tar college toastmasters sept-oct 2011 newsletter

Toastmasters Are Really Cool!

A new era is opening up in

Toastmasters around the world. If you

have noticed, on the top right corner

of this first page of our newsletter, we

have a brand new logo by

Toastmasters International.

It was a fresher and modern

approach to changing the old logo

that has been used for more than 70

years since Toastmasters was

established in 1924 under the

guidance of a great visionary Dr.

Ralph C. Smedley, whose hopes and

dreams was to help young university

graduates to speak confidently and

at ease.

Dr Smedley‟s vision certainly

resonates in TARC Toastmasters, in its

earliest inception last year that took a

lot of determination, a belief for

change, and the need for growth in

our own college students‟ career

potential and personal growth.

The point that our club took 17 years

to charter being repeated in our own

club meetings was to remind every

member of the perseverance and

commitment of many Toastmasters

who wished to bring the benefit of

The Editor‟s Say

President

Eric Low Chern Yuen, TM

[email protected]

Vice President Education

Vincent Chow Soon Kit, CC

[email protected]

Vice President Membership

Kevin Lim Yoong Meng, TM

[email protected]

Vice President Public Relations

Heng Songher, TM

[email protected]

Secretary

Ming-See Michele Chang, TM

[email protected]

Treasurer

Tan Zu Liang, TM

[email protected]

Sergeant-at-Arms

Sarawanakkumaran, TM

[email protected]

Committee Members

Jonathan Lim, TM

[email protected]

Steven Yong, CC

[email protected]

Sept - Oct 2011 ● Issue 4 ● TARC Toastmasters Club ● tarctmc.wordpress.com

Silly Moments:

TM Jonathan

Lim getting a

close-up shot

with Division W

Executive

Committee

and TLI

Organizing

Committee

during Division

W’s TLI @ TAR

College on 23rd

July 2011.

public speaking and leadership to

TAR College, including Sam A.

Leong (Area W5 Governor), Geoff

Andrews (MIM Toastmasters),

Francis Ng (Money Mastery

Toastmasters), Vincent Hor (past

Division W Governor) and Ng Lay

Choo (TAR College lecturer).

It‟s even more interesting to note

that many Toastmasters who

strived to establish a Toastmasters

club in TAR College are also ex-

students from the college itself,

some even from 30 years ago!

The new logo also carries an

inspirational theme “Leaders Are

Made”. It is true that leaders are

never born but nurtured from

experience and learning.

In this newsletter, we are featuring

updates on the first session of

Toastmasters International in

which we are given the privilege

to host, catch ups on our previous

Toastmasters meetings, and also

articles from our own members.

Here‟s hoping a brighter success

for our „tiger cub‟ club!

Vincent Chow, CC

Sept-Oct 2011 Newsletter Editor

TARC Toastmasters Club

Area W2, Kuala Lumpur

Club No: 1759651

TAR College Toastmasters Club

President‟s Message

The months of August and September

are full of contests after contests. Are

you one of the contestants? An

audience member? Or volunteering

as role players letting go of a chance

to compete to ensure that any

contest runs smoothly? Regardless of

whatever roles you are playing, I

would like to hereby congratulate you

for doing a good job in contributing to

the Toastmasters‟ fraternity.

For the brave contestants who

volunteered or „being volunteered‟,

job well done! After attending many

contests, I could safely say that all of

you are champions. Regardless of

winning it or not, you definitely did

your best. I believe you do learn a lot

in the process.

As they say, as least you try rather

than not trying. The experience is

definitely priceless and at least you

can walk with your head held high

and be proud of yourself that you take

up the opportunity to improve yourself

better.

There are also unsung heroes who

ensure that contests are organized

with great precision and care. Just

ask me as I volunteered to play any

available roles just to get the break –

through experience.

Besides contributing to Toastmasters,

we also learn on how to work together

effectively as a team.

For the guests who patiently observed

with hungry hearts for great speeches.

Toastmasters’

Tips:

Call-Backs

Craig Valentine, winner of the

1999 World Championship of

Public Speaking said that call-

backs are important to establish

a closer connection to your

audience.

Call backs can mean

remembering back the events

that has just happened

recently, such as quoting a

previous speaker‟s

presentation, or a personal

event that just happened to

you a few minutes ago.

