Chief Judge for NOL Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests 2009

It's been a long time since I took on the role of chief judge. Having read the responsibilities of the chief judge on http://members.district15speaks.org/contests.php , there were still small details that I had overlooked.

(1) While briefing the tally counters, overlooked the need to specify a suitable area for collating the contest results and ended up in some corner doing it, while the audience were milling near us during the break.

(2) I forgot to announce if there was any time disqualification.

There were a few hiccups here and there and it would be good as chief judge to give gentle reminders to the appointment holders. For example,

• remind timers to time the one minute of silence and signal to Contest Chair when the one minute is up;
• remind tally counters to collect the timers' record from the timers in addition to judges' ballots;
• remind Contest Chair to invite tally counters to collect ballots at the end of each contest;
• remind Contest Chair to prepare something during the 5 minutes while the evaluation contestants prepare their evaluation speeches (e.g. give announcements, invite other toastmasters to give announcements or tell some jokes).

It's tough to give a humorous speech. Some of the contestants were giving informative speeches! At one point, one judge even came up to me to ask, "Do they know this is a humorous speech contest!!!" Each contest is a learning experience. May the speaker who garners the most laughter win!

AP3 The Monodrama

AP3 THE MONODRAMA
FROM INTERPRETIVE READING MANUAL

Time: 5-7 minutes
Objectives:
(1) To understand the concept and nature of the monodrama.
(2) To assume the identity of a character and to portray the physical and emotional aspects of this character to an audience.

Script read by toastmaster Constance Ng from Tampines Changkat Toastmasters Club(reproduced with permission):

Title: Unrequited Love
"I have always wanted to believe everything ever written about love to be true. Shakespeare said "Journeys end in lovers meeting." What an extraordinary thought. Personally, I have not experienced anything remotely close to that, but I am more than willing to believe Shakespeare. I suppose I think about love more than anyone really should. I am constantly amazed by love’s sheer power to alter and define our lives. It was Shakespeare who also said "love is blind". Now that is something I know to be true. For some, love fades; for others love is simply lost. But then of course love can also be found, even if just for a moment, just for the night.

And then, there's another kind of love: the cruelest kind. The kind that almost kills its victims. It is called unrequited love. Of that I am an unwilling victim. Most love stories are about people who fall in love with each other, who live happily ever after. But what about the rest of us? What about our stories, what about those of us who fall in love alone? We are the victims of the one sided affair. We are the cursed of the loved ones. We are the unloved ones, the walking wounded. The handicapped without the advantage of a reserved parking space! Yes, I am one such individual. How pathetic! And I have willingly loved that man for over three miserable years! The absolute worst years of my life! The worst 3 Christmases, the worst 3 Birthdays, and the worst 3 New Years Eves, which were brought in by tears and followed by sedatives. Those years that I have been in love have been the darkest days of my life. All because I've been cursed by being in love with a man who can not, does not, and will not love me back. Oh god, but I love him! Just the sight of him will render my heart pounding! My throat thickening! My knees weakening! I absolutely can't breathe! I absolutely cant’ move! And how such feelings can actually ache in places you didn't know you had inside you. No matter how hard you try to escape, no matter how many new haircuts you get, or gyms you join, or how many glasses of chardonnay you drink with your girlfriends... you still go to bed every night depressed and empty, going over every detail of your meeting with him. You keep on wondering what you did wrong, or what you did not do right. And you keep on wondering how, for those brief stolen moments of seeing him, you could think that you were that happy. And sometimes you can even convince yourself that he'll want to see you, and show up at your door. And of course you are disappointed!

And after all that, however deep the disappointment is, you'll somewhat recover. And you'll meet people who make you feel worthwhile again. And slowly, the little pieces of your disjointed soul will come back. And all the awful memories of those wasted years, all the painful memories of your unrequited love, will eventually begin to fade, before you then experience another round of unrequited love."

- a monologue by Iris Simpkins (portrayed by Kate Winslet) in the movie 'The Holiday' (2006)

Evaluation of AP3 The Monodrama

EVALUATION OF AP3 THE MONODRAMA
@ TAMPINES CHANGKAT TMC
ON THURSDAY 6 AUG 2009

Good evening fellow toastmasters, ladies and gentlemen, and especially toastmaster Constance. Thank you for your amazing rendition of ‘Unrequited Love’. How many of you here agree with Shakespeare that ‘love is blind’? It has been said that before marriage, you should close one eye, after marriage, close both eyes. That’s why love is blind. Thank you for sharing about “love’s sheer power to alter and define our lives”.

