E T 's Blog

Lessons from Tai Chi

2009-09-27T00:44:00.000-07:00

Excerpts from my speech at the Division A Humorous Speech Contest 2009

The Deer and the Tortoise

2009-08-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

I want to tell you a story of a Deer and a Tortoise.
The story of the race between deer and the Tortoise is much older than the familiar story of the rabbit and the Tortoise.
This story was written by a well known Chinese philosopher named Zhuang Tze.
Zhuang Tze lived during 400s BC, almost 2500 years ago. He wrote a book, only one book in his life time . There are 37 chapters in this book. And the story of the Deer and the Tortoise is from one of the chapters.
Once upon a time, the Deer and the Tortoise decided to have a race .
At the starting point the Deer was cocky.
“ I am the fastest animal on land. No way you are going to win” said the Deer.
So “ Bang” the race started.
The deer shot forward. After a short while, the deer stop. The deer said to himself “ I am the sure winner , why should I run?” . So he stopped running and take a slow walk. Then he heard a low voice “ Hei! be sportsman, do your best. You cannot stop like this. I am ahead of you.” Sure enough, as the deer looked up , he saw the Tortoise is actually in front of him.
So quickly the deer gave chase. With his long legs and fast speed, he soon over took the Tortoise.
As he was running, he looked forward, and he looked backwards. The Tortoise was no way to be seen. He thought he has out ran the Tortoise this time. So he stopped again. He found himself standing on top of a patch of green grass. As he was about to lower his head to take a bite at some delicious young grass shoot, to his horror, he heard the familiar voice of the Tortoise again. “Run, run, don’t stop. If you stop a gain you will be the loser”. Sure enough, he saw the tortoise was there again, several meters ahead of him.
So he picked up his heels again and ran as fast as he could. He said aloud to himself, “I cannot afford to lose to a slow crawling Tortoise!”
Finally the Deer came to about a few meters from the finishing line, the Deer has a strange feeling. “Hei, it is not possible for the tortoise to run so fast. I am a Deer. He is only the slow Tortoise!” sid the Deer.
He looked back. The tortoise was not there. “Sure,” he said to himself. “The Tortoise cannot be running so fast”.
As he was ready to take the last few steps towards tDe finishing line, heheard the voice of the Tortoise again ! This time, the voice was in front of him.
The deer looked up . To his horror, he saw the Tortoise just crossed the finishing line.
The deer was devastated. He conceded defeat and spent the rest of his life doing nothing but blaming himself for losing the race.
How did the tortoise won the race.
The Tortoise knew he never had a chance. So the night before the race he summon his entire family. He placed them along the entire route including one just at the finishing line. All Tortoise looked alike right. So the Tortoise is guaranteed a win even before the race.
Zhuang Tze, the man who wrote this story was a man who looked at life in a humorous manner. Yet his writing and thoughts have profound effect on Chinese philosophy of life till today.
So what is the moral of the story?
We can quickly list down what we learned from this story.
First from the part of the deer:

If you want to succeed I anything, do not take success lightly. Even when success seem so easy, do not take it as something that is guaranteed until you have crossed the finishing line.
To succeed , one must drive towards the set goal with tenacity. If the Deer has ran the race and finished it in one breath, he could have earned himself a chance to declare the race a fraud and give himself an opportunity to ask for a repeat race
There is no need to sink into self pity even in case of a failure. President Lincoln last 37 elections before winning one to become the president of the United States.

Now from the part of the Tortoise. The Tortoise succeeded because:

He strategize and plan his race with the stronger Deer.
He worked with a team.
He worked with the end in mind.

Do you see parallel examples in Toastmasters? Toastmasters Is teaching us exactly the same thing , right?

Don’t give up easily
work with the end in mind
Plan your work
Work your plan
Work with the team etc.

It is all there! What Toastmasters were trying to tell u is also written in an ancient book 2500 years a go !
Do you think the Tortoise has cheated? The tortoise sure did.
So after 85 years developing methodology to promote and improving public speaking, Toastmasters also places great emphasis on the Core values. One of the core values of Toastmasters is "integrity". Never cheat to succeed.

