Public Speaking Part 1- the Judge's Perspective

  This year I had the honour of judging a declamation for the third time alhamdolillah and thought it's about time I write a guide.




From a judge's perspective there are quite a number of things I see so very differently and truly understand why we were given the guidance we received as speakers.

THE TIME DURATION
   As a speaker, I used to dislike the idea of having merely 3 minutes to speak. As a judge I would not have it otherwise. It is very difficult for a judge to listen to you for any longer than three minutes. The key is to prepare a speech that holds your audience and judge's attention, especially if your competitors are speaking on the same topic.

CONTENT
   In the three minutes you have, whether in a debate or declamation, keep raising new points to support or go against the stance. it will be utterly boring if your speech is devoid of intelligent opinions. At the same time it is important to structure your speech well.

HOW YOU DELIVER
   This makes the greatest impact on the the judge and also the audience. It is the only ground of judgement the audience and the judge both share. For this, clarity of voice, pronunciation, speed, body language, expression and emotion have to be dealt with justly. The content and style are usually the only two areas where a judge is able to mark you differently from your fellow competitors.
  Of the competitions so far my fellow judges and I were to assign scores for body language, confidence, style, content and on one particular occasion timing as well. All the participants scored the same on confidence. The scores were similar for body language as well. the greatest variation came for style and content. That is where you truly compete with your fellows.
 In the following posts of public speaking I will elaborate more on how to work on these.

 

                                                             


WHERE DO YOU LOSE MARKS?
#1 Bad Pronunciation is the biggest turnoff. Watch good British movies of old classics or listen to Quaid-e-Azam's speech or observe accomplished speakers in your setting.
#2 Fake Accent. Everyone these days tries to "Americanise" their speech. People, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah studied in London and even lived there for quite sometime. How much of a British accent did he acquire? Barely any.  His speeches gave us the very beautiful, educated Pakistani accent we have. Do listen to his speeches at the first chance you get.
#3 Repetition of points and over-usage of certain words. A healthy variation is what you should aim for.

I do hope this proves helpful. In the coming public-speaking related posts I shall keep elaborating on more areas until then, take a gulp of self-confidence, find a platform and jump right in the ocean of public-speaking. 

   

Not never

And a poem did I try to compose
For now i was at a loss of prose
All I have now is to say
Perhaps there is another day
For now I may not find a way
Not never but just not today

Scientfic Randomness

     
     There was a teensy sad part about my life where I resorted to some means of self therapy and labeled it as "living in the moment". I used to take the long way home by walk ..not for reasons as mundane as losing weight,  but because that longer path was a hospital filled with trees and lovely footpaths. I did this everyday as I fell in love with the place.  It wasn't spectacular or anything just more quiet and aloof from the sounds of the noise of the main city. I was deliberately perceptive to the sound and sight of every single thing happening around me- the rustling of the leaves, the birds, the footsteps of visitors, doctors and staff, the plants being watered with the hosepipe and the cooling it gave the shaded areas even on a sunny day. Oh how enjoyed simply looking, hearing and feeling things that most people look by without thought.

 I realise I always did that. Which is why I learn rastey achhey se. Noticing apparently pointless things on the roads. Like counting the number of speed-breakers on my way back from school to home and the number of green banks or blue cars.. "let's waste time chasing cars".. (random thought)

   It's something children do which is why they're so happy. Do you remember ever spinning as a child? Just going round and round happily and the happiest when you feel that moment of disbalance where gravity is letting go of you and suddenly bringing you down again as you fall. We did that just for that feeling of disbalance. What was the point? I think if we'd didn't do that we wouldn't even know what disbalance is. And that's what I believe science is- simple, apparently pointless things that you're more perceptive to and later joining the dots and finding labels for them. Or did you ever look out your car window and noticed that the trees kept moving.. passing by. My class one science book said "we think they are moving but actually we are moving". I disagreed with the book and told my teacher that no, I know they are moving. The class laughed. I didn't quite know how to express that I took that frame of window as fixed-point and the view outside moving (like in a movie reel). I even told my teacher that the car is only moving if I stand outside next to that tree and look at the road where the cars would then seem to move. Was I debating about trees being fixed or not? No, I KNEW they were rooted to the ground. I knew cars have wheels. I was debating over "points of view". I was talking about Relativity and I was a five-year old who didn't even know that there was guy called Einstein. And it was since then I think I felt that learning has a whole different ground which is both in books and beyond the scope of books. And the scope that is beyond make me happy too. - Hafsa Mahida

  It's why I love my housejob more than than those clinical hours completing friggin credits in my Bachelor years. It's why I love dentistry, and everyone who bothered to study it and write books on it- Proffit (love him), Zarb, Fenn, Tucker, Mc.Cracken, Wheeler and the like.. Thank you, guys for picking up something as apparently pointless as teeth and faces, studying them in such depth and writing about them. Thank you for re-affirming that those details are so important. How a difference of 2-3mm between central incisors can make or break a child's self-esteem and never make them smile wide in their photographs. How just a teensy bit of over-extension can rock a denture. How all those rules and laws of levers fit into prostho (doesn't mean I've learnt em all yet :p). How usually using your elevator wisely can make the job of a forcep so very easy. I could go on but it's lunch time.

    

Pulp Vitality.

