tWiStEd LiFe

Last August, Marion and I won first place in our club contest -- Marion was the Champion for Evaluation & I am the Champion for Humorous Speech Contest (Funny kasi talaga ko eh. Lol). Haha! Because of that, we represented the club in the Toastmasters District Contest (yehesss level up talaga ko eh. Marion was so used representing our club in the district level while it's actually my first time as one. And oh, yun talaga #relationshipgoals namin hahaha!). 

The District contest was held two weeks before our US trip. We represented our club and guess what?! I was able to deliver the speech perfectly - I did not forget any lines and ika nga ni Marion, nagtransform daw ako. Hahaha! Ok daw pala sakin pag naprepressure ako -- I was the second to the last contestant so I have seen how good the other contestants were. I didn't actually practice my speech infront of my orgmates kasi nahihiya ako. 

Marion won 1st runner up for the Evaluation Contest while I was... the Champion for Humorous Speech Contest. Wohooo! Achievement unlocked. I am starting to believe that I'm a funny person. Lol.

with my orgmates and friends from Emperor Mandarin TM Club

As the Champion, I have to represent the District in the Division Contest. I told Marion, "Baby!! Pag nanalo uli ako, makakapunta ako ng Davao para sa Nationwide contest. Kakaririn ko to! Haha!" BUT unfortunately, the Division contest coincided with our US trip. Hay. With that, the first runner up, Myles, represented the District in the Division contest. That's life. There's always next year. Haha! Kala ko pa naman makakapag-Davao na ako (Nationwide contest will be held in Davao). Lels. Talagang inassume ko eh no na mananalo din ako sa Division contest. Hahaha! Assumera! But hey, why not? 

with my number one fan & mentor :)

Below is the copy of my speech (It was actually recycled from my "old" speeches but enhanced specifically for the contest. Hahaha!)

IMPRESSIONS

Have you ever made a good impression? Or was it a worst depression? There are moments in my life that I tried to impress people... and I failed. Miserably. Nowadays, there are only two groups of people that I try to impress aside from our honorable, smart and gorgeous judges (looks at the judges and wink at them)... Do you know who they are? *Pause* Boys! And of course, Toastmasters!

Let me talk about the first group of people who are easier to please -- Boys! I remember when I was an incoming freshmen college. I was waiting in line when two guys before me caught my attention. They were good looking and macho *flexes arms* -- you know those typical guys who i only see in commercials and magazines. They were talking about how the line for enrollment was taking too long. You know what I did? Of course, I did something I'm best at -- eavesdropping!

Guy 1: It's so matagal the line here no, pare?

Guy 2: Yeah and it's like already lunch time na.

And so... this is how they speak here...It's like they are all rich ha. I was busy listening to their conversation when the guy turned to me. I swallowed hard, bit my lip while he opened his mouth and said, *Pause*

"Hi Miss, what time is it?"

I was startled. Oh.my.gosh. They're talking to me. These two angles infront of me are looking at me, waiting for me to answer the billion dollar question -- what.time.is.it. *speak slowly* The world turned into slow motion. I suddenly head wedding bells ringing.

The flirty version of myself flashed my close up smile, tucked my hair into my ear, looked at my watch (Action: This is it, I got this) and said, "It's like parang 11 am na". The guy said, "Thanks. It's so matagal the line here no? By the way I'm Dan & this is my friend Mark."

"I'm Patricia. But you can kul (Bisaya accent of call) me Pat." Uh-oh. What did I just say? My brain gone wild the moment I said that. "I really meant call". The one word ruined the perfect moment. I wanted the ground to swallow me alive. I turned not just red but maroon out of embarrassment. I excused myself, turned my back from them and started walking. The guy called out to me and said, "Hey Pat, you have putik on your legs." I turned around to look and said, "Oh, this one? It's a benign irregularity of the skin called... balat. For your better understanding, it's birthmark. Thanks anyway so if you may excuse me, I need to go to the restroom." *Pause* You know what happened when I was only a meter away from the? I tripped and kissed the floor. (Walks then trips)

Can I get any luckier than that? What a way to make a first impression! It turned out those guys were my blockmates and they became my boy friends. BOY space FRIENDS (emphasize). Because apparently, they were boyfriends. I fell down on our first meeting, but I stood tall in our class until we graduated. But I still fell short of my accent and pronunciation. (Looks sad).

So in 2011, I finally decided to work on my tongue by joining Toastmasters. My! I never knew people here are even harder to please. Just look at those faces (Points at the audience). Here, I met some of the most critical people especially in the field of grammar and they weren't impressed with me! I also got to know a lot of great speakers and I learned a lot from them. I was mentored until I knew the elements of public speaking little by little. I even enjoy ordering my meal at Jollibee in PREP (point,reason, explain, point) pattern -- *stop then act like ordering something* I'll order Jolly spaghetti please because that's my childhood favorite. You know, when I was a kid, my mom would cook it for me so let me have a Jolly spaghetti please.

As I progressed in my speeches, learning to use my body (sexy pose) and my voice (sing) when I talked, I gained confidence and earned friends without the thought of impressing them. It came out naturally and in fact, somebody in Toastmasters was so impressed that he became my boyfriend (Looks at Marion and wink).

Fellow Toastmasters, we don't need to please anyone except ourselves. Work on your insecurity by self improvement then before knowing it, you have already radiated a good energy to everyone that you get to impress them without knowing it. Although you never get a second chance to make a first good impression, you'll always have a second chance to make a BETTER and lasting impression.