Written By: Mahendran Bilendran

14 Oct 2016 – Friday

It was a stressful day at my office. I had wanted to skip my toastmasters meeting that evening. In hindsight, I was lucky that I did skip it for it was truly a night to remember. Besides, I could not since I was one of the speakers too. So, I wound up my work obligations for the day earlier and left for the meeting.

The meeting was scheduled to begin at 7:30pm. As one of the Club’s Sergeants-at-Arms, (SAA’s) in the executive committee (Exco) team, I had to oversee the set-up for the meeting. So, I rushed to the meeting hall at around 6:45pm, but my understanding Exco team ordered me not to do any work and to concentrate on my final speech rehearsal instead. J

Before 7pm, everything was ready for the meeting – the registration desk, banner display, timer kit, evaluation pads, seating arrangements, programme sheet at each seat, drinking water, and most importantly, the yummy food. It was a well-organized setup.

7pm to 7:30pm

Registration commenced and members gathered together to enjoy the food and one another’s company.

7:30pm

The meeting started with SAA’s,  Tan Qing Lin & Hasan Poonawala, explaining the theme of the meeting “Carpe Diem” through a little role-play with their arms loaded with wristwatches. The meeting was then handed over to the Toastmasters of the Evening (TMEs), Aaron Khoo and Shaun Pang.

Aaron and Shaun engaged the audiences throughout the evening with their timely jokes. They fabulously ensured that the enthusiasm and energy of the audience was high throughout the night.

7:45pm

Club President, Candrika Adri Tjo (Rika) delivered her opening address on how to become an extraordinary person. She defined a person who is doing an ordinary job with an extraordinary attitude – her hair stylist. She gave a wonderful motivational speech with her trademark humorous content.

Madam President, Rika

8pm  – Prepared Speech Session

First speaker – Skye Chao gave her P1 project on what a flight boarding pass symbolises to her. She explained her journey from her home town to Beijing, Singapore, California and then Singapore.

Skye Chao

Second speaker – Mahendran Bilendran (that’s me J). I gave my P5 project on the power of our habits. I shared simple steps on how to develop a new habit in our daily life.

Yours truly, Mahendren Bilendran

Third speaker – Gillian Lu gave her P2 project on “Quiet Power”. She talked about  introverts and the myths around them. She gave examples for introvert personalities like Albert Einstein, Michael Jordan, JK Rowling, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and their contributions to the world.

Gilian Lu

Each speaker was given a 10-second standing ovation. This gives a boost to the speakers for their current efforts and motivates them to do better in their next speeches.

8:30pm Once the TME’s announced that it was break time, I rushed to grab dinner – chicken nuggets, sandwiches and desserts. As I had just completed my prepared speech, my tummy was now growling. I ate more than usual, after all, we had more than enough food for all the attendees too J. The members spent their dinner time getting to know one another better.

8:45pm

We were having such a blast chatting with one another that SAA’s, Qing Lin and Hasan had to remind us multiple times to return to our seats as the evaluation section had begun.

Chye Bei’an evaluated Skye’s P1 project; Raymond Ee evaluated my P5 project; Desmond Yam, Gillian’s P2 project. All the three evaluations were awesome with positive encouragement and all ended with notes on areas for improvement.

9:10pm

Table Topics Session – The most thrilling yet terrifying part (for me) in the toastmasters meeting had begun. The table topic masters were Karen Lim and Andrew Wee. Eight courageous members seized the moment without hesitation. Zhang, Bei’an, Inge, Jovin, Aaron, Qing Lin and Skye and a guest, Area Director, Marcus, all stood up voluntarily and gave  wonderful speeches in 1-2 minutes on the given topics.

9:35pm

Then came Language Evaluation – the most educational segment for most of us in the toastmaster meeting. Language specialist, Michell Sheya Wong presented her evaluation based on the speeches given (prepared speeches, evaluations, and table topics).

9:55pm

Tommy Chew presented the count on filler words (“ah”, “hmm”, “ok”, and etc.) for all the speakers on that night. As the Ah-Counter, he was engaging and humorous and even challenged members to beat his previous “ah” count of 87.

10:05pm

Skye clinched the “Best Speaker”. Raymond won the “Best Evaluator” ribbon as usual. The “Best Table Topic” ribbon was awarded to Inge. Again, I did not win “Best Speaker” ribbon L. My ribbon is still waiting…  and I have more to learn and in due time, I am sure I will receive a  best speaker ribbon.

10:10pm

The club meeting ended with a group photo-taking session.

Till 10:30pm

The Exco team was busy dismantling the arrangements done earlier for the meeting. The other team members were busy discussing with their mentors and VPE’s about their progress in toastmaster meetings and had booked the slots for their next speeches.

Overall, it was a fun-filled, relaxing evening for me and of course, for other members too after a tiresome five-day tight schedule in their work/studies.