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SPEAK OUT INSIGHTS INSIDE!

FIND INSIDE..Presidential address 1The Newbies Speak 2ThTeheneNredrdyynneerrdd 55 7A Shortcut to communication success 9Happiness - Thats what all of us want! 11 TA TADA..! 12CTM Cajoles Leaders 14Japanese Toastmasters 15Legacy of District 82 TMI 16Why Introverts should join Toastmasters? 17 The Stepping stones to success 19A bow to my mentor! 21The Legends Journey 22Term Events on the go! 26Surprise last page!

From the Editor..“”Life is a journey, with problems tosolve, lessons to learn, but most ofall, experiences to enjoy!””My journey in Toastmasters has all the abovethree and it’s the most exciting and thrillingjourney I have ever taken!Adventure and adrenaline rush is somethingI am obssesed with and that’s one of thereasons for me to join this eliteToastmasters club.Everytime you put yourself in front of theaudience, your adrenaline rushes very fast,your mind ceases to be in the present, yourhands become cold as ice and you becomefrozen!Yes! All of this happens to me and I am in the path of overcoming all these, butstill, I love going through these thrills and excitement. After all,what’s lifewithout these fun and adventures.It has been a very good learning as a newsletter editor talking to people,asking for articles and persuading them to send one. One take away from thisjourney, “Perseverance always pays”I whole heartedly thank all the contributors to this newsletter, including my ed-itorial team TM Venu and TM Yuvaraj, without whose help, this amazing work would’nt have been live!I have given my best I can,to put together this newsletter and I am sure, all youreaders will have so much insights and takeaways, along with some thrills! - TM Ishwarya Balamurugesan Editor - Speak out. Vice President - Public Relations.

Presidential Address Dear Toastmasters, Have you been rushing helter- skelter remembering to do things that you wanted to do , recalling what was spoken at the last meeting, wanting to polish your speech , your script, your role plays and what not? As a Leader have you not said “I am sorry, I am busy”! , it is said that a truly busy person does not say he isbusy, but nds time to do whatever is the priority in his/ her life . When wehave said I have not found the time to write the script or edit the speech, orbring the CL manual it means that it has not been important enough.Toastmasters come with the wonderful opportunity to experience the skills ofyour time. No doubt, we all have busy schedule and part of the problem isalways our BOSS or the OTHER in our life.However, leaders around the country, have been successful in establishingextremely well organised. They have the time and space to do everything. Idid meet a few Leaders, three things that they live by are- Set yourself a deadline- Plan ahead- Prioritise and most importantly learn when you work best.As the President of Chennai Toastmasters Club, I realise the solemnresponsibility of being available to my Team members and all other membersin my club. I have begun to pay attention to my listening and understandingthe challenges we face. My team members and other members are sure to nd value and advantage in diving wholeheartedly into their roles, both asspeakers and as members. On behalf of my entire team, I end up quoting“Complacency is a wonderful word, musical and soft, but nothing ever growsthere”. Wishes to each one of you, to have loads of happiness, learning andfun while learning. - Shyleswari M Rao President Chennai Toastmasters Club 1

DAWN OF MY ODYSSEYI was always interested in debating and presenting seminarsbut one thing always stood in my way is the clichéd stage fearor the mind voices of audience.But I was able to overcome them and speak on many occasions.But my speaking skill was still a bit of a monotonous regime.I decided that I should take up public speaking seriously and nurture it.But how??? Then opportunity knocked on my door in the form ofnewspaper where there was news about DTM Aditya Maheswaran’sfeat in the world stage.Then I didn’t do anything. I just went to Toastmasters’ website and lookedup the location and attended my rst meeting in the month of Septemberlast year. Before coming to Toastmasters I thought that it was just acommunity club where people met and talked randomly.But what awaited me was a well-structured hierarchical organization wherepeople had fun along with responsibilities. I’ve now completed two projectsin the communication manual and took up quite a few roles in the leadershipside too, not to mention I even hosted a TT session.The thing I love about toastmasters is the never ending support of themembers and your freedom to cheer for others. I love cheering and it givesme immense pleasure. My best moment so far in Toastmasters is whenI broke the ice and got a standing ovation. Now I am the SAA’s associateand I am happy that I can contribute to the club that took me in.So I have started my adventure and I am expecting that it’d be glorious. 2 -TM Prashanth Gopal

