toastmaster DTM G Sivalingam to give a presentation on "How to Handle Table Topics". He said, every single moment of our lives is a table topic moment - every day in our conversation with relatives, friends, colleagues, anyone we meet, we do not prepare and plan what we are going to say. But why, when we are asked for our opinion about something in front of an audience, our minds go blank? He gave us valuable tips on how to react and respond in such situations. The trick is to first understand the question, pick up key words in the question and plan your answer around them.

DTM Siva also pointed out the different approaches in impromptu speaking in the Toastmasters arena that should/could not be applied in the corporate world. In Toastmasters, if we do not know about the topic thrown at us, we can avoid the questions and subtly speak about something else. Sometimes, the questions can be ridiculous or not even plausible.

After DTM Siva's educational presentation, Frances proceeded to chair the Table Topics Session. Her questions were all cleverly designed to fit into the theme of the evening, Thanksgiving. Her questions provided opportunity for volunteers to apply the skills mentioned by DTM Siva. After five courageous volunteers expressed their opinions, DTM Siva provided valuable feedback on how they fared. Congratulations to Dorcas for Best Table Topics Speaker!

Brave volunteer Victor answering the first question prepared by Table Topics Master Frances

A section of the audience enjoying the impromptu table topic answer that food is not a priority, when you are a vegetarian at a Thanksgiving dinner

Elaine of Friendship provided us with a vivid description on the attractions of Macau and had me wishing that I was in Macau. Apart from the gaming casinos that Macau is famous for, she gave an insight on the other tourist attractions - food, culture, architecture and people watching.

I expected a philosophical speech from KK Ann's "Living Life by the Day". Instead, he told us about his getaway to East Malaysia and even if things do not turned out as planned, there are pleasant surprises. Now we know, this quiet man partied and ate worms!

Want to know how to get that promotion that you think you deserved?
Take Dorcas' advice - be HEARD. Being able to communicate is definitely a great asset. Toastmasters meetings provide you with the conducive environment to practice this skill.

Next, we were entertained by Freddie of Friendship (Best Project Speaker) who related to us his relationship with a lady colleague. His great story telling skills led us to believe there was more to this relationship that at the end of the meeting, he had to clarify that his relationship with this fabulous colleague is purely platonic. Hmm, I wonder how many believed him!

I am sure many of us who have yet to attempt the projects above now have ideas on how to deliver them. Especially so after listening to the evaluators' feedback. Leonard, Lay Theng, Angeline and KL Fong praised the good skills displayed by the speakers and provided valuable
suggestions for improvement. And the Best Evaluator Award goes to KL Fong of Money & You TMC.

I would like to thank NJ Singam for accepting the GE role and for his feedback on my role as the Toastmaster of the Evening. Being one of the guardians who witnessed the "conception" of the Ireka TMC, his kind and generous comments certainly inspire us to do better in the future. I am glad, Ireka Toastmasters Club did not disappoint him.

A special mention also for Friendship TMC. This joint meeting gave our members an opportunity to witness and learn from them. I would like to thank them for their effort and contribution towards the success of this meeting. In fact, in his closing speech, President Ben Fong commented that both Elaine and Freddie performed much better in this joint meeting than in their club meetings. Did I detect a tinge of jealousy?

Thank you to all the other role players - Timer Alex, Grammarian Angeline, AH counter Syuen and ASAA Fang. Together with all who attended, you make this meeting a fantabulous evening for all!

Ah-counter Syuen Kiew presenting her report. On her left is Timer Alex and ASAA Fang Ai Choo

Hope to see all of you at our next meeting on 10 December 2009!

Best Table Topics Speaker, Dorcas receiving her certificate from Ben Fong (President of Friendship)

Best Project Speaker, Freddie with Ben Fong

DTM G Sivalingam (D'Utama) receiving certificate of appreciation from Ben Fong and Jani (President of Ireka), for his presentation on "How to Handle Table Topics". In the background is TME Soo Ling

Special thanks to General Evaluator NJ Singam (WIM) who provided us with an encouraging and constructive feedback session

Contributed by Lee Soo Ling, VPE of Ireka

Better Speaker Series Workshop - 14 Nov 2009

The expectant audience burst into laughter as DTM Dr. Arul explained that one of the techniques to take the fear out of public speaking is to visualize that it is a one-to-one conversation. Look at one member of the audience, talk to him or her for 30 seconds. Then repeat this process with another member of the audience. At the end of your speech, you will definitely get an evaluation regarding "Fantastic eye contact !"

