tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16320637846497004742024-02-20T09:32:49.001-08:00Saro's CornerSaro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.comBlogger215125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-40505372553195043782021-06-30T23:30:00.000-07:002021-06-30T23:30:38.531-07:00Toastmasters in Tamilnadu/India - FAQ<h1 align="center" style="text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: normal;">I've compiled information about Toastmasters in a FAQ format, to provide a better understanding of the movement, to new folks. </span></h1>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What is Toastmasters?</span></b></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">“Toastmasters” is a non-profit organization that helps members to improve their public speaking/communication & leadership skills. Toastmasters provide a mutually supportive environment for people to share their knowledge and learn from each other.</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">How big is Toastmasters?</span></b></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Toastmasters International is a “Learning by Doing” forum and has a vast presence across the globe. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Toastmasters has served over four million people, and today the organization serves 357,000 members in more than 16,600 clubs in 143 countries.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In Tamil Nadu & Pondicherry, we have 150+ Toastmasters clubs. <br />
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What happens in Toastmasters meetings?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">During Toastmasters club meetings, members deliver prepared speeches, impromptu speeches & evaluations. The forum also provides roles for members to play, to improve their leadership skills. By joining toastmasters, people can also extend their 'social network'.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">The pattern and the structure of meetings are same all over the world. The meeting conducted in such a way that everyone gets an opportunity to speak in every meeting. Every aspect of communication and public speaking is carefully evaluated and suggestions for improvement given. There is no criticism or negative feedback in a Toastmasters forum. </span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What is meant by prepared speech, impromptu speech & evaluations?</span></b></li>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Prepared Speech</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> - Members prepare for their speeches before the meeting, based on project manuals from Toastmasters International. Members deliver their speech during the meeting. The speech duration is typically 5 – 7 mins. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Impromptu Speech</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> – Members or guests will be given an impromptu speech topic such as “How will you handle the economic crisis, if you are the Finance Minister for the country”. Participant has to talk on the subject for 1 – 2 mins. The theme & type of questions vary for each meeting. This will help members to think on their feet and deliver a short speech.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Evaluations</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> – Evaluations are feedback from fellow toastmasters that cover strengths the speaker may already have and identify opportunities for improvement. Evaluations include adherence to speaking time limit, grammar usage, unwanted filler words usage (such as “u know”, “so”, and “Ah”), eye contact, stage usage, hand gestures, body language etc.,</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Who joins Toastmasters?</span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Anyone who has the desire and commitment to excel in public speaking & communication is welcome to join toastmasters. There is people from all walks of life – students, lawyers, doctors, accountants, engineers, senior executives etc., </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There are people of different age groups – 18 - 70s. </span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">When do Toastmasters meetings happen?</span></b></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">There are clubs available throughout the city (& world). Different clubs meet at different time. Most of the clubs meet once a week. A few clubs meet once every fortnight. You can look at the following link to find out the available clubs & their meeting time:</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><u>https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Each club meeting may go on for an hour or two (depends upon the membership base or strength of the club).</span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I am interested to join Toastmasters. What should I do?</span></b></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Folks who are interested to join toastmasters can find a club that is close to their location. They can find their nearest clubs from the following link:</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><u>https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0000ee; font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Interested folks can send an email to the club email id or talk to the phone number listed in the website. They can attend one of the meetings as a guest and then join the club as a member, if they like. Folks can visit as many clubs as possible before deciding to join a particular club. </span></div>
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<li class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What is the difference between corporate and community clubs?</span></b></li>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Community toastmasters clubs are typically open to everyone. You can see people from all walks of life who are part of community clubs. You can drop-in to any community club, any time as a guest.</span><br />
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Corporate toastmasters clubs are typically for the "employees" of the corporate. They aren't open for everyone. In order to attend a corporate toastmasters club meeting, you may have to call the club officers to work out the logistics. Because of the corporate policies, you may even not be allowed to attend the corporate toastmasters club meetings.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> 9. </span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Do I need to make an appointment to attend the club meeting, as a guest? </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">No. You don't have to make an appointment to attend the community club meetings as a guest. You can drop-in to any of the community clubs in your area. Corporate toastmasters clubs may have some reservations. You can call the corporate club officers to find additional details regarding guest/visitor policies. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">In general, it is good to talk to any of the club officers to inform them that you are visiting. That way, if there are any changes to the meeting time/venue, you'll be kept informed.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">10. </span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> Where can I find more information regarding Toastmasters?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">You can get more information from the following website:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://www.toastmasters.org/">http://www.toastmasters.org/</a></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><br /></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"> 11. What is the fees involved to join Toastmasters?</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><b style="color: red;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">Toastmasters International charges roughly 90 USD per member per year for membership. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman", serif;">The club may charge an extra amount for taking care of the club's operational expenses. Hence, membership fee differs across clubs. It is better to get in touch with the club officers to learn about the membership fee. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">12.</span><b><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> I have more questions on Toastmasters. Whom should I contact?</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://reports.toastmasters.org/findaclub/searchresults.cfm?Country=India"></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> You can contact the club officers directly. The contact details of the club/club officers is listed in the below location:</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u>https://www.toastmasters.org/find-a-club</u></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #0000ee;"><u><br /></u></span></div>
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Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-73653208857953149372020-10-18T22:38:00.005-07:002020-10-19T00:55:44.272-07:00How do you attract guests for your meetings, online?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCncyylBwkxsI0x5ctW23jgJVwoUIwWXNWXjCQNc6MspobX5_ttTKwB5xqAxc6dWE0iVy1pxh6w23cNBSk-5B9mdFyxa3Ie_e3iv6a9VmFMicwf4iiMX9dpvA5mG_AeAi5LfPROQtVxlM/s2048/pexels-dominika-roseclay-905163.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1338" data-original-width="2048" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCncyylBwkxsI0x5ctW23jgJVwoUIwWXNWXjCQNc6MspobX5_ttTKwB5xqAxc6dWE0iVy1pxh6w23cNBSk-5B9mdFyxa3Ie_e3iv6a9VmFMicwf4iiMX9dpvA5mG_AeAi5LfPROQtVxlM/s320/pexels-dominika-roseclay-905163.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />Today, right from shopping of groceries to finding a bride or a groom happens online. The moment COVID-19 pandemic struck us, we the Toastmasters swiftly switched to online medium for our regular meetings, as <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2020/06/10-benefits-of-online-toastmasters.html" target="_blank">online meetings offer a number of benefits to guests and members</a>. However, club officers are finding it difficult to attract guests to their online club meetings. As the <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/09/10-ways-of-promoting-toastmasters.html" target="_blank">traditional ways of finding members for your club</a> are not feasible in a world that is locked down and maintains social distance, there are alternate options to promote your club and it's meetings, online. This blog post captures the various options available for you to promote your club meetings, online. <p></p><p>1. <b>Quora</b> - Quora is the most popular "Question & Answers" platform. Club officers can create or join groups where public speaking and leadership related topics are being discussed. They can respond to queries regarding communication / leadership skills development to demonstrate their expertise and to attract guests to their club. One wise VP Public Relations (VP PR), looked for questions such as "How to develop your communication skills in Chennai" and posted details of his club. This resulted in a steady inflow of guests to the club. </p><p>2. <b>Youtube</b> - Now that most of the clubs meet online, it is easy to record the online meetings. Start a Youtube Channel for your club and regularly upload videos of prepared speeches, educational sessions, table topics speeches or evaluations. In fact, you can upload the entire meeting week-on-week and make it available for guests to watch it. If the guests like your meeting, there is a high chance that they'll show up for your online meeting. </p><p>3. <b>Facebook / Instagram / LinkedIn</b> - Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn are powerful marketing tools. Facebook/LinkedIn allows you to create online groups or Pages. You can either create a Facebook Page (which is more open than a Facebook Group) or a LinkedIn Group for your members and guests. Instagram allows you to create a fan following. You can keep sharing updates related to your online meetings or accomplishments of your members (for ex., their educational milestones). You can even share some snippets of your regular meetings by publishing pictures or videos from your online meetings. This helps in increasing the engagement with the audience. </p><p>4. <b>Meetup.com</b> - Meetup.com allows you to organise and share details of events in a specific locality. People go there to find out events happening in their locality. You can promote your club and club meetings, by creating events in Meetup.com. You can also establish a "membership" base for your club, online. Your Meetup.com members include people who would be interested to learn more about events organised by your club. Meetup.com subscription costs money. So, this is recommended for clubs that have some cash in hand for marketing. Meetup.com is for clubs that are serious about maximising the opportunity provided by the portal. Unless you post regular updates and conduct regular events, you'll be wasting your Meetup.com subscription. </p><p>5. <b>Whatsapp</b> - Most clubs have a Whatsapp group for their members today. However, you can also create a separate Whatsapp group for guests. Add new guests to the group, with their consent. Keep sharing updates regarding your club meetings, various achievements of your club and it's members. Most importantly, when there is a contest, don't miss to promote your club contests in various forums including the Whatsapp group for guests. Make the Whatsapp group an "admin-only" communication group - to prevent spams or unwanted messages from the participants of the group.</p><p>6. <b>Website</b> - Though this is an outdated medium of online promotion, it still is a very reliable medium for attracting guests. Most content published in your website are static in nature and they are available for future reference. It also contains only important information such as contact information of club officers, address of the club, past newsletters of the club, blog posts and club's history/accomplishments. On the contrary, a Whatsapp group contains just transient information and may not serve as a repository of static information. When your website has a lot of rich and useful content, it shows up high in the search engine ranking and it attracts a lot of guests. </p><p>7. <b>Classified Listing</b> - List your club details in Classified portals such as JustDial, Sulekha and Google Business. When someone is looking for a "Speakers club in Adyar" either through a Google Search or through a search in JustDial, your club details would show up. These portals ask for details such as phone number, email id and address. Ensure that you are sharing legitimate information in these portals. Also, you need to ensure that these details are kept up-to-date, when new club officers are sworn-in. Otherwise, the notifications or queries would go to a past club officer - who may not find time to stay in touch with the guests. Preferably, the email id listed in the classifieds portal should be a clubname@gmail.com or clubname@googlegroups.com, so that there is continuity when new officers takeover from the old officers. </p><p>These are some of the online mediums where you can promote your club. You can still rely on <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/09/10-ways-of-promoting-toastmasters.html" target="_blank">traditional ways of finding members for your club</a>. For example, publishing in local dailies regarding your online meetings would still have the desired effect. But, complimenting the traditional ways of promoting your club with online promotions will tremendously increase the inflow of guests to your club. This help you in taking the benefits of Toastmasters to a large number of people. </p>Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India13.0826802 80.2707184-15.227553636178845 45.114468400000007 41.392914036178844 115.4269684tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-58416987575716697312020-07-26T08:19:00.000-07:002020-08-28T08:22:17.406-07:00Pathways - Making Connections through Networking - Say “Hello”<p>Pathways - Making Connections through Networking - Say “Hello” (Dynamic Leadership Path / Level 3 / Project 3) </p><p><b>Introduction</b></p><p>“Hello! Is this your first time to a Division event?”. </p><p>“Yesss…. Yes Sir!”. </p><p>“Btw., I’m John… President of Speakmasters club”. He sounded as if he is the President of the United States. He extended his arm, his face brimming with confidence. </p><p>With some hesitation, I extended my arm and said “I’m S..S..Saro”, trembling in fear like a chicken, with sweaty palms, my hand feeling like a dead fish. </p><p>Have you ever been in a social gathering, feeling small like Alice in Wonderland? Well, I was like you, several years ago. </p><p>Hello fellow Toastmasters and Guests,</p><p>During those days, I was an English introvert. If this is the first time you are hearing this term, don’t worry. I coined the term just 30 minutes before the meeting. “English Introvert” means… If I have to talk to someone in Tamil about my recent vacation, I would speak for hours. But, if I have to do the same in English, I’ll be spellbound. So, people who speak English, always used to think that I was an introvert.