Bringing order in disorder I Recently heard the speech of Toastmaster Ishwarya entitled \"Fault in Our Stars\" and of Toastmaster Rekha's entitled “Are you normal?\". Though the titles don't not reveal it, the speeches had something in common. They were about the disorder Autism and the manner in which people deal with it, when they realise a loved one isa ected by it. This did make me wonder, how much do we know about thisdisorder.Little known fact of Autism is that it has an e ect on the normal brain functionin a way that a ects communication and social interaction skills. According toan article in the Times of India dated April 2, 2013, two to six out of everythousand children have this disorder, though the numbers are not certain asit takes up to three years to detect this disorder in children.A large majority of the cases are not detected or worse the children arepresumed to be retarded. What most people are not aware of that thismalfunction in the brain often seems to be compensatory. Autistic childrencan have strong math skills, phenomenal memory skills, an ability tocomprehend things better as seen in cases where it can trigger the betterfunctioning of other parts of the brain.I was reminded of the movie I saw recently on the life of Ms. Temple Grandinwho although has this disorder has managed to leave her footprints in thesands of time. Her story is inspiring and one that must be told to anyone whobelieve they need a little inspiration to head towards the journey that theirheart desires whether or not they are autistic.Grandin, 68, has written numerous books on the subject of autism and amovie has also been made of her life story entitled \"Temple Grandin\", starringClaire Daines, famous for playing the role of Carrie in the television seriesHomeland, plays the role of this activist. 3

The movie shows the dedication and commitment of her mother to haveher daughter educated and self su cient. It also potrays the role of herteacher in shaping her career.As Grandin understands in terms of pictures, her teacher o ers her atalisman that proves to be very useful. If one were to actually think about itthe talisman would be useful to anyone who wants to do something in theirlife and are looking to make their rst step.Her teacher asks her to imagine every challenge as a door that needs to beopened so that she can step into it. In some way it does remind me of thesimple three worded mantra told in the movie \"Three Idiots\" which werespelled as an a rmation when life gets out of control- All is Well.In my own life I have known people who have this disorder and lead healthyand self su cient lives. One of whom I know has an excellent memory, hestill remembers the rst conversation I had with him in my o ce and can recite anything which he has committed to memory. Although bullied, at di erent times in his life, he served reliably and worked hard and one could often count on him to be the rst person to enter my workplace and the last person to leave. I only wish people knew this about him though before they would judge him. In my own way I hope that people who read this would at least not be quick to judge autistic people and realise that God has made di erent plans for each and every one of us. For further reading please visit www.autism-india.orgor you can also see videos of Ted Talks of Temple Grandin, to know theperson who transformed what autism meant for many!- TM Archana 4

New Dimensions in Digital Books and LibrariesDigital bookstores and libraries are changing the waywe read in more ways than it might seem immediatelyobvious. In fact, it just hasn’t changedthe medium ofreading (a laptop, a computer or a mobile device),it has changed the way choose, review andunderstand books.Let me give you a few such aspects:1. Choice and accessibilityDigital libraries have changed the way we choose a book. It’s highly likely thatmost books on your bookshelf are not the ones you chose – they might theones the booksellers chose for you. Not literally, but indirectly. Most peoplebuy books that are “famous” or “fashionable” or a “must-read”. Books that havea special place in the literary zeitgeist. An “average book” in the “best-sellers”list is likely to sell more copies than a “good book” buried deep in the shelves.There is a valid reason for this – accessibility. A book in a bookstore exists onlyas much as it is accessible. Digital libraries change that. You type in yourinterest, and in one click of a button, you have access to what all minds in allgeographies in all times have had to say about that. This is a paradigm shift inthe way we access books.2. Reviews and RatingsBooks need reviews. George Orwell, in his essay “Confessions of a BookReviewer”, expresses how reviewers usually do their job:“He [the reviewer] will gaze for an hour or two at a blank sheet of paper .. thensuddenly he will snap into it. All the stale old phrases – ‘a book that no oneshould miss’, ‘something memorable on every page’, ‘of special value are thechapters dealing with, etc, etc’ – will jump into their places like iron llingsobeying a magnet..”So, the point is - a “good” review neither means that the book is “good” nordoes it mean that the reviewer actually understood it. 5

