The Organising Chair, Prof Datuk Dr Wan Zin (also our Past Division P Governor) talked about UPM achievement and support that the university has given to its toastmaster club. It’s glad to note that our COT was held in one of the most reputable university in Malaysia, which says a lot about how Division P wanted to chart its course this year!
In his Opening Remark, our Division P Governor Hakim Hamzah talked about sharing the wealth of knowledge because we are after all, here to learn from each other. And he ended with the grand introduction to the new brand of Division P logo, a symbol of strength and unity amongst its members, and as what he usually quoted, Fiat Sapienta Virtus or Manliness Through Wisdom (sounds familiar huh for some Old Boys).
Our COT was of course entertained by our very humorous TMA Hadzrin Shah who was already practising his humorous speech contest as well as gaining large marketing airtime for his proud investment on Iphone. If only Steve Jobs was there, he would have given him a brand new Iphone 4 for toastmaster endorsement.
Our beloved District Governor, toastmaster Thannimalai who recently earn the title Distinguished Toastmaster was indeed a polished speaker. He shared his 4 critical success factor: CARE (Competent Communicator/Competent Leader, Advance Communicator/Leader, Retention of Club & Recruitment of New Members, Extension of Clubs) and consistently reminding officers the concept of a servant leader.He end his speech with a very popular quote from Einstein, “A hundred times every day I remind myself that my inner and outer life are based on the labors of other men, living and dead, and that I must exert myself in order to give in the same measure as I have received and am still receiving...” and to work in a humble & simple manner to achieve greatness together.
I love the fact that there is another power lady taking up the District Governor role next year. DTM Sue Chan from Penang was indeed an idol to all those ladies out there. The fact that she opened her speech talking about Paul the famous octopus was already a plus point! She shared the five steps to success – 1) Have a Vision, 2) Set Goal, 3) Build/motivate team, 4) Monitor Progress, 5) Achieve and spoke with confidence and with so much power that inspire the officers to achieve greatness in Education award this year.
A toastmaster training session is of course wouldn’t be complete without tea break, and oh boy, the mee goreng was just fantastic so special credit to the F&B! When it comes to food, who would want to withhold the growling sound coming from the stomach! But it was indeed a great networking opportunity for some of us, and a luncheon to most.
The officers were then asked to break into respective club roles for a more detailed discussion about their roles and responsibilities in the club. I was assigned to facilitate the Secretarial role, something that I’ve not done but very familiar with. I must say that all the club secretaries were an active bunch and we exchange email addresses afterwards to make sure that all contacts are not lost, and secretarial best practices can be shared amongst the attendees.
The wrap up session by TM Palaniappa was the highlight of the day. I think the best take-away I had was on the ‘show me the light, and more light’ illustration where he shared the tips on successfully convincing potential members to join toastmaster, and retention of existing members to continue their journey in toastmasters. But of course TM Hadzrin was quick to point out that his marketing strategy fails to include Iphone application, which of course would serve a great purpose to toastmaster enthusiast :p.
Overall we had very positive feedback from all the officers who attended, and look forward for more training by TLI team :D. Till then
A toastmaster training session is of course wouldn’t be complete without tea break, and oh boy, the mee goreng was just fantastic so special credit to the F&B! When it comes to food, who would want to withhold the growling sound coming from the stomach! But it was indeed a great networking opportunity for some of us, and a luncheon to most.
The officers were then asked to break into respective club roles for a more detailed discussion about their roles and responsibilities in the club. I was assigned to facilitate the Secretarial role, something that I’ve not done but very familiar with. I must say that all the club secretaries were an active bunch and we exchange email addresses afterwards to make sure that all contacts are not lost, and secretarial best practices can be shared amongst the attendees.
The wrap up session by TM Palaniappa was the highlight of the day. I think the best take-away I had was on the ‘show me the light, and more light’ illustration where he shared the tips on successfully convincing potential members to join toastmaster, and retention of existing members to continue their journey in toastmasters. But of course TM Hadzrin was quick to point out that his marketing strategy fails to include Iphone application, which of course would serve a great purpose to toastmaster enthusiast :p.Overall we had very positive feedback from all the officers who attended, and look forward for more training by TLI team :D. Till then
More pictures coming up soon (courtesy of UPM)
Picture credit to DTM Tang Sum Chee
.jpg)