</p><p>Thanks to the various roles that I played at Toastmasters, I am no more an English introvert. Last December, I attended a conference in Chennai. It was a technology conference. Today, I am going to share some experiences from that event. </p><p><b>Be the first</b></p><p>When I walked-in to the venue in the morning, I saw men and women in their professional attire. Most people were in groups ... busy talking to each other. There were no familiar faces. I spotted a lonely geek - dark complexion, wearing spectacles and looked like our Area Director Vicky. I approached him and said “Hello! I’m Saro”. He smiled, and said “Hi! I am Anand”. We shook our hands (Well! It was perfectly ok to shake hands, then)… and the conversation slowly branched into our work, common friends and technology trends. Thanks to the SAA role that I played in Toastmasters, I don’t hesitate to reach out first to someone. it relieves the pressure on you and helps you to hide your fears. It also makes you look confident. </p><p><b>Don’t blow your trumpet</b></p><p>During the lunch break, I joined a small group of people. They were from various companies in Chennai and Bangalore. Most of the conversations were about the technology and industry. Suddenly, one guy barged into the group and interrupted the flow. A tall guy, in his mid 30s ... he resembled Actor Vishal. He started talking… “Hey guys! I am an entrepreneur. I did my MBA in XLRI MBA. I worked for some of the best companies like Microsoft and IBM. I earned a 7 figure income. Now, I am running my own company. We do business across the globe. We’ve several fortune 500 companies as our clients. We have such a cool product. Why our product is so different is... ”. He was talking non-stop and was trying to hog the conversation. He was trying to continuously promote himself, his company and his products. After 5 minutes, folks lost their interest and started to evaporate like vapour, one by one. Friends, when you start blowing your trumpet, the audience may not be interested to hear that tune very long. </p><p><b>Don’t pretend that you know</b></p><p>We had some informative sessions throughout the day. It was almost evening, and there was a coffee break. While I was sipping my favorite black coffee, out of the blue, one young chap came to me and said “Hello Saro! Do you remember me? I’m your friend”. My mind immediately started processing the data “His face is not at all familiar… Where did I meet him? Verizon, Juniper, Cisco… NO… probably, he is my college junior … oh! No… he could be a Toastmaster”. My brain started spinning fast, trying to tap into all of the latest technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing. Nothing helped. Finally, I adopted DTM Lalitha Giridhar’s technique, ‘Hey hero! How are you? Long time no see…’. He smiled and said ‘No Saro! This is the first time we are meeting. I’m your Facebook friend”. I blushed and told him “You resemble my college junior Mahesh”. Friends, during our networking conversations, we should not pretend that we know someone or something. We should be honest, to gain trust. It’s absolutely fine to admit and say, “Sorry! I don’t recollect where we met”... or “Sorry! I don’t know much about that”. When you pretend that you know, you lose people’s trust. </p><p><b>Conclusion</b></p><p>Post the coffee break, we had a few tech talks and the conference ended at 5.30 pm. So, what do I want you to take away from my networking experience. I’m sharing my thoughts in the form of a poem. </p><p>It’s easy, to say “Hello”</p><p>To break the ice and look wise…so,</p><p>Say Hello! Say Hello!</p><p><br /></p><p>To make the conversations flow...</p><p>With a smile that makes you glow … </p><p>Say Hello! Say Hello!</p><p><br /></p><p>Hide your fears deep below ...</p><p>Be the first fellow… to ...</p><p>Say Hello! Say Hello!</p><p><br /></p><p>Keep your trumpet, don’t blow… </p><p>Don’t pretend that you know… Just</p><p>Say Hello! Say Hello</p><p><br /></p>Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-86012977365511948392020-06-20T06:15:00.001-07:002020-06-20T06:15:31.702-07:0010 benefits of online Toastmasters meetings<div style="text-align: justify;">The world is brought to a grinding halt, by an invisible enemy, the Coronavirus/
COVID-19. Most corporates that embraced digital technologies have encouraged
employees to work from home. Toastmasters isn't an exception. Our regular clubs
have now switched to online meetings. Online Toastmasters meetings provide a
number of opportunities to Toastmasters. The VP Membership and VP PRs of our
clubs should be selling the benefits of online Toastmasters meetings to members
and guests. In this blog post, I've tried to capture the benefits of Online
Toastmasters meetings. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">1. You can conduct joint meetings with clubs across the
globe. This will provide you access to an International audience for your / your
club members' speeches. You can learn about different cultures and best
practices from other geographies in the world. If you find an interesting
speaker during your joint meetings, you can reach out to them offline and
request them to be your mentor too. Online meetings provided me an opportunity to attend some of the clubs in USA, that I used to be a member of, before. It was a nice experience to meet some of my old Toastmasters friends, online. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">2. If you are part of a community club, you
are saving on the commute time. If you are attending a 2 hours community club
meeting, normally you would spend at least 1 hour on the to/fro commute. With
the online meetings, you can save that 1 hour of time spent on commute. In the past, even if members had spare time during the night, they may not be able to conduct a 8 - 10 pm Toastmasters meeting. But now, most people are at home and it is convenient to conduct a 8 - 10 pm online Toastmasters meeting (or a 7 - 9 am online meeting). Corporate members, in the past, had to catch their return bus to home by 6 pm... and it was so difficult to conduct a in-person meeting between 5 - 6 pm. Now, that challenge isn't there. The corporate club members have the flexibility to change their meeting time, outside of their working hours too. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">3.
Corporate clubs can conduct joint club meetings with other corporate clubs (or
community clubs). This would provide more learning opportunities. It also adds
to the variety of the speeches. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">4. Bringing an Educational Speaker to your
online club meeting is relatively easy, when compared to in-person meetings. You
don't have to arrange for their pickups/dropoffs, you don't have to give a
memento to them, you don't have to plan for their refreshments, you don't have
to escort them to the meeting place. Lots of administrative overhead for the
organizers is gone. You don't have to be confined to a few select local speakers
for educational sessions - you can pick from array of speakers from across the
globe. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">5. Mentoring becomes easier, when done online. For example, in the last
few months, several mentees of mine have rehearsed their speeches online with
me... before they delivered the speeches at their club. This is easier to do for
both mentors as well as mentees. You can also tap into a pool of mentors from
across the globe or from outside of your club. Your mentor can also now join
your club meeting online and review/share feedback about your live performance. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">6. Most communication in corporate world happens through online channels -
especially, in medium / large sized corporations. Employees of corporates were
used to joining webinars, tech talks, status review meetings etc., online. COVID
presents an opportunity for us to experiment with our online speaking skills and
polish them. For example, things like - looking into the camera and speaking,
using the right hand gestures, having appropriate light settings, using powerpoint materials, using the online meeting tools, engaging the
audience through online polls, asking the audience to respond to questions in
chat window... these are some techniques that you can experiment and learn
during your online Toastmasters meetings. It is easy to lose your audience in an
online forum and very difficult to keep them engaged. Mastering the online
speaking skills will help you at your workplace, when you are making
professional speeches. Moreover, in the past, when someone has to deliver a speech with powerpoint, the organizers/members would have to run from pillar to post to get a room with a projector. But now, with online meetings, using a powerpoint presentation in your speech is a cake walk. You can also experiment with <a href="https://www.pechakucha.com/" target="_blank">Pecha Kucha</a> type presentations during your club meetings, to make it more fun and exciting. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">7. Corporate clubs can use this opportunity, to bring
some senior leaders as speakers to their club meeting. You can let the senior
leader to address the audience on "how they are maintaining work life balance in
COVID work-from-home situation"? "how are they maintaining their
health/fitness", "how are they dealing with stress", "how have they
re-prioritized activities in personal/professional life"... etc., When you
involve senior leadership team, it helps you to highlight the benefits of
Toastmasters meetings during this crisis situation... and in-turn helps you to
secure/retain the corporate funding to Toastmasters. You'll also get to learn
from senior leaders on how to manage crisis. Community clubs can do the same, by
bringing senior leaders from the community. For ex., the community club that I'm
part of (Chennai Speakers Forum) recently brought Mr. Nambi Narayanan, a
renowned Indian scientist and aerospace engineer, to one of our online club
meetings. This would add to the variety in your online meetings. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">8. Online meetings are easy to record/replay, when compared to in-person meetings. You can review your performance at the club, offline and identify scope for improvements. You can also share your speech video with your mentor to get feedback. You can watch the performance of other speakers and learn some tips/techniques from their style. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">9. If you have accidentally joined a Toastmasters meeting which is not very interesting or doesn't meet your expectations, you can drop off from the online meeting easily :) It is very difficult to do that in an in-person meeting. </div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">10. Last but
not the least, the lockdowns restrict your mobility and adds to your stress.
Toastmasters meetings provide you a fun-filled learning environment where you
can destress yourself, make new friends and at the same time learn from others.
</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: justify;">If you can think of other benefits due to online meetings, please drop them as a comment in this blogpost. I'll include them to the list. </div>Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-19690695184990201902020-05-10T08:10:00.000-07:002020-08-28T08:17:29.564-07:00Pathways - Inspire your Audience - Ctrl-x | Ctrl-c | Ctrl-v<p>Pathways - Inspire your Audience - Ctrl-x | Ctrl-c | Ctrl-v (Dynamic Leadership Path / Level 3 / Project 2)</p><p><b>Introduction:</b></p><p>What if I get the virus? </p><p>What if companies start to layoff employees? </p><p>What if my investments lose their value? </p><p>When our government announced a 3 weeks lockdown on the 24th of March, fear engulfed me... like a hungry shark eating a human prey. </p><p>Good evening fellow Toastmasters and guests,</p><p>Did the lockdown make YOU more fearful about the future? You are not alone. The more I thought about my future, the more fearful I became. </p><p><b>Seeking Knowledge:</b></p><p>A famous author once said “Fear is incomplete knowledge”. So, I started seeking knowledge from the news media, to overcome my fear. As days progressed, there was a 200% jump in the time that I was spending in gobbling all the news - Newspaper... TV... Whatsapp... Facebook…. I was consuming news as if I was going to write a competitive exam on Coronavirus. As I consumed more news, I became more fearful. Do you agree with me… that the news media spreads more fear than hope?</p><p>At one point, I felt… “Wouldn’t it be cool, if there was an option to type Ctrl-Z on our keyboard, and we could all go back to the pre-Corona days?”. Unfortunately, we cannot undo what happened. </p><p><b>Visiting Market:</b></p><p>Days became weeks. Two weeks into the lockdown, I had been to the local market. I saw Rani there. Rani, a woman in her mid-30s used to be our domestic helper, a few years back. I had not seen her in a while. </p><p>I was happy to see her after a long time. Rani was standing there, with a large bag full of vegetables. It appeared as-if she was shopping for an entire community. I waved my hands at her. When she saw me, she started walking towards me. I was not sure how she was managing the lockdown. I asked her “How are you Rani?”. She smiled and said “I am doing great Sir”. I asked her out of curiosity, “Who is this for?”... pointing at the large bag full of vegetables. She said “Sir. I’m buying this for myself”. I was surprised even more. </p><p><b>Story of the maid:</b></p><p>Rani narrated “Sir! When they announced the lockdown, I was afraid. My husband, and I, being daily wage earners, could not go to work and we were stuck at home. We were clueless about how to make our ends meet. Our savings vanished in the first week itself, like a drop in an ocean. I didn’t know what to do. I was not sure where my next meal would come from. But, I was hopeful. I know, if God closes one door, he’ll open another for us. One day, when I stepped out of my home, I noticed a few bachelors from a hostel nearby, picking up their food from a food delivery person. I asked them, isn’t the hostel preparing food for you guys? They said they don’t have anyone to cook food and hence, they are ordering it from outside restaurants. I asked them how much they are spending for their meal. They said they are spending Rs.200 (which is roughly 3$s) every day for 3 meals. Immediately a light bulb went on in my head. I made a deal with them. I told them that I’ll prepare healthy meals for them for half that cost. They liked the deal and agreed. Since then, I’ve been cooking meals for nearly 10 people staying in that hostel. My husband and I are now able to eat three meals a day. Not only that, we also make a Rs.100 profit everyday”. Rani’s face brimmed with confidence. She was in a hurry to leave, as she had to go home and prepare lunch.</p><p><b>Lessons from the maid’s story:</b></p><p>I stood there for a few seconds, pondering over what Rani shared.</p><p>If someone had to be more fearful in this world, it should be Rani, trying to survive the lockdown without having any money in her hand… without knowing where her next meal would come from… but, she removed fear, and replaced it with hope. Hope manifested into actions. Actions produced results. </p><p><b>Incorporating the inspiration:</b></p><p>When God closes one door, he opens another. But, if you keep staring at the closed door, you’ll NOT notice the doors that are open. I was ashamed of myself. I was expecting hope from Television channels, Newspapers and Whatsapp forwards. But, I realized later that the media spreads more fear than hope. I realized, you cannot change what already happened, but you can change how you respond. </p><p>On that day, I pledged to remove fear by doing a Ctrl-x and replace it with hope, by doing a Ctrl-c and Ctrl-v.</p><p>Instead of worrying about the virus, the economy and the job losses, I hoped that things will come back to normalcy soon. I started focusing on things that are in my control. </p><p>I diversified some of my investments to minimize the risk of losing them all</p><p>I completely stopped watching TV… and cut down on my Whatsapp / Facebook time. I used the spare time to write a book, which I had always wanted to write. In the last 4 weeks, I’ve completed writing 50% of the book. I hope to finish writing the book soon and publish once the lockdown is over. </p><p><b>Conclusion:</b></p><p>Dear Toastmasters,</p><p>When you sow fear … fear grows.</p><p>When you sow hope … hope manifests into actions and actions produce results.</p><p>Remove the fear of getting caught by the virus, replace it with the hope of living a long healthy life… maintain hygiene, eat good food and do simple workouts. </p><p>Remove the fear of losing your job, replace it with the hope of building a lasting career. Work hard… deliver your best and learn new things.</p><p>Remember…in life, when the future is uncertain and bleak, do a Ctrl-x on the fear, and do a Ctrl-c/Ctrl-v on the hope … Will you?</p><div><br /></div>Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-31599547686035244482020-03-28T07:08:00.001-07:002020-08-05T06:09:30.490-07:00Mentoring in Toastmasters - Frequently Asked Questions This is the list of questions that I received for one of the online webinars that I did on Mentoring. Disclaimer: Some questions given here are not related to mentoring.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>How to find a mentor?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You can reach out to the VP Education of your club, if you would like to get a mentor. Alternatively, you can look for people whom you think can guide you to better achieve your learning objectives in Toastmasters. You can reach out directly to them and request them to be your mentor. It is recommended to have the mentor in the same club where you are a member. It will help them to monitor your progress/performance closely and share feedback. However, in today's world where everyone is digitally connected, it is not a mandatory criteria. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How do I identify a suitable mentee?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You can reach out to the VP Education of your club and he/she can assign a suitable mentee to you. If you are starting your mentoring journey, it is recommended to pick someone who is starting their Toastmasters journey - probably, a new member in your club. You can help them to understand the Toastmasters program and in preparing for their speeches/roles at the club. </div>
