The Toastmasters Macao Open Day, themed “From Macao to the World”, was held yesterday afternoon at MGM COTAI, with the event’s coordinator Freda Lei Oi In talking to The Macau Post Daily about the importance of public speaking as a skill.

The event’s theme focused on two dimensions: people being able to try expanding their networks beyond Macau due to good public communication skills and with members who have performed well in public speaking being able to enter international speech contests, according to Lei. The second dimension focuses on developing communication and leadership skills.

Public speaking, Lei pointed out, is amongst the most important skills or abilities that a person should be well-equipped with in society. Elaborating further, Lei said she thinks it is important to pick up the skill as “communication is everywhere. No matter which position you take, you need to know how to communicate with people well in order to have a good relationship with others”.

Moreover, Lei told The Macau Post Daily about her personal experience when talking about the skill’s importance, saying that she was initially a shy person who did not know how to talk to or get along with others, but became more open after joining a Toastmasters club which enabled her to talk with different people, as well as to change her personality which has benefitted her work.

The event was organised by the five clubs of the Toastmasters International in Macau, namely the Macau Toastmasters Club, Macau Cantonese Toastmasters Club, Professional and Graduates Toastmasters Club, Macau Mandarin Toastmasters Club, and UMAC (Students) Toastmasters Club. It was attended by around 180 public speakers and guests, according to a statement provided by the organiser.

Aside from participating in workshops and listening to panel discussions, the audience also witnessed three demonstration speeches delivered in Cantonese, Putonghua and English, along with evaluation speeches. Members of the audience were also invited to take part in the table topics, which gave them a chance to speak in front of a large group of people. 

Open Day Coordinator Freda Lei Oi In gives a welcome speech during yesterday afternoon’s event, which was held at the ballroom of MGM COTAI. Photo: Rui Pastorin