Tag Archives: Opening Address

President’s Opening Address for 31 July 2021 Chapter Meeting

Club President’s Opening Address for 31 July 2021 Chapter Meeting  – Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club  (by Jun Allego)

guideFor almost 2 years, the world has battling one of the most devastating battles in our lifetime.

Lives lost
Families displaced
Leaders being put to test

Many are distraught, disabled, and distressed.

Despite all these, there is a growing number of individuals who are rising to the occasion.

Helping the helpless
Giving hope to the hopeless
Serving as the light in the darkness

Good afternoon district officers and fellow toastmasters!
I’m certain that like me, you all want to be part of the solution and among those individuals who are rising to the occasion.

And I have 3 suggestions on how to be part of the rising stars.

1. Listen
On many occasions, people around us don’t need us to solve their problems or expect us to be Mr or Ms CSI.
They just need someone to listen without any judgment or any pre-conceived opinion.
Put your phone down and just listen and you’ll be surprised of what happens after.

2. Give
Giving is the highest form of living according to John Maxwell.
You might be thinking I’m going nuts for asking you to give when you are having troubles getting for yourself.
You may have not noticed it but we have plenty to give and it doesn’t cost a dollar.

Time – volunteer your time to those who need it more such as a meaningful cause.
Respect – you may have a friend or a colleague who just lost his job or have someone who got Covid. Instead of expecting him to function as who he is to us, allow him the space to get through it until he recovers.
Care – go the extra mile and show those around you that you care. This can be done by doing the little things such as asking them how are they doing these days.

3. Let go
We live in a very noisy world and it often inundates us.

The office politics
The drama in the family
The latest trend or hype on social media

Most of these are just distractions that create the infamous fear of missing out!

You don’t have to be part of the discussion whether Joseph Schooling’s Olympic glory days are over.
And the best way to deal with any of these distractions is to acknowledge it and allow it to happen without doing anything.

Fellow Toastmasters, listen with your undivided attention. Give more than what you expect to receive or even better don’t expect anything in return.
And let go and focus only on the things that truly matters. Things that bring profound impact to yourself or others.

Thank you

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If you want to overcome stage fright and learn to speak with confidence, join a toastmasters club.  You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

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President’s Opening Address for 26 June 2021 Chapter Meeting

Club President’s Opening Address 26 June 2021 – Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club  (by Jun Allego)

What To WriteI have a confession to make.
Recently, my life has been the stark contrast of how I want it to be. To put it simply, it’s the new normal.

In the past, I plan my days and weeks around my work. These days, I plan around my daughter.
In the past, I plan my opening speeches. These days, I plan my alibis to my daughter to join our meetings.
In the past, I plan my time to get up. These days, my daughter decides when it’s time to get up.

My life has never been the same!
I thought that I’m not in control anymore and that I should take action sooner than later.
There is this inner battle of thoughts like a tennis match and it’s growing louder and louder.
Some days started to feel good and some days doesn’t. In my life predictability and flexibility became things in the past.

Rather than allowing myself to feel overwhelmed and helpless like a baby, I took a step back to reflect.
In the process of reflecting, I learnt from those around me some best practices in dealing with the changes constructively.

Accepted the change

Instead of fighting the change head on, I learnt that I would fare better to accept it. Accepting that this is going to be another chapter of life. And If I were to keep growing, I have to embrace the new challenges that came with it. Acceptance gave me a better frame of mind to deal with my daily affairs around my daughter.

Adapted to the change

When my mind is right, I was in a better position to carry on and that was when I adapted to the change. Adapting allowed me to unravel obvious possibilities and green opportunities. I discovered working out in a nearby park to be far more time effective compared to going to the gym. I found cycling as an appealing alternative to running. I experienced more joy in the little things with my daughter such as seeing her grow everyday and sending her to school. Adapting to these changes have brought more colours to my life on a canvas.

Appreciated the change

Organising myself in the mids of chaos led me to a new found routine such as my baby like and more predictable sleeping pattern. My meetings at work are now plotted precisely, my meal times aren’t as erratic as it used to be and I’m exercising regularly.

These changes that I used to fight have given me a new lifestyle that is more organised and even more methodical.
These changes have allowed me to find joy in the little things that didn’t seem to matter before.
These changes have made me a new me.

Ladies and gentlemen, we all go through different changes in our life. Some are daunting and some are less exciting.
It’s okay if things doesn’t seem to be what we expect them to be.
It’s okay to feel overwhelmed and immobilised.
It’s okay to start something new, a new routine, a new habit and a new perspective.

