17 Sep 08, 3rd Chapter Meeting@HQ

President's Address
Observed a sparrow pecking on pavement selecting twigs to build its nest. He captured a snapshot of the sparrow in flight with twigs. The sparrow was back and forth transporting the twigs adopting "just to do it" approach. Similarly, in Toastmasters - just do your projects, take on mtg roles.

Word of the Day
Passion -- Language Evaluator, Wekie Tay (NUS TMC & Telok Blangah TMC).

Table Topics
Siva was the Table Topics Master. His topics were quotations. The topics attempted were:
Kay Chuan - If you treat people right they will treat you right ...... 90% of the time (Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 32nd US President)
Theresa - Yesterday is history. Tomorrow; a mystery, and today is a gift, that's why we call it the present
Lye Sum - Friendship is like wine; it gets better as it grows older
Poh Lian - Life is like a piano....What you get out of it depends on how you play it
Annabelle - It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit (Harry Truman)

Prepared Speeches
1) Beng Kee, P3 (Speech Title: ARMY)
Spoke about his Basic Military Training (BMT) experience. Used the acronym:
A - Avoid procrastination
R - Refrain from complaining
M - Must have sufficient rest
Y - You must never say die

2) Theresa, AP2 (Speech Title: The Barrier That Was Me)
Started with an untold story of World War 3, highlighting a communciation barrier between the Americans, Russians & Chinese. She recounted her own experience with communication obstacles when she first began working in ITE, eg. powerpoint vs power plug. She eventually overcame them and got used to S'pore's style of English language.

3) Poh Lian, AP3 (Speech Title: Mural Painting Project)
Related her own experience on promoting environmental awareness thru art appreciation project - mural painting. Hurdles encountered were:
a) Money
b) What to paint
c) Getting help

Solutions were
a) National Arts Council grant, can also seek help from professional artist
b) students to do the painting - no copyright issue
c) convince boss about the mural painting project

The mural painting is in ITE College Central (Bishan Campus), check it out when our Club meets there next month (Wed 29 Oct 08).

4) Lye Sum, AP2 (Speech Title: In the Dead of the Night)
Shared the worst day of his life - father's wake, where he had to spent the night alone fearing of uninvited guests - ghosts. He eventually overcame his fears one step at a time. Cited an example in Toastmasters, where first time speakers were fearful and by practicing more, fear of public speaking would disapppear.

Project Evaluation
Chan Nam & Anthony both from Bukit Batok TMC, Annabelle (NUS & The Open Alumni TMC) and Kala (Bukit Timah) gave feedback on the areas done well and suggestions to enhance future speeches.

Language Evaluation
Wekie gave a sharp & thorough evaluation using the acronym Ball:
B - Better (eg. pronunciation)
A - Admire (eg. rhyming words)
LL - Learning Lessons
We were so attentive listening to his evaluation that even our Timer didn't alert that he had exceeded time allocated for Language Evaluation. Wekie who worked hard thoroughout the mtg also advised us to be cautious about syllables, use more descriptive phrases and speak from the heart.

Joyce from College East was a 1st time guest at our Club.

Thanks to Kay Chuan who bought food & souvenirs for visiting Toastmasters.

Best Table Topics Speaker:Theresa Groyon, CL (IPP, ITE TMC)
Best Prepared Speech Speaker: Ong Lye Sum, ACB, CL (President of ITE TMC)
Best Evaluator: Annabelle Yong, ACB, CL (NUS TMC & The Open Alumni TMC)

Siva, VPE