J u r n n g Green Speech Evaluation, on self-harming, success and defying denigrating labels

At Jurong Green I gained the Best Evaluator ribbon for my evaluation of Zachary Chan's speech. It was the second time I had heard the speech. The speech contained these ideas: 1 The speaker was born prematurely - but defeated medical expectation and survived. 2 He was told at school he would not succeed - but defied the teacher's prediction or label and persisted and succeeded. 3 He helped another student. 4 The other student had been denigrated by a teacher. 5 The other student was self-harming. Conclusion: don't enable the labels to be applied to you. The speech title depends on the memorability of the play on the word enable and label. He had changed the speech to present it as challenging labels which other people place on us. His symbol was a small stamper which he used to stamp on his hand. My comments were: What would we remember in a year's time? What serious problem in our lives would be solved? Did the symbol remind us? What was emotionally engaging? The stamp was too small. The hand and the stamp disappeared behind the lectern. The movement was so fast. It distracted me. By the time I had worked out that the small object was a stamper, I had lost the next sentence of the speech. The major story was the self-harming. I thought he should make that more dramatic by putting red on his wrist. Start with the wrist covered. Reveal the marks. Rub out the red marks. Then cover the wrist with short sleeve. I won the best evaluator ribbon. However, when I related this to a family member, he said that if he visited a club meeting for the first time and saw fake blood on somebody's wrist he would find it too upsetting and would not go back. So maybe forget the blood. Just roll the shirt sleeve up and down. Or write a message on your wrist and forehead and erase it. Or put two different labels on your forehead. The speaker dealt with a very important question, which has bothered me for a long time. Why is it that most people (children and adults) when told they will fail, get discouraged? Yet a few defiantly challenge the assumption and fight to prove wrong the speaker / teacher / fate? In the end it comes down to a 'can do' attitude. When an expert says it can't be done, get another expert. Every day is full of learning experiences, from consumers turing out restaurants and coffee, to relationships, work, health, money. We learn from our own experiences, the from observing the experiences of others, refine and adapt all the time, until we get things right. Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer.

What I learned from Buona Vista Club about winning table topics, being positive and fluent

Buona Vista club had a packed programme. After about ten speeches, and ten evaluations, finishing with ten table topics. The meeting was long, from 7 pm to ten pm, three hours. Some clubs run 7.30 to 9.30, two hours.

 What did they not have time for? They had no grammarian, only an ah counter. The timer did not explain timing and demonstrate lights or come to the front of the room. Just stood up and read out times. No table topics evaluator.

Listing Speakers
 The table topics master wrote the numbers one to ten on the whiteboard. She filled in the name of each speaker on the board before giving them the topic. Essential to list the names when you have so many. The danger is that people will forget the names of earlier speakers, and vote for one of the last three, or the last one. The last one was me. I won.

When To Volunteer
 I had waited until nearly the end. Sometimes in a small room with not many visitors I am invited to speak first. I prefer to let the local VIPs enjoy being first. I will step forward if there is a silence and no volunteers, to help the topics master get the session going.

Topic : The Road May Be hard - but the view is beautiful
 My topic was 'the road may be hard but the view at the end is beautiful'. I launched straight away into a positive remark, instinctively, 'This is so true!' Then I tried to think of examples.

Metaphors and Cliches
 To talk about 'the toastmasters journey' is rather a cliché for the Toastmasters Club veterans. It is used so often because new members are starting all the time. But I am bored with it and wanted to entertain people.

Mountain Climbing
 I look the topic literally. A road up a mountain. My family climb mountains. The road is hard. Like running marathons, to climb a mountain, (Kilimanjaro or Everest), involves the hard work of training all year. Run up ten flights of stairs in a condo, when you can do it easily.

Taking The Lift
I recommend doing that. I never do it. I take the lift. While I was away in England, the block where I live was struck by lightning and the lifts would not work. The rest of my family would not mind. I do. Luckily for me, the lifts are running again now.

The View From Skyscrapers
(I love the view from the tops of buildings. I don't take the stairs, I take the lift.) I know I should get fit. I come from a family who enjoy camping out, sleeping in a hammock attached to the side of a cliff. I stay home in a proper bed and write about their journey.

