A Veteran Toastmaster's Pun Poem

Strong in a short table speech,
Strong in a formal public speech,
Strong in a debate in groups or a vis-a-vis,
He is trendy and articulate, with humor.
He is an awesome speaker.

When he listens to the people,
Listens attentively and sincerely,
He gives comments and advices,
Always thinks in their shoes,
Encourages and draws conclusions
Constructive and beneficial,
He is a dependable mentor.

Traveling is his hobby.
Joys and sorrows with friends,
Housewarming in Idaho and Reston,
Phuket to comfort disastrous Tsunami,
Buffalo and Jilin for wedding parties,
And Taipei to cheer Natori dancing,
Berlin and Prague for finding new pals.
He is a globe trotter.　

Currently residing in Kitakyushu, his 3rd hometown.
He's found a fulness of the hearts in this blue colored town.
Port town, San Diego, his 2nd hometown.
He's surrounded by Toastmasters wherever he goes
Tokyo, Osaka, Kobe, Fukuoka, Kumamoto, even in Taichung
He is an international Toastmaster.

He hasn't finished finding his voice,
Not has he finished his walk
to be the person he aims to be.

By Rio Imamura, DTM, KitaKyushu Toastmasters Club

Remarks from Sherry: Rio is a charter member of Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club. He came support D67 conventions many times with family and friends. I am grateful he came to Taipei to cheer my notari dancing with Masaki Oshiumi and Eiji Kobayashi in November, 2006. Kitakyushu Toastmasters Club celebrated her 10th anniversary on the 21st of July, 2007.

Use the Language Right

I was invited to serve as the Language Evaluator by President Gordon Chu, Taipei City Government (TCG) Toastmasters Club, yesterday evening, the 24th of July. As a Taipei citizen, I felt honored that I could do something for the city government employees to hone their English language skills. In return, I benefited from the golden opportunity to listen to a array of eloquent speakers, Vic Row, Rita Hsu, Virginia Yuan and Chao Huang, at Room 406, Taipei City Hall.

It has been quite a while since I started visiting different Toastmasters clubs in Taipei. I am happy to meet with dynamic and enthusiastic members in the big extended Toastmasters family. Luckily and gradually, I become a professional Toastmasters of the Evening, Language Evaluator, Speech Contest Judge. While developing my sensitive ears, I make a bunch of buddies in Toastmasters.

I am not a native speaker of English. I started learning English when I was a 7th grader (Junior High School) like most students in Taiwan in the 60's. I improved a great deal of my English proficiency when I studied at the graduate school of LSU Medical Center in New Orleans for three years. Returning to Taiwan, I've kept using English in Toastmasters. That's where I acquire the essence and spirit of English language for the past twenty years.

No doubt we don't have the English environment in our everyday life in Taipei. People can use Mandarin only from dawn till dusk in the office and at home. English is supplemental, not essential. But, we live in the 21st century. We are equipped with all means of telecommunication power to build our own language learning environment. We can learn Swahili in Taiwan if we are determined, let alone English, the most powerful language in the world scientifically, financially, culturally, and politically.

Take Toastmasters for example, more than half of our members are non-native speakers of English in the world. Our Incumbent International President Johnny Uy, DTM is from the Philippines. He uses the language better than many native speakers. It is not difficult to imagine how hard he is still disciplining himself to advance his language skills. Use it or lose it. The more often we use the language, the better we can make friends with it.

Toastmasters is a good learning environment, in communication and leadership skills, on top of that, in the usage of English language. In addition to the club meetings, the Toastmaster Magazine is a valuable source for us to pick up the right usage of the language. Don't shelf the monthly flow of new knowledge of the Toastmasters language. If every Toastmaster in Taiwan can read and study the Toastmaster Magazine from cover to cover, I believe we not only can become a better Toastmaster but also a better English speaker.

Why not take the initiative to build a Toastmaster Magazine Reading Group in your club? Spend one or two hours a month with your group members to discuss the articles in the magazine. Apply all the words, phrases, sentences, articles, concepts from the magazine. One small step at a time today, we shall impress ourselves with our giant achievement tomorrow. Sherry

Grand 3-in-1 Party

Grand had to move when I left Taiwan Pharmaceutical Industry Association 13 years ago. Erick Suen shouldered the responsibility to find a new home for Grand. After meetings of meetings at different venues, Grand finally settled at Room 504, General Building, National Taiwan Normal University in 1994. Last month, Grand decided to move again to a new place under the same roof with China, Happy, and Excellence Toastmasters clubs at at Tsing Hua University Taipei Office.

A grand housewarming party took place Thursday evening, the 19th of July. The entire meeting hall was surrounded by tables covered with food and drinks. Many past presidents came to this significant occasion to warm the sweet new home, and to celebrate Grand's 32nd Anniversary and Officers Installation at the same time. There were about 80 participants in total, a full house of laughter and tears!

