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District: 41

Dec/2013 – Vol 6

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

1 Editorial – Page 2

2 District Governors Reporton Resonance 2013 - Puri –Page 3

3 Afraid of Mondaymornings? Practice inToastmasters – Page 7

4 And the winner is - Page12

5 Interview of HumorousSpeech Champion - Page 14

6 Interview of Table TopicsChampion - Page 16

7 Contributors – Page 18

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL

NEWSLETTER

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Umesh Agashe, CC, ALBEditor–Newsletter,2013-14Toastmasters InternationalDistrict 41

If you would like tocontribute in e –Newsletter, or havesuggestions forimprovements, pleaseprovide your insights, emailyour views, feedback,suggestions at

d41enewsletter@gmail.com

Editorial

Umesh Agashe, CC, ALBRobert Louis Stevenson once said: Don’t judge each day by the harvest youreap, but by the seeds you plant. Developing ourselves as competent publicspeakers is an infinite journey, but we can enjoy every moment of thisjourney only when we focus on planting the seeds, not reaping the harvest.

In this issue of District 41 e Newsletter, our District Governor has presenteda report of Resonance 2013, the semiannual conference held in Puri. If youattended the conference in Puri, you will surely agree with his view. If youcould not attend the conference, just read the report and you will be wellinformed about decisions made regarding reformation of District 41 & lotsfor semi-finals in Oration – Goa.

Management guru Peter Drucker used to ask just one question afterconducting trainings: “What would you do on a Monday morning?” This wasone way of pushing the trainees to think about how to apply the learning’sfrom the training to a Monday morning scenario, when the work weekbegan. We also asked a similar question to Toastmasters from all walks oflife, from different industries. “How is Toastmasters helping them in theirprofessional life?” - Read what they have to say, & think about how you canavail maximum opportunities in Toastmasters. If you are practicing inToastmasters on a regular basis you will surely reap the harvest.

The best way to grow in Toastmasters is to take it to more & more people. Ifyou are benefiting from Toastmasters, propagate it to the world. With thesame objective, District 41 conducted a newsletter contest for clubs. Tobegin with, we got a good response, & in this issue we have declared results& views of the judges. Toastmasters is all about enhancing verbalcommunication, and through newsletters you can flex your creative muscles& write down your ideas, & stories.

One of the best ways to plant the right seeds is to learn from others.Trainers, mentors, and champions provide us the best insights. In this issuewe are happy to present you interviews of District 41 Humorous SpeechChampion Pritam Arekar, & District 41 Table Topics Champion Abdul Rahim.Learn from their journey & more importantly write to them, get connectedwith Champions.

Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap, but by the seeds you plant.So which seeds are you going to plant today?

Keep communicatingUmesh Agashe, CC, ALBEditor, Newsletter, District-41

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Prasad Sovani, DTM,District Governor 2013-14,District 41, ToastmastersInternational.

He is a communicationevangelist. By professionhe is a corporate trainerand has successfullytrained many students totheir satisfaction in India,Singapore, & Brazil.

You may write to him atprasad.sovani@gmail.com

Dear friends,

We had a great District Semi-Annual Conference (Resonance 2013) at Puri,Odisha. Many of you attended that, but many missed out on this, so here isa report on this conference.

Day minus One: 20th Nov 2013I had come to Puri earlier to help the organizing committee to completeremaining tasks, but none were remaining, so I spent the time discussingmany things with LGET Ritu Arora. This involved strategies for the next 8months, plans that need be altered etc.

Day 0: 21st Nov 2013Jogged on the beach & had a good body massage while sleeping on the softsand. Jogging barefoot on the beach is better for the grip of your feet andmany Mumbai cricketers do so regularly.

Our star trainer Palaniappa Subramaniam arrived from Penang, Malaysia.Many Toastmasters from Mumbai-Pune who had inconvenient flight timingsalso used this opportunity to arrive early to see the places around. Ritu & Ispent some time with Pala discussing 2 presentations he was to deliver. Hetoo asked us for inputs on audience and firmed up his presentation. Wevisited the Lord Jagannath Temple in Puri and the Sun Temple Ruins inKonark. We also spent some time chatting with some district officers whohad arrived earlier & with Farida D'Silva Dias, the Conference Chair for thecoming Annual Conference in Goa.

