C2 Speech: Organize your speech

Content:

Ladies and gentlemen, good evening. Happy year 2009.

I am not quite sure what may come up to you mind when it comes to New Year. For Chinese New year, I think most people would relate to the joy of receiving red envelops or the pain of giving too much of them. For New Year, I mean the one on January 1st, I would think of New Year’s resolution, and that’s exactly what I would love to talk about today.

I would love to start with the importance of New Year’s resolution. Why do people need New Year’s resolution? In the latest biography of Warren Buffet “Snowball”, there is a quote that really fascinates me: “Life is like a snowball. The important thing is finding wet snow and a really long hill.” We all know that success need time to escalate, and that pretty much explains the “long hill” part, but what if along the road we choose, there is no more wet snow? Do we change automatically? No.

In spring, flowers’ blooms make the world fragrant as you walk in the garden. In summer, crickets orchestra play their best symphony as you relax in the night. In autumn, fallen leaves paint the ground splendid as you relax in the forest. In early winter, geese form amazing pattern as you look up to the sky. Animals, plants, and insects, they all know when and how to change by their very own nature and instincts. Not us, we only change when we need to, are forced to, or when we determine to. That’s why we need New Year’s resolution, a best time to examine your life’s status quo and decide if there is still wet snow lies ahead, and if the hill is still long enough.

When it comes to New Year’s resolution, it’s all about goal setting. In goal setting, there is an easy criterion called SMART. SMART, S, M, A, R, T, each stands for a word. They are: specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-bound.

S, stands for specific. Your goal should be straightforward and emphasize what you want to happen. It’s the what, why, and how of the strategy. For example, instead of saying: I want to look better. I may try saying something like I want to lose 20 kilograms.

M, stands for measurable. As I just said a few seconds ago, I want to lose 20 kilograms is a perfectly measurable goal. The only thing I need might be a scale for me to stand on. Making goals measurable is very important, for we can only manage our goal when we can measure it. Also, in the process of change, those measurable differences could be strong motivators to help us carry on.
A, stands for attainable. Set goals have to be attainable when given accessible resources. I must be crazy if I tell you I want to look like Tom Cruise or have a built like Arnold Achwarzenegger, I believe most of you would think I am setting up unattainable goals. When I practiced my speech in front of my friend, he suggested monthly trip to Korea might help. My answer to his reply is that I may pretty soon show them the limit of modern medical surgical technology.

R, stands for realistic. People may get confuse between attainable and realistic goals, so what’s the difference? Attainable goals mean possible goals. Realistic goals mean proper goals. Having a flying carpet is unattainable to me, and losing 10 kilograms by tomorrow is unrealistic to me. However, this is not to encourage people to make up easy goals. Good goals should allow us to stretch some, but still allow the likelihood of success.

Last, T, stands for time-bound. Setting a time-frame for goals can help us work toward it. My experience taught me that my task will take only longer than the time I allow it to take, not shorter. I may delay a little bit, but seldom finish them earlier. For those goals that I haven’t set deadlines upon, to be honest, I never get them done. So please, do yourself a favor. Set a realistic deadline and stick to it. Things will be very different.

According to the survey done by Richard Wiseman in Quirkology, in 2007, among 3000 people who made their New Year resolutions, in the beginning there were 52% of participants that were confident of their success. But in the very end, only 12% succeeded. There was a really interesting finding suggested by the survey. That was New Year’s Resolution did have gender difference. For gentlemen, they were more likely to succeed when they focused on the rewards they would get after achieving their goals. For ladies, they were more likely to succeed when they have social support from friends or families. So, gentlemen, when setting up your goals, remember, carrots, not sticks. Ladies, please do get your goals go public.

May you all set great goals, have them achieved, and enjoy a SMART and fabulous year 2009.

Toastmaster.

-----

Suggestions
1. Pay attention to the pronunciation of Warren Buffet. Buffet has 2 different pronunciations.
2. Explain more about Buffet, as some audience may not know him.
3. Opening should be more enthusiastic.
4. Give examples of high achievers as Obama, and how they set up their goals.
5. Give more personal examples.
6. Speak slower.