Word of the Day: Kismet meaning fate or destiny
Perhaps it is our location, longevity or legendary status that brings our club success or perhaps it is kismet? It’s just meant to be- fate if you will? But fate alone can’t account for all the great speeches and speech givers this club has developed. The theme tonight was “Fortune” and how fortunate we are at Hong Kong Toastmasters to have had another energetic and inspiring evening. There’s a saying that “Fortune favours the brave” which means that fortune favours those who take risks or actions so waste no time in seizing your opportunity to come up o stage and showing us your bravery. Bravery is rewarded and rewarded our speakers were- with fortune cookies.
Our Toastmaster of the Evening, a very active participant of our club, San Kong took the reins of the meeting and gave us an anecdote about her father’s dreams if he ever won Mark 6, which was to build a toilet not far from his home. To each his own.
Facilitators of the meeting: Time is money, our time-keeper, Mathew Lee made sure the agenda was kept to within the time constraints. Our Ah-counter was new member, Simon Yu who did a great first job in a facilitator position. Grammarian, Michael Boynton monitored our language dexterity and gave us the word of the day- kismet. I think it was kismet that Michael ended up in our club.
On to speeches, Aparna Sachar, never fails to surprise and inspire us with her crafty and enlightening speeches. This meeting, Aparna delivered her CC3 speech- Get to the Point. In her speech, the remote control was used as a metaphor to take control of our life’s direction, situations and how to turn negative energy into positive. Second speaker, Sergio could’ve been a dance instructor or performer as he danced his way through his CC5 speech- Just Dance! He could’ve stolen that line from Lady Gaga but he made it his own. Just Dance is a “how-to” speech about self-confidence and how we can relate it to pubic speaking. 1) The Ice-Breaker 2) Get to the point- ask her to dance, 3)Don’t organise your dance- just go with the beat 4) How to dance it 5)Your body speaks 6) Step variety 7) Persuade with a smile. Do these tips sound familiar? Vanessa Lau was our third speaker. Vanessa’s progression in the club needs to be recognised. Tonight she attempted CC9- Persuade with power. The speech was called “Everything is Possible” and she is a fine example that yes, everything is possible when you have to persevere. Our fourth speaker, Joanne Chuk, always entertains with her stories where tonight she led us through her journey of becoming a teacher to where she is now, a teacher trainer. For those who are teachers, it’s never plain-sailing when you start but Joanne persevered. Well done to Aparna for winning Best Prepared Speaker!
Table Topics are always a treat. Free your mind, take the stage and see how exhilarated you feel when your 2 minutes are up. Table Topics master, Jenny Lam, kept questions clear and to the point. Ben Fung, took the stage first delivering a humorous speech about what fortune means to him and the pursuit of happiness, which can only be found if you have good health. Martin Wong, was second and he too gave a comical talk about what good fortune he’s had. It starts with toys, then girls, then freedom. Vanessa Lau also did a TT speech about what she’d do if she won $50,000,000 in Mark 6, because let’s face it, HKD $20,000,000 isn’t enough. She would travel the world, brave the elements and experience what’s out there. We had a guest from Oasis Toastmasters Club, Holly Ho, who took the opportunity to speak about who she’d share her fortune with- and would you believe she’d share it with you? Well, in her 2 minute speech, that’s exactly who she would share her fortune with as it’s been Toastmasters that has given so much to her. Best Table Topics Speaker was Holly Ho.
Evaluations, whether you dread them or welcome them, it’s what makes us better communicators. Evaluating Aparna was Ben Fung who told us about the importance of pausing and getting punch lines right. Aaron Ho evaluated Sergio and told us about the importance of sticking to one main point. Edwin Lui gave feedback to Vanessa and told us about the importance of intonation and stage movement. Seasoned Toastmaster and evaluator, Rita Tsui, gave feedback on Joanne’s speech and told us about the importance of visibility on stage. Best Evaluator of the Evening was Ben Fung!
Thank you to all those who took part in our meeting and hope to see you at our next one on the 29th of October.
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