Time to fit it all in
I gave my second speech at the IEM Toastmasters meeting last week. Oh my God. It was a lot tougher than I expected!
The topic, which I had chosen myself, was simple: I was to talk about this column – how it came about, why I decided to do it and things like that.
(In fact, this is how the Toastmasters programme works. Newbies are eased into talking in public by picking easy subjects, like ourselves.)
Since I knew the subject like the back of my hand, I thought I could just go in there and just talk. I was wrong.
Everything went wrong.
First of all, I was late to the meeting. Second, I did not have a prepared speech. I just jotted a few things at the back of a Komuter ticket as a guide.
When my name was called, I tried to act cool but my throat was suddenly dry. I stood in front of everyone rooted to one place (my first mistake). Somehow the audience looked scary.
When I began to talk, I even forgot the name of this column. Can you believe that?
Along the way, I managed to crack a joke about a guy who doesn’t watch TV and premarital sex but I was convinced that the audience laughed only out of politeness. And finally, I ended my speech by telling everyone I already knew how I was going to break my TV fast – by watching TV. Duh. It was the worst performance of that night.
So imagine my surprise when my evaluator Suresh said that I passed, that I achieved my objective.
| TRENDS |
Apple CEO Steve Jobs was once asked how he led the computer maker through one of the most astonishing turnarounds in the history of business.
He said, “You have to say ‘no’ to a thousand things so that you can say ‘yes’ to the few that really matter.”
These days, Jobs divides his time between just three things: his family, Apple and Pixar where he is also a CEO.
| The writer is on a three month abstinence from watching TV. He is in his 12th week. One more week to go. |
Source: Life and Times, New Straits Time, Wednesday, March 19, 2008, page 5
1. The article “Time to fit it all in” is taken from the Life &Times section of the NST newspaper. What is the column about? Why is it called Living outside the idiot box?
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2. Would you say that the writer was confident initially?
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3. What went wrong for the writer that day?
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4. In the ‘Organize Your Speech’ project, what are the three items which should be included in your speech?
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5. Why do you think the writer ended his column with this sentence “Someday I hope to trim my list to just three”? Explain in your own words.
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Word Whiz
In the text above, what do the words in bold mean?
the Idiot box: ________________________________________________________________________
Newbies: ___________________________________________________________________________
like the back of my hand: ______________________________________________________________
fast: _______________________________________________________________________________
crack a joke: ________________________________________________________________________
Comprehension,
ReplyDelete1. The column is about a person who takes things simple and does not prepared for his speech.It is called living outside of the idiot box because we as a human cannot live according to the things that we see, we must have practice it and think creatively.
2. Yes he is initially confident.
3. He did not get enough practice because he is over confident with himself upon the topic.
4.Three item should be included in our speech is a clear intro, body and closing.
5. The writer now has the second thought on focusing things in life, we should focused on three major things so that it is easier to manage rather than many things and ends up cannot deal with all of it.
Word Whiz,
the idiot box: TV
newbies: new to something
like the back of my hand: easy
fast: quick
crack of joke: started a joke
LIEW HAW JIUN PB09057
ReplyDelete1. The column is about the writer is on three months abstinence from watching TV. It called living outside the idiot box because the writer did not watching TV for three months.
2. I would say yes. The writer was confident initially.
3. The writer went wrong that day because he is late to the meeting and he did not prepare his speech and then during the speech he forgot the name of the column.
4. The three item which should be include in the speech are a clear intro, body and closing.
5.I think the writer ended his column with this sentence “Someday I hope to trim my list to just three” is because he has plenty of stuff that he need to accomplish. Thus, he wish he could trim his list into three.
Word Whiz
The idiot Box: Television.
Newbies: Novice.
Like the back of my hand: easy job.
Fast: abstinence/fasting.
Crack a joke: making jokes.
LAU CHEW SENG PB09011
ReplyDeletecomprehension
1.the column is about writer is on a 3 month abstinence from watching TV. It called living outside the idiot box because writer did not watch TV on 3 month.
2. Yes, the writer is confident initially.
3. The went wrong for the writer that day are
writer is late to the meeting. Second, writer did not prepare speech because his is confident with himself.He also forgot the name of the column when his speech.
4. the 3 items which should be included in speech are a clear intro,body and closing.
5. the writer ending his column with "someday i hope to trim my list to just three" because he want his speech is more complete and better.
Word Whiz
The idiot Box : TV
Newbies : greenhorn
Like the back of my hand : easy
Fast : quick
Crack a joke : make a joke
Nur Amalina Alias
ReplyDeletePB09049
Comprehension
1-The column is about the writer who is taking simple on his presentation and do not prepare very well for his speech.its called Living outside the idiot box because we need to arrange our life so that the tomorrow challenges will easily handle.
