Division W HSC 18.09.10

With “Positive Thinking”, you could be the next Division W Humorous Speech Champion. Here is the story of how it became a reality for one positive thinker.

Our Humorous Speech Champion grew up with the ambition to be a salesman. He realized that salesman, like mahjong players are positive thinkers. Even though fate may not hand you the perfect set of mahjong tiles, “Never mind, play first, maybe can still win” positive thinking means not quitting before the game is over.

Then he joined Toastmasters and he realized that there are many positive thinkers in this organization. He related his experience of not having prepared for his first speech, and slouching back to his seat after delivering it. To his surprise, fellow member Marian commended on his courage for doing his Ice Breaker speech. Another member Charlie shook his hand warmly, saying “Good speech. The next one will be even better”.

Our laughter continued when he told us that even if we were to remain silent for 5 minutes, the encouraging evaluation we will receive would be: “Speaker was courageous to attempt speaking before an audience, has good posture and I look forward to the next speech”.

He started with strumming on his guitar and ended his speech with a song. In between, he told us stories of the salesmen visiting his father’s shop, his goalkeeper days at school and his positive thinking football coach “It doesn’t matter how many goals the other team scored, we just have to score one more than them”. In the end, his “Positive Thinking” speech won the hearts of the judges and the audience.











Chief Judge DTM Ramdas Nayar receiving his certificate of appreciation from Organising Chair Kang, who is also Area W2 Governor


Our first-runner up “The Better Man” is a Superman fan. With his Superman costume change right in front of our eyes, his clever incorporation of the other contestants’ speech titles into his speech, and his hilarious explanation of why Superman is better than Batman, we became fans of Superman as well. Although none of us are Superman, we certainly can be The Better Man or Woman and do our part to help out others.










Members of KPMG who came to support their favourite contestants Aaron and Grace


“Size Does Matter” proclaims our second runner-up. She was surprised when a guy asked for her number. She was again pleasantly surprised when he called her but instead of sending her flowers and chocolate, he sent her slimming products. Her personal stories were immensely entertaining and her message was simply beautiful - yes, size does matter - the size of your heart. Show love and shower kindness on everyone, she says.











The winners !


Division W Humorous Speech Contest
Champion Lee Xi Wen (Positive Thinking)
First runner up Aaron Francis Lee (The Better Man)
Second runner up Nishaline Priya (Size Does Matter)













Aaron receiving his award from Division Governor DTM Vincent Hor











TTDI members with their Humorous Speech and Evaluation Champions


For the Evaluation Contest, test speaker G. Sivalingam’s speech on “Decisions, decisions, decisions” asked us not to sweat over the small stuff. Make the little decisions in your life based on your heart. These small decisions may change your life and the big decisions will take care of themselves.

Our Evaluation Champion quoted from Donald Trumph “A winner is not one who does not fail, but one that does not quit”. His winning recommendation to the test speaker is to use the power of 3 which is triads, to use 2 voices as he narrated one of his stories and to use pauses for his ideas to sink into the audience’s mind.

Our first runner-up praised the test speaker’s dynamic speech but questioned the speech value. The speech started with the test speaker’s decision to quit his job (big decision) and in the conclusion, the speaker asked us to make small decisions based on our heart. This evaluator recommended to link the introduction to the conclusion.

The second runner-up’s evaluation was delivered without using the podium. In his opinion, it was a good speech with a pertinent message which we can relate to. The test speaker has good body movements but perhaps a little too much. He also advocated the power of pauses to add greater emphasis to his points.