<ul>
<li></li>
<li><b>Can a mentor be a mentee at the same time ?</b></li>
</ul>
Yes. For example, you can mentor someone for their Level 1 speeches, while you may get mentored by your mentor for humorously speaking.<br /><ul>
<li><b>How does one set out the objective of the Mentoring with the Mentee? What type of objectives would there be?</b></li>
</ul>
The objectives that you set for your mentee is dependant on what they would like to achieve in Toastmasters (or, based on the areas where they would need help from you). Typically, objectives would look like the following:<div>
<br /><div>
1. Completion of Competent Communicator or Level 1 path by end of this year (or) </div>
<div>
2. I want to develop my voice modulation </div>
<div>
3. I want to be become better at delivering "impromptu speeches"</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Based on these high-level objectives, you should jointly work out detailed sub-objectives/sub-goals. For example, if your mentee wants to be <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/06/9-ways-to-prepare-for-table-topics.html" target="_blank">become better at delivering "impromptu speeches"</a></div>
<div>
1. Participate in Table Topics Session regularly</div>
<div>
2. Participate in Table Topics Contest</div>
<div>
3. Write a short stories catalogue which would be handy when you are on the stage. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Agree on timelines when you would meet again to review the progress. You can regularly assess their progress against the objectives and share feedback. </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li></li>
<li><b>Several folks reach out to mentor only during the contest. What is your thought on that?</b></li>
</ul>
Dananjaya Hettiarachchi once said "If you want to be a World Champion of Public Speaking, every speech of yours should be a world championship speech". I would strongly urge mentees to get help from their mentors for every speech and for every role in Toastmasters It will help them accelerate their learning.<br /><ul>
<li><b>Other than just reviewing speech scripts, in what other ways can a Mentor add value to the Mentee?</b></li>
<li><b>How do you add value as a mentor?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Toastmasters mentoring process begins with mentoring a new member for their speeches and for performing various roles at the club meetings. Unlike coaching, mentoring is a long lasting relationship. You can add value as a mentor by encouraging your mentees to push their limits - and help them discover their hidden potential. For example, you can encourage them to participate in contests or sign up for club-level/district level leadership roles. You can also add value as a mentor by helping your mentee excel in their professional career - in addition to excelling in Toastmasters. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>What are the qualities of good leaders and mentors?</b></li>
<li><b>What are the traits of a good mentor?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
One of the dimensions of leadership is mentoring. Some of the qualities in a good mentor are:</div>
<div>
1. <b>S</b>ensitive to the needs of their protege. Shows maturity and has a broad mind - doesn't fight / argue for petty things. </div>
<div>
2. <b>P</b>atience in listening to their protege's view points and the difference in perspectives. </div>
<div>
3. <b>A</b>vailable to their protege - especially, to guide them with their Toastmasters journey</div>
<div>
4. Treats the protege with <b>R</b>espect</div>
<div>
5. Possesses <b>K</b>nowledge/skills to help the protege</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
As a mentor, you should possess qualities that IGNITE the SPARK in your mentees. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>Difference between toastmaster under guidance of mentor and without mentor ??</b></li>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Having a mentor vs not having a mentor in Toastmasters is like driving your car in a new city with the Google map vs. without the Google map. A mentor would accelerate your learning and shorten the time it takes you to acquire a new skill. A mentor would guide you to take the most optimal path to reach your goal / objectives (destination!). A mentor would give you feedback to course correct, if you are traversing the wrong path. You would be missing these benefits, if you are not having a mentor. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<li><b>Can one self mentor and not reach out to anyone?</b></li>
<li><b>Your take on folks, who choose to call themselves as "self mentored"?</b></li>
</ul>
"Self mentoring" shows arrogance and ego. Even the World Champions of Public Speaking gets mentored by someone. Folks who call themselves as "Self Mentored" are losing an excellent opportunity to learn from others.<br />
<ul>
<li><b>How do we keep members motivated for consistent participation, not just for the sake of club growth but for themselves.</b></li>
</ul>
Members leave a club because<br />
<div>
- they are not learning (i.e., the club is not providing enough learning opportunities to them) or </div>
<div>
- they are not finding enough value in the membership (i.e., it is not worth the money / time they invest in the Toastmasters program). </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
However, members who leave the club will not explicitly say this. Probably, they are saying "I couldn't find time for Toastmasters" - which means, they are not able to prioritise Toastmasters program in their life. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
When a club (especially, the VP Education) provides a personal attention to each of its members, understand their needs and help them by providing learning opportunities, the participation of members would increase dramatically. Assigning a mentor who inspires the member would also help the member to improve their participation.<br />
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>How to figure out what is best for you while delivering a speech?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
I don't understand this question. If you are wondering how to pick the right speech topic, you can refer to my blog <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/10/how-do-you-pick-right-speech-topic.html">https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/10/how-do-you-pick-right-speech-topic.html</a></div>
<ul>
<li><b>How is coaching and mentoring different?</b></li>
<li><b>How to know that you are shifting from being mentor to coach in the process? And how to stop your self in that situation.</b></li>
<li><b>In many cases, mentees expect to be coached rather than mentored. Where does a mentor make the distinction?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Mentoring is a long lasting relationship, while coaching is time-bound and is for addressing a specific problem / skill gap. In mentoring, the mentee asks questions and the mentor provides answers based on their experience/knowledge/skills. In coaching, the coach probes the coachee to help him/her discover answers/solutions to their problems. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I feel that the boundaries between a mentor and a coach aren't very distinct. So, if your intention is to help your mentee, don't worry about whether you are playing the role of a mentor or a coach. There are situations in Toastmasters where being a mentor helps - for ex., reviewing speech scripts, preparing a mentee for a club meeting role etc., However, there are situations where being a coach would help - for ex., when the mentee is playing a leadership role and has a conflict with someone in their team. The techniques that you might've used when you ran into a similar crisis wouldn't help your mentee. So, probing them to discover options / alternatives that they can try on their own would help. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Shifting from one mode to another isn't an issue, as far as your intention is to genuinely help them.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Your blog is a great source for information for any toastmaster, did writing blogs helped you in your professional life?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
I'm glad that you liked my blog. Yes! Writing blogs indeed helped me in my professional life too. I'm working in the software industry and I get the task of writing software requirements document, functional / design specifications and user guides / software release documentation. Writing blogs helped me to organize my thoughts and present information in a very clear, structured and crisp manner. At work, I became the most sought after person for writing customer facing release note documentation and user guides. Being multi-faceted helped me to grow fast in my career. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>Should mentor be a good speaker?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
A mentor brings both knowledge and experience. Knowledge can be acquired by learning, but experience can be achieved only by doing. If your job as a mentor is to help new members get familiarized with the Toastmasters roles & responsibilities, the program structure and with the initial few speeches, you don't have to be a good speaker. Having knowledge on speaking itself would do. However, if you have to mentor someone with their advance speaking journey - especially in developing their delivery skills such as voice modulation, eye contact, stage usage, facial expressions - you've to be a good speaker. So, you need to have the experience of delivering good speeches to mentor someone in the speaking journey. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Alternatively, if you are mentoring someone on writing blogs or in preparing for a technical certification, you don't have to be a great "public" speaker. However, being a good communicator always helps you to be a good mentor. An average speaker informs, a good speaker communicates and a great speaker inspires. If you want to be a mentor who inspires his/her mentees, you've to be a great speaker. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>Do you think that the mentor should necessarily be an all-rounder to be effective? How can a not-so-all rounder mentor aid in developing a great Toastmaster?</b></li></ul>The mentor need not be an all rounder. In fact, no one can be an allrounder. However, the mentor should be someone who is also striving to improve, trying to learn regularly, and widening their circle of influence. For example, I am not an expert in humorous speaking. When my mentees come to me for humorous speech reviews, I guide them to other speakers / mentors who are good at that. <br /><ul><li><b>How to mange our time because before mentoring we should know how to handle?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Allocating a fixed time for mentoring, helps you to manage your schedule effectively. For example, I use the early morning time to review speech scripts or speech videos to provide feedback. I take calls from my mentees during my commute time in the evening. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How do you choose your pathway?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
The best way to chose your learning path / pathways program is to go through the online questionnaire provided by Toastmasters International. However, if you are someone who is just starting your Toastmasters journey and if you have joined Toastmasters to learn communication skills, I would recommend you to start with Presentation Mastery program.</div>
<br /><ul>
<li><b>Sometimes mentees are preparing the speech and delivering it on their own(mostly because of VPE forcing them to give speech or their urge to complete the level). how to make the mentees realise the importance of mentoring?</b></li>
</ul>
If this happens rarely it is ok. However, if it is consistently happening, you can even have a word with the VPE. As a best practice recommend our mentee to start working on their next speech, as soon as they finish delivering a speech. This would give ample time to both of you.<br /><br /><ul>
<li><b>What can you do if your mentee is not ready to listen to you or listens to you but doesn't seem to put what he has learnt into practice?</b></li>
<li><b>How to mentor a member if the member is not showing interest to learn from mentor?</b></li>
<li><b>What if in a mentor mentee relationship the mentee does not show much interest in seeking help for educational development. How does the mentor handle such a situation?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You can have an open conversation with the member to understand their needs/objectives. Identify areas where they would need help and how you can help them. If you don't find an alignment of your skills/experiences with the member's needs, you can help them find an alternative mentor. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I've seen instances where the mentor is not disciplined enough to respond to mentee's calls or speech script review requests. If this continues for a while, the mentee naturally loses interest in continuing the mentor-mentee relationship. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
There may be instances where your mentee would need help in areas where you may not be an expert. During such instances, refer them to the right expert for help. For ex., if your mentee needs help with humorous speeches and if you are not a humorous person, you can recommend them to get help from a mentor who is good in humor. </div>
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Staying in regular touch with the mentee would help them in sustaining their interest with both the Toastmasters program and in the mentoring process. Create a proper structure for the mentoring process - work with your mentee to jot down their goals/objectives and timelines for achieving their goals, schedule your sync-up meetings, properly follow through action items, help your mentees when they are stuck, keep them motivated regularly by appreciating their achievements.<br />
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At the end of the mentoring process helps you to develop your persuasion skills. Imagine that you are trying to convince a customer to buy your product or service and it is a million dollar deal. Would you try once and just give up.. or would you try different ways of convincing the customer. Wouldn't you ask the customer, "what is their expectations from the product or service, for them to make a purchase decision". Assume that your mentee is your customer and your perspective would completely change. You may find creative ways of persuading your mentee.<br />
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Also, read the response to "How to establish trust with the mentees?" question and follow those suggestions. </div>
</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How to establish trust with the mentees?</b></li>
<li><b>How do we maintain and sustain emotional bond between the mentor and mentee..these sometimes get into problems</b></li>
</ul>
It's hard. It comes with practice. The core area to focus is "establishing trust". You can establish trust with your mentees by doing some of the following:</div>
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1. Genuinely show interest in helping them to develop and improve</div>
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2. Periodically appreciate their performance and motivate them to aim high</div>
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3. Keep secrets as secrets </div>
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4. Do not back bite... share honest/open feedback with your mentee, directly to him/her</div>
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5. Review their speech scripts promptly and share feedback. If you couldn't review due to some constraints tell them in advance... and preferably recommend them to get help from another mentor. Or, better yet... arrange a different mentor yourself.<br />6. Help them when they run into a difficult problem / situation.</div>
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7. Agree upon a fixed time for your regular sync-ups</div>
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8. Keep up the promises</div>
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<br /><ul>
<li><b>There was this one time when a mentee said that the mentor doesn't ask him to give his next speech.Is it then job of the mentor to push the mentee to come forward or the mentee's job to approach the mentor?</b></li>
</ul>
No. It is not the job of a mentor to periodically remind the mentees about things that they should be doing on their own. Mentor is just an enabler, and not a driver. However, an occasional nudge always helps. For example, if the mentee hasn't delivered speeches in a long time, you can ask them "Hey! It has been a while since I heard your speech. When are you delivering your next speech?"<br /><ul>
<li><b>What is the purpose of pathways mentor program?</b></li>
</ul>
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Pathways mentor program provides a structure for helping you to discover and develop your mentoring skills. The program involves completing 4 assignments:</div>
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1. Completing the Level 2 "Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring" project</div>
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2. Complete a self-assessment to check your readiness for being a mentor by completing the "Prepare to Mentor" form</div>
