Dear CHICers.

Happy Chinese New Years.  Many of you have already left Beijing, or at your company’s annual party.  It made this today’s Toastmasters meeting quite special.  The small audience did not fail to provide the sense of belonging, and the warmth of fellowship.  I am glad to see that that more members have made their decision to be more passionate, more involved, and more giving.  Thanks to the burning passion of our excom team: your leadership and example has made all the members believers in our mission and values.

As always, I want to encourage every role taker, major or secondary roles, always to find ways to make the role shine, always to use the chance to improve a specific part of your speaking and leadership.  This is what will make us one of the best Toastmasters club in Beijing.  

I’d like to thank Coco to take on the Toastmasters role on a day that she knew would have a low turnout.  I loved the metaphor of Spring to bring out your point.  Although isn’t Spring still so far away?   I still would like to see you work on speaking with more power and confidence.

Andrew, the timer, able to control the timing of the meeting.  Next time, please give the detailed report.  Reading a list is a great opportunity to practice projecting your voice, pause, pace, and enunciation.

Michael, ah counter:  You have shown much confidence and power on stage.  Now it is time to soften the edges, so that your words are easily received by the audience.  For example, replacing “you should do this” with ‘it might be better to do this” in the evaluation is a great technique.  Not only for speech evaluation, but also for inter-personal feedback.  Speak with the intention of helping the listener with a positive emotion.

Tim:  What a polished speaker you are.  I hope you open the email to read this.  To improve to the next level, we’re talking about subtleties.  Jeff mentioned the purpose.  This is still key:  “If you want _____________ then you should ____(your message)”.  I still believe that this is the fundamental part of a speech.

Ninan: Yeah!  First speech!  I loved your story, how you escalated the conflicts and drew us to the climax…Thought I thought the ending could be more dramatic.  Note what Vivian said:  please pay attention to the purpose of the assignment in the CC manual.

Lorraine: sorry: I wasn’t in the room during the Table Topics.  I was having a heart-to-heart conversation with Tim and Gale

Jeff: Don’t be intimidated when evaluating a native speaker like Tim or me.  You have valuable experience to contribute.  I thought your point about lack of purpose was on the nose.  You could speak more about that.  What did you think the purpose of the story could be?  How would you feel about the story if Tim told you that was the point of the story?  This is valuable information.

Vivian:  We will just miss you….55555

Crystal: I hope soon you will be able to attend the entire meeting.  We really miss your presence.  I definitely would love to open the meeting while seeing you in the audience.  As a GE, it is a tough job to come in right after the break.  I think maybe you (and future GEs) can also evaluate the roles and the meeting operation on how well we accomplished our CHIC mission and fulfilled our CHIC values.

Jon: funny as always.  I’m glad you came again, even with your job being so far away.  We’re counting on your contribution.  By the way, have I told you that you sound better when you can slow down?

My final comment is on how well we engaged with the members during the break.  I saw Yi proactively talking to a guest: very good improvement.  Let’s all work to open up our hearts.  Welcome the guests warmly and treat one another with respect, care, and compassion.  Let them know that what CHIC Toastmasters is all about.  We are the place to be in Beijing every Wednesday evenings!

Have a safe and happy holidays, whether you're in Beijing or not.

Hubert, President