Sylvia completes CC including an R-rated rendition of Goldilocks

1. Award(s) from Toastmasters International to date
Just Competent Communicator

2. Most challenging speech or project
The first one – Ice Breaker.  It was had to talk about myself to complete strangers, strive to not make it too boring, and just in general get over the fear of speaking in front of people.

3. Most memorable speech or project
Project 5 – Your Body Speaks

I used the traditional children’s tale of Goldilocks but gave it a very twisted ending that surprised everyone in the room.  I had a lot of fun practicing for that speech, especially in front of my son, who warned me the speech was a bit too violent and maybe my friends would be scared.

4. Where do you feel you have most improved leading up to your award(s)
I have gained a lot of confidence.  I’m more willing to speak up in group settings other than Toastmasters whereas before I would just have kept quiet.  I still get butterflies before a speech, but I’m not frozen by them.

5. What advice do you have for members of rdu-toastmasters working towards similar recognition
Just keep on going, practice, practice, practice.  I like to practice my speeches aloud in the car while driving to and from work, the clock in the car acts as my timer.  Practicing out loud lets me play with voice levels and change out words that look good on paper but just don’t flow when speaking.

Interview with Michelle Y on her new CC

1. Award(s) from Toastmasters International to date:

Competent Communicator (CC)

2. Most challenging speech or project:

The last one “All about Chocolate” – I knew I was so close but I was struggling with finding a speech topic. It took me a while to realize that a speech is simply telling a group of people about something you are interested in. Finally, I came up with a fun speech about chocolate using the resources I got from a special chocolate exhibition at the North Carolina Museum of Natural Sciences.

3. Most memorable speech or project:

The speech “Best Lecture” for the “Speak to Inspire” project

It’s about the last lecture given by Randy Pausch, a computer sciences professor at the Carnegie Mellon University who was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given 6 months to live (he passed always last July). It was the most inspiring speech I ever heard. I really wanted to share it and felt that I can connect it to our Toastmasters experience. It was a speech about overcoming obstacles. We all have obstacles to overcome obstacles, no matter it’s the fear of public speaking, or ems and ahs in our speeches, or other obstacles that keep you becoming a better speaker.

4. Where do you feel you have most improved leading up to your award(s):

Confidence – I still get nervous from time to time, but now I know how to calm myself down and quickly get back to the track before the audience notice it.

5. What advice do you have for members of rdu-toastmasters working towards similar recognition

At first, we are all eager to learn and grow. After the second or third speech, finding something to talk about could be challenging and tend to hold us back. Again, it took me a while to realize that a speech is simply telling a group of people about something you are interested in, and what to tell and how to tell are the elements of developing a speech. Virtually any topic can be interesting, narrow the focus to a particular aspect, and convey the message in a memorable way – then you’ve done another great speech and are closer towards CC.

You Are Beautiful

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Below is the transcript of a speech given by Michelle Y on 6/3/2009.

“A journey to self-acceptance is never-ending, but definitely worth the trip.”

Speech Title: You Are Beautiful

When I was a teenager, at about your age, look, there were lots of parts of my body I didn’t like during my teen years：my nose, legs, upper arms, etc and etc. You name it, and I hated it.

I thought a certain lip gloss, weight loss and a pretty pair of shoes would make me feel beautiful, or lift my spirit. But, in the end, it still rises and falls with compliment or criticism.

At lunch so many girls talked about how they dropped a size. It’s not only at lunch. It’s everywhere, on TV, radio, internet, magazine, people spent so much time talking, and thinking about weight loss, body and clothes. So I learnt from them and only ate so little. I spent a lot of time looking to others to build up who I am. When I broke up with my 1^st boyfriend, I thought it’s because I was not tall enough or I was not pretty enough. But, in the end, I found it was actually up to me to decide my level of satisfaction and worth.

As I grew up, life stays interesting…. I graduated from high school and went to college. I traveled overseas and met so many great people who gave me inspiration. I work hard and make my colleagues and my company proud of me. My focus switched from what my body look like to what I do, because what I do, not how I look, really says who I am.

I got married, and now I’m expecting my first child. I gained a lot of weight, but personally, I felt even more confident in my body and myself. Everywhere I go, people would look at my pregnant body and instantly smile. I don’t know if I remind them of something else or if the mere image has such a positive effect on people. Either way, somehow I felt that it made their day a little bit brighter, and I felt beautiful. See? I do not need to look like a runway model to be beautiful. My curves that support life and allow me to give birth are beautiful. My strength to push through discomfort for the sake of another life is beautiful. Women are capable of bringing new life into this world, and our bodies, of all shapes and sizes, make that miracle happen.

What you do reveals who you are. What’s the best way to really change the self-esteem? Do something that uplifts your spirit. It’s not that we do each of the things perfectly; it’s that we did them at all that matters. Live your life out loud. Live it truly and put yourself out there. Not everyone will like you. Nor should they. But if you like yourself and design for yourself a life worth living then that’s what really matters.

I want to tell you another story, the story about my high school best girlfriend. We grew up together complaining about our body flaws. She used to be ashamed of her big thighs. As she grew, she became smarter b/c she learnt to focus on something she was good at: she became a terrific basketball player, softball player and dancer. Those flabby thighs she once complained became strong and toned. They carried her through dancing and playing sports, and even more, they carried her though life and made her a confident and beautiful woman.