3. Collective readingWhen reading a book in a digital medium, you’re never alone. Consider the‘maximum highlights’ feature in certain digital libraries. It highlights thephrases or sentences that have been highlighted by most number of people.It means that for most readers, the highlighted sentence was an AHA moment.They realized something signi cant that prompted them to highlight thatsentence or phrase. So you are no longer within four walls (literally or metaph-orically). You are part of a collective process of understanding.4. Power of analyticsAnalytics is the art of gaining insights from raw data. For instance, thepurchase pattern of readers of a given book might give interesting insights onthat book. Let’s say all the readers of a particular book have also read anotherauthor that you intensely like or dislike. This could instantly give you a sensefamiliarity with the book even before reading it.5. Free updatesThis is a cool feature that is present only in some online libraries. Once youbuy a digital book, you can essentially download any number of updates forthat book. This is very useful for evolving subjects - you just can’t a ord tokeep buying a di erent version every three months. In this day and age whereboth technology (and truth!) keeps evolving, doesn’t it help to stay updated?In conclusion, I want to confess that I still do have a kind of attraction forprinted book, its smell and the substance will always be things I will cherish.I am also a lover of bookstores and libraries. But I have to admit that digitalbookstores have brought in very new dimensions that the conventionalbookstores couldn’t even imagine. Only time can tell us whether theemerging dimensions in digital libraries will lead to the eventual disappe-arance of conventional bookstores and libraries.- TM Sabareeswar 6 Immedite Past President, CTM

The First Step‘Will you take up the responsibility to organise a Youth Leadership Program?’When Nina asked me this question after the end of ourusual meetings at CTM, I was startled! I say ‘STARTLED’because it came to as a big surprise, out of the blue!It did not take me time to consent to this challengebecause I knew who would be my lifeline behind thisproject- NINAWe had this conversation in July,2015 and there I started on to build uponthe very rst MOST challenging project I took up in Toastmasters! CTMsponsored the YLP and the venue - Tanishq Learning Centre was providedby Ms Chitra Sivakumar managing Director Tanishq Jewellery. With thevenue set; we had a bigger challenge. This was an open communityprogram, not designed for a speci c school; we had to get registrations for the YLP!My Co coordinator Mythilli from Wordsmith club was a great support! Wepublished an advertisement in Annanagar times about the YLP. Gradually ourregistrations built up and we reached our target of 30 registrations.Then started the maddening process of setting all the logistics right,organising participant data, planning in advance the agenda for all the 9 days,freezing dates with educational speakers, identifying facilitators for the YLP,organising print outs for the TAG reports, GE reports…The list is endless. Friends! I realised then, what seemed to be a piece of cakeactually required a lot of background homework. It was a solid 1 month ofbackground Homework that marked its presences even in my absence(I was taken ill and hospitalised 3 days after the YLP commenced ) 7

The YLP started with a bang! On the rst day we had them take up thechallenging table topics and they surprised us with their enthusiasm.Gradually as the YLP progressed each participant completed 3communication projects and took up 7 roles.I would like to mention, this Herculean task would not have been successfullycompleted without the help of facilitators. Toastmasters from CTM, RisingPillars and Wordsmith club strived hard as mentors and guided the Ylpiansto successfully complete their projects in ying colours.We had educational speakers DTM Nina John, TM Vikram from Pune,TM Shyleshwari, TM Reena, TM Rajesh Natrajan and TM Sabreeshwareducate the Ylpians about various topics like Roles and Responsibilities,Speech Organisation, Signi cance Of Evaluation, Body Language,Voice Modulation, Power Of Words etc. Not only were the Ylpians weregreatly bene tted from these interactive sessions but our educationalspeakers also had a very memorable experience interacting with theyoungster’s.The whole program had a great impact on not just the participants whowanted to continue this learning but also their parents who wanted to havea toastmasters club for themselves too. I am so happy to announce; we havestarted a gavel club in Annanagar. It’s called The Aurum Gavel Club. We meetevery 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday (If there is one) between 10:30 AM to 12 noonat Tanishq, Annanagar. We also will have another TM club starting inAnnanagar soon. Demo meetings are being conducted every Mondaybetween 6:30 pm to 8:00 pm at Tanishq, Annanagar.As I sit back and re ect, I am very happy that I took that rst step. A famousChinese proverb says it all—To get through the hardest journey we only need to take one step at a time,but we must always keep on stepping!’ Signing o-TM Manisha Hitesh Shah 8