Kate, Michelle and I performed a clogging dance "Sweet Sweet Smile" during the intermission. Some people thought we were rehearsing, so they missed our wonderful performance. Some members, including Linda, were very much impressed with golden ladies' long legs in stead of our clogging feet. We were not allowed to put on our clogging shoes in order not to disturb the resting residents in the same building complex.

I was happy that I had a new record on my clogging history last night, that is, to clog on a wooden floor without clogging shoes on. Four months ago, Trini, Michelle and I had to clog on a thick woolen carpet with our clogging shoes on. But, the most memorable and exciting clogging experience was on the Mother's Day this year when I was invited to clog on stage covered with soap bubbles. It was like performing a figure ice skating, and surprisingly I didn't trip. After all these challenges, now I feel confident even when I clog on the moon!

What a serendipity! We found a male clogger in Toastmasters yesterday evening. It is like one good thing after another. Immediately after our entertaining performance, Albert Tsou, Incumbent President of Neihu Toastmasters Club approached me and complimented on our clogging show. Albert told me that he used to clog with Jennie a long time ago. And he decided to take out his clogging shoes from his closet to join us. I am sure Lydia would be happy to hear the great news, because the only reason Harry couldn't make up his mind to join the clogging clan was because of no man in the circle. Now we have one, on top of that, a senior one.

I can foresee, in no time, we shall have more than a dozen clogging toastmasters in Taipei. Clogging and toastmastering are meant for each other. They share many similar happy-go-lucky characteristics. Through clogging and toastmastering activities, let's march arm-in-arm into the future light-heartedly and noisily. Sherry

Communicating with Authenticity

If there is anything I could learn beyond Toastmasters, Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D., Toastmasters Golden Gavel Recipient 2007, is certainly the role model I would follow. After I read Barbara's inspiring answers to questions from Toastmaster Magazine June issue, I found them extremely valuable in my everyday life in the office and at home. Upon Sherry's request, I'm pleased to quote some of Barbara's answers which touched upon my heart.

Q: As an expert in human relations, what aspect of communication have you found to be most challenging for people?
A: We worry more about what we think we should say or (how we should) look rather than being authentic. Communicating with authenticity means that how you present yourself to others is who you really are.

Q: What is your advice to anyone wanting to become a better communicator?
A: Often, speakers make the mistake of trying to imitate other speakers. By doing this, they are unintentionally disconnecting from one of their greatest assets and one of the secret ingredients for being successful: their authenticity. People can sense when we are trying too hard, or faking confidence, or projecting an image that doesn't feel natural. People see us appearing inauthentic. It makes them uneasy. And we actually appear awkward or nervous.

Q: As a speaker and media personality, you are used to facing large audiences. Do you still get nervous?
A: I actually experience the opposite of nervousness - a tremendous surge of blissful energy!

Q: How do you prepare for a presentation?
A: For weeks before a presentation, I consciously tune in to the audience to which I will be speaking, I think about them, imagine them, feel them. In a sense, I begin a relationship with them. The real preparation is happening on the inside.

Q: What do you consider your greatest strength as a speaker and communicator?
A: I believe that when I speak, the message doesn't come from me, but through me. This may sound esoteric. But, I am not in the business of dispensing information. I am in the transformation business.

Q: How do you define success?
A: If we think the purpose of life is to do or get or accomplish, we will always feel like a failure when things don't run out as planned. If we look at life as a classroom in which success means growing into the best human being possible, we can begin evaluating ourselves and our experiences from a totally different point of view.

Q: If you could improve one aspect of your speaking style, what would that be?
A: It would be great to be able to remember every quote I want to use.

Q: Is there a speech you've delivered that you are especially proud of? Why?
A: I'm not a traditional or conventional speaker. I give "speeches", and I don't "write" speeches. I write a few words or phrases. I have certain things I plan to say, anchor points. About the "best presentation"? Hopefully it is always the most recent one.

Q: Have you ever "bombed" in front of an audience? What to tell us about it?
A: No. That would be impossible for me. I have been blessed to always be received with great enthusiasm. Lydia

A Wedding Toast--Father of the Bride

I have been joining the Golden Ladies' Study Group for a few months. With the encouragement from Sherry, I tried to adopt Laura Yeager's sample speech to write a blessing toast as my first contribution to the study group. Harry Fang, the bridegroom in my speech, is the Council Governor 1999~2000 and the recycled President of Legacy TMC 2006~2007. The bride, Lydia Lin, is from YMIC TMC and is also one of our study group members .

Good evening, everyone, I want to welcome you all to Lydia and Harry's wedding party. Thank you for coming, and I want to give my heartfelt thanks to those who came from the States, Canada, and HK. Your participation has made this event very memorable.

