Important Videos - provide texts

I just answered a query on Linked-In's section Speakers - the questioner asking for advice on how to cope with possible technical failures.

1 Advance and afterwards, email giving your phone and email plus a one liner with tick boxes, so the viewer can contact you if they can't see the video. 2 Some feedback clicks to get replies eg 1 to 5 on how much they liked it. Plus comment box for if anything was missing (eg poor sound). Then you'll know if anybody/nobody saw it. And at what time the fault started. 3 Provide a text alternative to the video. Text version is helpful if sound fails. Some people speed-read and will turn off videos after a minute and never reach your punchline with your message, sales pitch and contact details. 4 Text alternative is useful anyway. I'm often in an open plan office and can't listen to videos which will disturb others. I try to avoid opening videos in case they turn into hectoring advertising messages. Especially if the video is obviously not related to my work which might annoy my co-workers, my boss - my employees - even the cleaner(s). In a public place, even an internet cafe, a no sound or no vision is often better than a video because when I'm in public places I'm wary of videos that embarrassingly suddenly promise loudly to improve my faults!

***

I also watched a video in which the speaker was constantly interrupted. Again the solution is to supply the text.

Improving Toastmasters Meetings

The first essential is to be heard.

If you wish to make a career and speak to a hall full of people, you need to use a microphone and check that the people at the back can hear.

At Toastmasters clubs I rarely notice a speaker asking if the people at the back can hear. Yet most speakers at major meetings will start by checking sound levels. Nobody wants to spend an hour listening to a speaker whose meaning is lost.

You should also check that everybody can see the speaker. Ideally have a central aisle.

Improving Toastmasters Meetings

The first essential is to be heard.

If you wish to make a career and speak to a hall full of people, you need to use a microphone and check that the people at the back can hear.

At Toastmasters clubs I rarely notice a speaker asking if the people at the back can hear. Yet most speakers at major meetings will start by checking sound levels. Nobody wants to spend an hour listening to a speaker whose meaning is lost.

You should also check that everybody can see the speaker. Ideally have a central aisle.

Improving Toastmasters Meetings

The first essential is to be heard.

If you wish to make a career and speak to a hall full of people, you need to use a microphone and check that the people at the back can hear.

At Toastmasters clubs I rarely notice a speaker asking if the people at the back can hear. Yet most speakers at major meetings will start by checking sound levels. Nobody wants to spend an hour listening to a speaker whose meaning is lost.

You should also check that everybody can see the speaker. Ideally have a central aisle.

Improving Toastmasters Meetings

The first essential is to be heard.

If you wish to make a career and speak to a hall full of people, you need to use a microphone and check that the people at the back can hear.

At Toastmasters clubs I rarely notice a speaker asking if the people at the back can hear. Yet most speakers at major meetings will start by checking sound levels. Nobody wants to spend an hour listening to a speaker whose meaning is lost.

You should also check that everybody can see the speaker. Ideally have a central aisle.

Improving Toastmasters Meetings

The first essential is to be heard.

If you wish to make a career and speak to a hall full of people, you need to use a microphone and check that the people at the back can hear.

At Toastmasters clubs I rarely notice a speaker asking if the people at the back can hear. Yet most speakers at major meetings will start by checking sound levels. Nobody wants to spend an hour listening to a speaker whose meaning is lost.

You should also check that everybody can see the speaker. Ideally have a central aisle.

Best Table Topics at YMCA Toastmasters - Chocolates and Chinese New Year Oranges

I won the best Table Topic certificate at YMCA toastmasters Club of Singapore, presented with a chocolate and asked to talk about it.

I said, "Who likes chocolate? All of you? So do I.

Maybe that's why I'm overweight. I must do more exercise - or eat less.

I can't stop eating. (Rueful protest:) I'm not designed that way! (Laughter.)

So I must exercise more. But I don't have time for the gym. So this is what I do - and you can copy my method.

I use all my otherwise wasted time for exercise. I don't sit still or stand still; I move. Waiting for a train at the station.

