Anchorvale TMC Mini-Workshop on 16th August 2014

A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.

I stepped into the room last Saturday expecting a long lecture on achieving speech objectives. I was wrong, well, partially. Anchorvale TMC’s club mentor, Richard Tay, DTM started off by discussing how to craft speeches that bring the most out of it. He also highlighted points that we should look out for when crafting our speeches. He then moved on to discuss how to evaluate speeches. He outlined the roles of an evaluator as well as how he/she should go about doing it. I would say that it was a pleasure listening to Richard going through important aspects in a Toastmasters journey to us CC wannabes. It was definitely educational, engaging and enjoyable.

After the refreshment break, we had a lineup of 8 speakers attempting their Projects 1 to 3. Alice, Yue Qi, Kelvin and Jia Jun, attempted their maiden speech, ‘The Ice Breaker’. Debananda and Ying Leong moved on to their Project 2, ‘Organize Your Speech’. Saleena, Anila and Ken rounded off the prepared speeches segment by delivering their Project 3, ‘Get to the Point’.

The greatest benefit of delivering a speech at this mini-workshop is that we have a panel of esteemed evaluators all commenting on the speeches. Richard Tay, DTM, Sathiya, CC, Roger Yap, CC/CL, Thomas, CC and Zulhafni, ACB separately evaluated 4 different areas (General Feedback, Body Gestures, Vocal Variety, Language Use) of the speech right after it is delivered. You definitely can say that these evaluations are served right out of the oven, piping hot!

Although the timing went well off the original schedule, I can safely say that every single minute there at the mini-workshop was worth my time.

Do drop by for Anchorvale TMC’s 57^th Chapter Meeting on the 23^rd of August. It will definitely be worth your afternoon. Believe me.

Best Prepared Speech: Anila

Written By: Chen Ken

Richard's lecture

Alice receiving evaluation from Thomas

Zul enthusiastically expressing his evaulation

Round of applause for Anila!!!

Anchorvale TMC Humorous & Evaluation Speech Contest 2014 on 26th July 2014

Champions of Humorous & Evaluation Speech are crowned!

The moment the contest started, I had a feeling that it was going to be extraordinary. It wasn’t just the enthusiastic speakers or the passionate audiences, it was the atmosphere in the room that gave me this feeling. There was such a big crowd that we did not even have enough chairs for all of them!

The contest began with the Humorous Speech segment. Each and every contestant was given 5 to 7 minutes to deliver a prepared speech while trying their best to crack up the audiences. The contestants were: Hareesh, Prasad, Rasu, Riz, Roger, Thomas, Chee Sian and Zulhafni. As they performed their amusing speeches one by one, we all laughed till our stomachs hurt.

After the refreshment break, the Evaluation Speech segment began. We had the honour of having William, President of Vietnam TMC, deliver a speech as a test speaker. He recounted the best birthday experience he had to date, and even left us something to ponder over:

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

- Mark Twain

It was then the evaluators’ turn to shine. The contestants were: Hareesh, Rachel, Rasu, Roger, Thomas, Chee Sian, Zulhafni. They excellently pointed out good points in William’s speech as well as areas of improvement using their own unique ways.

Before we knew it, the contest came to a close with the presentation of tokens of appreciation to all contestants, appointment holders and judges. Finally, the moment was here. The announcement of contest results!

Humorous Speech

Champion: Riz Masurekar

1^st Runner-up: Roger Yap, CC/CL

2^nd Runner-up: Zulhafni Zulkeflee, ACB

Evaluation Speech

Champion: Zulhafni Zulkeflee, ACB

1^st Runner-up: Roger Yap, CC/CL

2^nd Runner-up: Hareesh BN

Congratulations to all award winners! Three cheers for our champions! Hip, hip, hooray! Let’s cheer them on as they proceed towards the Area and District levels!

Do come on down for our Members Initiation Workshop cum 57^th Chapter Meeting on the 23^rd of August. I promise you that it will be as exciting and engaging as this contest.

Special thanks to all appointment holders, contestants and visiting Toastmasters.

Written by: Chen Ken

Enticing trophies!

What a crowd!

July babies! Happy Birthday!

 Anchorvale Ace Team

FUNSHOT!

Anchorvale TMC Chapter Meeting & Installation of 2014/2015 EXCO on 12th July 2014

2014/2015 EXCO installed! Prepare now for an awesome year ahead!

