十二生肖的故事(The 12 Animals in Chinese Zodiac)

幾天前(六月十二日)我在Tower Oaks Toastmasters Club演講分會所做的演講，講題是「十二 生肖的故事」，這是我在「國際演講協會」(Toastmasters International)〔註一〕裏所做的 第三十篇正式演講，成功進級到銀牌髙級溝通者（Advanced Communicator-Silver），也算 是個小小的里程碑吧!

因是講十二生肖的故事〔註二〕，我靈感一現、靈機一動，將動物都請到我的講演中，行頭、道具眾多，創了最多道具的記錄，並有故事的臨場感，聽眾反應頗佳，呵呵！

「國際演講協會」會員的發展層級主要有五：

能幹的溝通者（Competent Communicator）、

銅牌髙級溝通者（Advanced Communicator-Bronze）、

銀牌髙級溝通者（Advanced Communicator-Silver）、

金牌髙級溝通者（Advanced Communicator-Gold）、

傑出溝通者（Distinguished Communicator）；

每進一階除了必要的十篇正式演講外，還有些其它不同的要求。我加入「國際演講協會」已12年，因工作更換，也一共換了五家演講分會。除第一、二年激情澎湃、進階神速外，後來則是多向發展、進階龜速。雖然激情已退、溫潤猶在，畢竟它是個極優的組織；大俠遊跡演講協會已不是以進階為目的，而是以學習、交流、交友、鼓舞為樂趣。

〔註一〕：「國際演講協會」(Toastmasters International)1924年在加州成立，它致力於推廣 有效的口頭溝通至全球各地。近89年的發展，其分會遍及全球113個國家、超過12,500個分會(例如，台北有60個分會，北京有37個分會，上海有63個分會)、至少26萬名會員，在21世紀，其溝通教育的影響力仍在繼續茁壯成長。藉由協會的培訓方案/手冊，通過分會的定期開會(每週一次、每兩週一次、或每月一次)，會員們在「做中學習」的環境內，彼此互相幫助，學習溝通技巧、加強聽力訓練、發揮口語藝術、增進演講信心、培養領導潛能、促進自我實現。本地的演講分會發展蓬勃，馬里蘭州就有214個分會、維吉尼亞州有312個分會、華府有134個分會，欲尋找適合的演講分會、或了解更多有關「國際演講協會」的信息，請至網址www.toastmasters.org 

〔註二〕：講稿

Speech Title:   The 12 Animals in Chinese Zodiac

Manual:           Advanced Communication Series/The Entertaining Speaker/#4 A Dramatic Talk

Time:              5-7 minutes

Date:               6/12/2013

Place:               Tower Oaks Toastmasters Club/Conference Room I

Designation:    10^th Speech for my AC-Silver

Ever wonder how the 12 animals were selected in the Chinese zodiac? How the order was decided?  Toastmasters of The Day (TMOD), Fellow Toastmasters, a long time ago in China, the Emperor invited all animals to have a grand race. Grateful for their participations and efforts, the Emperor rewarded the top 12 animals by naming each year of the Chinese Zodiac after them according to the order of their arrival.

All animals were excited for this race and had their own special trainings for it. Rabbit trained himself by not sleeping during the race. He did not want to lose such important race to the turtle again.  Cat and the Rat were best friends and they helped train one another.  Even the chubby Pig got trainings so hard that he was fit, firm and slim and was just ready for the race at any moment. All animal trained themselves for this race except one ... the Lion who boasted with confidence “I am the King of the Animal Kingdom. I can, I shall, and I will easily be the champion for any race for just being myself.”

On the race day, the Emperor announced the race destination which was the Happy Valley.  That’s a 100-mile race. Worse yet, there were desert, forest on the way and a river to cross with heavy current. At the starting line, once the judge shouted “On you mark, get set, go”, Lion left with a message of “Eat my dust…” shuuuu… gone the lion, followed by the tiger, dragon, horse, goat, monkey, dog, rooster, rabbit, snake, ox, rat, cat, turtle etc.

As soon as the rat heard the destination of Happy Valley, he was strategic in thinking to team up with other to win the race. Of course, he chose his best and most reliable friend Cat. Very soon, he targeted the Ox because the Ox, although not so fast, was a straightforward animal and most importantly, the best swimmer. So, the Rat, Ox and Catx (the ROC Team) ran as a group, with Rat being very helpful in directing the shortcuts. The Cat even let the Rat sit on his back because the Rat was feeling tired on the half way.

Of course, the Lion was way leading the race but he then fell into a trap in the forest. He tried to jump out of it but the trap was too deep for him. He roared and yelled out “HELP, HELP…” for hours but, none of the animals stopped to help, not even the turtle … the Turtle thought, “I won against the rabbit last time, this time I can definitely win against the King of the Animal Kingdom… not bad”.

One by one, the animals arrived to the river. But all encountered great challenges in crossing it due to its depth, width and heavy current. The turbulent waters kept pushing them downstream. The Goat, Monkey and Rooster were smart to team up together by making a raft. But it wasn't easy with all three of them on a small raft. Still, all animals kept trying.

The ROC (Cat, Ox, Rat) Team arrived to the river at the last moment. They crossed the river as a team with Rat ride on the head of Ox and Cat on the back of the Ox.  Step by step, slowly but steadily, the Ox proved that he was the mightiest animal in the water. When the Ox came out of the water, the Ox of course was exhausted, Cat tired and choked with water, and Rat with his energy recovered because he was rest above water all the time. But, all of a sudden, the Rat pushed the Cat into water, and then he ran as fast as he can towards the finishing line.  He was the Champion.  As soon as Ox noticed what happened, he ran but came in second.  The poor cat was in the water, struggling to survive. The Tiger then came in third followed by Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.  The Pig was the 12nd one. The Cat was finally out of the water and was the 13rd and did not make into the Chinese Zodiac. Since that day, the Cat would always hunt and eat the Rat. The Turtle came in 14^th and the Turtle always boasted he is faster than Lion. J

[講演中的動物道具]

1•相片中的動物共有幾隻？

2•相片中的動物種類共有幾種？
3•相片中的人是誰？   (答案：大同寶寶，by 簡易）

4•相片中有兩隻同種類動物的是哪些動物？
5•相片中哪隻動物拿著議事槌？   (答案：粉紅豹，by 簡易）

[小小里程碑的小小證明]

[講評者的書面評論]