“We do not need magic to transform our world. We carry all of the power we need inside ourselves already” – J.K. Rowling

The meeting in PGP Room 3 was kick-started by Christina who spoke about how simple acts of appreciation and encouragements can lift us up. Maintaining such attitude of appreciation helps everyone in NUS Toastmasters greatly when they feel their speech is not up to standard.  Tables topics was a mystery as Yong Kee, the table topics master for the evening, started out the segment by role play. He dug out a huge box of treasure and then promptly went to describe how every toastmaster in the room is now an archaeologist. Everything in the box was a surprise, which any archaeologist(volunteer) has to appraise. Wei Ling was the first to come up and she picked tissue paper. Our returning member Ryan, gave a descriptive story about a bottle. It was indeed an unconventional Table Topics segment where Yong Kee successfully liven up the atmosphere while increasing the standards for our impromptu speaking segment.

The prepared speeches were next and Ganesh was the first to break the ice. He shared about his background, that everyone in his village used to be called Kariom. Ganesh’s speech was brimming with enthusiasm and energy. The second speech was “say-ed” by Huan Hock in project 4, how to say it. He shared lessons from the movie: 3 Idiots. One of the lessons he shared is to doing things from our heart and to pursue excellence and not success. The third speech was embodied by Jian Ye, in your body speaks. It was a inspiring call to action towards our dreams. Following, our fourth speaker made a grand entrance as she swung onto the stage. Wei Ling let us into the jungle as she took on the persona of Jane. The speeches ended on a solemn note, where Sergio did his AP5 Public Relations manual to speak under fire about the tragic QZ8501 crash.

The first evaluation was floored by dashing Derek. He was encouraging and had great posture and helped to give practical feedback for Ganesh’s first speech. Heidi gave a heartfelt evaluation for Huan Hock about his use of hand gestures and that he demonstrated a good use of body language. Ken’s Klassic Konnotations were funny and appropriate for Wei Ling. He also suggested some actions that Wei Ling could do to make her speech more animated. The last evaluation was by Wekie, and he gave suggestions on how Sergio’s reply could be more specific and detailed.

In PGP room 5, we had an entertaining SAA for the everning, Darain, who cracked a joke when he commenced the chapter meeting. Our President Hui Juen shared a personal encounter in the MRT cabin where she recognised that we can always polish and practice our skills anywhere. We have an engaging TME tonight, Tse Wei.

Moving on to the first segment of the everning, we have Wenxi, the table topics masters hosting the event. Shi Hui was required to tell us a story that involves betting. Faisal was granted a wish. He hoped to have more precious time to be with his family members. Shu Lin told us the rich people deserve to be rich because of the effort they have put in while Hariom described the impression of his dream girl. He shared with us his opinion of his dream girl during his different phrases in life.

In the prepared speech, the first speaker, Ivan, shared about “me and leadership”. His key message was to never stop learning, take action and motivate others. Next, we have Faisal. His title is “Old is gold”. He highlighted the invaluable knowledge and inspirations we can tap onto from the elderly. Our third speaker, Fuk Kin, shared with us the power of your voice. He tells us the importance of vocal variety and how it affects our relationship with others. Next, we have Yueh Jia who did her project 10, attitude: self cultivation. She shared why it is important cultivate good manners and how can we do that. Lastly, Jaysree completed her first project on the humorous manual, informed us what drinks should we befriend and which drinks we should stay away.

Tonight the best table topics speaker is Hariom and the best evaluator is Shu Lin. Subsequently, we proceeded to room 4 for the announcements and closing address.

Article by Yong Kee and Ho Fuk Kin, Edited by Koh Shi Ting, Photos by Cool Clickers