Every Guest Matters

Any guest who comes in

through your door has

something in mind – they are

interested in your meetings and

will think „What’s In It for Me?’

Our goal is to keep them

interested by having an exciting

Toastmasters meeting

consistently, by having

members delivering a mix of

basic and advanced speeches.

Toastmaster of the Day/

Evening should welcome the

guest and acknowledge him or

her at all times.

Have one member to sit with

the guest as well and explain

the meeting flow. It‟s also

encouraged to have the guest

participate in Table Topics as

the last speaker after observing

other speakers doing the same,

and join in an Open Evaluation

if your club has any.

Avoid coaxing the guest to join

as member, but allow the guest

to immerse in the excitement

and learning goodies of the

meeting, and soon the question

of joining pops out naturally.

Eric Low, TM

Charter

President

TARC

Toastmasters

Club

Sept - Oct 2011 ● Issue 4● TARC Toastmasters Club ● tarctmc.wordpress.com

Yup, without you people, there

will be no contest! You all are

the roots that inspire the

contestants to speak on stage.

Without your support, I believe

the contest will be as jumbled

up as a jigsaw puzzle plain as

white.

In Toastmasters, it is not always

about contesting but also

about giving. That is why,

Toastmasters is so great! It not

only builds your speaking

ability, but it also builds your

leadership quality. To all those

who are still in doubt of this

wonderful program, why don‟t

you just drop by in one of our

meetings?

Soar with us and this will be the

last thing you will regret in your

life as TARC Toastmasters is a

great place to be as this is a

family where Toastmasters Are

Really Cool!

Together Towards

Tomorrow

Sept – Oct 2011 ● Issue 4 ● TARC Toastmasters Club ● tarctmc.wordpress.com

DIVISION W’s TOASTMASTER LEADERSHIP INSTITUTE SESSION (1)

“I’ve put so much effort into setting a Toastmasters

Club in TAR College for the past 10 years, and just

when I was sleeping, it miraculously popped out!”

Area W5 Governor Sam A. Leong, who was the

emcee at the TLI session on 23rd July 2011

Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI)

sessions are organized twice every year to

provide training and practical skills for

clubs‟ officers to enhance their skills in

leading their club. At least 4 club officers

from each Toastmasters club would need

to attend the session.

TARC-TMC is proud to be selected to be

hosting this year‟s TLI. The event took place

in function room at club house in TARC

main campus, Kuala Lumpur. Our main

highlights for the days are “Attracting New

Members” by LGEM, DTM Kiang Faang

Pyng, „Charting a Course for Club Success”

by LGET, DTM Ramdas Nayar, and last but

not least “Motivating Achievement” by DTM

Johnson Yike.

We were exposed to effective and efficient

ways of growing a club, maintaining good

club condition as well as keeping everybody

who pays visit to any Toastmasters meetings

happy at all times.

After our lunch break, we were all divided

accordingly to our positions. The Presidents,

Vice President of Educations, Vice President

of Memberships, Vice President of Public

Relations, Secretaries, Treasurers, and

Sergeant at Arms of all clubs were then

grouped together and were briefed on

details in regards to their roles in the club by

knowledgeable mentors. Here, any questions

were raised and answered, issues discussed

and experiences were shared.

All in all, TLI Session 1, 2011 was a huge

success. TARC TM wishes to thank the

mentors for all their sharing and guidance,

the dedicated club officers who came, and

also ACG, ALS Ng Lay Choo, who put part of

her life in TARC TM and finally, the organizing

team members who ensured the event runs

smoothly.

Written by,

TM Kevin Lim Yoong Meng


(From clockwise):

All charter members of TARC Toastmasters Club were awarded their certificates by District 51 and

Division W Executive Committee;

TM Lee Yoong Wai co-hosting the event with Area Governor W5 Sam A. Leong;

Panel speakers: LGM Kiang Faang Pyng, LGET Ramdas Nayar, and DTM Johnson Yike.

Sept – Oct 2011● Issue 4 ● TAR College Toastmasters Club. tarctmc.wordpress.com

TOASTMASTER MEETING’S HIGHLIGHTS – 16 JULY 2011

TOASTMASTER MEETING’S HIGHLIGHTS – 30 JULY 2011

Working as a Team:

(Top)TM Lee Yoong Wai speaking with his evaluator, CC Helen

Quat, and (bottom) CC Anna Chin as General Evaluator

working together with the role-players.

