Are You Doing Your Best? (April 1, 2018)

Written by Ian Chan
Edited by Eunice Tan
All photos taken by Eunice Tan

Hello again! We started our Chapter meeting with singing Glorious Day to remember the sacrifice of our Lord on Easter Sunday.

The icebreaker was led by Speaker Jern Ling who woke us all up by instructing us to jump, clap, walk, moonwalk, etc. After a while, she changed the meaning of the words eg. "Jump means clap" "Stop means walk." We really had to listen attentively with alertness.

 We then settled down for the devotion led by Speaker Jonique.

She shared from

1 Peter 3:15-16

5 Instead, you must worship Christ as Lord of your life. And if someone asks about your hope as a believer, always be ready to explain it. 16 But do this in a gentle and respectful way.  Keep your conscience clear.

This verse is a great reminder for us especially since we are communicators for Christ who should articulate our faith when faced with questions. Furthermore, it ties well with our being Ready for Influence, a common phrase in the ICC community. As Christ's ambassadors, we are to be ready to give an answer in a gentle and respectful way. Also, as we discussed the passage, we learned that we should always make sure that our own grounding in the Bible is strong before trying to be a spokesperson for Jesus! We must make sure that our heart is in the right place, that we are focusing on God's message and His will rather than the platform or the spotlight. If our heart isn't right, there is no point in speaking or being an ambassador for Christ.

Next, Coach Choong Ming shared with us the importance of having the right attitude in whatever we do, in this case, ICC.

If you don't remember, Words ALIVE started on an Easter Sunday back in April 2014. Why did we join this chapter? "Our parents wanted us to join" would be the response. :) 

Are we doing the assignments for the sake of doing it? We need to have the right motivation and ask ourselves in the end, where it actually leads to. Ultimately, we need to know the purpose of what we do. 

Then there was the YSG session conducted by Coach Joseph.

We shared our reflections on a particular speech we did by using this six steps.

1. Aims, Goals, Objectives (AGO)
2. Consider All Factors (CAF)
3. First Important Priorities (FIP)
4. Consequences and Sequel (C&S)
5. Alternatives, Possibilities, Choices (APC)
6. Other People's Views (OPV)

1. We need to have a purpose in our speeches in order to execute a good speech. If we intend to persuade others to our stand, that is our goal. The aim is the general direction, the goal is the ultimate destination, and the objectives are the recognizable points of achievement along the way. 

2. Next, we need to consider the different perspectives of the topic. In a speech, we have different points or aspects of our topic. 

3. Did we prioritize the most important points? Prioritize the most important factors or deas by sorting them from most important/strongest point to least important/weakest point. 

4. What are the consequences of our choices and what will happen next? One should consider the consequences whether short-term, mid-term, or long-term. Thinking ahead is an important habit in whatever we do. 

5. Although we may have no great ideas, we should try to find other alternatives. Who knows? you may be rewarded with great ideas. 

6. Considering how others think of the particular topic helps widen our thinking. 

These six thinking steps really helped us dig deep into our speeches!

Congratulations to all the speakers in our Chapter for your accomplishments! 

And of course, we cannot miss tea break.......

We had a hard time trying to drag ourselves back for the next part of our meeting, discussing the community platforms. 

After discussing the community platform schedule, we ended our meeting. 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you enjoyed reading this. Have a good day and see you next time!  

Ambassadors with Imaginations (March 4, 2018)

Written by Jonique Chan
Edited by Eunice Tan

Bienvenue everybody to our chapter's blog!

Our chapter meeting started off with a short word from our chapter chair, Speaker Ranen. As tournament was just around the corner, he reminded us to plan our time properly so that our speeches can be good.

Photo by Eunice

Next, Speaker Eunice led us in an icebreaker that required our imagination, called Sound Ball. Basically, when you make a loud sound, the ball becomes bigger and the smaller the noise the smaller the ball gets. We learned to make eye contact when we threw the ball around. Thanks for that fun icebreaker!

Photo by Eunice

Photo by Eunice

Speaker Charis was invited to share her devotion on Ephesians 6:19-20, "19 Pray also for me, that whenever I speak, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."
She shared about how as ambassadors of Christ, we must share our message with humility and confidence. It was a great reminder how we must represent Christ in all circumstances.

After Charis' short and sweet devotion, Coach Jimmy (aka her dad) told us about how a young girl was offered a job because of her skills and attitude. He then encouraged us to be like her.

Photo by Eunice

Then came the part that most people detested; speech coaching. Before starting, Coach Joseph gave us a short encouraging speech on how we should not let our security blanket be preparedness, but God.

We had speeches ranging from Computer Aided Presentation, OrAd and Public Advocacy. In fact, Speaker Jern Ling and Charis even had a special guest from Singapore to join them in their OrAd!

Photo by Eunice

Photo by Eunice

Finally, it was time for a tea break (WHOO!).

To finish, Coach Joseph gave us some last tips for the upcoming Round Table.

Photo by Eunice

Photo by Eunice

Then, everyone was chased out of the house... See yall next time!!!