Journey to ACG

Here is a record of the ten speeches I have completed to achieve Advanced Communicator Gold award from Dec 2010 - Sep 2012.

ENTERTAINING MANUAL

1 The Entertaining Speech (5-7 min) 
Happily Ever After 
evaluated by Ler Wee Meng on 10 Dec 2010 at NUS Alumni TMC

2 Resources for Entertainment (5-7 min) 
OMG
evaluated by Lim Seh Leng on 28 Dec 2010 at Tampines Changkat Advanced TMC

3 Make Them Laugh (5-7 min) 
Forever Young
evaluated by Pradeep Kumar  on 10 Mar 2011 at AIA Changi TMC

4 A Dramatic Talk (5-7 min) 

The Perils of Parenting
evaluated by Sam Kouk on 20 Oct 2011 at Katong TMC

5 Speaking After Dinner (6-8 min) 
Free Facelifts
evaluated by Coen Tan on 12 Jan 2012 at Katong TMC 


SPECIALTY SPEECHES MANUAL

1 Speak Off the Cuff (5-7 min)
Benefits of Joining Toastmasters
evaluated by David Kow on 31 Jan 2012 at Tampines Changkat Advanced TMC 

2 Uplift the Spirit (5-7 min) 
Steps to Excellence
evaluated by Vincent Lim on 16 Feb 2012 at Katong TMC

3 Sell A Product (5-7 min) 
To be Determined...
evaluated by Daisy Neo on 20 Sep 2012 at Katong TMC

4 Read Out Loud (5-7 min) 
Life Without Limits by Nick Vujicic
evaluated by Paulin Chan on 7 Jun 2012 at Buona Vista TMC

5 Introduce the Speaker (duration of club meeting)

Introducing the Speakers
evaluated by Nik Chua on 20 Jan 2011 at Katong TMC 

AP3 MAKE THEM LAUGH

THE ENTERTAINING MANUAL

AP3 MAKE THEM LAUGH: 

FORVER YOUNG

  

It was the usual supper routine after our club's chapter meeting.  As my club members and I were walking to the carpark, Mike, the youngest member from my club who is in his early 20s, spied a spiffy red car with sports rim and pointed to it. "Cool!" he commented. 

I broke into a wide smile and said, "Good taste. That's my car!"

"What? But but but you're an auntie!" he spluttered in disbelief.

If I were a volcano, I would have erupted and spewed lava all over this tactless young chap.  What? You mean "oldies" cannot be young at heart?

How many of you here are in your twenties? Thirties? The rest of you, I'm sorry, you're aunties and uncles whether you like it or not.

Unfortunately for ladies, our auntie status is often hastened with childbirth. Once I had kids in my thirties, I already became an auntie.  But that didn't stop me from being young at heart. I mean, look at me. Do I look like I'm forty? Please.

Remember in the 1980s there was this pop song "Forever young, I want to be forever young... " How many of you here would like to stay forever young? Come on, own up!  We are living in an anti-aging culture.  Nobody wants to look old or admit they are old. Well, I don't have the elusive elixir that will help us retain youth and longevity. But I do know 3 ways we can stay forever young. 

The first way to stay forever young is to beg Fernando to adopt you, then you can change your surname to Young.  And ladies, you have the extra option of marrying a Young man since Fernando has two sons.  Hopefully they are handsomer versions of him.  Then you can become Mrs Young and that will stay with you forever.

The second way is to stay forever young is to go under the knife  The options available nowadays for cosmetic plastic surgery are varied and truly mind-boggling.  There are all kinds of lifts like brow lift, face lift, even other sagging body parts.  You could also go for rhinoplasty, cheek fillers, lip augmentation or chin surgery. Or how about a few shots of botox to erase  wrinkles - the tell-tale signs of aging.  In a recent issue of 8 Days, Nicole Kidman finally admitted to having used Botox which explains why her forehead stays expressionless even when she's frowning.  Of course this option is only available to those who are filthy rich since plastic surgery is exorbitant.  A simple procedure like cheekbone implants would set you back by 8k dollars.  Unfortunately I don't belong to the filthy rich category so this option is definitely out for me.

The third and easiest way to be forever young is to stay young at heart.  How do we do that? Follow the 3Cs that characterize young people.

