Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Meeting on 13 Nov 2007

When I write this report after each meeting, I do really wonder what the readers would really want to see. Do they want to see pictures or words and I believe most of them would like to see pictures but if there is no picture what would people like to read? I guess, each person looks for different thing and honestly, I just do not know how to satisfy most of the readers. With this in mind I would try and vary my style and hopefully, I can cater for a larger group of people and primarily the members of my club.

Our VPE has named the meeting "Let's Advance" perhaps due to the two Advanced Speakers for the night and the word of the day was Regroup, meaning make a fresh start. I guess again, he wants us to reinvent ourselves, relook at ourselves and progress. This is hard to do for most people as we always look at ourselves differently than what we project. How do we reconcile with this issue? Any debaters?

The VPE took on the President role for the early part of the meeting as we expect the President to be slightly late due to her work schedule. Don't worry Madam President, our VPE is sincere in wanting to help you out. We started almost puctually only 240 seconds late. I believe it is acceptable even at MII.

Our TME Joyce who has been away, busy with her travelling commitment, made a grand come back. I must say that she fully prepared herself for the job and as the GE Ramdas Nayar DTM, commended her for her efforts. It is heartening to see someone prepares for her task or role inspite of her heavy work commitment. Well done Joyce

Anna took on the stage to handle the Invocation and she indirectly whack our VPE for slotting the role at the last moment. Well, not to blame our VPE as he has to juggle the roles to get every member coming for the meeting to participate. To Anna I must also commend her for shortening her her stay overseas and pay extra money to return early so that she can attend our meeting.

Our Past Area Governor James from Friendship came to handle the TTE but was reschedule to take on the Evaluator for Mohamad's Speech. Instead Anna was given the task and she did a fine job by doing a general evaluation of the speakers. Our VPE handles the TT Session with a great topic like Durex Survey which state that Malaysian Men had 9 partners and Malaysian Women had 2 partners. Most speakers did not agree with this but the response from the speakers seemed to reflect their wisdom and knowledge on how to avoid touching on sensitive points when handling delicate issues.

Levine tries her hand at delivering a Humour Session and I know she tried but the audience were not supportive and that includes me. Anyway, don't worry Lovingly, (Levine Lee)you tried. Volunteer further and one day you will get it right.

Dinner we had vegetraian mutton curry and I saw our GE happily going for a few rounds at it. He seemed truly enjoys our food.

We were supposed to have four Assignment Speakers but two of them make way for Adam and Mohamad to deliver their loooooong speeches. Mohamad delivers his ACL "Speech by Management" Manual #1 entitled the Briefing, talks about setting up a Wish Committee in his company to fulfill his team members wishes. Adam talks about Negotiation skills and tried to convince our President to move the meeting to his Condo where there are plenty of foreign young girls students. Due to time the negotiation was called off and we may form a small group (for guys only) to work on Adam's project.

Two Past Area Governors James and Masdiana handled the Speech Evaluation and both seemed to be politically correct by giving the Speaker a white-wash. Grammarian for the day is our Foo Chow President from France Monsiuer Tilaka, our Ahcountant is Lovingly Levine Lee and our Tag Heuer (Ho yeh) Man is FC Ho.

Our lovely President Sherine Lim gave away the prizes for the Best Role Player and Table topics Speaker to our General Evaluator Ramdas Nayar and Most Friendly person for the night went to our Humour Master cum Treasurer Lovingly Levine Lee. After that she announced that our next COTS will be on 1 Dec at a time and place to be announced and we will be celbrating our 16th Anniversay on 27 Nov 2007 at our meeting venue. Guest Speaker has been invited and members ought to bring their friends and family members to join us.

The Closding Ode was carried out by Mohamad and he said, "Everytime we meet everything has been laid out for you, the roles has been organised, the room well alid out and the food properly arranged - let's thank the people who has done this behind the scene and never got a word of thanks." This message was primarily to our President Sherine, our VPE Leong and our Treasurer Levine. Oh yes, he also gave a quotation for all before parting, "We don't work for each other, we work with each other." "Good attitude amongst members of the club do not guarantee a success but bad attitudes guarantee its failure." Just ponder over this and let me have your feedback, whoever you are.

Before I sign off let us thank Masdiana for bringing her colleague at Yayasan Sin Chew Miss Ho and Joyce her colleague from Schneider elctric Mr Lim Ah Hwai. What about the rest? Identify your guest NOW for the next meeting which is our Anniversary Meeting.

Your Blogmaster

Monday, November 12, 2007

Division W Humourous and Evaluation Speech Contests

On a beautiful Saturday afternoon 27 October 2007 when i was supposed to be relaxing at home with my children, I took time off to go to the Women's Institute of Management to lend support to my dear friend and member of MII Toastmasters Club competing at the Evlatuation Speech contest at the Division level. I felt my time was wasted as the quality of the Speakers and Judges were beyond my expectation.

This review I must state is my personal observation and has nothing to do with the club and if there is anything that I have said that cause some parties to be angry I plead forgiveness in advance as I hold on to the concept that Toastmasters is about expressing yourself and what better way then to express your true self; minus the hippocrity and white washing stuff.

In my almost 3 decades involvement in Toastmasters what I see is the standard of our judging a contest has been steam rolled down. I just wonder where the real judges are? To me it is a shame for someone at Division Level to be judged by people who has not even contested at any level or gone through a Judges' Workshop. I know some of the people may say that this is Toastmasters and standards are not required but I wish to defer.

We are all in Toastmasters to improve our standard and when we are good and selected by our club to represent at Area Level we expect a higher degree of judging and organisation but I don't see this happening. Judges are hidden from all of us and we are not transparent about who they are. Why is this so? Can we get strangers to be our judges or someone who just join us for a day to be a judge? I am sure the experienced Chief Judge would not succumb to such a level when we have abundance of qualified and experienced person. Yet, who knows?

I think we should demand more transparency here and publicise who the judges are and what their qualifications to judge at such level. If this does not happen I am afraid that Toastmasters will never improve their standards and we cannot hold ourselves as Toastmasters. The good speakers and Evaluators may shy away from competing and we get mediocres to represent our area and the rest I need not say.

I am sure if there is a panel of Judges at different levels, we will be able to give some dignity to our contest otherwise, all these contests are a mere waste of time. Judges must be prequalified before they are chosen by the Chief Judge. One of the main criteria for a member to be a Judge must be he or she must have a CTM or CC and CL. On top of this he or she must have taken part in Speech contests before at Area level for him or her to judge at Area level. This conditions should also prevail at higher level meaning for Division Level he or she must have contested at Division level and for district he or she must have contested at district level.

After establishing our District for over 10 years now I am sure we do have more than 10 Contestents at District Level to be given the honour to judge at district level. I don't think we don't have the numbers, it is how we give dignity to the judges.

Going back to the Division Contest, it is my personal opinion that the Humourous Speakers were only stand-up comedians. In fact the test speaker was more humourous. On the Evaluation contest, I may be bias in this as my club member is participating but by any standard I thought she should be placed first runner up if not the Champion considering her confidence and also the quality of her evaluation and delivery. Anyway, I may branded as bias but I know those who knows enough and were present at the contest would understand.

In conclusion, I appeal to the leaders in the District to do something about this state of affairs before the whole system goes down the drain. In business we are now competing with the best in the world,trying to reinvent ourselves in the process of corporate governance and market liberalisation but here it looks totally opposite. We are in Toastmasters to improve ourselves and let us do it properly.

Mohamad Abdullah

Meeting on 23 October 2007

The theme for the meeting is REJOICE and the word of the day is also Rejoice. As the Grammarian had stated in the example of the word, "We should all rejoice in our country's 50 years of independence".

The TME was Mohamad Abdullah and he promised that the meeting starts on time and will end on time. He kept his word and the best Speaker was Mike Teng who got 20 Minutes to deliver his Speech but takes only 8 minutes to finish.

Since the meeting was more than three weeks ago, I hate to apolgogise to our President that I could not keep my promise of reporting this promptly, hence the information I had has been erased from my memory bank.

I like to make this blog interesting but somehow, I find my creativity skill seemed to disappear. Hope there are friends out there who could help me out and whatever you are recommending would not take too much time as year end is just around the corner and for me a poor insurance broker, this is our busiest time of the year.

Thursday, August 30, 2007

One Club, One Voice, Merdeka Meeting !!!



Two big Birthday Boys ! Our Adam and Mike ...........




Happy Birthday to Malaysia !!! 50th Years Old .............




Take a look at the special " Merdeka " room decoration................... Like it ?




Time to eat and talk ................ as MII TMC is famous for our good food !




See, we have already upgraded our dinner venue .............. grand one ?!

Can you recognised whose head is this ???





Our " Kiasu " VPE during his Table Topics Session...................




Masdiana is giving her sincere feedback & evaluation to our Contest Representative ....... a tough one ...............





Mike is concentrating in blowing the candles.....................





The Madam President ...................