We poked fun at having a “Sumo

Wrestling” themed meeting! Luckily, it‟s not

the type where you pack up the pounds, strip

naked, and put on your cable – it‟s about

learning two meanings from the word

“SUMO” itself.

The first meaning of SUMO is „Speak Up, Move

Out”, a brilliant title suggested by past

Division W Governor DTM Vincent Hor and so

we spread this message to all our members.

The second meaning of SUMO is discovering

the art of kaizen – The Japanese discipline of

self and constant improvement, learning from

mistakes and becoming better every day.

Table Topics session was conducted

hilariously by TM Daryl Lim with most of the

questions related to sumo.

We also enjoyed listening to our Toastmasters

TM Bong Yang, TM Daryl Lim and TM Lee

Yoong Wai with their speeches from their CC

manual.

We also welcomed CC Anna Chin from

Phoenix TMC and CC Helen Quat from Metro

TMC, as well as many interested guests.

TM Tan Zu Liang took up the challenge to

become our TMM. He practiced and practiced

for days with his script, and on the meeting day

itself, he had forgotten to bring it!

However, Zu Liang is a proven that with

adequate preparation, he does not need the

script at all. Cool, calm and collected, he led

the meeting to immense success.

TM Phillip, TM Jonathan Lim, TM Serene Long and

TM Eric Low stepped up their game and present

their speeches. Praises also go to TM Kevin Lim

and TM Yoong Wai for evaluating the speakers

for their first time.

We also enjoyed the new addition of an “Open

Evaluation” session on this day too.

We also thank CC Sharon Yee from MAICSA-

TMC as G.E. and Madam Cheng from SSH

School for attending!

Stepping Out of Your Comfort Zone – A Whole New Experience

TM Tan Zu Liang leading the meeting as the

Toastmaster of the Morning (TMM).

Cool, calm and collected.

For more details on our meetings and pictures, access our blog link below!

Sept – Oct 2011 ● Issue 4 ● TAR College Toastmasters Club. tarctmc.wordpress.com

AREA W2 HUMOROUS SPEECH CONTEST & SPEECH EVALUATION CONTEST 2011

Humor and Feedback Brings Everyone Together: Four Toastmasters clubs within Area W2 – Speakers’ Dream TMC,

Great Eastern Insurance TMC, TAR College TMC, and HP Malaysia

TMC will be competing this year!

Area W2 Humorous Speech Contest and

Speech Evaluation Contest are coming soon!

Toastmasters from four Toastmasters Club in Area

W2 (as on the left) will be locking horns to laugh

your socks off and give their wisest feedback to

a mysterious test speaker who will be doing a

speech demonstration on contest day.

The details for the said event are as follows:

Date – September 10th, Saturday

Time – 1.30pm to 4pm

Venue – HP Towers,

Bukit Damansara,

50490 Kuala Lumpur.

As TAR College TMC was not able to organize

their club level contests, they are able to send 2

of their own members to represent the club for

both contests in Area W2.

We wish the best of luck to TM Michele Chang,

CC Vincent Chow (who will be representing his

home club, Speakers‟ Dream) and CC Steven

Yong as they join in the Speech Evaluation

Contests!

BEING A TEST SPEAKER – AN ENLIGHTENING EXPERIENCE!

Our hardworking Toastmasters,,

TM Lee Yoong Wai (left) and TM Eric Low (right)

went to Phoenix TMC and MAICSA-TMC

respectively to become test speakers for the clubs‟

Speech Evaluation Contest.

A test speaker is someone who gives a

demonstration speech before he or she is

evaluated by contestants from the club. A Test

Speaker is usually someone who is not affiliated with

the club organizing the contest, so that contestants

can give independent, unbiased feedback.

A test speaker is the most rewarding role-player during

a contest, as he or she receives enriching feedback

from a lot of people who pay close attention to the

speech.

Search us on Facebook by typing “TARC – Toastmasters are Really Cool!”