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3. Mentor a person from your club with their project (a speech or role in the club meeting)</div>
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4. Mentor someone in Toastmasters (or outside) for a period of six months. </div>
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At the end of completing the Pathways mentor program, you get a certificate from Toastmasters International.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How to keep motivation on toastmaster club high during these tougher days?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
COVID-19 has impacted the world, in ways that you could not imagine. The easiest thing to do for the club leadership team is to cancel the club meetings. However, that would not help members to sustain their interest in the Toastmasters program. Many enthusiastic clubs have leveraged technology to continue their club meetings, by taking the meetings online. I recommend the clubs to conduct their meetings online, to keep the members motivated during this period. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>Does age matter for mentoring?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></li>
</ul>
<div>
No. But, experience/knowledge/skills do matter for mentoring. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>Benefits of toastmasters received towards career</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Toastmasters directly helps members to build a successful career. For example, we've 3 distinct sections in any Toastmaster meetings - the prepared speech, the table topics and the evaluation sections.</div>
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1. Prepared speeches help you acquire skills that enables to you deliver effective presentations at workplace, in front of clients and team members</div>
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2. Table Topics speeches helps you to acquire skills that you can use to organize your thoughts and express yourself effectively. This skill will be very useful when a customer asks you a question in a conference call "Why is the quality of this release bad?"? Table Topics skills can also help you when you are facing interviews. I look at interviews as a series of Table Topics questions.</div>
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3. Evaluations help you to develop skills to provide constructive feedback to your team members at work. We do activities such as functional specification reviews, code reviews and even performance reviews of our team members regularly. Being a Toastmaster, your feedback will always be Constructive, Relevant, Motivating, Specific and Personal to the person receiving the feedback.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How does one know it's time to move on to another mentor?</b></li>
<li><b>How do we know if we are plugged with the right mentor if not what should we do</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
When your mentor is consistently not available, lacks capability in the area where you want to develop skills or not showing genuine interest to help you, it's time for you to move on to another mentor. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How do you deal with a mentee who believes you are not as good as they are or has an ego problem to being coached</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
I don't know how you landed up to be the mentor for that person - if he/she has an ego problem of being coached. If it is like an arranged marriage done by the VP Education, talk to the VP Education and ask him/her to reassign the mentee to some-other mentor. It is not worth wasting your energy in trying to change their perspective on you. </div>
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However, it is an opportunity for your self-introspection. Ask yourself, why is Mr.X or Ms.Y, not looking up to you. Probably, they are not sharing their contest scripts with you for review because they think you have neither participated in contests nor done the role of a judge. When you establish your worth by demonstrating your skills - either by participating in contests, or by conducting educational sessions on acing the contests, or by doing contest judge role ... you can earn their trust. Along the way, you would've also acquired new skills, that you can be proud of. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How to mentor a senior Member in a corporate club who is higher in position in corporate ladder?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
When you are mentoring a senior member in corporate world, Keep your ego away and be humble all the times. During your first meeting / interaction, tell your mentee "I'm privileged to mentor you. I look up to you in the professional world. Hopefully, I can also learn from you on leadership skills that will help me in my corporate career". These statements will ensure that "ego" is out of the equation. Regularly, appreciate them for all of their achievements / milestones in Toastmasters. </div>
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While giving feedback ensure that you are constructive and sincere. Refer to <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/08/crisp-speech-evaluations.html" target="_blank">CRISP evaluations</a> on how to share feedback, effectively. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How to make online toastmaster meeting effective?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></li>
<li><b>What are your suggestions for conducting a successful online webinar? Its challenges and benefits compared to an in person conference?</b></li>
</ul>
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Online webinars are equally challenging when compared to in-person conference. In addition to remembering the content and focusing on the delivery, you'll have to also handle "technology". </div>
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- Be prepared for things to go wrong - for ex., the laptop may freeze, your Internet may go down, your mike or speakers may stop working. Have sufficient backups identified and keep them ready. </div>
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- Keeping audience engaged in an online webinar is always a challenge. In an in-person meeting, they don't have an option other than listening to you. However, in an online webinar, audience can get distracted with their pop-ups / beeps from their messengers / emails etc., As a speaker, you'll have to keep your content crisp, run polls, ask questions to the audience to keep them engaged. </div>
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- Ensure that you are regularly repeating your key points throughout your presentation, as the audience might've momentarily moved out to take a phone call or a bio break in-between. </div>
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- It is always recommended to dial from a phone, as opposed to taking the call from a computer speaker/mike. The quality of the voice over Internet will fluctuate based on the available bandwidth. However, in a traditional phone call, the voice quality is always constant and good. </div>
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- Online meetings help you to save time, as members don't have to spend a lot of time in getting ready for the meeting and driving to the meeting place. However, online meetings do not provide opportunity to members to network with each other. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How to encourage, some time mentee is not wanting more</b></li>
</ul>
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- Highlight their key achievements in the journey so far. </div>
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- Tell them the benefits of having stretched goals and aiming high. Tell them stories / examples of Toastmasters who aimed high and achieved more in their professional life</div>
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- Be a role model to them, by continuously challenging yourself with more complex roles/responsibilities in Toastmasters</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Why do some of the mentors become obsolete with time.</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
<div>
There is a famous quote - “Five years from now, you're the same person except for the people you've met and the books you've read.”. If mentors don't keep them up-to-date with the latest technologies, tools and processes, they become outdated. For example, if you want to mentor someone today, you'll have to familiarize yourself with the Pathways program - for which, you need to enroll in the Pathways program and go through that experience, yourself. </div>
</div>
<ul>
<li><b>As a mentor how can we ensure our mentee is getting what he/she is expected ? Like What regular checks we can do as Mentor ?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
During your regular sync-ups, you can ask your mentee feedback about his/her mentorship journey. You can identify specific action items based on the feedback and track progress regularly. If your mentee hasn't reached out to you in a while, there is no harm in dropping a "Hi! How are you" message to them. It is always good to identify your mentee's goals/aspirations/objectives in advance. Once you have an understanding of their goals, make them identify interim milestones with specific timelines. This will help you to regularly check with them on the progress they've made against their own goals and plans. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>What do you do to constantly challenge your underlying beliefs and assumptions?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
I believe in "Change Small! Change Often” I have the habit of reading new books regularly. I allocate at least 30 minutes a day to learn new things. Reading helps me to develop newer perspectives on topics that I am already familiar with. For example, though leadership is a time tested concept and I might've already read a dozen books on leadership a decade ago... I continue to read newer books on leadership. Leadership skills needed in a manufacturing world, is very different from the leadership skills needed in a digital world. So, it is very important to regularly read books to challenge your beliefs and assumptions. </div>
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Also, I continuously learn new things and new perspectives from my mentees and from my social circle. Attending meet-ups, events and conferences will help you to widen your social circle and develop newer perspectives.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How can we gain the most learnings from our mentors?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You can get the most learnings from your mentor, by clearly communicating your expectations/goals to the mentor and by periodically staying in touch with them. Ensure that you are getting in touch with them before doing any role in Toastmasters. Actively, seek feedback from your mentor after performing the role and incorporate the feedback.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>What is your message to budding toastmasters?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Follow the 3Rs - <b>Be Regular to the meetings, Do</b> <b>Research</b> (by reading manuals or referring to online materials) before doing any role and <b>Rehearse</b> adequately before performing the role in Toastmasters. Read my blog <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/12/3rs-of-successful-toastmaster.html" target="_blank">3Rs of a Successful Toastmaster</a> for more tips.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>Is this helpful in the field of advertising!?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Yes. Toastmasters program teaches you to brand yourself and also to brand your organization in the community. Sign-up to be a VP Public Relations and you'll learn techniques to brand yourself and your organization in the community.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How has your mentoring styled evolved over the years?</b></li>
</ul>
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Some notice-able aspects of my mentoring that has changed over the years are:</div>
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- During the initial days, I used to spend hours and hours to modify my mentee's scripts. At the end of the marathon review and edits, the speech script would look like "my script". I would've totally altered the style of the speech. Having evolved as a mentor, today I help my mentees discover their own style, as opposed to imposing my style on them. </div>
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- In the past, I used to do a lot of in-person rehearsals with my mentees. Today, with technology, my mentees record a video at their home and send me via Whatsapp. I review it offline and provide feedback. </div>
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- I have developed more patience and listening skills, by being a mentor for several Toastmasters for over a decade. I let the mentees talk more and I listen more.</div>
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- I don't try to enforce my view points on them. I broaden my perspective my listening to their view points. Instead of giving them a specific solution, I help them discover solutions on their own and make them come up with an action plan. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>I am scared that sometimes, when I mentor some mentees, some of my styles will go to that speaker and they might lose the originality. so how can we handle those situation</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
1. Mentoring isn't cloning, it is creating. Whenever you are sharing feedback with your mentees - either for their content or for their speaking style or for their leadership journey, be conscious that the objective is not to make them sound like you on the stage (or) make them do what you do. When you are conscious about this, you'll naturally discover THEIR style and polish it.... instead of pushing your style on them. </div>
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2. While reviewing speech scripts, I try to edit the scripts to show them, 'how differently certain thoughts/ideas can be presented'. I give them multiple options... or multiple ways of expressing an idea. </div>
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3. At the end of the day, you'll also have to continuously develop yourself, so that you reach a stage, where you are able to suggest multiple techniques / multiple delivery styles or multiple ways of solving a problem/challenge to your mentee. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How do you enlist volunteers for mentoring?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You cannot force someone to be a mentor. However, you can inspire members to sign up to be a mentor. Training and imparting knowledge on mentoring to more members will help you to mobilise more volunteers for mentoring. When you are looking for mentors, don't restrict to just your club, try to find mentors from outside your club too. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How do you know when it's the right time to become a mentor?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
There is no perfect time to be a mentor. However, in India, Toastmasters follow some guideline, which I think are apt. In the traditional program, someone who has completed 6 projects in their Competent Communication manual and someone who has played all the club meeting roles are qualified to be a mentor. In the new Pathways program, someone who has completed their Level 2 in Pathways and played the various meeting roles in the club, would be qualified to be a mentor for a new Toastmaster. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>Mentoring in critical times</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
When you are mentoring someone during critical times, you should completely understand the situation / experience that they are going through. For example, I was mentoring a Toastmaster who had lost his job recently and he was trying to get back to work. In addition to helping the Toastmaster with his Toastmasters speeches and roles, I also referred him to job opportunities that I know of. There were instances where I was able to help them with polishing their resumes and even conduct mock interviews. I'm not recommending all mentors to do these things (especially, when you don't have the skill to help them with mock interviews or polishing their resume). However, a small act of kindness from you will go a long way in building a strong relationship with your mentees. </div>
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<div>
I know of mentees who separate their Toastmasters career from their professional career/personal life. It will not be appropriate for me to peek my nose into their professional/personal life - unless they bring the topic on their own. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>What kind of change do you see in the way business operates post the current global crisis?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Businesses will embrace more technology to do the day to day work. Now that most employees are comfortable in working remotely and trained to use collaborative tools such as Zoom, Webex and GoToMeeting, remote working will gain more traction. </div>
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<div>
