Captivate my audience

There is an unlimited amount of information in the world. Whenever I come across useful information, I asked if I can convert them to knowledge. If I can, how do I go about doing it? One proven way is by reciting it and reapplying it. Today, I saw an article on how I can captivate my audience. Here are 3 points on how I can keep you engaged as I speak:

1. Craft a take-away line

When someone can't make it to a speaker's session, he will ask others who were there this question: "What did the speaker talk about?" What they say you said is your take-away line. You would like people to walk out with that nugget.

What I have learnt: People might have a different take-away from what I've intended. But I have deliberately inserted 3 morals from my toastmasters' journey and a summary at the end of my speech. But take-away lines are important as they add value to the audience.

2. Write for the ear, not the eye

Experienced writers know that every medium and project has its own language, cadence, style and structure. Don't write the speech to be read. You need to write your speech so that when people hear it, they get the message.

What I have learnt: I am a dynamic speaker who adds a flavouring of vocal variety into my speech. As such, I always re-read my script thrice so that it sounds nice, with a tinge of spice.

3. Make rough drafts first and polish later

Don't needlessly pressure yourself by trying to write the perfect speech at the outset. The best speeches come only after many many re-writes.

What I have learnt: This is an Achilles' heel I need to work on. I have the material in my mind, but writing it down is something I never liked. Procrastination and perfectionism took the better of my life. I need the spark to get myself alive and to learn that writing it down is akin to having the fuel that lights up the fire.

WIN, WIN, WIN

A triple win. Many thoughts are running through my mind as I tried to calm myself down after an overdose of adrenaline injection into my body.

Winning the Humorous Speech Contest
I was crowned the humorous speech champion yesterday. Before winning the contest, I was so afraid that I would not be able to do well. Three phases of thought went through my mind: (i) I feel like quitting because I was so not prepared for this contest, (ii) I have to give it my best shot, because I have given a promise, and (iii) I have to remind myself that it doesn't have to be perfect, because this is my story that I want to share.

Winning the Evaluation Contest
This win came as a pleasant surprise. Afterall, I was competing against 6 other competent speakers and this was my maiden attempt. But I know that behind every success lies the countless number of failures. I reviewed the work I have done - trying my hands at evaluating advanced speeches, doing 5 club visits, video-taping my evaluation and working on my flaws one at a time. It was the perspiration behind my aspiration that did it.

Winning our Future together
One do not really 'win' a future. When I said that this is a 'win', I refer to the success we have at the Built-To-Order (BTO) flat selection exercise. Such an exercise is never easy. Plunging ourselves into the property market and yet being priced out of the resale market means that we left our fate in the hands of the Government's BTO scheme. With some luck and much recce, reading and research, we finally managed to lay our hands onto our dream flat.

Fried Rice is a Paradise

I watched Fried Rice Paradise on 20th Aug at the Esplanade. It was the inaugural performance and I am glad that I enjoyed the musical very much.

This Singaporean musical was set in vibrant Jalan Calamansi in the 1970s, inhabited by colourful characters. There is Bee Lian whose father owns a coffeeshop selling fishball noodles. Together with her friends Girly Danker and Johan, she has great plans to transform her shop and attract more customers with her mother's famous fried rice recipe. Unfortunately, their plans are foiled by an evil father and son tag-team that have even greater plans to transform Jalan Calamansi into a thriving entertainment hub.

I like this muscial because:

1. It was free. My fiancee received a pair of tickets from her friend. A check with the website shows that it would have costed a PAssion /OCBC Card holder $54 per ticket. [$51 for a discounted CAT 5 ticket + $3 SISTIC fee]

2. It brought back elements of early Singapore nostalgia, as the stage equipment includes shophouses, brightly-coloured discothèque and an old Community Centre.

3. It was my first time entering the Esplanade. The exterior facade of the Esplanade has always impressed me. That evening, I was further impressed with the interior architecture of the musical hall.

4. The musical is easy to understand, as it has been 'cooked' with a tinge of Singaporean spice.

5. The transition between each stage setting is smoothly executed, leaving no time for the audience to sit and ponder into the empty spaces.

6. The door gift came as surprise. It was a free Fried Rice gravy packet with instructions on how to make the best fried rice.

'Fried Rice Paradise, Nasi Goreng Very Nice'

SALT - Exposed

Salt is a 2010 American action-thriller film starring Angelina Jolie as the lead actress - Evelyn Salt. Evelyn works as a CIA agent. However, she is a KGB sleeper agent. When her cover is exposed, she goeson the run to try to clear her name. Her CIA superior is also an agent, though his cover was not exposed. He even implicated Salt so that he can be the 'hero' as these KGB agents tried to infiltrate into the United States administration and start a nuclear war by launching nuclear missiles at Mecca and Tehran.