I would like to highlight your strengths and areas for improvement using two acronyms ACT and ACE. Let’s start with your strengths using the acronym ACT.

A Attention-grabbing and apt selection of music
It was an excellent move to use music to accompany your rendition as the piece of music you had selected really sets the mood for the prose on ‘unrequited love’.

C Choice of prose
The choice of your prose was relevant and something the audience can easily identify with as all of us need love and most of us have experienced rejection at some point in our lives. The prose is beautifully written and very moving. Listening to the words brought tears to my eyes.

T Timing
The timing for your speech was perfect. You ended your rendition just as the music ended. I believed you had achieved this perfection in timing due to the effort you’ve put into rehearsals.

What are some ways you can improve on your performance tonight? Let me share with you three recommendations using the acronym ACE.

A Avoid preamble
Preamble is what you say in the beginning that is irrelevant to your speech. Though amusing, I felt your introduction was not relevant. Let the TME do the job of explaining the nature of interpretive reading. In your 45-seconds introduction, focus solely on what your monodrama is about. Tell us that this prose was articulated by Kate Winslet’s character in the movie ‘The Holiday’ and explain a little about the character so that we understand the context of the prose.

C Clear presentation
Project your voice so that everyone can hear you clearly. At times I was straining to hear you even though I was seated in the first row.

E Express your emotions
This project requires you to use voice and body to convey the mental, emotional and physical characteristics of the person. The use of script greatly limited the use of your body. Either memorise the script or place it on the lectern to free your hands for gestures. There was some vocal variety but it could be greatly enhanced. Extend the range of your vocal variety so that you can fully capture the sadness, the desperation and hope expressed in the prose.

Thank you for an amazing ACT. For your next project, give an appropriate introduction, project your voice so that we can hear you loud and clear, and freely express your emotions using body language and vocal variety. Then you will be on your way to ACE your future project speeches.

MAKE ME BETTER!

- An evaluation workshop by JONI SIAH
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WHY EVALUATE?

- Encourage the speaker : commendations
- Empower the speaker : recommendations

WHAT TO EVALUATE?

(1) CONTENT
Relevant? Meaningful? Inspiring? Humorous? Well-crafted?

(2) ORGANISATION
- Is the speech well-organised with a clear intro, body & conclusion
- Are the points easy to follow?
- Are there clear transitions?

(3) DELIVERY
Was there effective use of body language? Vocal variety? Pauses?
Was the speaker confident? Fluent?
Was the articulation clear?
Was the stage well-utilized?

HOW TO EVALUATE?

1. Take notes
- Content: intro, main points, conclusion
- Body Language: facial expressions, gestures, stance, movement
- Vocal variety: speaking rate, volume, pitch, pauses
- Use of language: rhetorical devices, choice of words, pronunciation

2. Identify commendations
Select 2 – 3 commendations
Arrange in order of importance

3. Identify recommendations
Select 2 – 3 recommendations
Arrange in order of importance

4. Organise your points
- Use numbers
- Use alliterations
- Use acronyms or abbreviations

5. Prepare your evaluation speech
- Craft your introduction
- Craft your conclusion
- Write down main points and examples
- Timing recommended:
- Introduction 30s
- Commendations 1 min
- Recommendations 1.30 min
- Conclusion 30 s

3 don’ts…
Don’t forget the speaker’s name.
Don’t go on and on. Once you see the red light, wrap up your speech.
Don’t insult the speaker.

What your mind can conceive & believe, you can achieve!
Reach for your dreams!

MAKE ME LAUGH; MAKE ME BETTER

Today I conducted a double-bill workshop Make Me Laugh; Make Me Better with Wee Meng at Katong CC. He presented the first workshop on Humorous Speech Contest and I presented the second one on Evaluation Contest. There were around 40 participants.

What I learned from Wee Meng's workshop:
Craft for Power
Memorise for Confidence
Rehearse for Effect

I especially liked his suggestion to 'plant' friends among the audience and tell them when to laugh beforehand (what a cheat! but brilliant idea... haha!). This works on the premise that laughter is contagious. That's what they do on comedy shows too - canned laughter.

