Unlocking the Potential of BHP KL Toastmasters

On Wednesday, I was at Menara Southport in MidValley City, Medan Syed Putra Selatan, KL serving as a Speech Evaluator for one of four Project Speakers at the BHP KL Toastmasters Club meeting. 

I rarely hear a Toastmasters speech that truly impresses me, but Afizal's Ice-breaker completely broke that mold.

Still, the session had been highly revealing, clearly highlighting that the members require structured guidance, coaching, and mentoring to reach their potential. For an immediate remedy, I would strongly advise bringing in a Legacy Toastmaster to run a 'demo' meeting to establish the correct standard. 

Looking long-term, their best course of action is to engage Ahmad Fakhri and his team to deploy targeted interventions, specifically through the CWC and PWP programs.

Ultimately, the blueprint for improvement is clear; it is now up to the club exco to make the next move.

Photos of the said meeting:

A Toastmasters Homecoming

On Monday, I was at Menara Allianz Sentral, which is located in the heart of the KL Sentral business district on Jalan Tun Sambanthan, Kuala Lumpur, to attend my first meeting of the KL Advanced Toastmasters Club since I rejoined last month. 

It was a homecoming to a club I had been a member of, many, many years ago. 

Rohijas MD Sharif, being the VP Education and Toastmaster had kindly put me down as a speech evaluator for one of the two project speakers. [For those not familiar with the club's evaluation structure, it consists of three stages: the Lead Evaluation, where a designated evaluator shares feedback;   followed by the Open Evaluation, where other members briefly share their insights; and concludes with the Speaker's Right of Reply, where the speaker shares their takeaways and responds to the feedback].

He had also given me five minutes to promote my two public speaking books. [And I successfully finalized the sale of three titles, two TDIYS and one TPOYS]. 

I have to admit though that I was disappointed with my assigned speaker because she failed to meet the objectives of her speech which was about "Managing a Difficult Audience". I had wished she had delivered this speech with the solemnity it warrants. Messages of a serious nature should convey resolute authority and gravitas. And her irrepressible and ceaseless movements did not help at all. 

The above aside, it was really good to catch up with fellow senior members Rohijas and Philip Wong, who have been long-standing members of the club. 

Photos of the said meeting at Emspaced, a co-working space:

The Durian Got Invited to Toastmasters

On Wednesday, I boarded the KTM ETS train to Taiping, Perak – claimed to be Malaysia's first modern town – to attend the Taiping Toastmasters Club meeting that evening.

Fourteen Toastmasters turned up for the said meeting.

Ahmad Fakhri and I shared the Diamond Speechcrafting technique, followed by a live demonstration on how the new agentic AI, ADIWIRA app can help speakers craft, fine-tune and elevate their speeches with clarity, cogency and conviction. 

I also participated in Table Topics, the signature impromptu speaking session. 

Altogether, a delightful meeting, made even more memorable because they served durians! Wowee! 😋😋😋

And we successfully moved 6 TDIYS and 5 TPOYS. 

It is here in Taiping that we hit the 1,600 sales with respect to the Diamond book!👏👏👏

Special thanks to Aileen Oon and Taiping Toastmasters for having us at their last meeting of the 2025-26 term.

We returned to home base the following day. On our way back, we stopped at Changkat Jering for what else but durian!