Day 1: 22nd Nov 2013Went to the beach to see the beautiful sun rise once again. I jogged alongwith Rajat Chawla who is from Pune and who (like me) had completed theHalf-Marathon sometime back. (The similarity ends there as he is trim andfit and ...)Area Governor Riyaz Khan was there as well along with AG Nikhil Khannaand he taught us a few fitness tricks.

Worked on the fine tuning of agenda since I love to be punctual and warnedthe Organizing Committee where the hiccups could happen. I believe that afew minutes spent in thinking about what can go wrong are worth the effort.Things did go wrong as the road from Bhubaneswar Airport to our venue inPuri was blocked by political agitations & I had not anticipated this delay atall and so we started late by about 40 minutes since many contestants andmost District Officers were on the bus that was stuck in traffic. We startedwith Pala's session for District officers. He inspired us with the 'why' ofserving.

Then we had the Semi-Finals of Speech Contests. The 12 divisions weredivided into 2 groups of 6 each. (Pre-divided) and we ran parallel contests.The Contest Chairs Nitesh Agarwal and Alfred Ravi Tauro in one room andMohammed Babrewala and Sumeet Miglani in another room did a good joband we had the top three progressing further to the finals.

Then we had DEC (District Executive Council) meeting. We started one hourlate but thanks to the co-operation of all Division Governors, we ended themeeting faster without compromising on the quality of discussions.

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We started by praying for the departed soul of Navneet Suneja who lost his life in a road accident in USAin September. We passed a motion to thank Her Excellency Nirupama Rao Menon, the Indian Ambassadorfor USA for her support during the crisis.

The 12 Division Governors and the top 7 officers gave their reports. They were given 4 minutes to presentinformation about their division in a prescribed format and they did a great job of it. Then we had a reportby Reformation Committee Chair IPDG Vinay Jain, on Reformation of our District followed by discussionson this. The DEC passed the motion for reformation with a majority.

We had Fun Nite 1 that evening where we had set up Campfire and we heard 4 district officers participatein Tall Tales Contests. (Lambi Lambi Phek). AG Jaideep Solanki emerged champion with his speech"Guruji".

Goa Conference Chair Farida launched Oration 2014 by announcing that the Fun Nite will be held on acruise! Pune TMs gave her bulk booking for 41 TMs at one go! The members sang songs and danced wellinto the night and yet woke up well in time the next day.

Day 2: 23rd Nov 2013We began exactly on scheduleThe opening ceremony saw the flag march, the lighting of the lamp and a keynote speech by Dr. JoeMadhiat.Post the short tea break; we had a session by our star speaker --the first runner up at WorldChampionship of Public Speaking for 2012-- Palaniappa Subramaniam who had come to India only for ourevent all the way from Penang, Malaysia. He gave a presentation called "Ten tips for a contest speech". Hebegan by giving his speech delivered at WCPS finals titled "Finding Your Own Shoes" and ended bydemonstrating his Semi final speech titled "Breaking your Coconuts". It was an awesome experience towitness two great speeches. Pala uses props very creatively and manages to connect emotionally with theaudience rather well. He received a Standing Ovation for his session.

Post lunch, we had the Hall of Fame awards ceremony. We felicitated achievers of 2012-13. We started byfelicitating those who completed their DTM in 2012-13, followed by those who completed a Triple Crown in2012-13. We also had certificates for Distinguished Areas/ Divisions and we gave the spirit of TM award tosome selfless TMs. We gave awards to those who opened new clubs in new cities, the AGs whose areasdoubled during the year and the DVGs--Division Governors-- who did not lose any clubs.

Then we had the finals of Table Topics. Six finalists attempted to speak on the topic "To err is human, toforgive is super human". Contest Chair Arvind Nair managed the contest very well. Abdul Rahim fromKolkata emerged as the Champion; Rajat Chawla from Pune was 1st Runner-up, while Chaitanya fromHyderabad was 2nd Runner-up.

We later had training sessions by 4 Toastmasters. We wanted to give a chance to our own talent andhence we had Sangeeta Bahl speaking on personal grooming for men & in parallel, Farida D'Silva Diasspeaking on behaviour therapy. Then we had Siddhartha Churiwal (Evaluation) and Chandrashekar S K(Mentoring), who trained in parallel.