Our ' long missing ' Past President - Thiloh was with us this Merdeka Meeting !




Mike with his ring ............. he is 32 ?????? Ah ha .............





Our new members - Carling and Julian .................. hahhaaaa, you guys have no way to escape from MII TMC Big Family since we have this photo as evidence of your promise ......................






Adam's Guests - Helen on the left and Eko from Korea .........................






Jeff, are you trying to teach us how to pronounce " Negara KU " or " Malaysia KU " ???





Our forever humourist and Air Asia loyal fans................ Adam Fung at his Table Topics Session .....................






Lastly, the person who told us he doesn't know much about Humourous Speech but left us with " Kiasu, Kiasi, Kia Boh " laughters....................... our Founder, Mohamad !!!

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Humourous Speech and Evaluation Contests

It is a Toastmasters Club activity that each year we organise the above Contests to select one or two to represent our club at Area Level. This year, I am proud to say that we have a total of 7 members contesting for the two Contests. They are:

Humour Speech
1. Ho Fook Chuan
2. Leong Kok Wah
3. Dr Gan Eng Meng
4. Adam Fung

Evaluation
1. Leong Kok Wah
2. Anna Hue
3. Monsiuer Tilaka
4. Adam Fung
5. Jeffrey Lee
6. Phillip wong
7. Dr Gan Eng Meng

We had three Guests brought in by Betty, one each from Adam, Ho, Jeffrey. It was a little internatioal with two Australians and one from Korea. Visiting Toastmasters who came and supported us were:

1. Lim Heng Chong our Area Governor cum Chief Judge
2. Dr Sharon Tong
3. Mr & Mrs Koh Teck Lee
4. Chow Mun Yean (our Timer)
5. A gentleman from UK Toastmaster. (will get his name soon)
6. James Arokiasamy
7. Ahmad Zakie - Test Speaker

Members who attended besides those Contestants were:

1. Mike Teng - Contest Chair for Humour Speech
2. Masdiana Ooi - Contest Chair for Evaluation
3. Betty Toh - SAA, Ballot Counter and bringing the most Guests
4. Levine Lee - SAA (she came though just for while to fly to China)
5. Mohamad Abdullah - the OC

Hope I have not missed out any names, if not please give me a call.

Who wins? I guess everybody. The spirit of participation was there and I was surprised at some of the speakers with their brand of humour - something we do not see at regular meetings. Jeffrey was the target of most speakers with his impending wedding.

For the evaluation, we had a record number of contestants. Magnificent Seven took part and they all find it difficult to evaluate an experienced and romantic speaker like Ahmad Zakie. Luckily I was not there as I too would be stumped by his delivery and carried away with his vocubalary. Certainly he brought in sweet memories for all of us; yes our memories of our 1st Love.

To all our Guests, I like to say Welcome, do come back. Remind your host to bring you back on 28 August 2007. To our visiting Toastmasters who came to help us, 1M Thank you. You too are always welcome to our club. To all of you on behalf of the club I must apologise for the shortage of food - we did not anticipate the number. Good problems but I am sure the guests had enough as our members sacrificed their share.

Oh, yes I forgot to announce the winners - guess who? Patient lah I am trying to figure it out and even had to call the Contest Chair Masdiana to confirm it and they are.....drum roll please;;;;;;;;

Humour Speech - Champion is Leong Kok Wah (you do not want to know his speech title)
- The runner up is his Introducer, Driver and Matchmaker Adam Fung

Evaluation - Champion goes to veteran Anna Hue with her Mama style
- 1st Runner up is Adam Fung
- 2nd Runner up is Jeffrey Lee

Hope I have listed it correctly but if not please don't sue me.

Friday, August 03, 2007

COTS Report from DVG

For the benefit of members I am pleased to attachd the report from the DVG Azmi Shahrin which was despatched to our President almost instantly after the Session.

This message is sent to all Club Presidents in Division W

Dear Club President,

Toastmasters Leadership Institute Club Officers Training Round 1 Attendance

I am pleased to report that the Toastmasters Leadership Institute Club Officers Training Round 1 held on 28/07/07 was a great success with 23/29 clubs meeting the minimum 4 club officers target. I would like to congratulate these clubs for achieving the ½ DCP goal for Club Officer Training – SYABAS! I would be very grateful if you could please verify the accuracy of the attendance report.

Club Name Pres VPE VPM VPPR Sec Treas SAA Total
W1 Kuala Lumpur Advanced Toastmasters Club x x x x 4
W1 MIA Toastmasters Club x x x x x x 6
W1 Money Mastery-KL Toastmasters Club x x x x x 5
W1 Bangsar Club x x x x 4
W1 KPMG -KL x x x x x 5
W2 Ernst & Young's Toastmasters Club x x x x x x 6
W2 UEM Academy Club x x x x 4
W2 HELP University College Club x x x x x 5
W2 Hasil Toastmasters Club x x x 3
W2 EXACT ADC 1 Toastmasters Club x x x x 4
W3 K L Sentral Club x x x 3
W3 Speakers' Dream Toastmasters x x x x x 5
W3 UEM Group Club x x 2
W3 Malaysian Insurance Institute Club x x x x x x x 7
W3 Sai Masters Toastmasters Club x x x x 4
W4 Speecom Toastmasters Club x x x 3
W4 Money & You-Kuala Lumpur TMC x x x x x 5
W4 TTDI Toastmasters Club x x x x 4
W4 WIM Toastmasters Club x x x x 4
W5 Maicsa Toastmasters Club x x x x x x x 7
W5 Mid Valley Club x x x x 4
W5 Securities Commission Toastmasters Club x x x x 4
W5 DHL KL Toastmasters Club 0
W5 Tm Int Club of University Malaya x x x x 4
W6 Kelab Pidato Perdana Toastmasters Club x x x x x 5
W6 Friendship Club x x x x x x 6
W6 Great Eastern Toastmasters Club x x x x 4
W6 HP Malaysia Toastmasters Club x x x x x 5
W6 HSBC KL Toastmasters Club x 1

I would also like to record that MAICSA and MII had all 7 Club Officers trained. This is an exemplary conduct of leadership demonstrated by their Presidents Alice Liu (MAICSA) and Sherine Lim (MII) – Well Done!

The Division may conduct another TLI Club Officers Training in August for the benefit of club officers who were unable to attend the earlier training. We will announce the details once confirmed.

Thank you for your attendance and I hope that you are now ready to lead your club to minimum Distinguished Club status by 1 April 2008.

Warm Regards,
Azmi Shahrin, DTM
Division W Governor 2007/2008
Member of Kelab Pidato Perdana (654898) and Extol (4934)
azmishahrin@gmail.com / 012-9198557

2007/2008 COTs Round #1

The Club Officers Training Round #1 for Division P and W was held on Saturday 28 July 2007 at the Help Institute at Jalan Dungun, KL. More than 200 Toastmasters were there and I was glad that MII and Maisca was highlighted as the clubs with 100% of its Club Officers present. Thank you Sherine, Leong, Joyce, Ho, Levine, Monsiuer and Mohamad. With this perfect attendance our Club was Awarded a Manual from TI. Check it out with President Sherine. In addition to this we have also ou PP Mike Teng there as one of the organiser. FYI he is now the Assistant Division Governor for Division P. Congratulation Mike.

For the benefit of the members, it is a requirement for Club Officers to attend two trainings and in our District the training must be conducted by the Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI) from the District. With a minimum of 4 Club Officers attending the COTS the club will earn half a point.

The format of the Session is the same as last year when it first started with some basic common talk by some prominent Toastmasters and some mandatory talk for the Club officers. Actually, members of the club can also attend such session but I understand you may have to pay to attend. The training starts t 2pm and ends about 6.30 pm with a lucky draw where the winners have to pay RM100 to get the benefit.

If I may offer my view of the TLI, I must say that the concept is excellent but having two Divisions have defeated the purpose of the training. Here TI wants every member to be trained not only as participant but also as trainers. I am sure there are many capable trainers in the respective Division that provide the training. There is no necessity to borrow from other Divisions or combine the Divisions for economy of scale. TLI should also train more trainers so that the pool of trainers will multiply and Toastmasters will grow.

The second issue is about the quality of the training. I have observed that the contents are so basic that some trainers decided to put them aside and share their experience. To me we go there to learn how to be effective Club Officers but I felt cheated that we got more confused than learn new things.

Anyway, it is the learning process for the organisers and I hope they will learn and make some progress for the next training. Don't just organise it for club to earn the half point but seriously to impart to the club officers the skills and knowledge to carry out their job more FREE (Fun, Relevant, Efficient and Effective).

I guess, MII Exco need to really sit down and find ways to make our Exco FREE otherwise people get burnt out and disappointed with the organisation.

Members if you are reading this please understand that the Exco is there to serve and they too need to be served. You have to help them in order for them to help you so in the end all of us will have fun in the club and cherish this time we are together in Toastmasters.

If you have comments please share it.