Learn from the past and look towards the future. A remarkable year just ended and another incredible year just began. Today’s chapter meeting is unlike any other as it also includes the installation of the 2014/2015 EXCO. *Round of applause*

To start off the meeting, our Outgoing President Roger Yap CC/CL presented chocolaty tokens of appreciation to the 2013/2014 EXCO for assisting him in managing the club throughout the year. Next came the installation of the 2014/2015 EXCO by Incoming Division ‘A’ Governor Kenneth Yeo, ACS/ALB. All EXCO members were made to swear upon the gavel that we will perform our duties to the utmost of our abilities. Incoming President Sathiya CC then delivered his inaugural address. Oh my gosh… we all laughed so hard at his amusing story of why he joined Anchorvale TMC and how he progressed through the years. Good job to your maiden President’s Address, Sathiya! Congratulations!

Outgoing Division ‘A’ Governor Carolyn Street-Johns, DTM and Outgoing Area ‘A2’ Governor Rebecca Chan, ACB/ALB both shared their experience of being their respective roles in the past year and gave well-wishes to their successors. Most importantly, they both revealed that their favourite club will always be the one and only Anchorvale TMC! What honour! Incoming Division ‘A’ Governor Kenneth Yeo, ACS/ALB also addressed his hopes for the upcoming fiscal year.

Today, we had a long refreshment break as we all enjoyed the delicious food prepared by Salma’s friend’s mother. Many thanks to her for taking the effort!

We were honoured to have our club mentors Jenny Au, DTM and Richard Tay, DTM give speeches meant to advice and encourage the incoming EXCO. Jenny discussed why teamwork is powerful and how to achieve it. We even played games to build our team-bonding abilities. The games involved solving word puzzles and blowing balloons. Congratulations to the winning teams! Richard then emphasized the importance of dreaming big and thinking big. He shared with us who he WAS and how he became who he IS today.

The last event of the meeting is the table topics session. Our Table Topics Master Riz Masurekar challenged participants to rack their brains to give an impromptu speech regarding slogans of various companies.

Do come on down for the Humorous and Evaluation Speech Contests on the 26^th of July. Trust me, your time there will be made worthwhile as you witness the battle of wits and the clash of titans.

Special thanks to appointment holders and visiting Toastmasters: Outgoing Division ‘A’ Governor Carolyn Street-Johns, DTM, Outgoing Area ‘A2’ Governor Rebecca Chan, ACB/ALB, Incoming Division ‘A’ Governor Kenneth Yeo, ACS/ALB, Incoming Area ‘A2’ Governor Melvyn Goh, CC/CL.

Best Table Topics: Zulhafni Zulkeflee, ACB

Written by: Chen Ken

Roger and his mentors

Sathiya giving his inaugural address

2014/2015 EXCO installed!

FUNSHOT!!!

Yum yum!

Winning team for word puzzle game. Congrats!

Winning team for balloon game. Congrats!

FUNSHOT!!!

Zul’s interpretation of Nokia’s slogan got him the gold

Anchorvale TMC Chapter Meeting on 28th June 2014

Wow! Would you look at that? Our term has officially ended and what a mind-blowing fiscal year it has been.

From two sensational club contests, incredible membership growth, a 5 hour joint meeting so epic, it filled the conference room to the brim, and most importantly, bonds of friendship tied so intricately, we call ourselves family, this term has been truly remarkable.

Today’s meeting had two ice breakers! Congratulations to Peiya and Zhu Song for taking the first steps to what will hopefully be a rewarding adventure into the realms of public speaking! Vijay and Prasad both displayed tremendous improvements in their speeches.

One of our most senior members, Leng Leng reminded us, of the importance of marriage and how to really appreciate one’s spouse. Finally, Thomas CC tackled one of the hardest projects from the Advance Manual as he conquered the ‘Cold Call’ very emphatically, having plenty of humor, with the charming Saleena as his partner.

We were lucky to have a great panel of evaluators, and congratulations to Chee Sian for completing his first project evaluation.

Our Table Topics Master, President Roger Yap CC/CL challenged the participants with intelligent phrases and true to Anchorvale Style, we had 12 enthusiastic volunteers.

Even better, we were treated to a scintillating Language Evaluation by Shaun Loi ACS/ALB from Tampines Changkat TMC followed by an astute general evaluation by Colin Chue CC from Braddell Heights Advanced TMC. We have much to learn from our valued guests!