Then we began the District Council meeting which began 1 hour late but ended on time. I would like tohave some solution on how to make the process of credentials faster. Having multiple computers may notwork if they are not connected. The queue was too big for proxies and I feel we must arrive at somesolution by the time we meet in Goa. Credentials Chair Biswajit Adhikari did a commendable job alongwith his team. This time, we were flexible enough to allow e-proxy. (Soft copy accepted, Hard copy notmandatory)

The top 7 officers gave their reports and then we had a report on Reformation by IPDG & ReformationChair Vinay Jain. This was followed by heated arguments in favour of and against reformation. Many TMswere not in favour of splitting the district since they feel emotionally bonded with their friends and they

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did not want to let go of this feature of diversity of our huge district. They asked us to explain therationale and accepted the logic only after the challenges in travel budgeting and costing were explained.There were many pointed questions asked and I really appreciate the fact that they took the time to learnall these factors and believed in democracy to ask all these questions! Long Live Democracy!

We had issued ballots & members cast their votes on whether to propose reformation to TI immediately.The votes were counted and the reformation proposal was accepted with 55% -- 45% majority. Then wehad discussions again on the actual states to be aligned. Proposal A and B were not liked by many andthey suggested proposal C, which was accepted with a huge majority.

So the new reformed districts would be (if approved by TI board)Group South: Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Dadra-Nagar-Haveli, Goa-Daman-Diu, MadhyaPradesh & ChhattisgarhGroup North: Everything to the north of this (Delhi, J&K, Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh,Chandigarh, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Bihar, Jharkhand, Odisha, West Bengal, Sikkim,Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Tripura, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya). However 12 of the abovestates do not have any club as yet.

We also had a proposal from Division B to be the host for the conference to be held in Nov 2014. It will beheld in Uttarakhand or UP. At the same time Division J announced that they too would join and theconference would be held somewhere in the North. The Council approved the proposal in principle andasked them to prepare a plan and present it in Goa.

We drew lots for semi-finals for Goa.Group 1 will have Divisions A, B, C, F, G & JGroup 2 will have Divisions D, E, H, I, K & L

We had a brief report on TI's Revitalization of Educational Program by our Chief Ambassador PDG PunitaSingh. She will also write an article on this in our next bulletin.

We celebrated the birthday of Division Governor Niraj Gupta and the members ended the meeting on timedespite the delayed start and the healthy discussions on reformation. We rushed to change and run to theFun Night 2 at the lawns where we witnessed fine dance performances by the students of AdhrutaChildren's Home. We felicitated the hard-working members of organizing committee.

Later we danced to the tunes of songs played by DJ and once that stopped, we continued to sing in ourgroup while enjoying the lovely moonlight! Most of us retired at 2 am, while the organizers continueddiscussions till about 4:30 am.

Day 3: 24th Nov 2013Despite the late night, we woke up early to have DTM breakfast at 7.30 am in formal attire. This is a newinitiative started by the district from this year and we will continue this going forward. The DTMs chattedon various topics & discussed how they can contribute to the success of our district.

We then had the Humorous Speech Contest Finals chaired by Harsh Singhal. The 6 finalists spoke well andcreated lot of laughter. Pritam Arekar from Mumbai emerged Champion of our District with his speech"Black Pearl", Taskeen Fatima Basha from Hyderabad was 1st Runner-up, while Ramakrishna Reddy fromPune was 2nd Runner-up.

The final training session was conducted by Dr Punita Singh on Phonetics. Then we wrapped up theconference by felicitating the Organizing Committee Chair DTM Janaki Prasad Pattanaik, and byannouncing the results and giving away the contests trophies. Districts Chief Judge Akbar Khan andContest Chief Judges Chandana Erande and Brillian SK did a great job! The event ended at 1255 pm (5minutes earlier than the scheduled closure)

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The food at Hotel Holiday Resort was tasty and I must have put on some weight! The hotel also was verycooperative and we thanked them for their support wishing they start a TM club some time soon.

The farewell lunch saw many TMs interacting with friends from other cities & hugging them to promisethey will meet again in Goa. Incidentally, the Goa conference registrations have crossed 100 already. Thedates are 15-16-17-18 May 2014. If you have not already registered, do so now!

The event ended, but the organizing team continued to work because they were planning and executingour transportation. I have seen many conferences, but nowhere can one imagine that a city which has noclubs can host a conference. The nearest large city has one functional club in Infosys, Bhubaneswar. Hatsoff to the friends who slogged to make this event a huge success.

Area Governor Mehul Bhati, Banti Banerjee, Ishita Chatterjee, Sabujima, Shiv, Sourabh, Diwakar, Moulifrom Infosys TMC Bhubaneswar, JP’s family and friends: wife Mrs Gita, Son Viki, Brother Gopal, MenteeSashi Guru, Friend N Dhal, TCSer Amrapali, Kisstar member Jaydev Goswami, Niraj, Pandu, Sagar, allworked really hard and deserve blessings from all of us. May they become very successful in life!

