Toastmasters Competent Communicator Project 1: The Ice Breaker

I did my first speech on friday. I was to introduce myself to the club so they might know me better=) The main objectives of Project 1 are to begin speaking before an audience and to discover speaking skills I already have & skills that need attention.

I finished preparing my speech only the nite before the actual presentation day! Spent abt 2hrs+ at NUS racking my brains... I wasn't satisfied with the final piece but what could one expect from last min work haha... I read thru the speech to make sure it met the min time designated (the time given is 4-6mins) and as it was already quite late, I decided to practise more tomorrow. Unfortunately while I planned to practise for at least 1.5hrs, I end up with only half an hr after I finished the day's other important activities. You can imagine the stress I'm going thru... haha

Judgement time.

I started off the speech quite well but I must admit it didn't quite fulfill my expectation of the audience's response at my initial ice-breaker joke ie the 2 main purposes. I suspected that affect me a bit and coupled with the fact that I wasn't very familiar with the content of my speech, my presentation started to quiver. The link from one point to another wasn't obvious and strong. As I could not link smoothly (I need to refer to my cue cards a few times), I started to get nervous and all the forbidden words like "Er" and "Ah" came out, though I was aware and tried to limit theri existence.

Evaluation time.

My evaluator who was both a Competent Communicator and Leader (accolades of mastery in TM) congratulated me on fulfilling the objectives of Project 1. She found my speech to be loud, audible and humourous. Unfortunately there were some signs of nervousness as I was swaying slighty. My organization and linkage of my speech needs to be improved as mentioned above. She also commented on using smaller cue cards (I really laugh at this one haha).

So Ladies & Gentlemen, presenting the very raw form of my script. Enjoy!

"Good evening, Toastmaster of the Evening, Ladies and Gentlemen.

Tonight I would like you to know a little bit more about me and in the process, I hope to achieve 2 main purposes:

Purpose Number One: All the single and available girls in this room would find me likeable and not reject me when I ask you for your mobile number.
And Purpose Number Two: All the eligible bachelors in this room would take pity on me and not vie with me for the girls!

Yes, this is one characteristics of me. I would really like to crack jokes as I feel it lightens up the atmosphere and helps to break the ice. Speaking of ice which has the characteristics of being cold, how about this one? Why does Mr A throw the clock out of the window? Because he wants to see Time Flies… Very cold… This is a cold joke.

But more often than not, most people would know me as the friendly introvert who don’t talk much and always end up as a listener in a conversation. Someone who would be contented just to indulge in musical plays and nostalgic music. I think this could be due partly to my religion, Buddhism which asks us to look inward more than outward.

I started practising Buddhism when I left junior college. Well…You know… The time when a hot-blooded teenage guy is looking for answers to his problems and life. However the more significant event in my spiritual path was when I ordained as a novice monk in Malaysia after I graduated from university. I shaved off my hair. For your information. My hair was not this short when I first graduated from university. My fringe reached my jaw literally and I looked just like any gangster from the movie Young and Dangerous. But like what my friend likes to say I am a kind-hearted gangster. Coming back, besides shaving my hair, I also have to don the saffron robes representative of a disciple of the Buddha. Life is very simple. No American Idol, no Jay Chou. Wake up at 430am in the morning and sleep at 10pm. Eat 2 meals a day before noon time. The rest is all cultivation, mainly in the form of formal meditation and mindfulness in whatever I am doing. Well… I sort of miss those days really…

However there is another side to me; one part which cannot sit still and constantly want to try new things. To challenge and improve myself. Take for example: I joined NUS Rovers in my final year to attempt to scale the highest peak in West Malaysia: Gunung Tahan. As the mountain name implies, you really must be able to tahan the steep ascent up the mountain. It was really challenging both physically and mentally but also lots of fun! And through the process, I came to enjoy a short fame in NUS Rover as “The guy with 2 underwears”. In view that some of you may be underage, it would be best that I don’t reveal much here…

Another more recent incident was to go racing in Pasir Gudan, Johor with my friends and I almostcould not make it back! The story went like this: after a few rounds driving as if I am on Singapore expressway ie 90km/hr, I imagined myself to be Michael Schumichael and stepped on the accelerator like petrol is really cheap in Singapore! Unfortunately I did not brake enough at a turn and my car literally flew off the track and into the sand pits! Fortunatey my car did not overturn but my new car had sustainable scratches on the right side which cost me a few hundred bucks to repair. At those few moments, my breathing really stopped.

I am currently working as a financial planner with an independent financial advisory company for about 6 years. The job encompasses some of the characterisitics which are in line with my attributes as mentioned above. Challenging: Sales is definitely not my cup of tea as an introvert. What more I need to start with zero income and slowly build it up to reach the level a graduate would earn for a entry level job in society. But it was also balanced nicely with attribute that I like to help people.

And the latest addition to my challenge list is to conquer NUS Alumni Toastmasters;P

Ladies and Gentlemen, let us recap our main purposes for this session in case u‘ve forgotten:
Purpose No 1: Ladies, do not recall my request for yr mobile no when approached.
Purpose No 2: Gentlemen, help yr poor brother here!"

And here is recognition of completing Project 1.





With more preparation, I'm going to ace Project 2!;)