Sunday, February 28, 2010

MoM - 17 Feb 2010: Valentine Special Edition

It was a meeting full of L.O.V.E. When we arrived we saw lots of balloons, paper flowers and candies. People dressed up with Red/Pink and Blue colour. That night, Kemiri turned itself to a valentine-themed venue and no one went home empty handed.
The meeting was special because we had two gentlemen attending the meeting (Agus and Nur), who got to know our club from Facebook and Blogspot. However, what’s more special was the first Toastmasters performance from TM Billy, who warmed our meeting by allowing us to give affection one to another.

The Table Topics led by TM Jessica. This time, we got to see the making of the Table Topics questions on the spot. As a Table Topics Master, TM Jessica celled 4 participants to write 2 words on a piece of paper and then she used it for question for other participants. Walaahh!

The speakers got the chance to talk on about “Loving Everyone”, “Holding Hands”, “Blind Date” and “Passionate Kiss” ^^

Then we moved on to the game sessions by ACB ALS David and CC Niken. Everyone was showered with Toastmasters related questions, famous quotations; spot the differences games, till guessing game. Did you know that Bu Rudy (Nasi Empal Udang) and Pak Sadi (Soto Ayam Pak Sadi) were involved too?

During prepared speech session, we had two ladies giving us entertaining performances. TM Agatha delivered her BM#2 – a beautiful speech that reminds us the beauty of being a Mother. Then, CC Rina performed her Storytelling project with such interesting characters including a fly, a salmon, a bear, a mouse, a cat and a hunter. With her speech, our VP E persuaded us to keep it simple in life.

During evaluation session, TM Leonardi and CC Rama shared their evaluation on the speaking performance, while DTM Arlan gave his evaluation on the entire meeting.
Our Halls of Fame were: CC Rina (Best Speaker); CC Rama (Best Table Topics Speaker and Best Evaluator). Thanks to the donation from United States of America’s Embassy, the winners for that particular night brought home a free book – Band of Brothers. Did I say no one went home empty handed?

Just before we ended the meeting, we had another reason to celebrate that night. After delivering his persuasive speech on the first week of February, we had a new Advanced Communicator Bronze in the club. Congratulations on ACB CL Martin Hendriadi ^^
What a happy-ending meeting. Happy Valentine day, everyone and let’s continue to share some L.O.V.E

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

MoM - 3 Feb 2010: Life is Beautiful

It was raining cats and dogs, yet the meeting started on time. At this time, we got to know a New Zealander guest – Charlotte. Her presence boosted our spirit even more. So who cared about the unfriendly weather outside? ^^

Then, our VP Membership (TM Billy) inducted Gianina by bombarding her with ‘difficult’ questions. To conclude, she said “I do, I do, I do” and became Toastmasters Gianina officially.
TM Juwati took the role after Induction and performed her first Toastmasters role. She told us the meeting theme this time was based on the old movie, which always reminded her “Life is Beautiful”. She hoped we’ve got to experience like it and thanks to her endless enthusiasm, we experienced a beautiful meeting then.

During Table Topics session, CC Rina let each of us to get a fortune cookie at first. The lucky one had the opportunity to taste the sweet cookie and to experience “thinking on our feet” when they got the bonus question inside the cookie. The lucky T/T participants were: TM Jessica, TM Nina, TM Rama, TM Niken, Charlotte.

During a prepared speech session, we learnt from 4 great speakers. TM Billy took the lead first and he shared shocking information through “The Dark Age of Japan” (BM#7 – Research Your Topic). He said Japan’s condition in the future could be dominated largely by elderly only due to the extremely low birth rate in the country. Do you know Japan has higher number of pets than children?

As a second speaker, TM Jessica did her BM#9 – Persuade with Power. She raised the bar by asking all of us to be more open-minded about nudity. She showed a couple of magnificent pieces of art to challenge our minds. Looking at such perfectly done nude statue, sketches and pictures - what would you think?

The third speaker was none other than our seasoned Toastmasters, ACG CL Boon. He has finished the entire communication track in Toastmasters, yet we hadn’t had enough learning from him. So we requested him to do another speech and he delivered a touching speech. ACG CL Boon made us to think on how we have lived our life until now, he shared us his personal experience and he closed with a meaningful quote: “It’s difficult to do the right thing to do, but it’s more difficult to know what’s right to do”

The last speaker was TM Rama. He did his BM#10 – Inspire Your Audience. He talked on how important body language when delivering a speech. He began with personal stories then ended with valuable tips to improve our body language. Have videotaped it, then watches it without any sound. If the body language tells clearly about the things you’re talking about, then you’re at the right spot. As usual, TM Rama has never failed to throw cool jokes when delivering a speech and he entertained us while he inspired us at the same time. After finishing this project, TM Rama has earned his new title (CC) : Competent Communicator Rama Tidball. *Hurray*

Since the T/T contest was around the corner, CC CL Martin volunteered to give all T/T participants a short and effective review during evaluation. Then each individual evaluators delivered their evaluations: CC Niken, ACB ALS David, DTM Arlan, CC CL Martin. During GE evaluation, ACB ALS David gave us an in-depth and valuable evaluation on the local clubs.
The Halls of Fames were: TM Rama (Best T/T speaker), CC CL Martin (Best Evaluator) and CC Rama (Best Speaker).

A great news just before the meeting was closed: next meeting will be a special Valentine theme. Be prepared to enjoy a meeting which is full of surprises. Dresscode: Pink/Red for girls and Blue for guys. Until then ;)