The meeting started off with some tasty and nutritious lunch. This is the time members and guests just mingle and get to know each other better. Most members are from different departments, so this is a good time to catch up on each others week with maybe a little bit of gossip thrown in.
Here you can see some members discussing the finer points of algorithm and methodology for the polygonalization of sparse circuit schematics, or maybe it was about non-rectilinear polygonal vias, I couldn't tell. Rest assured, there won't be any speech about those topics anytime soon.
Today's Toastmaster of the Day (TMD) is Chong Huong Huong (as seen above).
Huong Huong does a good job of getting the attention of the audience. It is always tough when the crowd is already engrossed in their own conversation, but Huong Huong manages.
Everyone pays attention when the TMD speaks. Actually, at Toastmasters meetings, everyone pays attention to whoever is speaking. That's good support!
She proceeds to welcome the members and the guests, explains a little about today's meeting and their role players. As with every Toastmasters meetings, we start off with the grammarian giving us the word of the day. This will be followed by the much anticipated table topics sessions.
A short break later, the project speakers will dazzle and mesmerize us with their prepared speeches. This will end with the most important part of the learning process, the evaluation session.
Today's word of the day is "exhilarating", which means producing or stimulating physical, mental, or emotional vigor. Members are exhilarated as today's word should get a lot of usage. ;)
Table topics master for today is Trevor. (See his handsome picture on the left)He has been preparing something special for today's table topics.
Instead of the usual phrase, today's table topics is a little different.
Participants are required to come up with a speech that start with a given sentence and must end the speech with another sentence.
The table topics for today:-
- From a Kingdom Far, Far Away .... Happily Ever After.
- Computers .... Children.
- Superman .... Washing Machine.
- Turtles .... Sea.
- Ladies .... Olympic Games 2008.
As you can see from the photo on the left, some of the table topics speakers just having a good time and enjoying the challenge. Although some seem to be begging for another topic. Can you guess which one?
The audience can be seen paying full attention to the table topic speakers, maybe they are hoping to be the next one to speak?Everyone was exhausted after the fun and exciting table topics session, so a 5 minutes break was in order, to let the members cool down and relax for the prepared speeches coming next.
The first project speaker was Philip, his topic is "Open Source". He is doing his 7th speech - Research your topic. It is quite technical and topics like these tend to be a little dry. Philip would not let that happen, just look at his hand gestures and facial expression. It was technical but Philip filled his speech with emotion. Are you wondering why his hands are in that position? You would have to attend the meeting to get it. :p
Suba is up next, her project speech #5 focuses on body language. She gave an inspiring speech about Subway sandwiches and how the founder started with a small shop and ended up with a multi-billion dollar business. "Just a little thought" was her title. How did she do?Just look at her facial expressions. If she told me she was a famous bollywood actress, I would believe her. Her speech makes me feel like I could start a multi-billion dollar business today.
Now if I could only save a few dollars this week. That would be a good start.
Maisie is the general evaluator for today. She always has something to say about the overall running of the meetings. Err... I mean she always has good suggestions on improving the club meetings.
Some of her suggestions was on the action of handing over the floor to the next speaker. Some speakers were so nervous, they bolted back to their seats after completing their speeches. Make sure to wait for the next speaker to come up, give a handshake before running back to the seat.
OK. Must make a note on the next meeting.
Her other assistants include the timer, the ah counter, the grammarian and speech evaluator.
My role today is to evaluate the project speakers. As usual I give a very informative and interesting evaluation to the speakers. (If you did not attend the meeting, you'll have to trust me on this)
This is the most serious part of the entire session, as the advice given can help improve the speakers skills and bring them closer to the competent communicator level.
The meeting ended with a small prize giving ceremony to the best table topics speaker Suba and Maisie reminding us of the upcoming Toastmasters Joint meeting in DHL on the 14th of June. Check the calendar below for more information.
See you at the next meeting!