-Prasad Sovani, DTMDistrict 41 Governor, 2013-14

(L to R) Palaniappa Subramaniam, Reet Arora, & Prasad Sovani in Puri

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Afraid of Monday mornings?

Practice in ToastmastersSunday evenings are about spending time with friends & family. Sunday evenings are about watching newblockbusters, dining, hanging out & relaxing. And Sunday evenings are also about wondering what’s instore for us the next day, when the work week beings. Presentation to clients, meetings, conductinginterviews, persuading seniors, team building activities, communicating “NO” to stake holders in adiplomatic way, presenting constructive feedbacks, the list is endless.

We asked the same question to Toastmasters from all walks of life, from varied industries. Communicationskill is indeed the most important skill irrespective of one’s profession, but most of the time professionalslearn these skills while on the job. But Toastmasters provides a platform to attempt, to commit mistakesand learn from them. Here the stakes are low & it is easily possible to apply the techniques to the Mondaymorning real time experience.

Whether you are an employer or an employee, whether you are starting your own company or working ina start up, whether you are part of a giant conglomerate or a mid size company, you will always find roomfor improvement in your communication & leadership skills. Toastmasters provides you the platform toenrich your communication & leadership skills on a consistent basis.

If you are new to Toastmasters, find a club in your city & explore the opportunities to learn & grow in afun filled environment. If you are already a Toastmaster, think about the advantages you can take fromyour club, area, division, and district. Below are some of the benefits of being a Toastmaster.

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Practice expressing yourself: Expressing your thoughts on any issue with the right words is animportant part of individual’s problem solving abilities. Expressing your views in front of group of people toget connected with them, to inspire them, to motivate them, to persuade them or to just provideinformation to them is a skill always in demand. And these skills can be improved only by consistentlypractising, & by consistently observing others.

Regularly utilizing stage time in Toastmasters meeting, frequently tackling table topics, & proactivelytaking initiatives as a leader in your club, area, division, district can help build many important skillsgradually & that too in a fun filled way.

We talked to Vinay Jain, DTM who is a Chartered Accountant by profession, is a partner at J.P., Kapur &Uberai, Chartered Accountants, a Toastmasters for 8 years & Immediate Past District Governor of District41. He recently completed Distinguish Toastmasters Awards (DTM), highest recognition in Toastmasters.He says

Practice being a better service leader: Much is talked about leadership styles, tactics, & strategies, butdo you want to gain firsthand experience of being a service leader? Toastmasters is the right place tolearn, and to enhance your service leadership skills. Right from managing a meeting at your club level tomanaging mega events for six – seven hundred people you can gain manifold experiences as a leader, asa mentor, and as an accomplished communicator.

We talked to Biswajit Adhikari from Ahmedabad, Gujarat. He says

During my first brush with Toastmasters, I knew this was the place to be in, one which Ihad been avoiding since my school days. As a professional, it is important to know yourbasics but it is also equally important to be able to communicate them effectively.Toastmasters has helped me not only personally but also professionally. Looking back onthe 8 years that I have spent with Toastmasters, I can see a sea change in myself. From anervous starter, I have become much more confident and can speak to audience of anysize at the drop of a hat. Not only speaking, I have also become more receptive tofeedback from my peers and subordinates. I have learnt the art of giving feedback to myteam. It has helped me become a better team player. I have understood the value ofrecognition which has propelled members of my team to deliver their best. Having had astint at leadership in the Club, Area, Division and District, has helped me develop skills likestrategising, conflict resolution, interpersonal skills, team building etc.

I joined Toastmasters to overcome fear of public speaking and what I have become todayis not only a confident speaker, but a better listener and an effective leader. Having missedthe opportunity during school days, I was lucky that it knocked my door again, when I wasintroduced to Toastmasters by my mentor.

My recommendation to budding professionals is that Toastmasters follows the learn bydoing model and the learning will happen continuously only by attending meetings andparticipating regularly. I urge all the professionals - do not wait for the opportunity to comeby, but go out and search for a nearby club and join it. This is the best gift that you willgive to yourself.