ENRICHING LEARNING EXPERIENCE IN TOASTMASTERS By Kevin Lim Yoong Meng, TM

“ There is this club which am I in, it‟s a public

speaking club, where you would need to do

speech and leadership projects to advance

and trust me, you would be welcomed no

matter which club you go at any other

places. You would also be internationally

recognized. ”

-Ng Lay Choo, TARC lecturer encouraged her

students during my lecture break

Amazing isn‟t it? So I decided to register and

join. The warm welcome, the excitement and

thrill of speaking on the spot when asked to

and the challenges the members have to

take to improve not only themselves but the

club as well; she spoke the truth.

This is Toastmasters, where everyone

says that it is the platform for self

improvement, only if you want to improve of

course, and to meet people from all walks of

life. Yes, you have Malays, Chinese, Indians,

and Caucasians in the fraternity, which fits

comfortably with our 1 Malaysia slogan.

From young teenagers to wiser oldies,

people in Toastmasters have only but one

goal, Speaking to Enrich People, in short STEP.

Fear of speaking in front of crowd, fear of

public speaking, fear of delivering

speeches, all these little diseases could

be cured with the project speeches,

guaranteed without fail. Well, that‟s what

I was told when I was in, but there is more

than meet the eyes; body movement,

gestures, vocal variety, speech sincerity

and eye contact is also what we learned

other than just speaking. Owh boy, talk

about flying before knowing how to walk,

sounds difficult right?

Well, this is what we get to learn slowly

and steadily but surely. I did see a

change in my class assignment

presentation through toastmasters

meetings and workshops held by of

course, Toastmasters, where else could

you express yourself freely and make a

fool of yourself with encouragement and

pat on the back and everyone clapping

once you finished talking in front? And

this is only the beginning as I am just a

newbie here and have not begun my

road on leadership projects yet.

Oh, you must be thinking, how expensive

are the membership fees? Well, let‟s just

say that the benefits outweigh the fees a

lot, a lot more otherwise there won‟t be

anyone in Toastmasters.


GO THE DISTANCE By Ng Lay Choo, ACG, ALS

Ever felt that there were more to public

speaking than just completing all the project

speeches?

If you have, you should consider competing.

It is totally different and the experience is

exhilarating. After having competed for the

first time in the Humorous Speech and

Evaluation Speech contest, I felt the

requirement to increase my level of speech

crafting and delivery. Besides crafting the

speech, it was the practicing and

remembering without it being regurgitating

during delivery.

Competing is different as it gives your

adrenaline a jolt and when you know that

you shall be competing with some more

experienced participants, it keeps you on

your toes. It takes about a week for me to

incubate the type of stories that I want to

share and which is entirely personal.

Remember one of the key criteria is originality

and only your personal story that allows you

to maintain that.

Moreover, from my observations, all winning

speeches must be crafted from personal

experience as it gives stronger conviction

than trying to relate others‟ stories. So this is

the first formula towards a winning speech.

Start with YOUR STORY and it is so personal

that you shall be able to deliver them with

conviction.

When crafting your speech, try to use

descriptive words that shall bring out the

color of your story. Remember that these

descriptive words should conjure vivid

pictures into your listeners, make it as simple

as possible with only two to three syllable

words and make it light too. Thereafter, the

DELIVERY is equally important, because that

was the primary reason for participating

and crafting the speech.

Distinguished Toastmasters K Loghandran

shared that we need to practice at least

twenty one times otherwise your effort of

crafting the speech shall be futile. The next

is to PRACTISE at least twenty one times.

Imagine thousands or even millions of time

including dreaming about the delivery.

Finally ENJOY the competition because it is

the experience that is more important than

winning. Winning is just the bonus, like the

icing on the cake! So go for it!

The winners of the World Championship of Public Speaking 2011 in Las Vegas.


Consider these two scenarios:

Scenario 1 (My true story!)

Once upon a time, I was a Test Speaker at a

club‟s Speech Evaluation contest. I had just only

completed my CC#2 speech in my Manual at

that time and I lack experience to give a quality

speech.

There was one contestant who made very

stinging remarks in his evaluation for my speech:

“Your speech organization was terrible! It was

boring and uninteresting. I can see no

improvements to suggest.”

That was a true story. I was terrified and

depressed when I was given that feedback.

