speech #2

It's really so funny when I recall back the comments I received this morning. Someone came up to me and asked me if I'm really serious in becoming a doctor. Because being a doctor is like all clinical stuff and being able to speak so well like this may not necessarily be fit for a doctor. Well, it was something to that effect. But he said that maybe right now being a doctor is what I want but in the future, I might change my mind lol.

Iman, perhaps it might not sound interesting here. You have to watch it be given as a speech because it's all about the dramatization effects that gives it impact. I must thank you iman azman, for having made me more of a drama queen. But no worries, you'll always be the ultimate drama queen;)

For my second speech, the requirements were basically to have an organized speech with a flow that the audience can follow.

Speech # 2: ORGANIZE YOUR SPEECH

The Truth about Lies

A 5 year-old curious boy once asked his father, “Dad, do parents lie?” (pause) A deafening silence and you guess..is it a YES or NO? For most of the parents here, what do you think would the answer be? Later when his wife asked “Dear, what did you say to him?” The father admitted, “I lied and said parents don’t lie.”

Good morning ladies and gentlemen, fellow Toastmasters and distinguished guests.

ALL RISE.(everyone stands up) Raise your right hand and repeat after me. I SHALL SPEAK THE TRUTH, THE WHOLE TRUTH AND NOTHING BUT THE TRUTH. You may be seated.

Now you are under oath. Tell me, have you ever told a lie? If you deny, you are lying. Lies range from the serious extreme end of perjury to the mildest white lies. Whether it is fabrication, prevarication, bluffing, misleading, exaggeration: They are all lies.

Remember the story of The Boy Who Cried Wolf?(pause) Or Pinnochio? (pause) What do these stories have in common? In the end, they always have a price to pay. (pause)

Which leads to the purpose of my speech today; that is lying will always have its consequences; whether desirable or not.

Now, to simplify things and know some truth about lies, we can generally classify lies into three: Small lies, necessary lies and big lies.

Small lies: Firstly, small lies are told for convenience and comfort, to smooth things over for others as much as for ourselves.

The common example: “You okay?” “Yeah, I’m okay” “How are things?” “Yeah, thing’s are good.” Even though you’re not okay, even though things aren’t good.

Consequence: Perhaps it does not affect very much; since it may just be temporary. But be careful; because small small lies can eventually accumulate into something big. And it may even result to a habitual norm. Just like in the movie of Liar Liar.

Necessary lies: Secondly, we come to necessary lies. A necessary lie is a fabrication told only under absolutely essential conditions. We tell necessary lies when the need arise and it is usually for noble reasons.

Have you heard of the Lies a loving mother tells? A boy shares the story of his family’s poor conditions: When there was not enough food, my mother would say she is not hungry. When she had been struggling the whole day, she would say she is not tired. Mothers, does this sound familiar to you?

Consequence: With the righteous intentions behind necessary lies, there may not be desired outcomes initially; but one way or another, will lead to something good coming out of it. The boy became a successful and hardworking man. He learned the meaning of compassion. The boy lived a fulfilling life through his mother’s lies.

Big lies: And thirdly, we now move on to big lies. The term big lies can be defined depending on how you look at it. It can be called a big lie if it is downright obvious and clearly outrageous. Or, are told which can ultimately lead to large scale consequences. It can cause disintegration of families, breakdown of society, collapse of a government and even fall of a nation.

In India, Satyam, an electronics company claimed to have millions and profiting but actually, they were making large losses.

Consequence: What happened? The chairman resigned his post. Several executives were arrested. Most of the clients take back their services from the company. Almost 25000 people go jobless. These are the consequences of a big lie. You can lie to someone all the time. You can lie to everyone for some time. But you cannot lie to everyone all the time.

There once was a wise and revered king who was searching for a successor; so he requested for all the best young man in his Kingdom. Hundreds of young men gathered at his palace. The king came and gave a seed to each of the young men and told them to come back next month with the plants they have grown with these seeds.

After one month, they all came back with the plants. Most of them had all ten seeds grown to amazingly enormous, stunning and colourful plants. The King went to each plant and inspected them very carefully. Finally he reached the young man at the end of the row where a young man stood, empty handed.

The man said, “Your Highness, I did try but for the seeds did not germinate or grow.”

The King smiled at him and announced, “He is the new King. I wanted an honest man to rule my kingdom. I had boiled and killed the seeds before giving it to you all, so that they do not germinate and grow at all.” The other young men did not get the throne because they had lied.

The truth about lies is that, regardless of our intentions, there will always be consequences; whether desirable or undesirable. At the end of the day, we must be aware of the outcome and be accountable for our actions. To admit the truth can be difficult. But the rewards far outweigh the risks.

So the next time a child comes up to you and asks; Do parents lie?

Remember; Telling lies may be easy; but telling truths will set you free.