About Gary
Gary is a entrepreneur, communications trainer and speaker. He is also the current President of the National University of Singapore (NUS) Toastmasters Club.
Known for his highly positive and supportive demeanor, Gary is on a personal crusade to empower every individual with the necessary skills to communicate and persuade with confidence and passion!
Gary’s passion for training and personal development has seen him breakthrough his innate introversion and fear of speaking and self-expression. Now, that he has done it, Gary is determined to share his insights and success story with all who are seeking to better themselves. Till date, Gary has trained and helped over more than 700 individuals, ranging from primary school students to post graduates, become effective speakers.
As a celebrated Toastmaster and President of the NUS Toastmasters Club, Gary had decided to put his communication abilities to the test and led the NUSTM Club to its best ever showing in its 15 year history - achieving 8 out of 10 Distinguished Club Programme (DCP) Goals with 3 months to spare. On a personal level, Gary has also been coming in consistently as one of the top two speakers in the club’s speech contests. In September 2007, Gary represented the NUS Toastmasters Club at its Area Contests and emerged as the first runner after beating several other speakers which consisted of working professionals and seasoned Toastmasters. His efforts and commitment to public speaking has also seen him rated as one of the Top 10 Most Influential Bloggers on Public Speaking by the Public Speaking Blog!
Training aside, Gary has also been regularly invited and engaged to Emcee at events and seminars. Among others, Gary has emceed at the Ministry of Sound, Singapore (SDE Bash), the Hilton Hotel (SDE D&D) and the National University of Singapore (Infusion 2008). His emceeing stints have seen him speak before distinguished guests such as Dr Mohamad Maliki Bin Osman (Parliamentary Secretary, Ministry of National Development & MP for Sembawang GRC) and Singapore Idol Finalist Jasmine Tye.
Gary loves to entertain. He enjoys making people laugh and seeing the smiles on people’s faces. To him, there is no satisfaction greater than knowing that he has played a part in uplifting a soul - and in that process, making the world a better place.
If you’ve any questions or anything to share with the readers of Connexion!, Gary is reachable at garyguwe@hotmail.com.
Live Well, Speak Well! Speak with Passion!
Is trembling a symptom of shyness?
A woman was talking to a man (he didn’t know her) and he seemed to have difficulty talking with her and when she walked away he began to tremble. His whole body shook.
Can you explain how to put a person at ease who has this problem?
Shyness: (noun) a feeling of fear of embarrassment.
Trembling is a sure sign of nervousness, shyness and definitely fear. It is part of the body’s defense system when one’s afraid or anticipating pain. The brain sends signals to the muscles in preparation of reacting to anything unpleasant and potentially dangerous. It’s a syndrome that many call the “fight or flight” syndrome.
Based on what you’ve provided me, I can only guess that the man may have trouble expressing himself. He may also feel uncertain about himself and not know how he should react to the lady’s approach. Uncertainty plays a great part in unsettling a person. Fear often arise as part of being unsettled.
My suggestion for him would involve tweaking his focus:
1. Concentrate on the content of the conversation, not on how things could go wrong.
2. Smile and say hello first! Then ask her how he may help her. Making the first move will put in him in a position of power and control. Being in control will minimize uncertainty surrounding the conversation.
3. Remember that he is unique and approachable! That’s the reason why she even bothered approaching him in the first place! There’s nothing to be afraid of except fear itself! And one has no bigger enemy than himself.
These are some suggestions on helping him ease up. I’d also suggest that he join a Toastmasters Club to practise these skills and those that he picks up along the way.
Cheers!
i thank you a lot gary for helping me with the event i hosted…i never thought u were that serious…but u did…i really appreciate the day i browsed this site and found a great help…in u..
lester of phils.