People go to all extents to prevent their cover from being exposed. Their actions range from sabotaging their close friends to killing innocent lives. Are there such vicious people in reality? Or are people actually born good-natured, only to walk down the wrong path filled with sins? How important is it to protect your identity?

Is your Jar Full?

A Professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him. When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students if the jar was full. They agreed that it was.

So the Professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full. They agreed it was.

The Professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course, the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full. The students responded with an unanimous "Yes."

The Professor then produced two cans of beer from under the table and poured the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the sand. The students laughed.

"Now," said the Professor, as the laughter subsided, "I want you to recognize that this jar represents your life.

The golf balls are the important things - your family, your children, your health, your friends, your favorite passions - things that if everything else was lost and only they remained, your life would still be full. The pebbles are the other things that matter like your job, your house, your car. The sand is everything else - the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first", he continued, "there is no room for the pebbles or the golf balls. The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff, you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

 Pay attention to the things that are critical to your happiness. Play with your children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner. Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house, and fix the disposal. Take care of the golf balls first, the things that really matter.

Set your priorities. The rest is just sand.

When he had finished, there was a profound silence. Then one of the students raised her hand and with a puzzled expression, inquired what the beer represented. The Professor smiled. "I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of beers."

When things in your life seem almost to much to handle, when 24 hours in a day are not enough, remember the mayonnaise jar... and the beer.

I have a disorder

I am still in daze. Afterall, I have just discovered that I have a sleeping disorder - nocturnal bruxism.

Most bruxers are not aware of their bruxism. In many cases, a sleeping partner or parent will notice the bruxism before the person experiencing the problem becomes aware of it. In fact, I was never aware of my problem. For I have never woke up abruptly to find myself grinding my teeth away. One possible theory is that I grind my teeth only when I am deep into my sleep.

Bruxism can result in abnormal wear patterns of the occlusal surface, abfractions and fractures in the teeth. Over time, dental damage will usually occur. It is no wonder that many dentists have told me that I have some form of dental damage due to the grinding of my teeth. I thought the straightening of my teeth with the assistance of orthodontics will cure the problem, but the truth is that it might only ease the problem by aligning all the surfaces in a straight line.

Conflicting articles have cited bruxism either as a reflex chewing activity or a habit. Wikipedia argues that it is the latter. Reflex activities happen reliably in response to a stimulus, without involvement of subconscious brain activity, and bruxism does not. All habitual activities are triggered by one kind of stimulus or another, and that does not make the habit a reflex. During sleep, the subconscious processes become active, while the higher control is inactive, resulting in bruxism. Therefore, researchers classify bruxism as "a habitual behavior, and a sleep disorder."

I do not know what the next step is for me. But the first step I have taken is to understand and accept that I am SICK - I have a sleeping discorder. The only thing I can take consolence is that bruxism is one of the most common sleep disorders and I am not alone.

Chez Papa French Bistro

Everyone's life is different, because it's filled with personal experiences. My recent personal experience was a 'staycation' in Johore Bahru. During the 'staycation', we decided to reward ourselves with some good food. And so, a simple search lands us in Johore Bahru's most raved-about restaurant - Chez Papa French Bistro. Chez Papa French Bistro is a restaurant located near Plaza Pelangi. Therefore, in terms of its location, it was well-placed to capture the sights of both Malaysians and Singaporeans. Afterall, you can't miss this restaurant along a busy road and within walking distance to a shopping mall.

We ordered a total of 3 items - escargots (half a dozen), cordon bleu, and sirloin steak. Escargots tasted yummy, mainly because of the herbs and oil they used. Cordon bleu was stuffed with chicken, turkey, ham and cheese, and was complemented with pasta as a side-dish. I would rate this as the best dish for the evening, for the fact that it was it wasn't easy to master a delicious dish that will not dis-integrate with so much meat stuffed and well-wrapped. Sirlion steak was just a tat above average. It failed to impress because the steak was medium-rare in the centre and medium-done at the sides.

The total damage was MYR 121 (SGD 52.16). I figured that it wasn't exactly cheap, considering that we are on the cheaper side of the Causeway. But well, I can proudly boast to tell the world that I have tried the #1 restuarant in JB.  I can only figure out 1 reason why this is the #1 restaurant - the rest of the restaurants in JB are simply mediocre, for this restaurant will merge into the crowd if it enters the Singapore market. Although I can't exactly figure out this restaurants comes up tops amongst 37 resturants, it still remains a fans-favourite such that the waiter had to turn down guests who did not make any reservations, for the resturant was full.