Mohamad Abdullah

Friday, July 27, 2007

Installation NIght Meeting 24 July 2007

The photographs has not come in yet but I guess it will be soon. Thanks in advance goes to Ho for taking the photos.

The Installation night went as planned with Installing Officer coming from the District our Past District Governor Low Yat Seow, DTM and currently the Parliamentarian of the District. He conducted the Installation with perfection and all our Exco members were present, though Monsiuer came in just in time to be installed.

The new Exco installed were: President - Sherine Lime, VPE - Leong Kok Wah, VPM - Joyce Chung, VPPR - Ho, Treasurer - Levine Lee, SAA - Monsiuer Tilaka and yours truly as Secretary. President will find her lap very heavy this time with me on it.

The Meeting starts differently this time with the SAA handing the control to the TME who starts the evening with precision. IPP or Outgoing Presient makes his speech and also gave all the outgoing officers a gift. He even gave the two Founders who did nothing something to remember him by. You know who they are right?

The ASAA for the night was Yip Sau, the TME specially selected by the President is PP Anna Hue, Games Master goes to the ever young PP Mike Teng, TTM to the humourous guy Adam Fung, Grammarian to our Globe Trotter Philip Wong and Closing Ode doen by PP Masdiana. The other roles were assigned to our visitors and they were Mok Soo Pon ATMB, CL as General Evaluator, Meyya ACS as TTE, Tony Lin as Ah Counter. We have also another visiting TM our Past Area Governor Koh Teck Lee giving support to our GE.

During the night there was prize galore with almost everyone taking home something. Sorry for the few who misses out. The Exco got a T shirt and they must put them on at the COTs on Saturday, the Roles players were recognised and given a gift too and so is our IO.

Food was extra special and so difficult to get people to come back to their seat as they all trying to do justice to the food and caterer.

The theme for the evening was Changing of guards and our Table Topic Master did conduct the TT Session around the theme - whilst the word of the day appropriately worded REVITALIZE.

The winners for the night were: Best Role Play goes to Anna without the King, Most Friendly goes to our young man who never grow up Mike Teng and the Best Table Topic Speaker goes to Azmi Sharin our Division Governor. Hope I got it all correct. Oops Toastmaster cannot apologise mah.

Got to go back for dinner and hope to catch up with the rest of the Exco at the Club Officers traing at the Help Institute - Division double U Cots at Help!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

District 51 became Top 6 in the World

Dear Club and District Officers,

"Our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to purse them." - Walt Disney

YES. Last night I received a call from our International President, DTM Johnny Uy, informing us that our District achieved President's Distinguished District status (accorded to the top 6 Districts in the world).

This morning, it is official. This achievement is not only for the District but for each and everyone of you!
Every drop of sweat has created an ocean of success.
It's Simply Amazing! ... so are YOU!

Much of the effort to necessary to turn our dreams into reality lies within us as individuals. Our dreams won't come true without our personal commitment and dedication to excellence. However turning our dreams into reality requires the assistance of others.

The District's success begins at the club level, followed by the Areas and Divisions.
And this is possible b'cos all of you have given your best in serving as either our Club President or being part of the club Executive Committee, Area Governor, Division and respective councils, appointed and elected District Officers. And of course our Past District Governors for lighting the path ahead.

For the record, we achieved :

CLUBS : 46- Distinguished Status, 38- Select Distinguished Status and 71- President's Distinguished Status.
AREAS : 17- Distinguished Status, 10 - Select Distinguished Status and 24 - President's Distinguished Status.
DIVISIONS : 12 - President's Distinguished Status.

... what an Amazing feat ... we cannot ask for more!

CONGRATULATIONS and THANK YOU for your remarkable performance.

As we SOAR to a new beginning, let's continue to give our best in Shaping Our Aspirations and Results to ensure that every club is Distinguished or better ... IT'S POSSIBLE because we are TOASTMASTERS:SIMPLY AMAZING!

With gratitude from all of us,

Message from our Immediate Past District Governor Siva

Message from PP Philip from Kuching


President Sherine, DTM Bro. Mohd and all,
Greetings!
Thank you for the update. I am deeply impressed and inspired by the toastmii.blogspot.com. Bro. you really did wonder for the club and I salute you for it. I came back last night from my trip to Tawau and KK and also Kuching. If any of you have not been to KK(Kota Kinabalu), plse do so. It is a fantastic city and it is not that expensive esp. if you fly airasia and do not stay in 4 or 5 stars hotel. Looking forward to see all at the next meeting. All the best Philip Wong p/s:For Kaki who have not visited our blog(toastmii.blogspot.com), plse do so. You will be in for a BIG BIG surprise.
p.p/s: Mdm President, plse advice how if I want to reply or comment on the blog.thks

Philip Wong



For the information of our members PP Philip Wong is a regular writer to Newspapers and magazines for his articles on Travels. He travels the world over and publish good reports. Recently, I also notice that this PP also writes in the Star giving his comments on social issues. Well done Bro, please share some of your thoughts with us in this Blog. Mohamad

1,000 Aplogies to Adam

It has been pointed out by Sherine and Leong that the Best Assignment Speaker for the meeting on 10 July is Adam and not Leong. 1k apologies to Adam.

If there is anyone out there who likes to make the report of future meetings or any event or to post anything in our Blog, please do not be shy. Just send them to me and I will post it provided it meets with the Rules set out by the blogger, that is me. I promise you that the rule is very simple, 'don't hurt anyone'.

Please, oh please help me and lighten my burden and get your name and even your pictue published for the world to see.

Wednesday, July 11, 2007

Meeting Report #1 Yr 07/08 - 10 July 2007

I am happy to report that the meeting yesterday went better than I expected. We had 1 guest (Danny) 1 visiting member (Past DVG Lee Swee Seng) and 11 members present and the meeting went well and I thank all present for making it an evening well spent.

Top the list was our Brand New President Sherine Lim with her first Presidential Address that surprised even me. Never in my 27 years in Toasmasters have I heard a President that addressed the meeting with so much commitment and enthusiasm. On top of it all I was also pleasantly surprised with her speech that touches on the theme of the meeting "ALTRUISM". I really salute her for her research on this word. It brought a new meaning to this word - passion to see the club succeed. I should not also forget to mention that President Sherine was fair in complimenting FC Ho our VPPR for his master piece, the Voting Slips, the only one in the world, with water mark and perforation, very user friendly. It is copy righted by MII and we can supply you at a price to be agreed.

Yours truly is the TME and so, you will not expect me to write anything bad about myself so I shall not say anything at all except that I want to thank the VPE Leong for inviting him to be one.

Another surprise which attracted the GE Lee Swee Seng was our Invocation Presenter Masdiana Ooi. She took pain to research on the theme and ensure that the Incovation was just perfect. Hope future IP can emulate her example but if not able to, just ask her to help.

Next came PAG Mike Teng conducting the Table Topis session. He too did his home work and work along the theme. Most surprisingly was he kept to his time and got lots of participants. Great work MT. His team member is the Foo Chow President from France Monsiuer Tilaka. He almost instantly came up after Mike Session to give his Evaluation with accuracy and clarity.

Humour came from our Foo Chow President from Germany S Tilman. He left us with the women of the 21 century. As usual after Humour Session we break for Dinner which was fantastic - much to the satisfaction of everyone even the most critical one.

Two Knights in shining armour came to deliver their speeches but our Raja T just could not be present due to some urgent business. We miss you Raja. Don't worry, we understand.

First to speak was Leong on the 3 Wise Toastmasters. Never knew that he really did lots of homework and memory work to come out with such an inspiring speech. He can recall what a member spoke a year ago and relate it to us. He gave a tribute to our Imm Past VPE Sherine for keeping the fort firm last year and our PAG Mike Teng our PP for his leadership and guidance. Syabas you guys.

The second speaker is a candid person so humourous and made us learn the simple thing about making conversation with strangers. Adam prefers the same kind, especially those from Korea. He told us that he took his official Airline, Air Asia and go for 1st class by paying a little more but given a lead time to find his seat before 150 others chase him. You should be there to enjoy his brand of humour.

The meeting was then handed to the General Evaluator our Past DVG. He is a great guy, good voice, very careful with his words (well he is a lawyer), good observation and had all praises for the club. He kept repeating that he likes our two additional awards, the Best Role Player and Most Friendly Person. Well too much of good things may make our head swell and so I limit it ok?

The Evaluator for Leong Speech was PP Masdiana and Adam was Tilman, whilst IPP Jeffrey handles the Grammarian role with lots of members using the words Altruism, Altruistic. FC Ho handles the Aah Countant and Mike our time machine whilst Jeffrey double up as the PP who handles the Closing Ode.

The Winners for the evening went to 5 Super Achievers;
.Best Table Topics Speaker - Past DVG Lee Swee Seng ATMS, CL
.Best Assignment Speaker - Leong Kok Wah, our new CC
.Best Speech Evaluator - Tilman Shroedder, CTM
.Best Role Player - PAG Mike Teng, ATMS, CL
.Most Friendly Person - President Sherine Lim, CTM

Those Present were:

Danny (Guest of HO), Past DVG Lee Swee Seng (club guest), Betty, Leong, Sherine, Masdiana, Mike, Monsieur, Tilman, Adam, Ho, Jeffrey and Mohamad (members).

