CCC FEB13 Newsletter

Chennai Communicators Club

February 2013

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Incubator of Impressive Leaders

Editor’s View All the wonderful opportunities that were screened by my monotonous life, flashed in front of me after I joined CCC . I rarely read the newspaper, and yet here I am, the editor of a newsletter! Toastmasters has taken me out of my comfort zone and given me ways to enhance my communication and leadership skills. Thanks to one and all for helping me along the way towards becoming a successful editor of CCC’s February Newsletter. Undoubtedly, it is a milestone. CCC has still got a lot of potential and I am sure that all of that will come out in the forthcoming editions. “Rhapsody” is filled with a lot of thought provoking articles. CCCians, in partnership with other club members have written down tips and techniques, which are quintessential, in order to become a good speaker. All of them are done so, using practical examples and personal experiences. I am sure that the articles and poems on display are going to be a great source of inspiration for all the readers to grow as future leaders. Finally, a big thank you, to Janani and Poothathan, my co-editors for helping me come up with this edition; because, all of this, wouldn’t be possible without their help. Enjoy reading!!!

– TM Kavitha Manohar

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Index Topics Page no.

President’s Note 4

3

A Baby or Born Youth? 5

Leveraging Your Strengths 6

5 Wives and 1 Husband 7

Life – an Amazing Teacher 10

Reconnaissance of the Psyche 12

3 Cs 15

It shall be over! 17

Change 19

Scramble Word Game 9

Puzzle 14

Guess Who? 21

My Angel's Flower-bud Sister 22

Club Office Bearers 23

Club Address 24

President’s Note

– TM Divya S President

As I write this, amidst the chirping crickets, the hum of my air conditioner, the otherwise eerie

silence and darkness of the night, I hear a happy groove in my head - The birthday song of the

Chennai Communicators Club. Undoubtedly, this is a special moment and this first anniversary

edition of the newsletter shall remain special. The growth trajectory in the last one year has

been great, for the club as a whole. With the enthusiastic and enterprising members this is here

to stay, for many more years to come.

In addition to helping Toastmasters of Chennai Communicators Club discover the speaker in

them, the executive committee has helped members to challenge their own boundaries, to

think out of the box and initiate the uninitiated. This newsletter is one such initiative. My

congratulations to the Newsletter Team for this edition, headed by TM Kavitha Manohar and

contributors for their articles. Before signing off, I would like to remind that it hasn't been easy.

We failed. We tripped. But we rose up dusting our pants. Like great souls said - It's not about

winning always. It's all about failing and learning to win after the failure. This is a place, that

gives you the license to fail, because CCC truly believes that failures give the most clear and

mist-free roadmap to victory.

Happy birthday CCC!!!

Happy Toastmastering CCCians!

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COSTLY

BIKE RIDER

A Baby or Born Youth?

–TM S.N. Venkatesh Division N Governor

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Almost a year ago, I was looking to shift my Toastmaster membership from a Corporate Club to a Social Club. I learnt of a new club that was started by an engineering student at that time and frequented & supported by Toastmaster DTM Saro Velraj. I was attracted to this Club like a bee to a flower. I moved my membership to this club called, The Chennai Communicators Club. Initially, the Club looked every bit of a start up Club with low attendance, low confidence level of the members, low memberships etc. The Club attracts good lot of guests from the surrounding society and from Corporate Clubs in Chennai. The Club has established itself very impressively in a short period of a year. It is well known around Velachery and in Chennai circles. The members circulate well with the Toastmaster fraternity at all levels up to the District and have reaped the benefit of growing at a rapid pace for a start up club. The Club conducts its activities in line in tune with Toastmaster Internationals guidelines and the meetings each week define a new standard for the Club.

The Club has many stars and budding stars who have displayed intense commitment and dedication. Their energy, innovations and enthusiasm is infectious. The question, if this Club is still an infant or was it born a youth is apt. I am glad to be a member of an energetic and youthful Club led by youngsters in college/just entering corporate world. Keep learning, keep contributing, keep growing, keep improving, the best way to grow in stature. Best Wishes to the Club and the members this Contest season.

Suitup

Everyone wants to succeed in their life. We

look up to the stalwarts in our chosen field.

We are inspired by their success and decide to

follow their footsteps. Wait a minute! Did I say,

follow their footsteps?

