Breath Production and Voice Projection at HOD

What a wonderful, instructional and amusing meeting. Whether you want to learn about speaking or about life and to be entertained.

Introductory Roles
Tony Winyard welcomed us to the meeting and invited the TME David to the stage with words encouraging us to clap, "Can we please hear it for David!"

TME David - a Breath of Fresh Hair
The meeting theme on Thursday 21st September was Breath Production and Voice Projection. The subject was chosen by Toastmaster of the Evening David Phelops who runs a choir, or two.

David informed the guests and members that Toastmasters has 14,00 clubs worldwide and 400,000 members. Clubs are mostly English speaking but include other languages such as French, Russian,  and Polish in London. He asked me about Singapore.  I was able to tell everybody that Singapore has clubs speaking,  French and Chinese. (Also Malay and Tamil).

He began by asking us to stand and demonstrating how you breathe, without lifting your shoulders, with the stomach expanding.

Grammar and Words
Michael Freedman as Grammarian had chosen the word of the evening as Perfection, which caused mirth when the word of the day kept falling to the ground. I heckled a suggestion, Imperfection. he warned us that he would be listening out for 'So'.

Speeches
Param on The Importance of Constantly Learning New Skills
Param gave an ice breaker speech introducing himself as, 'The Learning Machine'. (He was later presented with a ribbon as reward for an Ice breaker.)

Kesh
Kesh's speech had to be delayed because Microsoft ran an update so she could not use her laptop for five minutes.

David filled in time with more demos of breathing.

Chocolate
Kesh's speech title was Let's Talk About All Things Chocolate. She told us about Aztecs drinking spicy chocolate, and Columbus trying to take the chocolate drink back to Spain but it was rejected by Ferdinand and Isabella.

Do It Now
Chantal's speech was called The Power Of Now.
She said many people sat on the couch and watched films on TV. Which would you rather be, the watcher or the actor?
She realised that her mother and many people said, 'One day I will'. Or, 'Tomorrow I will ...'
She told us how she changed career and became a life coach.
She said, 'The Time Is Right. The Time Is Now.'

Topics on Breath
Table Topics were introduced by Angela Hook, fetchingly dressed in a simple two-colour co-ordinated colour scheme of red and black which matched and complemented her black hair, with smart gold shoes.

She followed the theme of the evening, breathing, and her questions were challenging. The first topic stumped the speaker, Carolyn, who finished early.

The second topic was again on the abstract topic of remembering to breathe correctly. I heard my name, Angela Lansbury. I  was chosen and immediately treated it humorously. David had made a joke about breathing from the moment we are born until we take our last breath.

I said you should follow David's advice from birth to death, and always remember to breathe, if you want to stay alive, especially under water, when you should take a snorkel.

Another speaker, Patrick, mentioned an author called Winhofwho promoted a stem of starting every day with about 30 long breaths and 30 short ones and a very quick ten seconds of a cold shower. Winhof or others claim this method cures anxiety and depression. The speaker said he had tried it and it invigorated you ready to start the day.

Other speakers were Ayo and Pinal.

What would you tell children about breathing?

Coralie said, "Breathing is all about discipline of the mind so you meet life's challenges. Breathing calms you down. Focus and relax. Practise all the time. Every night write down your goals for the next day and how you will achieve them. Sleep on it. Get up and read your list first thing,

David called the timekeeper and mixed up the names of the video operator and the timekeeper. However, he kept the level of positively up by joking, "I should have gone to Spec Savers!'

Tony asked the guests to introduce themselves and comment on the meeting before the networking break. That's good timing, if you want to speak to them, remember their name and their views.

Break
We had no milk. Biscuits and a few cakes. Water and black coffee.

Evaluation of Param by Dennis
Dennis, evaluating the speech by Param, referred to 'Honoured guests'.

Evaluation of Kesh by me, Angela Lansbury

Evaluation of Chantal by Denise.

Quiz
Coralie early in the evening warned us she would be checking how well we listened with a quiz.
Coralie ran the quiz spot to find out how well we had listened to the speeches. Then she asked us the names of the visitors.