Sorry guys, I was so fascinated by the presentation of the various members that I forgot that I have charged my battery to snap pictures of the meeting for this report. I took a few but somehow deleted all my other shorts only one left. Sorry folks only one photo of President and Mike Teng. The rest cheer up and see your photos later.

Sunday, July 08, 2007

Meeting Report For 24th April 2007

Our club has been moving forward at an encouraging pace and it is time that we " Look Back " and reflect on our progress before we make the next push forward.

Therefore, " Looking Back " was the theme of the evening chosen by one of the founder's of our illustrious club - Masdiana Ooi Abdullah, CTM, CL.

President Jeffrey Lee, CTM started the meeting with a call for members to express what are some of the things that members wanted to change about their past.

TME Masdiana Ooi Abdullah, CTM, CL proceeded with the meeting by urging members to sit and think about our past and ponder what are the improvements that we can do to further improve our club and ourselves.

Dr Gan Eng Meng, TM gave a detailed motivational invocation session on what we must do to advance ourselves with whatever remaining time we have left.

The Table Topics Session was conducted by Ho Fook Chuan, TM who also donated a set of very well designed Table Topics cue cards for our club and this was followed by Monsieur Tilaka, CC who during the Table Topics Evaluation session touched on each
members speech characteristics. Jeffrey Lee, Mr. Muaz, Dr Gan Eng Meng, Adam Fung, Tilman Schroeder and Sium Keow were the Table Topics Session participants.

Rajasingam, TM gave us his personal body language interpretation of kungfu master Jacky Chan during his Humor session and most members felt he did a great job at all the kung-fu movements.

The Assignment speakers for the evening were :-

1) Mohamad Abdullah, DTM who touched on his opinion of the state of our country
right now.

2) Sam Wei Yeow, CTM , CL , from MIM-TMC was the guest speaker in our club and his
speech project required him to present a confrontational speech which he duly
delivered and received a fiery Q & A session from all members.

3) This was followed by our Area Governor, Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL who enlightened us
with his side of the interviewer/interviewee equation.


We were glad to be able to invite the incoming Area Governor for Area W3 – Mr Lim Hin Chong, ATM-S of Spaekers Dream TMC to be our General Evaluator for the evening and he was assisted by the following role players :-

a) Grammarian - Levine Lee, TM
b) Timer - Betty Toh, CTM , CL
c) Ah Counter - Sherine Lim, CTM

The awards for the evening goes to :-

a) Best Table Topics Speaker – Muaz ( Guest )
b) Best Assignment Speaker - Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL
c) Most Friendly Person - Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL
d) Best Evaluator - Anna Hue , ATM-S, CL
e) Best Role Player - Masdiana Ooi Abdullah, CTM, CL

The meeting ended on a high note with the incoming Area W3 Governor – Mr Lim Hin Chong, ATM-S, sharing with us some of the incoming developments in Area W3.

And this evening, we have three guests who were Ms Karen & Mr Muaz, invited by Monsieur Tilaka, CC and Ms Sium Keow, guest of Mas Diana Ooi Abdullah, CTM, CL.

Meeting Report - 22nd May 2007

The theme for the meeting was " UNITED ".
President Jeffrey Lee, CTM started the meeting by requesting all those present at the meeting to introduce themselves and also to urge all present to invoke the spirit of unity in MII-TMC.

The TME for the evening was Levine Lee, TM and although this was the first time she was the TME, Levine Lee, TM conducted the meeting like a seasoned Toastmaster which just goes to prove that practice makes perfect.

The Invocation presenter was Leong Kok Wah, TM who shared with us his very inspirational feelings of his first "anniversary" in this club. For members information, Adam Fung, CTM, CL brought Leong Kok Wah, TM to this club as a guest for the first time on 23/5/2006.

The Table-Topics Master was Dr Gan Eng Meng, TM who was also conducting this Table Topics Session for the first time and she conducted the session smoothly. The members who supported the Table Topics Session were : -

1. Jeffrey Lee, CTM
2. Masdiana Ooi Abdullah, CTM , CL
3. Danniel Lim, CC
4. Philip Wong, CTM, CL
5. Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL

Monsieur Tilaka, CC followed up with a brief Evaluation of the Table Topics speakers.

PP Philip Wong, CTM, CL followed up by tickling all of us during the Humor session especially his joke about the ex-hearse driver.

The assignment speakers for the evening were :-

1) Jeffrey Lee, CTM who opened his speech with humor and then proceeded to give us
his views on why relationships are important in our daily lives.

2) PP and Area Governor Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL followed up with his very challenging
speech of the other side of " midnight ". He was preparing himself for life
after Area Governor by "moonlighting" as a Male Escort and why society should
portray them in a better light.

3) The G.E. Danniel Lim, CC also came up with a witty speech on why we all need a
shoulder to cry on.

The General Evaluator for the evening was Danniel Lim, CC from Money & You Toastmasters Club and the other role players for the evening were as follows :-

a) Evaluator No:1 - Janice Ooi CTM, CL
b) Evaluator No:2 - Masdiana Ooi Abdullah, CTM, CL
c) Evaluator No:3 - Larry Toh, CTM, CL
d) Grammarian - Monsieur Tilaka, CC
e) Timer - Leong Kok Wah, TM
f) Ah Counter - Sherine Lim, CTM
g) ASAA - Leong Kok Wah, TM

Awards for the evening were :-

1) Best Table Topics Speaker - Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL
2) Best Role Player - Levine Lee, TM
3) Best Assignment Speaker - Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL
4) Best Evaluator - Masdiana Ooi Abdullah, CTM, CL
5) Most Friendly Person - Mike Teng, ATM-S, CL

PP Philip Wong, CTM, CL sponsored 5 gifts from Spain & Portugal for the above 5 awards winners and he closed the meeting on a high by highlighting the 5 critical success factors which we should all observe in life :-

1) To be kind to people
2) To be honest with ourselves
3) Do not live beyond our means
4) Have faith in ourselves
5) Always remember that learning is a continuous process.


Thank you.

Wednesday, June 27, 2007

The Ten Cannots

1. You cannot bring about prosperity by discouraging thrift.
2. You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong.
3. You cannot help small men up by tearing down big men.
4. You cannot help the poor by destroying the rich.
5. You cannot life the wage earner up by pulling the wage payer down.
6. You cannot keep out of trouble by spending more than your income.
7. You cannot further the brotherhood of man by inciting class hatred.
8. You cannot establish sound social secrutity on borrowed money.
9. You cannot build character and courage by taking away a man's initiative and independnce.
10. You cannot help men permanently by doing for them what they could and should do thr themselves.

by William J H Boetcke, "The Industrial Decalogue"

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

A True Friend

A true friend never walks away
A true friend will always stay
A true friend looks out for you
A true friend will always be true.

A true friend will guard your secrets
Like a precious gift
A true friend is there for you
To give you a helpful lift.

A true friend tries to make you smile
Tries to replace that frown
They may not always succeed
But they rarely let you down.

These arms for you are open
this heart for you does care
And when I think you need me
I'll try to always be there

I'll listen to your fears
I promise not to laugh
Comfort your falling tears
I'll make this friendship last.

I'll keep you near to my heart
I'll always hold you dear
Even when we're miles apart
Even when you're here.

I hope I am to you
Everything you are to me too
For the frindship we have
Is a special one indeed.

By Ashley Montgomery

Invocation

What is really the meaning of Invocation? The dictionary merely say it is an 'appeal to the higher power for assistance'. This is done usually at the opening of a religious service. However, in Toastmaster we use the Invocation as a session to inspire and motivate our members whilst at the same time give a small role to our newer members to go out and deliver.

I notice lately that most Invocation Presenter (IP) did not prepare their message and go up to depress the members rather than to inspire them. To assist our member to prepare for future IP role I would suggest that the VPE ask them to visit the blog and download some of the poems that I have prepared to be used as a invocation.

For a new member who is still learning the rope, I would suggest that they just read the message with little introduction and a brief closing. Dont take too much time as you are given not more than 2 minues.

If the IP can blend it with the Theme of the meeting, I believe it would further enhance the quality of the meeting.

People, please do not deviate from our main objective of having the Invocation. Let us stick to this. Just read a motivational poem and don't try to tell us somelthing which I am sorry to say you cannot do effectively in two minutes.

Meeting 26 June 2007

This is the last meeting for the Toastmasters year 2006/07 and we had a jolly good meeting.

The meeting started with Shirene handling the President's role and got everyone to introduce themselves and this time she ask us to tell us of our Commitment. The theme for the evening was Commitment to Excellence and the word of the day was AWAKE.

