A Chief Judge--MOFA Toastmasters Club’s In-House Speech Contest

Seldom do I worry about Toastmasters contest rules, as I'm more of a speaker or an evaluator than a helper in Toastmasters. Year 2013-1014 is a learning year for me to know all contest rules in order to serve well as a chief judge or a contest chair upon request!

The opportunity to be a chief judge came sooner than later. I was invited to serve as a chief judge at MOFA's in-house humorous speech and evaluation contests Thursday noon, September 26th. I sent the contest rules to Education Vice President Weiling Chen in advance. We enjoyed a successful contest featuring three humorous speakers Eric Lahdekorpi, Vincent Liu and Pierre Chen; four evaluators Erik Lahdekorpi, Pierre Chen, Charles Teng, Sammy Su and target speaker Moses Mo, President of Galaxy Toastmasters Club.

All contestants were requested to fill out a certificate of originality and eligibility before the contest begins. A chief judge should not be a judge unless absolutely necessary. When contest is over, make sure that 1st and 2nd place winners fill out the notification of contest winner form. Make sure that the next level chief judge receives this form along with the each speaker's certificate of originality and eligibility.

At the club level, use five judges if possible. At the area level, at least five judges or equal representation from the clubs composing the area are required. At the division level and above, at least seven judges or equal representation from the Areas composing the Division or the Divisions composing the District are required. One of the judges must be a tiebreaker judge. This judge should be a member of a club that is outside of the contest jurisdiction; i.e. for a club contest, a member from another club; for an area contest, a member from a club from a different area, etc.

Three ballot counters and two timekeepers are required. All judges, timekeepers, ballot counters and sergeant-at-arms should be briefed before the contest begins. Judges sign the bottom part (below the dotted line) of their ballots. Contestant names are filled across the top of the ballot according to the draw of order. Along the side of the ballot are the judging items. When a contestant finishes his/her speech, write what the contestant's score to the right of each judging item and in the column for that contestant.

One minute of silence will be given after each contestant finishes his/her speech for judges to write down the score and to add up for the total score for that contestant. When the contest is over, keep silent till judges complete the ballot and fill in the bottom part. Only write down the choice for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place contestant, plus judge's signature and printed name. When the contest is over, turn in the bottom part of the ballot to the ballot counters, who will be collecting them. Destroy top part of the ballot at some location away from the contest site. Try not to sit next to or near any of the contestants. As the tiebreaker judge, every contestant must be ranked on the ballot, not only the three winners. The ballot will only be used if there is a tie for 1st, 2nd or 3rd place; otherwise, the ballot will not be used.

Only judges or contestants can make a protest. Protests can only be based on eligibility or originality. A protest must be made to the chief judge or contest chairman before the announcement of the winners is made. After that, it's too late. The contestant must be given an opportunity to respond to the judges on a protest regarding originality. Then, the judges will vote as to whether or not they concur. A majority vote of the judges is needed to concur.

The contest chairman will privately tell a contestant that he was disqualified on the basis of eligibility before the contest adjourns.

Timekeepers should start the stopwatch, when the speaker utters his/her first world or obviously begins speech with gestures or sound equipment. Lights/signals/flags for low, middle, and high times should be shown. Leave high light/signal/flag on; do not turn it off even if speaker goes over time. Backup timer keeps time in case primary timer does not pay attention or his/her stopwatch malfunctions.

Sergeant at Arms should secure doors at the beginning of contest. Nobody can enter/leave room until the contest is over and all ballots have been collected. However, if anybody insists on leaving/entering the room, they can only do it during the one-minute of silence between the speeches.

Oly the chief judge, a ballot counter or a timekeeper can bring the error to everyone's attention, when the announcement of the winners by the contest chairman is incorrect or in the wrong order. The contest chairman should be immediately interrupt while making the announcement and should be told privately by the chief judge what the correct order should be or why a contestant should not be identified as a winner.

