Saturday, August 18, 2018

Speakers Summit 2018-2019

One week going into this Speakers Summit and all seats have been sold out! This is largely thanks to the successful series of promotional materials released by our Division Public Relations Manager, Leah Catapia.

(photo credits: Leah Catapia)


Speakers Summit at Novartis

Today was the Speakers Summit held at the Novartis Healthcare Office in Makati City. The summit was hosted by District 75's Division H Council with Division Director Dolly at the helm. It was my first Speakers Summit and I was even one of the featured speakers! Life is good!

After a hearty free breakfast of Arroz Caldo with Egg, Tokwa't Baboy and Coffee at the Novartis cafeteria, the Speakers Summit began. Our own Club President, Ching Bognot, took over as Toastmaster of the Day at the venue room.

Ching was our main contact person at Novartis where she works as Executive Assistant. Here she interviews one of the participants, Doni Oliveros.

(photo credits: Leah Catapia)

Among the early birds and a group I met over at breakfast were representatives from Omega Toastmaster Club who I met recently at the Omega Club Visit. Too bad, the other members didn't make it as their flight from Cebu has been cancelled due to the Xiamen plane mishap.


(photo credits: Shane Disepeda)


Six Featured Speakers

As advertised in the promotional materials, there were six featured speakers at the Speakers Summit. Shown below are: me, Kirk Chester Damasco, Dino Santos, Raul Dela Vega, Chris Camacho and Lourdes "Doddie" Felix.

Photos below were taken at the venue.

      
      


Wireless Hands-Free Microphone

In the photos above, only Doddie and I used the headworn microphone which I brought. This is the microphone (lapel and headworn mics) that my club received as a Toastmasters reward for DCP points. I had to use a hands-free mic because my topic was "Body Language and Gestures". I gestured with both hands to illustrate examples in my talk.

Doddie, on the other hand, used a gadget for her speech notes and thus requested for my headworn mic. You can see her in the above photo holding her gadget. It was only Raul who did not use a microphone. The handheld wireless microphone had some glitches during use.

As shown below, I managed to connect with the audience with engaging questions.

(photo credits: Leah Catapia)

A shot of the other side of the room. There were 80+ registered participants in all and the room was packed. The summit was opened to both toastmasters and non-toastmasters.

(photo credits: Leah Catapia)

From the photos below, you'll know why I had to use a hands-free microphone. I'm glad that the headworn mic worked well. Prior to the summit, I had to charge the transmitter, receiver and the portable speaker, because they were new and never charged.

The transmitter/receiver setup allows one to move about without wearing the portable speaker. In hindsight, I should have plugged the receiver into the Novartis' speaker instead rather than the portable one for a bigger fuller sound. That's something to keep in mind for later presentations.

  


Awarding of Certificate and Token Gift

Throughout my talk I was conscious of the time allotted to me. I had to, I was the first speaker and didn't want the rest to be inconvenienced because I went overtime. I believe I did finish on time. After the talk, I was awarded a nice framed certificate and a token gift from Dolly.

(photo credits: Bernadette Guzman)

I knew there would be a certificate awarded, so the token gift was really a bonus for me! When I got home and got to see the token, I was delighted. It's a high-end wireless presenter or clicker-pointer. Thank you so much. This inspires me to level up my presentations even more from hereon.

It was at this summit that I was able to first use a wireless presenter. Ching had it for her laptop in the venue. I'm not familiar with its use, other than what my daughter (she's a Math teacher) has shown me.


(photo credits: Leah Catapia)


Other Learning Sessions

After my talk on "Body Language and Gestures" was Kirk Chester Damasco with his talk on "Delivering a Winning Table Topic Response". This was then followed by Dino Santos' "Evaluation Do's and Dont's", and finally Raul Dela Vega's "7 Best Practices for Winning Contestants". All of them were highly informative.

Breakfast and lunch were served at the Novartis' Cafeteria. For attendees, food was inclusive in the registration fee. Shown below are toastmasters from the UPS Alabang Toastmasters Club, a club I presently mentor. Lunch was Lumpiang Shanghai, Roast Pork and Kare-kare. Yummy!

Paulo from Metro South TMC and I were on our second helpings in the buffet table. Haha. That's me pointed by the red arrow near top right.

(photo credits: Myzza Abuel)


Another Energizer Dance Activity

Right after lunch, there was an energizer activity. Everyone at the venue danced to "Clap Snap" by Icona Pop. That's why the photo below shows us clapping. There were clapping moves in the dance. Dolly was surely enjoying the dance.

These dance energizers are becoming a tradition with Division H activities like the Boom Boom dance we had at the Club Officers' Training 1.

(photo credits: Leah Catapia)

Here's another part of the audience during the dance. I met familiar Toastmasters faces in this event. That's Norma Recinto in the foreground wearing blue, from Metro Lipa Toastmasters Club. She came with Joel Cacanindin, a familiar face from a previous contest where I judged.

She said she remembered my name, with me as one who went with a team for a demo meeting in Lipa, Batangas. Gosh, that was in 2009! She said she really liked my talk. Thank you ma'm!

 

For the rest of the afternoon learning sessions, it was Area Director JK who took over as Toastmaster of the Day. The last two speakers were Chris Camacho for "How to Write a Winning Humorous Speech", and Doddie Felix for "How to Write a Winning International Prepared Speech".


Photo-Ops and Groupies

At the end of the Speakers Summit, there was the requisite group picture with all participants showing their certificates.

(photo credits: Sigma Toastmasters Club)

There were photo-ops with the speakers and district officers. Shown below is one with toastmasters from other divisions.

(photo credits: Sigma Toastmasters Club)

Then there were group photos with other Toastmasters clubs. This is the delegation from JPhil Toastmasters Club.

(photo credits: Sigma Toastmasters Club)

And this one is delegation from the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) Toastmasters Club. Seated in front are: me, JK, Chris and Doddie.

(photo credits: Sigma Toastmasters Club)

Fun with photo-ops never stopped. Shown below are the UPS Toastmasters Club members with Leah and me on our way out of the elevator to leave Novartis. Everyone loves groupies, even in elevators !!!


(photo credits: Myzza Abuel)

What can I say? That was a highly educational and extremely enjoyable Speakers Summit!
Here's a scanned copy of today's program.


And that's a wrap!