Walk with proven achievers

2009-07-26T00:42:00.000-07:00

All great masters learned from great masters before them. This is true in western culture , eastern culture, ancient cultures like that of Egypt, China, India as well as the modern global village we now live in.

It is no coincidence that all the emperors in the past sought the best teachers to teach their children. Or students of Great masters eventually become great artists , great craftmen or accomplished music composers themselves.

Every year parents sweat out in long queues trying to get their children into " famous " or " established" schools. When my daughter received her honours degree, I said this a rare accolade from a "world class university". Indeed , Nanyang Technological University, the university she was reading Biology, consistently ranked top half of the " best 100 University in the world" .

Why must we always learn from the best ?

Good teachers cut short our learning period and inspired us to achieve more.

So we have to learn from this and look for "good mentors" in Toastmasters. Mentors are not for life. Mentors are there only to get us to a good start. Just like Shaolin Kungfu, once you have learned enough, you must leave the mountain, get more experience in the field and constantly looking for a new mentor who will hopefully bring your skills to a higher level.

Some mentors positioned themselves as the yards stick of your success. You do what I did. Don't go too fast. They use their past experience as a benchmark for everything you do. When that limits or slows down your progress , it will be a clear signal that you should look somewhere else for inspirations.

My own motto is " walk with proven achievers". I want to be a good communicator. So I look up to established speakers or leaders with track records. They are my inspirations...... they can do more for me than a teacher can.

Of course , I will still be for ever grateful to all the mentors and teachers who have made me what I am today.

NTU Convocation 2009

2009-07-24T18:10:00.001-07:00

Getting ready for my daughter's convocation at Nanyang Technological University tomorrow. Father is more excited then the daughter.........I have a sweet taste of achievement. The feeling is more intense then that I felt at my own convocation 30 years ago at the same venue. Share my joy !

Taichi fan Dance

2009-07-15T01:13:00.000-07:00

I have been involved with this Taichi Group for years. Some of you might remember my speech at the Division A Speech Contest last year where I spoke about lessons from Taichi. This video clip was taken at the recent joint Installation Dinner of 8 Toastmasters Club in Johor Bahru.

Joint Installation 2009

2009-07-13T01:55:00.001-07:00

Joint Installation
Date : 11th July 2009
Venue: Austin Hill, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
Participating Clubs: 8
Attendance : 220 pax
The great performance on Saturday night prove the followings are correct

That Toastmasters train only "LEADERS"....we do not waste time training followers or "Supervisors" who cannot push performance to a higher level
That all toastmasters are leaders. ........once given a fixed time slot and 100% control of that time slot,will perform their best.......spurred on only by our total subscription to the Toastmaster Core Values R,I,S,E ....where E is for dedication to Excellence
That Toastmasters meetings can start on time and end on time, no matter...... how many clubs , how many strangers ( some of you were working with your co-worker for the first time , right?) are involved.
That Toastmasters learn best in team work and moments of enjoyment.......as Dr Ralph Smedley rightly put it.
That Toastmasters who reach out to test their skills in Communication, like taking part in this Joint Installation Dinner for 8 clubs, are handsomely rewarded...... every time.

Toastmasters clubs in Johor Bahru has come a long way. From a humble singular Johor Bahru Toastmasters club , the number of clubs has mushroomed. When I took over as the Division Governor, I had a vision. I called it vision 2020. That means 20 clubs with minimum 20 members each. That vision is now fast becoming a reality. We are at the verge of being able to form a independent division here in Johor Bahru.

Life passion

2009-06-30T18:20:00.000-07:00

Toastmasters taught me many things I did not learn from school.

When I was working for a Multinational European firm, I benefited most as a
Asian , the ability to speak up when needed.

Later in life when I begin to command more respect and have climbed to the
higher rungs of the corporate ladder, I gained from Toastmasters the ability
to set goals, make actions plans, and deal with people, including the
difficult ones.

Toastmasters is all about communication. Communication means we have to
interact with more than one human being. Communication skills are best
learned by working in a team. So I have always put emphasis on working
in a team even when sometimes working alone seems the easier way out. And I
continuously create opportunities for team work, sub committees, joint
meetings, conventions, and of late, the Joint Installation Dinner.

After 30 years of continuous membership, I make Toastmasters my passion,
my way of life.