DTM Dr. Arul sharing with us on how to take the fear out of public speaking

He also shared with us that we think too much of what the audience will think of us, especially if we have made a mistake. That in itself causes us to have an inordinate fear of public speaking when in reality, members of the audience just want us to do our best. So, cast away these thoughts and practise, practise, practise. Just before starting your speech, take a deep breath, exhale slowly, relax your muscles. Then let the show begin !

Division Governor DTM Soh Fong Wai and Area Governor W7 Tan Lay Theng in deep discussion during the break

DTM LeAnn Tang and DTM Ho Fong Ming having a quick run-through of microphone and pointer device during the break

From DTM Ho Fong Ming, we learnt that when creating an introduction, don’t upstage the speaker, don’t embarrass the speaker and don’t over praise. The speaker should not be left wondering was I being introduced or is the TME introducing someone else ?

Fong Ming also shared that on preparation and practice, she agrees with Dr. Arul that practise, practise and practise is very important, at least 300 times for a speech contest. Instead of memorizing the entire speech, we can store it using ideas and key words, to avoid a blank out during our speech. We should also work on bite sizes for maximum impact. This will provide the sizzling effect to a speech.

Her parting words to us were: LOOK YOUR BEST, DO YOUR BEST, BE YOUR BEST.

DTM Ho Fong Ming encouraging us to ask for feedback and work on improvements

Next in our line-up is DTM LeAnn Tang. In concluding our speech, we should achieve closure and make an impact. We may summarize the main points, taking 5 to 10% of the speech time.

For impromptu speaking, the main idea is to: Listen, Pause, Confirm, Speak Up and then Stop. We may express an opinion by agreeing, disagreeing or remain neutral on the topic. Do not apologize, do not ramble and do not invent.

DTM Loghandran had the audience in constant laughter with his skillful presentation on Body Language, Select Your Topics and Know Your Audience. I particularly like his explanation on inappropriate body movement such as Adam’s pose, roti canai, spider push up, and lion in a cage. Emotion is action, he says, and you should smile with your eyes.

DTM Loghandran explaining to us regarding Body Language

Members of the audience working on Body Language instructions from DTM Loghandran

Definitely a bunch of active participating audience!

In selecting your topics, he suggested to first find the theme, then fix the transition (from one main point to the next) and finally, decide on the speech title.

In knowing your audience, do note that the audience likes to be trained, entertained and persuaded. The art of persuasion is not forcing your idea on someone else but rather presenting the facts in a different way or providing new information to change the audience’s mind. He concluded by reminding us that in each one of us, there is a genius speaker.

The above was just a few of the priceless gems that we gathered from our four superstar DTM speakers. It has been a wonderful session of learning. Amazingly, although each speaker had a speaking slot of 30 or 45 minutes, it did not feel as if 30 minutes had gone by. One of the priceless gift of a great speaker is that he or she makes you feel that you are having such a fabulous learning experience that you don’t even want the session to end.

However, all good things must come to an end. We bid them farewell with heartfelt appreciation that these four speakers were willing to spend an afternoon with us, with no financial gain whatsoever, taking home with them the satisfaction that they have done their bit to help the rest of us to be Better Speakers.

DTM Dr. Arul receiving appreciation gift from LGM Francis Ng

DTM Ho Fong Ming receiving appreciation gift from LGM Francis Ng
DTM LeAnn Tang receiving appreciation gift from LGM Francis Ng

DTM Loghandran receiving appreciation gift from LGM Francis Ng

Contributed by Angeline Lee

The Half CC Ribbon Award

From The Desk of Division W Governor

For Division W members who started their ICE BREAKER speech on July 1, 2009 and completed 5 or more speeches on November 30, 2009

Please submit the members' name and club name to your AG on or before December 1, 2009 (Club President and VPE, you can submit the name in advanced if you know your members is going to complete assignment 5 before December 1, 2009)

Award will be presented During TLI2- December 12, 2009 Saturday at Menara AIA, Jalan Ampang

Area Governor...please submit the list to OC Tan Lay Theng by December 1, 2009.

More info about TLI 2 here.

Mentoring Talk-cum-meeting Invitation to Clubs

Dear AGs & Team,

Pleased to announce that the Mentoring Talk-cum-meeting will be held as follows:-

Date : 25 November 2009 Wednesday
Time : 6.30pm-8.30pm

Venue : Mantissa Toastmasters Club, Level 1, Bangunan AHP, No 2, Tun Mohd Fuad 3, Taman Tun Dr Ismail, 60000 Kuala Lumpur.