Ballot counters go around the room to collect the ballots from the judges when the contest is over: Get the timer sheet from the timekeeper. Leave the room with the chief judge once all ballots and the timekeeper sheet is collected. The chief judge and the ballot counters should count the ballots in a different location other than the contest meeting room. Tiebreaker ballot shouldn't be used unless there is a tie. All ballot counters and the chief judge observe ballot counting to make sure no errors occur. Make sure to look at the timekeeper's sheet for any disqualifications based on time. Each judge's ballot must be signed. If not, the ballot is discarded and not counted. Use the Counter's Tally Sheet form to tally the score. Write the names of the contestants along the top of the form. Write the names of the judges along the side of the form. Don't write down the tiebreaker judge's name. Write the appropriate number of points given by each judge under each contestant's name. Then, add up the score for each contestant. If there is a tie for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place, follow the tie breaking procedures. Refer to tiebreaker ballot, only if a tie exists. Look for contestant names on tiebreaker ballot that are tied. The highest ranked contestant on tiebreaker ballot wins tie.

Once the 1st place contestants are determined, the chief judge will write this down and give it to the contest chairman. If any of the contestants went over time, write down that “a contestant was disqualified on the basis of time” but not the contestant's name(s).

Code of Ethics of a judge: 1, to demonstrate the utmost objectivity; 2, neither to time the speech nor to consider the possibility of under-time or overtime of a contestant's speech; 3, support the contest rules and judging standards, refrain from public criticism and revealing scores and ranking.

Grand Toastmasters Club's Apéritif Hour

Toastmaster of Evening Zoy Juang was curious about the favorite countries of assignment takers at Grand Toastmasters Club's meeting Wednesday evening, September 18th. My favorite country is China! It is big with many scenic and historic places to see. On top of that, I love Chinese food.

Before the meeting, there was a warm gathering to celebrate the Moon Festival (the 15th day of the 8th month) 2013, four days holidays from Thursday (9/19) till Sunday (9/22). Toastmaster Jimmy Wu donated three pizzas, Zoy brought vegetable salad and dessert soup, Helen made Tuna salad, I brought a can of spice tuna with a box of crackers from Thailand.

I cherish the tradition of Grand Toastmasters club, apéritif hour before the meeting . In order to warm up members and guests, Granders are enthusiastic to arrive early to set up the meeting venue and to bring food and drinks to share. Every member knows early bird can enjoy the apéritif hour to chat, to eat, to drink, and to catch up with members and to make new friends.

Being a Chinese, I love to meet up with family and friends at a table full of food and drinks. I am thinking about preparing a special dish to Grand Toastmasters Club meeting from now on while I'm the Area H1 Governor! Many thanks to Toastmaster Zoy Juang who deserves all the credit to take initiatives to make the tradition by bringing her best dishes to club meetings every time!

Sunrise TMC's in-house Evaluation Contest

It was a great pleasure to be invited as a judge at Sunrise Toastmasters Club's in-house evaluation contest Tuesday evening, September 10th. Many thanks to EVP Brighter Lin for giving me the opportunity to reconnect with one of the best Toastmasters clubs in Division H, District 67. It felt like yesterday when golden ladies Toastmasters Trini Ding, Kate Hsu, Pamela Yang and I joined Sunrise TMC's year end party in 2009 in the rain!

It was the first time I participated in a Toastmasters club's in-house evaluation contest of eight judges. They were Lawrence Huang, Division H Governor, Dawn Lin, Area A1 Governor, Yvonne Kao, Area C1 Governor, Harry Fong, DTM, Helen Chen, DTM, Michelle Fan, Juilin Chang, and myself, Area H1 Governor. If each judge were given 2 to 3 minutes to comment on the in-house evaluation contest, there could have been a judges' contest!

