Voice of A 60+: 2013-12

2013/12/31

New Year Resolutions

I had my hair permed this afternoon in order to wow golden ladies at the New Year Party hosted by Toastmaster Trini Ding at her karaoke lounge Wednesday morning, the first day of year 2014!

For 2014, my resolutions are as follows,

1. Know two local plants in depth. Two plants (shell ginger and bald cypress) were studied extensively and intensively in 2013;
2. Talk to three strangers everyday by asking three people on the street to take a photo of me or with me!
3. Make five pop-up and illustrated books. Two books (A Pleasant Journey to the Earth--The Center of the Universe & The Big Mouth) were handmade in 2013.
4. Read 200 books;
5. See 200 movies;
6. Make 500 friends;
7. Register 100 articles on this blog;
8. Perform 10 shows on stage;
9. Travel in two foreign countries,
10. Stay young and passionate!

2013/12/18

From ATM-B to ACS

I received the award confirmation from the headquarters this morning. My ACS (Advanced Communicator Silver application) was processed and the packet will be shipped to my address shortly. It was a giant leap for my Toastmasters journey. Many thanks must to to Toastmaster May Hwang for submitting the application for me!

After joining in Toastmasters in May 1986, I took it easy to complete my communication manual. I got my CTM on July 26, 1993, and my ATM-B on April 4, 2001 (Public Relations. Communicating on Television). Then I took a long recess before I thought it was time I applied for another educational award with two advanced manuals: Interpretive Reading (the blindman's hat 12/21/2000, the belle of Amherst 8/10/2004, the plum in the golden vase 3/19/2005, the romance of western chamber 12/15/2005, UNICEF 9/2/2006) and Speaking to Inform (create new dimensions 3/14, 2001, top of the world 4/8/2001, Mediterranean osculation 6/9/2001, Constitution Rewrite-Article 9 6/13/2001, Study, family and life 12/16, 2004).

In order to get ACS, I submitted two recent workshops from Better Speaker Series (BSS) and Successful Club Series (SCS), including "How to be a Distinguished Club" from the SCS at Grand's Installation Ceremony in July and "Using Body Language" from BSS at Grand's New Members Orientation in November.

The packet arrived with a congratulatory letter on achieving ACS from Daniel Rex, Chief Executive Officer.

Better Speaker Series (BSS): Beginning your speech/Concluding your speech/Controlling your fear/Impromptu speaking/Selecting your topic/know your audience/Organizing your speech/Creating an introduction/preparation and practice/Using body language

Successful Club Series (SCS)
Moments of truth/Finding new members for your club/Evaluate to motivate/Closing the sale/Creating the best club climate/Meeting Roles and responsibility/Mentoring/Keeping the commitment/Going beyond our club/How to be a Distinguished club/The Toastmasters education Program