The Invocation Presenter was Monsieur who gave us his experience of reducing his weight and Philip conducted the Table Topics Session with the theme "If you were..." I felt the hardest was given to Monsiuer telling us What is he is a Durian, what he would tell his other fruit friends? The session went on well with 7 partipants. The TTE was Thilo and he gave some good comments and some sound recommendations. The Best TT speaker was Mohamad speaking if he was the PM.

Humour master for the evning was Levine. She tried but I guess, she needs a little more exposure to be a better HM.

During dinner, it was the first time I notice that the food almost cleaned up as it was delicious and well blanded. Thanks to Leong for making the arrangement.

There were three Assignment Speakers, Dr Gan on "Understanding the Big C", Leong on a controversial subject lke "War + Democracy" whilst Adam gave us is "Business Plan" as his Keynote Address. Respectively their evaluators were, Tillman, Monsieur and Masdiana. Tillman was voted the best Evaluator whilst Dr Gan got the Best Speaker Award.

The GE for the night is Freddy the President of Friendship. He gave a good impactful evaluation and a round of commendations for the club. The closing Ode was done by Thilo giving a tribute to the Outgoing EXco.

The Best Role player went to Raja the TME and the most Friendly goes to Shirene. Immediately after the meeting we have a birthday celebration for Shirene and Monsieur. Good cake supplied by someone who did not identify himself.

Attendance for the evening:
1. Shirene as Ag President
2. Rajasingam as TME
3. Anna Hue as ASAA and Timer
4. Philip as TTM
5. Thilo as TTE and closing Ode
6. Freddy as GE
7. Mohamad as Grammarian
8. Dr Gan as Aahcountant & Speaker
9. Leong as Speaker
10. Adam as Speaker
11. Tilman as Evaluator
12. Monsieur as Invo Presenter and Evaluator
13. Levine as HM
14. Masdiana as Evaluator
15. Meera as Guest
16. Anna's Guest * 2
17. Shirene Guest

Retreat







From a recent survey of the members in MII TMC I notice that only two persons who regularly reads the blog whilst the rest seemed not really have the time to make the visit or just do not know how. Poor thing. What have been written did not reach it intended audience. Nevertheless, I shall pursue and continue to write as I see it and Hopefully one day, more will visit this site and read and someone will volunteer to write their thoughts in too.

Yes 23 of us, members, family and guests went to Titi Eco farm in Negri Sembilan on 2 and 3 of June this year. Thank must go to Shirene, Leong, Ho, Joyce and Levine for their dedication and commitment to te club.

We had a unique experience of a 'holiday' and also a retreat for our members. Those who could not come gave gifts and supported in spirit.

As for me it was an experience as members of MII TMC gathers and talk and discuss club affairs and at the same time building better rapport with one another.

The food given was healthy food but being Malaysians we are not happy with healthy food we want junk food. We were given some advice on healthy eating habits and am glad my children learn something from someone who are not their parents.

My conclusion is that we shoul have such outings regularly to build our relationship to be a more cohesive and bonded.

Friday, May 11, 2007

Future to Future

In the future moments will come when one person says to another, "That was great!"

We never know what the future holds in store for us in it's infinite wisdom - but surely you and I know of it's impending arrival.

Some believe the future holds great times ahead, some believe in a bleak fate and still others believe unborn moments hold a catastrophic end.

Me, like to think that maybe, just maybe, it will all happen at the same instance - I mean some things will be great, some bleak some beginnings and some endings.

"Great" things will only happen in the future, because of now, and that's tough enough to decipher - so I will plead, now, and leave the future to the future.

Stan Pelfrey

Meeting on 8 May 2007

Our meeting has been constantly been at a high gear now that I believe people are taking it for granted that it is should be that way. I like to thank our TME Mike Teng who inspite of his heavy duties got everything done before the meeting. One thing I like about this AG of ours is that he sends SMS just before the meeting to remind us to pack up and prepare our journey for the meeting. I salute you AG Mike Teng.

As usual we started on time and we ended up on time. First timer ASAA Dr Gan starts the meeting and surrendered the rostrum to our President Jeff who starts the session with announcement and introduction. Promptly he passed the control of the meeting to our TME who within time managed to do all he had to do and call on the Invo Presenter Mohamad. A copy of the Invocation will be published for those who are interested in such things.

The theme for the meeting was "Looking Ahead" after we look back at the last meeting; and the word for the day is PONDER. All the role players listed in the program were present but Betty.

PP Masdiana starts the Table topics session based on the theme and easily got 8 speakers participated with the best Speaker Awarded to President Jeff. The Evaluator was another PP Philip Wong a Globe Trotter who finds time to be with us. As usual he and his friendly style gave some suggestions to the participants. Our Humour master was Raja who related his personal humourous encounter and also another dedicated member who always prepare for his session.

The assignment speakers were Leong Kok Wah on "Beware The Interviewer", Dr Gan on "The End is Just the Beginning" and Mohamad on "XpectZero". Briefly, Leong trying to warn the ladies to be careful of the Interviewer, whilst Dr Gan is singing Frank Sinatra song I did it my way based on her impending retirement and of her new venture. Mohamad told us Expect the unexpected and be happy. The Best Speaker award goes to Mohamad.

Our imported GE is from Friendship James Arokiasamy ATMS CL and the speech evaluators were Adam for Leong, PP Thilo for Dr Gan and Pres Jeff for Mohamad. The Best Evaluator goes to Pres Jeff.

The other Awards went to Mike for Most Friendly and Best Role Player. He has been getting too much of this and we should not bore him with more next time. PP Thilo did the Closing Ode and Ho who appeared during the break but disappeared during the meeting was supposed to brief us on the Installation Night.

Issues seriously discussed during the meeting was about our Installation Night. After a few suggestions it was agreed that we will have a unique Installation on 2 and 3 June 2007 to be held at an Organic Farm in Negri 9, sorry I did not get the full name of the place. The program laid out was great and the Committee will look into the program for Children and other non TM who are attending the outing.

I think it is a wonderful idea generated by the Committee and we all should support it. Our contribution as a member is not more than RM150 per pax and a beautiful T Shirt will be given to each member present. Great fun and fellowship will be organised and I am sure looking forward to have a good weekend with our friends from MII and lots of prizes too. For more info call HSL - Ho Sherine Leong.

That is all folks and our next meeting will be on 22 May 2007, same time and place. Get involved it is Simply Amazing.

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

Meeting Report 24 April 2007

This report is under construction. Still locating my notes.

Meeting Report - 10 April 2007

To all those who religiously come and visit this blog I must apologise for the delay in producing this report. A billion apologies as time is not with me and I was under the weather for a while.

Briefly, the meeting was well conducted with the President doing his routine. He then pass the control of the meeting to our PP Philip Wong who conducted the meeting like a professional. The Invocation Presenter was Raja, and yours truly was the Table Topics Master. I worked on the theme for the meeting "Change". The Evaluator for this session was PAG Janice. To Humour us for the evening was everready Richard.

The Assingment speakers were Dr Gan Eng Meng #1 (C&L)and Levine #8 (C&L). Dr Gan tell us about herself and I am still waiting for her biodata to be posted on the net. Levine on the other hand told us about Radio frequency Identification (RFID) a new defice to tag items.

Masdiana was invited to give a talk to the members and she was focusing only on the Invocation and Table Topics. Basically she told us the history and recommends that future Invocation Presenter just read a motivational poem or quotation and not to give their own views on things as this amy be controversial and become negative. She even suggested that such Poem be printed on the Certificate of Awards to give value to it.

On the Table topics Master, she suggested the following:

1. Invite the non-role player
2. Prepare 10 Questions and depending on the time allow at least 8 topics.
3. Speakers can be at their seat to save time so that more members and guests will be given a chance to speak.
4. Brief the audience on the purpose and timing before commencing with the session.
5. Topics must be "crisp", "short" and "specific". Don't throw closed question
6. Be sensitive to guests need. Get them to speak if possible but check with them first.

The other role players for the meeting were: SAA: the backroom lady Sherine, the Evaluators for the speeches were: Guest Daniel Teh, Guest Charlie Foong, GrandMa, is Leong Kok Wah, Rolex Watch, Ho Fook Chuan, Ahcountant Monsieur and our General Evaluator was imported from Extol DTM Patricia Tan. The closing Ode was done by me.

Awards for the night went to:

Best Table Topics Speaker: Daniel Teh
Best Role Player: Leong Kok Wah as Grammarian who also gave away some prizes to Daniel Teh, Dr Gan and DTM Mohamad
Most Friendly Person : Adam Fung

Friday, March 30, 2007

Report on the Passionate Meeting 27 Mar 2007

I hope those present at the meeting would agree with me that we managed to have another great meeting on 27 Mar 2007. 17 regular members and 7 guests (including one potential member) attended the meeting and went home happy.

President Jeffrey was there to start the meeting with a round of introduction and the TME was another J; Joyce Chung. She prepared herself well and made sure that she got all the sequences perfect. I commend her for her dedication to duties. The word of the day was, "EXUBERENT".

