鸟语：对于移民来说，语言，始终是要努力学习和提高的，鸟儿每天都在努力……今天收到的鼓舞人心的评论，鸟儿想说，鸦雀无声，不是我讲得有多好，而是大家素质好！真的，很感谢！

We had Shirley  who gave her first speech and shared a really personal and emotional story of her mom and cat. Her speech was titled "Mom, Vincent and I". I could hear the pin drop silence in the room when she was speaking, which powerfully conveys her strong story and how everyone was engrossed in listening to her speech. Great job Shirley!!

昨晚失眠了，一会觉得鸭绒被太热，一会觉得临睡前看的电影太让人沮丧，总之，就是睡不着，后来终于把自己的思维带进今天即将演讲的故事里，睡着了。

一早醒来，给郑老师发信息讨教演讲技巧，特别是怎么克服紧张心理，他说，越在乎的事越紧张，充分准备，要点和逻辑，要点是大家要听的，逻辑是大家会信的。紧张只有开始那几秒，就跟你登台唱歌一样。谢谢郑老师的好建议，事实上，写故事的时候，我也参考了他演讲时的语言技巧。

其实，我不是在乎，只是害怕，因为我不是个擅长说话的人，之所以能享受在台上唱歌的感觉，是因为专注在唱歌和表演上,跟讲话不一样。

几个月前，好朋友Jane跟我说，鸟儿，参加toastmaster吧，可以帮助你走出忧伤，锻炼你的英语演讲和领导能力，我觉得你很擅长讲话呢，还有你可以找到很多友善的朋友。Jane的话，给我很多鼓励，从小我就羡慕妈妈，羡慕所有能说会道，特别能上台演讲的人，来美国后，更加发现会讲话，具有良好的沟通能力，是多么的重要。所以，更加努力学习语言，学习讲话。

参加了几次toastmaster的活动，主持人几次鼓动我上台一到三分钟的即兴讲演，可我每次都推脱，下次好不？上周，负责人Michael给我写邮件说，鸟儿，明天活动后，我跟你谈谈，你必须得有第一次（ice break），突破了心理关，以后就会越来越好，你可以讲你熟悉的人，讲你的宠物，孩子……接下来的一周，其实，我也没有刻意花太多时间去写故事和记忆，因为脑子里就是妈妈，我的猫儿Vincent，还有我们隔着大洋一起度过的美好时光，有次妈妈说，你知道吗？如果一直野猫跑到你家里，就意味着，家里有人要去世了。我笑话妈妈迷信，那是不可能的，妈妈走后，Vincent也跑掉了，我觉得真如妈妈说的，猫儿跑来告诉我妈妈会过世的消息，然后信到了，他就跑了。

今晚的演讲，只有短短6分钟，我带着稿子上台的，准备卡壳尴尬的时候看一眼，但当我在大家鼓励的眼神下，开始我的演讲，我完全沉浸在那幅时而欢喜，时而哀伤的往事回忆的画面中，即使停顿，也是控制自己的情绪，脱稿演讲，让我的第一次演讲，赢得大家的赞誉，而toastmaster的另一个好处是，当你演讲完，每个人会反馈他们的评论，从准备，话题，组织，声音，状态，语法，眼神交流等十项内容给你评分，让鸟儿收获多多，当然，还有热烈的鼓励的掌声，让我感受到了深深的温暖。

特别要谢谢David，他每次活动后，总是和我一起聊天，给我很多建议和鼓励。

我的第一次英文演讲像梦一样结束了，David开玩笑说，下周来讲一个新主题？不要，我要休息一下，我们一起走向停车场，他说出了很多大家一样的意见：跟大家眼神交流可以多一些。

希望下次，我会有更好的状态，投入我新的演讲中，希望自己的口才和沟通能力，在toastmaster这个集体里，得到锻炼和提高。

谢谢郑老师，谢谢所有支持我的家人和Toastmaster的新朋友们。

下面是我的英语演讲稿，有兴趣的朋友，可以百度翻译一下，很有感觉的故事哦。

                        A true love story:  Mom, Vincent, and I

          Vincent is my son, and he is a cat; a beautiful and wild cat.

          I met Vincent in my backyard in the summer of 2012. I saw a white and black and a little brown fur cat, which climbed on my small trash bin looking for food. I liked him immediately. I went to the grocery store and bought a bag of cat food, and then I left it in my backyard that evening. I found the food gone in the next day morning. I hope that it was eaten by the cat that I saw. I started leaving cat food in my backyard every day since then. One day, the cat was eating when he saw me, then he stopped eating and walked to me and touched my feet. God. I cannot believe it. He was grateful. He was very special. I pet him and hugged him. He was so cute and lovely. He hid his head in my arm like a little kid.

I went to pet shelter to make sure that he was a lady’s cat and found out that he came from 15miles away. Fortulally. His original mom gave him to me. Everyone in my family was happy for having the cat, and my daughter named him Vincent.

My mom lived in China, and she was seriously sick at that time. We lived too far away from each other. We were only able to keep in touch through phone conversations, but still, we maintained a close relationship. I used to phone my mom every two or three days, and we always talked about Vincent. I told her that Vincent caught a mouse, Vincent ate grass, or Vincent tried to catch squirrels on the fence. I also told her how I washed Vincent up but he hated it. My mom was always very happy to listen to me talking about Vincent.

 “Vincent keeps me company when I am cooking. He sits on the chair in the kitchen.” I kept the phone in my apron’s pocket and talked to my mom while cooking.

My mom was happy with the fact that Vincent was here to keep me company when she was not able to. She loved me very much, and she understood that I felt lonely a lot of times in the house, in this new country, and Vincent surely brought me a lot of fun.

One day, my mom said to me. “Do you know if a cat comes to your house it means that someone in your family would pass away?”

“No, mom. That is superstition. Do not believe that. You would get better soon.” I thought that my mom would overcome her illness and live forever.

My mom died in spring of 2014. I was heartbroken, but I hid my sorrow.  My son, Vincent, stood by the door and looked back at me on July 4th, 2014. I heard the fireworks and I was still waiting for Vincent to come back for dinner, but he never did. That made me crazy. Where did my son go? I tried to look for him in so many ways and for so long, but I still couldn’t find him. I thought he was mysterious. What my mom told me actually happened; Vincent came to tell me that I will lose my mom. After the message was delivered, he goes away.

I love and miss my mom and Vincent. But I lost both of them. I was sad that I lost all my confidence.

Shirley, Talk to me. You need to communicate with me. My manager Louis asked me many times and he got angry with me.

Shirley, I would keep my eyes open for Vincent. I will let you know if I see him. My neighbor, Clela promised.

Shirley, did you find your son? We saw him in our neighbor’s backyard. He was playing with a little girl. Linda said.

My neighbors are very nice people. I suddenly realized that love is everywhere. Even though I lost my loved ones, I still appreciate God. My mom, Vincent, and I, we had great moments together.

Shirley, you need to walk out of your sadness. Please join toastmaster. You would meet a lot of friendly new people. My friend Jane told me. That is why I am here tonight and sharing my true love story with you.

Thank you very much!

Shirley