I won a ribbon for best table topic talking about a toy

Toastmasters Club of Singapore met at the Sheraton Towers Hotel, Monday 4th March 2019.

The theme of the meeting was childhood. The topics master, Leslie Lim, had a box of toys. You had to select one without looking, just by putting down your hand and pulling out one toy.

I pulled out a plastic toy which pulled apart.
I turned it over. Behind was a man.

I said, "I've got a car - and a driver!"

It is full of bits which pull out and turn. Imagine the hours spend creating this.

Choosing the colours.
Red and yellow. Or red and green.

My dream has always been to write a best selling song, or write a classic children's book, or create a toy which would bring pleasure to millions of children and adults.

The greatest toys were Lego and Meccano which inspired generations of children to build things. Maybe some of them went on to build the buildings in the great cities of the world. Like here in Singapore. My family go off camping and climbing. But I like to be in a five star hotel such as this one, the Sheraton Towers, with you.

I love buildings and cities not camping. Somebody built this city with shops where you can buy toys like this one.

I've enjoyed talking about this toy, and thinking about it, and hope you have, too.

A ribbon for a blob with crossed eyes

I won the table topics ribbon speaking about a blob with two black eyes. Aug 18 2016. I won table topics giving the strength of a blob with crossed eyes. I said that it was eyes which commanded attention and everybody loved it and the crossed eyes could be fixed by the Singapore health service, and it was an orphan and appeared on t-shirts and I trusted everybody would donate to get its crossed eyes fixed. I did a semi-humorous speech about learning languages and Singlish “white here”.

Bukit Panjang Bilingual Club - Angela's Winning Evaluation on Language

The best thing about the ribbon is that Bukit Panjang Bilingual Club writes their club name and the date on the back of the ribbon in gold pen.

2/3/2016.

The club meets on the first and third Wednesday every month. That reminds me which club I visited, how long ago I visited the club, and the day it meets.

When you win your first ribbon you can remember which club and where.

By the time you have been in Toastmasters for ten years you have several ribbons and want to be reminded what you said to whom and when.

Why did I win? Was it just because I was a new face? Or an English speaker at a bilingual club where many speak Mandarin as their first language and English as a second language? That could have helped.

But it's worthwhile for me and others to remember the advice I gave.

I was evaluating a speaker who had reached the project on Vocal Variety. Word of the day was extol.

I said:

I must extol the speaker for her excellent vocal variety as well as wonderful gestures and research. Her speech, Water is Precious covered three aspects of her subject. We started with why we need water, then the impact of rivers in three different countries, finally what we can do to conserve water. She used great gestures to hold our attention and count off numbers.

Now let's consider how the subject fitted the manual project vocal variety. When you do a speech, you can approach it either of two ways. You can write a speech on a subject you like, then try to fulfil the objectives of the project, vocal variety.

Or you can pick a subject which enables you to practise vocal variety. I've completed this manual twice. The first time I contrasted different languages. You might contrast your language and another, such as Singlish and English. Or Indian English and English. (Or American English and British English).

The second time I used family conversation to contrast different ways  of speaking: a (loud deep-voiced) angry father; a scolding, tutting mother; a quiet pleading, shy child.

The speaker fulfilled the project objectives of correct speech. If you ever evaluate a speech you'll find three columns which you tick to say the speaker did well, average, or could improve. I ticked did well for all the categories, including sufficient volume and use of pauses.

I noted only two words which could be pronounced differently. One was the word tibetan. The speaker swallowed the middle syllable, pronouncing it as tibb(y)-tan. It's an extension of a word emphasising the second syllable ti BET.  So the word becomes ti-BET-an.

Angela Lansbury, B A Hons, CL, ACG, English teacher and author.

My Ribbon-Winning Impromptu Speech On Selling at Ifpas Toastmasters Club

I volunteered to speak in a table topics session. Table topics are impromptu speeches, sometimes from topics picked at random from cards face down on a table.

I love doing table topics. But they are meant for giving an opportunity to speak to members of the audience who are not performing planned speeches nor doing roles. I was the General Evaluator, granted a long slot at the end to evaluate the people not evaluated (the evaluators themselves). I hung back to allow others to have their moment on stage.

Then I saw that the impromptu speakers were rewarded with an orange. We eat fruit for breakfast and I wanted an orange. So I volunteered.

The topics were mostly related tot he evening's theme of Chinese New Year. We had begun the evening by being asked to say what we were doing to celebrate Chinese New Year.

People said: visiting relatives; giving 'hong bao' (red packets containing money given to unmarried relatives); receiving hong b a o and counting the money, haven reunion dinners with family, organising reunion dinners in restaurants.

My topic was: ' "You have to give a little to receive a lot." Do you agree? '

I said:

Yes, this is obviously true. Shops and manufactures are always offering buy one get one free and I fall for it every time. So does everybody, most customers are tempted by a free gift. I am a sucker for free gifts. I saw an advertisement for milk this week in Singapore. The ad said: buy two and get a free glass. I told my husband. He said, 'But we don't need two cartons of milk. And we don't need a free glass. It's an oddment. We have too much clutter already. I was so disappointed. I love free gifts. When I see a free Lego toy with a cereal packet, I want to buy the cereal packet. I don't have grandchildren, or children the age for Lego. I don't need it. But it's free and I want it.

The same happens when I go to buy a dress in Singapore, or China, or India. I buy a dress, pay and turn to leave the shop. The manager bows and smiles, and gives me a free scarf. You know what that means. I've paid too much. He says, 'Because you are a good customer.' He means I paid full price and didn't bargain hard enough. I'm now under an obligation. Anybody from Singapore or China knows what that means. He now wants to show me another dress, dearer, or cheaper, than the first one. He will of course give me another free scarf.

Yes, the salesman knows, you know, I know, you have to give a little to receive a lot.

Angela Lansbury, B A Hons, CL, ACG.