Does anyone else feel like this pandemic is a blessing in disguise? With the concept of social distancing and not shaking hands, etc, it gives Toastmasters community windows of opportunity to reinvent ourselves and practice new skill sets: online public speaking and presentation skills from crafting of speech contents, to speech delivering in front of the video camera and all the way through online technical set up, creating a unique Toastmasters online persona.
Bangkok Toastmasters Club had its first online meeting today (March 23, 2020) with the theme: windows of opportunity. 21 Attendees from diverse nationalities attended the meeting, ranging from Malaysia, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, and Wales.
The theme was exhibited throughout the meeting as technology allows the attendees from around the world to connect on a common online platform. We had 2 prepared speeches and 2 unclassified speeches. The Table Topics Maters, Lothar, created the questions based on the theme, they were::
What is the biggest opportunity that has ever given to you?
Given the current locked down, what opportunities do you create for yourself?
How do you create opportunities?
If you were given an opportunity to make one change, what would it be?
Why should you take the opportunity to participate in Toastmasters meetings?
What opportunity do you wish you had taken?
The meeting was concluded with Evaluation session and feedback from General Evaluator and Table Topics Evaluator. Voting was conducted where all the participants voted to select the best prepared speech speaker, topics speaker and evaluator, who were recognized by the presiding club President at the end.
The meeting went a notch higher with an inspirational speech from our District Advisor, DTM Paisal, who was present throughout the meeting.
We also received positive and encouraging feedback from many attendees, especially Toastmasters Ivan and Cherie from Malaysia, who were awestruck with the online version and shared their intent to try with their home club. In time of social isolation, Toastmasters has proven that we not only are there to support each other, but also innovate to keep pursuing our journey of excellence and camaraderie.
Best Speaker: Nam
Best Topics Speaker: June
Best Evaluator: Pichaya
