Breakthrough in my life@YWCAWith God's favors and grace, I won 1st runner up at the Finals of Toastmasters International District 80 for Humorous Speech during my first time contesting, and within 2 years, and before I achieve my Competent Communicator award! It was amazing.
Toastmasters has changed my life. I have discovered my passion and God's ability to speak confidently to inspire. To me, This collective courage to create are results of a collective wisdom from the people who helped me and is victory to God! As the ‘Black Swan’, I represented Div D (with 25 clubs such as elites in Singapore Recreation Club, ERA) and competed with the ‘Best of the Best’ in 8 Divisions after 4 rounds of stiff competitions in 4 months (in 200 professional clubs) , beating many experienced public speakers and veterans who took part for years. I emerged as the youngest and only female winner at the national level. This level of success has not been seen before in Toastmasters District 80 history (District 80 is the national level with over 5000 members, from over 200 clubs in Singapore.) Amazing grace of God! He even divinely planned for me to pick a blessed grace ballot on my ROM day for the contest, i had no 5, the 5th speaker to contest on 2.nov at YWCA, the place that i was baptised last year. On that day, i pray for God to allow a supernatural flow and be led by the holy spirit to share my life story at this unique platform that God has raised me to speak. I was able to use things in the room and stage for spontaneous fun. The holy spirit guided me with creativity and the spirit of courage and brave like a swan and showed me of a beautiful flying swan. To be a BBC: brave bold and courageous swan, to broadcast his love and testimonial to the world. I had the honor of meeting the international president and director of Toastmasters on the stage, both were distinguished female leaders in the public speaking arena. God will make the weak and inexperienced strong to let others witness the powers of God. God has increased my influence and multiply favors with many people and enlarged my circle of influence and friends. Many people have came forward to ask how did do it, offering me encouragement too. Its truly by God's grace and right place right blessings! It is a humbly experience for me. God will make our darkness and ashes into beauty, our pain points into sweet spots. This milestone, incredible success and accelerated growth and learning are made possible with excellent mentors, supportive members and friends, and coaches who saw the potential and gave me free coaching! What favors! I had prayed that God will open this door for to share with others and touch their lives, to speak authentically as myself, to speak for women and encourage them, to serve my community and my club, to inspire them to greatness. This journey also brought me closer to my parents and husbands as they saw the powers of God and how God positioned me for success! Christ in us, Glory to God! From as young as 6 years old, I had a variety of opportunities to experiment stage roles, such as performing and speaking publicly on stage, as a story teller, as a valedictorian, as a student leader or performing in choir. I finally found my calling to speak, taking a bold step to enter the training industry to learn the art of creative story telling and sharing this happiness. God is good all the time, all the time, God is good! Praise our lord Jesus Christ! Achieving 2nd place is good as 2 is the anchor for my black swan anchor and branding; 2 is also my vision as swan arms and SHAN (Speak Humorously with Ability and Novelty) to serve 2 groups (children and corporate). 2 allows me to improve myself to be better What is S.H.A.N? Speak. Humorously. Affirmation. Nobilities. Speak Humorously, with Ability and Novelty Share Happiness, by Anchoring your Niche! My dream. Recently, I had a vivid dream where I was flapping my wings and flying happily. Flap and Fly, Flap and Fly, Free as a bird. High as I can spread my wings, I can travel far, high and low. Soon, I came to a house and saw Bjork and she told me she is giving me her swan dress. The following week, I read from Straits Times that Bjork (after 3 years of hiatus) has announced that she is launching her new album with DJ Arca next year. From online sources, I’ve gathered a "swan" meaning in our dreams while praying to understand God’s bigger plan for me in this new season!\.\ Swan Meaning in Dreams \.\ My interpretation Symbolic swan meaning continues the theme of transformation in the tale of the Ugly Duckling by Hans Christian Anderson. Mis-labeled from birth, the little duckling lives his life with the heroic heart of a swan. Indeed, after growing strong under the nurturing of kind humans, the duckling is set free, and sees its image for the first time in a reflective pool of water to discover he had "transformed" into a lovely swan. It reminds us of our inherent glory, power and beauty (as the duckling was always a graceful swan). At the same time, the tale encourages us to have faith and have a persistent heart while pursuing the gifts and ability that God gives us.