2009年5月22日 星期五

2009 Prepared speech contest: script

The 11th Edition
小修正不成一版,大修正(改超過一百字以上)就另存新檔,大修正共十次。

Hoping for Uncertainty
- Haishuo Lee-

“Certainty is beautiful, (pause) but uncertainty is more beautiful still.” (pause) The quote was by 1996 Nobel Prize winner, the Polish poet, Wislawa Szymborska. I did not understand the meaning of it at that time, no, not until I fell into desperation from predicted certainty, and found hope again in future’s uncertainty.

Mr Contest Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, 2 years ago, I met an old, wise-looking man in my friends’ house. He said he was a Master of the ancient art of Chinese fortune telling, Chiwei. To my surprise, the Master began to state many secret facts about me. As I was still amazed, he offered to tell me more. So, I told him the exact date and time I was born, and he closed his eyes and started to calculate. Moments later, he frowned and muttered: “No good, no good.” I stared at him in nervous anticipation, receiving nothing but silence. Suddenly he opened his eyes and proclaimed with authority: “For the next thirteen years, your life will be miserable, you will fail at everything, and great misfortune will be yours.”

Desperately destroyed by his prediction, I began to shout, “What can I do?”, “What can I do?” Again he closed his eyes. Again the answer came. “To change your fateful fortune you must become a monk, in a temple, until you are forty. Then, great fortune will be yours.”

I could remember nothing later said on that day. The only thing that I could remember was: “be a monk”, “in the temple”, “until 40”. 27 to 40! They’re the golden years of my life. I should be making money, chasing girls, and starting a great family. But now, someone’s telling me to be a monk! Me, monk? NO!

I was preparing for my graduate school entrance exam back then, and his words certainly crushed my confidence. I went home about midnight with all those “being a monk” sentences echoing in my head. I could not fall asleep, let alone study. I dragged my tired body and mind to the living room, sitting on the sofa, turning on the TV, hoping to find some comfort. To my great surprise, I found the solution to my miserable fortune on television. Where did I find it? “HBO, your home movie theater.”

A movie called “Paycheck” was playing on HBO. It’s a story about a scientist inventing a machine that could foresee the future. There were some lines in the movie that truly blew my mind and shone a whole new light. They went: “Knowing future would take away all other possibilities. You may think it’s good in the beginning for it provides such a sense of security, but you are wrong. Because if there are no other possibilities, there is no hope, and hope, is what we humankind can truly rely on!”

Like the spring wind that gently replaces winter chill, those lines took away my desperation at the thought of finding myself trapped in the predicted certainty. I stood up from the sofa and looked out of the window. I saw lights from many buildings glimmering in the darkness of the night. There seemed to be so many uncertainties should I choose my own destiny, and face the possibility of failing at everything before forty. However, those lines reminded me: as there were possibilities, so was hope, and hope, would be what I can rely on!

Starting from the very next day, I studied in the library from 8 in the morning to 10 in the evening. 2 months later, I not only passed the graduate school entrance examination, I championed all test-takers. Starting from that moment, I lay the compass of my destiny not on others, but on my own hand. Step by step, my destiny has led me here today, heading toward higher dimension. Whatever the result is, it’s not failure nor desperation, but success and glory!

I am not saying that being a monk is bad. Some girls like bald men. (Pause) But it’s just not for me right now. I am not telling you that “HBO” can always give you the answer, because I may have become a monk if the movie I saw had been “7 years in Tibet”. When we set our goals and strive for them, somehow the light of hope shall lead us to good fortune. “Certainty is beautiful, but uncertainly is more beautiful still.” Why? Because in those uncertainties, we can still hold fast to hopes! Yes! Uncertainly is more beautiful! Join me in embracing uncertainty and meeting the challenges and opportunities of this unpredictable world. Contest chair!

2009年5月13日 星期三

090514 Lesson from Dwayne Smith: Bringing out the winner in you

First thing: Thanks for someone who invited him.

Think about the time that you win something: feel it.
How do you do? by learning. How do you learn? by doing.

When you want the attention: prepare gifts.
We all are natural born winners.

Children walk, stumble, and walk again.
Positive belief leads to positive results.
Winning is tough but it worth it.
Tiger Woods practices 14 hours a day.

Three things you have to give to win: time, effort, dedication

Two things to give up: comfort zone, idea that it's going to be easy

Never give up: trying, belief, yourself, what you are trying to do

Have small victories to have big ones.
Take small steps then big ones will come.

Taking part is already winning.

The value of failure:
Something doesn't go right: there is a lesson.
My reponsibility to see why it's not working.
To find the lesson within the failure.
Stop blaming on others.

Investigate what the problem is.
Look at inside, then you also find solutions and answers.
It's yourself that is holding everything back.

From how god let this happen
to how we let this happen
to how I let this happen

what could I have done better?
What did the winner do that was different and creative?
Do I really want this job?
Do I really want to win?