The Shortcut to Communication Success!One of my all-time favourite quotes says – “There are no shortcuts to success.If you want it, you’re going to have to work for it.”This rule is applicable to all things in life, but to communication success.Yup, you read that right. In the magical world of Toastmasters, whereeveryone’s communication dreams do come true, we are often presentedwith a magical carpet that helps us fast-track our way to ‘communicationsuccess’. Wondering what that is? Well, I’m talking about CONTESTS!I’ve been a Toastmaster for close to two years now. I joined the forum toovercome my reticence, and to ful l my biggest dream of being able tospeak coherently before an audience. If I’m able to do that today, then Iattribute it largely to my participation in contests. Here’s my ABC-take ofhow contests really fast-track your growth as a communicator:1. Accelerates learningContests really accelerate your learning. I’ve found that whenever I contest,I learn immensely by looking at my competitors, preparing by watchingvideos and reading books, and talking to my friends and mentors within andoutside Toastmasters. Seldom do we take such e ort before we give everyspeech at the club. Hence, contests give us that extra push to strive to learnmore so that we can deliver our best on stage.2. Builds better bondsI’ve made some of my closest friends in Toastmasters during contest seasons.It’s remarkable how everyone in this forum really wants you to succeed. Ifyou’re a contestant, then you’ll realize how the entire audience cheers for youthe moment you get on stage. Toastmasters from di erent areas and divisionso er genuine feedback that will help you better your best. Before you knowit, you would have bonded with so many awesome people, building robustfriendships for life. 9

3. Challenges you and changes youI’ve learnt that whenever I step out of my comfort zone, I invariably end uplearning something new! Contests have always done that to me – pushedme out of my comfort zone, challenged me beyond comprehension, andchanged me beyond comparison. I never imagined I would represent mybeloved Chennai Toastmasters Club at the District Level EvaluationsContest in Sri Lanka.If you would have told me two years ago that I would be doing somethinglike that, I would have probably laughed really hard for it would havesounded unimaginably impossible. But it did happen.I did get challenged, and it did change me for the better.So, friends, the contest season is back, and it’s just around the corner.Will you be taking this magic carpet ride with me this time?TM Noorain Mohammed Nadim, Finalist, Evaluations Contest, Reverberation 2015- TM Noorain Mohammed Nadim 10

HappinessOnce upon a time, there was a hill, that would never have a base and a houseon top of the hill but it would never have a base, There was a tree behind thehouse on the hill , that would never have a base…There was a branch on the tree, behind the house on the hill… There was anest on the branch, branch on the tree and a house on the hill, There was anegg in the nest, nest on the branch, branch on the tree, behind the house onthe hill.What is the base I am referring to in the above rhyme?The base I am talking about is base for our happiness.Some of you may say I will be happy when I have a better job, a bigger house,a bigger car, a DTM pre x before my name….tell me when will you ever behappy? When I was small, our parents used to take us to beach, Marine lines and Juhu beaches in Mumbai We used to build sand castles like everyone here might have done. But, before leaving the beach we will destroy all the castles we had carefully built. And, we will talk about it happily at dinner table later. Because, at that time when we were making and destroying the sand castles we were at peace. Therefore, Peace is the real basis for our happiness. Now, how can we achieve peace in our life?P stands for Pause- and pause consists of Stop, think and respond,E stands for Educate yourself on Emotions-EQ is now a days as important as IQ.A stands for appreciate others, for whatever they stand for.C are for oneself and others, those who are less fortunate than usE Evolve and do not revolveWhen we follow above, I am sure we will experience a continuous peacewhich is the base for our happiness- TM Ramesh Daswani 11

GET SET GO..! TA TADA!!! “Hey bhai, you wait here and I will go check on others who were following us”, said Sumit. “Arey yes yaar, give me your bag and I will wait here for you”, I replied.This was beyond one third of our way to the top of Tada waterfalls! To myexcitement, I got a few minutes just for myself with the best teacher, the bestfriend, the best listener, the best artist, the best therapist and the bestmotivator . . . The Nature!Wow . . . wooaaw! And I had my “Ta Tada” moment. . . The climb towards Tadafalls had so many life lessons . . . you heard me right – Lessons for life.There is no pathway marked for anyone to follow, one sort of gets an ideawhich way to go by observing a few in front of them or a few who arereturning after their arduous journey.Isn’t this how life is. . there is no clear pathdrawn on – how to live.There are multiple routes to climb over therocks - some safe, some dangerous, somecommon, some uncommon, some obvious,some not so obvious, some easy, sometough. Isn’t this how life is. . there is no one way to live your life – whateverthat your goal in life is. 12