How would you feel if you are in my shoes now?

Scenario 2 (Another true story!)

This is another true story, but it happened to

another member whose club I happened to visit.

The evaluation was done by someone who was

very new to Toastmasters, and it sounded like

this: “I like your speech a lot. You have done this

and that well, and I‟m looking forward to your

next speech.” It ended in less than one minute!

Have you realized an important element missing

above? There was no mention on how the

evaluator could have suggested or any

constructive criticism for the speaker to improve!

This is what we call „white-washing‟ and it leaves

the speaker unsatisfied because he or she is

derived feedback for improvement, growth and

development.

We Evaluate to Motivate

Our role as speech evaluator is to offer our

opinions based on our experiences in

Toastmasters, and not exposing a fault or a

EVALUATE TO MOTIVATE By Vincent Chow, CC

problem in a speech. It‟s important that as

we point out areas of improvement, we

also motivate the speaker to keep on doing

speeches and learn from his mistakes.

The „Sandwich‟ Evaluation Method

Instead of criticizing or complimenting, we

can use a more constructive feedback

language by structuring our evaluation

using the „Sandwich‟ method.

START THE KISS!

We first note what the speaker has done

well – has he achieved the speech

objectives from the manual? What other

strengths and uniqueness you observe?

Was his speech engaging, and has a take-

home lesson?

TIME TO KICK!

Then, we give feedback – YOUR opinion on

what improvements you can suggest to

improve the speaker‟s presentation. Will the

message be more meaningful if the

speaker uses proper vocal variety and

body gestures? If he does not achieve the

speech objectives, suggest ways on how

this can be done.

Avoid saying the word „BUT‟ because it

sounds like a shocking transition to

something bad. You can rephrase your

words this way: “You have a great speech

and I have a couple of suggestions you

can improve on.” Sounds better, eh?

ONE LAST KISS!

Then it‟s finally time to compliment, and this

is the best part where we can motivate the

speaker. For example, we can say “Your

speech has touched our hearts, and with

more polishing, you can inspire even more

people. Congratulations!”

Enjoy making a difference in people‟s life

by using this „Sandwich‟ evaluation

method!


Goal Actual Achieved

[1] CC 2 0

[2] Additional CCs 2 0

[3] AC 1 0

[4] Additional ACs 1 0

[5] CL, AL or DTM 1 0

[6] Additional CLs, ALs or DTMs 1 0

[7] New Members 4 4 *

[8] Additional New Members 4 1

[9] Officers Trained (both required)

June-August 4 7

And December - February 4 0

[10] Submitted on Time (both required)

October or April Renewal 1 0

and Officer List 1 0

Total Goals Achieved to Date 1

TAR College

Toastmasters Club (2nd & 4th Saturdays)

M001 Tutorial Room

(School of Technology)

TAR College

Time: 9AM to 11AM

TARC – Toastmasters Are Really

Cool!

E-Mail:

[email protected]

Web Site: tarctmc.wordpress.com

The Editorial Team

Editor:

Steven Yong, CC

Contributors:

Vincent Chow, CC

Eric Low, TM

Ng Lay Choo, ACG, ALS

Kevin Lim, TM

PUBLIC SPEAKING

QUOTES:

“

Be who you are,

And say what you

feel,

Because those

who mind,

Don’t matter,

And those who

matter,

Don’t mind.

“

Dr. Seuss

Meeting Dates (2011 & 2012):

Sept – 17 & 24

Oct – 8 & 22

Nov – 12 & 26

Dec – 24

Jan 2012 – 14 & 28

Feb 2012 – 11 & 25

Mar 2012 – 10 & 17

Important! Meeting dates will be

subjected to change due

to examinations and

other unforeseen

circumstances.

Always check our

Facebook page and Blog

for new updates on

meeting dates.

DISTINGUISHED CLUB PROGRAM REPORT 2011/2012 TARC Toastmasters Club (No. 1759651)

District: 51 Division: W Area: 2

Membership Base: 20

Membership to Date: 27

“ President’s Distinguished Club

“ TARC-Toastmasters

Ain’t roaring yet,

But slowly growing bigger

healthier, and stronger!

mailto:[email protected]

tar college toastmasters sept-oct 2011 newsletter

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