If you see me raising my arms like this, or my elbows like this, or my knees like this, I'm not mad, I'm exercising.

Listening to your speech - if you see me rotating my wrists, or my ankles, I am listening to you, but I'm exercising.

I noticed that really thin people move all the time. If you say you'll fetch something from the other side of the room, before you finish your sentence, they've turned like this and raced off to get it. You just turn your head like somebody watching a tennis match. Thin people fidget. Copy them. Move all the time. The light's signalling me to stop. I'm off to exercise!"

(I then grasped the hand of the toastmaster to shake it up and down vigorously, saying, "One-two, one-two, one-two!")

I shared joint prize with a speaker who was given an orange. He described how Chinese New Year was the time when oranges are on the trees and you have to exchange oranges to pass on goodwill and share it - as we do at Toastmasters.

Caricatures by Angella at YMCA Toastmasters Singapore

A great evening at YMCA Toastmasters although I had trouble finding the floor and the lift kept opening its doors at the car park but in the lift I met a friend from Bradell Heights advanced Speakers (a shy guy who works in Changi prison - at least he claims he's not an inmate but working there - he gave a speech about rehab for prisoners at the Bradell Heights meeting). We both arrived a trifle late and I thought he might win the prize for table topics (impromptu speeches) as he began a humorous story with the dry opening, 'I'm sorry I was late for this meeting and I'm going to share with you - some of the reasons'. This immediately had the entire room in hysterics because one reason would be serious but several is really a set of excuses, no one of which on its own would be sufficiently convincing. It even implies he had more excuses, an inexhaustible supply which would continue until he was stopped.

At the end of the meeting I noticed one of the members had been drawing the faces of others. I enquired who was the caricaturist and said I too drew caricatures. I'd been speaking to bearded Ram whose many talents include being an actor - clearly an extravert, and Ram asked me to draw him. Edmund, the other caricaturist also drew Ram. I drew Edmund. Edmund drew me. All on the big flip chart. Ram went off with the two drawings of himself and I took the other two drawings of the artists. I was wondering how to get them home safely. I muttered to myself, 'Help me, Help me,' as I left the YMCA, and as if in answer to my prayers, (believers will say God answered, whilst rationalists will say that when I concentrated on the problem I improvised the best solution available), I noticed the long plastic bags designed to cover wet umbrellas and one of these was ideal for protecting my roll of paper both from getting wet and unrolling.

Edmund had shown me his signature which he made into a self-portrait. the name Angela is a bit harder - I tried making the first left hand a into an ear and the last right hand a into an ear and the g into a nose but it didn't work. However I created an agreeable drawing with my name Angela hidden in the hair between the fringe and the rest of my hair. I hope you like the effect. Shades of Hitchcock who always appeared in his films, and many artists and sculptors who, rather than making an obvious and separate signature in the corner, hide their name or trademark within a picture.

Holiday Photo Captions - What to do

The day after my mother died I looked for a photo of her to place on the table of my home during the funeral prayers, plus another couple of photos for an obituary to go on line whilst she was still fresh in my memory and I could get information from my father. He was in his late eighties and I wasn't sure he would survive more than a year. My father gave me a shoe box of family photos. Some of them were carefully labelled with the date, just the year they were taken, but most had no date. I wrote the names of the people and the dates and places. I was able to identify total strangers met once on holiday, from dear aunts.

I then went to my mother in law's home and did the same with her box of family photos which were even more of a mystery to me. I had a hard job distinguishing baby photos of my husband from baby photos of his brother, and indeed baby photos of their son and ours. Now that both of my parents have passed away and my mother in law has Alzheimer's I have records which would otherwise be lost. Not only do I have photos, but I have essential dates. When the probate office wants to know the date of the death of my father, I don't need to hunt through my files, I can pick up ay photo of my father and check the back. When I write up a family history and want to know the date my parents married - I always knew it was during WWII, I can check the exact year in an instant. One photo in my family album remains a mystery. The date is about 1910. But who are the bride and groom? The other members of the family? The relatives, the neighbours, and where is it? The garden of a small terraced house, probably London's East End. If only the photographer and family had written the names of the bride and groom and all the others. I might have saved hours of time and money trying to trace my family history. I might have the missing photo of a great grandmother. Or even a great great grandmother. And our son's great, great, great grandmother. I shall have to wait until the time when facial recognition becomes a standard tool and online photo comparison becomes so accessible and easy that I can just load up up a family photo and get back suggestions as to who the people were.

