International Speech Contest

Today, we hosted our second set of Spring Contests, the International Speech Contest! Christine was the Contest Chair while Tie served as the Chief Judge. In the past, we've had some trouble recruiting and encouraging members to compete at these contests. I was really happy to see that we had 5 contestants today, one of which decided to compete from the floor and deliver an impromptu speech! I wish I can get to that level of confidence as well...!
Because many of our members decided to compete, we struggled a little bit to organize the judging team. But, our members helped out by doing double duty.
The International Speech Contest requires members to have completed minimum 6 projects from their speech manual. It doesn't require speech to have a specific theme, except that it should leave the audience inspired/motivated. The contest started on time. I went first and spoke about my experience as a volutneer at a hospice few years ago. I re-purposed this speech from last year because I didn't think I did justice to it. Marcia went in next and spoke about the defining moments in all our lives and the significance of it, whether big or small. Anil inspired the audience to respect the 'gold nuggets' in our lives. Melrose spoke about what 'home' means to her, and that would be Jamaica! Anthony delivered an impromptu speech and shared a story about how moms know the best. I was so proud and happy for all contestants. We all have come a long way in our journey as Toastmasters. These speech contests further polish our speech capabilities. I am sure the judges had a hard time with the results. Melrose placed first, I placed second and Marcia placed third. Melrose will now represent our club at the Area 5 Contest!

Please click on the contestant name to view their speech:
Aanchal
Marcia
Anil
Melrose

Mardi Gras

Today's meeting started with the introduction of 'Carnival' theme! Sundeep (a first time meeting Chair) shared more info about Carnival and how it's also celebrated as Pancakes Day. Ummm, I want some Pancakes right about now...! I guess the winter blues got to some of our members. We only had about half of our members attend the meeting today. But that didn't let our spirits down. We participated in the meeting as if we were sitting in New Orleans or Rio amidst the Carnival festivities!
Azura finished her project # 3, Get to the Point, by talking about the benefits of Watching your own speech video. As her mentor, I might be biased in saying this, but I truly believe that she has come a long way with the 3 projects she has already completed. Azura paid attention to the feedback she received and implemented it in this current project by slowing down her pace and adding more of body language. She emphasized that being a Toastmasters members is a journey and that we should implemtent gradual changes for a long term improvement. She also stressed that we all have our 'shining' moments that we should continue to polish while building ourselves as a better speaker and communicator. See her speech here. Since we had 1 speaker today, Anthony expanded the Table Topics session so that everyone was able to participate. It's always fun when Anthony is behind the lectern as he brings a lot of fun and entertainment to his sessions, an extension of his personality! Marcia and Jefferey tied for the Best Table Topics Speaker for today. Afshan conducted the General Evaluation section of the meeting and Sundeep wrapped the meeting just in time.
Looking forward to the International Speech Contest next week... But before that, don't forget to LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL!!!

Meridian Toastmasters - Speech Evaluation Contest

We kicked off the Winter Session of the contest season today with our Speech Evaluation Contest. Running a contest is a great example of showing team work and leadership skills. Our Chair, Tie Feng, and Chief Judge, Anil Lad, made sure the team was picked out well ahead of time. However, the weather got to Anil and he fell ill the day before the contest. Our President, Geoffrey Chen, stepped up the plate and filled in the role of Chief Judge at last minute's notice. Now this is what I call leadership and team work!
I always have fun competing at the contests, I guess I've become a default face! That's a good and bad thing!  :P We had 2 first time contestants and new members, Pam and Sundeep, join in and be brave to step up to participate! Jerako, our Target Speaker and Division A Governor, was a tough one to evaluate. But hey, what's the fun without a good challenge!
The remainder of the contest ran smoothly. I guess I'm going to be representing Meridian Toastmasters at the Area Contest in March. :)

Seeing is Believing

Geofferey Chen, our club President, opened the meeting today with the theme Seeing is Believing. We had 1 new guest and 2 returning guests at the club meeting. Tie Feng added an interested spin to his Thought of the Day. Tie questioned the validity of the theme and talked about the importance of questioning the status quo and curiosity, in general. He went on to say that 'seeing' should not directly translate to 'believing' without proper investigation! I guess he put on his hat as an Information Security Analyst!

Pam and Sundeep presented their second speech from the Competent Communicator manuals. Sundeep talked about conquering acrophobia, the fear of heights. Her speech was based on her recent trip to Blue Mountain where her family forced her to try Ziplining for the first time! She used an interesting set of visuals and articulated her feelings throughout the journey very well. Interestingly, Pam opened her speech by talking about her experience in Costa Rica. Her opening slide was also a shot of her ziplining through the hills. What a coincidence! Pam went on to describe her other exciting adventures in Costa Rica. She teased the travel bug in me through the vivid imagery on her presentation!


Katrina hosted the TT session and encourage the speakers to talk about generic topics about belief. Our guests participated as well! Marcia took over the General Evaluator role for the first club. She was very specific in her feedback providing opportunities of improvement as well as complimenting the individuals for their roles well done.

The contest season begins next week! Watch out for the summary of the Speech Evaluation contest on Feb 10!

See Pam's speech here.