In all the previous crises, we moved work from one (impacted) geography to another (non-impacted) geography to ensure business continuity. However, in this crisis, the entire world is impacted. So, it is not possible to move work from an impacted geography to a non-impacted geography. So, executives will focus on creating more infrastructure for remote working and collaboration among team members. There will be lesser travel across continents and countries and employees would be encouraged to use collaboration tools. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>What are key for Club Mentoring ?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
I'm sharing this based on my first experience in being a mentor for a Toastmasters club. In my urge to help the club, I ended up doing all the speech evaluations myself. Slowly, they dumped the General Evaluator role also on me. Eventually, I started doing the Timer, AH Counter and Grammarian roles too. All they did was delivering speeches. I made them very irresponsible and they slowly started losing interest on the Toastmasters program. I realized later, that, as a Club Mentor, your job is to train the club officers and members to effectively do their roles. Here are some key tasks to be done as a Club mentor:</div>
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- Ensure that the club officers are trained by the district officers on their roles and responsibilities (encourage the club officers to attend the district sponsored Offices Training Program)</div>
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- Develop a Club Success Plan (if required and if appropriate, make the Club officers complete the moments of truth exercise with their club members)</div>
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- Persuade the club officers to assign a mentor for each of the club members - either from within the club or from outside. </div>
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- Help the club officers find mentors from the community</div>
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- Work with the club officers in identifying specific challenges and help them come up with a solution.</div>
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- Periodically review the club's progress against the Distinguished Club Program (DCP) goals.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How one can become better as a mentor?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You can be a better mentor by continuously learning and acquiring new skills. Also, the more people that you mentor, the better you'll become. You are indirectly learning from each of your mentees. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>What is tough to mentor and get mentored<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Both are equally tough :)</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How often and how deeply should you be involved in a mentees individual speech?</b></li>
</ul>
For a novice Toastmaster, I try to edit their speech scripts to show them how they can improve their introduction and make it more interesting / engaging.</div>
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For an advanced Toastmaster, I give them the feedback and make them do the changes on their own. There are instances where there will be multiple edits and multiple back 'n forths. There are instances where I've said "Looks perfect!" in the first iteration itself. </div>
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Your involvement in your mentee's speech should be dependant on your mentee's knowledge/experience level, project complexity and based on your mentee's expectations. </div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><b>What is the most effective way to mentor, in your opinion?</b></li>
<li><b>How can mentoring be made effective both for mentor and mentee?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
A mentee should clearly spell out his/her expectations and goals to the mentor. </div>
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A mentor should provide timely and constructive feedback to the mentee. </div>
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In addition, you can agree upon a fixed schedule / time for your regular interactions. Both the mentor/mentee should value each other's time and make the conversations crisp.</div>
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All of these will help in making the mentoring process very effective. </div>
</div>
<ul>
<li><b>What inspires you on a daily basis?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
When you have a well-defined "goals program" you get automatically inspired every day. Identify your personal/professional/social goals and incorporate actions towards those goals in your everyday life. That will inspire you everyday.</div>
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<div>
In Abdul Kalam's words "Dream is not what you see in sleep. Dream is the thing that doesn't let you sleep". </div>
<ul>
<li><b>What things you keep in mind before giving advice to your mentee?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Ensure that you are giving advice in a constructive tone (similar to how we give feedback during evaluations)</div>
<div>
Don't just give them one option - give them multiple options and encourage them to pick one. Better yet, help them discover the options on their own. </div>
<div>
Instead of telling them "what not to do", help them understand "what to do"</div>
<ul>
<li><b>What are my top 3 responsibilities as a mentor?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
1. Help the mentee understand the Toastmasters program format and the various roles/responsibilities</div>
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2. Help the mentee in preparing for their roles (for ex., speech scripts review, dry runs / rehearse of their speech, sharing with them checklists/tips for leadership roles etc.,)</div>
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3. Periodically share feedback about their performance and keep them motivated to push their boundaries</div>
<ul>
<li><b>What is the 1 important thing which needs to be kept in mind while mentoring</b></li><li><b>What is the major mistake most people are doing wrong when it comes to mentoring someone? </b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You should keep in mind that your goal is not to change your mentee to become like you, but your goal should be to change your mentee to become the better version of himself/herself. </div>
<div>
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<div>
Mentoring is not the process of cloning, but the process of creating. Trying to make the mentee to think like you, speak like you and do things like you, is a major mistake that most mentors do. Each individual has a unique style. The job of the mentor is not to convert bronze to silver or silver to gold. The job of the mentor is to take a golden ore and convert that into a golden ornament. </div><b><br /></b><ul><li><b>How to manage Conflicts during mentoring?<span style="white-space: pre;"> </span></b></li>
</ul>
<div>
Conflict management is an art - not in just mentoring, but in all aspects of life. Some tips for effectively managing conflicts are:</div>
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- hear both the sides of the story (for ex., have a open conversation with your mentee and express your view points, in addition to listening to their view points)</div>
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- genuinely show interest in listening to their view points</div>
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- appreciate the other person's view points </div>
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- keep emotions out and objectively evaluate facts/figures (definitely don't try to manage conflicts through whatsapp messages. It will aggravate the problem).</div>
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- weigh in pros/cons of each other's view points </div>
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- identify optimal solutions / action plan and implement them</div>
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- finally, if nothing works, agree to disagree and move on.</div>
<ul>
<li><b>How can I start inspiring people ?</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
You can inspire people around you by doing the following things:</div>
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- Be bound to your principles (for ex., if punctuality is your principle, ensure that you are punctual 100% of the times)</div>
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- Be a role model (Walk the talk, follow what you preach)</div>
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- Be sincere in helping people around you - without expecting returns </div>
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- Talk less, listen more </div>
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- By regularly delivering speeches at your club and taking various roles at the club. For example, if you deliver 1 speech a month consistently, you'll automatically inspire many of the new joiners in the club. </div>
<ul>
<li><b>How to add value to the speech</b></li>
</ul>
<div>
As a mentor it is very tempting to modify the speech to match your own style. However, you should resist that temptation and help your mentees to discover their own unique style. You can add value to the speech by ensuring that it meets the project objectives and by incorporating content such as stories, quotes, rhetorical devices and humor. All of this, would improve the effectiveness of the speech. </div><div><ul style="text-align: left;"><li><b>What are the two things that you recommend to be done by the mentor to have better collaboration with the mentee apart from speech preparation?</b></li></ul><div><div>Imagine going to a swimming pool to learn how to swim. You'll have a lot of doubts whether you'll survive if you jump into the water. But, the coach pushes you into the water and starts helping you to learn. Similarly, mentors should nudge their mentees to sign up for leadership roles at the club or outside of the club. </div><div><br /></div><div>Encouraging the mentees to participate in contests. Participating in a contest, helps the mentees to benchmark their skills and helps them learn new techniques in public speaking. </div></div></div>
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Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-289101028362030042019-12-08T21:38:00.000-08:002019-12-08T21:38:33.304-08:00Compete with yourself - and be a winner !<div style="text-align: justify;">
I enrolled in a gym a few years back, with a goal of becoming fit and build stamina. During my first day at the gym, I was super excited to see many body builders training their muscles. They were all bulky and lifting heavy weights. I was so passionate to become like them... soon! I met a man, a Malayaleee, whom I thought was in his mid 30s. I had more reasons to envy him - he was super fit, looked like an athlete and had thick black hair on his head. I introduced myself to him and he responded by saying "Hi! I'm Jacob and I work for a logistics company". We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. I asked him "Are you married?!" He said "Yes! I'm married and I have two daughters". He continued "My elder daughter is doing her final year at SRM and my younger one is doing her 12th standard". I was shocked when I heard that. I immediately asked his age. He smiled and said "Saro! I'm 50 years old". I was awestruck. He laughed and said "Saro! I've been exercising regularly since I was a teenager. I even won some state level body builders competition when I was young. That's the secret of my youthfulness". </div>
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Since I met Jacob, I thought I also wanted to be like him. I started competing with him. I told myself "Saro! If a 50 years old man can do it, why can't you?". I started doing whatever he did at the gym. I started lifting some heavy weights on the first week itself. My trainer warned me that it is not wise to lift heavy weights too soon. But, I ignored the warnings from my trainer. In a few days, I sprained my elbow and I couldn't go to gym for more than two weeks. During those two weeks, I wasn't even able to lift a computer mouse, let alone any heavy weights. I had set a high bar for myself, and was pushing myself too hard. </div>
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Instead of competing with Jacob, I should've kept him as my role model and a source of inspiration. That would've helped me to slowly make progress towards my goals. This experience taught me a very valuable lesson - "In life I shouldn't be competing with others - but with myself". Since that time, I changed my goal at the gym. I told myself "Saro! Every visit to the gym, should take you one step closer to your goal of becoming fit. You don't have to beat anyone's record. All that you've to break, is your own record from yesterday". So, I started taking one step at a time and gradually increased the weights. While I admired other body builders, I tried not to treat them as my competitors. I tried to have them as my role models. With continuous practice, today, I can lift heavy weights with ease. </div>
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Dear friends, treat your life as a one man race. All that you've to do, is just outpace your previous performance. All that you've to do, is just break your own past record. All that you've to do, is just keep raising the bar for yourself, one step at a time. When you do that, you're surely going to be a winner. </div>
Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-62337968280885268612019-07-21T08:33:00.002-07:002019-07-21T08:33:55.833-07:00Pathways - Negotiate the best outcome - Getting to "Yes"Pathways - Negotiate the best outcome - Getting to "Yes" (Dynamic Leadership Path / Level 3 / Project 1)<br />
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<br /></div>
“I have been working in this organization for 4 years and I am still not promoted to the next level. Ram has the same experience like me. Anitha has the same experience like me. All of them are promoted. But, I am not. It is very demotivating for me to do my job”. My Group Project Manager who was sitting in front of me smiled and said “Saro! You’ll get promoted at the right time”. I asked him immediately “Give me a timeline”. He said “I cannot give you a timeline”. I immediately got up from my chair, walked away from the discussion and the next day, I submitted my resignation papers.<br />
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Good morning Toastmasters and Guests,<br />
<br />
That’s how I negotiated for a promotion, with my Group Project Manager, way back in the year 2002. And obviously that was a disaster. How many of you have had an experience like this in your career?<br />
<br />
Research carried out by the Carnegie Institute of Technology shows that 85 percent of your financial success is due to your personality and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. Shockingly, only 15 percent is due to technical knowledge. Negotiation is a critical skill that all of us must have to become successful in life. Due to the absence of negotiation skills,<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>I used to always look at any problem only from my viewpoint, instead of trying to look at it from the other's viewpoint. For ex., I would say “I am working really hard and you need to reward me for that”. </li>
<li>During the negotiation process, my brain will be actively thinking how I can shoot down the other person, instead of trying to focus on the conversation. For ex., I would say things like “You guys don’t understand the value that I’m adding to the business. My hardwork and loyalty is of no use here”. </li>
<li>I’ll always take a fight or flight approach. For ex., I would say “I’ll quit my job if you don’t give me the promotion” </li>
</ol>
<br />
I read a number of books on negotiation style. I learned that there are three techniques that successful people use in their negotiation. They,<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Seek facts</li>
<li>Ask questions</li>
<li>Bake positivity</li>
</ol>
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Years passed. I again landed up in a situation where I had to negotiate for a salary rise. I started my conversation on a positive tone, with my VP of Engineering, Dave. Dave “I love my job, I love my team and I love this organization. If there is one thing that is bothering me today, it is my salary. It not competitive and it does not enable me to deliver my best. I would like to build a long career here and hence I’m requesting for a salary rise”. Dave immediately said, “Saro! I’m surprised to hear that you aren’t motivated. You are already paid on par with the industry”.<br />
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I smiled and told Dave “Dave… I bench-marked my salary with some of my peers in the industry who are doing similar work and I’m paid 30% less than what the industry pays for someone with my experience”.<br />
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Dave immediately reacted “I don’t think so”. Dave being a smart negotiator, asked me a question, “Why should I give you a hike now, out of the regular cycle. It’s absolutely impossible”. I told him<br />
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<ol>
<li>“Dave... I have tested and reported 250 defects in the software, improving the quality of software by 25%. This helped us to win a major deal from a large service provider in Europe. </li>
<li>I have automated testing and eliminated manual work, bringing $100K savings year on year to the organization. </li>
<li>I’ve been consistently ranked high in my performance reviews. It is easy for me to walk away and find another job with a 30% pay hike. But, like I said before… I love my job, I love my team and I love this organization.</li>