Every few hundred metres of the climb, one gets topoints that are “nice and comfortable” and compared to the di culties thatlie ahead as one climbs further, many settle down at one of these to justparty and go no further. Isn’t this how life is . . if you want to go higher inyour life – you need to overcome the di culties that lie ahead.As we kept pushing ourselves to go higher, we reached a point where Ifelt – hey, I am not trying to create a record for climbing or to competewith others. I am here to have fun and enjoy.So I decided at just over halfway mark that I am going to relax and party at that spot – it had a niceand comfortable natural swimming pool.Isn’t this how life is . . Ah, I think you got my point.Throughout the climb, I was conscious of the ONE thing that stoodbetween me and injury – Balance! Balancing myself in various situationswas key to progress – I learnt about spots where I couldn’t balance myselfso I retracted and I learnt of the spots where balance was easier so Icontinued on that route.Spending time with nature, having fun with friends, enjoying the music,swimming in freezing water, having great food (at least some of it)and balancing risk and progress – it was exhilarating.The climb was simple, it was not easy. So is Life! -TM Sunil Ba na 13

CTM cajoles Leaders.Toastmasters is a 90 yr. NGO empowering individualsto become more e ective communicators & leaders.I was enthralled to visit CTM for the rst time alongwith my mentor Rajiv Gabriel introduced to thenCTM President Aditya Maheswaran (2008-2009).Where energy ows, attention goes. From inception till date, the CTM Legacycontinues….CTM is in ‘Hall of Fame of Toastmasters’ to create leaders & give value to‘Home Club Ribbon of’District Governor, 1st Founder Member of ChennaiDistrict Treasurer, 1st Lady District Governor of District 82District EditorArea Governors and now…. The 1st District Director, Division Director& Area Director.The Power of Club O cers is @10x & each member is @2x power whencompared to 80% of the clubs around. When each one of us recruits 1 newmember, the magic formula of 2x – doubles the joy.CTM always has the power of Giving DEMO meet & starting a new CLUB. CSFis one beautiful brainchild of CTM with its 1st President Arna Chugani & 1stVPE Pravin Mani.As a Division Director FY2015-16, it’s a proud moment to understand thatmany-a-member from Tamilnadu, Sri Lanka & other toastmasters getrejuvenated on visiting the Sunday meetings @CTM – Presidency Club.Toastmasters feel & have admitted that CTM is lled with energy, enthusiasm& enjoyable laced with knowledge. To keep the standard high is an art,well played by CTM o cers.At CTM, the high power comes with more responsibility. The DTMs of CTM isan added advantage. Room of Improvement for the Best teamwork@ CTM.Syncing agenda 100% with the actual meeting is a challenge for thebest-of-best; Fun & Learning can reach its Zenith @ CTM.Truly CTM Cajoles – Try It! - TM Vikram Nagaraj 14 Division G Director

Japanese Toastmasters In japan (District 76) three types of toastmasters club are available. They are ,1) Full Japanese toastmasters club2) Full English Toastmasters club and3) Bilingual Toastmasters Club. As the name indicates the full Japanese and English TM clubs conducts meeting only in Japanese and English.The bilingual will have both English and Japanese on alternate weeks.Since English speakers in japan are less when compared to the other countries, thepresence of Japanese TM clubs are more. Normally the club meetings are conductedfortnightly. So automatically the ex-com tenure is one year.Since English speakers in japan are less when compared to the other countries, thepresence of Japanese TM clubs are more. Normally the club meetings are conductedfortnightly. So automatically the ex-com tenure is one year. During my stay at Tokyo,in-order to learn Japanese, I enrolled myself in two Japanese club (Shimbashi TM Cluband Akihabara TM Club) and one English club (Tokyo TM club). I had an amazingexperience in TM meeting during my stay. People were very warm and the hospitalitywas commendable.Due to their workaholic nature, majority of the community clubs operate in theevening of the week days enabling them to enjoy their weekend with their families.Normally after the meeting we will go for dinner and the cost is shared among them.I have met some persons who have membership to more than 5 to 6 clubs. Due to thefortnightly option I think this is possible but grit and enthusiasm of these personsare admirable. During the contest season, every club is allowed to participate inboth the English/Japanese contests. Due to this nature, evaluation contests arenot conducted normally. Tall Tale speech contest is conducted instead of humorousbut once in every four years humorous speech contest is conducted.The Full English speaking clubs constitutes of majority of foreigners and the Japanesewho has stayed in USA. It was a very nice and memorable experience for me.- TM Thanigeaswara 15

