Area H1 Humorous Speech Contest took place at Room 201 of National Taiwan University (NTU) Gym. To my excitement, there was a grand piano at Room 201, a training room for NTU students. As soon as I saw the piano, I sat down to play a few familiar children songs for the audience to add joyful atmosphere to the humorous contest. Gina agreed to join the humorous contest at the last minute upon my invitation. Both of us are from Grand Toastmasters Club. I delivered my speech first, by greeting everybody "Happy Halloween", then told a story about my acquisition of Hubris Syndrome in Toastmasters. Gina talked about her happy aging journey in Toastmasters. I won the contest and Gina placed the second.
After the intermission, Christine Choi delivered her target speech "The Boy Who Cried Wolf" for Evaluation contest. Christine is a junior at Department of Electrical Engineering. She has been in NTU Toastmasters Club for two years. Believer it or not, she is only 18! At the first sight of her, I could tell Christine is a smart kid by her mannerism and her power to focus and concentrate. Christine has completed her advanced manual-Speak to Inform on probability. She wants to study computer science in the future.
Area H1 Humorous and Evaluation Speech Contest was a happy gathering of 15 toastmasters members, including six contestants, five judges, and one target speaker for evaluation contest. From piano prelude, two humorous speeches, one fable story, four evaluation speeches, we enjoyed a splendid Halloween afternoon in 2009.Humor on Hubris
Fellow Toastmasters, I have a confession to make. I'm nobody, but I think I'm somebody! I've got the Hubris Syndrome. It is incurable. I acquire it in Toastmasters.
Wednesday noon, September the 9th, Gina and I had lunch together. While we read the Apple Daily about President Ma handing the unprecedented natural disaster in southern Taiwan caused by Typhone Makarot, it was said that President Ma had the Hubris Syndrome.
"Arrogant, Attractive, Focus on personal image, Love public speaking...," Gina squinted at me, placed a checked mark from the beginning to the end, "Sherry, you also have the Hubris Syndrome."
Wow, that was not a compliment, nevertheless I was flattered just the same to be compared with handsome President Ma. In the evening, I told my dear husband about Gina's comment. "Honey, for the past two decades, you have always been on the top. It's time we changed position." "But, you told me you had acrophobia on our wedding night".
What is Hubris Syndrome anyway? It is an acquired personality disorder, among politicians and public speakers, George Bush, Margaret Thatcher, just to name a few. Just in case, you are not familiar with the psychological term, it's called the BIG HEAD syndrome in Taiwanese. Fellow Toastmasters, if you could please take a close look at your neighbors next to you, the Hubris Syndrome can be found among many TOASTMASTERS, especially the veterans, particularly DTMs.
After Gina's diagnosis, I saw my psychiatrist Dr. Dennis Brown, the following week. Dr. Brown looked sorry and said, "Sherry, it's hard to cure your Hubris at the moment, you're sexy and beautiful, people, I mean, men, follow your command, right or wrong. Wait until you're old and senile, nobody will pay attention to you. There goes your Hubris. Okay, my time is up. Here is my humble bill. "My god, the bill is outrageous! Why do I see a hubris doctor to cure my hubris syndrome in the first place?
Just about when I was at the crossroads whether to quit Toastmasters to cure Hubris Syndrome, obsessing in helping others (competing with others), saving the world (if not destroying the world), Past District Governor Harry Fong came to my rescue. He invited me to join High Performance Leadership (HPL) Program with him and International Director George Yen. Now you know how I got my Hubris Syndrome from. I told Harry that I didn't want to aggravate my personality disorder. It was not the right time to give a thought to HIGH performance of LEADERship.
Harry replied at once, "Hi Sherry, I have come a long way. It wouldn't be easy to get over it within a short while. Please practice Ho'oponopono to see if they help. When you feel the peace inside, you will soon regain your energy & power. If it works for you, please send the message to President Ma, too."
Ho'oponopono, what a funny name? Is it something like the Lamaze Technique to help the childbirth? Is it breathing in and out by chanting hooponopono? Being desperate to cure my Hubris, I surfed on the internet for more info on about Ho'oponopono. It's simple! Just repeat four mantras, "I love you. I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you". So I practice ho'oponopono with my life partner, looking into his eyes, searching for the dollar signs, and found the peace in me. Harry, it works!
But I'm still in a dilemma. Should I leave Toastmasters? Take it, Leave it? ......Oh, I'd better take it, because I still have one major task on my shoulder. That is to rescue Toastmasters from getting Hubris Syndrome.
So, I'm here to show you my big head problem. It is an acquired personality disorder. Chances are, you have it, too, if you are in Toastmasters long enough. Win or lose, I'm here to warn toastmasters about the dreadful Hubris Syndrome to make Toastmasters a safer place for all! Keep in mind that we are not somebody. We are nobody!
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