Division S Installation Luncheon - 26th August

The Division S Installation Luncheon is coming. Get your tickets now and witness:

• Toastmasters of the Year for Area Level & Division Level
• Award presentation to last term Division Council
• Installation Ceremony for this year's officers
• BONUS: Humourous Speech Workshop 

Don't miss it.

Speech Evaluation Workshop

On a beautiful Sunday like today, what would you normally do? Would you hang out in a cafe with your friends to catch up? Hang out at the beach? Rest at home, preparing yourself for Monday Blues? Or out shopping at Gurney Plaza? Well, some of us from Gurney Hydro Toastmasters Club chose to be present at the Evaluation Workshop together with many others.

One of our senior member of the club - Joanne Tan (ACG, ALB) was doing her sharing at the Speech Evaluation Workshop at Renesas together with Christopher (DTM), Shanker (DTM) and Muthu (DTM). Others that were present at the workshop were Jacques Rerolle, KC Loh, Sam Koay and Yeap Ai Li. They seized the moment to learn from few of the best evaluators in Division S.

I remembered a quote by Benjamin Franklin - "An investment in knowledge pays the best interest". Don't you agree with me? 

Just to share some key highlights on suggested language on giving effective evaluation served as a good reminder to myself and I hope to you too. How do we say it?

• In my personal opinion...
• I would like to suggest to you...
• I think your next speech will have a stronger impact on me if you...
• A technique I found helpful is...
• I noticed a few areas of growth in your speech...

Another good reminder was the "Sandwich" approach in our evaluation.

We should always start the evaluation with some good points, sandwich with the points on areas of improvement and end with some more good points. It is important that evaluators MUST maintain speakers self-esteem at all times and make the speaker feel good.

Of course, we have to be sincere with our evaluation and do not white wash. We can always speak to the speaker later to share more areas of improvement if required.

Well, that's it for now. I'm feeling rather hungry looking at the picture above. I will have to look for supper. 

See you all this Wednesday (15th Aug) at Gurney Hotel @ 8pm~

-AL

     

ENGLISH – LIGHTING THE PATH TO CAREER SUCCESS

From the job interview you are fearful of to the day-to-day conversations you are awkwardly engaged in to the article that makes you scratch your head off to the movies that strain your ears, English is just everywhere. The importance of the international language just can't be stressed anymore.


Yes, you might be good at your mother tongue (Hockkien, Malay, Chinese etc..). In Toastmasters, if language is no barrier, everyone can be a great speaker of the language they are familiar with. So what's the point of humiliating yourself with the language (English in this case) that is alien to you?


Researches have shown that being bilingual or picking up another language can ward off dementia. Interestingly, learning it in Toastmasters clubs which feature social interation will provide no ground for the disease in your brain. For maximum health benefits, don't hesitate to hop on any Toastmaster club nearby.


 In Toastmasters, giving off a great speech shouldn't be perceived as an act of superirority or a show of strength. That doesn't conform to the Toastmasters' objective of providing a helpful and learning environment to the members and guests. If there is anyone who humiliates you, it is your low self-esteem. That further convinces you to lengthen your stay in the international 
organisation which helps build self-confidence and self-worth.




Narrowing down to the case of Gurney Hydro Toastmasters Club, it has so much to offer in terms of improving and perfecting your English  :


1. Its intrinsic qualities. 
    Mr. Precise and Mr. Right in grammar, pronunciation, 
    intonation, body language etc. are aplenty in the club. Its
    membership that boasts a veteran journalist, a native of
   England and high achievers would make your Toastmaster
   experience in GHTC an irresitible one. Being a part of GHTC
   means you are on the right track in polishing your English with
   added features.


2. The vast room of personal growth for each and every 
    individual.
    The experienced and seasoned speakers in the club have been
    longing for new blood. The friendly figures with a charming
    smile on their face all the time are readily to share and proffer
    just any advice to the keen and receptive learners. Even though
    by just sitting on the chair with a laid-back manner, you are 
    bound to benefit  a lot and are likely to be inspired. However,
    that isn't enough to spike your personal growth. There are plenty
    of speech slots and roles which you might want to give them a
    try. Due attention will be given to your areas of
    improvement, making your Toastmaster experience a worthwhile
    one.


The fundatmentals of mastering any language are reading, speaking, listening and writing. With that in mind, joining Toastmasters would have helped you kill three birds in one stone. You get to speak and listen to others in the regular meetings. Besides, you get to read the insightful Toastmasters' home-grown magazines that will turn up on your doorstep monthly.