<li>Moreover, I’ve signed up for a part time MBA program and I need some extra cash to pay for my tuition fees. That’s why I have come to you now”. </li>
</ol>
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Dave thought for a moment and asked me to send some of this information in writing via email. He said “Saro! I’ll try my best. But, I can’t promise you anything now”. I asked him “Dave… when can I get an update from you on this?”. He said, “Give me two weeks time and I’ll get back to you”. In a week, I got a call from Dave “Saro! Can you come to my cabin”. When I walked to his cabin, Dave handed over a letter to me. I thought, it is going to be my termination letter. When I opened the cover, I was positively surprised - “I got a 20% pay hike”. Dave said “Saro! We value your contributions to the organization and we want you to continue to deliver your best”. I was happy to receive a pay hike.<br />
<br />
Friends… all successful people are good at negotiation. If you want to be successful, you should be good at negotiation too. In your corporate career, you can negotiate many things such as a project change, salary hike or getting funding for an idea. In Toastmasters, our VP Education can negotiate to make members sign up for a role. Our VP Membership can negotiate to convert a guest into a member. Negotiation can help TM Selvan too… when he deals with his wife. Sir… next time when you are negotiating with your wife… try these 3 things seek facts, ask questions and bake positivity. Will you?Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-48225428305911567842019-04-21T22:30:00.001-07:002019-04-21T22:30:58.997-07:00Pathways - Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring - Step Out to Step Up<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Pathways - Introduction to Toastmasters Mentoring - Step Out to Step Up (Dynamic Leadership Path / Level 2 / Project 2)</span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;"><b><u>Introduction</u></b></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">If </span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">playing a role at the club meeting is like swimming in a pond; </span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">stepping out of the club, is like swimming in the ocean, and our mentors in Toastmasters are our oxygen tanks, who help us to sail through. </span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">In my speech today, I’m going to talk about how I got pulled out from the pond to the ocean by my mentor, DTM Lalitha Giridhar. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Good morning fellow Toastmasters and Guests,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I joined Toastmasters in the year 2006. But, up until the year 2009, I was just sticking to the pond. But, I never Stepped Out of the walls of the club and always operated in my comfort zone, until I received that call… in the year 2010.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><b><u>1st Phone Call</u></b></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">It was a call from my mentor DTM Lalitha Giridhar, who was then an Area Governor. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">She said “Saro! I’ve a friend who is hospitalised. Unfortunately, there is no one to take care of her. I’ve to be in the hospital for the next 2 weeks, to help her out. Coincidentally, our Area Contests is coming up in 2 weeks. As an Area Director, I’m responsible for organising it. Since I’m not going to be available, would you be able to organize it as a Contest Chairman”. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I told her “Lalitha! I have not organised any events in the past. I don’t even know what to do for an Area Contest.”. Lalitha in her usual tone said “Don’t worry Kanna. I’ll support you over the phone. I’ll email you all the templates and checklists. I know you’ll do a great show”. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">With some hesitancy, I signed up for the role. But, when I got into it, I really enjoyed the experience of forming a team, planning for various tasks, getting props like certificates/trophies, promoting the contest to the members/guests and last but not the least… putting together a great contest. Signing up for the Contest Chairman role, instilled the confidence in me that I can also work with a team … and influence people without a formal authority. That was the first ever role that I played outside of the club.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><b><u>2nd Phone Call</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Months moved on. It was the year 2011, right after I finished my Presidential term. I didn’t know what to do next. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">One fine afternoon, Lalitha called me and asked “Hey Saro! We are starting a new Toastmasters club in Amazon. Would you be able to mentor the club? The club meets on Thursdays in the evenings”. Until that time all of my Toastmasters activities were confined only to the weekends. So, I was a little hesitant to take up the role. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I told her “Lalitha! I’m not sure if I would be able to take time off from the work every week. It will be hard Lalitha…”. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Lalitha, without giving me any additional time interrupted my conversation and said “Don’t worry Saro. I have identified 2 mentors and 2 sponsors for the club. You don’t have to go there every week. The 4 of you can take turns. All that you’ve to do is visit the club once a month and support them”. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I told my boss that I have to leave a little early from the office on Thursdays and he said “As far as you can take care of the deliverables, I don’t mind”. That’s how my club mentoring journey started.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">After a couple of weeks, I got a call again from Lalitha … “Saro! I don’t know what magic you did. Amazon Toastmasters are amazed by your leadership. They are very impressed by your evaluations. They admire your coaching style”. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Lalitha said “By the way… Saro! The other 3 idiots who signed up for mentoring the club, they dropped out. Can you please go there every week?”. Hesitantly, I said “Yes!” to her…. With an urge to help my poor mentor. That coaching experience enabled me to learn how to motivate a group of people to deliver their best. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><b><u>Conclusion</u></b></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Dear Toastmasters and Guests,</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">With all of the skills that I developed by stepping out of the club, </span></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I was able to able to work with large teams at work place,</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I was able to keep them motivated, </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I was able to influence them, get things done and produce superior results</span></span> </li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">As a result, from just a Technical Marketing Engineer in 2009, I grew up in career to be the Delivery Head in a Fortune 15 company, managing a team of 300 employees… in 2015.</span></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Like a sculptor who discovers the statue hidden in a stone …</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Like an alchemist who transforms soil into gold … </span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Mentors help you to form, reform and transform</span></span></li>
<li><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Mentors help you to step out of your comfort zone, standout from the crowd and step up in life.</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I’ve stepped out… and stepped up… how about you TMOD?</span></span>Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-1343302706151264192019-03-24T04:43:00.000-07:002019-03-24T04:43:24.173-07:00Pathways - Understanding your Communication Style - It's renewal time<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px;">Pathways - Understanding your Communication Style - It's renewal time (Dynamic Leadership Path / Level 2 / Project 2)</span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">March 31st is the last date for renewing your Membership dues in Toastmasters. I know our VP Membership Annamalai is trying very hard to get the dues from us. I’ve been a VP Membership multiple times in the past. Friends… trust me… it is easy to propose to a girl and make her your lover. But, it is very hard to persuade members to renew their membership. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Good morning fellow Toastmasters and Guests, </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">In my speech today, I am going to talk about my experiments with the different communication styles during my VP Membership roles.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">When I was a novice VP Membership, I tried the 3Bs… </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><b>Begging</b>: Sir… pls renew Sir… Mme… pls renew Mme” </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><b>Bullying</b>: Nikhil… How many times should I tell you that you’ve to renew in time. If you don’t renew now, I’ll not allow you to enter this club again. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><b>Borrowing</b>: Rahul… if you don’t have money now… no problem… you can borrow it from me… and pay me back later</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">But, none of the 3Bs helped me to move the needle. Then, I started experimenting with the different styles of communication.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">At first, I tried the <b>Initiating Communication</b> style</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Initiating communication style values interacting with others and sharing stories. For example, I would go to the stage and say, </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">“<i>Imagine it is 24th Aug 2019… a bright sunny day… you are attending the Toastmasters International convention at Denver, Colorado…. the finals of the World Champion of Public Speaking Contest… the hall is filled with people… people are busy talking to each other … you can smell the coffee brewing … your name gets called on the stage… Contestant #1, Farhan Ahmed… Farhan Ahmed, Contestant #1… the crowd starts to cheer… Farhan… Farhan. All of a sudden, the Chief Judge walks to the stage and stops you from talking “Farhan… You are not eligible to contest. You haven’t paid your membership dues for this term”. Fellow members, if you don’t want to lose an amazing opportunity to participate in WCPS contest, pay your membership dues now</i>”</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">After listening to my pitch, members told me “Saro! What a nice tale!”. But, the tale didn’t make any sale.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Then, I tried the <b>Supportive Communication</b> style </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Using, supportive communication style, you can earn the audience’ trust by providing them with plenty of reassurance. For example, I tried this.. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">“<i>Hello team… I know you have been working hard to develop your communication and leadership skills. We, the club officers are here to serve you and support you. We’ll assure you that you get the value of the $45 that you are spending for Toastmasters. I know some of you didn’t like the hot tea served after the meeting… and that too, during hot summer. After this renewal season, we promise to change the hot tea to butter milk or fresh juice. I trust that all of you will pay the renewal fees by this week</i>”</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Members appreciated the trust, but, my dream of getting renewals on time, went bust. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Later-on, I experimented with the <b>Analytical Communication </b>style</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Analytical communication style uses facts and figures. So I made my sales pitch with statistics. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">“<i>Dear folks… only one in every 200 members who join Toastmasters achieve their Distinguished Toastmasters award. If you want to be such a rarest of the rare Toastmaster… pay your club membership fees now. Toastmasters’ average retention rate is just 55%. Who knows … the person sitting near to you, may not see you, after the renewal season. So, better renew your membership now, to replenish your commitment towards becoming a DTM</i>”</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">I was expecting some pats for the stats, but all that I got were brickbats. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Finally, I decided to experiment with the Direct Communication style</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Direct communication style helps you to get to the point very quickly. You don’t have to beat around the bush and you can be very specific. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">“<i>Folks… It’s renewal time again. There are 3 reasons why you should renew now:</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><i>You can continue to make uninterrupted progress in your communication and leadership journey</i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><i>You would continue to get the unmatchable support from your mentors and club officers </i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><i>Most importantly, you’ll be able to represent our club in the World Champion of Public Speaking contests </i></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><i>The renewal fees is $45 for 6 months. Will you pay the dues on time? Please help me to help you</i>”</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">To my surprise, dollars kept ringing and that made me singing. I managed to complete more than 80% of the renewals, in time. I discovered that “direct communication” is my real and authentic style. </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13.2px;"></span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 13.2px;">Dear Toastmasters, communication style is like the vehicle on the road, that takes you to your destination. You’ll have to pick the right vehicle for the right destination. You don’t need a sophisticated aircraft, if the place that you’ve reach, is the shop at the corner of your street. A bicycle would do. Similarly, use the right communication style with the right people, at the right time, to get the right results. I have discovered my communication style … have you? Mr. TMOD.</span></span>Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-53098817999766757622019-03-10T05:07:00.004-07:002019-03-10T06:07:09.243-07:0010 tips for establishing a new Toastmasters club, the "proper" way"<i>Saro! We are trying our best to establish this club. However, it is becoming very hard to attract guests and even harder to convert them into members. What should we do?</i>". This is the common question that I hear from sponsors and mentors, who are trying to charter a new club in the community.<br />
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I see a lot of budding and enthusiastic Toastmasters rolling up their sleeve to start a new club. However, they need to strategize a little bit for success. To me, establishing a new club is like "farming" - you've to plough the soil, plant seeds, water the plant, remove weeds, apply fertilizer at the right time to get a good harvest. This blog post will share some tips for establishing a new Toastmasters Club.<br />
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<li><b>Start the meeting on time: </b>Starting the meeting on-time is not only critical for new clubs, but also for established clubs. When you start the meeting on time, you are indirectly conveying to the members and guests that Toastmasters meeting is a serious business. Read "<a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2018/10/how-to-start-and-end-club-meetings-on.html" target="_blank">How to start and end club meetings on-time</a>"? When you delay the start of the meeting and wait for members/guests to arrive, even the members/guests who are punctual this week would come late next week. It will result in a downward spiral. </li>
<li><b>Every role player should have a proper script, well rehearsed</b>: Imagine a SAA going to the stage and starting the meeting with sweat all over his face, hands trembling, not knowing what to speak on the stage and to top it all, not speaking good English. This is what happens in most clubs. They say "First impression is the best impression". When a SAA starts the meeting like this, it sets a wrong tone for the entire meeting. Every role player should have a proper "script" in their hand (including the SAA). A "script in hand" means that the role player is prepared. It also gives the role player a lot of confidence to speak. I would also recommend the role player to rehears properly, before the meeting starts. Role player templates for ALL roles can be downloaded from <a href="http://d82divisiongdocs.blogspot.com/2011/10/successful-clubs-templates-worksheets.html" target="_blank">Successful Clubs Templates/Worksheets</a>.</li>
<li><b>Get all the "props" ready for the new club, even before your first meeting. </b>Here are some props that you should have for a high-quality meeting.</li>