Words are not enough to say how excited I am that Lydia and Harry found each other. My son-in-law Harry is a wonderful young man. He is intelligent, well educated, determined, and hard working. Most importantly, he is caring. He has a great reputation among his friends and colleagues, and has won their respect, not only for his successful business, but also for his care for people. Lydia, my beloved daughter, working in a liaison office of an international import/export company, has a lot of qualities similar to Harry. They both pursue self-improvement and met in Toastmasters, a non-profit educational organization, where they learnt how to open their ears to listen, open their hearts to each other.

Lydia, my sweetheart, I remember how naughty and cute you were as a little girl. You loved to wear a bed sheet as a robe to pretend to be a princess. When you were 10 years, one of your homework assignments was to grow silkworms. I can never forget the astonishment on your face when you found yourself sitting on those lovely creatures because of your carelessness. Honey, your dream of a princess has come true. You will build a kingdom with Harry together. You will have a lot of happiness and memories to share with each other. Later, you will have happy hours observing the growth of silkworms with your children, but honey, don't forget to caution my grandchildren not to sit on silkworms!

Now, here is just a little advice for both of you before we drink a toast. Marriage is a life-long lesson. In Corinthians 13:4-6, "Love is patient and kind; it is not jealous or conceited or pound; love is not ill-mannered or selfish or irritable, love does not keep a record of wongs; love is not happy with evil, but is happy with the truth." Other than love, there are responsibilities and patience. There is no shortcut to manage a successful marriage. You are a lucky couple as you can learn from many role models like Uncle George Yen and Auntie Jorie Wu, and many lovely couples in Toastmasters.

So, all of your relatives and friends have come from far and wide. Every corner of Taiwan is sharing in your happiness. Without further ado, let's raise a glass and toast Harry and Lydia.

May your home be a sweet and peaceful one.
May God make many miracles in your lives
May you always be grateful for what our Lord has given you.

To Lydia and Harry!

kate

Toastmaster Magazine Reading Gathering in July

If a writer knows enough about what he is writing about, he may omit things that he knows. The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one ninth of it being above water. ~~Ernest Hemingway

Irene, the beautiful hostess of Toastmaster magazine reading gathering in July, selected three interesting articles from June issue. She invited Kate to lead "Want to Become a Wedding Speechwriter" by Laura Yeager, Lydia to lead "Communicating with Authenticity" Q & A with Barbara De Angelis, and me to lead "Get the Quote Right!”by Fred R. Shapiro. We met at Bookzone Restaurant, Friday evening, the 12th of July.

I was happy to take charge of "Looking At Language", and I studied and verified every single word in Shapiro's article in order not to just pin the quote on Twain, Shaw or Churchill. Unlike American counterparts, Chinese writers seldom use quotations in the beginning of an article. Maybe because they prefer to use well-known proverbs to reflect upon their philosophy of life. Maybe because there isn't a reliable reference book of quotations in Chinese on the market.

I went to Bookman Books, a prestigious bookseller of English textbooks in Taipei, to look for the three best quotation books mentioned in the article. I could only found an old edition of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. The new edition has been sold out. So, I was not hesitant to reserve a copy of Bartlett on the spot for my writings in the future. Obviously Bartlett is more popular here in Taiwan. Nevertheless, I don't mind keeping the recently published "Yale Book of Quotations" as a second resource, given that the editor Shapiro claimed it "the first quotation book to be compiled using state-of-the-art research methods to seek out quotations and to trace quotation sources, to verify and to reverify."

Just at the beginning of writing this essay, I followed Shapiro's advice to verify the famous quotation of American writer Ernest Hemingway. I was puzzled with the actual size of the Iceberg being above the water when I found some quoting one-eighth being above (Shapira, Wikipedia), some insisting one-ninth being above. Between eight and nine, I must go to Page One, the biggest bookstore in East Asia at Taipei 101, the highest building in the world, to know the right number one of these days.

No matter what, Chinese like both numbers eight and night. Eight is prosperity. Nine is perpetuity. I wander if Hemingway verified the correct proportion of iceberg above the water scientifically when he jotted down the highly quoted statement, or he just wrote it with "truthiness" literarily.

PS: When water freezes it traps air and becomes less dense, so it weighs less - about 10% less - than liquid water. That means it will float, but with only 10% of its mass above the waterline. That's the situation in fresh water. Salt water is denser and therefore heavier, and the density is also greater when the water temperature is close to freezing point. That means it can support more weight. So the proportion of an Atlantic berg above water is actually a little higher - about 14%. Sherry

A Wedding in June

Toastmasters Magazine June issue came late this month. I didn't get it till I went to Peace, a Japanese speaking Toastmasters club, Saturday afternoon, the triple seventh. My toastmaster membership is at Peace and the monthly is delivered to the club meeting venue, in stead of individual member's home. That's why I need to go to the club to get the magazine.