I wrote an article saying that you should label the back of all your wedding photos for the benefit of your grandchildren because by the time they are teenagers and interested in genealogy, your parents may have passed away, and though you know your parents from your in-laws. It's very handy to keep the groom's parents beside or behind him in photos, and the bride's beside or behind her, for identification later, apart from any sense of orderliness and protocol. Having instructed everybody else to label their family wedding photos, I looked at my own wedding photos and of course I had not labelled them. Now, you will be glad to know, I have followed my own advice.

It's also useful to label all holiday photos.

When wondering what to put on labels start with the simple and obvious. You know you've just come back from a holiday in France. But in years to some one cathedral in Europe looks like another and you won't know whether it is France of Belgium. Likewise photos of Asian countries. If you know whether a Chinese temple is in China or Singapore, you'll have more chance of tracking it down quickly on line.

If you can, answer all the W questions, who, where, what, why? You know the place where you married. But will you remember in ten years time? Your children won't remember. It's so easy to fill in these details at the time. Even names of people on holiday photos. The morning after you can work out, with the aid of friends, who was who. Very handy with meeting business contacts, too, to be able to enquire after somebody's wife, named Sally, or colleague, John.

Lost and Found Clothes

That photo of you in your new baseball cap is handy when you go to lost and found to ask if they have it, to remind them and prove it's yours. Likewise the navy blue swimming costume left behind in the changing room at the club - after you say you've lost a blue costume and they say they don't have it because at night it looks black - but your photo with the brand name triggers their memory and they produce it from a drawer. Your luggage lost at the airport or missing in transit, or in a huge store at the hotel after a coachload of people arrive and leave black cases. Easier to find it. If you claim on insurance or against the airline and have to fill in a form you can work out the size of the case, recall whether it was hard or soft sided, two or four wheels, old or brand new and the brand name.

What I've learned from Toastmasters in Singapore

Copying the Toastmasters International system of commend, recommend, comment (praise, criticise or 'suggest', praise) here's what I've learned.

COMMEND SINGAPORE - RECOMMEND TO LONDON

1 CLUB COMMITTEE CARDS

Every club committee member has a box of club business cards which list on the front the address, day of the month they meet and time of meeting. On the back the names, phone numbers and emails of all committee members. Very handy when you want to check whether they are meeting on a public holiday, get directions from the nearest train station, or at the last minute warn you'll be late or say you'll be early and volunteer for a role. I believe you can download the template from the Toastmasters International website. I'm bringing some cards back so that HOD and Harrovians in London can copy them. One set of cards can be printed for everybody at a bulk rate reduced price. Every guest can be given at least one card so they know who to call about future meetings. Of course, etiquette decrees that when a guest is given a card he must reciprocate by supplying his or her card.

COMMEND SINGAPORE - RECOMMEND TO LONDON -

2 START WITH INTRODUCTIONS BY EVERYONE

Most Singapore clubs start by going around the room asking every person to state their name, club - or say if they are a guest and not yet a member of any club, role for the evening, and usually a general comment on some theme such as what I associate with Chinese New Year, my favourite colour and why. This fills in time to allow for latecomers, lets guests know who are the VIPs and who's in charge, and enables the President and Toastmaster to note names and address guests by name through the evening. Often meetings take place in a board room around a large oval table so you simply go round clockwise. Guests are then familiar with the organizers and the proceedings. This makes guests speak for one minute about something they know to the whole group. They have time to plan what to say and if called upon to give a table topic they've already spoken once so it's easier for them.