Vinay Jain, DTM, partner at J.P., Kapur & Uberai, Chartered Accountants

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Leadership & public speaking skills can be enhanced to your next level by practicing, by observing, & moreimportantly by learning from feedback from others. One of the unique strength of Toastmasters is“feedback”. Ability to give feedback & work on feedback received from others builds a leader in you stepby step, because what you build, builds you. We talked to Rajat Chawla, who is currently working as anAssociate Director – Business Intelligence, Big Data Analytics & Customer Experience in Capgemini. He isa passionate Toastmasters and has won many speech contests. He says

Add quality years on your resume: It’s one thing to add years to your resume and it is quite another todo quality work. Take up responsibilities and assignments which offer you quality growth. Take up jobswhich offer you a platform for learning. And join Toastmasters to enhance that experience. It is a wellknown fact that Toastmasters work very well in their place of work when they take on roles of leadershipand speaking in the Toastmasters forum. We talked to Akshita Agrawal, DTM who is working as a Head –

While various facets of communication skill are definitely helping me in meeting the challenges ofclient interaction the leadership skills that I am practicing at Toastmasters meeting are reallyinvaluable. Out of which, I consider the skill of encouraging and motivating the team as a vital oneas it can do wonders. Toastmasters meetings as well as the opportunity to serve as a volunteerhave provided the perfect platform to practice the magical skill. The other important skill of gettingthings done without resorting to incentive or leveraging one's position and authority can be a greatattribute for any professional handling a team. These two skills do not prevent the Monday tohappen in my week but it helps me to overcome Monday blues.

Biswajit Adhikari

I have always been keenly interested in self development programs focused on leadership andcommunications skills, so that I can perform better in my professional as well as personal life. Forthat I often identify and invest in the world class learning programs that bring authentic value.Any learning program can only qualify as effective when it brings lasting change and help developpermanent skills. Only way to achieve this is through continued practice and repetition. Whilemost programs provide short term intervention and leave attendees on their own to develop theirskills. Toastmasters provides me with conducive and friendly environment to practice and developmy communication and leadership skills. It’s been around 2 years since I joined Toastmasters.And I had a fulfilling journey so far.

Not only did it help me improve my presentation skills but provided me the confidence to addresslarge groups with ease and shorter notices, which is so core to my role as a manager and leader.

Toastmasters is a forum which has also connected me with the like minded people united bypassion to learn, serve and grow together. Toastmaster conferences are also one of the best andmost effective ways to learn from the world leading experts, followed by practice forums to honemy skills.

The journey so far has been extremely fruitful and rewarding and learning highly practical andoutcome based. I am so thankful that forums like Toastmasters exist where I can have sustainededucation and skills development which stays with me forever and continues to improve thequality of my life and work in many ways.

Rajat Chawla, Associate Director – Business Intelligence, Big Data Analytics &Customer Experience in Capgemini

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Corporate Communication at Fortune Institute of International Business. She started her journey inToastmasters while in college & she is one of the youngest DTM of District 41. She says

More so building competencies is not only about updating on resume, but these skills help you throughoutyour life, even after your formal retirement. We talked to Arvind Nair from Mumbai who has worked in theCorporate Sector for nearly 40 years as a Secretary to Top Management of Geoffrey, Manners & Co. Ltd.,(FMCG), Mukand Ltd. (Steel Industry), etc. His last employment was with Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.,publishers of The Times of India, Economic Times, etc. where he worked for over 14 years before retiringin October 2009. He says

In a nutshell, Monday mornings will always be there, but if you are consistently enriching your skills inToastmasters, you will be better equipped to handle the short notice meetings and quick fix solution.

So what are you waiting for? If you are new to Toastmasters, just click here to know more aboutToastmasters & find clubs in your city. If you are already a Toastmasters, take a crisp white paper & writedown 10 things you can practice in Toastmasters to go to your next level in leadership & communicationsskills.

I joined Toastmasters when I was 18, and South Delhi Toastmasters (my home club) gave meevery opportunity it could to develop my skills and transform me into a confident speaker. As anArea Governor at a tender age of 21, I got unmatched exposure when I visited corporate clubs andattended Toastmasters Conferences. Today at my office, my skills have been recognized as anindividual irrespective of my age and I have been encouraged to make important presentations infront of stake holders like Academic Advisory Board, Alumni Advisory Board (in Mumbai andBangalore) and also taking Business Communication Classes (including leading a tour to China aswell!) For all this, I cannot thank Toastmasters enough because it is in the conducive environmentof Toastmasters, I learnt communication and leadership along with other skills like emailing,designing, punctuality, dedication etc.

