21th Chapter meeting at the Rooftop! 25 February 2012

It made us worried for a while, would the picturesque backdrop steal all the limelight?

In the end, it couldn't.  The band of eloquent speakers at our club was the main highlight, and few if anyone even noticed the great view we had right before us.

7 of our club members delivered their prepared speeches, of which 4 of them were ICE BREAKERS.
Bravo... Yvonne, Sanjay, Sumarlin and Sandeep! We know you guys better now.  Our seasoned presenters; Sathiya, Enya and Thomas also entertained us with their respective projects.

The program of the day was so well planned by Bernard and May, we could complete all the speaking engagements, the subsequent project evaluations, an intensive round of Table Topic challenge and still had time for a birthday celebration for our dear Treasurer, Kian Keong.   The only regret was that time seems to have flew by, how we hope the good time could slow its pace and let us relish the moment a little longer.  Especially when we had new friends who joined us for the first time;  Evelyn, Ryan (Enya's friend), Vereen and Tony, who graced our event.

The winner for the Prepared Speech segment went to .......... Enya Tan!  It was a close call, but Enya managed to impress the audiences more with her highly animated performance.  It was P5- 'Your body speaks'.  Her meticulously-choreographed and scripted speech certainly spoke volume.

The "Star-player" of Anchorvale Toastmasters Club - Zulhafni, won the best evaluator's award with flying colors.  My gosh, this young law-undergraduate is only 22 this year.   We are keeping our fingers crossed wishing that when he eventually becomes a lawyer one day, he would not be a devil's advocate but be an angel's savior.

Do join us during the next chapter meeting on Saturday, 10th March 2012.   Cheers!


Roger Yap
VPPR

Speechcraft Workshop on Saturday 10 Dec 2011- “Speaking with Confidence”

An inspirational speech is a highly emotional speech that serves to urge and stimulate a group to pursue significant personal and corporate goals, choose right corporate strategy, correct mistakes, etc. Additionally, an inspirational speech arms the audience with tools and awareness they should possess to succeed in their personal lives and in the modern globally competitive marketplace.

As far as inspirational speeches serve to inspire different kinds of people including professionals, an inspirational speech can combine components as diverse as valid business principles, real life situations and memorable stories. An inspirational l speech is a variety of a persuasive speech and it is pragmatically oriented: a recipient of an inspirational speech should experience a certain impact, i.e. change his/her behavior, act in this or that way, agree with something. To this end, an imperative mood should be used in inspirational speeches. Energetic phrases starting with "do", "donate", "join", "create", "buy" are most likely to reinforce the effect of an inspirational speech.

An inspirational speaker should very well realize what are positions, or actions he/she is going to popularize. Besides, a thorough preparatory research is required to take into account numerous factors that can influence the process of listening and further decision-making. These are as follows:

1)   Social factors: status, education, values of the audience;

2)   Pragmatic factors: requirements, needs and interests of the audience.


Sanjeev also introduced contest for audience members.The theme was,”Talk about yourself. Furthermore, we received pointers on the areas of speech development and how to make a humorous speech.

Thomas Selveraj

Sergeant At Arms

We are growing!

Hello everyone, I am 2nd Treasure of Anchorvale CC Toastmaster Club. Let me tell you the feeling after 18 months in this club.  I am very pleased to be part of the EXCO team (Executive Committee Member) since the inception of the club.  The club started in June 2010 with a total of 20 members. I would like to thank Jenny Au, DTM, Mike Woon, CTM-CL, Yeo Chai Tun, DTM for setting up this club.

As a 18 months baby, the club is in the process of learning to walk confidently. During the process of walking, we do fall but we stand up again. This is the way we learn. We are faced with problems, but we never give up.  In the process of making mistakes, we have learned and grow. I have discovered that the only thing constant in life is change. In order for the club to succeed, the club needs to learn to adapt to changes.

In conclusion, I am confident that the club will flourish. The club has a warm and positive culture. The club has a committed and dedicated Exco.  If you are looking for a toastmaster club to join, do come to our club and have a great time with us.

Image from photo bank (Supplied by Kian Keong, author of this article)

Teo Kian Keong

Deputy Treasurer 

Message from our Club President- May Lee

What is communication? Most dictionaries define it along the lines of 
"imparting and exchanging of information", which is essentially what 
humankind has had to do since the dawn of civilisation. It is so much 
a part of the universal psyche and social dynamic that we seldom pause 
to ponder the effectiveness and elegance of our speech. What thus 
results is often a crude and slipshod assembly of imprecise words 
delivered with the enthusiasm of a root canal patient. Many of you 
may argue that that's the Singaporean predisposition towards brevity 
and efficiency, but that is hardly any excuse.



Our world famous local cuisines leave a lingering impression long 
after the initial explosion of flavours in the mouth. Anyone who has 
sampled our proud culinary delights, such as laksa, rojak, chicken 
rice and chilli crab, can attest to our proud and pampered palates, 
finicky taste buds and overindulged olfactory organ that constantly 
crave for multi-sensory stimulation. We, as a nation of exacting 
eaters, demand substance and quality in the stuff we selectively pop 
into our mouths. 