Kluang Toastmasters Club 20th Aniversary

2009-06-26T14:50:00.000-07:00

20th June 2009

It was a night of nostalgia for me.

30 years ago I was introduced to Toastmasters by Ismail Noor from
Kuala Lumpur. Unable to find a Toastmasters club in Penang I formed a
club in my own office in 1980. This club still exists today as the
Butterworth Toastmasters Club.

Kluang Club recalled many of their charter members for this 20th
Anniversary. I was seated amongst them at the VIP table. Many spoke
of their sweet memories about the formative years of the club.

Good to build emotional stakes in the club........the club stay
stronger year after year.

E T Lee DTM
Once a Toastmaster , always a Toastmaster.

Followers Vs Leaders

2009-06-23T08:15:00.000-07:00

I learned something while helping to organize the Joint Installation.

There are two types of people; the Follower and the Leader.

Typically followers wait for instructions. They usually ask :
What should I do next?
Then ?
How do you want me do it ?

The Leaders , on the other hand ask:
What do you want me to do?
What is my mission?
What should I achieve?

Followers have many questions after getting an answer to the innitial question.

Leaders ask THEMSELVES the following question : Did I achieve what I set out to do?

Followers wait for recognition before willing to proceed to the next task.

Leaders are spurred on by the achievements they have made.

So are you a leader or a follower?

Did you come to Toastmasters to learn to be a leader, or a follower?

E T Lee, DTM

Joint Installation 2009

2009-06-19T15:38:00.000-07:00

Come July , it is season for installations again !
This year a total of 8 to 11 clubs in Johor Bahru decided to hold a Joint Installation Dinner. We are joining hands to

* create an opportunity to organize a gala Toastmaster gathering even in face of a severe economic downturn. Otherwise each club will risk a dismal turnout if they choose to organize such a dinner on their own.
* to showcase Toastmasters to our family, friends and potential members.....to share our Toastmasters experience
* To create another event where members can learn to work in a team. Toastmasters is about communication and communication is best learned in team work.

Now is the time

2009-03-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

Now is the Time !
We often speak of big plans. New year resolutions……Mow the garden grass…..Prepare the next Toastmasters assignment……
Very often these plans do not turn into actions. Resolutions were not worked upon….the garden is turning into a secondary jungle and you are still stagnant at the same assignment .
We all have wish list.
We want to be a better communicator. When that is not achieved.. ….. we add that in next year’s wish list.
We want to be a distinguished Toastmaster. When that is not achieved…. We add to the list again.
We want this, we want that. Eventually our list become that long….
Have we ever pause for a moment and take actions on those nice plans we have made.
Now is the time, we all take stock of what we are passionate about and make things happen.
Why is it so difficult for us to put our feet down and say the magic words NOW IS THE TIME, NOW IS THE TIME to get things done?
How often do you tell yourself that : “I want to be a good speaker” So when will you be a one?
Now is the time! Now is the time you make you plans come true.
How many time you told yourself : “ I want to be a Distinguished Toastmaster ! ”
Now is the time! Now is the time you should start working on the manuals, fulfill all the criteria for certification as a Distinguished Toastmaster.
By starting to work on it I mean get on with your next planned step .
So when is the right time to get on with your next project? Next meeting? Tomorrow? After this contest?
Now is the time! Now is the time you are youngest in your entire life. Yesterday is a goner. Tomorrow may not come. Or tomorrow the same circumstances may not exist. So now is the time you are youngest , strongest, healthiest and most passionate about what you want get done.
You probably think: we have a lot things to do. We cannot simply say NOW IS THE TIME to everything that come across our mind ? I agree that we will go berserk trying do everything at the same time.
I would like to leave you with a simple test to guide you on what you should do next.
Are you passionate about that item on your wish list ?
If the answer is yes, Now is the time to get on it.
Ladies and gentlemen…….when is the right time to do something you passionate about ?
Now is the time!