COMMEND LONDON - RECOMMEND TO SINGAPORE

3 TOPICS EVALUATOR

London clubs have a topics evaluator. This means that guests giving an impromptu mini-speech for the first time can be given encouraging praise as well as useful advice.

COMMEND LONDON RECOMMEND TO SINGAPORE

4 INCLUDE TOPICS EVALUATOR IN VOTING

Table topics evaluator has to work had paying attention to several speakers and keeping track of them all. The chance of being winning a ribbon for being voted best evaluator is a reward and an incentive to volunteer and to try to offer enthusiastic encouragement and useful advice.

COMMEND SINGAPORE RECOMMEND TO LONDON

5 TABLE TOPICS SPEAKERS' NAMES ON WHITEBOARD

The names of topics speakers and the topic are written on the board. This makes it easier to remember unfamiliar and hard to spell names and to recall who said what.

COMMEND SINGAPORE RECOMMEND TO LONDON

6 SPEECH TIMES ACHIEVED ON WHITEBOARD

After the speakers' names and table topic subjects the times are added.

Ticks and crosses are added to show who has kept to time and who has gone over time. This is much clearer to the speakers, adjudicators and guests.

COMMEND LONDON RECOMMEND TO SINGAPORE

7 PRESIDENT/VPA/SERGEANT AT ARMS SHOULD HAVE SPARE WHITEBOARD PENS

In the UK at Harrovians we once had no markers but member Lorna produced three colours. She is a teacher and says she always carries whiteboard markers.

COMMEND SINGAPORE RECOMMEND TO LONDON

8 USE COMPUTERS TO PROJECT SPEAKERS' NAMES, TOPICS AND TIMES

In Singapore during building renovations club was switched to a different room and although a board was supplied on request, no markers. However, a small laptop was being used by Gerald Ong who was giving a speech on visual aids, as well as often with him when he visits meetings - same applies to many members of Singapore clubs who go straight from work to meetings or use computers for visuals in presentations. He typed in the names of table topics speakers and their topics and projected the updating list onto the projection screen.

RECOMMEND TO LONDON & SINGAPORE

9 USE MICROPHONES

In Singapore members of the audience are often seated under a noisy air conditioning fan. Many young Singaporeans have faint voices, shy methods of delivery and whisper to papers on the lectern. In addition members of the audience like me have difficulty understanding Singlish phrases and intonation. Use microphones. People need to practise using microphones which will be necessary later if your competition site suffers from traffic noise, building works (intermittent pile drivers), and public announcements. In Toastmasters committee members frequently hold distracting conversations about changes to the programme, replacing missing speakers, shortening topics in order to finish on time, the length of the break, extra speeches on the programme, missing manuals, speeches brought forward because the speaker wants to leave early because they are ill, babysitting, en route to rival meetings, weddings, funerals and for all the audience knows - as they attempt to overhear, Valentine's Day dinners or orgies.

A speaker, a committee members such as VPE, or even the Toastmaster of the evening often speaks too softly and never checks whether those at the back can hear.

Any professional speaker will start by checking sound levels.

Using a microphone, forces the speaker to check whether the audience all around the venue can hear. The speaker who decides not to use one will feel obliged to prove that it's not necessary by asking those at the back to raise their hands if they can hear.

