Word of the day: Creative
“Good artists copy but great artists steal.” Picasso was a genius, not only artistically but also with words. This quote has not inspired another creative genius Steve Jobs but also my introduction for tonight’s meeting. What does this quote mean? Am I copying directly from Picasso or am I using, borrowing and adapting it for my own creative purposes. So if great artists steal, feel free to borrow and learn from your fellow speakers, mentors and the wider public speaking community to make a good speech, a great speech.
The night started when our Toastmaster of the Evening, Mathew Lee gave us an inspirational quote from Post-Impressionist painter, Vincent Van Gogh who said, “I often think that the night is more alive and richly coloured than the day,” and so it is. It is our evening meetings when we start the week off enriched with energy.
Our facilitators played the role of Creative Directors tonight. Our Timekeeper was Alice Wong. Ah Counter Michael Boynton who as the king of “Ahs” showed us what not to do and our crafty Grammarian, Joanne Chuk who showed us the art of sentence construction and proper pronunciation.
Our artists this evening, otherwise known as our prepared speakers, were San Kong, Aparna Sachar, Sergio Aguirre and Edwin Lui, all who were well-versed and creative in their speeches. San talked about the art of spending. San’s sage advice included- buy in bulk so you receive VIP privileges and girls, find a boyfriend who has a car. Aparna’s humorous take on Google should be listed as the top search on this “simplified” search engine. We quickly found that Google is anything but simple to use. Sergio, not only is he an eloquent speaker, but an elegant mover. We now know why. This man is also a dancer- a tango dancer. His CC6 speech on The place he learnt Tango, which was in “Asia’s Tango City”- Hong Kong, required him to use a vocal variety but he also showed us the art of stage use. The last of the “artists” to speak was Edwin Lui who gave us an interactive and engaging speech on the topical and controversial issue facing many today. “Same-sex marriages should be legalised in Hong Kong .” The speech required Edwin to ask for viewpoints from the audience and a Q & A session at the end.
Artist of the evening- Aparna Sachar
Onto our artjammers of the evening. Artjamming, impromptu painting by amateur artists. So what did the Table Topics session have in store? Tonight was the return of Asta Lee, after a 6 month hiatus, Asta was back in full force as our Table Topics master showing us the art of crafting 2 minute speech questions. The participants of the session consisted mainly of our guests who bravely took the stage for 2 minutes speaking about Science vs Art, Would you send your child to an art school? The art of doing something and the art of telling a mate they have ahem...bad breath. Creative juices were in abundance from Kiki Cheung, Vanessa Lau, Flavia Lai and Vincent.
Artjammer of the evening- Kiki Cheung
Evaluators are like art critics but they served as out Art Directors tonight, directing and shaping us to be better speakers. First up was Ben Fung who used elements of San’s speech to construct a creative evaluation. Vanessa honed in on Aparna’s speech. Vanessa was given the title of “Hardest working art director’ this evening for her dedication to detail and always taking on roles. Clement, who puts master in masterpiece, gave a masterful performance in his evaluation of Sergio’s speech. Ernest gave a direct and diplomatic response to Edwin’s controversial issue of legalising same-sex marriages. Labelled “beautifully crafted,” Ai Ai Ong took on the role of Table Topics Evaluator and equated artjamming to giving an impromptu speech.
Art Director of the Evening- Clement Wong
If anyone disagrees with the award winners, we’ll base it on creative differences.
Picasso’s quote of “Every artist was at first an amateur” came flooding back to me. We come here to learn and develop ourselves into becoming artists. Public speaking is an art. It all starts with a blank canvas where words are used to paint a masterpiece. Whether it is accepted is up to the viewer and whether or not it deserves to be listened to so choose your words carefully.
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