Folks! This is the best!

My toastmaster speech craft program class. I bet this was the best class amongst many!

From left (background): AC Michael, the gangsta: Mr. Izam, Mr. Razi, and You-Know-Who :), funniest guy Mr. Mohammed, the cool Mr. Fathi, Mr. Nasir, JB Toastmaster president Mr. J Kannan.

From left (sitting): Ms. Hanna, Fellow toastmaster from UTM Ms. Fatiha, Ms Linda the cool lady, ACS Ms. Cindy Wong (you're the best!), Ms Joo Lian (IRDA rep. and participant, cool eh?), Ms Ana the lovely, Ms Aida and the redlady Ms Aza

Toastmaster Program (with IRDA) 23-24 january 2010: report

“Is it all right if I decided not to come tomorrow (Saturday)?”

“By not coming here, you are depriving other people who really wanted to join this program but couldn’t go because the slot has been filled by you first.” That was what one of the coordinator of this program told my friend when he was thinking of pulling off the Toastmaster and IRDA speech-craft program 23-24 January 2009 on the last minute.

I didn’t know him until the day of the registration.

But what he was thinking summarized what I was thinking too. Darn it! Would I make a mockery of myself by having to stand up in front of people and start talking nonsense? Am I crazy to the bones?

My resume of public speaking wasn’t an avant garde moment. Thus, I didn’t feel OK with the idea of coming to this 2-days seminar. And believe it, folks, I am kind of shy guy (HAHA!). Ever ready to shun meeting with strangers. Nonetheless, I kept on repeating ‘YES,YES,YES!’ when Cindy, our advanced Communicator toastmaster (she is also a district officer toastmaster) asked whether I would be coming or not.

Thus, on the cold Saturday morning, I braved my soul and headed to Pandan City.

There weren’t many people there. Ah! So the program has been cancelled. I smiled and called Cindy (but kept on hiding my enthusiasm of thinking I could get away without feeling guilty).

“No! No! It’s in front of the hotel Opposite it!”

Darn! So it was on. Talk about false hope.

In fact, there were already quite few people there, ladies wearing the best dresses, guys with tie and suit. Uh! And I am wearing jeans and T-shirt!

I met two girls, have a good chat with them and few others. As of that moment, I could still breathe easily, even cracking a joke or two.

But then, as if everybody just turned up out of nowhere, the tension mounted. Some people greeted those who they knew, many smiled silently to strangers next to them, and some was having the time of their life. Registration and seating at the appropriate seats followed suit.

I could go on about the details of the opening ceremony. About my relieve of seeing at least 2 familiar faces (and having a blast time with my soon-to be roommates and other guys). About everything, really. But what really struck me was the speech given by Mariana Pascal, one of the professional speakers who just flew from Canada (I am sorry I didn’t know her position in this Toastmaster Hierarchy, but she was one of the greatest speakers I have ever met).

Her speech was casual, funny and in a way arousing.

It was simple but full of encouragement and advises. We were connected to her speech in a way gravity is pulling every single thing in a downward motion. What a speech!

Later the program and people who became good friends!

To be continued…

Introduction: TOASTMASTER

I will be doing my first report of THAT EVENT tomorrow.
But first, let me introduce you with TOASTMASTER and TOASTMASTER SPEECHCRAFT PROGRAM 2009.
So what is a TOASTMASTER?
To quote from the official website:
From a humble beginning in 1924 at the YMCA in Santa Ana, California, Toastmasters International has grown to become a world leader in helping people become more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. The nonprofit organization now has nearly 250,000 members in more than 12,500 clubs in 106 countries, offering a proven – and enjoyable! – way to practice and hone communication and leadership skills.

Most Toastmasters meetings are comprised of approximately 20 people who meet weekly for an hour or two. Participants practice and learn skills by filling a meeting role, ranging from giving a prepared speech or an impromptu one to serving as timer, evaluator or grammarian.

There is no instructor; instead, each speech and meeting is critiqued by a member in a positive manner, focusing on what was done right and what could be improved.

