Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Yesterday was the NUSTM's International Prepared Speech and Table Topics Contest, held at the NUS Museum!It was a great night, as what Mathia put it, to see so many great speakers gathered together!
11 Prepared Speech Contestants, 16 Table Topics Contestants!!
Even the Governor of the District says that at District level, there are only 9 contestants for Table Topics!
Well, I was one of the 16 who participated in the Table Topics.
I must say that it really is great exposure, and somehow I do understand now on why Wilson always pushes us to join such contests, even though most of us were utterly reluctant. I guess it's all about stage time stage time and stage time!
And there were a record of about 60-70 guests(Well at least that's what Wilson wrote in his email to us, though I didnt remember seeing so many guests!)
Prepared Speech section
Wow seriously we did have a great time! 11 Prepared Speeches, mostly revolving around the theme of loving and treasuring your loved ones, with certain exceptional ones like Irni's Click-related speech, Soo Kuang's Why Do we Dream?, Boredin's physics speech and Genevieve's Be Deaf. Who can forget Mathia's eyes and never-leaving-a-second-to-let-you-pause-and-think speech, so emotional that you would feel like rushing out to take action right away.. Who can forget Gary's recount of his experience of his illness-inflicted mum? And who can forget our Champion Eric's 'Mummy I'm falling!' account of his army days, which brought in the theme of treasuring our loved ones!
Gosh! Good speeches!
I was seriously impressed with Soo Kuang and Irni's steadiness throughout their entire speech! And I say this knowing that they were competing with the veteran speakers, many of whom have already attained titles such as Competent Communicator and Distinguished Toastmaster.
Kudos to 2 of you!
Oh! And one thing I have to say about the Prepared Speech section is that the one-minute silence that we have to observe for the judges to mark their ballots, was always so scarily deafening! It is to the extent that I did not even dare to clear my throat!
And of course Kudos to Genevieve, who won 2nd-runner-up! Amongst veteran speakers like Gary, Wekie and Eric!
Table Topics section
Gosh I had a part in this, and yea the butterflies were back all over again! And thinking that I was actually in a Toastmasters Contest did scare me a bit! After all I was competing with so many veteran speakers! Before we actually walked in, I was just telling Yen Kai and the rest to start a conversation about anything, so I could probably just warm myself up! And we ended up talking rubbish to the District governor! Gosh, ok well we didnt know that he was the District governor!
Talking about my experience, I really felt very relieved when I finished delivering my impromptu speech ! In fact, I really felt very proud of myself! I mean, after all it really isnt as scary as I felt it was! Somehow after that earth-defying moment, I felt like I could really do anything else in this world easily already! Suddenly I felt that surge of confidence in me, that I would be capable of brightening and bringing to life those boring presentations we have in our business modules!
As a whole, I really felt that the contest was really well-organised and as what Wilson says, we can raise the profile of the club up by at least a few notches! Kudos to Wilson and Chee Guan!
Indeed, being in Toastmasters have indeed given me a great sense of achievement. Even at times when I do not atttempt any projects, i would still feel greatly enlightened by the many great speeches delivered by the club members. Meeting them and talking to them again truly makes me happy all over again, as I am reminded of their passion to learn and improve themselves eveytime. And I am always most impressed with the conducive environment that is created at every chapter meeting we have. And I truly feel the passion in Gary and Wilson, in helping the club and its members grow in every single way possible!
And feeling their passion always makes me want to improve myself much more, from attempting projects to talking up appointment holders.. to even getting to know every Toastmaster better! =)
All in all, Toastmasters has been an enriching experience for me.
Looking forward to be Table Topics Master and Evaluator on 12 Feb, TME on 19 Feb and to do my P5 Speech on 21st Feb!
=) embedded in between at 8:16 PM