I feel so blessed to be a part of this team. The energy levels displayed during chapter meetings and the progress that members have made brings joy to my heart.

I know I sound very cheesy, but that is the truth. I believe we can reach further into the stars, as we seek to improve ourselves as communicators, leaders and most importantly, people!

To everyone at Anchorvale CC Toastmasters, let us not let the success we have achieved now stagnate us, rather let us enjoy it.

Our Toastmasters journey will not end with the title of Competent Communicator or Distinguished Toastmaster. Here’s to an even better year with Anchorvale!

Do come on down for our next chapter meeting on the 12^th of July as we unveil the Exco Team for 2014/2015 and our Humorous and Evaluation Speech Contests on the 26^th of July. It will be a bumper July indeed.

We would like to thank all appointment holders!

Congratulations to Award Winners!

Best Prepared Speech: Tan Leng Leng TM
Best Project Evaluator: Salma Begum CC
Best Table Topics: Muthu, visitor

Written By: Salma Begum CC

The Birthday Babies :)

Another group shot

Leng Leng's entertaining reminiscence of her marriage persuaded the audience to be more appreciative

Anchorvale TMC Chapter Meeting on 14th June 2014

On our 54th Chapter Meeting, we have returned home to Anchorvale CC.

We had a smaller crowd this chapter meeting. Could it be the change in venue? Or was it the difference in size of the room that caused this relative perception? Nonetheless, everyone was so enthusiastic and passionate that I could barely tell the difference!

This afternoon, the audience was treated with marvelous speeches of varying topics. Alvin reminisced about his experience of taking care of mongrels. Rasu discussed the importance of branding. Riz left us in stitches by delivering a hilarious speech, entitled, ‘The Ultimate F Word’, about the differences between being Forty and being Twenty. To round it up, he even gave his own rendition of the Gangnam Style dance!

Norman then turned the atmosphere serious by describing his journey about overcoming introversion and pessimism. Salma inspired us to empathize with a group of often neglected people, our elderly parents. With that Salma successfully completed her CC manual. WOOHOO!!! Congratulations!

Next came the most exciting segment of the chapter meeting – table topics. In line with the FIFA World Cup, Table Topics Master Chee Sian gave the topics a twist by including just the year in which specific World Cups were held.

The participants had to think hard about what he/she did that specific year, and if they weren’t born then, well that became a bit more complicated for them, and more fun for us.

For this chapter meeting, Riz brought his parents along. To our pleasant surprise, his father was a professional actor in India and he gave us some useful tips as to why voice modulation in our speech is of upmost importance. Aha! Now we know where Riz got his amazing charisma and wits from!

As usual, each and every chapter meeting entertains, enriches and inspires me in one way or another. I have been a member of Anchorvale TMC for 4 months now and I have never regretted since then.

Still having any doubts? No problem, just come down for our final chapter meeting of the fiscal year on 28^th June to experience it yourself.

Special thank goes to our visiting Toastmasters and appointment holders: DTM Carolyn Street-Johns (Division A Governor), Stephanie Esther (President of Teach Me TMC) and Steven Rennie Johns (Fort Canning TMC).

Congratulations to all award winners!

Best Prepared Speech: Salma and Riz
Best Project Evaluator: Thomas Selvaraj CC
Best Table Topics: Sue Ann (visitor)

Written By: Chen Ken TM

Thomas our outstanding evaluator and captivating TMD

Riz, the consummate entertainer who can do it all!

Sue Ann's colorful reminiscence about her kindergarten got her gold

Salma, thrilled to be presented with the CC pin from the superb DvG herself.

Roger CC/CL, the stellar President receiving his CL pin from DvG Carolyn

Anchorvale TMC Chapter Meeting on 24th May 2014

Be prepared to be dazzled! Anchorvale's 53rd Chapter Meeting had all the makings of a classic!

It was yet another Chapter meeting for Anchorvale Toastmasters, however it was anything but ordinary to me. It was an oratorical feast, a sensory overload. I was undoubtedly impressed and frankly quite touched by the brilliant speeches as well as the strength and spirit demonstrated by the Anchorvale family. Everyone chipped in when we were setting up, the speakers were all top-notch and the meeting was so indelibly well-executed.

