今週のToastmasters Club Mongolia：スピーチテーマは “Blogging in Mongolia”

毎週木曜日の夜は、Toastmasters Club Mongoliaの英語スピーチ練習会に参加しています。毎週、メンバーが交代で様々な役割を担当するのですが、今週の私は“準備スピーチ”の担当でした。

準備スピーチは、Toastmasters Internationalの「Pathways」という教育プログラムに沿って行います。私は“Presentation Mastery”というパスを選んでスピーチの練習をしています。

今週のテーマは「Building a Social Media Presence（ソーシャルメディアでの存在感を築く）」。このスピーチの目的は次の2点です：

ソーシャルメディアに関する知識を活かし、自分または他者のオンラインプレゼンスを構築・強化する
その経験の一部をスピーチで共有する

私は “Blogging in Mongolia” というタイトルでスピーチを行いました。モンゴルに派遣が決まった時、「この経験を世界中の人と共有したい」と思い、ツールとしてソーシャルメディアの中で「ブログ」を選ぶことにしました。そして2023年10月以降、日々の出来事を淡々と綴っています。

スピーチでは、ブログを書くことのメリットと共に、ソーシャルメディアを使う上で気をつけたい「プライバシー」「詐欺」「依存性」の3つのリスクについても触れました。

評価者からよいフィードバックをいただき、今週の“Best Speaker”にも選んでいただきました。

以下が、当日私が披露したスピーチの原稿です。

Title: Blogging in Mongolia

Opening
Let me start with a simple question:
Do you use social media every day?
I see many nodding. Great! Here’s another question:
Which social media do you use most?
Raise your hand if it’s Facebook. Instagram? TikTok?
How about LINE?

Body
Today, I’m going to talk about social media.
Working for global companies, I had many chances to talk with people from different countries. I was surprised how each country or generation prefers different platforms.

In Japan and Thailand, people mostly use LINE.
In Korea, maybe KakaoTalk.
With colleagues from the US, Europe, and India, we used WhatsApp.

When I moved to Mongolia, I noticed people mostly use Facebook Messenger.
Now I have many Mongolian friends on Facebook!
But since many people have similar names and no profile pictures, sometimes I can’t tell who’s who!

When I heard I’d be in Mongolia for two years with a Japanese government project, I decided to share my experiences online.
I wanted to record memories and share them with the world.
I needed a platform that allowed long texts, photos, even audio—and wouldn’t disappear overnight.
So I chose a good old-fashioned blog.

Here’s my blog: https://cafeko.net/blog/

Since October 2023, I’ve been quietly writing about Mongolia—including Toastmasters!
I’ve found three big benefits of blogging:

I can search and remember what I experienced.
I can introduce Mongolia to friends and family.
It keeps me curious—like life is a treasure hunt!

I hope my blog shares a real view of Mongolian life and sparks someone’s interest.
And when I return to Japan, I’ll be able to reflect on two years of memories.

Now, let’s talk about the negative side of social media.

First is privacy.
I don’t post much on Facebook because many of my students and coworkers are friends.
So I prefer not to show too much of my private life.

Next is fraud.
There are many romance scams on Facebook.
You see handsome men claiming to be doctors or military officers.
About ten years ago, I almost got scammed.
A man said he was a Korean doctor raising a child alone. We chatted and even talked on the phone.
But suddenly he said, “My nephew wants to visit Japan. Can you lend me some money?”
That’s when I realized—it was a scam. A bitter memory.

And finally, social media addiction.
We check it constantly.
I check Messenger, Facebook, Instagram, and LINE as soon as I wake up.
Even during work, I check them because school messages come through Messenger.
As a result, I have less time to read or enjoy music.
If you know any tips to break this habit, please tell me later!

Closing
To wrap up—
I use my blog as a form of social media to record my Mongolian life and share it with others.
But while social media is easy to use, it comes with risks.
Let’s understand those risks and use it wisely.
And finally—if you’re curious, please visit my blog!

Thank you so much!