Yow Kia

I’m glad to be invited to be the Ah Counter of Brilliant Advanced TMC Chapter Meeting on 15th October 2007. It’s an unforgettable chapter meeting because I’ve invited two of my friends who are not Toastmaster to come along with me. I know they are seeking ways for self-development. That’s the reason why I brought them along. You might be wondering, why I didn’t invite them to my own club chapter meeting. Well, it just happened that I talked about Toastmaster last week with them and it just happened that the BA TMC Chapter Meeting came first. Also, they are staying quite far away from my Toastmasters Club. Anyway, I did invite them to my club chapter meeting which falls on the next day. I hope they will come…

The word of the evening was lead by Language Evaluator – Ong Sin Tiong, with the word called NUMINOUS. It’s an adjective and the meaning is having a mysterious and holly quality that makes you feel god is present. It’s quite a difficult word to apply in our conversation or speech, I felt. I was right! Not much usage of the word throughout the chapter meeting.

There are two special sessions that we can only get from BA TMC Chapter Meeting – 2-minute special session and Hearing, Listening & Comprehending session. 2-minute special session was created by Richard Sng. The speaker needs to speak something which can leave a great impact and impression to the visitors in only 2 minutes. Hearing, Listening & Comprehending session is a session lead by a presenter to ask questions which relate to the speeches that were given. This is quite a good training session for someone who is not good in listening and comprehending like me.

For the prepared speech session, I was quite surprised to know that 4 out of 4 prepared speech speakers brought along their notes during the presentation. From my observation, most of them could actually avoid using the notes as they were not referring to the notes most of the time. Is it a culture? Or it’s just a coincidence that they were not well-prepared today? I wonder… Anyway, I don’t want to spoil the fun of exploring the reason. Overall, they had put in their great effort in giving a good speech.

I have nothing to say about the evaluation sessions as most of them are veteran in giving evaluation. They all could just voice out their opinion and suggestion fluently.

Table topics session is always a nightmare for me and I have yet to conquer the fear in taking the first step. Whenever I wanted to step out, there must be something from behind, pulling me back with full strength. I thought one reason was I was scared away by the first table topic speaker. He was just too good… There was one thing I felt happy and proud about was one of my friends took up the challenge to deliver his first ever table topic. I would like to emphasize again… HE IS NOT A TOASTMASTER. I think he has a great potential to be a great speaker. From his presence until the moment he uttered the first word, everybody could feel the energy of an in-born great speaker. I have talked to him that he just needs to practise and hone his skills. The best place to practise his skills is none other than Toastmasters Club. It’s the cheapest and most effective & powerful programme that can lead a person to a successful career.

The Club really appreciated the guest’s effort in helping up the club to serve as an appointment holder by giving the guests a souvenir. It’s a pencil vase. Actually, I felt quite warm. It’s not because of the gift; it’s because that they really express their deep appreciation towards us. Thank you very much!

After all, the chapter meeting has propelled me to take more action to improve my speaking skills and leadership skills.

Pencil Vase as a gift of appreciation from BA TMC