The 1st C is curiosity.  Young people are curious, they naturally want to find out about things they don't understand.  This started in their childhood days. Parents, remember the days when your toddlers or kids started asking why? why? why? and almost drove you crazy? Let's keep this spirit of desiring knowledge and it will help us have an active mind.  There is a saying, "Use it, or lose it." Studies also confirm that too little mental stimulation can hasten mental decline. So use your mind constantly to keep it agile and you will stay forever young.

The 2nd C is carefree.  Young people are carefree, they seek out friends, fun experiences and basically know how to enjoy life.  As adults, we are hassled and bogged down by too many responsibilities so when we allow stress and worry to become permanent residents in our lives.  Let's learn to cast our cares aside to enjoy time with family and friends, to pursue our hobbies and interests whether it be public speaking or singing or dancing in the midst of our busyness. Recently I took up kickboxing at a gym and it has done wonders for me.  Put me on an adrenaline high.  So go ahead, do something you really enjoy once a week and see yourself become more airy, animated and at ease, see yourself feeling young again. 

The 3rd C is courage - courage to dream, courage to experience, courage to try. How many times have you backed out of something with the excuse, no lah, I'm too old for this?  Why should we be too old for anything? In Kansas, USA, a 95-year-old woman will become the world's oldest college graduate.  In UK, 49-year-old Susan Boyle who became an overnight sensation was awarded the record for being the oldest person to reach number one with a debut album.  The list could go on and on.  Don't ever tell yourself I'm too old for this.  If you want to do it, just go for it. That's the spirit to staying young at heart.

So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, the secret to staying young at heart, be curious, be carefree, be courageous to pursue your dreams.  And don't let anyone tell you: "you're too old for this!"  

WHAT MAKES AN EFFECTIVE EVALUATION?

When I won the Division Z Evaluation Contest in 2008, I was elated, but when I was not even placed in the District 80 Evaluation Contest a few months later, I was deflated.  I had made two fatal mistakes: (1) I had packed too many points in my evaluation speech (and was probably one of the two contestants who went overtime) and (2) I had insulted the test speaker.  Nevertheless, it was an educational experience as I had learnt an invaluable lesson.

After observing the more proficient evaluators and evaluating many project speeches, I have come to realise that the key to effective evaluations lies in 3Ses: Structure, Sincerity and Sensitivity.

Structure

Some evaluators include a mishmash of points randomly put together, which makes the speech difficult to follow.  An effective evaluation speech must have a clear structure that is easy to follow. I use the basic structure: Introduction + 3 commendations + 3 recommendations + Conclusion.  The commendations and recommendations should be clearly delineated using numbers, acronyms or alliterative triads (i.e. a group of 3 words or phrases beginning with the same letters).

I must give credit to Wekie Tay, the Division Z Evaluation Champion in 2009 who impressed me immensely with his effective use of alliterative triads in his evaluation speech.  Thereafter, I tried using alliterative triads in my future evaluations and found that it worked like magic every time.

Sincerity

An effective evaluation should not be a plethora of platitudes or an exercise in whitewashing.  If you did not find the speech inspiring, do not say that it was inspiring. Be true to yourself.  If we glorify the speaker, we are doing him a great disservice.  An effective evaluation serves as a mirror image to help a speaker realise his strengths and areas for improvement.  

Sensitivity

Speak the truth in love - that's a good rule to follow.  While we want to be sincere and truthful in our comments, we also want to sensitive to the feelings of the speake and avoid being tactless.  During the District 80 Evaluation Contest in 2008, I actually told the test speaker, "Your conclusion is so forgettable that I can't even remember what you said." On hindsight, that might have been more positively re-phrased as "Ending your speech on a strong note will help you leave a deep impression on your audience."  Now I learn to use positive language to explain how the speaker could have improve on certain aspects of his/her speech.

In conclusion, an effective evaluation  has a clear structure, sincere comments and is sensitive to the speaker's feelings. The end result of which is that the speaker is motivated to improve his speaking skills.

