LE @ NUS Alumni TMC 8 April 2016 Chapter Meeting

Brickbats

(1) Grammar
- NUS Alumni Toastmaster Club => NUS Alumni Toastmasters Club
- most of the thing I wanted to do => most of the things I wanted to do
- where did the act of piracy took place? => where did the act of piracy take place?
- when Raffles hears this, he saw an opportunity => when Raffles heard this, he saw an opportunity

(2) Vocabulary
- A friend of mine psychoed me => A friend of mine inveigled me 
(NB. inveigled means to entice, lure or ensnare by flattery or artful talk)
- I anyhow join a few clubs => I randomly chose some clubs to join
- to do their projects => to present their projects
- so I will cut it short => so I will keep it short
- I did very bad in the first round => I did very badly in the first round
- save our asses => to save us from dire situations
- her lung was broken => her lung was damaged/impaired
- that made her adoption family => that made her adoptive family
- she doesn't want to bother the family => she didn't want to burden the family
- you do a great speech => you delivered a great speech
- you did a story => you shared a story
- three other things for improvement => three areas for improvement
- the point seems a bit lagging => the point seemed a bit lacking
- improve on your position => improve on your stance
- to marry someone that loved you => to marry someone who loves you
- that I felt in my opinion => I felt that ... (in my opinion is redundant)
- I will make things more easier =>  I will make things easier 

(3) Sentence structure
- Once upon a time, there was a email pop up => once I received an email
- anybody who come after me is new => any member who joined after me is considered a new member
- not long after he came to the earth => not long after she was born
- due to the finance reason, she was adopted by her uncle => due to her family's financial difficulty,...
- bring your speech into life => help to make your speech come alive

(4) Pronunciation 
(click on each word to hear the correct pronunciation... hyperlinks from Dictionary.com)
think 
mouth
mesmerize
anxious
especially
lilac
intrigue
allies
iteration
abrupt
detect
monotony
monopolize
Wang (rhymes with hung)
Vu (voo)

Bouquets

(1) Alliteration
Confident and convincing
Interview and immerse
stand steady
Projection, pacing, pauses, pitch, polished

(2) Rhyme
- fake it until you make it
- positivity and creativity
- educational and historical
- facts tell, stories sell
- innovate and create
- loving and dating

(3) Metaphor
- butterflies in my stomach
- colourless life
- could bring colour back into her life
- ballooned to 5 thousand
- eventually I saw sunlight in our life
- fountain of youth

(4) Repetition
- very, very very nervous
- wish me luck, wish me luck
- look forward, move forward
- do new things, try new things, learn new things
- born anonymously, live anonymously and die anonymously

(5) Triads
- encouraged, persuaded, enticed
- pleasant, natural and sincere
- when you're hungry, when you're thirsty and when you don't have what you want

(6) Quotations (Table Topics)
- Learning is an experience, everything else is just information. - Albert Einstein
- Don't go through life, grow through life (also showing parallel structure & contrast)
- Work hard, stay positive, get up early - it's the best part of life.
- The key to successful aging is to pay as little attention to it as possible
- There is only one happiness in this life - to love and be loved. 
- You are never too old to set another goal or to dream another dream.
- Success is nothing more than a few disciplines practised everyday.