(Identity in Christ) We are creative and unique. beautifully made and wonderfully created, as beloved children of God. Swans are largest aquatic birds! Embrace the beauty within you as you flap your wings! :D (W.I.N.G) (W)omen of faith called to ENcourage one another, (I)nspiring a collective courage to create, in fellowship, (N)ew possiblities for breakthroughs! (G)race, Grace! With God's Grace! All of us have a swan gift within us, that empowers us from within. (Swan Arms!) I see a SWAN in you. Always enjoy what you are do and toastmasters gives you a platform to demonstrate your God-given ability. Be true, be you, Be brave, bold and courageous. (BBC) Broadcast your love and testimony of God's love and grace. In dreams, the swan asks us to spread our wings and take flight into our waking dreams. She also encourages us to strengthen our relationships, as well as make new, long-lasting bonds with people whom we admire. Black swans indicate deep mysteries within us that are longing to be set free to express themselves creatively, in poetry or music or speech.Swan Meaning and Swan Symbolism Love Grace Union Purity Beauty Dreams Balance Elegance Partnership Transformation The swan may also bear messages of love and relationships. They pair for years, sometimes male-female unions are sustained for a lifetime. When the swan glides upon the waters of our awareness, it might be a symbol of love, and a reminder of the blessings found in our relationships.Hope this creative writing encourages you! :) God bless! Love, Shan Roaring success at Singapore's Pavilion "Local Innovation, Global Solutions" @ Communicasia 20146/23/2014 "Local Innovation, Global Solutions" Singapore Showcase of Fresh Tech At Communicasia 2014, our Singapore pavilion featured 9 Singapore's solutions from wearables, portable audio to wireless media solutions. We received positive responses from the Ministerial Yacoob and VIP guests visits to our Pavilion. Despite the brief 10 min visit, we successfully presented and highlighted 7 new solutions, including Creative Technology's Soundblaster ROAR, Oaxis's Inkcase (e-Ink case), XMI (X-mini WE that won ARC's Travel Retail "Best Inflight Product"), and Trek2000 wireless SD card, Flucard photo sharing powered by Cloudstringers. Seeing is believing, hearing is believing Check out their happy and excited expressions :) A BIG SUCCESS welcoming experience. Minister gave his THUMBS-UP for Creative Technology's latest Soundblaster ROAR! I must applaud Creative that they are all prepared with manpower, well-stocked with latest products and music. It's a crowd-stealer and star! Really happy that they have seized the opportunity at Communicasia and benefited from the showcase. Swansong and all worth it! A breakthrough! Team-mate, Gaius and I had rounds of practices and I practiced through the night, rehearsing all the way. After hours and days of practice, I prayed, rested and use anointing oil, confessing God's favor and winning hearts and minds of the VIPs. I prayed, "Let your speech be filled with grace, seasoned with salt, so that you know how to answer each other." (Colossians 4:6). Indeed Minister asked simple questions that we can answer and enquired where/how to buy the products. Amazingly, everything went smooth and we managed to attract favors and Minister's attention to walk into our pavilion right after our 5min presentation on Oaxis Inkcase, Zensorium's tinke, and Nanoveu 3D nano tech previews. I believe the entire walkthrough and photo-taking took 10min that is not seen in past Communicasia visits to our pavilion! This is a breakthough! My learning points to share: Practice makes perfect, excite audience with enthusiasm and eye contact/smile, memorize 3 key points and allows room and creativity for audience to react. Be spontaneous is great! Don't step on laughter, let audience laugh and hold their responses. Get their mind share, don't rush! My bosses, colleagues, and our account companies were pleased with our presentations. Glory to Jesus! Toastmasters experience has certainly helped me gain confidence, and plenty of practice as Toastmaster of the Evening, prepared and impromptu speeches to manage audience responses, stakeholders expectations and overall situation. I have received feedback that I was loud, passionate, and enthusiastic tone that excite and captivated the audience and VIP. Everything seems to happen very fast, and we didn't quite expect Minister to accept our invitation inside the Pavilion to preview more innovation. Fortunately, I had practiced all and was able to rise up to the occasion and do my best! Seeing is believing, hearing is believing, practice is everything! if I can do it, so can you :) The next evening, Nanoveu has won the "Best Consumer Solution"at the Singapore-French ICT Awards by Ubifrance. Due to their absence, I represented them to collect the awards on stage and had the pleasure to share some moments of joy! What pleasant surprise! My new pink and black dresses from New Look really brought wondrous surprises! :) Classic moment! |