In our quest to excel in a chosen field we have

three options in front of us.

• One is to emulate others.

• Second is to work on our weakness.

• Third is to leverage our strengths.

While the first option seem to be a shortcut to

success, it is disastrous to emulate others

since you lose your creativity. Second option of

working on your weakness will also not work

since how much ever we work, there are

always going to be weakness within us. Finally

we are left with the last and the best choice of

leveraging our strengths to achieve our vision.

Leveraging our strength in a chosen field is

like an arrow that comes out of the bow, there

is only one direction, FORWARD direction.

Leveraging Your Strengths

Similarly, inspired by listening to erudite and

eloquent speeches of toastmasters, we join

this movement to become better public

speakers. I take this opportunity to share a

PIECE OF good news with you. You can also

become a great public speaker. Not by

emulating others or working on your

weaknesses, but only by leveraging your

strengths. That will take you only in the

FORWARD direction.

The Extent you leverage, will not only make

your speeches special, but you will also

become special.

Happy Toastmastering!!!

– TM Rajesh Natarajan

Area N3 Governor

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"What should I talk about? How do I come up with the content for

my speech?" These are the questions that will come to your mind

when you want to write a speech script. It is not such a herculean

task to write speech scripts. This article will introduce you to a

technique that you can use to expand your idea into a full blow

speech script. It is called 5 Wives and 1 Husband technique.

Wondering, who the 5 Wives and 1 Husband are?

They are

• What

• When

• Where

• Who

• Why

• How

Let us take a simple topic “My favorite

vacation” and try to ask these questions.

1. What am I going to talk about – “My

favorite vacation”

2. When did I take the vacation – “I was

leading a hectic life because of my work

pressure. I was hardly able to spend any

time with my family. My family members

were bugging me to take them

somewhere. I decided to take a short

break from work and go for a mini

vacation from my workplace”

5 Wives and 1 Husband

3. Where did I go for vacation – “I

considered going to Kodaikanal, but

didn’t chose it because it will be

crowded. Moreover, we had been to

Kodaikanal several times in the past. We

wanted to go to a new place this time…

After lots of research, we zeroed-in on

Coorg. I heard from my friends that Coorg

is a very nice place for vacation”

4. Who are the people that accompanied

for your vacation?

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5. How did you make all the arrangements?

6. What are the places in Coorg that you

visited? How was your experience?

7. Why is the vacation to Coorg very

memorable/favorite for you?

8. What did you do for dinner/lunch? …

Where did you go?

9. Why do you (or) Why won’t you recommend

the audience for a trip to Coorg?

– DTM Saro Velrajan

10. What are some advices that you’ll give

to the audience when they plan

for the trip to Coorg?

If you try to answer all the above

questions, you can easily come up with a 5

– 7 minutes speech

You can take any topic and expand into a

speech script with the 5 Wives and 1

Husband technique.

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Sure!! This

technique is for

public speaking

mm!!! its true!!!

– TM Janani Srinivasan PT

Scramble Word Game*

9 * Email your answers to [email protected] with respective headings. First

3 right entries win a surprise gift, rush …

mailto:[email protected]

Only 100 dollars in my pocket!!!

Not knowing how to contact home and tell

about my whereabouts!!!

14 hours - no food!!!

Severe headache and stomach pain!!!

Welcome to the United States of

America!! What an amazing journey it was!!!

The very first day I was roaming at Chicago

International Airport like a Nomad. Boarded

Cathey Pacific international flight at Chennai

around 2.00 AM IST on Sunday and landed at

Chicago, Sunday afternoon 3 PM EST. Do the

Math to understand how long and how far, I

have travelled!

My domestic flight from Chicago to Atlanta got

postponed from 5.20 PM EST to 7 PM, then to

8 PM and finally was cancelled due to a weird

problem - captain of the flight crew missing!!

They scheduled another flight at 11 PM and

that was also cancelled due to mechanical

problems. I tried hard to push the airlines to

put me in the next available flight to Atlanta.

They booked me a flight at 6 AM in the

morning. Time was 12 AM and barely very few

people were in the airport. Almost everyone in

the airport had left.

