I just finished the book “Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America” written by Barbara Ehrenreich. It was about her research project how what lives were like for low wage workers in the US. I appreciate her observations and evaluations, and I think many of her evaluations are still valid even in 2015. I found how to improve people living on minimum wage is a practically complicated issue, it’s not as simple as raising minimum wage and force rent to be lower (which could potentially crash the economy), and I’m not even knowledgeable to make valid comments on it, but I believe this has to be addressed. So I’d like to share her book with you, to provoke thoughts and spark new ideas. Discussions are welcomed.
A Bite of China in the U.S, Americanized.
My first touch with Americanized Chinese food was Panda Express. I’m a picky foodie for Chinese cuisine, and yet I understand that there are needs for changing and adapting the traditional Chinese flavors to local communities.
Another Face of Yingying
In this short speech, I talked about why and how I got into karate.
iPhone Apps Review Project
Recently, I started a personal project to review and evaluate iPhone Apps and gave a short speech about it to my Toastmasters club.
I felt great after I put together the content: apparently for this technical topic, I did a great job “de-technicalize” it for my audience — my fellow Toastmasters, who come from a variety of backgrounds. After I gave a speech and gathered my evaluations, I know this speech has so much more room to improve.
A Look Back on My Toastmasters Journey
Finally, after two and a half years, I completed my first 10 Toastmasters speeches in the Competent Communication manual.
Looking back, I’ve conquered a great amount of fear towards public speaking, and I’m happily graduating from an entry-level English speaker on to the next.
Looking for a way to conquer your fear? Come with me to revisit my journey in Toastmasters and you’ll find the answer.
Organize a Successful Club Officer Make-up Training
Can a newbie organize a successful Toastmasters club officer make-up training? The answer is YES and we had a blast!
Here are my take-aways from this training organization experience, as well as a checklist and sample files for you to use, if you are planning to organize one.
Become a Better Speaker by Video Recording Yourself
I gave a speech on how to become a better speaker by recording yourself in video.
I talked about why video recording works for you, how to set it up and after get yourself recorded, how you can effectively review the video. I also talked about how I applied this technique to my preparation in the speech contest last year, and got myself into the division contest level.
How to Promote Your Toastmasters Clubs
At the District 57’s Toastmasters Leadership Institute (TLI), Sean Adams gave an excellent training session “Social Media for VP-PR”. Solid take-aways on: 1. online and offline approaches you can use to promote your clubs; 2. tips on quality content; 3. promoted, then what?
Enjoyize Experience
This was a short speech at my Toastmasters club, I talked about unpleasant, good, great experiences and why you should care about them.
A Glance of Toastmasters
I gave a speech on Toastmasters International, talking about its history, evolvement and what’s in there for members.