For invocation we got a visiting TM Hanson Lye and he told us about another angle of the "Hare and Tortoise" fable. He said "don't compete with someone who is of no match to you."

Next came the Table Topic Session conducted by the ever popular AG Mike Teng and he focused on "Passion". He gave us challenging topics on the subject and surprisingly even our guest Siew Foong could respond well. Table topics speakers were Tillman, Masdiana, Hanson, Jeffrey, Siew Foong, Roger McGowan and Sam Wei Yeow. The audience gave the Award for the Best TTS to Roger McGowan. The Evaluator for this meeting was our ever hardworking SAA Leong Kok Wah.

The Humour Master for the evening was our new cub at the block another Leong. With his powerful voice he told us of South Africa joke and end up with the members guesssing what happened.

Dinner was as usual, though our guests felt it was great. I guess the members took it for granted. Even those who goes to KLGCC for their meeting don't get our kind of food huh?

There were four Assignment speakers with Levine Lee taking the lead speaking to us about "Plastic Surgery is Increasing". She said, "Even men are now concerned about their looks and goes for plastic surgery." TheN Mohamad tells us to saves lives by giving some statistics as to how many lives were lost. He suggested, "If there is no enforcement, let's scrap the law." Third speaker was J OO1, James Bond sister, Janice Ooi and he report on the High Performance Project. To end the sussion, DTM Tang Sum Chee gave us a briefing on "A Guide to the new Competent Leader".

The Evaluation session was led by the GE imported from Maisa, another J, Jessica Liew. The Evaluators for the Assignment Speakers were Sam Wei Yeow (Visiting TM) evaluating Levine and our PP Anna Hue for Mohamad. DTM Tang gave his evaluation of J 001 privately as it may be 'explosive'. The Grammarian was Roger McGowan, the Aah Counter went to Tillman and the Timer or the Rolex man Rich ard Tan. All of them gave their best and the crowd voted for Roger McGowan to be the Best Role Player for the evening.

Evaluation of the GE were very encouraging. She seemed surprise that our TTE is able to deliver the Evaluation immediately after the TTS. Food and room arrangements with the clock, whyte board, "Word of the Day", Guests names, Next Meeting Role display she gave us a good rating. She was even happy to copy our special awards, Best Role Player and also the Most Friendly Person. One of the positive comments she made was MII starts on time and ends on time. Keep it up MII TMC!

The other Award winners were Best Assignment Speaker to Mohamad, Most Friendly person goes to the ever smiling AG Mike Teng and the Best Evaluator Award was not given as there were only two Evaluators.

This meeting it was a special meeting as we introduce the "Closing Ode" done by Masdiana. She got the guests to share their views and also gave Siew Foong some assurances after our DTM Tang scares them about the heavy list of Assignments to be done. At the same time she also took the opportunity to remind the members that they ought to understand their own objectives of joining the organisation. "Just pursue what you want from TM" she said.

Our guest Rohijas from Pidato Perdana also made some commercial about his club and spoke in English as well as in Malay to get members to join them at at the same time help him conduct a survey.

The meeting ended well with every one had their share of speaking except our VPE She rine, Ho, Betty and Monsieur.

Look forward to the next meeting on 10 April 2007 where our GE will be DTM Patricia Tan from Extol TMC.

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Evaluation Guides

Every member of the Toastmasters must undergo the Basic Communication and Leadership Manual which is given free when they pay their subscription. In this Manual there are 10 Projects and the member has to attempt one at a time.

The Evaluation Guides which has been reproduced here was the work of our current VPE Sherine Lim. She must have taken lots of her precious time to complete this exercise.

Our Objective of publishing this Guides are merely for the Evaluators who may no longer have their C&L Manual with them to read the objectives of the Evaluation. In this way Evaluators will be able to focus on their evaluation better.

Thanks again to Sherine for the wonderful efforts.

#10 Evaluation Guide for Inspire Your Audience

Title

Evaluator Date

NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to inspire the audience to improve personally, emotionally, professionally or spiritually, relying heavily on emotional appeal. The speech should appeal to noble motives and challenge the audience to achieve a higher level of beliefs or achievement. The speaker is to use the skills learned in previous projects and not use notes. In additional to your verbal evaluation, please complete this evaluation form by checking the appropriate column for each item. Add comments for those items where special praise is warranted, or where you can offer specific suggestions for improvement.


COULD COMMENTS /
EXCELLENT SATISFACTORY IMPROVE SUGGESTIONS


· Was the speech topic relevant to the
occasion selected? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker understand and express
the feelings and needs of the audience? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Was the speaker forceful, confident
and positive? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker effectively use stories,
anecdotes and / or quotes to help convey
his or her message? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker’s words convey strong,
vivid mental image? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker’s use of body language
enhance his or her message? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speech uplift the audience and
motivate them as the speaker intended? ___________ ___________ ___________



· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?



· What did you like about the speech?

#9 Evaluation Guide for Persuade with Power

Title

Evaluator Date


NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to present a persuasive speech that combines logical support for his / her viewpoint with a strong emotional appeal. The speech should focus on the self-interest of the audience. The speaker also has been asked to avoid using notes, if possible. In addition to your oral evaluation, please complete this evaluation form by checking the appropriate column for each item. Add your comments only for those items where special praise is warranted, or where you can offer specific suggestions for improvement.


COULD COMMENTS /
EXCELLENT SATISFACTORY IMPROVE SUGGESTIONS

· Did the speaker project sincerity
and conviction? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Was the speaker a credible source of
information about this topic? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker phrase his / her appeal
in terms of the audience’s self-interest? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speech opening capture the
audience’s interest? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker use facts and logical
reasoning to support his or her views? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker properly use emotion to
persuade the audience to support his or
her views? ___________ ___________ ___________


· Was the speech organization effective? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker’s body language and
vocal variety contribute to the message? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Were you persuaded to accept the
speaker’s views? ___________ ___________ ___________


· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?



· What did you like about the speech?

#8 Evaluation Guide for Get Comfortable with Visual Aids

Title

Evaluator Date

NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to present a speech that uses two or more visual aids. The visual aids selected must be appropriate for the message and audience, and be displayed correctly with ease and confidence. The speaker is to incorporate what he or she has learned in previous projects about purpose, organization, word usage, body language and vocal variety. The speaker also is to use appropriate suggestions from the evaluations received and thoroughly research the subject. Please complete this evaluation form by checking the appropriate column for each item. Add comments for items where special praise is warranted or where you can offer specific suggestions for improvement.

COULD COMMENTS /
EXCELLENT SATISFACTORY IMPROVE SUGGESTIONS


· Were the visual aids appropriate for
the speech and message? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did each visual aid help you to understand
and remember the speaker’s point? ___________ ___________ ___________


· Was each visual aid clearly visible? ___________ ___________ ___________

· If the speaker used computer-based visuals
or overhead transparencies, was each visual
easy to read and well-designed? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker use the visual aids smoothly
and with confidence? ___________ ___________ ___________


· How clear was the speaker’s purpose? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Did the speaker use body language to
reinforce the message? ___________ ___________ ___________

· Was the speaker’s word choice effective
and appropriate? ___________ ___________ ___________


· Was the speech well-researched? ___________ ___________ ___________



· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?



· What did you like about the speech?

#7 Evaluation Guide for Research Your Topic

Title

Evaluator Date

NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to select a subject of importance to the audience that requires a large amount of research. The speaker is to collect information from numerous sources and carefully support points with specific facts, examples, and illustrations, rather than with just the speaker’s own opinions. The speaker is to incorporate what he or she has learned in previous projects about purpose, organization, word usage, body language and vocal variety, as well as use appropriate suggestions from the evaluations received. In addition to your verbal evaluation, please write answers to the questions below.

· How well did the speaker’s topic apply to the audience?



· Was the topic well researched?



· How well did the speaker support his or her main points?



· Was the support material appropriate for the point made?



· Did the speaker vary the types of support material?



· How clear was the speaker’s purpose?



· Was the speech effectively organized?



· Did the speaker take advantage of body language and vocal variety?



· What could the speaker have done differently to improve the speech?



· What did you like about the speech?

#6 Evaluation Guide for Vocal Variety

Title

Evaluator Date


NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to use a voice that is pleasing to listen to, with proper balance of volume, pitch and rate, and use pauses to enhance his or her message. The speaker’s voice should reflect and add meaning to the thoughts he or she is presenting. The speaker is to incorporate lessons learned in previous projects about purpose, organization, word usage and body language. In addition to your verbal evaluation, please complete this evaluation form by checking the appropriate space for each category. Add comments where praise is warranted or where you can offer specific suggestions for improvement.


