It was a special Saturday for Anchorvale CC Toastmasters as it was the day of the first AGM held by the new Executive Committee. It marked a new chapter for our club. We learnt that our success is not a given, but instead made possible through the efforts of everyone. Big thanks to both the outgoing and incoming committees, as well as to the members for their enthusiasm!
After a fruitful discussion on club matters, it was time for our exiting chapter meeting. Our outgoing president,
Sathiya, kickstarted the meeting with his last opening speech for the term. Inspirational as usual, he got everyone to share about the change they wish to see in themselves or their lives. Coincidently, In Tiam wanted to be a better English speaker and Rachel wanted to brush her Mandarin skills – they could be the perfect language exchange partners!
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| Sathiya addresses the club as its president for the last time. What a wonderful term it was! |
Then, it was time for Toastmaster-of-the-Day (TMD),
Senthil, to take over the reins. He did a fantastic job in introducing the prepared speeches by three veteran speakers and two upcoming stars.
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| Senthil remains cool and composed although it was his first time as TMD. |
The first speaker was
Karthik doing his Project Three on ‘3 Principles’. Simple and straightforward, it is always the best way to get your point across. Karthik was a great presenter. Well done!
Then, our future VP of Public Relations,
Rachel, spoke on the topic ‘What is the point?’. She began with a ‘hook’ and asked if anyone remember her last speech in March? Nobody? Because… it was 15 months ago, on March last year! This was followed by a rumination on the question ‘What is the point if there is no point?’ What an interesting technique to hook the audience’s attention!
Chee Sian was next and he shared a personal experience in his speech ‘The Best Teacher’. He was such a strong speaker and used many kinds of visual aids. We really enjoyed his speech as he was so good at engaging the audience. At the end of his speech, he took a 'wefie' with everyone and posted it to our WhatsApp group chat immediately! He presented a very humorous speech. Chee Sian, our next humorous speech contest is waiting for you!
Deb surprised us again with his mishaps when booking an Australia holiday a few years ago! How did he turn such a simple story into the funniest story? We simply couldn’t help laughing at his recount. I wish I could be as funny as Deb – I think I must get some tips from him on how to be such a good speaker!
The good stories continued. Our last speaker was our very experienced storyteller,
Salma! She spoke of her experience during the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami that shocked the world. These terrible natural disasters exist and because of them, life is unpredictable. I wish everyone can continue to find the strength for today and keep their hopes for tomorrow alive. Great speakers turn their experiences into great stories. Salma is definitely the best among them.
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| Karthik generously shares his three pinciples with the club. |
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| Chee Sian demonstrates how to take a break in true Kit Kat style, |
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| With her story, Salma reminds us of the fragility of life and the importance of fighting on. |
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| Funnyman Deb tickles our bones with his mishaps in holiday-planning. |
After the roller-coaster of emotions, it was time for a break. We enjoyed an array of food, from pizza to cake to watermelon, cut into cubes by our dedicated
Norman. It was yummy indeed!
Our stomachs full and energy replenished, we sat back to hear from the evaluators:
May,
Zul,
In Tiam,
Riz and
Shaun, our visiting Toastmaster from Cheng San TMC. There was so much to learn from all these gurus.
Finally, it was time for some fun!
Alvin, our table topics master, had something different up his sleeve. Instead of presenting each speaker with a topic, he gave them two options, for example: "Would you rather receive $10,000 at 25 or $10 million at 60?" The speaker then had to make a choice and elaborate on it. We found out that our club members are really generous and would love to make donations to the club! The best table topic speaker,
Roger, was really super. In a few seconds, he could analyze both choices, organize his thoughts and deliver them perfectly.
It was truly a super fun afternoon, I hope that every meeting will be as enjoyable as this. Special thanks to all our guests who took time off to visit us:
Shaun,
Anthony and
Jessie.
Do join us for our next meeting on 11 July, Saturday!
Congratulations to all Award Winners!
Best Prepared Speech:
Debananda Patro
Best Project Evaluation:
Riz Masurekar
Best Table Topics:
Roger Yap
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| From left: Deb, Riz and Roger |
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| All smiles for an afternoon well-spent! |
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| Going crazy in the fun shot! |
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