Every time before I making speech, I would certainly watch kwong's performance. It is such an amazing time for me to stay in the same district as kwong.
Kwong just want to say that I have always admired your speaking style. You use speaking as an extension of yourself. I tried to model my principles after 3 speakers and you were one of them. Thank you!
Hi Aaron, congratulations on your achievement this year! Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad I can still add some value (even though it's been a while since I was up on the World Stage). Would love to know more about your principles of speaking :)
Oh my goodness two of the best speakers here and guess what, you bothh have inspired me and i want to pursue public speaking as luck! Wish me luck and success and wish u the same and good health...thanks for inspiring me
he lost because he used "you see" as a transitional phrase repeatedly and he also stumbled over his words a couple times. Then he messed up the sequence on his fortune teller vignette. His opening was a bit contrived also. His speech was very good and the topic was suitable. He just needed to be perfect and he wasn't. These contests are extremely tight judging. I loved his speech but I figured now you have some idea about how he lost :)
You have some incredible insight. I can respect someone who sees beyond the emotional value of a speech. I felt this was the best because his message hit close to me. However, I can see what your saying. Just because I say 1st doesn't mean he impacted the others
Jordan Lampkin Like i previously said, i think it was a great speech for sure. I'm sure that it was a tough decision for the judges. He came in 2nd even with some of the issues. I'm sure many people thought he should have won. It's a great story. Have you watched Jock Elliot's first place speech? Probably not as great a topic but his delivery style is pretty masterful.
Absolutely did. The man is amazing. Would you mind shooting me your email on google plus? You have some great insight. I'm actually competing at area on Saturday. Would love to hear your tips.
savethefails "he lost because he used "you see""..Kwong was portraying a frail backstreet fortune teller in rural China...So, do you reasonably expect him to speak perfect Queen's English? The truth is, the judging process is not always so methodical and is often very subjective: This coming from one who has competed in and judged numerous Division level speech contests
Congrats Kwong. Congrats! Finally... I got to view your winning speech here. It's an amazing journey... From your early days at Galaxy GZ TMC - where we met - to the heights of achievement & the dazzle of international acclaim. Enjoy the daze, friend. Many here - in Metro Manila - are still talking about your stellar performance...while I share in some rub- off limelight as your friend. I had mentioned casually that I had met you in the early fortnights of your budding Toastmastering career, and the time traveling to Shanghai where we celebrated your victory at the all-China speech contest. Well done...very well done, my friend. I celebrate your achievement. Let me know if you're visiting the 2014 Convention in KL. Or, come visit Philippines.
I have admired all your speeches from the day I became a Toastmaster, I see a great potential in you. Kwong you are an amazing person as well. May you have more victories soon.
I had watched it for more than 8 times in the last year. When my school gives me a presentation project, I will watch this video to find inspirations. Very helpful!!!! But it also makes me understand the difference between master and me.
I read your speech before I watched it. What an incredible delivery. It is hilarious and captivating. I am inspired to take the leap and get onto my first TM project. Thanks and all the best!
Amazing speech... I always love to hear inspirational speeches from different personalities and undoubtedly this speech is in my top of the list.. Congratulations :)
Good speech which years I spent to realize and understand the lesson . Seeking others make decisions of my life then regret ,complain and blaming felt like I was forced into this situation but after all its all about having some trust and faith in myself. Most importantly self responsibility.
How you did not win is still a mystery to me. Your speech was ten times better than the guy who won. Very brilliant speech, the funniest Toastmaster I've seen.
walking across the stage (when he was showing his flight to China) seems like good stage use to me and I like the graphic of shoveling coal into the furnace as well. I agree that the eventual winner was in control of the stage more but stage control should be the deciding factor between two close contests...and this isn't a close contest. Kwong's content and delivery was much better than Jock's.
Michael Taiwo The guy who won, Jock Elliot, was great. In addition, he was also a veteran and was runners-up a couple of times previously. So, when the decision is on the line, they must let him win!
Michael Taiwo Thanks Michael for the kind words. Jock and I have very different styles. We both hold the audience in a very different way. So our strengths are different. But glad you liked my speech! Hopefully I will have more soon :)
I love this speech and show it to my Speech Class as an inspiration...then follow that with giving each student a fortune cookie to do a short impromptu speech...lots of fun and a great intro to Toastmasters. Thank you Mr. Yang!
One of my favourite TMI speeches! I shared this with our club (in Kitchener, Ontario, Canada) this week for the purpose of doing a group evaluation since we didn't have a speaker. It was difficult to find points for improvement, but an exemplary example for our new members to see how they might development as speakers with dedication to the art. Keep inspiring!
Kwong Yue Yang Hey Kwong, I met you in Hong Kong a couple years back.. We both went to Take Out Comedy Club and then we hung out at McDonald's afterwards.. How are you doing these days? You can email me at samuelyen232@hotmail.com
@Warren2TheG Thanks Warren, you are right, sometimes there does need to be a "Wow" moment. Something that sticks into the minds of the audience. When I re-wrote this speech, I was aiming for more entertainment value, but will look at a "wow" moment. It would be interesting to see which "moment" stays memorable to the audience a few months from now.
Kwong's personal best speech ever, He should have won with this speech. My only possible reason he did not land on 1st place, is that a few times he stumbled for words. I guess judges was little too critical on that and might have caused him some points. otherwise, this is a perfectly champion's speech.
@kasparov9 Haven't always been a good natural speaker.. technically English is my second language. Been a Toastmaster for 5 years I believe... gee time flies!
Mate! Wow yeah of course I remember you! Thanks for all your tips back then too! haha it did change a lot. I still can't believe I thought the original was going to help me win... it was quite bad haha. Learning lessons :)
New to public speaking. Wow. Just wow. Love his story, how there's an authenticity about it, his personality and his delivery. This is my mew favorite speech. Hope he's doing well now!
Maria Castaneda Thanks Maria, am still alive and doing well... I think... Enjoy the your public speaking journey, as there's lots to learn and lots of fun to be had :)
Loved the creative approach--working in Australia to shoveling coal in China at $5 a day. GREAT energy. Also liked the line about China being far away (on the stage). WOW, what a great wrap up close.
Great job. Structure was pristine. Humor was quality. And i thought he had a more original message and more importantly delivered it in a more creative and clever way than the 3rd place, Scott Prichard's speech. The only critique i could give is that it didn't quite have that one "WOW" moment, that give's you goosebumps or a single tear of joy. But the consistency level was SO high it almost didn't matter. This is a winning level speech in my opinion. Exceptional Job.
@kwongyueyang Kwong really great speech, emotional, deeply felt, and quite funny! And most importantly based on actual events..:) Have you always been a good natural speaker? How long have you been a member of toastmasters?
Loved your message and terrrific humors, Kwong. So glad you didn't give this one in 2010 when we competed against each other in WCPS 2010 Semi 5 in Palm Desserts, CA.
Hello Kwong, just saw your speech and I really loved it so much, you should have won! Anyway, I comment here because I wanted to ask you if you can give me speeching tips since i'm going to participate in an international contest in about 2 weeks. Thanks !
@kwongyueyang For your second language you speak really great, do you only practice at toastmasters or do you take other courses too? Any advice for a beginner just starting toastmasters?
While this speech was about the promotion of individualism, a favorite topic of the West, the winning speech was about the procreation of White people in a world where they are fast becoming a power minority to match their numerical status. THAT'S why the other speech won and this one came in second.