2-yes,he was initially confident.
3-The writer was not well prepared and take the speech as a simple things
4-three item which should be include in the speech are clear introduction, body and closing.
5-the writer thinks that he also want to making his life as simple like Steve Job.so, he don't have to think about many problems in his life.
Word Whiz
The idiot Box: Television.
Newbies: Novice.
Like the back of my hand: easy job.
Fast: quickly
Crack a joke: making jokes.
PB09020
ReplyDeleteNURUL SYAZWANI BINTI NORDIN
Comprehension
1.The column is about the writer takes things simple in works and not prepare for a speech. It called living outside the idiot box because we must arrange our life. We need to prepare in our life for handle the challengers.
2.Yes. The writer was confident initially.
3.The writer went wrong that day because he not prepared for speech and very confident with himself.
4.Three items which should be include in speech is clear intro, body and closing.
5.The writer thinks that he wants to be like Apple CEO Stave Jobs in his life.
Word whiz
The idiot box-television
Newbies-novice
Like the back of my hand-easy job
Fast-quickly
Crack a joke-making joke
Mohamad Shahrul Hafiz bin Noordin PB09044
ReplyDelete1. The column is about a person that not ready their speech very well.It called living outside the idiot box because it is lack of idea and preparation.
2. yes he was confident initially.
3. He couldn't prepare with high confident level.
4. The three items that should include speech is intro,body and closing.
5. I think the writer was shamed when he was done and hope that he could trim his list into three.
word Whiz
The idiot Box: Television
Newbies:something new
Like the back of my hand:easy
Fast:Quick
Crack a joke:show a joke
1.The column is about the writer who is talking in public by picking easy subject.It call living outside the idiot box because the writer did not watch TV in 3 month. As the human , we must arrange our life with our creatively.
ReplyDelete2.Yes. The writer was confident initially.
3.The went wrong for writer that day is writer very confident with himself and not prepare anything for their speech. Another went wrong is that day writer also forget his speech topic is column.
4.The three items should be included in my speech are clear intro, body and closing.
5.I thing the writer want his speech is more better in the future.
Kuah Li Ting pb09042
ReplyDelete1.The column is the person does not prepare well in his public speaking and takes thing simple.It is valled Living Outside the idiot box because the writer did not watching tv for three months.
2.Yes.the writer was confident initially.
3.A lot of thing went wrong for the writer that day.First of all,he was late to the meeting.Secondaryhe didn not have a prepared speech and when he went forward to present his speech,he felt nervous and he even forgot the anme of column.
4.The three items should be included in speech is clear intro,body and closing.
5.The writer ended his column with this sentence "Somedayn I hope to trim my list to just three"is he want to be more better in the future time.
word whiz:
the idiot box:television
newbies:new to something
like the back of my hand:easy job
fast:quick
crack a joke:makes joke
TAY WERN NAR PB09058
ReplyDeleteComprehension
1.The column is about a person be troubled by no preparing his speech.It is called living outside the idiot box because the writer does not watch television for three months.
2.Yes,the writer was confident initially.This is because he think he can just go in there and just talk.
3.First,he was late to the meeting.Second,he did not has a prepared speech.Finally,he stood in front of everyone rooted to one place and when he began to talk,he even forgot the name of his column.
4.The three items which should be included in our speech are a clear intro,body and closing.
5.I think the writer ended his column with this sentence “Someday I hope to trim my list to just three" because he wants achieve successful in his future as Apple CEO Steve Jobs who is divided his time between just three things compared to writer divided his time to more things.
Word Whiz
1.The idiot box:Television
2.Newbies:Novice
3.Like the back of my hand:easy
4.Fast:Quick
5.Crack a joke:Make a joke
HARMIEZA BINTI MANSOR
ReplyDeletePB09036
Comprehension
1.The column is about a person that does not prepare his speech for the presentation and takes thing simple. It is called living outside the idiot box means we cannot just live according to what we see but experience it buy ourselves and we must have practice it.
2.I would say yes, the writer is confident initially.
3.The writer went wrong that day because first, he was late to the morning. Second, he did not prepare his speech and he only jotted a few things at the back of a Komuter ticket.
4.In the ‘Organize Your Speech’ project, the three items which should be included are clear intro, body and closing.
5.I think the writer ended his column with this sentences “Someday I hope to trim my list just three” because the writer have many things on his mind to say and he is nobody so he hope that he will be somebody so he can speech on what he has think and make it clear.