Akshita Agrawal, Head – Corporate Communication at Fortune Institute of InternationalBusiness

I joined The Bombay Toastmasters Club in February 2008 as a Charter Member. I had barely twoyears before I retired. What good would it do me? That is a question I never let pop into myhead. I am glad I joined the Toastmasters program which has benefitted so many all over theworld.

I would soon have all the time in the world and nothing much to look forward to. Toastmasterschanged that. The evaluation method helped me to view things differently. To give someonepositive and motivating feedback helped me widen my social network. Mentoring and motivatingothers honed my speaking and leadership skills. I was able to take on many responsible positionsin the Area and the District. I am happy sharing all I have gained by sponsoring and mentoringnew clubs and members. I have not retired!”

Arvind Nair, worked in corporate sector for nearly 40 years with brands like Geoffrey,Manners & Co. Ltd (FMCG), Mukand Ltd. (Steel Industry), Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd(Newspaper)

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And the winner is – results of District 41newsletter contestSending newsletters to active / inactive members of your club & prospective members of your club can bea good PR strategy if effectively executed. Content presented in e newsletters is even more effective as itappears in search engines on the web. And information about happenings in your clubs would remain onthe internet for ever; it would keep on working as an effective PR strategy for a long time.

To encourage clubs to present their newsletters, District 41 conducted newsletter contest for clubs.Newsletters presented from 1st July 2013 to 15th October 2013 were eligible for contest. Nine clubsparticipated in this contest, & this is indeed a good number to start with, & we are sure that more clubswould participate in soon to be announced second newsletter contest.

Below nine clubs participated in District 41 newsletter contest (Clubs in alphabetical order) & all thenewsletters can be found at one place by clicking here.

Club Newsletter

Amdavad Toastmasters Club ATM NewsletterDeloitte Hyderabad ToastmastersClub Celebrate

East Delhi Toastmasters Club Vignettes

ELAN Toastmasters Hyderabad Elan Magazine

Halliburton Toastmasters Club Rainbow

Hyderabad Toastmasters Club HTM Newsletter

South Delhi ToastmastersThe IceBreaker

TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club Communique

TSYS Pune Toastmasters Club COMMnLEAD

We thank all the judges for viewing, reviewing all these e newsletters on multiple parameters. Below arethe views of the judges.

I just finished going though all of them, and feeling a bit nostalgic about mydays as Editor of Club and District Newsletter.

In a word I'm bowled over looking at the creativity and hard work theseclubs have put together. I salute to the Editorial teams, and wish my best tothe every stakeholder who put in their best effort to create these beautifulNewsletters. Each one is a gem of work. But the crown Jewel got to be'COMMUNIQUE' the Newsletter by TCS MAITREE MUMBAI TOASTMASTERSCLUB. I marvel at the thoroughly professional work by the design team. Therich contents, variety in article, simple and linear design aspect, precision tothe minute’s details have really raised the standard of this very contest itself.Hence my vote goes to E Communique – TCS Maitree Club

Subhendu Manjumder – Judge District 41 e Newsletter contest

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I am happy that nine clubs participated in e newsletter contest; it wasindeed a pleasure to read all of them. I evaluated all the newsletters onbelow parameters.

Content - Should have information on Toastmasters world as old and newToastmasters may read this; should have informative and fun bits to keepaudience engaged/informed.

Presentation - Easy on read, in sync with the cover page theme, and use ofcolour as required, & page layout.

People contributing – The newsletter should be a medium for themembers to express and the more diversity of contributors the better andengaging content.

Based on above parameters E Communique – TCS Maitree Club is the winnerof the contest.

Sita Ravinutala - Judge District 41 e Newsletter contest

Based on the criteria’s of content, presentation, & number of peoplecontributing in newsletter, I rate E Communique – TCS Maitree Club as thewinner of the contest. I liked visually appealing cover, reader friendly layout,contribution from members and a healthy mix of articles, club achievementsand Toastmasters program.

Arvind Nair – Judge District 41 e Newsletter contest

And the winner is

COMMUNIQUE by TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club, Mumbai

Prices will be distributed in Oration GOA 2014

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Pritam Arekar won

District 41 humorousspeech contest held in Purion 24th Nov 2013. Hepresented a speech titled“Black Pearl” to win thechampionship.

He is currently working asa deputy engineer inMahindra & Mahindra,Mumbai, & is a member ofToastmasters club in hiscompany.

