Problem
I went to a Toastmasters International Meeting at an advanced club in Singapore. The Toastmaster of the Day asked if you believe in Santa Claus and Why and I won a ribbon for an impromptu two minute speech starting without a second's hesitation: "Yes, I believe in Santa Claus because I have met him. He was in Finland in his Santa Claus house where he answers letters from children all over the world. I was taken there by the tourist board for Finland ..."
The following evening I thought I would ask a similar set of questions about Christmas, to an audience including some shy speakers of English, a mixture of Chinese and Indians, either Singaporean Chinese or expat Asians. I started, as is usual, with an experienced speaker, who gave a fluent although rather predictable speech on how Christmas had become a commercial event.
However, when I moved to giving an opportunity to visitors and newer members, I got hesitant and off the point and unoriginal answers. Nobody planned Christmas in advance.
Nobody thought to divert the topic into planning life in advance. Maybe I should have started with instructions on how to answer a table topic. Why didn't I? Firstly, we were short of time. Secondly, and the evaluation guide in my manual asked my evaluator to say whether I had kept my remarks to a minimum to allow extra time for speeches.
Another question I asked was about a typical Christmas time meal. What will you and your family eat over the holidays?
A typical meal was what they always ate at home. A Singaporean Chinese woman said she ate chicken rice, the classic Singaporean dish served all year everywhere in Singapore. An Indian man said his wife made the best biriani.
Whilst in theory I could have asked who was Christian, I felt this was an intrusive question. Maybe I could have asked one person to say why Christmas was dreadful and another to say why Christmas was delightful. I could have given simple non-controversial answers from my own life; no transport, shut restaurants, high price meals. My worst Christmas was alone as a student in London, starving. The hostel served no food served Christmas day, the restaurants were shut and public transport was not running.
After the Singapore meeting, I spent the next 24 hours puzzling over the answers my questions evoked, and what I had done wrong. How could I put it right?
Firstly I should have started by questioning the audience. I could have asked questions such as: How many of you have had a traditional British Christmas dinner of turkey followed by Christmas pudding? If none, simplify, "How many of you can explain one of the Christmas customs?"
In England, although we have a large number of residents and visitors from all over Europe and Asia, every local newspaper writes up the origin of Christmas and customs ranging from crackers to trees.
Newspaper give out the same analysis for Diwali and other religious celebrations. But do I read them? How clear am I on the origins of Diwali or Chinese New year? I'm pretty good at autumn festival and Chinese New Year because I have lived in Singapore on and off for twenty years, and I have heard several speeches on the festivals. Maybe it's time for me to prepare a talk on Christmas customs, or a handout.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
I went to a Toastmasters International Meeting at an advanced club in Singapore. The Toastmaster of the Day asked if you believe in Santa Claus and Why and I won a ribbon for an impromptu two minute speech starting without a second's hesitation: "Yes, I believe in Santa Claus because I have met him. He was in Finland in his Santa Claus house where he answers letters from children all over the world. I was taken there by the tourist board for Finland ..."
The following evening I thought I would ask a similar set of questions about Christmas, to an audience including some shy speakers of English, a mixture of Chinese and Indians, either Singaporean Chinese or expat Asians. I started, as is usual, with an experienced speaker, who gave a fluent although rather predictable speech on how Christmas had become a commercial event.
However, when I moved to giving an opportunity to visitors and newer members, I got hesitant and off the point and unoriginal answers. Nobody planned Christmas in advance.
Nobody thought to divert the topic into planning life in advance. Maybe I should have started with instructions on how to answer a table topic. Why didn't I? Firstly, we were short of time. Secondly, and the evaluation guide in my manual asked my evaluator to say whether I had kept my remarks to a minimum to allow extra time for speeches.
Another question I asked was about a typical Christmas time meal. What will you and your family eat over the holidays?
A typical meal was what they always ate at home. A Singaporean Chinese woman said she ate chicken rice, the classic Singaporean dish served all year everywhere in Singapore. An Indian man said his wife made the best biriani.
Whilst in theory I could have asked who was Christian, I felt this was an intrusive question. Maybe I could have asked one person to say why Christmas was dreadful and another to say why Christmas was delightful. I could have given simple non-controversial answers from my own life; no transport, shut restaurants, high price meals. My worst Christmas was alone as a student in London, starving. The hostel served no food served Christmas day, the restaurants were shut and public transport was not running.
After the Singapore meeting, I spent the next 24 hours puzzling over the answers my questions evoked, and what I had done wrong. How could I put it right?
Firstly I should have started by questioning the audience. I could have asked questions such as: How many of you have had a traditional British Christmas dinner of turkey followed by Christmas pudding? If none, simplify, "How many of you can explain one of the Christmas customs?"
In England, although we have a large number of residents and visitors from all over Europe and Asia, every local newspaper writes up the origin of Christmas and customs ranging from crackers to trees.
Newspaper give out the same analysis for Diwali and other religious celebrations. But do I read them? How clear am I on the origins of Diwali or Chinese New year? I'm pretty good at autumn festival and Chinese New Year because I have lived in Singapore on and off for twenty years, and I have heard several speeches on the festivals. Maybe it's time for me to prepare a talk on Christmas customs, or a handout.
Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.
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