I felt he spent too much time on the segment about crafting. I would have liked him to give us a transcript of his humorous speech and dissect it for laughter points and different types of humour. Just listing types of humour without examples isn't very meaningful. Tying his humorous speech together with the types of humour would have been powerful.

For my presentation, I was rushing along like a bullet train and some people felt lost. Halfway through I was wondering if what I was sharing was too easy and causing people to get bored. During the hands-on segment, only a few participants were taking notes. I wondered why. Then they told me they did not know how to take notes so I took them through the points step by step.

When something comes naturally to you, you take for granted it's easy but for others, it may not be. I felt the winning formula I was sharing was straightforward and easy to apply but I overlooked the fact that some of the toastmasters are very new and hence inexperienced. They did not know what to look out for. As a presenter, I should have been more sensitive to their needs. Asking questions beforehand to ascertain their level of experience might have helped.

Unfortunately due to lack of time, we only had two volunteers to present their evaluation speeches, though I had planned for 4. After the workshop, two participants came up to tell me they have enjoyed and benefitted from the evaluation workshop. That made me very happy.

Division Z Evaluation Contest 2008

DIVISION Z EVALUATION CONTEST 2008
EVALUATION OF HIJAZI’S SPEECH “THE ECONOMICS OF RELATIONSHIP”

This was the evaluation speech that helped me win the contest:
(Transcribed from video)

Good afternoon, fellow toastmasters, ladies and gentlemen, and especially toastmaster Hijazi. I would like to commend you on giving us a fabulous speech today. And let me share with you why your speech was fabulous using the acronym FAB.

Firstly, you were funny. Everytime I hear you speak, you never fail to tickle my funny bones. I think you really gave the contestants a run for their money. Let me share with you in what way you were funny. You used exaggeration, you used meaningful stares, as well as a very interesting analogy comparing women to the stock market. I think the audience loved that.

A for audience participation. You made use of audience participation by asking them questions and getting them to raise their hands. You also gave them fill-in-the-blanks. And I think the audience enjoyed that as well. So audience participation was great.

And B for body language. You had effective use of body language. You were very animated. There were times when you did this (punch fist into other palm), or used your fingers to emphasize certain points. So well done on those 3 points.

Now I want to share with you 3 ways in which you can improve on your speech today. I want to give you recommendations on how you can improve on the content and organization of your speech. Let me run through the 3 points using OBC: Opening, body and conclusion, which is the basic structure of how we have all been advised to structure our speeches.

Opening. Opening is very important because that is where you grab the audience’s attention. Yes, you had the use of questioning techniques but were your questions relevant to your topic? No. Because your topic is The Economics of Relationship but instead you asked questions about the economy, which was not relevant. So when you want to use the questioning technique, choose your questions carefully. Make sure they are relevant to your topic.

Next, body of your speech. In the body of your speech, you have 3 tips. You spent a lot of time on the first tip ‘Act against normality’, you had anecdotes and you had advice. Your 2nd point ‘diversity’, you spent a moderate amount of time and then you just skim the last point. So your three tips were not well-balanced. So this is something you can look at. How can you manage your 3 tips so that you can spend equal amounts of time.

Last one, conclusion. There is a saying: “the audience remembers best what they hear last.” So conclude with a bang. And this is something you failed to do today because you were rushing for time. You saw the red light and you stopped. That detracted from the power of your speech. So what I want to say to you is: Craft a memorable ending because when you end with a bang, your audience will remember you for a long time to come.

So you are a talented speaker, humorous by nature. And in my humble opinion, if you are able to incorporate these advice by giving us a grand opening, a balanced body and a wonderful conclusion, then you will be able to give a speech with greater pizzazz and finesse.

Contest chair

(TIME TAKEN: 3 min 6 sec)

This was the first time I had won in a Division contest so it's a breakthrough for me, especially since I had strong competitiors in the likes of Wee Meng, Wekie Tay & Christine Lim.

It's also the first time I watched myself performing on video! The first time I watched it, I cringed, but after a while, I got used to it. Haha.. On reviewing my transcribed evaluation speech, I realised I used 'so' quite a lot. That's something to take note of and cut down on. Thankfully, I managed the points and timing quite well.