Division W Evaluation Contest
Champion Seetho Whye Kit
First runner up Dr. Devi Menon
Second runner up Darcy Steinhart









Members of Speakers Dream who came to support their contestant Darcy Steinhart who took part in both contests












Toastmaster of the Day Stephen Fernando receiving a token of appreciation from OC Kang











Mantissa members Viet Ha & Jia Qi, after their Timer and SAA duties have ended


To enjoy more Humorous Speech Contests, do clear your schedule for these upcoming events:

Division B Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests
Date: Sat 25 Sept 2010
Time: 1.30pm - 5.30pm
Venue: Kolej Putra Intelek, Puchong

Division G Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests
Date: Sat 25 Sept 2010
Time: 1.30pm - 5.30pm
Venue: PJ Community Centre, PJ

Division P Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests
Date: Sat 25 Sept 2010
Time: 2.00pm - 6.00pm
Venue: Menara Exxonmobil, KLCC

Division C Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests
Date: Sat 2 Oct 2010
Time: 1.30pm - 6.00pm
Venue: UMW Toyota, Shah Alam

District 51 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests
Date: Sun 31 Oct 2010
Time: 9.00am - 12.00pm
Venue: Legend Hotel, KL Semi-Annual Convention

Month of Contests

Friendship on Tues 03 Aug 2010











Contestants Sivadas, Tony Lim, Thomas Chen, Roslyn Tan,
Kent Ho & Ben Fong

We will never know what exactly captivated the judges’ hearts. Was it
his smile? Was it his singing? Or was it his song choices? Our Humorous
Speech Champion did not just sing one song, he sang several as he
narrated about his Roller-coaster Ride of Love.

Our first runner-up winner spoke about “Relationship”. He shared with
us that men are simple creatures. They only converse for 30 seconds and
own 1 pair of shoes. Women on the other hand, are more complex, are
allowed to burst into tears for no reason and will be treated to free
dinners by men. His advice to other men is to treasure every moment
with your loved one and it is not necessary to understand the complex
nature of the fairer sex.

Humorous Speech Champion - Kent Ho
1st Runner Up - Ben Fong
2nd Runner Up - Thomas Chen

















Humorous Speech Champion Kent Ho

Evaluation Champion - Thomas Chen
1st Runner Up - Ben Fong

















Evaluation Champion Thomas Chen

Exact ADC on Tues 10 Aug 2010

In the winning speech “Life Saving Codes”, we learnt that men are
simple-minded where a Yes means yes, and a No means no. Women, on
the other hand, are harder to decipher, as her answers may not be
so straight-forward. For example, when a woman says “Fine”, do take
note of the pitch. A high pitch “Fine” means it is anything but fine!

We were also entertained by a speech on “Toilet Surviving Tests”. The
inspiration for this speech was the speaker’s 5 year old son who has
a phobia of public toilets. It was a treat listening to this humorous
speech.

Humorous Speech Champion - Brenda Loo
Evaluation Champion - Brenda Loo
First runner up for Evaluation Contest - Chan Hoey Teng














Brenda with Contest Chair Loon













Brenda with Ai Shiang

Humour Workshop on Sat 14 Aug 2010

There could not have been a better time for the Humour Workshop
organized by Division W, as we were in the middle of our Humorous
Speech Contest season. As expected, we had lots of laughter. What I had
not expected though, was an epiphany from DTM Loghandran – in order to
be humorous, you have to be happy first. To be happy, let go of our
emotional baggage, forgive and move on from the past.














At Tiffani Hall

He also informed us to read to get humorous material. Alternatively,
observe the people around us, remember jokes other people have used,
or even attend club level speech contests! His recommendation would be
no intellectual jokes. When we have to think too deep, we would not be
able to laugh.












DTM Loghandran with volunteer from the audience, James

ING on Wed 18 Aug 2010

Thank you to ING Leadership Toastmasters Club for hosting our Area W3
Contest. We were entertained by speeches on being “The Better Man”, how
parenting “Revolution” has evolved, and the enjoyment of “Childlike
Simplicity”. Superman made an appearance in the first speech. In the
second speech, we learnt the humorous aspect of parenting that doesn’t
come with an instruction manual. In the last speech, our take-home
message was – don’t forget the joys of our childlike simplicity days.
We should treasure it.

