best speaker award

It was a lovely surprise when I was voted the Best Speaker Award for the night only at my 6th speech, which I personally thought was not as well crafted as all my previous speeches.

I had succumbed to the evil hands of procrastination and this piece was written only this morning. I had a hard time deciding on a speech topic as the project objective is on Vocal Variety. It is easier to express vocal variety through story-telling, but I'm really lousy at telling stories. It is difficult, especially if the story is not a personal story. And more so when I have my personal goal to meet - to have a message for the audience to take home in all my speeches. This personal goal caused me to dump almost all the ideas I had in mind - to share about my bangkok trip or talk about change management

I was blanked out in front of my computer screen until I received this call from my good friend's mom which lasted almost half an hour till past midnight. The call made me so heavy in both my head and my heart that I went to bed with a blank word document on my computer screen. I almost gave up my speaking slot

After I woke up this morning, I decided to write an impromptu piece to link my thoughts on current affairs and a real true story. I would like to say a word of appreciation to Auntie for calling me last night. Thanks for providing me an award-winning speech material.

This is indeed a very big encouragement for me after receiving the Best Table Topics Speaker 2 days ago at IFPAS Toastmasters Club. I've always thought it much easier to do prepared speeches than table topics and I would rate evaluation as most difficult among the 3. Ironically, I received the awards in the reverse order!

***

Presenting my humble speech for your reading pleasure... there's always room for improvement.

Stop Complaining, Folks!

How many of you know that SBS Transit lauched a new campaign last week called the 'Flag the Bus Early' campaign?

This campaign is launched after receiving complaints that bus captains drove off from bus stops without picking up passengers.
How many people would prefer a 'Please Slow Down the Bus When Approaching the Bus Stop’ campaign?

In the midst of complaining, many people are not happy with the solution provided by the bus company because basically, the bus company is saying “Stop complaining! It’s not our fault for leaving without picking you up. It’s your fault for not flagging early.”

Many of us do not know that the bus captains are given a strict time-table to follow. They have to reach their destination within a time limit and they will be given demerit points if they are late. They will also get demerit points if commuters complain against them. In good times, they may just get less bonus. But in bad times, they might be retrenched.

Life is hectic and everyone is trying hard to make a living. Life is already tough enough for some people. Do we want to make life tougher than it already is?

There are always 2 sides to a coin in everything. Why are we always having a complaining spirit rather than a thanksgiving heart? When we are blessed with many good things, we become self-centred. This reminds me of a call I received last night from my close friend’s mother.

“Hi Jerlynn, I’m so sorry to call at this time of the night but I really need to ask you something. Does my daughter always complain to you about me?”

“What happened auntie?”

“She shouted at me just now and said that all her friends think that I’m a bad mom. She’s so rude! I’m so upset! I stay at home everyday to look after her kid. When she comes home, she just expects me to cook dinner. After dinner, she becomes a couch potato and leaves the unwashed dishes in the sink, expecting me to wash them. I want to retire early to enjoy life and not to become her maid!”

I kept quiet.

Are we all guilty of that sometimes? Do we complain too much? Do we take our family for granted? Why don’t we put ourselves in others shoes today. Be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to anger. Let us learn to appreciate others, especially our loved ones today. Let us illuminate others' life by being generous with our compliments and stingy with out complaints.

***