Word Whiz
The idiot box- Television
Newbies- new to something
Like the back of my hand- easy
Crack a joke- making joke
Nur Azah binti Mansor
ReplyDeletePB09047
Comprehension
1.The column is all about the writer who did not well prepared for his presentation and overconfidence.It is called living outside the idiot box because difference person will experience difference things, so whatever challenges that come, we need to tackle it wisely and not only depending on what we see on TV.
2.Yes the writer is initially confident.
3.First, he was late for the meeting.Then, he did not prepare anything about the topic but only jotted down a few things at the back of the Komuter ticket.When his name was called, he tried to act cool but his throat was suddenly dry.When he began his speech, he don't even remember the name of the column.
4.In the 'Organize your speech' project, the three things that need to be included in our speech are clear introduction, body and closing.
5.The writer ended his column with "Someday I hope to trim my list to just three" because like Apple CEO Steve Jobs said, “You have to say ‘no’ to a thousand things so that you can say ‘yes’ to the few that really matter”.Sometimes we have to say 'no' to things that is not very important so that we can get the advantages from a few items that really matter.
Word whiz
The idiot box-television
Newbies-new to something/beginner
Like the back of my hand-easy job
Crack a joke-create/making a joke
Comprehension
ReplyDelete1. Tho coloum given is about a person who became over confident and didt prepare for his presentation. He take things simple and because of it he didt he didt put effort for the presentation. Living outside of the idiot box means human like us must practise evrything.we cannot simply apply what we see.
2. Yup, initially the writer was confident.
3. There went few thing wrong for the writer that day. Which is the writer late to the meeting.Than, the writer also didt prepare for the speech well just because he is over confident.Besides that, he also forgot the name of the coloum in his speeech.
4. There are three items which should be included in our speech. There are clear intro, body and closing.
5. I think the writer ending his column with "someday i hope to trim my list to just three" because he want his speech is more complete and better.
Word Whiz
The idiot Box : TV
Newbies : greenhorn
Like the back of my hand : easy
Fast : quick
Crack a joke : make a joke
othman pb09012
ReplyDelete1. The column is about a person who takes things simple and does not prepared for his speech.It is called living outside of the idiot box because we as a human cannot live according to the things that we see, we must have practice it and think creatively.
2. Yup he was initially confident.
3. He did not get enough practice because he is over confident with himself upon the topic.
4.Three item should be included in our speech is a clear intro, body and closing.
5. The writer now has the second thought on focusing things in life, we should focused on three major things so that it is easier to manage rather than many things and ends up cannot deal with all of it.
Word Whiz,
the idiot box: TV
newbies: new to something
like the back of my hand: easy
fast: quick
crack of joke: started a joke
TAN JUN LIANG(PB09017)
ReplyDelete1.The column is about a person no preparing his speech before start the speech.It is called living outside the idiot box because the writer does not watch television for three months.
2.Yes,the writer was confident initially.It is because his just think he can complete his speech even he not prepare his speech.
3. First,he was late to the meeting. Second, he did not have a prepared speech. Besides that,his also forgot the name of column when his speech.
4.The three items which should be included in our speech are a clear intro,body and closing.
5.I think the writer will change his attitude
after this situation,may be his speech will be better in future.
Word Whiz
1.The idiot box- Television
2.Newbies- something of new
3.Like the back of my hand- simple/easy
4.Fast-Quick
5.Crack a joke- make a joke
ashroy pb09010
ReplyDeleteComprehension
1.The column is about the writer takes things simple in works and not prepare for a speech. It called living outside the idiot box because we must arrange our life.
2.Yes,the writer was confident initially.
3-The writer was not well prepared and take the speech as a simple things.
4. The three item which should be include in the speech are a clear intro, body and closing.
5. the writer ending his column with "someday i hope to trim my list to just three" .
word Whiz
The idiot Box: Television
Newbies:something new
Like the back of my hand:easy
Fast:Quick
Crack a joke:show a joke
Suki pB09037
ReplyDelete1.The column is about the writer takes things simple in works and not prepare for a speech. It called living outside the idiot box because the writer doesn’t watch television for three months.
2.Yes, the writer was confident initially.
3-The writer was not well prepared. Firstly ,he was late to the meeting. Secondly , he did not have a prepare speech. In addition ,he also forgot the name of column when his speech.
4. The three item should be include in the speech are a clear intro, body and closing.
5. the writer end his column with "someday i hope to trim my list to just three" .
word Whiz
The idiot Box: Television
Newbies:something new
Like the back of my hand:easy
Fast:Quick
rack a joke:make a joke
Afiq PB09015
ReplyDelete1.The column is about the writer doesn’t watch television for three months . It called living outside the idiot box .