Look at all the opponenets, and find the opportunities to learn.
The one who adds that "extra" will win.
Loss=lesson
What did I do wrong, and what others did better?
Adversity=advantage
Always take action!
Free e-book: give evaluaitons to dgs@dwayne
(the power of concentration)

2009年3月17日 星期二

090317 Feedback for prepared speech

Jenny:
1. Take away the "plot" part. eliminate the "I don't want to deprive you the joy of..."
2. For the movie,take away the "Texas chainsaw massacre", replace with sth more relate to "Monk": ex. 7 years in Tibet, Bulletproof Monk.

Ben:
1. Pause before start to play the fortune telling part to attract audience's attention.
2. When playing the fortune telling part, say everything slower and clearer to ensure that everyone can hear you.

Omega:
1. Dress formally in the contest.
2. Practice more. Need to make it more fluent.

Anne and Hollie:
Deliver your speech in front of other audience other than TM members.

Helen:
Add more impact and slow down/enlarge your gestures.

2009年3月3日 星期二

090303Prepared speech script: Uncertainty is certainly more beautiful

Do you believe in fate? Are you a person that would always consult fortune teller or tarot card before making any major decision? I was, but I am not now. That’s the story that I wanted to share with you today, a story about how I regain full control of my life.

2 years ago, I met an old man in my friend’s place. He was about 60 and claimed that he could foresee others’ future using Chiwei, which is the ancient Chinese fortune telling technique. He invited me to his place and promised me that he would offer his service free. I happily accepted his invitation, after all, who is not interested in knowing his own future? In two days, I was in his place. He brewed some tea. I told him the exact time I was born, and he closed his eyes and started to calculate. Moments later, he frowned and started to whisper: “No good, no good.” I was so nervous that I could only stared at him, waiting for any words that he would utter, but the only thing I could get was dead silence. Finally, he spoke again: “your destiny would be miserable for the next thirteen years, you could never succeed in all the things you tried, and great misfortunes would be yours.”

I was totally frightened by the words he said, and kept asking him “What should I do? Is there any possibilities for me to evade those misfortunes?” He closed his eyes for another while, and slowly gave me another unacceptable answer: “Yes, the only solution that you could try is to be a monk until you are 40, then you can return to the outside world again. By that time, great chances would be yours.”

I could remember nothing later said on that day. The only thing that came to my mind was that I had to be a monk until I was 40. 27 to 40, my god! That was the golden age of my life. I should be earning money, going around the world, finding my soul mate and starting up a great family. But now, someone was telling me to be a monk? Me, monk? NO!

I was preparing my graduate school entrance exam back then, and his words certainly crushed my confidence. I went home about midnight with all those “being a monk” sentences haunting in my head. I could not fall asleep, let alone study. I dragged my tired body and mind to the living room, turn on the TV and hoped to find some comforts or pressure outlets. To my great surprise, I did find the solution that I wanted to my miserable fortune. Where did I find it? “HBO”

It was playing a movie called “Paycheck”. It’s a story about a scientist inventing a machine that could foresee future, and later decided to destroy it. Why? I am not going to reveal the plot to deprive your pleasure in watching that movie. But I would love to share a line in the movie that truly blew my mind. “Knowing future would take away all the other possibilities. You may think it’s good for it provides security, but you are wrong. Because if there is no other possibilities, there is no hope, and hope, is what we humankind can truly rely on!”

Yes! Hope is what we can truly rely on! The Little hobbies in Lord of the Rings fight against the great evil of Lord Sauron for they have hope and decided to give it a try. Americans believe changes are possible and made their 44th presidential election a milestone in the history. We, believe in hope. So even now it seems like thousands of Pandora’s boxes are opened and still opening, we look up and never give up, and hope the next season would be another economic spring.

What happened next? I threw away those monk curses and started to study as hard as I can every single day. Two months later, I passed the graduate school entrance exam, first place. Now, I am a national university researcher, going to present another accepted paper in Mexico this April.

So what do I really want to tell you? I am not saying that being a monk is bad. I have lots of monk friends. It’s just not for me. I am not telling you that “HBO” can always give you the answer, because I may really be a monk if the movie was Texas chainsaw massacre. What I really want to tell you is: as the Nobel prize winner poet Wislawa Szymborska put it: “Certainty is beautiful, but uncertainly is more beautiful still.” Yes! Uncertainly is certainly more beautiful still. Why? Because in those uncertainties, we can still hold fast to hopes!

Thank you! Toastmaster.

090303 Prepared and table-topic speech contest

Few things to say. :)

1. If I were the judge, I would also definitely give the first prize to Helen. Actually, I think I would get the third or fourth. She is such a great speaker, and my heart is full of sorrow to know that she might leave soon. If there is something I can change, this is it. Helen, I want to to stay with us. (Helen, if you are watching this, please note that there are also many places in Taiwan where trees can be grown.)
2. There are too many feelings in my heart, but above happiness and excitement, I am pretty much dominated by my sense of responsibility. Hsinchu club, I would definitely fight for you. I will.
3. Practice more in these days. Roy. You can do better, and you should practice more to honor yourself and your contestants.