Isn't it time that we apply such exacting standards to the string of 
words that tumble out of this same oral cavity? Why settle for only 
functionality without form, flavour or finesse? Make it fun! 
Incorporate all four elements to impress your audience and deliver 
your message with style.

But as with all new challenges, it takes time and loads of practice to 
make a positive change. My belief is that you can never truly undo an 
old habit without creating a new habit in its place. So if you're 
determined and motivated to improve your communication skills, you 
have to seriously arm yourself with an arsenal of language and 
presentation tools, and immerse yourself in a conducive environment 
that encourages flair in communication.
If that is your personal quest, you've stumbled upon the right place! 
Anchorvale CC Toastmasters Club offers friendly and supportive 
companionship in your journey towards better listening, better 
thinking and better speaking. This three-pronged approach is 
precisely what is needed to improve your communication skills. We 
employ a multitude of proven strategies researched, developed and 
continually fine-tuned by esteemed orators and professional trainers 
within the vast Toastmasters community. We meet regularly to sharpen 
our skills, with special attention paid to the use of vivid 
vocabulary, idea structure, accompanying body gestures, eye contact, 
and vocal variety. Our enthusiastic fellow members and expressive 
evaluators offer essential encouragement to transform you into a 
mesmerising, confident and influential speaker.
The sweetest thing of all is the fact that you don't need to pay an 
arm or a leg to receive the tremendous benefits that I've just 
described. The Toastmasters step-by-step programme is simply the best 
value-for-money communication course available to the general 
populace. There are close to 200 registered Toastmasters clubs in our 
tiny island nation and probably one within a stone's throw of your 
residence or workplace. You may contact any of the community-based 
clubs to arrange for a first-hand glimpse of a regular chapter meeting 
in progress. However, as the current president of Anchorvale CC 
Toastmasters Club, I hope that you will choose to visit and eventually 
join me at this newly chartered club. We are looking to boost our 
membership with gregarious, like-minded people who can fit into our 
close-knit community. Residents of Sengkang, Punggol, Jalan Kayu 
vicinity and their vicinity will especially find it convenient 
attending our regular meetings scheduled on 4th Saturday afternoons.
If you're convinced to check us out, please contact any representative 
of our friendly executive committee for more information on how you 
can join us. Together, we'll spur one another towards greater heights 
in both communication and leadership. I am looking forward to your 
participation in our club activities. See you soon!

Yours truly,

May Lee - Competent Communicator 
President of Anchorvale Toastmasters Club

Speech Craft for Anchorvale Toastmasters Club- 3 Dec & 10 Dec

The first part of our club's SpeechCraft program had a kick-start at 9.30am on Saturday, 10 November 2011. We have invited Sanjeev Gathani to help spearhead the 2 parts course. 

Sanjeev is an experienced public speaker and trainer. He has been conducting workshops across Asia and always delivers them with great pride, passion, energy and dynamism. Throughout more than 10 years of active involvement in the Toastmasters movement, Sanjeev has participated and won many speech contests in both the International Prepared Speech and Impromptu Speech categories.
A brilliant communicator with a heart of gold, Sanjeev volunteers his time at schools and religious organisations. He believes in the power of effective communication and seeks to empower more people to speak better.  


As a community effort in engaging the residents of our neighborhood, we have decided to absorb all costs and offer the workshop to our participants on a complimentary basis.  


Here are some feedback we received from the randomly chosen participants; 
Merlin Su, Sanjeev's colleague,  "I never knew Sanjeev is so talented. His toastmaster's journey must have helped him leaps and bounds."   (Merlin joined us as member shortly afterwards. Bravo!)
Yvonne Ang (our new member), "I like it here, the club can help me to improve on my communication skill."  
Jason Chung, an expatriate from Hong Kong, "I really enjoyed myself.  The training program is so well-planned and executed, it surprised me that it wasn't charged at market rate."  
Wee Kiat, a resident from Pasir Ris, "The learning opportunity here is unlimited, I will join Anchorvale Toastmasters Club as a member after my work schedule let-up a little, in January."  
We are glad to announce that 2 more members had hopped on our club's bandwagon;  Tan Leng Leng and Sanjay Das.   A warm welcome to all our new members!  Lets look forward to having lots of fun and friendships ahead! 

May Lee (Club President) awarding a certificate of appreciation to our 

Speech Craft trainer, Sanjeev Gathani

Roger Yap
VPPR

18th Chapter Meeting- 26th November 2011

On Saturday 26 November, it is our 18th chapter meeting for Anchorvale Toastmaster Club.
We had the pleasure to have the company of several visitors with us; Mike Woon (Cairnhill TMC), Chee Yong Wei (Hong Kah TMC), Jean Ng (Eloquentia TMC) and Yan Lin (ACE TMC)

The winner for the Table topic segment is Chee Yong Wei.  He shared with us his experience as the first ever coupier with the Marina Bay Sand's casino, and won the support of his listeners.

The best evaluator ribbon went to Jean Ng, and the blue ribbon for best prepared speech was won by Venkatachalam Ekambaram.  

15th Chapter Meeting- 24 September 2011

Snippet of the our club members in action.