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<li>Create booklets for Timer, AH Counter and Grammarian roles. Download from <a href="http://d82divisiongdocs.blogspot.com/2011/10/successful-clubs-templates-worksheets.html" target="_blank">Successful Clubs Templates/Worksheets</a> and print those spiral bound booklets </li>
<li>Get a Gavel for the club. You can buy them online for $20 (Rs. 1000 or less). When you submit the Application to Organize to Toastmasters International, they would send you a kit with manuals and a Gavel. Read <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2011/12/steps-involved-in-chartering-new.html" target="_blank">Steps involved in Chartering a new club</a>.</li>
<li>Get a "standee" or a "banner" printed for the club, with the club's name and Toastmasters International logo. </li>
<li>Get printed ballots for the members/guests to fill the "Best speaker/evaluator/role player/TAG role player"</li>
<li>Get some ribbons from Toastmasters International for giving to the "Best speaker/evaluator/role player/TAG role player". If you are cash strapped, print some certificates (without the Toastmasters logo) and hand them over to the "Best speaker/evaluator/role player/TAG role player", at the end of the meeting. </li>
<li>Pamphlets that give details regarding Toastmasters and regarding the club (benefits of joining the club, membership fee details etc.,). Search Google for "Toastmasters new members kit", you'll find a lot of samples. You can also reach out to your District for some brochures. </li>
<li>New Membership form - It is very important to have this document printed and available during "every club meeting". When a guest says "I'm interested to join this club", immediately ask them to fill this form and ask them to bring the cash/cheque next week (better yet, you can make them to do an instant money transfer via mobile apps like Paypal or PayTM). </li>
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<li><b>Print an agenda for every meeting</b> and hand it over to the members / guests. I know we want to "Go Green". These days, many Toastmasters who are not so organized / disciplined are covering themselves with the "Go Green" blanket. Some clubs use a board to write the meeting agenda - but, according to me, that should complement a printed agenda ... and not replace it. Having a printed agenda is very critical to show members/guests that "Toastmasters is serious business". If your agenda doesn't change much, you are indirectly conveying to them that this club is super organized and sticks to the plan. </li>
<li><b>Display signs to the meeting venue </b>- Clearly display sign-boards or posters that help the guests to find the meeting location / venue. At times, Toastmasters meetings happen in buildings that have multiple floors or buildings with multiple meeting rooms. Display a poster near the building entrance which guides the guests to the meeting venue<b>. </b></li>
<li><b>Identify "temporary" club officers from "day one" </b>- In most clubs, I see that either the club sponsors or the Area directors, who run from pillar to post to get the meeting going. I can understand them doing it for the first meeting. However, they should start identifying club officers soon enough. At times, you may have to just appoint temporary club officers for critical roles such as President, VP Public Relations (VP PR) and VP Education. These officers can in-turn wear multiple hats, by taking over other roles such as VP Membership, Secretary, Treasurer, and SAA. Club Sponsors / Club Mentors / Area Directors can train / coach these members to effectively do their roles. When you get closer to chartering the new club, you can finalize ALL of the club officer roles and make them permanent role players. </li>
<li><b>Kick start the PR engine, which works non-stop</b>: VP PR plays a very crucial role in bringing members/guests to the new club. He/She should find creative ways to bring guests to the club. Some new clubs have the habit of inviting educational speakers for their club meetings. However, ensure that the VP PR adequately promotes the educational session / speaker to entice members/guests to attend the club meeting. If you are not promoting the educational session / speaker in advance, you will not be able to reap the benefit of bringing the educational speaker to the club. </li>
<li><b>Conduct a high-quality meeting, every week</b> - VP Education should conduct a "high quality" meeting every week. Do not conduct half-baked meetings. Ensure that you give the guests a flavor of the prepared speeches, table topics and speech evaluations. Do not skip any segment of the meeting. It is OK to conduct a 1 hour meeting - instead of a 2 hours meeting. However, it is important to cover all of the segments and give speaking opportunities to all of the members/guests. VP Education . Read "<a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/11/10-ways-of-identifying-role-players-for.html" target="_blank">How to identify role players for your club meeting</a>". Ensure that you are picking a set of new + experienced people for playing roles, to increase the quality of the meeting. </li>
<li><b>All role players have to be "coached"</b> - Ensure that every role player is coached in advance, before the meeting. More importantly, you'll have to coach role players like the Table Topicsmaster - who plays a critical role in retaining the current members and persuading the guests to become members. Read "<a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/01/how-table-topics-master-can-hurt-your.html" target="_blank">How a Table Topics master can hurt your club membership</a>". </li>
<li><b>Stay in touch with the guests </b>- Create a whatsapp group and add guests (with their consent) Share a crisp summary of the meeting to members/guests who attended (or not-attended) the meeting. In addition, you can also circulate the agenda for the next week's meeting when it is ready. It is important that one of the club officers reach out to every guest who attended the previous week's meetings. It increases your guest to members conversion rate. In today's digital world, you can also drop a quick Whatsapp note to them... thanking them for attending this week's meeting and requesting them to attend the next week's meeting. </li>
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Zig Ziglar, a famous author and motivational speaker says "You can achieve everything that you want in life, if you can help others achieve what they want". Establishing a new club provides a lot of leadership and inter-personal skills development opportunities to all of the Toastmasters involved (Club Mentors / Sponsors / Members / Area Directors etc.,). If you follow all of these tips, you'll be able to charter your club in less than 25 weeks time. The club should be able to develop roots and start sustaining on its own, there afterwards. Along the way, you would've also gone through a tremendous transformation. </div>
Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-89918523190168533012019-03-06T05:30:00.000-08:002019-03-21T08:48:35.610-07:00Speech Crafting Checklist for International Speech ContestsCracking the <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/03/world-championship-winning-speeches.html" target="_blank">World Championship of Public Speaking (WCPS) Contest</a> requires lots and lots of preparation, planning, practice and performance. During the contest season, our speakers scramble to find the "winning formula" to ace the International Speech Contests. The truth is "There is no winning formula". I always feel that the winning formula continuously changes or evolves, with time. We've quite a diverse set of speakers, who have won the WCPS contests in the last decade. If you find it difficult to come up with a speech topic for WCPS, you can look at the <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/02/international-speech-contest-topics.html" target="_blank">International Speech Contest Topics Selection Ideas</a> or look at the <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/03/world-championship-winning-speeches.html" target="_blank">past WCPS winning speeches</a>. In this blog post, I've captured some techniques used by most WCPS champions to ace the WCPS contests.<br />
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<li><b>Tell Stories </b>- They say "<i>Facts Tell, Stories Sell</i>". Telling stories is the most powerful technique to keep your audience engaged. Almost <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/03/world-championship-winning-speeches.html" target="_blank">ALL world championship speeches</a> include stories or incidents from the speaker's life. It is easier for a speaker to include the story of Barack Obama or Mahatma Gandhi. However, those stories are heard by people 1000s of times and they wouldn't be as engaging as your personal stories. Also, do not pick any stories from the Internet. Thanks to social media - in today's connected world, people get to read most popular Internet stories via Whatsapp forwards. So, it is highly recommended to include a personal story. A personal story would be "fresh" - most people in the audience wouldn't have heard your personal story. So, they would be curious to listen to you. A story well told has 3Cs - Characters, Conflicts and Climax. So, spend adequate time in your speech to describe the characters, the settings, the conflict and the climax. If you don't have a story, you don't have a speech. </li>
<li><b>Create a "foundational phrase"</b> - The first time I heard this term "foundational phrase" was during Ovation 2011. Craig Valentine was one of our educational speakers and he shared with us a <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/06/25-tips-from-craig-valentines-workshop.html" target="_blank">number of speaking tips</a>. He told us about the importance of having a "foundational phrase" in our speeches. Foundational phrase is a crisp one line summary of the speech. It has typically less than 10 words and can be written in large fonts behind a business card (i.e., visiting card). For example, Dananjaya Hettiarachchi's "<i>I see something in you</i>", Ed Tate's "<i>One of those days</i>", Ramona Smith's "<i>Still standing</i>" are good "catchy" foundational phrases. These phrases get used again and again during the 5 - 7 minutes speech and helps in reiterating your "core message" to the audience. </li>
<li><b>Add rhetorical devices</b> - Rhetorical devices add more color to the speech. They help audience to visualize your thoughts. Rhetorical devices are also powerful tools for increasing the memorability of your speech. There are different rhetorical devices such as similes, metaphors, alliterations and triads. Once you are done writing your speech, see how / where you can add rhetorical devices in the speech, to maximize the impact. Read "<a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/11/toastmasters-cc-speech-project-4.html" target="_blank">Rhetorical Devices (Ideas & Examples</a>" to learn more about rhetorical devices. </li>
<li><b>Add Quotes</b> - Brendan Behan, an Irish poet once said "<i>A quotation in a speech, article or book is like a rifle in the hands of an infantryman. It speaks with authority</i>". Quotes would spice up your speech, and it can explain what 1000 words cannot. Do not try to fill your speech with quotes. Add one or two quotes maximum for a 5 - 7 minutes speech. It is best to add them either at the Introduction or at the Conclusion of your speech. You can find quotes for any topic at <a href="https://www.brainyquote.com/">https://www.brainyquote.com/</a>.</li>
<li><b>Include "conversations" in the speech</b> - Having conversations and dialogues in your speech add variety to the speech. Conversations and dialogues also help you to recreate the incident / story from your life, thereby enabling the audience to visualize the incident/story, better. Having conversations in the speech also would help you to demonstrate some vocal variety. It is easy to bring-in some natural voice modulation during conversations than during third person narrations. For example, during a regular narration of an incident you would say "<i>I scolded my friend nicely for taking my bike keys without asking me</i>". You can recreate the incident through conversations. For example, you can say ... <i>When my friend entered the house, I looked at him and shouted "How dare you take my bike keys without asking me? My friend looked at me and said "Sorry pal ! I wouldn't do it again". </i>Refer to <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2017/08/vocal-variety-4ps-of-voice.html" target="_blank">Vocal Variety - 4Ps of Voice</a> for additional information on voice modulation. </li>
<li><b>Add Humor</b> - Most people think, WCPS speeches are serious speeches. However, if you watch the past WCPS speeches, almost ALL the world champions include humor generously in their speeches. Adding humor to the speech, is like the icing on the cake. It increases the engagement and connect with the audience. However, it is not an easy task to add humor in the speech. Don't worry! There are some techniques available to inject humor into the speech script. You can find them at <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2017/11/humorous-speech-writing-techniques.html" target="_blank">Humorous Speech Writing Techniques</a>. Ensure that you are making the audience laugh out loud at least 3 or 4 times in your 5 - 7 minutes speech. Be a little cautious when adding humor to your script - stay away from common pitfalls such as the ones captured in the blogpost <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/11/11-mistakes-to-avoid-in-humorous-speech.html" target="_blank">11 mistakes to avoid in a Humorous Speech Contest</a>.</li>
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Also read: <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/03/international-speech-contests-whats.html" target="_blank">International Speech Contests - What's your message?</a><br />
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Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-67652121320563153782019-03-06T05:17:00.000-08:002019-03-06T05:31:21.349-08:00International Speech Contests - What's your message?“If you want to be a World Champion of Public Speaking, every speech of yours should be a world champion speech” said Dhananjay, District 82 winner of International Speech Contest. Isn't that true? You are not in the World Championship race, with a one trick pony approach. You are participating in the contest because you want to master the art of perfecting your speech. World Championship journey helps you to learn the art of perfecting your speech so that - your ordinary speech becomes an extraordinary speech, your simple speech becomes a star speech, your club class speech becomes a world class speech. The core of any World Championship speech is the "Message". This blogpost provides some tips about coming up with a message for your International Speech.<br />
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A few years back, I attended a workshop conducted by a fellow Toastmaster on "How to come up with topics for International Speech Contests". During the workshop the Toastmaster said, “If you are going to die tomorrow, what is that ONE message that you want to tell the world?” I thought it is an interesting tip. So, I noted it down immediately and used it in my next workshop. After the workshop, a 18 year old young Toastmaster came to me and said “Saro! Why are you talking so negatively? I’m still young and I don’t want to think about dying tomorrow… and I also don’t have any message to tell the world. What should I do?” That young Toastmaster added “I have not lost crores in business... I don’t have a mother or sister in wheel chair... and most of all, I haven’t gone through any alcohol rehabilitation". Now tell me, what should I talk about?</div>
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The moment you ask somebody to come up with a speech idea which has a message, they pick serious topics... like "Stop drinking alcohol", "Economic divide between the rich and poor", or "Why you should attend your club meetings regularly". Well, the last one was introduced to bring humor. Don't take it seriously.</div>
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You don't have to talk about serious subjects and make audience look for a kerchief when you finish your speech. I believe that if you can make the audience laugh and cry in the same speech, you've made the sale. The incidents need not be "larger than life" incidents. The incidents in your speech can be simple ones. However, the message that comes out of those examples should be powerful.</div>
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Let us look at some <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/03/world-championship-winning-speeches.html" target="_blank">past World Championship winning speeches</a>. </div>
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<li>Presiyan Vasilev, WCPS 2013 delivered a speech on “Reach out”. He told us how he wasted a lot of time pretending that he knew everything to fix a punctured tire. Finally, he was able to fix the tyre only by reaching out to a man in the nearby gas station. His message to the audience was to "Reach out" to people around them for help. </li>
<li>Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, WCPS 2014 gave a speech on the topic "I see something". He shared examples from his life where great mentors discovered his true potential and transformed his life. His message to the audience was "Discover your true potential".</li>
<li>Ramona Smith, WCPS 2018 gave a speech on the topic “Still Standing”. She told us how she faced setbacks in life and how she got up, bounced back into action and achieved success. Her message to the audience was to bounce back and stand up, when something knocks you down in life. </li>
