Culture

Talking the talk gets Ku's blood flowing

By Todd Balazovic (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-05-28 07:51

Daphne Pei Ku, 28, says she is a born speaker. ZOU HONG / CHINA DAILY

To most people, the idea of speaking in front of large audiences strikes fear into the heart and brings a tremble to the knees. Some people even fear public speaking more than death. But for Daphne Pei Ku, talking to a room full of people is her life.

People, and seeing so many eyes focusing on her, are the things that get Ku's blood flowing.

"This is my roots; it is my personality. I have been a talker all of my life," said the 28-year-old Taiwan native. "The more people in the audience, the more excited I get and the better the speech."

Though she may have been a talker for most of her life, she has been doing it competitively since she was just 7, entering local competitions in her hometown of Taipei and often winning them.

"Even when I was 7, I would be given a topic 20 minutes before and have to come up with a five-minute speech to deliver to an audience," she said.

While prizes of these competitions were usually nothing more than a certificate of achievement, Ku said the lifelong lessons it taught her were priceless.

"It helped boost my confidence and helped me discover that I was a person who loved to talk to people. That this was the kind of thing I was made for," she said.

Over the years she honed the art to a fine, fearless science, earning her the role of keynote speaker at almost all the functions she was involved in and preparing her for a career as professional communicator.

"This is one thing that I appreciate my parents urging me to do," she said.

Now, as a communications officer for the Ullens Center of Contemporary Art (UCCA), a non-profit exhibition center in the 798 art district, Ku has managed to combine two of her passions: Art and talking.

But pursuing her passion has come at a price.

Before joining UCCA, Ku had what most would consider a dream job, working for the high-paying German PR company Avantgarde and dealing with heavy-hitting clients such as BMW and Ferrari. Her friends thought it was strange for her to drop leave her high-paying job to work at a seemingly random art center, but, as Ku said, it was never about the money.

"My friends would tell me I was quitting a dream job to work at this agency. I told them that it simply wasn't in my dreams," she said.

Ku said to her, it's far more thrilling to be on the frontlines of China's emerging art scene than to be stuck in an office, where, though she was making more money, she felt her efforts were futile.

"This is where it's hot right now, in China this scene is huge," she said. "I am following my path. I would never give up this chance to be so close to China's art scene."

Q & A

Q: Do you feel as though you are part of the city or more of an observer?

A: I know my working area very well and my house area very well. Also some places like Sanlitun. Apart from that I don't really know about Beijing. But I do like to check out the hutongs.

Q: Do you have many Chinese friends? How do they differ from your foreign friends?

A: To be honest I don't really have many Chinese friends. Most of my friends are foreigners. But I would say my Chinese friends tend to be more open-minded. They are easy to communicate with and make friends.

Q: What's your favorite element of this city?

A: Everything is huge here. I come from a very small area so Beijing seems amazingly huge with everything, like the roads and the streets. The people here have a lot of character.

Q: What's your favorite piece of Beijing slang?

A: Er. It means silly, stupid.