Legacy of District 82Toastmasters InternationalDistrict 82 of Toastmasters International was formedin 2007 with the clubs two countries, India and Sri LankaThe rst Club of District 82 was Colombo Toasters Club(1983) and the rst TM Club of India was Garden CitySpeakers Forum (1992) in Bangalore, DTM CA ChitturSubramaniam brought Toastmasters to India .First Club of Tamil Nadu was Chennai Toastmasters and TM Krishnan Arunachalamwas instrumental in setting it up.District 82 gave birth to District 41 - 2011 (North India plus AP)District 82 gave birth to District 92 - 2014 (Karnataka and Kerala)District 41 gave birth to District 98 - 2015 ( Guj, Maharathra, MP, Chattishghar,AP & Telangana)As on 1st January 2016,District 82 - 2007 (Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu0District 41 - 2011 (Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, UP, Bihar, Bengal. North East States)District 92 - 2014 (Karnataka and Kerala)District 98 - 2015 ( Guj, Maharathra, MP, Chattishghar, ,AP & Telangana)2004 - Territorial Council of India and Sri Lanka was held in Bangalore DTM Ian Faria was elected as Chairman.2006 - Territorial Council held Toastmasters Conference of India and Sri Lanka, in Colombo, where TM John Bosco Abraham was elected as District Governor of Provisional District 822007, District 82 became a District of Toastmasters International. 16 - DTM Abraham Zachariah

Why Introverts should join Toastmasters?“The words don’t seem to come easily”, I know that feeling. I question myself.Is it worth the struggle to try to speak? And after I have spoken, the thoughtscontinue have I spoken well? Have I spoken enough?Do you see that person standing there, watching everybody? Wonderingwhat to say? How to walk up and make a clever conservation? That person isalso me. I can imagine this person, jumping over a mental fence, sliding backand forth before he walks up and introduces himself. I know that feeling.Asking myself, how to voice my thoughts, remembering many times, whenI was left unheard at my work place or many a times glossed over by a circleof colleagues. I recall moments when I have experienced immense relief at nally being with myself. My ear plugs tight listening to the music I love.Shyness and introversion is universal, but the world and it’s reality lens is notvery kind to introverts, usually shut down or turned back. It becomesimperative that introverts begin to speak make presentation or address largegroups.I have known people who joined Toastmasters and they were horri ed toimagine that they could even desire to speak the way many speakers cameand spoke, as if they own the place. The debate within them added to whichthe usual discouragers tell them it would take you years! Alternatively, you arealready overworked! Or what if you fail? Worse, Your vocabulary so poor!They are nally cornered by reality and they discover the fence. Goodtoastmasters who belong to the other side of the fence walk up, shake handswith them and their inner demons slowly shrink. Simultaneously, theseintroverts very hesitantly make friends with others in the club, who seemneither, interested in pushing them nor criticising them, they let them be. 17

After a few meets, they pay their fees and give birth to roles like the Timeran audience as their heart beats to an all-embracing applause, they heara voice in their heads which say“Wow!, I completed my CC1 !”.No doubt, they are still an introvert and their richness comes from theirthoughts but now, they are a liberated introvert, a baby Toastmaster anda happy visible speaker.Shyness and introversion has value, provided they act as an inner guide andhelp you make the right choices in life. - TM Shyleswari M Rao President Chennai Toastmasters Club 18

Stepping stones to success! “Winners don’t do di erent things. They do things Di erently” I personally Love this quote by Author Shiv Khera. And what better time to quote this than now. You know why? Because Its contest time again !! Disclaimer: These are my views alone. This may or may not help you win the contest. So take them at your own risk.Your Message matters:One of the key components of a contest speech is the message. If you have alook at the previous year world champions of public speaking, you will noticethat it’s the message that stood out from their speeches. And the audienceonly remembers the message.So choose a message that will help you connect with the audience so thateven if they forget your speech, they will remember your message. Also stickto minimum number of messages in a speech. It is a usual practice to haveone message in a speech. However,it di ers from speaker to speaker.Theworld champion of Public Speaking 2004 Randy Harvey had 3 messages inhis speech. So its up to you .What is your story :Once you have found your message, the next step is to nd a way to convey it.And what better way to convey it than through stories. Audience love stories.So your script should have a story that will hook the audience so that they caneasily get the message of your speech.However the world champion of Public Speaking 2003 Jim Key used the storyof a girl who was mute to convey his message. So choose a story that is aptfor your message. 19