Life – an Amazing Teacher

Fear started to engulf me!! What I am doing

here at an unknown place? I don’t know

anyone in Chicago. I don’t have enough

money in my hand to rescue myself if I got

caught in any major problem. I was not sure

whether to sleep as I had all my originals and

Passport with me!! Even if I wanted to sleep,

I was not sure whether my bag would be

safe!! Thanks to my severe headache due to

continuous travel and sleep deprivation, I

definitely had to sleep. In US, without prior

consultation with physician, you can’t even

buy any basic medicine. Thankfully, I had

some first aid tablets with me. After roaming

in the airport for more than two hours, I

finally closed my eyes at 2 AM and again fear

was gripping me as I thought I might miss my

6 AM flight if I had a sound sleep due to the

tablet. So, I tried to avoid sleeping.

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Finally, the time had arrived. I stepped inside

the flight at 6 AM. Still, the fear of uncertainty

was there as with all my previous flights I

actually boarded the flight and then they

cancelled it due to weird reasons. So, until the

flight took off, I didn’t believe that I was

travelling. Finally, I landed at Atlanta at 8 AM.

It was now time for me to collect my baggage.

As I travelled in a different domestic flight, I

couldn’t get my baggage and airport authority

was not even sure where exactly my luggage

was. Again, I was bit tensed as I had only my

certificates and passport in my hand. They

assured me that they will trace my baggage

and send it to my office address. With

minimum hope, I left to a hotel nearby my

office and took complete rest for the whole

day.

Next day, I went to office and reported to my

manager. But still, I hadn’t recovered from my

traumatic travel experience and I was

pondering why I had to undergo all of this.

Back in Chennai, I was very comfortable and I

knew plenty of people, particularly

toastmasters who were always ready to help

me and give me company! Without knowing

anyone in Atlanta loneliness also started to kill

me.

With floods of thoughts in my mind, I

entered my cabin. Suddenly out of nowhere,

I got the answer to my question in the form

of a quote near my desk “A ship in harbour is

safe, but that is not why ships are built”. I

slowly started to realize that all of these are

happening for a reason and I am sure that my

stay in US is going to teach me so many new

things in life. I am looking forward to go

through all the amazing experiences which

are going to teach so many new lessons in

my life. Welcome to the US!!

– TM Eshwar Raju

11 International Toastmaster

Reconnaissance of the Psyche There are times I feel that words are best left unspoken. Times when I feel that being a solemn recluse is for the best. Times when I feel that being clandestine is the way forward. Times when I feel that being me is more important than anything else. Times when I feel that I have nothing to do but stare into the abyss. Times when I feel that I have wasted my mind. There are times when I feel, for more than just a fleeting moment that I have myself for company and that gives me fulfillment. There are times when I feel like I was destined to be this way and there will never be anyone to see me through the light of day. There are times when I feel as if I am all alone, even when I am surrounded by people who seem like a stone. There are times when I feel, as though the only meaningful conversation that I seem to enjoy is with the figment of my imagination. Those are the times when I am proud of myself. Those are the times where I feel like I belong. Those are the times that I cherish and enjoy. Those are the times that I thank god.

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Because, those are the times when I know what to do. One of the rare times when I feel like I am true. Because, those are the times that no matter what I do, will forever be in my mind, because I was always true. Because, those are the times when I came to know that life is best enjoyed when you don’t know.

– TM Srihari

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An all

rounder

– TM Janani Srinivasan PT

Puzzle

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Which CCC toastmaster will win the Girl’s heart?*

* Email your answers to [email protected] with respective headings. First



3 Cs

What to do?!!!! – Badri Narayanan

Honesty, Love, Passion, Fear, Sacrifice, Work,

Relationship so many words run on our mind

like an unstoppable train. But in the end what

happens?

Dear readers, have you ever experienced the

adrenalin rush when you sit down to write

your speech. Have you felt the catalytic stream

of thoughts that bombards your mind? You

come up with so many ideas on how you can

choose and select your topic. Well it was a

very similar experience to me when I sat down

to write my CC 10 project. I was engulfed with

so many ideas about what all I can do in my

script. Today, I am going to share my

experiences. The best way to select a topic

and make your speech is based on the

following

C-C-C.

C – Collect

C – Convince

C – Connect

Collect the data or experiences of your life,

retrospect within yourself to see what is that

incident that you want to share with the

audience that’s going to make a difference to

them. Collect the information about the

message you want to give the audience. In my

CC 10 I brought out the experience of how I

learned to face life amidst all my challenges.

