4th February 2013
Word of the Day: Familial
This is a time to socialise and sociologically, “family is the primary source of influence behind the formation of personality and the growth of a child.” Toastmaster meetings are very similar to the idea of family where we are influenced by our peers and develop into well-rounded individuals. Families come in many forms, the nuclear and the extended, the mixed and step-families but they all share the common values of helping one another.
Tonight’s family gathering included catch-up sessions where we heard a range of stories, family gossip disguised as a table topics session and of course family members love to give advice, and we also heard that from our evaluators at tonight’s family get-together.
To lead our gathering, we had someone in the family who I look to as a big sister, she’s well-travelled, a hiking enthusiast and always there to lend a helping hand, her name is Alice Wong.
Our facilitators were timekeeper- Johnny Chui, ah-counter- Marcus Chu and Grammarian- Michael Boynton who's also considered "the father of the club."
Our next prepared speaker was Ernest Mak who gave his CC3 speech- "Work Smart, Play Hard." We've all heard the motto, "Work Hard, Play Hard," but the key isn't to slave for hours in the office, the key, according to Ernest, is to find ways to work more efficiently saving you time to go and enjoy life.
Aparna's experimental speeches always inspire me. Tonight she took us on an imaginary tour to several civilisations and asked us to close our eyes, get in our imaginary vehicles and don imaginary glasses as we arrived in a different place and time where people lived more spiritually and harmoniously. This imginary adventure was inspired by a book by Dr Sunny Satin who wrote, "Incredibly Believable." The speech definitely displayed Aparna's vocal variety which is part of the requirement in a CC6 speech.
Next up, our family jester, Ben Fung presented his comedic speech, "The Law of Speaking 101." How can we change our intonation to express different feelings or to get away with coming home late? Ben would tell you that using "Sorry lor," can get you pretty far. The speech required Ben to exaggerate a story in order to entertain the audience, well he certainly did that with his use of sarcasm, gestures and movements around the stage. His clever use of "law" and "lor" as a pun drew laughter and relatability with the audience.
Table Topics time. Table Topics are a bit like a family gossip session where we are told tidbits of different events in our lives. Tonight our Table Topics master, Rita Tsui, pitched us questions about our theme, Family.
The question question being, "Family." Paul Breen, how we've missed him, spoke about the positives and negatives of familial life. He spoke about how technology has affected familial communication where even your grandmother can use Wassapp.
Sergio told us about how to achieve family and career balance where he spoke about his experience of leaving his home country for ours, Hong Kong . He, being the first born to leave the nest, meant he learnt a lot including learning to leave his possessions behind such as his car and wondering if his brothers will borrow his clothes while he's away. Anybody who's been through this experience understands it's not easy leaving home for a career but it does get easier.
Martin spoke about the ideal family. It is true what they say, can't live with them, can't live without them. The ideal family situation for Martin is to never have to do housework. Hear, Hear.
Recently married, Diana Lee, told us about her frustration of trying to get her husband to change some of his annoying habits such as never putting his shoes away. She's tried everything, being nice, being angry, putting a mat in front of the cupboard, but alas, boys will be boys. So if anyone has any advice to give Diana, please let her know.
We usually look up to our elders; they are our mentors in life, enriching us with their life knowledge. In our club’s family, we have evaluators who are our advisors and we always appreciate their expertise in good public speaking. Our first evaluator, Vanessa Lau impressed with her evaluation of Tim’s speech. She was firm, direct and spoke with clarity in giving her feedback illustrating how far she’s come in her time with the club. Next to evaluate was Ai Ai Ong where she reminded us all of what to remember when crafting your speech when she gave feedback to Ernest. Is it an informative, persuasive or motivating speech? Just remember what purpose you want your speech to have. Edwin Lui is like an uncle in the club, one of those loveable ones. He had to job of advising Aparna on how to keep imagination to a few scenes in order to maintain the message’s main point. It’s not easy to use metaphors in speeches but Aparna always makes it look easy. Last to evaluate prepared speeches was Aaron where he gave advice about Ben’s speech. Aaron’s like a changed man since he started coming back to our meetings after a few month hiatus after completing his CC10. He commanded the stage with his presence and consistently gave comprehensive and feedback. It’s good to have him back. Paul Breen was our Table Topics evaluator giving speakers and himself a to the point evaluation.
We’re an intelligent and talented family, and like every family, there is a golden child. He may not actually be a “child” but he is golden in achievements. Andrew Yeung was our General Evaluator tonight and finished off the meeting with a valuable advice for our evaluators and facilitators.
No matter what role you play in the family, it is an important one. No matter what role you have in the club whether it is the Ah-counter or the General Evaluator, it is a recognised and appreciated one. If you’re reading this and want to be part of our club’s family, then you’re more than welcome. Hope to see you at our next get-together where the family will battle it out in the In-house International and Table Topics Speech Contest.
President Elect 2012-2013
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