As soon as I got the magazine in hand, I spent two hours reading it from cover to cover at Cafe Ikari nearby. Not remembering which article I am assigned to lead in our Toastmaster Magazine reading gathering in July, I flipped though pages randomly, and read all articles in the following sequence.

1. "Toastmasters Serve the Poor on Mercy" by Mike Osborne, on page 6. I read it firstly because I hope I could learn a few tricks to bring laughter to the hearts of residents at a nursing home I pay a visit monthly. I believe heart is where health is.
2. "Out of the Past, Into the Future" on page 14. Among the six flags behind the boardroom, I could only identified four of them, US, Canada, the Philippines, and the Toastmasters.
3. "Distinguished!" on page 2, the viewpoint of International President Johnny Uy, DTM, inspired me as always.
4. "Letters" on page 4, I enjoyed reading other Toastmasters' opinions and comments.
5. "Chartering the Corporate Club: A Survey" by Shelia Spencer, DTM. Shelia is an outstanding writer who contributes regularly to the Toastmaster Magazine. I enjoyed reading her comprehensive survey about the newly chartered corporate clubs in 2006.
6. Financial Activities: Jan.-Dec. 2006, on page 26, I want to know where my membership fee is spent.
7. "Communicating with Authenticity", Q&A with Barbara De Angelis, Ph.D, Toastmasters' 2007 Golden Gavel Recipient, page 22, I want to know her more.
8. "Get the Quote Right!" By Fred R. Shapiro, page 20, Yale Book of Quotations must have something to offer. (Later, I found out this is it, the article of my responsibility!)
9. "The Toast: That Other Proposal" by Sandar Miller, on page 12. The article is short and to the point. I learn that the shorter the toast is, the sweeter.
10. "Want to become a wedding speechwriter?" by Laura Yeager, on page 8. I like the sample speech very much. It will be a good template for our future challenges.
11. "Landing My Dream Job" by Timothy J. Matson, on page 5. Grand Toastmasters Club's new President Steve Wang just retired from Air Forces in April this year. We are happy to be lead by a military person from our armed forces.

Now you know what my preferences are by the sequence I read at random. In fact, every article in June issue is of excellent quality. I am glad that golden ladies took initiatives to read the magazine monthly. And we agree upon our dress code of our reading gathering in "White" to read the month for wedding. Sherry

Lover's Day on Triple Seventh

Lover's Day falls on everyday on the calendar, if you take into consideration of all nations, cultures, and people on earth. From Valentine's Day on February the 14th, Tanabata (Japanese Lover's Day) on July the 7th, Chi-hsi (Chinese Lover's Day) on August the 19th this year. Everybody hails love, romantic love to be specific.

Chinese Chi-hsi and Japanese Tanabata are of the same Chinese characters and share the same legend. It is about a loving couple, transform into Altair and Vega, separated on the opposite banks of the Milky Way. On Lover's Day, they are allowed to meet each other once a year. After the Meiji Restoration, Japanese adopted Gregorian Calendar and Tanabata was celebrated on July the 7th. As Chi-hi in China is still celebrated on the 7th day of the 7th month, lunar calendar, therefore one more Lover's Day was born.

What does seven mean to you? Is there a special meaning in seven? In our life, there are seven days in a week. We work, play, and rest according to the cycle of seven days. While seven means lucky to Westerners, seven means love to Orientals. Bingo, three sevens come together on July the 7th, 2007. It is not hard to imagine many couples register their marriages on triple seventh to wish for a lot of luck and love to their unity this year.

Saturday afternoon, the triple seventh, I opened the Toastmaster Magazine June issue. When I read "Want to Become a Wedding Speechwriter" by Laura Yeager, I answered without a second thought, "Yes, I do". Firstly, I love parties. Wedding parties are the utmost. Secondly, I like public speaking. The toast at a wedding party is joyful, sacred and meaningful. Most of all, I love the blissful atmosphere around the happy newly wed.

In the past years, I've been invited to a few weddings as the master of ceremonies. I've helped the parents of the brides and grooms write their wedding speeches. But, I've never thought about being a professional wedding speechwriter. After studying Laura's Sample Speech—Father of the Bride, I found it useful and helpful. And I hope I could have a chance to write a wedding speech to bless the couple in love in the future.

Ironically, I watched "Desperate Housewives" with my female Toastmasters friends Saturday evening for the first time. We watched two series in a row of the housewives on Wisteria Lane for two hours. At home, it is playing on Japanese satellite TV weekly, but I never have the urge to watch it. I guess I don't have the mood to see marriages go sour throughout the years. But I am glad finally I had a chance to watch the 2005 and 2006 Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series-Musical or Comedy. Sweet, bitter, or sour, the taste of love depends on us. That's what I learned on this triple lucky day of love. Sherry