Getting Pictures Of Views
 For me a major excursion requiring a lot of planning is getting up from my chair by my computer and walking to the toilet. If I go to a mountain and think the view is good, I hand my camera to somebody else and ask them to climb the mountain and take a picture for me. I put the picture on Facebook were you can see it. They take the hard road, I and you can enjoy the beautiful view.

Conclusion
If the road is hard, get somebody else to climb for you and take a picture. Yes, the road is hard, but the view is great.

When I got home, I confessed, afterwards I thought, "I didn't have a positive message."
I told my family, "I only won because everybody else stammered and got flustered. I was fluent."

My family smiled and nodded: "Yes, that's why you won, because you were fluent!"

What must I do next to improve?  I need to work on half a dozen stories of success, so that when I am given an opportunity, I can relate not just a personal view, but also my motivational success story.

What I learned from Buona Vista CC Toastmasters Club About Meeting Timing

Buona Vista club meets at Buona Vista Community Centre. I arrived early and the people in the office downstairs told me I was early. I asked if there was anywhere I would wait in air continuing. (I thought they might say, yes, you can sit in this room.) They said I could go up to the rooftop, but no air con. Most people follow instructions, simple instructions, unless and until things go badly wrong. So I went upstairs. The view from the roof is pleasant. The toilet gets less use than those downstairs which could be more crowded. I went downstairs to find the room and although I was half an hour early the group was already setting up. I had phoned and offered to do a role on the program. I was told the program was full. Never mind. I want anyway. I often get asked to speak, even though I have not given much notice, and the programme is already full. Sometimes somebody drops out. Other times one of the committee members magnanimously decides to give up their slot as evaluator so that everybody can benefit because he/she or the club would like the opportunity to hear from somebody new. I was amazed by the number of speakers. The meeting started at 7pm and went on until 10 pm. Regarding timing, the timer is sometimes given a chance to explain the timers role. Here, it was obvious. Signs in the lifts wanted that that lifts and staircase doors would close at 10 pm. If you are running over time, you risk getting locked in, not being able to use lifts for heavy equipment, and older people who have trouble walking. Clearing Up Time If you meet in premises where you have the key and can stand around chatting, networking, socialising, until you decide to go, you cannot envisage a situation where the caretaker is glowering at you still for being in the room at three minutes after ten, or even fifteen minutes after ten. It is a rush, when you have to dismantle a loudspeaker system, unplug computers, roll up screens, wipe information off whiteboards, stack chairs, clear up leftover food, give your business car or club card to newcomers, pick up dropped pens, lost and left bags and jackets, offer lifts to those miles from home, direct others back to the MRT station, or ask everybody to follow you to the nearby coffee shop or hawker centre, giving directions to those leaving earlier or later than you are. Disputes Entailing Chaining Venue I have also read about clubs which changed venue 'because we did not get on with the management' of the premises. It spoils the meeting if the building staff are looking sour, turning off the lights in rooms and toilets, locking doors to the car park, making announcements over loudspeakers that the building is closing, either on time, within five minutes, or ten minutes early. Other club presidents and sponsors go to great efforts to please or placate the staff, offering them leftover food, chatting to them and asking after their families, like a close friend.

What I learned from Manoj at Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters Club