2.Yes, the writer was confident initially.
3.There are three went wrong that day. Firstly ,he was late to the meeting. Secondly , he did not have a prepare speech. Thirdly ,he also forgot the name of column when his speech.
4. The three item that should be include in speech are a clear intro, body and closing.
5. the writer end his column with "someday i hope to trim my list to just three" .
word Whiz
The idiot Box: Television
Newbies:something of new
Like the back of my hand:easy
Fast:Quick
crack a joke:make a joke
SITI FARIZAD(PB09006)
ReplyDelete1.The column is about the writer no preparing his speech and make himself into trouble.It called living outside the idiot box because the writer did not watch the television already three month.
2.Yes, the writer is confident initially.It is because the writer brave to start his speech even he was not had any preparation in his speech.
3.First,he was late to the meeting and he also no prepare his speech.Besides that,he forgot the name of column in his speech.
4.The three item which should be include in the speech are a clear intro, body and closing.
5.I think after in this situation,maybe the writer will change himself and make his speech better in future.
Word Whiz
1.The idiot box- Television
2.Newbies- something of new
3.Like the back of my hand-easy
4.Fast-Quick
5.Crack a joke- make a joke
Adzim pb09021
ReplyDelete1. Tho coloum given is about a person who became over confident and didt prepare for his presentation. He take things simple and because of it he didt he didt put effort for the presentation. Living outside of the idiot box means human like us must practise evrything.we cannot simply apply what we see.
2.I would say yes, the writer is confident initially.
3. First,he was late to the meeting. Second, he did not have a prepared speech. Besides that,his also forgot the name of column when his speech.
4.In the ‘Organize Your Speech’ project, the three items which should be included are clear intro, body and closing
5.I think after in this situation,maybe the writer will change himself and make his speech better in future
Word Whiz
1.The idiot box- Television
2.Newbies- something of new
3.Like the back of my hand-easy
4.Fast-Quick
5.Crack a joke- make a joke
1. the article is about unprepared presentation. it called living outside the idiot box because the writer not watching the television for 3 months.
ReplyDelete2. yes, the writer was confident initially.
3. first, he was late to the meeting. secondly, he did not prepared for the speech and simultaneously make the situation become worst.
4. 3 item that should be included in a speech is clear intro, body and also closing.
5. the writer try to improve himself by organizing life and prepared for his work in the future.
the idiot box: the television
newbies: new to something
like the back of my hand: easy task
fast: quick
crack a joke: make a joke
amira hanis raimi
pb09050
1) The article “Time to fit it all in” is taken from the Life &Times section of the NST newspaper is about a person that not prepared to his own presentation and it called Living outside the idiot box because he doesn't know about the latest news because of he not watch television three month already.
ReplyDelete2) yes, the writer is confident initially
3) first,he was late to the meeting. second,he also had no prepared to his speech. and the last one is,he forgot the name of column in his speech.
4)The three item which should be include in the speech are clear intro, body and closing
5) in my opinion, after the incident,the writer will improve himself and will do the preparation for his future presentation
Word Whiz
1.The idiot box- Television
2.Newbies- something of news
3.Like the back of my hand-easy
4.Fast-Quick
5.Crack a joke- make a joke
1. It is because the writer does not watching television for long times. He did not knew the current topics on the television.
ReplyDelete2. I think that the writer is confident initially because he did not prepare for the presentation. he also not really ready , and just let himself to go there and he think that he can make it.
3.He was very nervous until he forget that what he actually need to say. then, he just made joke but it did not work. then, he just said what he thought in his mind.
4. a clear intro, body and closing.
5. in my opinion, the writer wrote like that because he knew that in presentation the three items are very important. the items will make the presentation better and the audience will be more clear to what we are going to say.
the Idiot box: television
ReplyDeleteNewbies: new things
like the back of my hand: very easy
fast: break
crack a joke: create a joke
hai...
ReplyDelete1.The column is about the writer take things in work and not prepare to speech.It cared living outside the idiot box.
2. Yes,the writer was confident initially.
3. The writer went wrong that day because,first he was late to the morning.Then he did not has a prepared speech.Finally, when he began his speech.he don't even remember the name of the column.
4.The 'organize your speech'project,three things that need to be included in our speech are clear introduction,body,and closing.
5.The writer end his column with "somebody i hope to trim my list to just three"
the idiot box-television
newsbies-new things
like the back of my hand-easy to work
fast-abstinence/fasting
crack a joke- making a jokes