We wish him all the bestfor his future journey as apublic speaker. You cansend your comments toarekar.pritam@gmail.com

District 41 – Humorous Speech Champion

Pritam Arekar

Q: How & when did you join Toastmasters?A: Being an introvert and a shy person I always considered public speakingas one of my biggest fears. I was comfortable talking to people on one to onebasis but never on stage and thus I was looking for a forum where I coulddevelop my speaking skills and seek long term benefits. Fortunately,Mahindra started its own club and I joined TM in Feb 2010 as a chartermember.

Q: Why did you want to win the contest? (Palaniappa Subramaniamin his presentation on “Finding the right shoes” asked this thoughtprovoking question “Why do you want to win the contest?”)?A: When I participated in the contest for the first time in 2010, I noticed asea change in me. Then it became an addiction and I participated every year.Well if you ask me why I wanted to win this contest, honestly I don’t have areason. It’s like when you are addicted to something you don’t have areason, you just want it somehow. Similarly I wanted to win from the core ofmy heart and wanted to experience the feeling of winning…That’s it.

Q: How long have you been trying to reach to District Level?A: I have been trying since 4 years. In 2011, I was 2nd runner up at divisionlevel, in 2012 I was 1st runner up in division level, & now in 2013 I couldcomplete my dream.

Q: How you started preparing for the contest? Have you presentedsame speech across all the levels (Club to District)?A: The real preparation started 3 years ago, every year I went on improvingby learning from my mistakes. As Palaniappa rightly said that we need toknow our competitors, even I did that, I used to visit different clubs to seethe contest and observe my competitors which gave me a boost for thathealthy competition.

During 2013, I kept the crux of the speech same across all levels howevertweaked my speech at every level depending upon the background of theaudience and stage size. Also after area contest I had kept 2 new speechesready as a backup.

Q: You made significant changes in your speech even after winningSemi-finals? Is it challenging to present same speech in Semi-Final &Final (especially humorous)?A: I am not sure if I really did that. But, yes I added more jokes with betterpunches. I agree that it is challenging as well as risky to present samespeech in Semi Final & Final, as the value of jokes diminishes if repeated tothe same audience in 2 days. However as I said, I refined my speech andadded more jokes and punches, keeping the core message same, and tookthat leap of faith as I believed audience will enjoy my speech again.

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Q: Darren LaCroix stressed on rewriting speeches? How many times did you rewrite yourspeech? Is there any specific process you followed?A: Absolutely, I revised my speeches ‘n’ number of times. I can’t give you an exact count. I have alwayshad a buddy with me, whenever I delivered a speech he would note a count of laughter’s generated duringthe speech and exactly on which particular jokes, and also the jokes which fell flat. Accordingly, I used torefine my speech every time.

Q: Tell us about your mentors? Which specific suggestions from your mentors made a bigdifference in your final speech?A: People in TM truly live up to this line “We are happy to help you”. Many people have contributedtowards my success and it will be unfair if I have to take any particular names. But I want to thankeveryone. May God bless them! A suggestion that made a big difference in my final speech is that “Take iteasy...just enjoy the journey and go with the flow”

Q: How is Toastmasters helping you in your professional & personal life?A: I work for Mahindra & Mahindra, I am at ease when I have to deal with internal & external suppliers,and talk to big group as a part of my job.Personal Life: I have learnt the art of winning the arguments with my wife without hurting her. It is a win- win situation for both of us.

Q: Any Suggestions to Toastmasters preparing for the Humorous speech contest?A: We are surrounded by humor, we always have to keep our eyes and ears open. Make a mental note offunny incidents and anecdotes and use it in your speech. Right pauses are of utmost importance whiledelivering a humorous speech. Practice hard but don’t overdo it, else it will appear artificial. And pleaseunderstand everyone has a potential to add humor in speech. One needs to find that pearl of humor withinoneself as I did. Remember, Preparation, Participation and Passion always pay off in the long run.

(L to R) Abdul Rahim, Brillian S. K., Pritam Arekar

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Abdul Rahim won District

41 table topics contestheld in Puri on 23rd Nov2013. He talked on asubject “To err is human,to forgive is super human”

He is currently working asa Chief Knowledge Officerat InfrastructureProfessionals Enterprise(P) Ltd, Kolkata.

We wish him all the bestfor his future journey as apublic speaker. You cansend your comments toarahimcal@gmail.com

District 41 – Table Topics Champion

Abdul Rahim

Q: How & when did you join Toastmasters?A: I have been a Toastmasters for more than 5 years. I came across anarticle about Toastmasters in 2008 and searched for it on the internet. Icame to know that there were efforts on to start the first community club inKolkata and I became a charter member of the Club.