Good communicators tend to be good leaders. Some well-known Toastmasters alumni include:
• Peter Coors of Coors Brewing Company
• Debbi Fields, founder of Mrs. Fields Cookies
• Tom Peters, management expert and author
• Linda Lingle, Governor of Hawaii

It’s basically a meeting between strangers. These strangers called themselves fellow toastmaster. They’d meet (usually) twice a month to talk. Don’t worry. They don’t talk about how to toast breads or to bake cakes nor how to make toaster! (But it might come up in one of the speeches, I can assure you!).
So what they do in these meetings?
Each member will be assigned a role. Be it a speech evaluator, or grammarian, speaker, chairman, timer and so on. Yes, my dear friends, sort of like get-together-with-your-best-friends club when you were 12. Only the meeting is not held in the tree-house and none of the conversations filled with adrenaline pumping teenage angst.
Rather, it is an opportunity to stand up in front of the audience, give your speech (5-7 minutes) and then let people evaluate you in a very positive manner. They will also be an ‘AH COUNTER’, a counter which will count how many times fillers like “UMM, AHH, ERR, etc.” being used in a speech.
Then there is this most interesting part – Table Topic session. You have to give an impromptu speech. And I am not kidding. The topic ranges from everything to nothing. In the space of 2 minutes, you’d be given an opportunity to give a speech (and you have to mind about your fillers too!).
Oh! That isn’t the end yet, there will be an evaluator (basically it’s either you or one of the people there to give feedback (like a speech as well).
And the ceremony is closed in a civilized manner, like a UN summit meeting 
Sounds scary? HAHA
And what is a TOASTMASTER SPEECHCRAFT PROGRAM 2009?
It’s a 2 days seminar where real speakers and professionals teach you how to control stage fright and nervousness and give you tips on how to give a speech like Obama or Mahathir Mohamed.
It’s collaboration between TOASTMASTER MALAYSIA and IRDA (Iskandar Region Development Authority). For the seminar which was held from 23-24 January, there were about 150 or so participants. Everyone was eager to become the best speakers in the world!
Sounds double scary?
(NEXT POST – On to my 2 days experience there!)

AVATAR = PUBLIC SPEAKING?

As of the time of this writing, AVATAR has sunk the TITANIC in the international box office record (outside North America) by more than 40 millions. Unofficial report also said that it has become the all time box office grosses world wide. And in North America, it is very close to sinking TITANIC although AVATAR still has about less than 50 millions to go.

I guess that won't be long either. Just hibernate for about 2 weeks and by then, AVATAR will surely become the highest grossing film of all time (before the adjusted inflation, that is.)

Read what Fox reps. said:
"Having been a part of the Titanic phenomenon, we never thought this day would come in our careers," said Fox Intl. co-prexys Paul Hanneman and Tomas Jegeus. "But James Cameron created in Avatar a film with such humanity and magic that it resonates with people of every culture."

Sound familiar? Can you connect it to public speaking? (Yes this is a public speaking and personal growth blog NOT a film review blog, my friends!)

When they know that you are passionate/care about your speech, only then will they care about the speech itself. And then they will listen to your speech without any interruption.

Give what people want. What they want to hear. Not what you want to say.

That was what Gerald Green told the audience (and me!) during his speech last Saturday.

The first born

This blog is still at its infancy.

The objectives of this blog:

1. To track down my journey into this toastmaster program.

2. To store project speeches and share it with all of you here. Don’t worry; it’s not illegal to use it for your own speeches, references, etc. etc.

3. To disseminate any information regarding Toast Master programs.

4. To review books related to personal growth and public speaking (Yes, the first one will be GERALD GREEN, The Magic of Public Speaking.)

5. Pictures and lots of pictures.

Being a novelist, an engineer and a qualified English teacher doesn’t make me an extrovert person. I think I am an individualistic type who always runs away at the very first opportunity when asked to give a public speaking. To put it bluntly, I am more like a cavemen who afraid of the sun out there.

Weird, is not it? HAHA…

Yes. I hate public speaking. Or giving opinion on something. Period.

But that about to change TODAY.

I was introduced by a friend to a TOASTMASTER CLUB couple of months ago. What is it you may ask? Aren’t you too old to join this kind-of-scout-thingy club?

Yes. That was my view. Until 5 PM Malaysian time that is.

I will try to post that life changing event soon but now I need to update my facebook, adding new friends that I have met this past two days.

I can assure you that they are the nicest people I’ve ever met so far.

Meanwhile, you could check here, what the TOAST MASTER is all about. CLICK HERE

Until then, cheers!