· Topic selection: ___ Facilitated vocal variety ___ Satisfactory ___ Could improve

· Volume: ___ Excellent ___ Satisfactory ___ Too loud or soft

· Rate: ___ Excellent, varied ___ Satisfactory ___ Too fast or too slow

· Pitch: ___ Varied, conversational ___ Satisfactory ___ Monotonous, artificial

· Quality: ___ Pleasant, friendly ___ Satisfactory ___ Harsh, monotonous

· Pauses: ___ Appropriate, effective ___ Satisfactory ___ Could improve

· Expressiveness: ___ Conveyed emotion, meaning ___ Satisfactory ___ Could improve

· Vocal variety: ___ Enhanced speech ___ Satisfactory ___ Could improve

· Organization: ___ Logical flow of ideas ___ Satisfactory ___ Should improve

· Word usage: ___ Vivid, descriptive, accurate ___ Satisfactory ___ Could improve

· Body language: ___ Natural, expressive ___ Satisfactory ___ Unnatural, distracting



· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?




· What did you like about the speech?

#5 Evaluation Guide for Your Body Speaks

Title

Evaluator Date

NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to use stance, body movement, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact that illustrate and enhance his or her verbal message. Movement, gestures, facial expressions and eye contact should be smooth and natural. Body language should enhance and clarify the speaker’s words and help the audience visualize the speaker’s points and overall message. The message you see should be the same one you hear. The speech must have a clear purpose and appropriate organization. Also, the speaker must use words and arrangements of words that effectively communicate his or her message to the audience. In addition to your verbal evaluation, please complete this evaluation form by checking the appropriate space for each item. Add your comments for those items deserving praise or specific suggestions for improvement.
COMMENTS / SUGGESTIONS
· Topic Selection: ___ Facilitated body language
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· Preparation: ___ Excellent
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· Manner: ___ Confident, enthusiastic
___ Satisfactory
___ Nervous, tense

· Posture: ___ Poised, balanced
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· Gestures: ___ Natural, evocative
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· Body Movement: ___ Purposeful, smooth
___ Satisfactory
___ Awkward, distracting

· Eye Contact: ___ Established visual bonds
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· Facial Expression: ___ Animated, friendly, genuine
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· Speech Purpose: ___ Clear
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· Speech Organization: ___ Logical, clear
___ Satisfactory
___ Could improve

· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?


· What did you like about the speech?

#4 Evaluation Guide for Hot to Say it

Title

Evaluator Date

NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to use words and arrangements of words that effectively communicate his or her message to the audience. The speaker should select clear, accurate, descriptive and short words and choose verbs that convey action. Sentence and paragraph construction should be simple and short. The speaker needs to include rhetorical devices, avoid jargon and unnecessary words and use correct grammar. The speech must have a clear purpose and be appropriately organized. Please complete the evaluation form below by checking the appropriate column for each item.

COULD COMMENTS /
CATEGORY EXCELLENT SATISFACTORY IMPROVE SUGGESTIONS


· Was the speech topic appropriate for ___________ ___________ ___________
this particular assignment?

· Did the speaker use simple, short ___________ ___________ ___________
and clear words?

· Did the speaker use vivid, descriptive ___________ ___________ ___________
words that created mental images?

· Did the speaker use words that had ___________ ___________ ___________
more than one meaning or were inaccurate?

· Were the speaker’s sentences short, ___________ ___________ ___________
simple and understandable?

· Did the speaker use rhetorical devices ___________ ___________ ___________
to enhance his or her ideas?

· Did the speaker avoid jargon and ___________ ___________ ___________
unnecessary words?

· Did the speaker use proper grammar ___________ ___________ ___________
and pronunciation?

· Was the speech purpose clear? ___________ ___________ ___________


· Was the speech effectively organized? ___________ ___________ ___________


· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?



· What did you like about the speech?

#3 Evluation Guide for Get to the Point

Title

Evaluator Date

NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to prepare a speech that has a clear general purpose ( to inform, persuade, entertain or inspire ) and a specific purpose. The speech is to be organized in a manner that best achieves these purposes. The beginning, body and conclusion should all tie into and reinforce the purposes. The speaker is to project sincerity and conviction and strive not to use notes. Any nervousness displayed should be minimal. In addition to your verbal evaluation, please complete the evaluation form below by rating the speech in each category.

5 = Excellent
4 = Above average for the speaker’s experience level
3 = Satisfactory
2 = Could improve
1 = Needs attention

CATEGORY RATING COMMENTS / SUGGESTIONS

· The general purpose of the speech 5 4 3 2 1
was clear.

· The specific purpose of the speech 5 4 3 2 1
was clear.

· The speech organization supported 5 4 3 2 1
the speech’s specific purpose.

· The main points and supporting 5 4 3 2 1
material contributed to the speech’s
specific purpose.

· The beginning, body and conclusion 5 4 3 2 1
reinforced the specific purpose.

· The speaker achieved the specific 5 4 3 2 1
purpose.

· The speaker appeared confident 5 4 3 2 1
and sincere, with minimal nervousness.

· The speaker did not rely on notes 5 4 3 2 1
throughout the speech.



· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?



· What did you like about the presentation?

#2 Evaluation Guide for Organise Your Speech

Title

Evaluator Date

NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: The speaker is to present a talk that is organized in a manner that leads the audience to a clearly defined goal. The speech includes a beginning, a body and a conclusion; major facts or ideas; and appropriate support material, with smooth transitions between the facts and ideas. In addition to your verbal evaluation, please complete this evaluation form by rating the speech in each category and offering comments or specific recommended action where warranted.

5 = Excellent
4 = Above average for the speaker’s experience level
3 = Satisfactory
2 = Could improve
1 = Needs attention

CATEGORY RATING COMMENTS / SUGGESTIONS

· Speech Value 5 4 3 2 1
(Interesting, meaningful to audience)


· Preparation 5 4 3 2 1
(Research, rehearsal)


· Organization 5 4 3 2 1
(Logical, clear)


· Opening 5 4 3 2 1
(Attention – getting, led into topic)


· Body 5 4 3 2 1
(Flowed smoothly, appropriate
support material)


· Conclusion 5 4 3 2 1
(Effective)


· Transitions 5 4 3 2 1
(Appropriate, helpful)


· What could the speaker have done differently to make the speech more effective?



· What did you like about the presentation?

/# 1 Evaluation Guide for The Ice Breaker

Title

Evaluator Date


NOTE TO THE EVALUATOR: In this speech the new member is to introduce himself / herself to the club and begin speaking before an audience. The speech should have a clear beginning, body and ending. The speaker has been advised to use notes if necessary and not to be concerned with body language. Be encouraging and point out the speaker’s strong points while gently and kindly mentioning areas that could be improved. Strive to have the speaker look forward to giving another speech. Your evaluation should help the speaker feel glad about joining Toastmasters and presenting this speech. In addition to your verbal evaluation, please write answer to the questions below.


· What strong points does the speaker already have?



· How well did the audience get to know the speaker?



· Did the speech reflect adequate preparation?



· Did the speaker talk clearly and audibly?



· Did the speech have a definite opening, body and conclusion?



· Please comment on the speaker’s use of notes.



· What could the speaker have done differently that would have improved the speech?



· What did you like about the presentation?

Wednesday, March 14, 2007

Closing Invo on 13 Mar 2007

THE PERFECT FRIEND

Today I found a friend who knew everything I felt
She knew my weakness and the problems I've been dealth.
She understood my wonders and listened to my dreams
She listened to how I felt about life and love and knew what it all means.
Not once did she interrupt me or tell me I was wrong
She understood what I was going through and promised she'd stay long.
I reached out to this friend, to show her that I care
To pull her close and let her know how much I need her there.
I went to hold her hand to pull her a bit nearer
and I realised this perfect friend I found
was nothing but a Mirror.

Read by Masdiana Ooi Abdullah
Written by Shannen Wrass

Invocation on 13 Mar 2007 Meeting

The best of Friends

The best of friends,
can change frown,
into a smile,
when you feel down.

The best of friends,
will understand,
your little trials,
and lend a hand.

The best of friends,
will always share,
your secret dreams,
because they care.

The best of friends,
worth more than gold,
give all the love,
a heart can hold.

Presented by Masdiana Ooi Abdullah
Wriiten by Jill Wolf

Meeting on 13 March 2007 - "Friendship"

I am glad to say that we continue to have another Excellent meeting with 100% attendance from Role Players. Well done Role Players - you kept your promise.

A total of 18 people were at the meeting including 1 visiting Toastmaster DTM Ramdas Nayar, one guest brought in my Anna Ms Siew Foong and 16 loyal members.

It was a great night with lots of gifts from Kish and some kind members. Kish who was our Table Topics Master came just to carry out her role and have to rush home after the break just to take care of her family members who are sick. Thank you Kish for a good session and also for keeping your promise.

Our TME Anna Hue, as usual handled the meeting very well and also brought her school mate to come. Thank you Anna for sharing TM to others. Masdiana had researched and selected one appropriate poem and presented the Invocation based on the Theme which was well received by all. Philip the Table Topics Evaluator as usual with his smile gave some positive feedback to the speakers.

