Meeting Snapshot on 17 February 2010:
International Speech and Table Topic Speech Contest

It was the 4th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year (正月初四). While some people might be busy house visiting (拜年) or perhaps going to the temple to receive blessing from the God of Wealth (接财神), Kim Loon and I were on the way to Queenstown Toastmasters Club to meet a bunch of brave people who were taking part in the club’s International Speech & Table Topic Speech Contest, and to receive the gems of wisdom and happiness from members of Queenstown Toastmasters Club.

First we saw Jacqueline Tang at the lobby. She was wearing a very nice bright pink dress, with a beautiful smile, she greeted us: “Happy Chinese New Year!”

As we entered the conference room, we were greeted by a dozen of happy faces, wishing one another with auspicious words. I’m impressed by Serene Ho, she looked extra pretty that evening.

Melissa Wang was a remarkable contest chairlady for the evening. She brought us through the process of the contest with a lively and happy atmosphere.

International Speech Contest

Winner: Jacqueline Tang
1st Runner Up: Ken Quah

The international speech contest started with Richard Tan. His speech title, “From the Heart of Stone to a Heart of Gold”, was a heart warming story from his experience when he used to train his recruit.

Jacqueline Tang’s speech “Yes I Can” told us about a kid at the social learning centre who faced great challenge in speaking. Deep in the kid was a “Yes I Can” mindset and attitude. The kid overcame his challenge and was able to tell a story to the audience. As a teacher, Jacqueline realized that she learned from the kid as well. It was an inspiring speech and Jacqueline won the club’s International Speech Contest that evening.

Serene Ho’s speech “Anxiety Free” was informative. She shared with us some techniques to get rid of stress and anxiety: to practice self control, do exercise, practice deep breathing, get enough sleep, listening to soft music. Anxiety leads to indigestions, so make sure you eat proper food and avoid the oily ones.

Ken Quah talked about “Poor Man”. His speech created affinity with the audience with his frolicsome gestures delivered, especially when he sang his “Nobody Performance of the Wonder Girls”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qFjP-OJ7Bh4&NR=1&feature=fvwp

Ken won the first runner up of the club’s International Speech Contest that evening

Table Topic Speech Contest

Winner: Poh Liang Siah
1st Runner Up: Zhen Chong
2nd Runner Up: Kuok Leong

Table Topic: “Do you believe that there is a silver lining behind every dark cloud”

Kuok Leong was the first speaker for the table topic contest. He began his speech with his very strong and impressive quote “What doesn’t kill you make you stronger”.

He narrated how he had overcome the adversities he met when he was in secondary school. Within that 1-2 minute, Kuok Leong had given a very inspirational speech.

Vicente Yueh was the 2nd contestant. He started his speech with a quote he came across recently, “The speech is silver but sometimes silence is golden.” Vicente encouraged the audience that there may ups and downs in life, but it is how we overcome the obstacles in life, that matters.

The 3rd contestant is Zhen Chong. He told us that he believes every dark cloud has a silver lining, except at night, we couldn’t see the dark cloud. His speech started with a humour that brought everyone to laughter. He ended his speech urging the audience to find positive traces in every situation we might be in and not to give up easily.

The 4th contestant, Liang Siah asked: “If everything goes smoothly for you, what will a person would you be? His table topic speech started with such a question that triggered the audience to thinking. At the end of his speech, he encouraged with his sentences: “Bad thing that happened strengthen us, helped us find new meaning & direction. Don’t complain about the bad weather, it could be a time for a change.

Within that 1-2 minutes, Liang Siah’s speech was neat, motivating and make you ponder.

The 5th contest speaker is Richard Tan. He said there is silver lining behind every dark cloud as much as there is rainbow after stormy weather. He narrated his experience overcoming depression, and shared that overcoming obstacles would bring a person to a higher level of understanding and maturity.

Marlyn Tan was the last contest speaker. She mentioned that the sliver lining helped us to see things positively, and she saw the silver lining is like a rainbow. She ended her speech with the belief that as long as we could cast away the fear, the future would be bright and good.

Coming Up:

1. 24th February – 31st March 2010 – Speechcraft Workshop
2. 17th March 2010 – Club Chapter Meeting

Find out more at http://www.queenstown-toastmasters.org/