Q: Why did you want to win the contest? (Palaniappa Subramaniamin his presentation on “Finding the right shoes” asked this thoughtprovoking question “Why do you want to win the contest?”)?A: Interesting question. For me, it’s about continually testing the sharpnessof your edge. Although we do have opportunities for club level speeches andfeedback, being part of a contest always lets you know where you stand withrespect to others. It helps to recharge yourself, rediscover your potential andrestart your learning from a different level!

Q: How long have you been trying to reach to District Level?A: Well, this was the first District Table Topic Competition for me. Beforethis, I qualified at the Division level in 2011 but since I was running for aDistrict Officer position, I had to withdraw from the contest. Thanks to theDistrict shifting this Contest to the mid-year Conference, I could participate!

Q: Your attempt of extempore speaking on topic “To err is human, toforgive is super human” was equivalent to a prepared speech, eachsentence was like hitting a bulls eye. How could you do it?A: In Table Topics, either you should think as fast as you speak - or speak asslow as you think!

I chose the latter, building up my thoughts one idea at a time. In fact, while Iwas going into details of my first idea, I was already thinking of what the onewould be.

But all said and done, there is an element of luck - of being able to find agood angle and a relevant story to connect with the theme, while you are onthe stage. Everyone gets all the good ideas after they get back to their seats.In that sense, I was also very lucky!

Q: Tell us about your mentors? Which suggestions from your mentorsmade a big difference in your journey of public speaking?A: There have been several people whom I look up to in public speaking -first and foremost is the immediate past Table Topic champion (from my ownClub) Naveen Misra - have learnt so much about impromptu speaking andaudience involvement from him. Then there is Kunal Pabrai, the person whostarted Toastmasters in Kolkata - I have learnt to be cool, composed and yetimpactful from his style of speaking. And then, from every member of theextended Toastmasters family - from eminent leaders like Deepak Menon(TM International Director), Nagaraj Rao (PDG of Dist 82), PDG Punita Singh,

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PDG Vinay Jain, DG Prasad Sovani, to all my club members at Salt Lake Toastmasters and KolkataToastmasters - all of them have been great mentors in communication and leadership for me.

I think the single most important suggestion which helped me was 'Go and enjoy your moment on thestage - don't worry about the award. You may or may not win it - but if you feel you have given your best,you are already a winner - over your previous self!'

Q: How is Toastmasters helping you in your professional & personal life?A: Tremendously! Of course it has helped me to come of out of the shell and become a good speaker butwhat I have gained most from Toastmasters is in leadership.

Communication through a speech, even in a contest, is much simpler than inter-personal communicationespecially when you are dealing with a difficult person or a sensitive subject. Appreciating people,motivating them to action, managing various personality types, addressing conflicts - all these are skillsthat I have learn firsthand in Toastmasters. And continue to learn...

Q: Any Suggestions to Toastmasters preparing for Table topics contest?A: Just one - look at the blind spots in your mind. Say the topic is 'Slow and steady wins the race’; thefirst thought would obviously be the hare and tortoise story.

The challenge is to see the things that remain our blind spots - the things we know, but don't relatedirectly to the topic. Perhaps the newspaper headline about India's economy slowly picking up; or AmirKhan who does only one film a year; or how despite being a Toastmaster for 5 years, this is the first timeI am participating in the District Contest.... all things we know, but don't immediately link to the topic.If we can consciously see within our mental blind spots and pick up interesting angles and examples, theywill help to make your Table Topic Speech really stand out!

(L to R) Abdul Rahim, Reet Arora, & Pritam Arekar

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Contributors

Umesh Agashe, CC, ALB

Chief Editor, layout, design & productionagashe.umesh@gmail.com

Sita Ravinatula, DTM

Co – Editorsita.ravinutala@gmail.com

Jahnavi Chintakunta, CL

Co – Editorjahnavi.c07@gmail.com

Beena Mandrekar, ACS, ALB

Co – Editorbeena.mandrekar@gmail.com

This is a monthly e - Newsletter of District 41 - Toastmasters International. The sole purpose of this e - Newsletter is to sharesuccess stories of fellow Toastmasters, activities at district level & spread the brand of Toastmasters. This e – Newsletter is a result

of efforts by many contributors. If you would like to contribute in e - Newsletter or have an idea for content or suggestions forimprovement in e - Newsletter, please write to D41eNewsletter@gmail.com