My message was to let my audience know

that life was full of blocks and they can build

their foundation using it or stumble upon

them and feel sad about it. I looked for the

incidents in my life that everyone could

relate to. I collected my life together and

broke it down to experiences. Well now I

have content what to do next?

Convince yourself that this is what you

choose to speak about. Many a times I see

toastmasters not convinced about the

particular message or topic they have

chosen. They keep deviating and end up

writing multiple incomplete speeches.

Convince yourself that “Yes this is the

message for my audience this is what I want

them to feel after hearing to my story”. To

give the best speech the only person you

need to convince is yourself and that

whatever you chose is the best you have

chosen.

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Of course, be open for feedback but do remember it is your master piece at the end of the day You need to be convinced about the topic you have chosen. Third and most important step is to …

Connect the information you have collected in

a sequential way so that the audience can follow your speech. Your speech is nothing but an art work. Every stroke in your speech describes an aspect about yourself to the audience and makes them move closer to the edge of their seat. To me, giving a great speech is about creating connections with the audience - a short 5-7 Min connection. Make sure that your speech has that connection factor.

If you frame your speech based on the ideas above I am sure yours will turn out to be a really beautiful music that everyone would want to hear over and over again.

– TM Badri Narayanan

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Everlasting

Energetic

Evaluator

“The doctor said it is over” she said her eyes

gleaming with joy as she hugged me tight and

bit my cheeks under the pretext of kissing me.

Shravantika, my 9-year old neighborhood kid

was diagnosed with advanced cancer a

fortnight ago. If only she knew what the doctor

meant when he said, “it is over!”, it is over!

For two days, I was extremely upset seeing her

parents distressed and the kid soaked with

innocence bearing the brunt of a brutal

disease.

Few days down the lane, I had my own set of

problems to ponder about – What do I wear to

Medleys? How do I look as beautiful as

Jayanthi Sundar? Sitting on the window sill, I

refused to look upon the wider horizon,

beyond my micro world!

The tiny lotus feet, the piggy tails, the vibrant

smile and the cosy hugs, everything was set to

become a distant dream! Shravantika became

a shady image of her past, high doses of

medicine and chemotherapy suck her smile

and joy. Pathetic, it was to see the kid who

never stood still for a moment, struggling to

stand now!

From ashes to pristine memories, she left it all

for me. To say we miss Shravantika will be an

understatement, it is the world’s loss

It Shall Be Over!

Standing at her funeral, the doctor shed a

tear and muttered, “if only we had had

enough platelets to save the girl!”. I have

heard of blood donation but never knew

platelets could be donated. Interestingly,

blood is separated into components red

blood cells, platelets and plasma. Some

cancers and cancer treatments harm blood

cells. If red blood cells drop, a patient feels

weak, tired and short of breath. If platelets

or plasma proteins decrease, a patient may

bleed.

Don’t you think Shravantika deserved to lead

a life as normal and happy as ours? May be

not just Shravantika, it could be any

Ramasamy, Kuppusamy or Arulsamy. If that

drop of our blood does matter, why don’t we

make it count?

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Rendition of a few blood donation facts:-

• If you are in good health and you meet all

requirements, you may donate:

• Whole blood every 56 days (8 weeks)

• Platelets every 48 hours, up to 24 times in

one year

• Platelets and red blood cells together every

56 days (8 weeks)

• Double red blood cells every 112 days (16

weeks)

There are almost no risks to you. Except for a

slight discomfort at the beginning of the

collection, most donors report no

problems. You cannot become infected with

any new disease by donating.

To donate platelets, you need to wait 48 hours

after taking aspirin or aspirin-containing

products such as Motrin, Advil, Nuprin, Aleve,

Excedrin and herbal supplements containing,

ginseng, garlique or ginger.

Energy drinks that contain any of the

previous products will also defer you for 48

hours for platelet donations.

Whole blood - collection takes only about 7-

12 minutes, the complete process takes

about 20 to 40 minutes.

Probably, the time you have invested in

listening to my dumb speech, could have

made a difference to someone else’s life!