David said that children have great breath control. They take a deep breath, in silence, then have very loud tantrums!

David presented the ribbons to the winners of the collected votes by all members and guests.

All photos by Angela Lansbury.

Tony gave David, TME, well deserved praise. David responded by quoting somebody receiving a film award, "I'm trying to think of a way of appearing humble."

Tips
See all the meeting including me giving my topic on hod-tv.uk (if not up tonight then very shortly within a week.)

Please see and share linksto my blogs on Toastmasters Clubs and another on my speeches. I am also on YouTube talking about spelling (which you need for slides) and grammar.

Author and speaker Angela Lansbury

What I learned from bilingual English and Malay toastmasters club which meets Saturdays

Nine Toastmasters clubs meets at Cairnhill Community Centre. The bilingual Malay and English club meets on Saturday afternoons. Malay Language The speakers and organisers made an extra effort to use lots of English because I was present and do not speak Malay. I can only think of three of four words: Malay - English makan - food terimah kasih - thank you (I should have said: "Thank you - terimah kasha - for speaking in English". I am reminded of the Malay for thank you when I hear the announcements on the train. Malay Speakers I was surprised to learn that my friend Rennie, who I think of as Indian, speaks Malay. He went to a school in Singapore where the pupils spoke Malay as a second language. It was a state school, what in English would be called a Council school, or in Singapore a neighbourhood school. I was under the impression that in Singapore you went to a school according to the language of your parents (Chinese, English, Tamil and so on). However, it seems that you might go the the nearest school, or maybe the nearest one with good teaching, good pupils and good results. Topics on Ghosts The table topics subject was ghost. How very different cultures are. In the UK except at Hallowe'en I have often been told at writing groups that British women's magazines, meaning their readers, and therefore their editors, like romance, but not ghosts. The opposite appears to apply in Malaysia. Ghosts are a popular feature of films made locally, and popular when produced by nearby countries such as Malaysia's neighbouring Thailand. The Chinese have a Hungry Ghost festival. The Malays culture, predominantly Muslim, seems to include traditional Ghosts of various names and personalities which are well known characters. I was asked to speak about the Ghost who grants money. Planned Speeches The first planned speech was about folding clothes. I have previously seen the clothes folding device, a board with two wings. I thought it would be useful to have a website and price mentioned. I bought the cheaper versions without the wings in two sizes. The speaker ran over time, which I often do, because she spent too much time expanding on the problem, so not enough time was left to spend on the solution. The next speaker gave a motivational speech. Although I had previously heard the topic, it was good to hear it again. Writing An Evaluation Her evaluator had written his evaluation neatly in a book with lined pages. He had three 'bullet point' good comments or commendations. Then one starred recommendation. (After that you summarise or repeat briefly the four points - ending with looking forward to your next speech or better still, other words to that effect.) Keeping everything in one notebook means you have a summary of your year and the speeches you have heard and the speakers you have met. Food Break The Malay toastmasters group had good food. I missed out on the chicken in the pot because I thought the pot contained water or coffee or a drink. I only realised it had contained chicken when I saw somebody else eating chicken. Next time I shall check every pot. We had proper sustaining protein. Chicken. Sliced boiled eggs. The ubiquitous (found everywhere) pasties stuffed with potato. healthy lettuce leaves under the egg. Meetings This club meets in Singapore at the Cairnhill Community Centre, on the third Saturday of the month, maybe more often. Check Find A Club. On my second visit, I remembered to use exit B to get to the side of the road opposite the Sheraton towers hotel which is the venue for another Toastmasters Club. Angela Lansbury, CL, ACG, author and speaker. Speech trainer. Mentor.

RIBBON

Tonight I won a blue ribbon for best speaker (at HOD Toastmasters Speakers' club). I'm really pleased. 

TITLE

It was for my talk on 

Restaurant Etiquette - tips for owners and diners.

I started by calling for a member of the audience to volunteer be a diner. I began laying a table. 

I asked him to wait. He immediately started to confront me about why the restaurant wasn't ready. (Laughter.)

I put the plate and cup and saucer and knives and forks in from of him. Said he could sit down. 

I went back to the lectern - which I moved aside.

