8 Things Every Malaysian Who Participated in Choral Speaking Has Experienced

Gosh, the years just fly by don’t they? 

It seems like it was just yesterday that we were in school not worrying about paying taxes and petrol prices… and were instead worried about memorising our lines in time for the next choral speaking competition!

We’re sure we’re definitely not the only ones who miss our choral speaking days back in school, so we decided to take a trip down memory lane and remember all those amazing (and nerve-wracking) experiences that made choral speaking one of our personal favourite school memories!

1. Your script at the end of competition season is a complete wreck

Source: scribd & purdue. Edu

There’s nothing like getting a fresh script at the very beginning of rehearsals – those pristine pages, fresh off the printers all neatly stapled together… not to mention that new script smell!

However, it would be completely destroyed over the course of the next few months, with countless amounts of scribbles and amendments (not to mention crumpling the script from all the pre-performance jitters!). Despite our scripts going through complete hell, those tears, wrinkles and scribbles marked all of our hard work!

2. Feeling your legs turn to jelly from all those hours of standing

Being in a choral speaking team doesn’t only mean you have to do a whole lot of speaking, it also means a whole LOT of standing. Honestly, it felt like torture, especially on those extra hot days! Can die, wei!

3. Feeling like a star every time you perform your 5-second solo 

We’re not gonna lie, we absolutely loved performing our solo lines during competitions. They definitely made us feel extra special. Granted, most of the time, they’re only like 5 words, it was still our time to shine! All eyes on us, baby!

4. Your throat feels like a desert at the end of practice 

Choral speaking obviously involves a LOT of talking and projecting your voice. So, it’s a given that you’ll end up chugging litres of water during breaks. Gotta stay hydrated!

5. Subconsciously being in sync with your friends after all those hours of practice

Anyone who’s ever been in a choral speaking team will know just how many hours a week we spend together. So, it’s only natural that after all that time practising being synchronised, it just slowly starts taking over your life!

6. When you don’t know what on Earth your conductor is doing

We guess it could be due to nerves during competitions, but sometimes, we had no idea what the heck our conductor was trying to do!

Thankfully though, even if we couldn’t interpret our conductor’s gestures and instructions, we could somehow manage through the entire performance. Guess it’s thanks to all those tireless hours of practice!

7. Ganging up with your “side” of the group because you have similar lines or moves

If you’re not familiar with choral speaking, usually, some lines from the script is split between the left and right sides of the team to create a sort of “dialogue” during the performance.

Most of the time, people tend to break into two groups to rehearse their own part of the script so that everyone is completely in sync. We definitely experienced forming a little “gang” with whatever side of the team we were on, and it was loads of fun. Like a tiny little family!

8. That heart-stopping moment when you forget your lines during a performance 

Honestly, this is the stuff of nightmares, folks! Nothing’s worse than forgetting your lines WHILE performing at a competition! (We suppose forgetting your solo can probably surpass this…*shudders*)

Ahh, those sure were the good old days! What do you remember from your time as a choral speaker? Let us know in the comments below!

Also read: 10 Things Malaysians Who Went Through Arts Stream Will Understand