In our HKTMC annual evaluation and Table Topics speech contests on September 18th, 12 members put on a good show for our full-house audience. What a spectacular performance from our eager contestants, and congratulations to all our winners!
Table Topics Speech Contest:
1st place: Charlotte Leung
2nd place: Jewel Ho
3rd place: Edwin Lui
At the Table Topics Speech Contest, contestants improvised short speeches to the tricky topic “What if….”
Charlotte (1st place) asked: “What if you had to choose between revenge with hatred or forgiveness with kindness?” After being food poisoned from dining at a restaurant, Charlotte opted to reflect the situation candidly with the catering manager instead of submitting a formal complaint to the authorities. This act of kindness resulted in the restaurant sending a detailed lab report and gifting mooncakes to Charlotte. In her speech, she demonstrated the technique of highlighting an attention-capturing personal story, aligning it perfectly with the table topic, and bringing it home with a key message.
Jewel’s (2nd place) hypothetical scenario was unique: “What if I was the younger twin?” Contemplating about being born just 1 minute later, she wouldn’t have had to meet the expectations of being the older sibling, relieving her from responsibilities like picking up the phone at home. Jewel spoke with cheerful composure in her speech and incorporated rhetorical questions to engage the audience.
Edwin (3rd place) humorously wondered: “What if I didn’t marry my wife 34 years ago?” He recounted the passage of time and watching the sunset with his wife as if it were just yesterday. Ultimately, he advised those single to think hard before making the commitment (because it was tough), resonating with the crowd and making us all laugh out loud.
Contestants: Brian Klaassen, Asta Lee, Stevie Au Yeung, Athena Ha, Charlotte Leung, Ryan Li, Ben Fung, William Leung, Harry Lee, Ruby Sung, Jewel Ho, Edwin Lui
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Evaluation Speech Contest:
1st place: Ben Fung
2nd place: Jewel Ho
3rd place: Ryan Li
Our test speaker, Crystal Cheung, in her speech “A blend of spices,” spoke about leadership, teamwork, and delegation analogically with cooking a pot of curry.
All our winners acknowledged Crystal’s clever use of analogy and her rich content. Ben (1st place) and Jewel (2nd place) suggested personifying the protagonist in her speech to bring the characters alive for the audience. Together with Ryan (3rd place), all evaluators gave constructive feedback on using body language and making more dramatic contrasts between scenes. Overall, they recognized it as an informative and inspiring speech and provided helpful improvement tips.
The first two places of each contest will represent our club to compete in the Area Contest at the beginning of next year. Good luck to all!
Last but not least, many thanks to our Contest Chair, Anthony Tsang, Chief Judge Jacky Chiang (Area G2 Director), Contest Manager Raymond Chung, and all our facilitators for their time and effort in making this contest a success!
Hope to see you all again in our International & Mandarin Speech Contests in early December.