Have your own styleNow that you have the story and the message of your speech, the next partis the delivery. The most common mistake that novice speakers do is to copysomeone else’s style. And by copying another speaker’s style of delivery you- Have a backup scriptIn 2014 when I was contesting I had just one script for everylevel of the contest. However it is important to have a backup script. Becausesome part of the audience is repetitive and the surprise element is gone if youhave the same script throughout.- Last minute changesBe ready to make any last minute changes to your speech. For2014, the stage was so small I had to reduce my movement on the stage by- Technical problemsSometimes the mike may not work. Do not stop speaking.Continue to speak and make sure you throw your voice in the absence of themic so that the audience can hear you.- Use of propsAlways have a backup for your prop. I was using a pair of glasses as a prop inmy 2014 speech. I had two pairs of glasses as backup, just in case.- Never make fun of other speakersAlthough this is considered as a plus point in humorous speech contest, thisof the same. And this may cost you the trophy.So there you go. These are some of the lessons I learnt by taking part in justone contest. We are the home district of the world champion of publicof public speaking for the year 2016 maybe you. 20 - TM Jaswant TCS Maitree Alpha Toastmasters

A bow to my mentor In the recent edition of Toastmasters magazine, I read the message of our International President on mentorship. That inspired me to write this note for you all.It all started four years ago, when a demo meetinghappened in my organization. I met this person for the rsttime. From that time onward, I could see nothing butimprovement in me as a communicator and leader. As a native Tamil speaker,I was constantly in search of English words and phrases to communicatee ectively. That’s why I joined Toastmasters without any second thought. I wasassigned a mentor who was the club mentor too. My perception of mentorschanged after I spent a couple of weeks with this person as a mentee. I learntthat mentorship is beyond just reviewing speeches.All my mentor would do is speak to me every alternate day. I was amazed athis involvement and passion. Whenever he called me, there was anopportunity for me to learn, grow and share through an opportunity to be atimer, an opportunity to conduct a Table Topics session, a chance to speak infront of an unknown club, the responsibility to be the area contest coordinator, the opportunity to be a district conference team member, and so much morethat took me beyond my home club.I changed my perception of mentorship from then. Whatever I am today, it isjust because of my mentor - DTM Balaji Nagabhushan. A big bow to the e ortand trust he had in me that made me continue my journey as a Toastmaster.Toastmasters, take every opportunity which comes to you. Involve yourselfand learn to grow. Every single role in Toastmasters is a golden opportunityto grow in life.I travelled with so many Toastmasters in my journey of Toastmasters. Some gotdown in their destination and halted, and some travelled with me alongside.It is a journey I want to do for life. I joined Toastmasters to ful l a passion;but now, I have a purpose to shape myself as a Toastmaster, grow every day,and help others grow in a small way. I have found my way in this eternaljourney of learning and growth. How about you?- TM Jaichitra Ramakrishnan 21

Excellence and Public speakingLearning and sharing are two vital pillars of Toastmasters. In this article, I o eryou a few of my tips and techniques on excellence and public speaking thathave garnered popularity on social media in my o cial Facebookpage: www.facebook.com/adityaspeaks#55 - The 'Before I begin' syndromeI witnessed another speech yesterday that began with 'before I begin...’ Hespoke for 10 mins and left. Since he never told us when he actually 'began', hetechnically ended before he started.In between a coaching conversation last week, the participant said 'to be honest....’ I asked him whether everything he had told me till that point was a lie. He replied seriously 'No no....they were true. But this point is more important'. Why do we consciously use phrases/sentences that make no sense?It’s because we hear other people use it. And when people we respect userubbish, most times, we use it too.The solution to this is similar to the theories of self-awareness and mindfulness.If you can stay in the present and evaluate yourself as you act (like asimultaneous loop), with practice, your thinking and speaking will happentogether. As you speak, you will also think about what you are speaking, andin that process, keep course-correcting what doesn't make sense to whatmakes complete sense, live.To be honest, I'm really hungry now!#57 - What is your 2nd strength?A news reporter asked a popular model 'what are you without your beauty?’She replied 'I'm a PHD from Stanford and a physicist'. 22

