Yow Kia

17072007, this was a very special day for me. These were the feelings that I had during yesterday chapter meeting: Unforgettable, Nervous, Satisfied, Impressed, Happy… Just to name a few.

Unforgettable:
I presented my first ever President Opening Speech.
I presented my final project from basic communication manual and awarded as a Competent Communicator.
Holding the position of President with the title of CC, I am no longer an ordinary Toastmaster. Whatever I do may affect my member’s progression in the Toastmasters journey. Of course, I will try my best to set myself as a role model. I want my members to progress as well!

Nervous:
I got to prepare two speeches: i) Opening speech (5 mins) ii) Prepared speech (10 mins)
Murphy’s Law always works. Whatever will happen, it will happen. I started to finalize my prepared speech 4 days before the presentation day and opening speech 1 day before the presentation day. This is the first time I got to prepare two different speeches for the same day presentation. I was thinking, will I mix these two speeches up during presentation? Will I get stuck half way? Will I … Guess what, I really got stuck half way. My mind was turned BLANK suddenly. Luckily, I did prepare small notes in my shirt pocket. No choice, I took out my notes and refer to them during the presentation. I remembered I was complimented for not using note in my first project. And now, the first time I used my note was during my tenth project. Well, it’s part of my learning process. Perhaps, I will start looking into topics like what should I do if my mind suddenly turned to be blank during presentation. You could listen to my speech in MY VOICE to experience how I got stuck during the presentation…

Satisfied:
There were a lot of guests on that night.
I received good comments from some Toastmasters and guests.
We had a variety of guests on that night, Toastmasters from other clubs, Non-toastmasters, Friends … They were truly enjoyable during the meeting. I could tell that by looking at their facial expressions. Thanks to Ban Peng (DTM) to be my project evaluator despite his busy schedule. Thanks to Pauline (CTM) to be my club language evaluator despite my last minute invitation. Thanks to Terry to rush down from JB to be my club project evaluator. Thanks to Wei Khoon (DTM), Stanley (CC) to evaluate my club member’s project. Thanks to Bernard and Prabin who passed me their personal comments to my speech. Thanks to everybody….

Impressed:
My friend’s attitude impressed me.
A friend of mine – Cynthia, a first-timer in Toastmasters Chapter Meeting, took up a challenge to take part in table topics session. I know this lady not for long and was impressed by her initiative to challenge herself for the impromptu speech. I got to know her through a charity organization. Somehow, her attitude towards her job inspired me as well. Coincidently, I met her couple of times nearby my work place. Seeing her persuading and convincing people to make contribution to a charity organization, even during holiday and weekends, I salute to her!

Happy:
Good response from the floor.
The flow of the chapter meeting was smooth and the time control was pretty well-organized.
I saw great improvement from fellow club members.
To be punctual for chapter meeting is one of the plans we are going to implement for this new term. We started on time for the meeting! Great! During the meeting, the response from the audience was good. Majority of the guests were so responsive when they were prompted to a question. I must applaud to the TME – Vijayakumar for the good attempt in using humour.