Opening Speech : LEADERS

LEADERS
Opening Speech for 16/4/2014

*This is my first opening speech with PowerPoint slide presentation. So photos I put here were in the slide*

Do you know where this photo was taken?

Yes, you are right! Klebang, Melaka. Few hours before this photo taken, 3 of us, together with another 5 more toastmasters were in KotaPharma company.

Toastmasters from Johor, Melaka & Seremban in KotaPharma, Melaka, on 4th of April 2014.

We did a one hour and half demo meeting for around 80 exec of the company. Demo meeting means, we run a meeting like we are having right now and at the same time, being observed by them; for them to know more about Toastmasters and how a regular meeting is run.

During the Q&A session, an audience asked a very interesting question. He said, “By having this kind of meeting, we speak; so we can become a better speaker. But how this meeting can make you a better leader? Since Toastmasters International’s motto is, ‘Where Leaders Are Made’?”

Haaa.. so ladies & gentlemen. Why you think the motto is where leaders are made, not SPEAKERS are made?

From this photo, in a group of ducks, usually we see it has ONE leader. In this club, only ONE president, it is me. Only ONE Area Governor, only ONE Division Governor. These are leaders, but how about the rest?

I am the leader of this club since I am the president, but in a regular meeting like we are having now, who is the leader?

Toastmaster of the…. Evening. TME.

Let me share with you another two Toastmasters meetings I attended last week.

This photo shows the few minutes before the Triple Joint Meeting started. This meeting consisted of Malacca Toastmasters Club, Advanced Premier Toastmasters Club from KL, and Singapore Recreation Club from Singapore. For this big event, it must have only ONE leader and the leader of this special meeting was, the Toastmaster of the Day, our Area Governor, Debra Watters.

I learn a lot by observing the meeting and by working with her, since I was the Sergeant-at-Arms (SAA) of the meeting too. More than two weeks before the meeting, she already sent the email, asking & finalizing speakers and role players. Not enough by emails, she called and sending SMS for better communication. 15 minutes before the meeting started, she came to me and asked, “Ain, you are the SAA, and you know what you need to do, right?” Feeling nervous, I summarized my understanding, “Welcome them, start the meeting, ask them to silent the phone, and invite President for Opening Speech, right?”. And she proved it by adding, “make sure you use the gavel and knock it ONCE. Only ONCE”, by demonstrated it too. That was what she briefed me. I am sure she did the same thing to ALL role players BEFORE the meeting started.

She controlled the meeting and everyone. And the meeting run smoothly. With 6 project speakers, 6 speech evaluators, and 10 table topic speakers, the meeting was a success, led by the TMD.

We might say, “Of course she can do this, she is an experienced Toastmasters. Advanced Communicator Gold & Advanced Leader Bronze, few years in Toastmasters, visited a number of Toastmasters clubs, and an Area Governor too.

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is not about EXPERIENCE, it is about how much you put your effort to lead as TMD of the meeting. How structured your work is and how well you communicate as a leader.

Let me share with you the second meeting I attend the next day. It was in Kolej Vokasional Perdagangan, in Larkin, Johor. This cheerful meeting, with so many people, actually was their 5th meeting. Only 5th! It is a new club, VComm Toastmasters Club. Of course they have less EXPERIENCE but the meeting run smoothly. It was started on time and ended on time, and the leader, their Toastmaster of the Day controlled the meeting efficiently. He introduced the speakers and role players briefly, not taking so much time but still full of excitement. He played the role as TMD following the standard practice of a TME, and that is why, the meeting was also a success.

So, ladies & gentlemen, we don’t need to be an experienced Toastmaster to become a good TME or TMD, or leader. We are here to practice the essence of leadership by taking up the role in every single meeting. This is the place for us to do mistake, learn and improve.

Today I talk about the leader of the meeting, TME. How about the rest?

•       Speakers – you lead others with the message in your speech
•       Table Topic Master – you lead others by encouraging them to practice impromptu speaking
•       General, Speech & Language Evaluators – you lead others by motivating and offering suggestion for improvement. You inspire people to become a better person.
•       Timer – you control the meeting. When you tell others, they need to stop talking, they need to stop. You are the KING! (The timer’s name was Raja, means ‘king’ in Malay”)
•       Ah-Counter – when you say, “you had 5 time fillers”, people believe that they had 5 time fillers
•       Members – Aristotle said, “Who cannot be a good follower, cannot be a good leader”
•       Guests – Ladies & Gentlemen, we need leadership in our daily life. Talking to our kids, our friends and our colleagues, we need any component of leadership.

So WE ARE LEADERS!

Ladies & Gentlemen, Now I would like to call upon the LEADER of today's meeting, our Toastmaster of the Evening. He is not only can speak Malay, English, Punjab, but also Thai! Please help me to welcome, our Toastmasters of the Evening, ACB Bachan Singh!