“Anything could be sold. Anything could be bought. Nothing is strange on the Internet.” Online commercial has become an enormously booming business. Through the Internet, we can almost purchase everything.

We can buy a book, a watch, a car, a diamond, or even a handsome celebrity's chest hair. Wait, can we buy or sell a speech on the Internet? Sure we can!

If you go to check this website: InstantWeddingToasts.com, you will find they're selling all kinds of speeches to people. Here's their advertisement: “Are you about to be put in the spot light? Do you know what to say? You don't have to be a TOASTMASTER to give a good toast or speech. Try our speech template!”

Wow! What is a speech template? It is a kind of canned speech for different people on different occasions. All you have to do is fill in the related names and memorize the script. Easy and convenient. How much is every speech template?

For family occasions like birthdays and anniversaries, the price ranges from 25 to 35 US dollars. It's about 1000 NT dollars. Un, it sounds reasonable.

Now, you pay the money. You have a speech to address. But do you know how many people had delivered this speech before you? Maybe your girlfriend or father-in-law just listened to the same speech at another wedding party yesterday.

What an embarrassing situation it could be! So you need a totally different, personal and customized speech. For your lips only! (singing) Right? No problem! Just pay more money. How much? Want a Best Man toast? 275 US dollars! Want a birthday or graduation speech?

Good! 95 US dollars…… per minute! No! No! You have no problem with your ears---95 US dollars per minute for only a personal speech script. However, they don't teach you how to deliver this speech. In toastmasters, besides leadership,

we truly learn how to deliver speeches in many many ways. At the same time, we have a lot of chances to practice, progress and advance. The company gives you a fish; we toastmasters teach you how to fish. The company sells you the hardware only;

we toastmasters serve you the software lifetime -as long as you pay every membership due, of course.

Ladies and gentlemen, the time limitation of Toastmaster's manual speech is 5-7 minutes, so the average time is about 6 minutes. We write the speech ourselves. We deliver the speech ourselves. Remember 95 dollars per minute?

 It means we earn 570 US dollars for every speech we make. If you are a CTM, congratulations, you have earned 5,700 US dollars. Actually, you got more than that.

Don't forget the evaluation and the table topics session; those are also another kinds of speech for you to win extra bonus. Wow, Toastmasters are really rich people! So indeed we need a new meeting assistant-a person who can take care of the cash-value of our speeches.

Besides Ah-counter, we need a Money Counter. What is a Money Counter's job? “Good evening! Ladies and gentlemen! I am your Money Counter tonight. Your speech values a lot to yourself and our club. When you see the green signal, it means you have earned 15,000 NTD. When you see the yellow signal, it means you have earned 18,000 NTD. When you see the red signal, it means you have earned 21,000 NTD. But be careful! If I ring the bell, it means you make no money! Good luck and earn your money as much as you can!”

And what about the Money Counter's report? “Good e-vening! Ladies and gentlemen! Now is the Money Counter's report. Tonight, we have four fantastic speakers. Tsai Kan-Yuan, 5 minutes and 25 seconds, not bad! You earn 15,525 dollars. Chao Sha-Kan, 6 minutes and 36 seconds, good job! You win 18,888 dollars. Chen Wen-Chien, excellent! 7miutes and 27seconds, you make 21,221 dollars. Solomon Chen, 7minutes and 49 seconds. Y-o-u a-r-e busted! Please shorten your speech next time! Sorry for you and congratulations to the other three speakers ”

Dear Toastmaster's officers, do you still have trouble in recruiting new members? Dear fellow members, are you still hesitating to make your icebreaker or next speech? Dear honorable guests, are you still wandering outside our door? Now, “MONEY TALKS.”

What are you still waiting for? Just grab every your opportunity to stand on the podium and speak up! The more you speak, the more you earn. The harder you try, the better you are. Tonight, make a phone call to your EVP and tell her you want to tell a joke, deliver a speech, or make an evaluation in your next meeting. In here, we can try in error;

we can learn from our failures, we can enjoy the encouragement from all the friends in Toastmasters. One day, when you are as famous as Bill Clinton, every your speech will worth more than 8 million NTD, because after so many years in Toastmaster, we have empowered ourselves,

we have achieved so many goals, our speaking skills must be better than his. So don't think twice! It's your right! Oops! I see my red signal. I don't want to bust my speech anymore. I guess I have earned enough money today.

Remember, every speech you make, every moment you stand on here, is far more valuable than you think.
　

Contest Chair!