The benefits of enegaging yourself with Toastmasters' activities are so much so that you can bottle it. Now, get your right bottle by attending GHTC's coming meeting :

Event : English - Lighting the path to career success
Date : 20.06.2012 (Wednesday)
Time : 08.00pm – 10.00pm
Venue : Gurney Hotel (Second floor)
*Admission is free.
For further enquiries, please log on to http://www.facebook.com/gurneyhydrotmc or call 012 627 8056 for Vice President of Education.

Succession Planning

Any organisation is like a machine, new cogwheels are in need
   to  replace the worn out ones.
Therefore, there is a thing called AGM.


While the appearance of new faces at the helm breathes a new 
 lease of life, 
     the oldies who have just stepped down shouldn't be regarded
     as mere history.

As there is a thing called Succession Planning, the veterans are fundamentally vital, still.


An organization withhout a proper succession planning is meant to disintegrate whenever havoc befalls.

      Passing down a job to someone who has no inkling not
       only spells disaster for them, but also the whole organisation
          as well.



As the Asian proverb has it,
   building a castle is difficult, defending and maintaing it is
   harder still.

In this case, the saying 'old is gold' certainly makes a lot of sense.


Under the guidance of the veterans, silhoutte of the unknown can
   be easily figured out by the helm takers.

By utilising the veterans' experience, many problems can be  
   foreseen and forestalled, reducing unecessary jitters and anxiety.



After letting the dust to settle for a while,
       it's time for GHTC to plan and succeed,
                    bringing the club to another level.


Just how GHTC conducts it, definitely it has its own style while making sure everyone who will be present truly benefit from the meeting.




Event : Succession Planning

Date : 06.06.2012 (Wednesday)

Time : 08.00pm – 10.00pm

Venue : Gurney Hotel (Second floor)

*Admission is free.

 For further enquiries, please log on to
http://www.facebook.com/gurneyhydrotmc

         
       or
 call 012 627 8056 for Vice President of Education.

                                
                                                         Failing to plan is planning to fail.

             
                                                                                  Alan Lakein

Invest to grow

If you were given 86400 dollars a day, what would you do with this windfall?

Buy a car? A lavish bungalow perhaps?

Fly to Europe to watch your favorite football team's games? Or own a private jet and travel around the world?


Most probably those all of those have to come later
  until you really master the ways to invest the 
    dollars in disguise - TIME.


As the old saying goes, time is gold. You harvest what you sow.

In time investment, there is no telling right or 
   wrong.
After all, it is the attitude that matters.


Whatever the outcome is, you grow.
   The upbeat outcomes give you confidence and 
    motivation,
       while the pathetic mistakes make you a wiser
        person.

Here comes another irresistible and unmissable investment scheme.


For the coming meeting, 
  do spare 7200 dollars which are equivalent to 2
     hours and 
   see how the successful icons from all walks of 
       life brainstorm and enlighten you with a 
          Warren-Buffet-lesson.

Event    : Invest to grow

    Date : 30.05.2012 (Wednesday)

   Time : 08.00pm – 10.00pm

Venue : Wisma Penang Garden (Fifth

              

             floor), Jalan Sultan Ahmad Shah

          

  *Admission is free.

For further enquiries, please log on to 
         
     http://www.facebook.com/gurneyhydrotmc
                              or

  call 012 627 8056 for Vice President of 
   
   Education.

            An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
                                                                                    

                                                                                   Benjamin Franklin

Change & AGM

The introduction of austerity measures in European countries triggers the revolutionary political waves, 

   sending many of the previously ruling 

   governments to a crash recently.

Some says changes are like the nuclear chain    

     reaction. 

Once it is triggered, a series of self-propagating  

     reactions ensues.

After having had enough of the autocracy, the 

people in African countries stand up straight and 

hold their heads high for democracy,

       

      leading to the birth of an all - time popular

      term, the Arab Spring.

Some opines that changes are like the

   metamorphosis of a caterpillar into a butterfly.

      From downs to ups, you change for the better.

Love it or loathe it, change is an inevitable part of life and making changes is one of the essential life skills.

Like doing experiments,

  after making several changes, 

     failing to get the desired results might be a 

        disappointing and dejected reality to you.

True, result is often an immediate indicator of one's achievement and success.

   Despite the outcome, embracing changes is all

     about the journey and uncertainties you dare 

       to embrace, 

   the fundamentals that make you a more mature 

      individual.

In Toastmasters, change is a daily business. 

  We realise the problems. 

    We take criticisms gracefully. 

     And, we change for the better.

Now, here comes the scheduled change for GHTC in which weary faces step down and fresh faces show up - AGM.

No matter who takes the helm,

  initiating and embracing changes positively will

   always be the inherent culture of GHTC,

     and the prominent attitude of the members.