RECOMMENDATIONS TO SINGAPORE & LONDON

10 CONFIRM SPEAKERS & GUESTS WILL BE ATTENDING

Committee members know which day of the month they meet and have other members' numbers in their handphones. But guests are often on unpredictable schedules with business, day trips out of town, unfamiliar untimed routes. They are coping with conflicting information from websites, and confusing club names. Add to the well known fear of giving a speech, the fears of meeting new people, and going to a new venue. Guests may forget which club, which week, which day and what time. The guest might also forget whether they said they would definitely come or politely said they'd love to come, meaning merely that they might turn up. If the journey to the club requires an expensive taxi ride in order to be on time, or payment for yet another dinner, finding that their pocket is out of change, they might go to another venue or jet-ladded, simply go to bed. Confirm by email or text that your guest will be attending, preferably the day before. The best clubs confirm on the day - if necessary offering to meet guest speakers at the local MRT and guide them to the club. If no reply, phone. Some clubs have sent the president or VPE to meet me an hour early and take me to eat at a hawker center, to be sure I would not get lost and to have their programme cofirmed and to have their introduction ready, and even allow for finding out if I would take on additional roles. Once two club members met me in the city centre at an MRT (Singapore train) station near where I was staying and escorted me all the way to the distant club meeting - and back. The meeting agenda can be prepared with a Welcome to Visiting Toastmasters at the end. It certainly makes the visitor feel treasured and warm towards the club.

Poem on Pilots by Angela Lansbury

verse 889 This is your pilot speaking
version 4
by Angela Lansbury

This is your pilot speaking
I’m sorry about the delay
I can’t help it - it’s not my fault
A goat’s racing up the runway

This is your pilot speaking
I’m getting impatient like you
Now six other flights are ahead of us
So there’s nothing more I can do

This is your pilot speaking
You must be hungry and angry
But we can’t hand out the dinner trays
‘cos they say we’ll soon be on our way

This is your pilot speaking
We’ve had to divert the plane
I’m sorry about the bumpy ride
A man with heart problem’s nearly died -
But we’ll soon be on our way again

This is your pilot speaking
You may have heard a drunk shout
Please be assured he’s been restrained
We’ve no intention of letting him out

This is your pilot speaking
Keep your seatbelt done up tight
No food or toilet use ‘til the storm’s done
About four hours later tonight

This is your pilot speaking
Passengers saw a monkey, and spider,
Another claims a snake's beside her
Let’s serve more drinks, where are the brakes?

This is your pilot speaking
The flight didn’t go as planned
We’re diverting to Dubai
Those without visas cannot land

This is your pilot speaking
Half will be glad smoking is banned
Now the military escort’s let us go
I’m sure you’ll be pleased to land

This is your pilot speaking
Thanks for putting the fire out
A round of applause for the rugby team
Tackling hijackers saved us, no doubt

This is your pilot speaking
The undercarriage has gone
We’ve lost a wing, an engine, the roof
And crew - nothing else is wrong.

This is your pilot speaking
Sorry about the bumping landing
I guess that you’ve already heard
This airport’s problem’s flights of birds

This is your pilot speaking
Is anyone’s friend down in the hold?
They’ve no passport nor ticket and
I’m sorry to say they’ve died of cold.

This is your pilot speaking
The forecast here’s torrential rain
But it’s sunny back in London
So - please fly with us again.
-ends-

copyright Angela Lansbury 2010
Any comments?

If you quote a couplet or quatrain from my poem please ensure that it is attributed to Angela Lansbury. Thanks.

Caricatures by Angella at Sunny's party

While T had crashed his Suzuki in Malaysia, Angela was waiting dressed ready for Sunny's 50th birthday party.

The cake decorated with little red and white Danish flags is a typical Danish birthday cake in the shape of a man or woman, usually reflecting the sex of the birthday boy or girl, and the recipe contains ginger.

Sunny was very happy. Tall Ken was playing the guitar. So were two others, singing in English and French. Steve was dancing and rapping. I drew: Glenn the squash player, who broke his nose playing Rugby; Brendan the guitar player; Steve the football player; Yuriko with chopsticks; Bengt thinking of his boke; Dora who likes reading; Chie the Japanese pianist; and Chris, tennis player.
I asked one guest, 'Would you like me to draw you?' He replied, 'No, but I'd like you to ..." Funnily enough, I was not offended but had hysterics. Not the answer I was expecting.He later asked to kiss me on the lips, but I love reviewing restaurants and hotels and I don't do anything (except draw caricatures) unless I get a dinner date and bed and breakfast in a five star hotel.

Meanwhile, here are some photos and caricatures by 'Angella'.

Photos and caricatures copyright Angela Lansbury