Yes people, Irene Ang = Rosie Phua in Singapore’s most watched local comedy Phua Chu Kang. And I am fortunate enough to be in her professional hosting class for the next ten Wednesdays. It feels good to be a student after so long.

For those of who you don’t know, Irene Ang started out as a host fifteen years ago. It was during one of her hosting gigs that she got discovered by MediaCorp. And not long after that, she clinched the leading role of Phua Chu Kang and became a local celebrity. Today, she is one of the most highly paid hosts in Singapore. She commands an hourly rate of minimum $2500/hr and very often, it goes as high as $10,000/hr. I know.. unbelievable!!!

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Last week, I had an epiphany while gorging up my mum’s fried carrot cake. Three words came to my mind — Strength in Number!

Ok, allow me to explain.

If each one of you share with me the best advice you have received so far with regards to public speaking, I will have over a hundred! And then I will collate all hundred and post them up.

Can you imagine? That will be like 100 workable tips at your disposal. Interested?

Very simple.

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Practice makes ________ ???

“Perfect!”, they cried in unison.
“Wrong!”

Practice Makes Permanence.

Apparently after four fruitful hours with thirteen fervent participants, that’s three words they find most memorable. I cannot help but agree with them wholeheartedly about the significance of these three words. You see, public speaking is like swimming. There is absolutely NO way you can master swimming just by reading a book or hundred books. Sitting through a workshop - that is held in a classroom - doesn’t do much either. You got to be at the pool inside to learn how to swim.

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How was the first podcast?? Like it? For those of you who have given me your feedback, a BBBBBIIIIGGGGGG THANK YOU! I love it when I hear from you! And do keep your emails coming. I promise to reply them within a week. Scouts’ honor.

Last week has been phenomenal as I got to work with a whole bunch of public speaking enthusiasts. One of which was at a presentation workshop held in Yishun Safra. Shall share with you more about what happened in the next post.

Meanwhile, here’s my reply to one of my subscribers. Thought this will be useful to you as well. Talk soon.

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One of the epic battles that all speakers have to fight is their nervousness. Who will ever forget the sweaty palms, dry throat, chattering teeth, pounding heart and incessant noises in our heads?

I still remember my first public speech made - when I was 16 - in a school assembly with at least 600 students. It was on the fateful day of 13 August 1996. My best friend Jac knew how nervous I was and she wrote me a card to cheer me on. There was this line that read “I am sure your speech will enchant everyone else during the assembly tomorrow and leave an impression!”

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This week’s entry is all about Steve Jobs, co-founder of Apple. Every year, thousands of apple fanatics will come from various states and countries to hear him speak at the Worldwide Developers’ Conference (or more popularly known as WWDC). The highlight will be Steve’s keynote where he gives a lowdown on what Apple is up to. If you have the time, go watch him.
(Steve in action @ WWDC 2006) There are plenty of presentation tips to milk from watching Steve deliver his keynote. I will like to bring up three in particular.

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In no particular order….. since all are equally bad…

Blooper #1: Not telling us why we should listen to you

Never assume that just because you have an audience, we are obliged to listen to you. We may love you (that’s why we came in the first place) but never take advantage of the trust we have for you. It is an extreme turn-off when the audience has to do the work i.e. figure out how your presentation is relevant to us. We are a bunch of selfish egomaniacs. We love ourselves so much! And we don’t care about your experiences unless it teaches us something that we can use for ourselves. So here’s a word of advice: If you want to share your experiences, please do. But always include a message, something that will benefit us, your beloved audience!

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