E T Lee without his internet connections

2009-01-02T01:35:00.000-08:00

I was experiencing intermittent interuptions to my internet connections since Xmas eve.
It was like Santa suddenly get bored and decided to play the magician on me--- now you are connected.....then you are not....then you are on again.......
If you are wondering why E T Lee, the guy who is always electronically connected suddenly ignore your Xmas greetings, miss the New Year skype " Year End " conference etc, be assured that nothing happened to me. Nothing happened to my mother as well. My mother is actually recuperating well.
To all of you who have spent part of the happy hours during the festive season trying to contact me, I say thank you. I feel honoured to have a friend like you. Your SMS messages warmed my heart.
I have started the year 2009 well, with so many warm messages from good friends. I wish you too, will have a great year ahead.
E T Lee

Is attendance important ?

2008-12-14T14:03:00.000-08:00

Is attendance important ?

Yes , of course attendance is important.

On the other hand, the importance of attendence should not be over emphasised.

Some clubs give special awards to individuals who have achieved 100 % attendence.

Lets examine what are we recognising these individuals for.

Dedication ? These individuals may be coming for meetings but never wanted to attempt any speeches or always ask for the same simple roles .
Diligence ? In respect of making themselves physically present , yes. What about actively working to achive their educational roles, participating in meeting roles etc ?

So the next time you want to give regcognition to someone for 100 % attendence, do consider whether the award will send the wrong signals to the rest of the club members.

Single driver bull dozer

2008-12-10T23:29:00.000-08:00

Toastmasters is not only a public speaking club. It is a communication club. After joining the Toastmastes program for a while, you will come to realize this.

There are many things we can get done alone ourselves. We are not learning such skill in Toastmasters.

We are also not trying to get things done alone in the Toastmasters either.

We have actually come to Toastmasters to learn how to work as a team. We are here to pick up the communication skills necessary to motivate a team of co workers to work for a common goal.

So even when we can perform the job alone , we involve the other members......so that together we achieve more.

There is no place for a "Single Driver Bull Dozer " in Toastmasters.

I miss Bali Convention

2008-11-30T02:08:00.000-08:00

36 hours before I was due to leave for Bali, my 84 years old mother fell and crushed her 3rd and 5th lumba vertebrae. I spent the next 6 days rushing to the hospital, rushing to business appointments , rushing here ,rushing there.

During this tireing week , I was swamped with SMSs from concerned Toastmasters who asked " Are you in Bali yet?" . " Which flight are you on? " And when they learned that my mother fell again , there was another round of SMSs to wish my mother speedy recovery.

I must thank the Toastmasters for their friendship. My own home club , the Johor Bahru Toastmasters Club, sent flowers to the specialist hospital. Thank you members.

My mother is now at home and recovering. With the grace of god , she has a slim chance of being able to walk again. Howerver I am thankful that she will at least be able to sit on a wheel chair.

I have always wanted to go to Bali. Not so much because I am receiving the President's Distinguised Division Award for the second time this Convention .

I like Bali, I used to go there to do consulting work on fish farms, mainly in fish farm design and nutritional regimes. Oh , I like the beaches and the temples. Well, I missed this chance this time. Looks like I have to take a holiday there on the next opportunity.

Vision 2020

2008-10-21T17:21:00.001-07:00

After we have achieved full division status at the end of my term as Division A Governor, I have a vision. I called it Vision 2020.

Vision 2020 simply means aim for 20 clubs and each club having a minimum membership strength of 20.

When a club's membership falls below charter strength of 20

meeting quality deteriorates
club does not enough members to play even the basic meeting roles
guests who visit the club do not have a good impression of the club and so normally do not even consider joining
the finacial status of the club is challenged. The membership collections simply cannot cope with venue and meeitng expenses.

When no action is taken , most clubs like this drift into oblivion. There are many examples of such clubs even within our own Division.

After we have attained the minimum requirement of 12 clubs to claim full Division status, it is logical to launch vision 20 20.

More clubs and more members means we have a larger pool of talents to ensure varied and stimulating meetings.

And should you sit back and reflect at this moment, you will realize that the primary objective of you joining the Toastmasters movement is to tap that intelledctual stimulus to spur you towards improvements in leadership and communication skills.

When we have the critical mass, meaning enough clubs and enough members,

meetings become interesting
clubs have enough participants and financial strength to organize bigger events
guests are impressed, and ready to consider joining the club

And all the clubs in the Division is poised for many years of fulfilling and rewarding Toastmasters programs.