AP5 Speaking After Dinner

AP5 Speaking After Dinner from The Entertaining Speaker Manual

Timing: 8 - 10 minutes

Objectives:

(1) Prepare an entertaining after-dinner talk on a specific theme.
(2) Deliver the talk extemporaneously, using the skills developed in the preceding entertainment 

Evaluator: Coen Tan from Tampines Changkat TMC

FREE FACELIFTS

Look at me? What do you see?

You don't see my dazzling mega-watt smile?

You don't see my sparkling white, perfectly aligned front teeth?

Do you know why I have such beautiful teeth?

Because I use Sensodyne! No, I was just kidding.

It's because they are all fake teeth! This is a secret I have kept for many years, please do not tell anyone!

I see some of you shaking your heads and gaping in disbelief. Fake teeth belong to tottering old ladies with wrinkled faces! Why would a young lady like Joni in her 20s have fake teeth?

I know I look like I'm in my 20s but actually I've already hit the 40s. That's another secret, please don't tell others.

Well, you see, something happened years ago that totally changed my...

teeth!  Let me share with you the story.

After my A levels, I went to relief teach at River Valley High School. One day some of my colleagues planned an outing during a public holiday.  We went to East Coast Park to cycle. It was a bright sunny day, with a bit of a breeze. We will happily cycling along when we spotted a group of children cycling towards us. My group was going in one direction, and the children in the opposite direction.

Suddenly, a small, dark boy came out from behind the group of children.  He was hell bent on overtaking the group of children who were going too slowly for his liking. He was pedalling fast and furious, going like a whirlwind.  He came straight onto our lane and before I could react, he was in my face, literally!

Wham! Bang! Collision. I was knocked right off my bike and I was seeing stars.  There was a commotion around me but I was too dazed to realise what was happening. All I could feel was pain in my mouth and wetness on my shirt. I looked down and saw BLOOD!!  Not drips of blood, not trickles of blood but pools of blood! I think I almost fainted.  

What happened was my teeth had made contact with the boy's forehead.  Other than teeth marks on his forehead, the boy survived the accident unscathed, while I was lying on the grass patch, bleeding profusely.  Two of my teeth had been knocked out on impact.  One colleague frantically called for an ambulance, while the other attended to me.

After what seemed like an interminable wait, the ambulance arrived and I was placed on a stretcher and ferried to the SGH.  Fortunately for me, my colleague's aunt worked in SGH dentistry department so after some string pulling, I was able to see a dentist without having to wait too long.

The dentist examined me and shook her head. "You will have to wear dentures for now, while we arrange to have crown made. But that will cost at least one thousand dollars."  With my mouth wide open, I could hardly say anything to express my shock and dismay.  I could only utter 'ah' sounds while lying there helplessly.  Any ah counter would have had a field day counting my 'ah's!

After several visits to the dentist, I finally had crowns to fill the gap in my teeth. That Christmas, the song All I want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth took on a special meaning to me.

That's the end of Part 1 of the story. Part 2 of the story happened 10 years after the accident.  I began to notice that my smile was somewhat crooked. It bothered me a lot! That made me self-conscious and unwilling to smile. My teeth were not aligned straight, instead they were overlapping.  One day, I came across an advertisement about smile makeover.  It promised to solve all kinds of dental problems and give you something to smile about.

Intrigued, I called immediately for an appointment. Dr Ong was very warm and effusive. He showed me all the before and after photos of previous customers and I was sold.  I underwent two sessions of measurements, customisations and fixtures, and several thousand dollars later, I had fake teeth or more correctly, porcelain veneers to correct my teeth alignment. My smile makeover was complete. Finally I had something to smile about!

Did you know that smiling lifts the face and make you look younger? So if you want a free facelift, smile!  Smilng is also contagious, which explains the saying "Smile, and the whole world smiles with you!" Research has also shown that smiling releases endorphins and helps you stay positive. It also makes you appear successful. 

So if you want to look young and attractive, SMILE.

If you want to feel happy and positive, SMILE.

If you want to appear confident and successful, SMILE.

And you know what's the best part about that? Something that all Singaporeans like.

It's FREE!

Time taken: 7 mins 50 secs 

I was 10 seconds short of the timing of 8 to 10 minutes.  Evaluator Coen suggested that I could dramatize the story further to up its entertainment value. For example, show a crooked smile and pose it for exaggerated humour.  Or play up the scene about the dentist.  Put all inhibitions aside!!