To discover how making changes is an unchangeable affair for GHTC, do make time for the coming event. 

Event    : Change & AGM

    Date : 16.05.2012 (Wednesday)

   Time : 08.00pm – 10.00pm

Venue : Gurney Hotel (Second floor)

          

  *Admission is free.

For further enquiries, please log on to 
         
     http://www.facebook.com/gurneyhydrotmc
                              or

  call 012 627 8056 for Vice President of 
   
   Education. 

“Your life does not get better by chance, it gets better by change.” –Jim Rohn

Red

Have you ever been shown the red flag in your career?

Not very fancy one. 

Signs like you feel listless and 

   diffident in your work, 

 your boss can't stand with your 

    terrible  presentation that causes
      a plunge in company sales... 

...are the red hue you should take note.

To stay on track, 
 the better bet would be hoping on any
   Toastmasters Club, the leading
    luminary of the art of speaking.

Sure. 


For first-timers, speaking in front of
  the audience might be daunting,

not to mention the blunders made

  on the stage that will be your 
    constant nightmares.

It's normal your face blushes red and 

 flushing yourself out is never the way.

Sticking yourself resolutely to the speaking regime, you are bound to discover the roses of passion.

Be them the determination to stay 
 competitive or the fervour to
   disconfirm your boss's bad impression
      of you,

the speaking prowess in you will come along too.

Over time, with the oral charisma 

  you garner, you can be as attractive
    as those celebrities.


Embarking on your dreamlike path of 
  success, you can swagger on your own 

    red carpet in style.

While making your childhood dream as a
 Manchester United player come true is
  never Toastmasters'niche, 

in terms of self-improvement, this is

 the sort of red journey Toastmasters
   can promise, at the very least.

Red.. the allusion to many of those moments..

From the red line you crossed to the red

 scars you got,

From the red roses you proffer to the

   red lips you kiss,

From the teary eyes that turn red to the
   red wine you intoxicate yourself
     with,

the colour red permeates so, so much in our life, so does Toastmasters'.

Make the coming meeting your red-letter moment & 

 let the sea of reds in Gurney-Hydro 

   Toastmasters Club brings out the red

     hot form in you.

Event    : Red
    Date : 02.05.2012 (Wednesday)

   Time : 08.00pm – 10.00pm

Venue : Gurney Hotel (Second floor)

          

  *Admission is free.

For further enquiries, please log on to 
         
     http://www.facebook.com/gurneyhydrotmc
                              or

  call 012 627 8056 for Vice President of 
   
   Education.  

The world was like a huge red carpet out ahead of me to be walked on. And it stretched on and on, no end.                      

                            Elia Kazan

Fitness 1st

According to a report in 2011, Malaysia has the highest obesity rate in Southeast Asia and ranks sixth in Asia-Pacific region.


While round has yet to be considered as a healthy figure, Malaysians shouldn't be proud of this gruesome finding.


As part of social responsibility to the community,  for the coming meeting,
  Gurney-Toastmaster Club has decided to come up
    with a theme like this.


Whether you are looking for ways to improve your
  stamina, shed off pounds from your body or 
    add some healthy curves on your torso, 
this meeting will absolutely tap into your need.


To make this meeting a success, Jeff Chan, 
   a GHTC's home-grown speaker and a fitness  
      instructor has been invited to be the 
        Toastmaster of the evening.


Jeff, a kind and helpful person won't mind to have a few Jeff-and-you sessions with you for free if you are interested.


The event also features young and talented lad,  
    Dennis who wants to share with all
         his aspirations and insight about fitness.


To achieve good level of fitness and communication skills, one's determination can't be compromised any less and both entail long-term effort.


 Communication skills is a profound knowledge 
  that you can hardly gauge its depth even with your 
     lifetime  
                            while


   fitness is a tool that adds years to your life,
       enabling you to continue pursuing the wisdom.


 Short-term motivation won't make you any similar
   to the chic poser in the poster 
       neither  make you a confident speaker like the 
          candidates in those election campaigns.


While there is always a saying like this, ' you can't have the best of both worlds', the coming meeting is truly a perfect exception.


To achieve these noble goals of life, 
   come and experience how the heavyweights of 
      the club can help you stretch beyond your limit.


  Event : Fitness 1st
    Date : 18.04.2012 (Wednesday)

   Time : 08.00pm – 10.00pm

Venue : Gurney Hotel (Second floor)

          

  *Admission is free.

For further enquiries, please log on to 
         
     http://www.facebook.com/gurneyhydrotmc
                              or

  call 012 627 8056 for Vice President of 
  
   Education.  

Strength does not come from physical capacity.    It comes from an indomitable will.                                         Mahatma Gandhi