Where should I even begin... then with…

Salma, our Toastmaster of the Day (TMD)! She was like a hurricane. She came, she delivered and she blew us away with such a stirring and powerful performance, leaving in her wake - the audience, spell-bounded and yearning for more.  I’m not exaggerating: Each time she took to the lectern, she shone brightly, infecting us with her brimming energy, zest and language prowess. With a strong sense of purpose, she presided over the meeting smoothly and when the dust settled, all we could remember was how brilliant and captivating she was as the TMD. If only I had managed to record it down…

Alas, what’s a Chapter meeting without the speeches? And like a mighty clash of the titans, this segment pitted one beautifully crafted speech against another, as speakers each offered their best, ranging from gems of wisdom on IPPT and losing weight, to cautionary tales of voyages at sea and even to pre-loved furniture and the gastronomic importance of chocolate. Where else can one find such diverse topics being presented within one room? Throughout the speeches, I laughed heartily, smiled at the shared daily experiences and ached for the stories which tugged at my heartstrings. The stories were all fantastic and so were the speakers, as they turned a hot, simmering afternoon into a cool, breezy respite.

As the saying goes ‘third time’s a charm’, and this definitely rings true, thanks to our – Evaluators. And by that I meant all our different evaluators, from Speech Evaluators, to our General Evaluator ACS ALB Daniel Tran and even Language Evaluator, DTM Crispin Rodriguez. For the speech evaluations, DTM Richard with his years of veteran Toastmaster experience delivered such a precise and empowering evaluation, and it became clear we still had much to learn from our Club mentor. Crispin, our visiting Toastmaster from NTU Toastmaster Club, gave us a clinical diagnosis of our grammatical errors wowed us as we delved into the very foundations of the English language. And thankfully for Daniel, we had someone to assess the overall effectiveness of our meeting, with his insightful and important comments. We will definitely learn from our mistakes and improve from there.

What about Rachel, our intelligent Table Topics Master who provided us with wise proverbs about animals. We certainly learnt much from her, and it prompted a further discussion outside the meeting.

The list goes on and on, and there were still many praises to sing for my dear club. Nevertheless, at the end of the day, I’m just proud and delighted to be part of Anchorvale Toastmasters. As Roger CC CL mentioned in his closing address, it is easy for a club to ride the waves of success but it should not rest on its laurels. As Anchorvale continues on its voyage, there will be greater adventures and stormy weathers ahead, and we should be poised and ready to surmount them. With the camaraderie and friendship, it is always a pleasure to attend Chapter meetings and I believe, this is only a bond which can get stronger and stronger.

Don’t just take my word for it. Do come on down for our next chapter meeting on the 14^th of June to experience the joy yourself.

Three Cheers to Anchorvale Toastmasters! Hurray, Hurray, Hurray!

We would like to thank all Appointment Holders!
Congratulations to Award Winners!

Best Prepared Speech: Debananda TM
Best Evaluator: DTM Richard Tay
Best Table Topics Speaker: Alice from Sengkang West Zone D RC

Written By: Norman Tan TM

Blaze of Glory

How time flies?  We are into the 11th month of the current Toastmasters' term. After the month of June, a brand new EXCO team will be taking over the rudder, under the stewardship of the next skipper. The truth is, we have already identified all the right people, with whom, we will follow to the promised land.   Lets be patient, the name-list will be unveiled very soon.  

As a newly formed club, Anchorvale has come such a long way.  Our dreams seem so close that we could hardly fail to grasp it.  But, little do we know, that the most important milestone has already been reached.  We must have been enjoying the camaraderie of friendship among the clubmates, so much that we have forgotten to keep score.   Nevertheless, the score sheet still tells the fact, showing a set of flying colours.   

What differentiates a good team from an outstanding one? Lets see... impressive headcounts? Winning speech contests? 10 out of 10 on DCP? Conducting speechcrafts?  These are all part of the answer.   However, in my humble opinion, I feel that the most important thing is the sense of unity that binds the team together. Unity is forged, not forced.  It demands strong reasons, as to why any individual wants to soldier on with Anchorvale, and not just with any other clubs out there.  When people can see the creed & values of a purpose that are above themselves, they would be willing to weave their dreams around the same rainbow.  

Rainbows are visual illusions, formed by the reflection of light, when the sun rays shine on the prism of rain drops after a pour. Alas, they endure only for a few short minutes. Likewise, while we take on the same Anchorvale journey, it is the process that counts. 

No matter how brief the blaze of glory is, lets be part of the sparks...

                                 

Yours truly,

Roger Yap