Drama

2008-10-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

The idea of having a drama or sketch session as a time filler came to me sometime last year while talking to some members. They thought we "must " have "interview " as part of a speech contest.

We interview participants after the speech contest at club level. At the Area level we do the same. Then at the Division level we found ourselves interviewing almost the same few people again. Although we do try to vary the questions, interviews at division level often go without attracting any applause. Interviews become a mundane part of the event.

To fill up the lull between the completion of a speech contest and the time when the results are announced, we can be actually be more creative eg. have a humour session, someone do an advanced project like " talk show" , interview .....or do a sketch, as long as it falls within the objectives of Toastmasters

Well, I am happy that we had two sketches in a recent Division event. The results were astounding. The participants enjoyed it and the audience loved it.

It served two objectives:

show our members that we can do more than just "interviews" at speech contests.
As true Asians, we tend to be monotonous in the way we speak. We thought by having some drama in our programs, we help bring awareness to this probelm and probably also help to change that tendency in due time. We achieved a certain degree of success at this first trial. The participants were clearly seen trying their best to incorporate vocal variety.

We actually had two groups:

The first group had the scripts days before hand. They did well.
The second group were given the scripts on the spot but allowed to hold the scripts as they perform. They were asked to concentrate on vocals, like doing a radio show, except that it was almost impromptu.

Both groups did well, and the audience responded with thunderous applause.

What is a Speakerthon meeting?

2008-08-15T00:18:00.000-07:00

A " Speakerthon" is also known as "Marathon Speaking session". As the name implies, Speakerthon is a meeting devoted to speeches and evaluation only. The usual table topics session is sacrificed.

This is not a typical Toastmaster meeting nor it is a properly structured Toastmaster Program. Some clubs are organizing " Speakethon Meetings " for following reason:

The club is too big, there is not enough speaking slots

Most members are not doing manual speeches , so much so that the club is lagging behind on achieving DCP (educational) goals

However organizers and presidents should be cautioned on the following:

This is not a typical Toastmaster meeting as many of the usual meeting roles are not included.
Do not organise it thinking it is a "special" program equivalent to speech craft etc.

When many speakers are doing the same project in the same Speakerthon session, speakers can bench mark themselves by watching the performance of the other speakers. Otherwise they will have to wait till they participate in the next speech contest.

Division A is President's Distinguished Division

2008-07-29T10:20:00.000-07:00

Division A was President's Distinguished Division for the term 2007/2008.

I am truly elated.

This accolade is especially meaningfull to me for several reasons.

Firstly, I inherited a division that has been on the chopping board for years. This achievement is going to be the turning point for many of us here as far as the perception what we should do to stay strong as a division. I fulfilled my pledge when I took office as Division Governor ie. to make Divison A a full fledged division with minimum 12 clubs. We actually finished the term with 13 clubs. Wow! mission accompished.

Secondly, the good performance is almost across the board.....so to speak. 2 out of 3 areas were Preisdent's Distinguished, 5 out of 11 clubs were President's Distingushed. The award is only part of it. What is more important is that we were able to bring back that committment to excellence at every level- divison,area,club and to the level of individual members. Wow ! this is almost equivalent to " reengineering " of the whole division.

And thirdly, the last time we achieved President's Distinguished status was in 1998, when I was Division A Governor. Wow, I really feel good!

E T Lee

Vote E T Lee as your LGM for term 2008/2009

2008-04-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

District Officers,
Division Governors ,
Area Governor ,
Presidents ,
Vice presidents of Education,
And all delegates to the Penang Annual Convention,

Good Morning,

My mother fractured three of her left ribs about a week ago and she is still suffering from excruciating pain. As such I am not able to attend the annual convention this time. I will see you in the Convention in Bali.

Instead I take this opportunity to write to you from my blog and to convince you to vote me in as your Lieutenant Governor of Marketing for the term 2008/2009.

I joined Toastmasters in 1980- 28 years ago. In fact I mooted the idea of forming the first Toasmasters Club in Penang, The Butterworth Toastmasters Club , right in my office in Perai, Butterworth. Today this club is still thriving in Penang.

