In our club contest last month, I was encouraged by the motivating words from our guests. One of them, Gan Ban Heng, invited me to attend his upcoming club meeting on 13 February 2011. This lead to my first visit to Shaklee Dynamic Family Toastmasters Club.
I was welcomed by the sumptuous potluck high tea buffet and the friendliness of Shaklee members. Many of the members were dressed in Chinese New Year attire and we were delighted with the cookies and the creative CNY style of Table Topics. Table Topics Master used the goodies that we come across in Chinese New Year as the topics, for instance, Mandarin oranges, fortune cookies and 'ang pow'.
Members and guests giving a toast to commemorate the occasion
I was amazed by the special ‘giving a toast’ session which uplifted our emotions. Lead by Division G Governor cum General Evaluator NJ Singam, the toasting ceremony gave the highest respect to Toastmasters founder, Dr Ralph C Smedley, and elevated the meeting.
We were also pleasantly surprised by the unexpected visit of our District Governor Thannimalai and Lieutenant Governor Marketing Ramdas Nayar. Thannimalai told us that he had just finished a Youth Leadership Program in Kuala Lumpur and rushed to attend this meeting.
Division G Governor NJ Singam giving a token of appreciation to District Governor Thannimalai
Although the meeting is on Sunday, the turnout of members is very encouraging. They are very proactive, not only in taking part in the Table Topics session, but also competing to take part in the impromptu Humour Session.
In the prepared speech segment, Mariana shared with us her exciting water rafting adventure and her friend’s embarrassing moment in her speech ‘My Water Rafting Experience’. Tee, in his well-researched speech, shared with us ‘The Origin of English’. It was full of interesting facts on the historical development of the English language.
Beside his sincere welcome and closing address, President Samuel also encouraged all members to find new members in his special presentation on membership building.
President Samuel shares his special thoughts on membership building
As the Grammarian for this meeting, I observed that the standard of language is very high. I certainly like Julius Caesar’s quote of ‘I came, I saw, I conquered’ used by TM Tee, in his prepared speech.
GE Singam provided the climax in his general evaluation by guiding us on how to benefit from the constructive feedback. I learned a lot from this exhilarating meeting and I would like to thank Mr. Gan for his invitation.
From left: Area C6 Governor Jamilah, Division G Governor NJ Singam, District Governor Thannimalai, President Samuel of Shaklee, Lieutenant Governor Marketing Ramdas Nayar
My fellow Toastmasters, do visit Shaklee on Sunday evenings to boost up your energy level for the week ahead. Even if you are not able to visit Shaklee, have a look at Division W website (http://divisionw.co.cc) to find out the meeting date and time of other clubs. Every club is unique and you will certainly learn new things from each club visit!
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