Gurney-Hydro Toastmasters Club

We are often asked where we get the inspiration for our speeches. When attending a typical Toastmasters meeting, one will find the many varied topics on assignment speeches.   Some speakers even took an unusual spin on an everyday mundane subject and make them interesting for their listeners. So how do they find something to talk about week after week?   Here are our favorite methods. 1) Start a Journal Start of journal of speech topics, that is.   We’re not talking about starting a “Dear Diary, today is just another ordinary boring day…” type of journal.   The truths is, ideas can spring on us any time of the day and the only way to ensure you don’t forget about them later (which always happens), is to record them, either in a notebook or your phone. 2) Research Go online or the old school way – read.   Read as much as you can each day.   Read everything – the newspaper, books, blog posts online, social media posts – there are ...

We had an interesting topic last meeting – whether to mess with a treasured (some would say sacred) tradition or is it fine to innovate and create something new out of it? Masterchef UK judge Gregg Wallace certainly raised the ire of many Malaysians with his criticism of this beloved dish but on the other hand, he did encourage the creativity of others who have created their very own version of rendang chicken. Our Table Topics involved themes such as whether to embrace change or hold on to traditions and cooking/food in general.   Participants tried their best and had fun during the session. It was also a smaller meeting with just one person attempting the assignment speech.   This time we have our VPE, Jeremy Soh doing his overdue speech from the advanced speech – Special Occasion Speeches.   Jeremy’s first assignment was Mastering the Toast in which e honored our Queen S in a touching tribute to her contributions to the club. If you would lik...

"My English is not good." Coming from an Asian country where English is not the mother tongue, this is something that we hear all the time.  This has made a majority of the population, especially the younger generation shy away from doing any type of public speaking. The reality is, mastering English is not as difficult as most people think.  English, like any language, is something you get good at with practice and frequent usage.  It's not like history or geography where you memorize facts.  It's something that needs to be practiced in your daily life. Here are some our favorite tips that you can easily incorporate into your life to master English. 1) Read Anything in English This old fashioned method practiced by our parents' generation is still the most effective way to learn English.  If you don't think you're good in the language yet, start with something simple like story books and have a dictionary on hand.  That is your best friend t...