Gate fee : It's free of charge !!

Please note that the Mentoring Talk will commence at 6.30pm sharp for 30mins, followed by Mantissa Toastmasters Club meeting. This Talk session will benefit all Club Excos and committees on how to set up and ensure the Mentoring Program reaches every Toastmaster member of any club. Leaders make things happen !

Stay tuned to watch how the eager-beavers-energetic-fantastic Mantissa students in action for their speeches. Come & support, bring your Club members and fellow Toasties.

All are welcome.

A note to take in the midst of the excitement - do drop me a line of how many Toasties are coming from your Clubs/Areas/Divisions/District. Email to horcorp@gmail.com. We would like to ensure that we can allocate the right room or hall to cater all present.

In management terms, it's Right-Sizing !

Mark this email and the details. Any Toasties who wish to volunteer as Speech Evaluators are most welcome. Drop a note to VPE Chua Shang Hui (hollandchua@yahoo.com / 012-979 7558).


From the desk of,
Vincent YF Hor
ADvGE
Division W 2009/2010
http://divisionw.blogspot.com/

Division W TLI 2

Exco Members of Friendship Toastmasters Club, Hasil Toastmasters Club, EXACT ADC Toastmasters Club, KPMG Toastmasters Club, IREKA Toastmasters Club and ING Leadership Toastmasters Club,

You have been serving as the club Exco for nearly 5 months - I hope it has been a fulfilling learning experience for all of you.

Toastmasters International provides two training sessions for club Exco every year. You have attended the first training session in June/July, and it is now time for us to refresh, recharge and rejuvenate. We will learn and get inspired by the District Leaders and experienced speakers in the upcoming Division W Toastmasters Leadership Institute 2, or TLI2.

The details of the TLI2 are as follows:-

Date: 12 Dec 2009 (Saturday)
Time: 10.30 am – 4.30 pm
Venue: Menara AIA, 99 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur

Key highlights

1. Parliamentary Procedures, focusing on election (by DTM Dr Arul)
2. Conflict Management (by TLI Chair)
3. Distinguished Club Program (DCP) - facilitated by respective Area Governors
4. Judging Forum (special session offered only by Division W)
   

• Designed based on TI manual on judging criteria for International Speech Contest
• An interactive session facilitated by 4 distinguished speakers:

DTM Ramdas Nayar (Moderator)

DTM Dr Arul

DTM Geoff Andrew

Toastmaster Stephen Fernando

Have a look at the TLI2 Flier here.

Registration
Please e-mail to me the names and positions of the attendees by 25 Nov 2009. You may include non-Exco members who are interested to learn. Acceptance is on first-come-first-served basis.

I encourage all of you to join me in this learning session.

By Tan Lay Theng
Area Governor 2009/2010

Magical Genting Convention

20 May 2009
Message from Club President:

Dear Angeline, Would you like to come? Grace, Zaiton and I will be attending the Convention. Come, join us! Please let me know your decision.

With such a pretty invitation, how could I possibly say no? I signed up for the Convention, with one question in mind.

What will I experience at the Toastmasters Convention?

16 Sept 2009
After the regular ING Leadership Club meeting, as I was talking to our Division Governor, DTM Soh Fong Wai, the subject of Genting Convention came up. I informed him that it would be my first Toastmasters Convention and I did not know what to expect. He assured me that it would be fun.

06 Oct 2009
After our regular Friendship Club meeting, as I was talking to our GE, DTM Ho Fong Ming, the subject of Genting Convention came up. I informed her it would be my first Toastmasters Convention and I did not know what to expect. She assured me that it will be fun.

… and fun it was.

Day 1 – 23 Oct 2009
We arrived at the Genting Convention Hall and were immediately roped in to help at the registration counter. Many new faces appeared at our table and we happily registered them, knowing that everyone was looking forward to a Magical Genting Experience.

Later in the day, I attended my first District Council meeting as a proxy for my club President, Ben Fong. The District Council members made their reports and handled questions from the floor with dignity and aplomb. My admiration and respect for this group of officers went up several notches.

During the awards presentation for President’s Distinguished Club, we went on stage to collect our trophy and had our photo taken with the Immediate Past District Governor Joseph Gomez. We had to wait quite a while before our turn as there were 100+ clubs in this awards presentation ceremony. I was lost in admiration. I was lost with words. District 51 is indeed a group of high-achievers!

Friendship TMC receiving the President's Distinguished Club Award from IP District Governor Joseph Gomez

We rushed for shower and a change of clothes in preparation for the Safari Night. Dinner was followed by a hilarious presentation by our talented bilingual TMEs. We were told that it was the first time that a Toastmasters Convention Dinner was held at a disco!