As I speak, you might be thinking, “I’m not sure if anything you said could change my mind.” Friends, not me, were the most influential people in your life, at least at this moment. Their opinions outweighed mine. Only friends, not me, know what you are feeling, right? I know what you are talking about. Because I was just like you. When Mom or big sister taught me about self-confidence, most of the time I went back to girlfriends. Because they were the ones sharing body flaws with me. They knew my pain and complained as much as I did.

It took me a while to see the wrong with that. What good did it do any of us to sit and bash ourselves? It only helped us feel worse. We hated ourselves more and more, and we helped each other do it. Then it hit me: the way to feel good about ourselves had to be the opposite!

Next time when girls at lunch eat lettuce and talk about how they dropped a size, change the conservation. Remind yourself not to get caught up in that and talk about more positive topics. I wish I could go back in time to do this myself. You don’t know this now, but you will be a positive influence on others in your class. Don’t obsess over your weight or the size label on your jeans. Stay positive and let the little things go.

Don’t stress about the little things, like losing your 1^st boyfriend or friends who say mean things to  you. There will be more boyfriends and better friends.

And, please, please stop comparing yourself to others. Stop looking at your friend’s bodies and wishing you looked like them. You are a beautiful girl with a beautiful body. You might think your bodies are not thin enough, your arms or thighs are too big, but they are strong. Start embracing your body now. It’s healthy and strong, and you are beautiful.

Common sense to financial freedom

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Below is the transcript of a speech given by the current VP of Membership given on 6/3/2009.

COMMON SENSE TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM

Have you heard the news? The economy is in the tank! If you’re not worried about your finances now, you’re worried that you’re going to have to worry about your finances pretty soon! I’ve attended many Continuing Education classes on financial management, but never have I had these basic financial principles put to me so clearly. I’d like to share with you the five secrets to financial freedom. This isn’t a get rich quick scheme, more like a lifestyle change. These are five simple things you must do to see a tremendous difference in your financial status. You’ll be much better prepared the next time the economy takes a downturn, and you know it will.

1. Keep good records
Ignorance + easy credit = disaster, wouldn’t you agree? That’s part of the reason we’re in the mess we are in.

There are four things you must keep good records on:
1. what you owe
2. what you own
3. what you earn
4. where it goes

You might be tempted to say “I don’t have time to do all that”. But I say to you: If you have time to worry about it, you have time to write it down, key them into a spreadsheet, use Quicken, whatever feels comfortable for you, but do it.
You have to know where your money really is.
Remember, money does have a way of talking when you’re not paying attention, it gets up and says bye-bye.

2. Plan your spending, yes, this means budgeting!
“Plan carefully and you will have plenty, if you act too quickly you will never have enough” Impulse shopping anyone? Did you know that the average American spends 6 hours a week in shopping related activities. That’s more than some of us exercise!
Here’s a mental trick to help you overcome impulse buying: if you’re tempted to buy something less than $100, wait & think about it for a day. If you’re tempted to buy something less than $1000, wait & think about it for a week. If you’re tempted to buy something over $1000, wait & think about it for two weeks to a month. You’re not telling yourself “No”, but disciplining yourself to resist the impulse.
As a borrower you are a slave to the lender. You’re not working for yourself, you’re working to pay off your debts.
Financial freedom is not determined by how much you make, it’s determined by how you spend what you have. You have to plan the spending so you can get out of debt.

3. Save for the future
It is a fact that we spend more than we make. The Chinese save an average of 30% of their take home pay, and before this economic crisis we saved an average of about 0%. According to Money magazine, we’re up to 4% now, so there’s some progress there.
You need to have saving goals. If this economic crisis has taught us anything is that we are not ready for the future, we are not saving for hard times, we are not ready for retirement. Get into the habit of saving. Start with 1% of your take home pay, set it aside the same day you get paid, and keep working your way up every few months until you get to at least10%.

4. Enjoy what you already have
Indulging in luxury will never make you wealthy, why? Because you’re spending all your money!
Things do not buy happiness, we all know it, but we still buy into the notion that the next gadget will make us happy
We are working longer hours than our parents did. Why? So we can make more money. Why? So we can buy more stuff.
Spend time with your family/children, doing something you truly enjoy. Make memories money can’t buy.
Think about this, if things made us happy, then the richest people in the world would be the happiest, but we know they are not.

5. Give tithe to God.
The Christian faith teaches us to bring back to God, 10% of what we make.
Ever wonder why? Because God is a banker? A loan shark? No, it’s a matter of obedience. The purpose is to put God first in our lives. But this command comes with a promise, in the book of Malachi we are told that if we bring back the 10% God will open up the windows of heaven for us and pour out all the blessings we need. It goes on to say to TEST God on this one, see if it isn’t true! Personally, I’ve been testing God on this one for over 20 years and I have always had my needs met. Try it out, TEST IT OUT. Hey! God wants you to test it out! It says so in the Bible!

What I have outlined to you is the 80-10-10 financial principle. Learn to live on 80% of what you make, pay God 10%, pay yourself 10% (for the future).

You really can’t pick and choose which principles to follow, you have to do all five principles to make it work. It’s simple, a bit painful at first, but I guarantee that it works. If you don’t manage your finances they’ll end up managing you.