Fight! Fight to the last moment.
For those who you love and care, and for those encouragements you get.
For those smiley faces you remember, for those warm hands you hold.
For those cheers you get, for those precious suggestions that help you improve.
For HCTM, man, you gotta fight, til' the last moment.
Fight! Fight I will!

2009年2月17日 星期二

090217 GeneralEvaluator

GE
1. Should mention those who are over their time.
2. Dress nicer.
3. Be careful when you introdice others, you may think it's funny to say so, they might not think so. Would be better to reconfirm with them or maybe tell them at the very beginning that it's gonna be their introduction.

Keep up, and stay after the meeting.
Roy, you really don't need to rush back.

2009年2月3日 星期二

C3: Get to the point.

Received suggestions:

Special thanks to Mandy for her great suggestions. :)

Mandy:
Here are two of my humble suggestions for your reference. First of all, I think it's better to say "Toastmaster." instead of "Thank you." in the end of the speech because it's you that are to be thanked by the audience for you give them such a wonderful speech. Secondly, I suggest you explain it more detailedly how to put this simple but powerful life philosophy into practice in the daily life because you can't expect everyone exactly get your point. They might not fully understand what the true meaning of this saying is. You'd better get them an example and make it even clearer.

Chang:
Cause deeds speak louder than words, we need more results to convince the audience the power of the philosophy, except for passing entrance exams and delivering speeches.

Ben:
Need to improve speech writing.
Try to paraphrase the sentences and try to shorten the article.
Need to hone writing skills and make the article more consice and punchy.

----Script----

Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

Today I would love to talk about the most important philosophy of life I learned from my father that has brought me all the way to where I am today. From a suburb farming-county boy to national college researcher is certainly no way short. What is that? “Focus on solution; not problem.” Looking back, I would say that’s the most vital life-supporting concept I learned from my father.

When I was in junior high, things were very different from what I am now. People say that adolescence brings wildness and rebellion. That’s certainly true to me. My mother was a teacher in my junior high school, and as the place where I lived was a pretty small town, it’s natural that she knew almost all the teachers in my elementary school, too. All those rules, disciplines, regulations, and supervision all escalated to a tide, pushed me all the way to the border of extreme insanity. I stole things in stores and almost got sent to the police station, rode with my friends on burning wheels through those nights of summer sweats and winter chills, and cheated in almost all the exams and slept through most classes.

Those days were like dreams in the night. Dreams, however, being good ones or nightmares, would vanish as daybreak shines the earth again. To me, the daybreak came at the last moment, not too soon, not too late, exactly in the last semester in my junior high.

It was another ordinary day of boring school, but as I got home, there was something strange. I saw my mother sitting on the sofa crying. Seeing tears on my mother’s face was a common scene back then, but that day was different. Even when I was on the third floor, it seemed to me that I could sense her tears dripping down her cheeks on the first floor. Her sobbing sounded so sad and desperate that I found it impossible to ignore. Not knowing what to do and say, I kept waiting until my father came back from work. After a while, I heard footsteps coming up through the stairs. I was so eager to know what happened to my mom even it might be the severest punishment or scolding that awaited me. Things turned out to be that she overheard some teachers discussing their sons and daughters after school. They mocked me for they think I could never make it in senior high entrance exam. All the pressure and worries for my mom in those years erupted on that day, breaking her down, and surely I was to blame.

Strange enough, my father did not scold me again. He just sat down on another desk and started writing something. I was so afraid that I could only wait there, holding the textbook in my hand without being able to read anything in. Few minutes later, he put something on my desk and walked down the stairs. It was a beautifully calligraphed letter. It said: “My son. Those who succeed find solutions; those who fail find excuses. The key to success is not luck, nor talent, but ambitions. Those who want to succeed would collect all accessible resources, use all possible means, and show undefeatable determination. Set up your goals and follow it closely, you’ll be on your way to success. By your father.”

That surely wasn’t a long letter, but that was the first time I was convinced that small and simple things could also have great power. Just like the plot you may have watched or read on TV or in novel, I changed on the very evening. One thing was different from those soap operas’ storylines: things didn’t go too smooth for me at once. Wasted time left a giant gap of knowledge for me to fill in, and I have to work really hard to make it up. Not having confidence in myself at all, I kept asking my father everyday what I should do should I fail. After having done so for a few times, I was invited me to sit with him. He said: “It’s very natural to be nervous and anxious especially when the future seems so uncertain. However, instead of using your time on thinking about what you should do after you fail, I would suggest you use you time to study more and get more scores. Focus on solutions; not problem. We will discuss when you get your final result. Okay?”

It may sound small and simple, but as I said before, small and simple things could also have great power. From that moment, whenever I face challenges, like any big exams or standing up on the stage and deliver speeches, I stopped all my worries and anxiety, and only focused on what I want to happen. I believe in this era of turbulence, we are all facing different challenges in various aspects, at many times. It’s my sincere wish that we can all try to focus on solutions, not problems. Give it a try! It helped me turn a whole new leaf a decade ago, and now, I know it could help us to pave another grand new path. Ladies and gentlemen, when facing unknown challenges and uncertain future, let’s focus on solutions, not problem. Thank you!