AIMING TO BE AN ADVANCED SPEAKER Other clubs have as their entry requirements that you must have completed the ten speeches int he advanced manual, or at least the first six. Braddell Heights Advanced club is not what you expect of an advanced club. As the evening's opening speech and the agenda explains, you can join the club even if you have not yet completed, or started your first manual. It is a club for people who want to be advanced speakers. In 2017 I was lucky enough to attend a meeting visited by Manoj, who has previously been winner of the Singapore championships and been to America for the finals. He had returned to the club to donate to the club a cup he won. He said he now had many cups. That is impressive. He gave his speech on the coconut tree. The coconut tree is the symbol of a tree reaching for the light and not getting tangled with others. BROTHERS' RIVALRY His story was about how he had argued with his brother. His father used the symbol of the coconut tree to explain that he should concentrate on his own aims in life, not in fighting others. The story is relevant to business. But it is also relevant to Toastmasters speaking clubs. So many clubs are filled with wrangles. I have seen it at Toastmasters clubs, contests, and between individuals. But it happens in many social and professional organisations. I have also seen it or heard about it, in sports clubs, tennis clubs, running clubs. In the old days a club would exclude, or try to exclude, different races, religions or sexes. In many countries this is now illegal. But members try to exclude those they do not want, sometimes on a personal basis. It might be the elderly agains the young. The prudish versus the outrageous. The traditional versus those wanting change. Those aiming to keep the olde worlde culture, versus those wanting to make money with the latest building, even knocking down the club house and building another. I have stood behind a mother and children in a supermarket and watched one child attack another. Eventually the mother turns around and takes sides. What a pity she was not watching earlier, and telling them to not to fight but to behave in public, that it is a matter of family honour. At the first level, one member tries to get the other excluded from the club. On the second level of dispute, one member tries to complain to the police about a verbal or physical assault. The subjects are various. In families such as between two brothers, it is an ongoing battle for the older brother to beat down the rival younger brother, whilst the younger brother avenges hurts or attacks the older, trying to replace him in parent's affection, financial or gift gain, or praise and status. WRITERS' RIVALRY The same happens in clubs. Sometimes an elderly person takes exception to a newcomers style. I saw this once at a writers' convention. A retired teacher who was teaching about classic books with crafted sentences, walked out of the opening night speech by a successful author who wrote popular chick lit and pushed her way to popularity by phoning editors and TV programme producers and generally marketing herself and her shocking pink hair style and short skirt and cleavage. The two women disagreed one everything. I was friendly with both. Neither of them could understand the other. I can see that the message Manoj gives is relevant to many organisations. Of course my description is not as vivid and memorable as when he delivers it. I bought his book. You can read his book. Mastering leadership The Mousetrap Way by Manoj Vasudevan. Manoj - world number 3, World Championship of Public Speaking. Angela Lansbury, author of: Quick Quotations for Successful Speeches.

Fulfilling Objectives of Project Manuals - Workshops, Mentors

Many people treat Toastmasters as a place where they can practise speeches for their business, for fun, for an objective, prepare a speech without looking at the manual, then look for a project it will fit. They are too busy to read the manual. Several ways to address this: Firstly ensure that the speaker has the manual at every meeting. Add bring your manual to the agenda sent out. Keep doing show of hands, who remembered the manual, who forgot. Ask those who remembered their manual to explain why they bring it and how they remember and find it.

 WORKSHOPS Run a regular workshop at a meeting every three months on using manuals for all new members.

MENTORS Ask mentors to explain the manual before new members give the first speech. Assign mentors for all ten speeches, not just the first three. Remind everyone that to obtain a credit in the leadership manual they have to mentor. Try reverse mentoring. Some clubs insist that members alternate a speech and a role to ensure that roles are filled and that pressure on speech slots is reduced and each member completes both manuals. Assign the person who got the CC without doing projects to be a mentor. Ask their mentee, a member who has completed their CC and is doing it again, to ask the mentor for help in choosing subjects fitting the role. Pick the most diplomatic member to discuss this privately. Hold a meeting workshop devoted to the subject of using manuals, with demos of speeches or how to tweak them to fit the manual.

READING ALOUD OBJECTIVES AT MEETINGS Ensure that objectives are read out by the evaluator before each speech.

OPENING SPEECH AT MEETING COVERS MANUALS Ask whoever opens the meeting, The President or the Toastmaster of the evening, to remind audience before voting that the project should have fulfilled the objectives so the speakers are more likely to win a ribbon if following objectives. Run regular workshops on using manuals or ask TME to describe the use of manuals in the opening speech at every meeting. Assign mentors for all ten speeches, not just the first three.

PRE-VOTING REMINDER Mention manual objectives before voting for best speech.Assign mentor whose job is to speak to each speaker after their speech, in the break, to discuss how project objectives can be filled in next project to ensure speech follows manual. Ask the evaluator to mention whether speech fulfils the objectives. Point out that all aspects of speaking covered by projects are used in judging at contests. Do a 'roast' on the person who does not follow the manual, the real person, or a fictional character. (Anybody doing a roast should check that the person they are mentioning is happy with every part of the speech. Even if the subject says he does not want that subject mentioned, you have had the chance to raise it.
Angela Lansbury