In 1997, I was the Organizing Chairman for the PANSEA annual convention in Johor Bahru. At this convention we organized the world's first District level Mandarin programs which included the first- ever District level Mandarin Speech competitions. For the last ten years , Mandarin programs have elvoved to become an important part of all anual and semi anual conventions in District 51.

Over almost three decades of being a Toastmaster , I have served as clubs officer at all levels. I was President of the Seberang Jaya Toastmasters Club in 1986, the President of Johor Bahru Toastmasters Club in 1995, just to name a few. I have conducted many Toastmasters educational modules and served in different capacities at Area and Division levels. I have in fact served as Division Governor for two terms ie 1997/98 and 2007/08.

I have never served as a senior officers at the District level. In fact, nobody form Johor has been elected to the District administration. We do not even get an invitation to serve in appointed positions.

I believe this is about time Toastmasters in Johor get the opportunity to go higher. You can help us to do that.

Please use your vote in your hand and VOTE E T Lee, DTM in as your next LGM.

Your have seen me worked diligently for the District in the 2006 Annual Convention in Johor Bahru. Some of you have heard me spoke passionately about issues that need attention at the 2007 Medan convention. So do not hesitate. Vote me in as your next LGM at this convention.

If you need further information about me you may visit

my Blog at http://dtmetlee.blogspot.com/

My Division A web site http://www.permas.biz/toastmasters

my Division A blog at http://groups.google.com/group/real-toastmasters

my photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/jbetlee

Or speak to me in person on skype , skype ID : feedtech

I reaslise that some of you may not be attending the Penang convention. If you are unable to go, please make sure that you make use of your vote through a proxy and VOT ET LEE, DTM in as your next LGM.

I thank you for your attention. If you vote me in this year, you will be assured that I will bring in a lot of new dimensions to the next district administration, member services and the long -awaited improvement in communication between District and the members.

Have a nice stay in Penang.

E T Lee, DTM Candidate for LGM 2008/09

Back to Basics

2008-04-11T10:11:00.000-07:00

Most of our clubs here meet twice a month and each meeting normally last for two and a half hours. That means we spend only about five hours a month on Toastmasters. It is a very small time slot indeed. And during that limited time we were hoping to be able to achieve what we came to Toastmasters for.

It is very important to be focused in what we do in order to achieve any degree of success in our quest to be a good Toastmasters. Any distractions (acitivities conducted in place of normal meetings ) such yoga sessions, treasure hunts, mountain climbings etc will eat away time we have allotted to Toastmasters. Such activities are not what we came to Toastmasters for !

We were drawn together by the desire to be good speakers and leaders. Lets just make sure that we involve ourselves in activites that will enable us realise those aspirations.

How big should a Toasmaster award be ?

2008-03-26T15:28:00.000-07:00

Some years a ago I organized a Toastmasters Division Level International Speech Contest in KLuang. The participation was good and I decided to give every participant something to take home to remember the occasion by.

A few days later, I received an email. One of the participants wrote and I quote " How can you give a pencil box as a prize to a winner of a Toastmasters Speech competition ? You are being disrespectful to an international organization." Incidentally this participant was not placed in the top three positions. Each of the top three positions receive a trophy and a certificate . All other participants , including Timers ,Tally counters etc received a pencil box each from me that day.

So what is enough as a token of appreciation ? How big should a Toastmasters award be ?

I have been instrumental in forming a few clubs throughout the 28 years as a Toastmasters member. When a new club is being formed , the treasurer usually do not have money to buy expensive trophies . I have seen a club in Johor Bahru that gave ,winners and participants a like , "just" a certificates all these years. Yet I have seen many of these "past" winners carefully framed up their certificates and hung them proudly in the most conspicuous place in their offices.

So, how big or expensive a Toastmasters award should be, before the recipient feel proud to receive it ?

In the last Toastmasters convention in Medan, the organisers felt a need to reward past leaders with big plagues, the kind that you have to hold with two hands to keep it steady. I met one such recipient in the airport on the way home. I expected him to hand carry his award because it was fragile. I asked " hey, you checked in your award ? you do not worry that it get damaged in the luggage compartment?

He relplied " I left it in the hotel. It was too difficult to carry."

