STAY OR LEAVE?

When a club is floundering, do you stay or leave?  You can't fault others for wanting to leave when they feel the club has no more value for them but I am a stayer.

When I joined Katong Toastmasters Club in November 2008, there were only 8 members.  It was a struggling club and together we built it up by running an intensive 6-week Speechcraft workshop, which brought in many new members, many of whom have left.

People leave for all kinds of reasons.  One member left because he could not withstand the stress of being VPE.  He hated being let down, that people make promises to do their speeches or take up appointments but change their minds last minute with all kinds of excuses.  I can't deny it's exasperating but that's life for you.  Others left due to work priorities.  One left without a word - all smses, emails and phonecalls received no response. Why can't say a decent goodbye? Who's going to hold you at gunpoint and say you can't leave?  Whatever happened to social etiquette?

Another member recently revealed his intention to leave as many of the senior members were gone and the quality of the club was flagging. It was discouraging.  I suggested staying on to make a difference to the club but greener pastures beckon.

So they leave... one by one...

Some stay but don't come... what's the point?  I wish people could be passionate and committed.  If they have made a decision to join a club which requires only monthly meetings, then at least make an effort to attend every month.  3 hours a month... how much commitment does it require to attend a meeting?

If you have signed up for a speech, then commit at least 2 days a month to write the script, edit and rehearse it.  Speakers who take the stage with minimal preparation is really wasting everyone's time and not to mention, wasting their opportunity to learn and improve as a speaker. 

Good speakers are a great way to attract new members. I joined NUS Alumni Toastmasters Club because of great speakers like Lau Kwong Fook and Ler Wee Meng; I wanted to learn from them, speak like them. I joined Katong Toastmasters Club because of good speakers like Justin Quek and Benjamin Gan.  Lacklustre speeches are a real bane.

Let's hope members buck up, make an effort to deliver well-crafted and well-rehearsed speeches and give the impetus for members to stay and for more to join.  After all, we are about public speaking, why speak if your heart is not in it?

My Toastmasters Journey

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step." -- Lao-tzu

My toastmasters journey began in April 1996 when I attended my first Toastmasters meeting at the NUS Alumni Toastmasters Club.

I met a speaker who changed my life forever. No, he wasn't tall, dark and handsome, but he was certainly confident, articulate and eloquent. I was so impressed, enthralled and mesmerised by his Project 6 (Work With Words) speech that I resolved to become a speaker like him. That speaker was Lau Kwong Fook. That very night, I signed up as a member of NUS Alumni Toastmasters Club and I've never looked back since.

Thirteen years and twenty-one trophies later, I'm still going strong in Toastmasters because this is the place where I've found my voice, my passion. I used to be so shy and reticent in school even till university level that I did not dare to voice my opinions. Did I even have an opinion?

Ever since joining Toastmasters, all that has changed. I became active during my stint in National Institute of Education as a trainee teacher and volunteered to be a class leader. As a teacher at Fairfield Methodist Secondary School, I volunteered for all kinds of speaking roles such as emcee or announcer for school functions, assignments which most teachers would shun. I even conducted workshops for students and other teachers.

While my aspiration to become a speech coach did not take off, I'm still happy for the platform in Toastmasters to share my experiences, voice my opinions, express my reflections. This is the place where I feel accepted, affirmed and adored.

Not only that, I've enjoyed the fellowship of so many fellow toastmasters in this fraternity and many have become firm friends. Special mention must be made of my two mentors Wee Meng and Kwong Fook -- I've learnt so much from them and they continue to inspire me with their talent, intelligence and passion for life.

my mentors Kwong Fook & Wee Meng

This blog is a chronicle of my journey in Toastmasters - the lessons learnt and the insights gained - life lessons that I want to remember and pass on to fellow toastmasters and one day, to my children.