Public Speaking and Fish & Chips 🎤🐟🍟

Yesterday marked my fourth Toastmasters club meeting across three consecutive days.

This time around, it was a joint meeting of the ITF and Kajang Toastmasters Clubs. The venue was much nearer for me – at the Blue Reef Fish & Chips @ TTDI Kuala Lumpur. I was grateful to secure a speaking slot, where I delivered my project assignment, "The Sprint". 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️This was speech #953.

The title refers to my decision to actively continue making speeches – a commitment that has evolved into a 1,000-speech marathon. To reach this goal is, I reckon, an incredible milestone. 

To put it into perspective, delivering one speech every single week without fail means it takes nearly 19 years to cross the finish line. It truly is a lifelong marathon made up of many intense sprints! 🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️🏃‍♂️

What was supposed to be a standard meeting quickly transformed into a rigorous test of my focus and adaptability. I came mentally prepared for just one major task: to deliver my prepared project speech. However, due to a last-minute change, I was pulled in to serve as the Table Topics Evaluator as well. 

In the end, it was a high-stakes, fast-paced mental workout – especially since I flew completely without notes for both my own speech and the evaluations. The unique sequence of the meeting kept my brain running in overdrive from start to finish. 

Definitely, a dynamic yet demanding discipline.

To wrap up Saturday's meeting, my co-author who is from the Kajang club – the irrepressible Ahmad Fakhri – predictably did an amazing job as General Evaluator, and we were stoked to send three of our books (one Diamond, two Pearls) home with new readers! 🥳📖✨

Frightened, Fearful, Fragile: The Architecture of Connection

On Friday, I attended another Toastmasters meeting – this time at YMCA Kuala Lumpur – where I presented a prepared speech. 

I am indebted to NAWEM's Catherine Paul who connected me to Ranjina Jacob of YMCA KL Toastmasters Club, who kindly gave me a speaking slot. It means a lot to me because the speech "Frightened, Fearful and Fragile" represents my #952 speech! 

My speech reframes public speaking anxiety not as a sign of weakness, but as a metric of deep respect for the audience and the cost of achieving excellence. By openly weaving the raw realities of being "frightened, fearful, and fragile" throughout the narrative, I served as a living example of the message. 

When all is said and done, this reveals a speaker who views the stage not as a comfort zone, but as a crucible for constant self-challenge.

This is my personal opinion 👉. I felt that the whole meeting ambience was low-key and reserved. I wouldn't say that the members were rigid, and yet, the environment felt restrained. This is likely because most of the members present are relatively new and naturally finding their footing. 

However, the deeper issue seems to be that they haven't properly understood why things were done the way they were done, possibly because the foundation passed down by the club's seniors wasn't entirely clear, coherent or even complete to begin with. 

Having said this, of course, the club is free to choose how they wish to run their meetings. I note that my views may not be agreeable to others – and I accept that.

Yay-y-y! I'm delighted to have pushed out 3 more sets of my public speaking books (6 copies total across both titles).

Two Toastmasters Meetings in One Day

On Thursday, I attended two back-to-back Toastmasters meetings, one in PJ and the other in KL.

For both occasions, I was the General Evaluator. And at both clubs, I participated in Table Topics and was thrilled to be voted Best TT Speaker. Going two for two feels wonderful! 😁😁

At the IJM Toastmasters meeting, I was floored because it was not the IJM meetings I was familiar with during those days when I frequented them. 

This time, the enthusiasm, the exuberance, and the energy was palpable, penetrating, and purposeful.

There were four project speeches and three impromptu speeches on the lineup. And the speeches and evaluations were presented with great aplomb. 

I can't quite describe it, but the environment was ebulliently effusive. I felt it – I absolutely did – and I loved it. 

I really hope they keep this up because I'll be so glad to come back. 

Great meeting, IJM Toastmasters! 

Later in the evening, I was at the Metro Toastmasters meeting. Right in the pulsating heart of Kuala Lumpur. 

At Ramada Suites By Wyndham KLCC, No. 1, Lorong Ceylon in Bukit Ceylon.

Two project speeches and five impromptu speeches. It was a "quieter" meeting, but I was especially intrigued by the second assignment speech: Kwong Kang Choon with his presentation titled "Treachery of Love". It was deep, dense, and deliberative – the kind of multi-layered speech that you can't just listen to once, but really need time to sit with and digest. 

Overall, it was still an enjoyable meeting. And so grateful for the warm vibes!

I am thankful to be given the opportunity to promote my books and, altogether, from the two meetings, I sold six sets of The Diamond and The Pearls books.