Angela Lansbury Speeches and Making Speeches

Singapore
Saturday evening at SCTA in the Hindu temple, 2018, May 12, evening before Mother's Day.

Best table topic speaker.
Subject Spare the rod
(Quotation from Pearl Buck, American prize-winning author who wrote: The Good Earth; and Peony.)

Spare the rod and spoil the child is thought to come from the bible, but it's hard to find the exact saying in the bible, rather a longer verse which has been summarized in this way.

Nowadays, in the UK, and some other countries, a mother is not legally allowed to use corporal punishment and nor are schools.
Instead, you have to use other methods of instructing, reminding and controlling children. This was demonstrated on TV by a Supernanny. She had a naughty step and lists of actions which would win gold stars, which would cumulate to win a prize such as an outing. You can give pocket money or stars for tasks, or allocate them on a rota. In Japan, the schoolchildren cook and serve lunch, clean up the kitchen, classrooms and common areas and this increases a feeling of responsibility. In think rewards are better than rods - this is how a modern mother wins love and respect and helps her children achieve.

Evaluation
I also won the ribbon for best evaluator. I evaluated an excellent storytelling speech. The speaker had an important message, how a mother can be a good mother to her own child and other children, with or without the help of a husband.
I commended the way she gave a very visual speech, painting pictures of herself, a small Indian girl, walking hand-in-hand with her new classmate and friend, a Chinese boy.

A second picture was how his mother waved and smiled at both children.

The third picture was how the boy's mother gave a gift of a food box to the girl on the boy's mother's birthday.

Finally, the visual picture of the boy's mother celebrating not one but many occasions with the other family's children.

My suggestions for improvement:
Make the title clearer: bonding is the key - a great metaphor, a key is for a door, what kind of a door.
Start with the message or summary of the speech, so we know where it is going and what to remember and look out for.

 End with the message, an emphatic sentence, and emphatic word. End with a call to action - should we copy that mother, how, by doing what?

Author and speaker
Angela Lansbury ALB ACG

Impromptu Speech Topic - Become invisible

I was asked to speak on this topic at Francophone, the French group in Singapore.

This is what I said, in English (French below later):

Become invisible - what a dreadful idea! You might hear people talking about you and saying rude things which you would not want to hear. I would feel insulted, outraged. How could they say such dreadful things about me? I'm a nice person, a sweetie.

Things could not get any worse - yes, they could. They don't know I'm here - and they are taking their clothes off! Please don't do that. They can't see me.

Oh, my God! I'm not looking!

I'll go next door. Oh, look, a lovely buffet, so I'll join the queue. But nobody has noticed me. They haven't given me any food.

I'm really going off this being invisible lark. Nobody's talking to me.

I shall just have to sing to myself. Oops, I'm signing, sharp, or is it flat? Luckily nobody knows it's me. Maybe there are some advantages to being invisible.

***
Devinir invisible!

Quel horreur. Vous pouvey entendre ce que les gens disent á votre subjet, votre charactère. Alors. C'est affreux. Ce n'est-ce pas vrais. Je suis une personne adorable.

Ce n'est pas possible que cela sera pire. Oui. C'est possible. Ils ramene leures vêtement, enlève leurs vêtments. Arretez vous!
Mais on ne me vois pas. Ils sont nus.
Et maintenant - oh! Je ne regarde pas!

Ils faut d'aller d'ailleurs. Au buffet. Je dois joindre les autres. Mais ils ont recu toutes les fruits. Il n'ya rien pour mois. Ils ne peux pas voir que je suis ici. J'ai faim.

Rien á faire. Je vai chanter toute seule. Hélas, je chante faux. Tant pis. Personne peux entendre, ce n'est pas moi. Peutêtre devenir invisible peux être bons.