Area W3 Humorous Speech Contest Champion Aaron Lee (KPMG)
1st. runner up Brenda Loo (Exact ADC)
















Brenda, HSC Contest Chair Yuen Kai & Aaron

Area W3 Evaluation Contest Champion Grace Loh (KPMG)
1st. runner up Ben Fong (Friendship)














Evaluation Contest Chair KC, Grace & Ben

Next, our Area W3 Champions Aaron and Grace will be competing at
Division W Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests on 18 September
2010. Aaron has been preparing by delivering his speech and revising
it based on feedback provided. Grace has been studying the delivery
techniques of past Evaluation champions.

Our best wishes to Aaron and Grace. Join us at Wisma IJM on 18
September, be part of the enthusiastic and supportive audience, and be
part of Division W history.

Contributed by
Angeline Lee

An Evening At Mantissa

At the recent Area W4 Contest on Sat 21 August, we were impressed by
several young Mantissa contestants. They may not have been the most
proficient speakers on that Saturday afternoon, but their courage to
compete against the likes of Lee Xi Wen (Division W Champion) was
commendable. Although slightly nervous, they tried their best, which
was all that anyone could ask for.






Mantissa members at Area W4 Contest





At the end of the Area contest, as we were chatting with this group
of young students, President Ha invited me to their next meeting on
Wed 25 August. It was not a difficult decision. Mantissa members have
been helping us out at Division W events, even at our recent Area W3
Contest, at Menara ING. On my concern about reaching their meeting
venue on time, President Ha assured me the meeting time can be changed
to 7 PM to accommodate external guests.

On Monday, VPE Kelly sent me the program agenda with all the role
players in place. VPM Meng Yet inquired whether I was familiar with
their meeting venue at Bangunan AHP, TTDI.

During the President’s opening speech, the considerate President Ha
requested everyone to introduce themselves, for the benefit of first-
timer guests.






TME Jia Qi





TME Jia Qi then took control of the meeting. He was very smartly
dressed. He later told me that he took the trouble to dress for the
occasion as he was the TME.

Table Topics Master Derek was very encouraging especially when he asked
new member King to practice on his impromptu speaking. He repeated the
question in Mandarin, to be sure that King understood the question.
Six “Horror” (meeting theme) questions were asked and 6 speakers spoke
of their horrible experience, including ghostly ones. King told us that
he would like to befriend a female ghost, as he is a guy. He will ask
her questions such as – Do you have a boyfriend?






The meeting room at Mantissa College





For project speeches, we had an Ice Breaker speech from Amanda. She
delivered a touching story with a meaningful message for all of us:
spend as much time as possible with your loved ones and friends because
each day could be the last time we see them.

From Jen Wei, we had the second Ice Breaker speech. This time, we were
treated to a story of an adventurous boy who is proud to be a King
Scout. His role model is his dad, which is also a Scout. Jen Wei also
incorporated the use of visual aid in his speech, showing us his King
Scout badge.

Attempting speech no. 3 was President Ha. He was never at a lost of
words with his amusing anecdotes of his life experiences (20 years of
it so far).

In the evaluation session, IPP Derek, VPPR Shang Hui and VPE Kelly
delivered their insightful evaluations. Even though two of them have
not completed 6 CC speeches, they had the courage to take on evaluation
roles which many of us would have shirked from. Grammarian Xiao Qi,
Ah-Counter Miki and Timer Fu Ming were equally diligent and delivered
detailed reports.






Best Table Topics Speaker & Best Project Speaker Amanda being congratulated by President Ha






I had attended this meeting expecting it to be fun. Instead it turned
out to be not only fun, I met a group of inspiring young people. This
group of student was trying their best at their respective roles. They
earnestly wanted to improve in their speaking and evaluation skills,
and applied themselves diligently. At the same time, they created a
fun, learning environment for everyone.

After the meeting, IPP Derek insisted on paying for our meal. Although
I was reluctant to have a student pay for my dinner, he was insistent
that this was the least he could do for his guests. When he asked me
whether I was disappointed with the club visit, my immediate response
was “Definitely not!”






With the young, fun and friendly students of Mantissa






Thank you Mantissa, for an inspiring evening, for reminding me that
great things can happen if we just have the courage to try our best at
life’s many challenges.

Contributed by
Angeline Lee