Organising Chair DTM Gerald Quinten (in his genie costume) surrounded by his angels and fairies.

Not only was LGET-R Mohd Ariff a debonair Dracula, he entertained us with his impromptu strip-tease show which won him the Best Dressed Male Costume of the evening. The last item he took off was … his socks. ;)

Amazing & Angelic Grace with Zaiton

Day 2 – 24 Oct 2009
We were in the Convention Hall early at 8 AM for the opening ceremony. Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye who delivered his keynote address had all of us laughing with his statement that the Ah-Counter was busy counting his pause fillers and his belief that his speech was being evaluated by all 500 Toastmasters in the audience.

The laughter was followed by a feast of 3 speeches by guest speakers Wong Yoon Kiong, Roger Konopasek and Sarjit Singh. The first was motivating and uplifting. The next was thought-provoking, disrupting and challenging. The last put 3 members of the audience to sleep with the power of hypnosis!

After lunch, we witnessed Run-off A for the Humourous Speech and Evaluation Contest. Our Division W champions, Lee Xi Wen and Dr. Mary Barton, were in this Run-off. Many talented speakers went on stage. Unfortunately, only 3 could be selected for the Finals the next day. It was an entertaining afternoon, time well-spent as we witnessed fine speeches and interesting evaluations.

Next we attended a Pidato meeting. It was indeed an eye-opener. The Pidato clubs had to do their own Bahasa Malaysia translation from the CC and AC manuals. Kind to think of it, we certainly had it easy by being able to use our manuals directly from TI. I certainly wished that my Bahasa is more fluent so I can participate in a Pidato meeting in the near future.

Area Governor W5 Christine Khoo with Area Governor W7 Tan Lay Theng

During the Gala Night, everyone was magically transformed into elegantly dressed Toastmasters. I was seated at the same table as two Indonesian delegates, Erikson and Ayu. They were so friendly and enthusiastic, that I found myself looking forward to meeting up with them again at the next Convention, to be held in Miri.

Later that evening, Erickson was awarded the Toastmaster of the Year for Division J. We also witnessed a father and son team sweeping the Division Governor of the Year (Arlan Setiawan) and Area Governor of the Year (Johan Setiawan) awards. Of course, our very own Friendship member, Grace Tan, won the Toastmaster of the Year for Division W. I am indeed surrounded by numerous talented people in District 51.

Grace Tan, Toastmaster of the Year for Division W, with Area Governor W7 Tan Lay Theng and DTM Jessica Liew

Day 3 – 25 Oct 2009
There was nary a dull moment during the finals for the Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest. It was a splendid performance by all contestants. I was astounded when my IPP Lay Theng told me she could not wait for the day when I will be on stage, so that she could snap photos of a Friendship member at the District finals. It will probably take a long time before that happens, as I am nowhere close to the talented group that we witnessed on stage.

Forget about going to Hollywood to meet the stars! I am telling you that we have our very own stars in Toastmasters District 51 and I was able to talk to a few of them personally, without even buying an Air Asia ticket.

Unexpectedly, after the Convention, I found myself in the same group as our District Governor who was in the centre of attention. Many wanted to take pictures with him and he obligingly posed for the camera. As I was waiting to speak to him, I unexpectedly found myself face to face with DTM Adeline Leong, Past District Governor for 1998/1999. Omigosh! The District Governor who was praised by another Past DG, DTM Ho Fong Ming. I found out she is currently in KK and I can actually attend TM meetings with her when I am back in KK for the holidays. It was absolutely mind-boggling. I would definitely like her to be one of my CL manual evaluator. It would be like collecting her autograph.

Friendship members with DTM SKL Walia, our former Area Governor

Finally, I had a brief moment with our District Governor. While chatting with him, I found out that he is from KK as well. Omigosh! How could this be possible? It is a small world, after all. He encouraged me to attend KK TMC meetings whenever I am back there. How can one possibly say no to our distinguished DG?

On top of that, I managed to have a few words with LGET-P Thanni. I asked him whether he would consider visiting our club in one of his future KL visits. Although he has a busy schedule, he looked at me with a warm smile and replied that he will try to squeeze in a visit.

I was definitely seeing stars in my eyes as the third day drew to a close. Not only was it magical, I was absolutely convinced that I will continue my journey of Magical Transformation in Toastmasters! Perhaps one day I will to be on stage for the District’s finals.


Contributed by Angeline Lee