District 80 Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contests

 

Winners of the Humorous speech contest

 

Winners of the Evaluation contest

 

Taking a pose with some members from the Braddell Heights Advanced Toastmasters' Club

What a great and exciting time.! This time, it was more mind-boggling for me as a first time participant in the contest. Thanks to the generosity of Kin Fung, the Div. U champion for both humorous speech and evaluation contests, I was asked to participate in the evaluation contest so that Kin Fung could concentrate on his humorous speech. Fellow toastmasters like Cher Khim, Ban Peng, Kelvin and Geok Cheng were very encouraging. They gave me useful tips on what a good evaluation is all about. I am very grateful to them.

However, on the eve of the contest, I nearly chickened out. I was nervous and felt that perhaps it would be too stressful for me to take part. I was tempted to phone Dr. Barry Tan to replace me, but felt it would be unfair to give him 11th hour notice. I would also be letting my mentors down by not even having the courage to try. However, I overcame my fear and decided to taste the experience the following day!

I did not end up a winner, but I was happy to get very useful feedback from my friends and members. I realised I was afraid of going overtime and my conclusion was too brief! My friends thought I did well for my analysis and recommendation!

What a wonderful feeling! I am glad I did not chicken out and experienced my first time in a district contest! It was so enlightening to learn from great speakers and leaders.

I felt like as if I had gone through a tsunami experience, so that it strengthened me to face more storms in life. After having experienced the intensity and wonder of a speech contest, it made me feel that the next time, it would be easier for me to overcome my fear. It is like as if having experienced a tornado, all other smaller storms would appear to be like droplets of rain!

Frankly speaking, I thought I was going to resign from my club and to take a break from toastmasters' activities next year. However, when I see so much passion burning in our great leaders like Kim Siong, Wei Khoon, Ban Peng, Michael Rodrigues, Aziz Mustajab, Neil Sy, Dr. V. Chanyasak, Dickson, Panomporn Vajirakachorn, just to name a few, I am motivated once again. Learing is a life long journey, and I should continue to fan the little flame in me so that it will not be extinguished and in burning, I can continue to ignite the candle for others.

The next convention would be held in Hongkong.! I want to emulate our International Director, DTM Poh Kim Siong who had the courage to be the test speaker at the contest, even though English is his second language. Kim Siong was right.....
attending a convention gives us added exposure and enlightenment!

Thanks everyone in District 80!

Gan Chau