On the bright and sunny afternoon of October 28th, Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club and Braddell Heights II Toastmasters Club had a joint meeting. It was a wonderful experience for members of Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club members to participate in the joint meeting with another club. A large number of participants from both clubs attended the meeting in person, with some on zoom, making it a great way to share knowledge and grow together across the teams.
The joint chapter meeting started
with the Sergeant-at-Arms, Julia Tay (PM2) introducing the meeting with the theme of
"Art of Excellence, Thriving Under Pressure". Members actively
participated by sharing their thoughts and discussing how to excel under
pressure.
The baton was then passed on to
Constantine Koh (SR2) who acted as the Toastmaster for the day (TMD) to run the
meeting. With his good natural instincts and an amazing smile, Constantine
began the role of TMD by introducing the agenda and the team members who
participated in the meeting for their respective roles.
Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club President Adeline Yeo (PM5, EC5, PI1) delivered an inspiring speech whereby she encouraged all the members to face challenges with strength and excel under any pressure that comes their way. She shared her personal experience of delivering a speech in Mandarin in Taiwan on short notice despite her voice being broken due to waking up early in the morning and the pressure of delivering the speech well. Despite the challenges, she managed to deliver the speech to a large audience, which received good feedback from the organisers. Adeline urged all the team members to take up challenges, deliver more speeches, overcome pressure and strive for excellence, just as diamonds shine under any circumstances. She also encouraged all the members to be well-prepared for the upcoming contests by practising more during the chapter meetings to thrive and excel.
The workshop on "How to Tackle
Table Topics" by Aparna Raja (EC5, VC4) was a valuable opportunity for members to
learn new skills and techniques to improve their impromptu speaking abilities,
especially with the table topics competition approaching. Aparna provided a
comprehensive overview of the fundamentals of table topics, and then delved
into the step-by-step procedures, rules, and strategies for delivering a
successful speech from start to finish.
The last part of Aparna's presentation featured a complete demonstration of delivering a table-topic speech in the contest from start to end which was the core target and focus of the workshop. The 30-minute workshop was highly informative and offered many key takeaways. Aparna emphasized the importance of reading, listening, observation, and practice in preparing to be a successful impromptu speaker for table topics.
The second half of the meeting
included prepared speeches, table topics, and project evaluations for prepared
speeches that involved participants from both club members.
For the Prepared Speeches Segment, the first speaker, Murugan Velsamy,
a new member of Anchorvale CC Toastmasters club, delivered an inspiring
ice-breaker speech where he shared his story of growing up in a small village
in India and how he achieved success despite facing numerous challenges.
Murugan graduated in computer science and is now a successful IT project
manager in Singapore. His speech emphasized the importance of strong
motivation, hard work, perseverance, and a never-give-up attitude when striving
to succeed under pressure.
The second speaker, Michael Spencer Go, delivered an engaging speech about his lifelong passion for public speaking and his unwavering determination to excel as a good public speaker in any situation.
Prabha Jayaraman was the third speaker who gave a speech titled "From Ordinary to Out of Ordinary." She shared her love of working in a zoo which is often considered extraordinary as people love to see the animals at the zoo but are afraid to work with them. Additionally, she talked about her passion for heritage which has become a trending hobby across the world to capture the glorious past. The fourth speaker, Manikandan, gave a speech titled "Are You Retiring at the Right Age?" In his speech, he emphasised the importance of having a well-planned retirement that includes clear goals and targets. Manikandan stressed the need for early planning instead of just drifting through retirement without knowing what to do.
Toastmaster Ravindran Pandian (DL5,
PM4) from Braddell Heights II CC club conducted the table topic segment, which
provided members with an opportunity for impromptu public speaking. The session
was focused on the theme of green living, recycling, and sustainable products.
Members actively participated in the session and took advantage of the
opportunity to improve their impromptu speaking abilities and prepare
themselves for the upcoming Table Topic contest.
Next segment was the project evaluation prepared speeches where our honourable evaluators, Wilson Lim (DTM), Imam Hossain, Lim Li Li (ACS) and Wee Chee Sian (ACB, ALB, PM1) provided their honest and positive feedback to the project speakers. They gave constructive feedback on areas of strength and suggested ways for improvements to speakers elevate their speeches to a higher level.
Mr. SS Cheng (AGC) from Braddell
Heights II CC Toastmasters Club diligently monitoring every member's use of
filler words and presented a detailed Ah Counter report.
Behind the screen, Sivakumar played
a key role as the timer, recording all speakers' timing with diligence and
sincerity, probably unnoticed by many.
Next was the award presentation to the top winners. The awards were presented to winners jointly by two club presidents Adeline Yeo and Uppli Srinivasan, followed by the closing address by Uppli, President of Braddell Heights II Toastmasters Club.
Best Speaker – Spencer Go
Best Table Topic Speaker – Jason
Thong, PM5
Best Project Evaluator – Wee Chee Sian
We sincerely appreciated all appointment holders who made this chapter meeting a success, and we were grateful to the guests and members who attended either in person or via zoom.
Do look out for our future chapter meeting.
Together We Shine!!
Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club
Written by Imam Hossain
