AmBank Toastmasters

Last Thursday evening, Ahmad Fakhri and I fulfilled a commitment we made some months ago to support AmBank Toastmasters Club. Great to catch up with Mah Foong Hoh, Jean Soong and Kala among others. As Chinese New Year (non-religious celebration) was just round the corner, the Sargeant-at-Arms had the whole place donned accordingly. Everything was red (a Chinese friend once remarked "The redder the better") and everyone received an orange as a door gift. How sweet! Miss President (Jean) even taught us some Mandarin and Cantonese greetings ... "SAN LAI FAI LOCK" and "SIN LIEN KWAI LUR". I do hope I got that right...

As the Grammarian, I asked the audience if they had watched Mulan. Some did. There was a particular scene I remember in the movie, in which the Emperor of China said, "A single grain of rice can tip the scale". What has this got to do with Toastmastering? Just as a single grain of rice can tip the scale, so does a single word can make or break your speech. This is not an exaggeration. Think about it. When you string words together, you get a sentence. Join these sentences, you get a paragraph ... and eventually, a speech. It's the quality of each word you use that makes all the difference.

Having said that, grammar is just one part of giving a speech. If you're not confident of your grammar skills, not to worry too much. The more you are anxious about getting it right, the more you stumble on the words. But if you are willing to take the risk of making mistakes in front of others (provided you're prepared), you have nothing to fear. Everyone can and will go as far as he or she is willing to work for!