Author Archives: YY

Opening Address – Think and Grow Rich

“Think and Grow Rich”
Opening address – 28 June 2008 chapter meeting

A very good afternoon to you all!
Welcome to Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club.

I can’t believe it is June already. Today is the last chapter meeting in this term.
Next month, we will start the new term. So it’s the time to think and grow rich. What do I mean?

I mean to think what your expectations are for joining toastmasters. And then aspire to grow your public speaking skills by doing your projects. Eventually your hard work will pay off in rich dividends.

Make a commitment to yourself to be a better speaker, and you will be a better speaker.  Also, you are welcome to bring friends to our chapter meetings.  Do you know lots of people out there want to join a toastmasters club, but have never heard of toastmasters before?

As you may know, the toastmasters movement has had a great impact on many people.
So, your friends may thank you one day for your invitation that may well have changed their lives.

What have we achieved as a toastmaster club during the term?

First, we have launched a new website and a blog for our club.  The main purpose is to attract more visitors and to share resources on public speaking. I think our main objectives have been fulfilled. We have had more visitors at our club meetings and positive feedback has been received from the blog and the website.

Actually I hadn’t expected to receive comments from readers outside Singapore. But I have received appreciative comments from toastmasters living in US, the Netherlands or even Oman.  I think it is the beauty of the internet.

This year, our club organized a Speaking Skills Workshop. The response to the workshop was overwhelming. In today’s meeting, most of our prepared speech speakers have come from the Speaking Skills Workshop.

Edward is unable to be with us together as he has to attend a 5-day workshop. But, I still want to take this opportunity to thank him again as he did most of the hard work for organizing the speaking skills workshop.

Next term, Edward will be the Club President. He is a very experienced toastmaster, and has been a member of Kowloon-Singapore TMC since its inception. He has served in every position on the Exco, and we are privileged to benefit from his expertise.

In addition, Edward has had a high profile as a District Officer. Next term, he will be the District 80 Secretary.  Kowloon-Singapore TMC is well-known because of his contribution.

Whenever our club faces a challenge, Edward is the one that we would go to for advice.  And he always gives helpful suggestions to the team. 

Under his leadership, I am sure our club will climb to a greater height.
Back to you, toastmaster of the day.

Yetti
Club President 2007-2008
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club

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KSTMC SPEAKING NEWS, Nov 2007 – May 2008

The second issue of the KSTMC SPEAKING NEWS for term 2007/2008 is out!

We welcome feedback about your likes and dislikes for this newsletter as well as suggestions on how to improve it.

KSTMC_SPEAKING_NEWS_Nov 2007 -May 2008 

Thanks! 

Yetti
Club President 2007-2008
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club

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Opening Address – Commitment

Opening Address –  Commitment

Good Evening!
Fellow Toastmasters and Friends!
Welcome to our  Toastmasters Club!

Do you remember Edward used the word “commitment” as the word of the day at the last chapter meeting?  The word “commitment” means “something that you have promised you will do or that you have to do.”

Do you sometimes find that no matter what you do, no matter how hard you try, nothing really changes?  Whether it’s losing weight, earning more money, breaking a bad habit or improving your social life?

Quite often you think it’s the right time to make the change. You make another New Year Resolution.  For instance, you want to lose weight and so you join the gym and buy the latest diet book. You know that’s good for you. But a few days later you may slip right back to square one again!

What’s wrong? It’s because we have missed out a vital step in the process. We are not committed to making the change. We are not willing to give our time and our energy to do something that we believe in.

Commitment helps us sustain the decision to make changes in our life. Continue reading →

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2008 KSTMC Speaking Skills Workshop

Dear Club Members and Friends,

Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club successfully conducted the 2008 Speaking Skills Workshop.

I would like to congratulate Speaking Skills Participants for completing the Workshop.
They have worked hard to learn speaking skills, to prepare your speeches, and to overcome the fear of public speaking!

Every participant is now a member of Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club.
Enjoy your toastmaster’s journey!

I would like to thank Edward. He is the co-coordinator of this workshop. He did most of the hard work!  Also, I would like to thank our club members and other toastmasters who have helped us as facilitators or evaluators.

With your help, we successfully conducted this Workshop!

Click here to view photos taken at the last session of the workshop

Our next chapter meeting will be held on Tuesday, 27 May 2008 from 7:30 pm to 10pm.  Take note of the date and do make an effort to come.  We will be holding our AGM immediately after the meeting.  It is at the AGM that we will be electing office bearers for the new term.

See you at the next meeting.

Yetti
Club President 2007-2008
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club
P.S.
Please find the below message written by Edward to all workshop participants.