Now, what are you without YOUR primary strength?I consider public speaking my biggest blessing. Sometimes I ask myself,what am I without a stage? 5 years ago, I did not have an answer. It mademe vulnerable and defensive about my 1st strength. When I consciouslyeyes of others.The 2nd strength makes your 1st look better, bigger, and brighter! It gives aperception that you are not ONLY that, but you have chosen to be THAT. Itgives you surplus self-assurance, and makes you perform even better inwhat you consider your primary strength!Are you working on your 2nd strength as much as the 1st?#68 - Made-to-measureA year ago I bought a handsome (and expensive) suit at Raymond. I wore itwith pride and attended client board meetings. One day, a smart executive,whom I had become close to, said 'I love your suit but you should try themade-to-measure. I chipped 'do you know the cost of what I'm wearing, it'sone of the best'. He smiled 'but it's not made-to-measure'.With much curiosity, I was at the Raymond showroom the next day. I inquiredabout 'made-to-measure'. For the next 45 mins, the tailor measured me -none but me. A gimmick to extract the consumer surplus? A week later I gota call that my new Charcoal grey made-to-measure was ready.about it that was perfect. There is something that takes a suit from 98% to100% perfection. And I realized that this 2% was what the executive was referring to.Now think of yourself at work or on stage. You have your best speech. Youhave the gift of the gab. I ask you that question 'But is it made-to-measure?' Have you measured your audience? Measured their interests. Measured theemotion. Measured the end-product. Is yours 98% good, or 100% good?Make-to-measure. It's that 2% that separates you from the rest.-DTM Aditya Maheshwaran 23 Mumbai Toastmasters Club

My Journey towards Championship! My sincere thanks to Chennai Toastmasters Club for pro ering me this wondrous opportunity of writing for the Club’s newsletter! I feel so honoured. Ever since I joined Toastmasters, I have loved contesting. As a matter of excitement, I, along with my club (Virudhunagar Toastmasters Club) membersenjoyed travelling to di erent places and attending conferences and contests.Nevertheless, becoming the District Champion has always seemed too highas a goal to wish. I did not dream about the District Championship until Icleared the Division Level. It was only then that many senior Toastmasters andfellow club members insisted me to take the contest seriously and worktowards winning. Their sincere mentoring and advice pushed me towardscorrecting the errors and planning well for the nal contest. My heartfeltthanks to each of them!I had the opportunity of contesting in the District Level International PreparedSpeech Contest and the Table Topics Contest at Colombo, Srilanka in May2015. That’s when I learned that my pace had to be brought down to a greatextent. Many senior Toastmasters insisted me to work religiously on my wordrate. Thereby, when the Humorous speech contest was announced at ourclub, I decided to work on the size of my script at the initial stage itself. Initiallypacking ideas and thoughts in relatively limited words sounded to be a verytedious task. However, I managed to stay obedient to my mentors.Regarding the selection of topic, I looked for themes that my friends and Iusually choose to talk about during hang outs and nally, landed on onetopic.All my friends had one thing in common; we were all weak in Mathematicsduring our school days. We have never felt tired speaking about our ignorancetowards the subject and the punishments we received from the Maths teacher. 24

Every time that we chatted about Mathematics examination and our arrears,we ended up laughing till our tummies ached. I decided that there could beno other better topic.Only the selection of topic took me time. Once I froze my topic, it was just acompilation of all our experiences with the subject, Mathematics. To addscript with my friends. I could feel the context working. Then, I presented thesame to a few of my colleagues. I sensed that everyone could relate withthe concept and continued scripting. That resulted in my speech on the topic,“SAA, is my Maths teacher in the hall?”I should essentially quote the support of Virudhunagar Toastmasters who hadbeen supporting me from the Club Level till the District Level. Though thetheir priceless support.I felt greatly motivated when 6 of our club members volunteered andtravelled to Kandy to attend Reverberations, 2015. Their presence boostedme abundantly. I owe tons of gratitude to Virudhunagar Toastmasters.Apart from the various other aspects, the limitless learning and immaculateexperience gained through the contest delight me the most.My best wishes to Chennai Toastmasters! Happy Toastmastering!- TM Shyamraj 25 Virudhunagar Toastmasters Club

Ice breakers of this term!TM Durai Raj TM Gourav TM PrashanthCompetantTMCArcohanma municators TM Murugesh TM Athmanand ACS 26

Events on the go..!Mentoring the mentors by Excomm term Jan - June 2016 DTM Saro velrajanDivision Evaluations contest Youth Leadership Program Winner - TM Noorain 27

DTM Karthik Srinivasan Award TM Sunil BaffnaTM Ravi Baskaran AwardTM Noorain TM Siddarthan (Oct) (Nov)TM Yuvaraj 28 (Dec)

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