August Club Meetings (Part 2)

Hasil on Fri 13 Aug 2010

For Hasil’s Table Topics Session, the unique feature is that after each table topic has been answered, another member or guest is permitted to answer the same question. It is hoped that guests and new members will find this to be less intimidating and encourage them to participate in the table topics session.

Rashida answering a Table Topics question

TME Yoga delivered an advanced speech from the “Speaking To Inform” manual. He gave us a technical, informative speech about “Goodwill”.

TME Yoga who also presented a project speech

Friendship on Tue 17 Aug 2010

In her Invocation speech, Lay Theng shared with us how her workplace fostered the spirit of Achieving Greatness Together (meeting theme) by the simple act of removing partitions. By doing so, it removed the barriers to greater communication and interaction. Lay Theng’s inspiring message for us - Toastmasters is the best platform for Achieving Greatness Together. Let’s walk this journey together and accomplish (word of the day) the results we desire.

Table Topics Master Richard explaining the Table Topics debating game to Grace, Wendy, Angeline, Chee Hoe, Freddie and Tony

We then had an unusual Table Topics session led by Richard Solomon, who was visiting from AFC Club. Our volunteers had to explain why women should be given equal rights and then explained why women should not be given equal rights. Table Topics Evaluator Ben praised Grace, Freddie and Tony’s well-crafted speeches which were full of real-life examples that we could relate to.


Exact ADC on Tue 24 Aug 2010

TME Chee Yoong

The vision: to have FUN club meetings.

The plan: for this “Tell-A-Joke” meeting, not only was everyone asked to tell a joke, we also had a Games Session. With the exception of one or two members, everyone told a joke and we voted on the Best Joke of the day. It was a tough decision as quite a number of the jokes were hilarious (word of the day).

Kai Tian is the winner for the Best Joke of the day

In the Games session, each team was asked to send a representative to give clues to team members to guess a word and must not use of a list of taboo words. It turned out to be a challenging and hilarious session. Not only that, we worked on our quick thinking skills as well.

Caroline thinking on a clue for her team members

Kacey enjoying the Games session

What will Exact ADC come up with next in their quest to make their meetings fun? Perhaps you should attend their club meetings and find out what is in store.

Contributed by Angeline Lee

August Club Meetings (Part 1)

Exact ADC on Tues 03 Aug 2010

Fortunately, it was not a Taboo (meeting theme) to have a fun and entertaining meeting.

Guest Hin Tong telling us a taboo

Caroline delivered her Ice Breaker speech “Carolina Moon”. Her evaluator Chee Yoong was not only impressed with her speech, he serenaded her with a song.

Caroline delivering her Ice Breaker speech

Then it was Hairani’s turn to deliver her project speech no. 3 on “Letting Go”. Her uplifting message for us is to let go of negative thoughts and look forward to positive things that may happen.

We then had a special presentation by Past President Loon on the CL manual. He shared with us his experience and the benefits he gained in completing the CL project assignments. Although completing the CL manual is no easy task, he realized that the leadership skills he had gained was practical. For example, his Toastmasters evaluation skills was made use of when he provides feedback at his workplace.

Loon explaining “What’s in it for me” in the CL manual

GE Brenda delivered a poised and polished evaluation. She was pleased with the laid-back meeting and the time management aspect of the meeting was excellent, as we were on-time all the way.

Brenda is our GE

KPMG on Wed 11 Aug 2010

It is no mere exaggeration (Word of the Day) to say that we had an enjoyable meeting. Table Topics Master Joshua asked all of us to write down a lie that we have told. These became table topics questions which the volunteers talked about and guess who wrote the topic. There was much laughter when Joshua was identified as the ‘suspect’ for stealing food.

Aaron is Best Table Topics Speaker

For project speeches, we had intriguing speech titles such as “Me: Uncovered”, “Black Monday” and “If I were a Boy”. Chee Seng certainly had us disarm us with his Ice Breaker speech. He promised to “uncover” more details about himself in his subsequent speech.

Gary’s “Black Monday” was having a car breakdown after ignoring some warning signs. He learnt the hard way, to take action sooner rather than later.

For Michelle’s Vocal Variety speech, she voiced her frustration on being a girl and missing out on fun stuff that boys are allowed to do. For example, being allowed to stay out late and not having to worry about fashion matters. Her evaluator Joyce and all of us were half-expecting her to sing the song “If I were a Boy”.

Michelle, Chee Seng and Gary with their ribbons

Our GE was someone who was courageously attempting her first GE assignment from the CL manual. She declared she was no Simon Cowell before delivering her detailed evaluation.

GE Joanita

Contributed by Angeline Lee

Marketing Toastmasters

Time flies, a quarter of term of 2010/2011 has passed by. I believe every club officer has been working very hard in the past three months to recruit new members and to retain the membership of existing members. No worries, Dr Ralph C. Smedley said, “Even the best Toastmasters Club, with the Educational Committee functioning at high efficiency, will lose some members.” I hope that my sharing below will be helpful in recruiting new members.