The District must have spent a lot of money to get such an pague to his hands. What would have made him treasure this plague and at least take it home ?

I have no answer, If you have , please record your comments here.

Your ability to use the internet greatly affects your performance as a leader.

2008-03-19T21:39:00.000-07:00

There’s little doubt that the Internet has elvolved into an important part of our lives – providing instant communication capabilities and an almost bottomless source of valuable, up-to-date information on just about any topic.

In the recent general election, Malaysian saw how Opposition parties successfully used the internet to bypass the the mainstream media and reached the masses.

Toastmasters International has recently improved their web pages to include a lot of information and made communication with headquaters possible online.

The internet is indeed a powerful communication tool.

Yet , I still find some Toastmasters members, ironical to their enthusiastic quest to be better communicators, snub and shun the use of internet as an effective means of communication. In their mind , internet is only for the younger generations, for the computer savvy, and not for the serious guys. Anyone above 40 years old is not using the compouter, so they claimed. They give themselves a thousand and one reasons to feel good for being a computer illiterate.

Do'nt get me wrong. The purpose of this article is not to get you to start using the internet. The fact that you are reading my blog, you are already using the internet. So there is no need to preach to the converted. My intention is to share with you my experiences of using the internet in Toastmasters.

During this second term as Division Governor I have a effectively used the internet to communicate with a large group of members, some of whom are not too enthusiastic about using the internet at the begining.

1. Web page

I published a Division web page where I

list all Division activities under the heading Division Calender. This calender of activities is continuously and promptly updated, so members are kept informed what is going on in the Division
published thousand of photos on our activities ( they say pictues tell a thousand stories, it is true ! )
set up a " stop press section " to publish what is most recent, be it annoucements, past events etc
gave every club a link to their respective web pages, thereby giving them more exposure to publicise their club or to attract new members to their club.

2.Google group

This is actually an interactive web page where I allow members announce forthcoming activities, express their views on certain topics etc without help from the web master. Yes anyone can read and writye on this page as long as they have been accetped as a member of the group.
This is also where we accumulate the email contacts for all the members without the risks of spam mails.
This is also how we stem out looped spam mails created by members. In the past when the announcements were made by emails, any alterations ,comments etc made by any members will triger a long string of "mails when he user chose attached past emails". Sometimes the emails were soo many that one lost track of which was the latest. On the orther hand when an annoucement is made on the group, everybody read the latest from there. There is no loger need for looped emails.
I used googles group, there is also a host of other like the yahoo group etc

3. Skype

This is a free video conferencing program available from the web and I used it to communicate with specific group of Toastmasters on a regular basis .

There are several distinct advantages when using these programs

I classifed telephones, handphones, SMS etc as intrusive communication tool. They always ring at the wrong time and demand you to attend to them immediately.

When we use skype ,

we know who is on line and messages is instant,
larger file tranfer is possible
we can choose vedio mode where we can see each other
groups can be created in skype to allow group conference calls. I used this feature to dicuss with sub-commitees of certain groups of toastmasters on specific subjects. These web meeting can be scheduled, adhoc and on demand , as long as you can get the people on line.
this mode of communication saves time, and above all its free.

In the past , certain District officers asked me to give them a missed call so that they can call be back. By doing so, they thought they have taken away the burden of the cost of the call and I will be encouraged to call them more readily. If these officers are on line in skype at specific time.... there is no need to do this. And they can actually shedule conference meetings to be at top of things all the time.

We have come to the time when the ability to use the internet greatly affects our performance as a leader. If you want to be an effective leader these days, you just have to learn how to use the internet, and don't stop only at emails.

"Emotional Stake" helps membership retention

2007-12-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wonder why

some of your Toastmasters members are leaving the club ?
club attendance is dropping
many members are critical about club activities
members are not responsive to calls by club administration?

These are tell tale signs that the club is not doing well. And signs like these cannot be taken lightly.

Every Club is different. And there are many reasons that lead a club to this situation. I do not intend to dwell in an effort to give any club a " full medical check up". I just like to highlight one, ie

Have you ever thought of having a "Business Session" in your regular club meeting ?

Experience tells us that, given a voice on how the club is run, members build a sense of belonging , and they stay. They feel that they are part of the family and a part of the work force that build the club.

