The temple of HOPE- Life is about yourself

Edina Jones - The temple of HOPE- Life is about yourself.

Quote " The Temple of Hope - Life is all about yourself" by DTM Edmund chew

Title : CTM to DTM, the 5-years journey for whom:

a. Non CTM and non toastmasters
b. Bukit Batok TMc, Nee Soon South TMc, Leng Kee Mandarin TMc
c. Un-learning, Re-learning enthusiastic speakers.

Sponsoring Club and mentoring clubs since 2001, when I started my journey on public speaking, my life has really changed. Looking back, I have no regret as I could go beyond and above my abilities in achieving almost anything. I have learned how to control that 'oops' or 'aha' effect each time when I stand in front of the crowd. 5 years ago, I was invited by my "Money and You" classmate, Ms Juliana Fook who was already a member of Bukit Batok Toastmasters Club. I thought, a Toast-Master Club was just like another MLM or Pyramid seminars.

On that night, I was surprised when I arrived at the Bukit Batok Community Centre. I received a very warm greeting from the SAA. I thought as a guest, we were supposed to listen and not to participate in meetings. When the SAA started the meeting by asking every individual in the room to introduce oneself, I realized that everybody are required to say a few words or speak up.

When it came to my turn, I thought everybody was supposed to present one self in the shortest time possible. I stood up and spoke for about 3 minutes. I told the audience that I was a guest for the night and had no knowledge of the protocol of the Toastmaster's meeting. Next item on the agenda was the subject on the basic of a prepared speech. It has a well structured format where one can practice public speaking.

We need to break the ice. This was PROJECT ONE called the Ice Breaker. It teaches us to introduce ourselves to the audience. As a speaker, we are often carried away by our own emotions. We don't have to prepare very thoroughly what we want to present. You have to introduce yourself by breaking the ice using 3 key ideas or good points to the audience within the 4 t0 6 minutes.

PROJECT TWO calls for speaking with sincerity. By speaking sincerely to the audience, you can move them emotionally and also mesmerized them with your speech. A professional speaker always uses simple words and simple topics with3 basic key points. Sitting in a 2-3 hours' meeting is no laughing matter. If the meeting has no agenda, or so-called structure, the meeting will drag on for a long time and thus bored the audience.

PROJECT THREE calls for "Get to the point". Unfortunately at some seminars, half the time, the speaker does not get straight to the point.

PROJECT FOUR is on "How to say it correctly" in public speaking and reading from script are world's apart. Writing a good speech and speaking well or delivering a good speech are totally different.

PROJECT FIVE is headed "Your body speaks". We also have to use the hand, body language and eye contact. Speakers in each project, the speeches are evaluated based on the objectives laid down in the manual.

I did my CTM within a month when I first started. My Club President and Executive Committee could not believe me it. I told them I had that "aha" and "oops" in me. It was that simple. It boils down to personal discipline and attitude. For me, I am a very focused person. You can say, I am a dog-and-bone man, relentless in the pursuit of my objective.

I achieve what I wanted to do. Toast-mastering is a self-propelled journey of learning, un-learning and re-learning about self-awareness and self-actualization of one self.

The world needs toastmasters to motivate, to encourage, igniting the positive energies. After I became a member, I started my journey as a SAA, then gradually became the VPPR, Vice President of public relations and VPPM, Vice President membership. From the appointments, I learn the roles and responsibilities of each role . These roles are equivalent to the real life-role out in he real world. i.e. the chief marketing officer, chief operations officer, etc. Eventually, I became VPE and finally the President of the Club. Along the way, I learned that each role is unique. This is what we call self-leadership-training skills. From here, I graduated to become the Area Governor. It is here and year 2003 that I achieved the DIVISION B, TOASTMASTERS OF THE YEAR AWARD under District51, Toastmasters USA International. It was really exhilarating for me. That year also saw me achieving the Spirit of Enterprise Honoree 38 Award and also the E-merits, E-global Entrepreneur Awards. If we want to advance ourselves to be a good leader, we should go step by step.

After I became the Area Governor B 2 of Division B, we achieved the President Distinguished Area in the year 2004 under District 51.This was a sheer two years of hard work, fellowships, fun and commitment. It also makes me think that everything is possible if you have the WILL and SHEER DETERMINATION. The most important thing is FOCUS on what you really want to learn .That makes me a very different person. I also learn how to mentor and sponsor new clubs and new members. To me, Toast-mastering is a way of learning how to be a good public speaker and a better Leader.

BY DTM Edmund Chew
Bukit Batok TMC, Nee Soon South TMC, Leng Kee Mandarin TMC