Dong Dong Dong, it is 2 pm on a lovely Saturday afternoon. Welcome to Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club 202nd Chapter meeting.
Constantine
Koh, TM, who joined us recently started the meeting as Sergeant At Arms (SAA), and Kudos to
him for taking up this role.
He warmly
welcomed everyone and invited us to share what we did to boost our mental.
Sharon Tan, our new member, whenever she is busy or whenever she is free or not sure where
to start, she will find something to eat. This helps her to focus and gives her the mental boost. Additionally, singing is also a way for her to boost her
mental as it helps her to relax.
Daniel is
feeling tense and looking forward to giving his ice breaker speech which can
provide him the mental boost.
Dickson shocked
us when he reveals that he uses drugs as a mental boost. Fortunately, the drug
that he was referring to was caffeine. Indeed “Coffee” has caffeine which
stimulates our nervous systems giving some people energy, and alertness and for
Dickson the mental boost.
Myself, Marc, I take up sports as my mental boost, and additionally
joining Toastmasters meeting always inspire me to be better and it is my mental
boost as well.
Srini driving himself around as mental boost for a quick
short break. For long-term solution, he likes to keep learning and he enjoys the
Toastmasters atmosphere.
SAA then wrapped up the introduction and handed it over to
Toastmasters of the Day (TMD).
Sarah Ong, IP2, our passionate Vice President Membership took over as TMD and briefed us on our program highlights and appointment holders for today before handing over to Club President.
Timer – Monica Low
Ah Counter – Rusman Hadijanto
Table Topic Master – Marc Wong
Club President – Venkat Voleti
Venkat Voleti, PM3, our Club President reminded us of the importance of Mental Health in his opening address. For him, 3 things that he practices to maintain his mental health, are (1) regular exercising, (2) meditation, and (3) talking to people around him. Ending of the opening address, everyone might have a different way and it is critical for us to take care of our mental health.
Moving on
to the Prepared Speech segment, our energized, 1st prepared speech
speaker, Alvin Kuek, PM2, MS2, amazed everyone with his mind-blowing sexy screen. His
project today was about persuasive speech where he was trying to convince us with
his speech titled “Why I have to Marry Scarlet Johansson”.
We were not
convinced at the beginning but after 7mins into Alvin’s speech, he got the buy-in that they were destined to be together with so many similarities.
Our 2nd prepared speech speaker, Daniel Tham, TM, was cool and calm when sharing his Ice breaker speech. He shared his interest and hobbies and his life after moving to New Zealand, including an earth-shaking memory. Yes, he was right in the middle of the 6.3 earthquake that strike Christchurch on 2011, 22nd Feb 12.51 pm which he recalled the exact moments and was blessed that he and his friends and family were safe. Fast forward to current day, he hopes to create happy memories and improve his social skills.
Moving on to the Table Topic Segment, we have many brave souls Toastmasters, and guests who embraced and boosted themselves.
Joseph’s
topic for today would be “It OK not to
be OK”, where he talked about how we should fail positively and learn from
that failure.
Prabha’s topic was “Without Rain nothing grows. Learn to embrace the storms of your life”. She shared with us to accept the storm and move ahead.
Jenny’s topic
was “Relax.. We’re all crazy.. It’s Not
a Competition” where she shared that we should take life easy and not to rush.
Sirin’s
topic was “Don’t Worry Be Happy, because
everything is going to be alright” and he was very impressed with how we
managed and track our allocated time.
Dickson’s
topic was “You can't control the wind,
but you can adjust the sails” where he shared people are born differently
but we can take control and ask ourselves, what have we really done.
Audrey’s
topic was “Mistakes help us grow”
where she shared her experience when she was young and how she learned as a
kid.
Sharon’s
topic was “Tough Times Never Last. Tough
People Do.” She struggles to learn English as it wasn’t her native language, but she was determined to keep learning
Constantine’s
topic was “You can’t pour from an empty
cup. Take care of yourself first”. He starts his day with a mental boost
like meditation and recharge to start his day.
Rusman’s topic was “What’s get you excited about life”. Rusman shared about his learning journey from Antony Robin and what are our purposes in everything we do.
Following all table topic speakers, we had a group photo taken and had a nice time chatting around with members and guests.
Our last segment, Project Evaluations where speakers learn and improve to be better.
The evaluator
for Alvin, Christine Lim, DTM, presented to us very insightful details about Alvin's speech. I certainly felt it was already a good speech Alvin had delivered,
Christine was able to identify a few minor changes but yet with great impact to
the speech that will create more mystery and humour. Excellent evaluation shared
by Christine.
The evaluator for Daniel, Audrey Lim, PM2, presented her second evaluation in her TM journey. Audrey commented on what Daniel did well which helps to encourage him to continue doing. With all evaluations, it is the improvement or suggestion which will help speakers improve and Audrey provided a very valuable sharing for Daniel to consider for his next speech.
Finally, moving to the last program in our agenda, Ah Counter Report where Rusman Hadijanto, DL5, PI4, was so attentive throughout the meeting capturing our pause filler usages.
The chapter
meeting ended with an award presentation and congratulations to Alvin Kuek and
Joseph Tan both being the Best Table Topic Speakers. As the meeting drew
to a close, I felt mentally boosted with so much inspiration and
motivation, I was pretty certain that everyone also had the same boost as me.
Written by Marc Wong, DL5, PM1