         If there was but one word to describe my heart
A tooth is what I think it'll be
Walls stiffened up like enamel so hard

'Tis miracle I have a pulpy vitality
                                    - Dr. Harlequin

Aesthetic Dentistry - Dental Redundancy

   Of my favorite lessons in written and spoken English grammar was Redundancy. Redundancy is a grammatical error. For example, "TWO twins", "THREE triplets", "UNEXPECTED surprise", "NATURAL instinct" and so on. Why are these grammatically incorrect? Because, twins are always two; triplets are always three; a surprise is obviously unexpected and instincts are natural.. duh. Similarly, I believe the term "aesthetic dentistry" is highly redundant- Dentistry was, is and forever will be Aesthetic.

Yup, dentistry is aesthetic. When you restore and replace, providing a level of healthcare that feels and functions like the rest of the real stuff in the mouth, it is aesthetic. It is aesthetic when you cater to a cleft patient. It is aesthetic when you orthodontically treat malocclusion in an adenoid-affected child. It is aesthetic when you restore a carious tooth. It is aesthetic when you place an implant and do your best to ensure it does not look and feel like a prosthesis. There's no how good, no how bad, there is only how aesthetic the ultimate outcome of the treatment is. Does your patient think it looks and feels natural; if not immediately, atleast gradually? That is aesthetic. And ultimately all our treatment goals come down to, I repeat, how aesthetic a treatment is.

Back at Khan's when I was training, Dr.Mumtaz Khan elaborated on the difference between aesthetic and cosmetic. To put it plainly, aesthetic treatment is all I stated above and cosmetic is a patient demand based on what he specifically likes. Let's take plastic surgery:
Aesthetic demand is - " I want this cleft scar to go away from my upper lip." (It's a human feeling. The patient wants an abnormality removed).
Cosmetic demand is - "I want my lips to burst out like Angelina Jolie's " (Whether it makes me look like a clown or not - this is madness as I'd like to think.)
Now, let's take dentistry:
Aesthetic demand- "I want my teeth to look normal. My centre-teeth overlap and it looks ugly. Make them straight. Also, they are too dirty yellow. Make them a bit whiter."
Cosmetic demand-"I want a hollywood smile makeover and the kind of white teeth that glow in the dark."
That difference between white teeth and glow-in-the-dark white teeth is all the difference between how aesthetic and how cosmetic. It's also, in my opinion, the difference between sanity and madness. It is the difference between a need and a want, in a way. To some of us the line between the two is thin and to those who practice "consumer-centred dentistry" there is perhaps none- give the patient exactly what he asked for as long as you are well-fed. But to a principle-centered dentist there's all the difference in the world- provide the patient what he needs and wants as long as it agrees with sound clinical judgement. Come to think of it, dentistry is principle-centered. Quackery is consumer-centred. *Dr.Irfan's voice rings in my head, "mjhey qanoon pata hai" Oh how I miss debating!*

Any dentist with sound clinical judgement would know that Aesthetics are a component of our treatments. I think it should be so instead of it turning into a separate specialty- a redundant specialty. By creating a whole specialty we are:

A. reducing the quality of work of a general dentist or any other specialist to perform as aesthetically as is required/expected of a dentist. We are leaving aesthetics for a whole different set of practitioners to handle.
B. We are raising the cost dental treatments that are already pretty costly. A whole new specialty brings a whole new bunch of expenses.
C. We are slowly and gradually making the term "aesthetic" ambiguous and the same time synonymous with "cosmetic". We are encouraging madness in a public where aesthetic concerns are already turning into cosmetic ones.
D. Yes, we are in the business of improving health and self-esteem. But we are ever turning into businessmen more than healthcare providers should we continue being okay with "consumer-centred dentistry"

*Breathes. Laughs. Looks around to see what bottom-of-the-food-chain looks like. Puts her head down. Decides not to share on facebook. Daydreams about walking upto the podium and making a grand oration of the script above. Wakes up.*
Off to the kitchen to make some garlic bread. If Edgar Allan Poe can write goth and also anabelle lee.. than I can cook, dream and work to make my dreams come true.
Alhamdolillah for everything. =)

Your Own Estimate

 Well, yes it does seem like the most kiddish lesson now but I still come across people who haven't learnt it. I haven't "people-centred" my thoughts and talks for quite sometime now. It has more to do with the fact that for now I have truly prioritized people as well. Kindness and empathy can and should be extended to all but there are a set group of people one should care about. Everyone should have their place. Life is easy. Keeping commitments comes in easy. And most importantly, you do not do yourself any injustice. A friend of mine reminds me of the "me" I used to be. The person who can't say no, who has a hard time fighting inner battles. My battles haven't abated but my approach certainly has Alhamdolillah. The quote above says it all. 

So-Numb

I'm having a silly urge to write down the many random thoughts crossing my mind at this very minute and no, diary-scribbling is a bit too time-consuming as of right now when I'm working on tomorrow's presentation. Here it goes:

-> Speed up you sust maari! (3.17 am)
-> 30 sec dance party (3.51am)
-> Developing the inverted  lip theory for prosthetics
-> speed up sust maari
-> Mahida's Method Pre-Jaw records (5.57am)
-> Focus on that presentation you silly girl, you can put that method down on stone n gold later
->SLEEPEEEE. LOADS TO DO.
LIE DOWN FOR 10 MIN AND THEN GET BACK TO WORK.  (6.12)