Club administrators must try to encourage members to build an "Emotional Stake" in the club.

If you look around in the District, you will see many members who remain in Toastmasters for decades. They align themselves with the sucesses and failures of their club. They are critical about the club when there are issues they do not agree, but they cheer the club on when they feel that the club is doing the right thing. You can say they " sink " and "swim" with the club they belong.

Sense of belonging is important in membership retention. I hope club administrators will give this some thought.

Have a Business Session in your regular meeting. Make this your 2008 New Year Resolution.

That ten minutes " Business Session" may be what your club really need.

E T Lee, DTM

Medan 2007 Semi Annual Convention

2007-11-20T08:21:00.000-08:00

Horas ! Horas ! Horas !
( Horas is a greeting frequently used by the Batak people of Medan, a word having similar meaning to Aloha used in Hawaii)

It was a great convention , awesome with abundance of Toastmasters magic !

I used to come to Medan more than two decades ago to sell stearic acids derived from Palm Oil. Medan has changed quite a bit since then, to the extend that I no longer know my way round.

On 14th of November, 2007, I arrived at Medan as a "rich man"----I had actually one million Rupiah in my pocket ! Although this is worth only about 370 Malaysian Ringgit (US$ 100) , nontheless the feeling was very good----at least once in my life time , I was a REAL millionaire.

On arrival at the convention centre, we were greeted at the Registration Counter by a group of cheerful Toastmasters wearing the "Ulos"- a local traditional handmade fabric. I considered the registration counter as the most important department when I was the Organizing Chairman for Pansea 97. The Registration Counter is where all the arriving delegates have their FISRT encounter with the organizers. This time at Medan, I felt welcomed and that helped to set my moods for the entire convention. The greetings, bags , name tags, coupons all readied for collection.........and the familar Toastmasters lingo.....it instantly switched my thoughts from tons of unfinished work at the office to the Medan Convention.

The Welcome Dinner impressed me with its rich and colourful cultural performances. Oh yes, the Ulos made the difference. When you wear the Ulos on one side of the shoulder, ie. on the left shoulder or right shoulder, it was supposed to signify whether you were " married" or "not married ". Quit a few of us decided to wear it around our neck. This was not because we were not sure whether we were married or not for the night. The Ulos kept falling off our shoulders, this was just a simple way to keep it in place.

As usual , Toastmasters conventions have a lot of awards. Sometimes way too much and overdone to the extend that the regcognitions of deserving achievers were somewhat diluted. I believe Toastmasters awards should be given to achievers to motivate them to achieve more, and not to commemorate a person or an achievement where no more improvements can be expected. In all, the awards part of the convention bored me. However, this gave me time to catch up with Toastmasters I have not seen for a long time, and to engage in my favorite past time ie. photography.

During this convention I have lost a cannon 55mm camera lens cap, a 85 G portable hard disk, some friends like Bapa Zacharias Adijuwono, whom I will not be able joke with in future conventions ....... and lots and lots of sleep.

Although I have also lost an opportunity to speak at the "educational session" to motivate Toastmasters of district 51 to use upto date but now common internet communication softwares to enhance their Toastmasters experiences, I was able to talk to many who are already using "Skype", "Google talk" , " Blogs", "Groups" and other softwares.

What have I gained ?

Lots of fellowship. Lots of new and invaluable Toastmasters ideas by sharing experiences with fellow delegates . And above all , the opportunity to set aside my emotional constrains and spoke my heart out at the District 51 Executive council meeting about the urgent need to take steps to protect the three key club officers, namely the president, the secretary and the treasure , from legal and financial risks arising from organizing a convention and to bring back the "ummp" to organizing Toastmasters conventions.

This is a convention that will bring back a lot of sweet memories many years to come.

I am ready for the next sologan in Penang " Ho Liau !", although I have to be careful about the intonation or how I should pronouce it. Pronouce it correctly, it means "good" or " very good". If the tone is not correct, it could means " finished".

"Ho Liau" Penang , and Penang "Ho Liau "!

( Ho Liau means " good or best " in Hokkian, a chinese dialact used in Penang)

Pictures I took at the convention: http://picasaweb.google.com/jbetlee/MedanConvention2007#