There are many methods of marketing Toastmasters. Dedicated club officers, the Membership Building Contest within your club would be a practical marketing effort. All the members of the club should work together in the contest and truly embrace the value of teamwork. Toastmasters International website offers us lots of free resources to promote our club. Here are some links:

http://www.toastmasters.org/Success101

http://www.toastmasters.org/vbp/

http://www.toastmasters.org/membershipcontests

Social networking plays an imperative role in our daily lives as most of us are addicted to Facebook or Twitter. Creating a Facebook page or group for your club is just a few clicks of the mouse. It’s a form of free advertisement and a good way to connect with members. Friendship Toastmasters Club has tried this and it received overwhelming response from members and non-members.

You can also try to post the venue and time of your club meeting to some websites such as www.timeoutkl.com to attract more guests to attend your meeting.

How about creating an event and gathering post on forum.lowyat.net, a site which has thousands of visitors per day.

Having a blog for your club is also a good method of publicity for your club, but you must have a group of dedicated members to maintain it. For instance, Friendship Toastmasters Club has been active in their posting since last year. This provides opportunity for people who are enthusiastic about Toastmasters to find out more about Toastmasters’ happening!

Dr Ralph C Smedley said, “The deepest joy of belonging comes as one learns to coorperate, contribute and help…” Let us share the benefits that we gained from Toastmasters with everyone out there!

Chor Chee Hoe - Assistant Area Governor Marketing

TLI Club Officers Training 07.08.10 (Part 2)

In the hilarious “Attracting New Members” session by TLI Co-Chair Pala, we were taught a few marketing jargon such as creative marketing and branding. We belong to an exclusive club, he explained. We should not be begging someone to join our club. He suggested the following initiatives such as setting up a great web page, creating intrigue by uploading photos to Facebook, having song requests on the radio and making each meeting interesting.

After we have shown potential new members the light and draw them into the cave (Toastmasters meetings), help them decide to join by asking them questions where the answer is yes. For example, do you want to be a better speaker? Do you want to acquire skills that will benefit your career?

As for retaining membership, Palla suggested informing our members that there is more light inside the cave, for example progressing to doing advanced speeches, mentoring and leadership learning opportunities.

Palla ended his session with this simple message - have the members’ interest at heart. Sometimes it is the simple, selfless things we do that makes us great Toastmasters.

From Friendship, Secretary Vincent, VPPR Alex, SAA Sivadas, Treasurer Wai Yee, VPM Chee Hoe & President Zaiton

In the Q&A session, we had a question from a Felda Toastmaster who asked - is there anything else he can do to boost attendance at his club meetings? He has tried everything he can think of. TLI Chair Dennis suggested to him to inspire one other person. Two people working together, and in turn inspiring others, would have a better chance of succeeding.

Member of Felda Toastmasters Club

Chee Yoong asking about TI’s core value of integrity in relation to creative marketing initiatives

TLI Chair Dennis answering one of the Q&A questions. Looking on is LGM Ramdas, LGET Sue and District Governor Thanni

Thank you TLI team for an informative and entertaining COT. The next Division W TLI COT will be held on 11 December 2010. Galileo once said “We cannot teach people anything; we can only help them discover it within themselves”. We hope that this COT and future COT will help you to discover the abilities that you have in you, and in turn help you to be the person you aspire to become. Quoting from DTM Maimunah, “We influence a few by what we say, more by what we do, but most with what we are.”

Contributed by - Angeline Lee

TLI Club Officers Training 07.08.10 (Part 1)

At the first Division W TLI Club Officers Training (COT) for 2010/2011, initially one could have been mistaken it for an iPhone sales presentation. Our Toastmaster of the Day (TMD) Hadzrin Shah, was also an iPhone ambassador as he explained to us the useful features of his gadget. However, as a consummate Toastmaster, he did not neglect his TMD duty and we had an entertaining afternoon guided by our TMD who just happened to be an avid iPhone fan.

TMD Hadzrin unveiling his beloved iPhone

In his District address, District Governor Thannimalai asked us “Have you done your best? As Club Officers? Walk the extra mile and do your best.”

DG Thanni who flew in from Penang to be with us

We then started with the Ice Breaker game, conducted by TLI Publicity Chair Cheong Kuok Sum. It was so successful in energizing everyone that Kuok Sum had to remind us several times to get back to our seats, when the game had concluded. The learning point for us was: As a leader, we have to be proactive, and reach out to our members. Work as a team and Achieve Greatness Together.

During the Ice Breaker session

For Lieutenant Governor of Education & Training (LGET) Sue Chan’s “Charting Club Success” session, we sang along to Michael Jackson’s song “You Are Not Alone”. It was a reminder to us that we are not alone in our tasks as Club Officers as we are working in a team.

The steps to success are: have a vision, set your goals, build and motivate a team, and monitor progress. After that, our clubs will achieve success when our vision turns into reality.

KPMG Team at the COT - Secretary Yi Hui, VPPR Joanita, SAA Nasruna, VPE Joshua and President Grace with Division B Governor Irene Lee

In his “Motivating For Achievement” talk, TLI Chair Dennis Wee explained about CMB (Cronic Mental Block) symptoms that members may experience such as no time and no idea for project speeches. As club officers, we have to believe in our club members and give them a gentle push to help them progress in their educational goals. This may lead to someone being a Division Contest Champion in the future. His take-home message: you are that someone who has the ability to change someone’s life.

From Exact ADC, President Andrew, Treasurer Kacey, VPM Yuen Kai & VPE Chee Yoong

Contributed by - Angeline Lee