Keep your hands on your chest - feel the

beat? well, that is called purpose – everyone

has a purpose in life. You have your own

purpose - to inch forward, make someone

else’s life special too and give them the joy of

looking at the beautiful world. Well, if you

think it is an option, let me remind you it is

your duty as well.

Lets resolve to make Cancer nothing more

than a Zodiac Sign!

– TM Akshaya Mahalingam

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A cute little

motivator

Be The Change

The total youth population in India is close to 232 million.

According to the NASSCOM-McKinsey report, only 10% of

these graduates are actually employable. So, what happens

to the rest of the youth population?

They are actually free to choose their own profession

according to me :)

I asked a couple of my B-School friends a few years back, "so, friends, what make your B-

Schools stand out from the engineering institutions or the colleges you studied? “ And not to

anyone's surprise, their answers were very simple and unanimous. “Exposure is very good in B-

schools and students are allowed to explore new avenues of varied opportunities, inculcating

entrepreneurial attitudes blah.. blah.. blah.. “

But, deep in the root, the basic problem is that most of our engineering institutions lack a basic

platform. A platform? “A platform for what?”

That would be your next question! Right?

You may also simply point out the social media as an ultimatum for this ideas exchange and

99.99% of us think the same. Just see one step beyond the concept of social networking. What

was once a hot shot trend in Orkut is just a piece of junk today. How many valuable

“communities” we had lost during the transition from Orkut to Facebook? The numbers are

alarming but our minds never think about the past if something is better than its past. So, in

the end, we’ll upgrade and that’s the real trend nowadays.

Change

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Imagine

..a platform that brings you together, locally and globally.

..a platform that could Connect leaders, experts, companies, organizations and citizens.

..a platform where you could Share your tools, data, designs, successes, and ideas.

..a platform that could Empower entrepreneurship & Re-imagine education.

Together you can bridge the gap between poor and rich communities. Fellow CCCians !

Let's begin by connecting !

Let's Connect with our college !

Let's Collaborate for a cause !

Let's Create more opportunities !

And last but not the least,

Let's spread the best practices that we know to our colleges !

Just remember Mahatma's quote,

First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.

If you want to bring the Change, YOU BE THE CHANGE !

– TM Pradeep Varman

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Cool…

baby

Guess Who??*

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– TM Kavitha Manohar

Pictures from the CCC special meeting

1. 2.

3. 4.

* Email your answers to [email protected] with respective headings. First



My angel's flower-bud Sister

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O my love angel .. Your scent , a dew-dipped flower's name Even a flower bud too heavy on your delicate frame ! Awaiting your arrival , Excitedly oscillates my life's beat Chatting with the park and your empty seat . At that moment A shine yellow flower bud falls on your place From the shade tree that understood my trance. The flower bud Then looked at me with a smile reminding yours Trying even in vain to emulate your fragrance . What do I do ? Command it, to vacate my angel's seat ? or Converse with it to soothe my wait's heat ? What do I say ? That my angel is prettier than it by miles ? or That both have beauty unique in different styles ? To my relief then You walk towards me , wings flapping , Aroma, Breeze and Delight as friends flanking.

Now I am confused . Romance is best experienced in solitude. With too many intruders, are we diluting its magnitude ? As I twitch in fear The poor bud melts in awe at your appeal My heart captures the moment , savouring its feel . Without much thought At a gentle stroke, you swept the bud down the chair The heart-broken tree cried and shouted it was unfair . " O poor cute thing " I empathise with the bud and hold it in my palms And look up to see your eyes, fiery like nuclear arms . In fury You stare cold and walk away from me I see in my palm , a cute yellow enemy . Helpless , I blame the flower bud and the tree And run for you on a convincing spree.

– TM Gomathi Shankar Shall I write

poem or story

Club Office Bearers

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PRESIDENT TM Divya

Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9884882495

VP-Membership TM Akshaya Mahalingam


Secretary TM Kashyap


VP-Education TM Srihari


VP-Treasurer TM Aravinth


Sergeant At Arms TM Poothathan


VP-Public Relations TM Mohan Raj









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Chennai Communicators Club Toastmaster club # 2441171

CCC meets every Sunday Timing: 3 PM to 5 PM Venue: Sunshine Chennai Senior Secondary School (near Velachery Railway Station) Velachery Chennai – 600 042 Contact: +91 9677192197 Mail ID: [email protected]

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CCC FEB13 Newsletter