————
Dear Workshop Participants,

The evening of 15 May 2008 marked an important milestone in the history of Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club. We successfully completed the Speaking Skills Workshop with at least 7 happy participant-turned-members!

It has always been a great challenge in organizing a speaking skills workshop, given the need for so much manpower resources, planning and coordination. Against all odds, we went ahead. As it turned out, we were more than happy to see so many of you being able to make a marked improvement in speaking skills within such a short time. The sense of satisfaction, and the joy and pleasure thus derived, outweighed the agony and the hard work we put in, making the workshop a really meaningful task worthy of our efforts.

As we have emphasized time and again, completing the speaking skills workshop is just a baby step. It is only the end of the beginning. You need to stay in the journey continuing to practise, practise, and practise. Since you have started the journey, please continue.

The next club chapter meeting is to be held on Tuesday 27 May 2008 at 7.30 p.m. Silva and Gary will present their Ice Breaker and Be in Ernest speeches respectively. Hope to see you all that evening.

Attached are the group photos taken before the end of the last session on 15th May. Hope you will like them.

Best regards,

Edward Ma
Vice President of Education
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club

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Opening Address – Become a Leader

“Become a Leader”
 Opening address – 26 April 2008 chapter meeting

Good Evening!
Fellow Toastmasters and Friends!
Welcome to Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club!

Time flies. We have already passed nearly 10 months of our term of office. Excluding tonight’s meeting; we still only have 2 more chapter meetings to go before the start of the new term.

How many speeches have you done?
Are you satisfied with your progress as a public speaker?

If you are, I’d like to congratulate you on your hard work.
If not, then you will need to practise more. Do your project, do your project and do your project.

Remember, you are very welcome to do your prepared speeches here. We all support you. And so don’t worry…don’t be shy!

If you would like to see greater improvement, let me give you a suggestion.
Be the next President of our toastmasters club….

Why? It is because as a Club President, you have to make an opening speech at every chapter meeting. The opening address is another stage time for you. You can share your point of view in the president’s opening address. What to say? How to strike a chord with your audience? It requires skill. You have 12 extra speaking time slots to practise your public speaking skills, to persuade your members, and to inspire your audience.

Why not take up this golden opportunity?
Be the next club president.

Being a club president means you are the CEO of the club, and therefore you have the chance to practise your leadership skills too. You have the chance to build your team. It is useful for your career advancement.

If you think you are not ready to be a club president yet, take up other roles in the exco.
Edward cannot run the club himself. Yetti cannot run the club herself.
We need fresh ideas. We need the energy that comes from new members!

The Vice President of Education (VPE) is responsible for planning successful club meetings so that each member has the opportunity to achieve his or her educational goals. Personally, I have been the VPE of our club for 3 years. I can tell you that it is a very challenging job!

The VPE has to invite toastmasters from other clubs to be the evaluators. A good VPE normally visits other toastmasters clubs quite often and makes friends with other toastmasters. Then he or she has a greater chance to invite competent speakers as our evaluators. To add more spice to our chapter meetings, VPE can invite speakers to present special talks too. I have made a lot of friends for being the VPE of our club.

The Vice President of Membership (VPM) follows up on guests, promotes the membership and recruits new members. If you’d like to practise your persuasive power, take up this role.

The Vice President of Public Relations (VPPR) produces and disturbs club newsletters. The Secretary handles general club correspondences and records minutes for exco meetings. If you’d like to improve your written English, take up the role of VPPR or be our club secretary.

If you are good at figures, volunteer yourself as our club treasurer. If you are really new, just volunteer yourself as the Sergeant At Arms (SAA).
Our club will hold the elections for next term’s exco at the May chapter meeting.

So why not volunteer yourself as the next club president or for other positions in the leader team. You could be a better speaker, a better listener, and a better leader!

Toastmaster of the evening!

Yetti
Club President 2007-2008
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club

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Youtube Video – Killer Presentation Skills

Youtube Video – Killer Presentation Skills by J. Douglas Jeffereys

This video shows you a few of the simple behaviors you need become both comfortable and effective at public speaking:

  •  physical skills – controlling anxiety
  •  why presentation fails
  • the power of the pause
  • body language
  • gestures
  • and more

I find this video useful and would like to share with you.  It does not mean myseIf or Kowloon-Singapore Toastmaster Club endorse the product as I haven’t tried it personally. Thanks!

Yetti
Club President 2007-2008
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club

 

“Helping You To Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking and Speak With Confidence!”
Website: http://public-speaking-singapore.com
Blog: https://blog.public-speaking-singapore.com

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