The target speaker is outstanding President Allen Lu from National Cheng-chi University. Allen made an impressive speech about how to cope with insomnia with valuable know-hows. Allen did an intensive and extensive research about sleeping problems in Taiwan. With the good support of statistics, Allen aroused the interest of the audience about the modern ailment. He used a couple of medical jargons, such as serotonin (a neurotransmitter that helps regulate sleep and appetite, mediate moods, and inhibit pain) and enkephalin (a neurotransmitter that is induced by exercise to suppress pain). As a pharmacist, I like Allen's informative speech to medical professionals . But to a Toastmasters audience, I wonder how many people could take home the medical terms of neurotransmitters except Dr. Lawrence Huang, the pediatrician at MacKay Hospital.

It was a good tradition of Sunrise that all club members join the in-house contest. Twelve contestants broke a leg after Allen Lu's speech. They were Edward Wu, Muriel Weng, Joe Lin, Thomas, Linda, Ellisha Chang, John Tsai, Vincent Chuang, Pamela Tung, Daniel Lai, May Liau, and Kelly Chen (in evaluation order). I was overwhelmed by the passion and enthusiasm to excel among young and energetic members of Sunrise Toastmasters Club.

After the in-house evaluation contest, I hang around with a few members for the second round at McDonald's. President Joe Lin was a good listener from the beginning to the end. I was happy to witness his growth in Toastmasters in the past five years, from a college graduate to a father of a two months old son. Nai-ling was excited about her new web work at Tao-yuan airport. She was eager to acquire Japanese language to serve the customers from Japan. While Kelly was hesitant about getting married, Vincent, Brighter, Joe, and I encouraged her to take the challenge to invest in marriage. If falling in love is an impulse, staying married is definitely an art of business. In marriage, not only does a Toastmaster become a better person, but he or she also make the better half a better person.

A Speech for Single Nobles at MOFA--Life 123

Upon the invitation of President Charles Teng of MOFA Toastmasters Club, I delivered the following speech at a special meeting Thursday noon, September 5th, to encourage single diplomats at Ministry of Foreign Affairs to get married and settle down!

Life is about setting goals since the first burst of crying. Whao, Whao, Whao......What a beautiful world in front of my eyes! Life began with the crying for love!

Let's begin Life 123 with Mathematics 101. How much is zero plus zero? How much is zero plus one? Yes, one is the starting number to infinity. One plus as many zeros following in the bank account as you wish, so long as you can stand on your feet. Health is No.1. You're No.1. Single is one. While single, invest in yourself to the best of your ability!

But it takes two to tango. One plus one is greater than two. That's the power of love. While in search of true love, we must be courageous to take the risk! Love is art, but marriage is life. Marriage is a bliss. Better late than never. A couple grow in intimacy and privacy. Take Ogre Shrek and Princess Fiona for example! After they find Mr. & Miss Right, they are happily married ever after!

In marriage, we learn to compromise with the better half more than we with our parents or colleagues. The relationship between a husband and a wife is the most important bond in human beings. When we are loved by our spouses, we learn to love others and ourselves. The feelings of being in love prompt us to achieve our best! In marriage, we learn to trust in others. From a stranger, our spouse becomes a family. From old family to new family, we entrust our life in another person. In 25 years of marriage, I give my husband a credit rating of AAA to pay my bills.

Three's company! Human beings are social animals. In Toastmasters, we learn communication and leadership skills in public. It's the public we interact with to gain our strength and energy. We give and take to complete life in the society. We spire upward in a group to feel high together as a team! Birds of a feather flock together to get the momentum to fly across the ocean!

From 1 (single) to 2 (marriage) to 3 (society), we are connected to the world! One is to stand on your feet, to invest in yourself, physically, mentally, and spiritually. Two is to get married, to invest in your relationships. Three is to involve yourself in the society, to invest in friendships. From one to three, one step at a time. Don't expedite the flow. Otherwise haste makes waste.

There is a Chinese saying, "when we reach the third age, we need old friends, old partner, and old home." Marriage is vital in human development. For those who are single, please be constantly on the lookout for your better half to complete you! Wish you a happy marriage ever after, and become a better person in the life 123.