And you too can fare well if you choose to ACCEPT, ADAPT AND APPRECIATE.

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If you want to overcome stage fright and learn to speak with confidence, join a toastmasters club.  You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

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Opening address – President’s Inaugural Speech on 26 July 2011

If you want to overcome stage fright and learn to speak with confidence, join a toastmasters club.

You are welcome to visit our Kampong Ubi Toastmasters Club if you are living in Singapore.

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President’s Inaugural Speech on 26 July 2011 by Ramana Boyani

A splendid good evening to our district officers, my fellow Toastmasters and guests!

It is my privilege to be the President of Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters club for the term 2011- 2012.

Being the President it has increased my responsibilities and commitments. But I am very happy that I have an excellent team who are more committed and enthusiastic than me. With their support, I am sure we will achieve our club success.

I always believe the value of team work. I always believe my members dreams…and most importantly

I believe myself. With the experience as a Vice President Membership for the last term, I am fully confident that I can overcome all the challenges in the future.

On 20 Sept 2009, I got a call from one of my friends, and he invited me to a Toastmasters seminar.

My immediate response was “I am not interested in toasting or baking courses. Because my wife does not allow me to cook” : )  He said,” it is not about the cooking or baking..It is about toasting your public speaking skills”… hmmm.. That sounded good to me. After 3 days, I visited Chai Chee Community Club along with my friend. As usual the guests were called on to participate in the Table topics. I didn’t dare to step forward. After the seminar I had realized the importance of public speaking in my life. This is the programme sheet for that day. It was so simple… there was no president name and there are no names of the exco team… But I still preserve this… do you know why?….that was the place I got enlightened. I realized about my fear of speaking ….But after 2 years from that day, I am standing in front of you as a President of one of the leading Toastmasters clubs in Singapore. I am very thankful to the friend in my story who showed me the way. He is none otherthan our club member TM. Rao. Please give him a big round of applause!

“People who take initiative and work hard may succeed, or sometimes they may fail. But anyone who does not take initiative is almost guaranteed to fail”.

  • Initiative is often the difference between success and failure. Initiative is the first step to anywhere you want to go. My message to all of you…
    “You don’t have to be good, to start: you have to start, to be good”. I repeat…”You don’t have to be good, to start: you have to start, to be good”

 

Start your Toastmasters journey … I am sure, you will become a better speaker, a better listener, a better thinker eventually a better leader. Continue reading →

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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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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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Opening Address – The History of Toastmasters

“The History of Toastmasters”
Opening address – 25 March 2008 chapter meeting

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

Tonight we have a few guests attending our chapter meeting for the first time.
Let’s give them a round of applause.

Our guests may not know what toastmasters are all about.
A toastmaster is not a toast or a toaster.

Let me give you some background information.

The first toastmasters’ club was formed in Oct 1924, when a group of young men assembled by  Dr. Ralph C. Smedley met in the basement of the Santa Ana, California YMCA.

Dr Smedley began working as a director of education for a local YMCA after graduating from college. He realized that the older boys who visited the YMCA needed training in the art of public speaking. He wanted to help them, and so he began a public speaking club.
 
He decided the training format would be similar to a social club. During the early 1900s the word “toastmaster” referred to a person who proposed the toast and introduced speakers at a banquet. Smedley named his group “The Toastmasters Club” because he thought it suggested a pleasant, social atmosphere which appealed to young men.

Growth was slow during the early years, but the number of clubs increased steadily.  Membership in Toastmasters International increased rapidly after the end of World War II, and by 1954 the number of Toastmasters clubs had approached 1,500.

Dr Smedley’s legacy has continued to flourish. Throughout the ’80s, Toastmasters International established itself as the world leader in the training of public speaking. Today, there are more than 220,000 members in 113,000 clubs spread over in 90 countries.

Speaking with confidence is really useful.  However, not everyone can do it.

You may have read books on how to conquer the fear of public speaking.
You may have attended courses or workshops on how to improve your communication skills.

However, you lack a platform for practice.
Practice is the key to helping you improve in public speaking.

The purpose of KSTMC is to provide opportunities for our members to practise and improve their communication skills, using the methodology of “learning by doing”.

Through educational workshops, prepared speeches and impromptu speeches, our members can learn from the feedback given by more experienced speakers.

If you want to overcome stage fright and learn to speak with confidence, join Kowloon-Singapore toastmasters club.

Toastmaster of the evening!

Yetti
Club President 2007-2008
Kowloon-Singapore Toastmasters Club

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