The table topics speakers for the night were:

1. Dr Gem on "A friend in need is a friend in deed."
2. Masdiana on "One loyal friend is worth more than 10,000 relatives."
3. Levine on "Slower to change friends than your thinking."
4. Mohamad on "The only unsinkable ship is Friendship."
5. Siew Foong on "To have a friend be a friend."
6. Adam on "A mirror is an old friend."

The highlight of the meeting was the induction of Dr Gan Eng Meng (GEM) introduced by Anna. She seems so excited and we were all happy to see such an enthusiastic and happy person to be in our midst. We welcome you Dr GEM. The Induction ceremony was performed perfectly by our VPE Sherine Lim. I never saw anyone conducting an Induction anywhere near her for the past 26 years. Great to have you Sherine at the helm.

The Manual assingment speakers and evaluators for the night were:

1. Leong Yip Sau on "Up Close and Personal with Yip Sau" evaluated by Joyce
2. Raja on "Who is my best friend?" evaluated by Leong Kok Wah
3. Levine on "True Beauty" evaluated by Mohamad
4. Monsieur on "an Unforgettable Experience" evaluated by Janice.

The other role players for the night were:

1. DTM Ramdas Nayar (VTM) as General Evaluator
2. Dr GEM as Grammarian
3. VPPR Ho as Timer
4. Humourous Adam as Ah's counter

As usual at the end of the meeting Acting President Sherine invited Guest Siew Foong to say a few words.

Just before we close, Masdiana read another poem on Friendship to inspire those present. I hope I am not sounding like blowing my trumpet to say that the Invocation I introduce over 20 years ago has been made a part of our District tradition and now I like to introduce that before we close our meeting we must also say a few words to the members before we part.

I wish the Exco will consider that we create a new Role which must be done by one of the Past Presidents (to give importance to it) to read an encouraging Poem before we part. I would also like to suggest that PP will also say something before we part and that something should be the same all the time which means that the PP have to memorise it or read it.

Hall of Fame:

1. Best Table Topic Speaker: Adam Fung
2. Best Project Speaker: Leong Yip Sau
3. Best Evaluator: Janice Ooi
4. Best Role Player: Adam Fung (The Aah's counter)
5. The Most Friendly Person: Mohamad Abdullah

Take care and till we see again on 27 Mar 2007.

Monday, March 05, 2007

Meeting on 27 Feb 2007 - Gong Xi Fa Cai

Another great meeting was conducted with Leong Kok Wah as our TME. The meeting started with the President Jeffrey Lee presiding at 7.05pm. Everyone was asked to introduce themselves and also to give a brief story of how they spend their CNY holidays. He later introduce our TME Leong who conducted it promptly.

The TTM was Levine Lee doing her maiden attempt at the Role. She was well prepared with questions in a Red Packet for all. The TTE was Masdiana Ooi and as ususal she gave some good commendations and recommendations to the respective speakers. She also recommended to the TTE to shorten her Table Topics so that the speakers could understand and handle.

The Assignment Speakers were Mohamad Abdullah C&L #6 with a title "Focus on F.O.C.U.S.". This speech was in preparation for the forthcoming Area Contest where he will be representing the club and members were asked to give him their Evaluation personally. Next was Monsieur Tilaka who attempted C&L #10 with the title "Get Yourself Insured". His advise to us all was prepare ourself before it is too late. There are 36 critical illnesses that insurers have identified that can be insured at a reasonable premium.

The next assignment speaker was Kishna Fitra and she spoke on "One Nation one Team" to get her CC award. She introduced the term HRC which stands for Harmony, Relationship and Cooperation to unite the people of Malaysia. Following her speech was our President of the Foo Chow Association who gave his speech to his members. this was done by PP Phillip Wong under the Advanced Manual.

Present for the meeting were: ASAA Sherine, President Jeffrey, TME Leong, TTM Levine, TTE Masdiana, HM Tilman, Evaluators Betty, Richard & Adam, Grammarian Raja, 1st time Timer Dr Gan, Aah Reporter yip Sau, GE Lay Kun.

The General Evaluator was imported from DUtama TM Club President Lim Lay Kun CTM, CL. She was very kind with her words and had full of praises for the club. She was happy with the warmth of members, the room decorations and the display of our Banner and the ribbons. She commended that we used the theme of the meeting well as many of our members came in RED, Oranges for each of them and even the Agenda and the Ballot papers were in red. Leong even had our Club's name made out of the Ang Pows sticking on the whyte board.

One of her best remarks was that ALL our members named in the Program Sheet came to handle the Role which I too am proud. Syabas MII TMC Members!

Hall of Fame for the Evening:
> Best Table Topics Speaker: Adam Fung, CTM
> Best Project Speaker: Mohamad Abdullah, DTM
> Best Evaluator: Adam Fung, CTM
> Best Role Player: Leong Kok Wah
> Most Friendly Person: Adam Fung, CTM
> Special for the Night is Best Dress Award goes to PP Phillip Wong, CTM

The Meeting was a success and recognition was given to Leong Kok Wah for his efforts in putting everything together. Salute to Leong for his untiring efforts to ensure that every detail is covered.

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Gong Xi Fa Cai Meeting 27 Feb 2007

Report from VPE Sherine:
....... a little bit update for you on our meeting last night. Philip walked away with the special gift sponsored by the TME - Leong for the " Best dressed Award " last night with his Traditional Chinese Hot Red Colour Shirt, and Mohamad practised his Contest Presentation Speech during the meeting on F.O.C.U.S. and all of us gave him feedback to support him. Philip also practised his dinner opening speech for the Foochow Association Dinner during the Club Meeting.

Adam won 3 awards last night - Best Table Topics Speaker, Best Evaluator & Most Friendly Person Awards. Congratulations to him too ! Kish & Monsieur finally finished their 10 speeches of C&L Manual and they are the first male and female members with Competant Communicator title now.

And we were complimented by the President of D' Utama Toastmasters Club, CTM, CL Lim Lay Kun who was the General Evaluator last night on our perfect meeting schedule without any amendment on the role players.

Wednesday, February 14, 2007

"Be My Valentine" Meeting 070213

This is one of the best meeting I have attended at MII TMC and am proud to have a Team of dedicated members and officers working together to make each meeting better than the last. Congratulation to our VPE Sherine Lim for taking on the role of Acting President, Ho our VPPR as our TME, Joyce as our ASAA and our Treasurer, Levine as our Invocation Presenter and buying the Pick Candles, Leong the backroom guy who produce the Pink Program and whatever you see in the room and many more.

We had 23 people present and they are
Members: 1Sherine, 2Kish, 3Ho, 4Joyce, 5Mike, 6Anna, 7Larry, 8Thilo, 9Tillman, 10Monsiuer, 11Betty, 12Levine, 13Adam, 14Leong and 15Mohamad
Visiting TM: 15Sam, 16Ernest, 17Simon
Guests: Four and I only remembered on and dare not mention her name only. If anyone could let me have their names I would appreciate it and make the change.
Inductee: Leong Yip Sau.

Meeting starts with VPE Sherine taking the floor and asking everyone to introduce themselves and also to share with the rest what our plans are for Valentine Day.

Next came Levine with her Invoccation telling us how the poor Phillipinoes having to leave their family and country, sell their belongs to seek fortune in other strange countries.

Yours truly as Table topics master gave 7 angpows with small gifts in each but strangely there is not enough as there are more volunteers than speakers for the night. Sorry AG Mike Teng, next Valentine, I shall ensure to reserve a question for you to participate.

Adam gave his usual frank and honest evaluation of the speakers whom we all agree were great.

Special for the night is the Induction of Leong Yip Sau. He must be feeling privilege to have been inducted in the midst of so many people. Sherine did her homework and everything goes well. Thank you Sherine for ensuring that such task can be done perfectly.

Dinner was a little special we had some nugget hearts to eat and as usual our food is always fantastic. Thanks to Leong and Sherine for insisting on quality.

After the dinner we had four Good speeches starting with Leong giving us "Feng Shui - Tools of the Trade" for his #8 Project. All of us didn't know that Feng shui has gone hitec now.

Following Leong we got Kish who spoke to us of "If tomorrow never comes". Here she related to us about her first love, her father and how she regrets for one action that gave an impact on her today. She reminded us to do it now and not wait as tomorrow may never come.

Thilo took the floor subsequently and he has to speak off the cuff. Larry chose a topic about Television and rattle on like a pro. I think if we give him more time he can still continue.

We had a guest speaker (a TM member from another club) taking the next speaking slot and talk to us about Gong Xi Fa Cai. He informed us about the Chinese Zodiac, Chinese Custom and Chinese Calender. We now learned that Chinese New Year should be on 4th Feb if they follow the Solar Calender.

Our GE Sam from another club then took control and called on the Evaluators and they were in order of speaking, Tillman, Mike, Larry and Anna. Then he called on the Grammarian, Time Keeper and Ah Counter for their report before he made his final evaluation.

In closing I must say this is one of our best meeting and I hope the next one on 27 Feb "Gong Xi Fa Cai" will be better. See you there in RED.