I showed my book Etiquette for Every Occasion (in a book stand) and said,

" My book was a best seller and it told you about dinner table etiquette in England and the world. 

I'm going to tell you about the etiquette you should watch out for in a restaurant and in your home. 

Etiquette at meal times is different around the world - even knives and forks. For example everybody in England knows you would put the knife on the right and the fork on the left with the tines up. But in France you put the tines down. It's so you can see the silver mark on the back, - in this case the stainless steel mark - and show you don't care about scratching the polished table top because you are so rich.

Nowadays in England service has got very slopping. I often start by asking for a cup of coffee. The server often puts the cup down with the handle on the left. I'm right-handed like most people. I shouldn't have to turn the cup around. The same applies to a jug of water. I don't expect to have to reach across my glass of champagne and knock it over trying to swing the jug handle from one side to the other. In fact I shouldn't need to pour out the water at all. the server should be pouring out the drinks.

Another thing which annoys me is when they appear with a fish knife and steak knife and a soup spoon and ask who ordered what so they can give us the correct cutlery. They should know who ordered what. 

The first time I saw this done correctly was at a castle hotel, a pousada in (Estoril) Portugal. I was with a group of travel writers and local dignitaries, probably the mayor.  About twelve of us were sitting at a round table and the servers knew what each person was having. I asked them how they remembered. They treated the table as a clockface, starting with twelve at the wall. So you take the orders from one to twelve in order, or draw those numbers on the writing pad and fill in the orders from which whichever place you start. 

Imagine if the President of the United States is having a state dinner with The Head of Russia or China. They are deciding to start World War Three  - or stop it. You can't have them being interrupted by a waiter asking, 'Excuse me, which of you ordered the steak?'

So long as you progress clockwise around the table, even if you made a mistake once, you can't get it wrong more than once. If you know that the man who ordered the fish came before the man who ordered steak, then if the man who orders fish is not 1 but two, the man who order steak is next to him and so on round the table.  

With just a table for two it's even easier. You only have to write M for male and F for female, so you can see that the male ordered steak and the female ordered the fish. (Aside.) You wouldn't even need the letter M. It's usually the man who orders steak. (Laughter.) 

Of course it's different in China and Japan where they eat with chopsticks. They don't give diners knives. The reason is that the diners might stab each other. Instead the food is cut up into cubes in the kitchen. So that the kitchen staff can stab each other. (Laughter.)

You have to be careful not to leave your chopsticks standing up in the rice. The Chinese leave chopsticks upright at funeral dinners so their dead ancestors can enjoy the meal.  You would not want the restaurant or the guests to think you were having dinner with your dead ancestors.

To show you finished a meal, you put your knife and fork together. To show you are still eating, you leave them apart, A line. 

That way the server doesn't keep going up to the king or president or courting couple and asking, 'Have you finished?'

If you get up from a meal and leave your knife and fork together it shows you've finished and you might come back and find the plate gone. If you left your knife and form A shape, the waiter should leave your food on the table for you. If you get back and find the food cleared away, although the knife and fork are left A shape, you might be annoyed.

END

I'll end with a story about how you complain about food. In the UK we hate to complain. Americans like to complain, but they are diplomatic. President Lincoln was presented with a cup of coffee and he said, ''If this is coffee, bring me tea. If this is tea, bring me coffee.''  

I have that quotation on my restaurant reviews on my webpage.

www.annalondon8googlepages.com

You can also see my restaurant reviews on Trusted Places. I have written 75 reviews. More than 3,000 people have read my profile. Over 18,000 have read my restaurant reviews.

***

Afterwards members of the audience asked me to show them how to use chopsticks. I demonstrated using two pens.

One person said, 'We go out regularly as a group to restaurants. Often the person sitting at position six will swap places with the person at position four. Later in the meal they will swap back again. How does a server cope with that!'

I intend to do this for a video soon. I shall show my ribbon and the plaque which is passed on to the winner each month.

Meanwhile, you can see videos of me on You Tube.  Type in 'Angela Lansbury Author'.  You'll see an introduction to me and parts one and two of the Comic Poetry readings.

Angela