How NOT to Give a Speech

This morning I gave a Chinese speech at the Auckland Chinese Speech Competition, and following the latest trend, it didn't go well!

Because I had only finalised my speech late last night because I had realised my speech was over 3 minutes long, I only had late last night and this morning to memorise it.

I was first to give a speech in my class because of alphabetical order. The lady rang the bell to signal that I was allowed to start...the only problem was...I couldn't remember how my speech started off! After a few stutters I finally got started.

I managed to stagger along, mispronouncing words using the wrong tones, when I heard the lady ring the bell. I thought something was wrong with it (it was one of those kitchen timer things) so I carried on. A little while later it started ringing again, and so I kept going. Finally I had finished my speech!

I soon realised that everyone else had used cue cards, so I could've used them rather than memorise my whole speech. I also realised that the bell meant I was supposed to stop because I went over time!

The speech prize-giving will be in a couple weeks time, but I won't be marking it in my diary!

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