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The good thing about International Speech Contests is, they don't give you a topic and force you to speak on that. They allow the participants to come up with their own speech topics. This provides a lot of flexibility to speakers, to pick any speech topic of their choice. Read: <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/02/international-speech-contest-topics.html" target="_blank">International Speech Contests - Topic Selection Ideas</a><br />
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When you are preparing for International Speech Contests, try to identify an interesting story or incident from your life, first. When you have the story ready, ask yourself... what message does the story bring out. Great speakers can do the opposite - you give them a topic or a message, and they can easily come up with a story or example to convey that message. However, for novice speakers, it is easier to come up with a story first and then look for the message.<br />
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A story without a message is like a car without wheels. It will not take you anywhere. If you are doubtful, deliver the story as a speech in front of your club members and ask them "What message do you infer from this story?" You would be surprised to hear their feedback. The same story can at times, convey more than one message. So, you'll have the option of picking the best message to share with the audience. Preferably, pick a message which most people in the audience can connect with or relate to. As a general practice, it is good to revise your script as you move from club to area to division to district to International - as the audience demographics change.<br />
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Mehmet Murat ildan, a famous author once said "<i>There is no message valid for all times! Each message has a life span, sometimes a hundred years sometimes five thousand years, but ultimately the mission of each message ends! When you give people a message, you should know that even if your message is as bright as a sun, one day, like the sun, it will fade away!</i>”. So, don't squeeze your brain and push yourself too hard to share a message that lasts forever. Look for a message which is relevant to share, today!.<br />
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[Also read: <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/03/speech-crafting-checklist-for.html" target="_blank">Speech Crafting Checklist for International Speech Contests</a>]</div>
Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-66695217025712613782019-03-05T07:43:00.001-08:002020-09-06T03:37:07.984-07:00World Championship Winning Speeches - Speech Title, Videos and Message<br />
This blog post will serve as a quick index of various World Championship speeches. This compilation will help you to watch, observe and learn from the experts. I've captured the winning speech's Speech Title, Link to the Speech Video and the Message from the speaker.<br />
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(Also read: <a href="https://www.saroscorner.com/p/tips-for-contestants.html" target="_blank">Tips for Contestants</a>)<br />
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<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 40.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0px 0px 5px; text-align: center;">
<b>Year</b></div>
</td><td style="border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; height: 40px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 90px;" valign="top"><b>Speaker</b></td><td style="border-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); border-style: solid; border-width: 1px; height: 40px; padding: 4px; text-align: center; width: 130px;" valign="top"><b>Speech Title (with link to Youtube Video)</b></td><td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 40.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="font-family: Helvetica; font-size: 12px; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px; min-height: 14px; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times; font-size: small;"><b>Message</b></span></div>
</td></tr>
<tr><td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top"><div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2000</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Ed Tate</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ_KswfUHMQ" target="_blank">One of Those Days</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Never worry about bad times – eventually something good will happen</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2001</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Darren LaCroix</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puSUnj3gf_Y" target="_blank">OUCH!</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 52.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Bounce back. When you fall, fall forward and you would’ve made some progress</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 40.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2003</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 40.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Jim Key</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 40.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ7IdbCR7RU" target="_blank">Never too Late</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 40.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">It is never too late to pursue your dreams</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 41.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2004</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 41.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Randy Harvey</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 41.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddjNwIFba84" target="_blank">Lessons from Fat Dad</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 41.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Love people – not the material things. Love lasts for a life time.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 64.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2005</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 64.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Lance Miller</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 64.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqdipkq9TmA" target="_blank">The Ultimate Question</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 64.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="background-color: white; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Do you validate (appreciate) others? When you appreciate others, you become important to them.</span></div>
<div style="font: 12.0px Helvetica; margin: 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px 0.0px; min-height: 14.0px;">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2013</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Presiyan Vasilev</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xY-gjk1Wfp0" target="_blank">Changed by a Tire</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Reach out to others when you need help – don’t pretend that you can solve it yourself</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2014</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Dananjaya Hettiarachchi</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbz2boNSeL0" target="_blank">I see something</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">There is something special in each one of us and great mentors help in finding that “special in you”</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2015</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Mohammed Qahtani</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iqq1roF4C8s" target="_blank">The power of words</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">How you can use words to make people believe, feel and to impact</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2016</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Darren Tey</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v26CcifgEq4" target="_blank">Outsmart, Outlast</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Handle inner bullies by acknowledging, standing up and<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>fighting against it.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2017</span></div>
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<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Manoj Vasudevan</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x_alq6yYbpc" target="_blank">Pull Less, Bend More</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 23.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Give more and take less in relationships for it to last longer</span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2018</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Ramona J Smith</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Tev43VNRIc" target="_blank">Still Standing</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">When life knocks you down, stay in the ring, look for the lifeline and stand back up.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2019</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Aaron Beverly</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmj1LBJu_Ss" target="_blank">An Unbelievable Story</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Acceptance of people, despite differences is not an unbelievable story<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 46.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">2020</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 90.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">Mike Carr</span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 130.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9edim8P4TnY (Starts at 00:56:00)" target="_blank">The Librarian & Mrs. Montgomery</a></span></div>
</td>
<td style="border-color: #000000 #000000 #000000 #000000; border-style: solid; border-width: 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px 1.0px; height: 35.0px; padding: 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px 4.0px; width: 179.0px;" valign="top">
<div style="margin: 0.0px 0.0px 5.0px 0.0px;">
<span style="-webkit-text-stroke: 0px #262626; background-color: white; color: #262626; font-family: Arial; font-kerning: none; font-size: small; font-variant-ligatures: common-ligatures; font: 11.5px Arial;">The victory is not in the results, victory is in the TRY (allow people to experiment and fail)<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-34598334601305378892019-02-13T02:06:00.000-08:002019-02-13T02:06:18.188-08:00Pathways - Understanding your Leadership Style - Confessions from the CoachPathways - Understanding your Leadership Style - Confessions from the Coach (Dynamic Leadership Path / Level 2 / Project 1)<br />
<br />
Yesterday night, I told my wife, “Honey! I have to attend an early morning Toastmasters meeting tomorrow. Can you pls get my breakfast ready by 7 am? You can probably make some uppma or kichadi quickly in the morning”. My wife looked at me and said “These days you are very bureaucratic and authoritative. Let me decide what I should do for breakfast”.<br />
<br />
Good morning fellow Toastmasters and guests,<br />
<br />
<b>Setting the stage</b><br />
<br />
All along, I thought I was a “Servant Leaders” … but, when I took the “Understand your leadership style” questionnaire for this project, I realized… each one of us have multiple types of leadership styles burnt into our nerves, buried under our nerves and soaked in our blood.<br />
<br />
At times, you are bureaucratic, at times you are democratic<br />
At times, you are altruistic, at times you are authoritative<br />
At times, you are affiliative, at times you are innovative<br />
At times, you are a pace setter, at times you are a coach<br />
<br />
We are all like the 8 legged spiders that walk on the 8 different leadership styles. However, unlike the spider, each one of us have a dominant leadership style… and to me, it is “Coaching”. I’m going to tell you a secret, today! Would you just keep it with you …<br />
<br />
<b>Club Mentoring Experience </b><br />
<br />
The year was 2010. I was appointed as a mentor for a brand new club. This was my first ever experience in mentoring a club. I thought I should make this club, one of the best clubs in District 82. So, I started visiting the club regularly week on week.<br />
<br />
The SAA would say “Sir ! I forgot to bring the Gavel this week”. I told him “No worries. Let us use the white board duster instead of the gavel to start the meeting”. Next week came… but the SAA didn’t come. The following week, SAA said “Sir! The Gavel is lost. But, I’ve the whiteboard duster to open the meeting”. And the whiteboard duster became the perpetual gavel for the club. I just accommodated them.<br />
<br />
When they don’t start the meeting on time… I accommodated them.<br />
When they don’t have a printed agenda …I accommodated them.<br />
When they don’t prepare for their roles… I accommodated them.<br />
<br />
I became a very accommodative mentor, and in-turn lowered the standards.<br />
<br />
They asked “Saro! Can you please help with evaluations?”. I said “Oh! Sure”.<br />
<br />
They asked “Saro! Can you please help with TT evaluation too?”. I said “Why not?”.<br />
<br />
Eventually, they asked “Saro! GE is NOT IN today. Can you please play the GE role too?” I said “No problem”.<br />
<br />
I started wearing multiple hats and drove the club myself at 100 mph, knowing that the wheels are punctured, gas is running out and windshield is cluttered with dust.<br />
<br />
Weeks moved on, months moved on… slowly members also moved on…! At first, the guests started vanishing, then a few members started vanishing and eventually, the club officers also started vanishing. By the time I finished my term as a club mentor, I successfully converted a 20 members club into a 2 members club. I felt very ashamed.<br />
<br />
<b>Kartik’s Coaching Skills </b><br />
<br />
Then came Kartik Srinivasan, who took over the club as a Club Coach, the following year.<br />
<br />
He called those 2 members for a meeting and told them “Look! I want this club to achieve the President’s Distinguished Club status, this year. My job is to help you and support you in that mission. Do I have your commitment?". They gave the commitment to the mission.<br />
<br />
The first thing he did was… He made them to buy a Gavel and banner for the club.<br />
<br />
The second thing he did was.. He made one of those 2 members as the Club President.<br />
<br />
The third thing he did was … He jump started the club by guiding the Club President to conduct a demo meeting again in the organization and by recruiting new members<br />
<br />
He set a very high bar for the club and its members.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>When the meeting didn't start on time… He told them “You better start the meeting on time, otherwise, don’t expect me to attend this meeting next week”. </li>
<li>When they didn't have a printed agenda… He told them “You better have a printed agenda next week, otherwise the meeting doesn’t start”.</li>
<li>Instead of doing the various roles himself, he trained the club members to do the roles effectively and made them to do the roles.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Kartik’s coaching helped the members to improve the quality of the meeting. Slowly the guests inflow increased. From 2 members they grew to 10 members. From 10 members, they grew to 17 members. Eventually, the club had 21 members in the roster, achieving 9 / 10 DCP points, becoming the President’s Distinguished Club during that year.<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
Dear Toastmasters and Guests, I learned 3 critical coaching skills from Kartik:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Don’t be like a wheel that drives them, be like a GPS that guides them.</li>
<li>Don’t give them the fish, just teach them how to fish</li>
<li>Don’t lower the standards, for members to catch up. Increase the standards, to make them rise up.</li>
</ol>
<br />
Dear friends… don’t forget that this is a confession… Will you keep this as a secret? People in our community think that I'm a great coach and I don't want to spoil that reputation.<br />
<br />
In Tamil, they say "You've to kill 1000 patients for you to become a half-doctor". I will tell you that you have to kill a few clubs for you to be become a half-DTM.Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com13Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India13.0826802 80.27071840000007812.5876862 79.625271400000074 13.5776742 80.916165400000082tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-20887475673076674442019-01-14T08:01:00.000-08:002019-01-14T08:01:33.109-08:00Rhetorical devices from "The Art of War" book<a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/11/toastmasters-cc-speech-project-4.html" target="_blank">Rhetorical devices</a> always add color to the speech. However, it is very hard to come up with the apt rhetorical devices (simile, metaphor etc.,) for conveying a thought. Recently, I read the book "<a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/01/10-servant-leadership-lessons-from-art.html" target="_blank">The Art of War</a>" and it had some interesting rhetorics. I've listed a few of them below:<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>If you looked at the stars from inside a well, no more than a few stars would be visible to you. If you look from a hilltop, then you can see when they first appear and when they fade away. It's not that they're any brighter - but your setting changes what you see. Subjectivity is the inside of the well, impartiality is the top of the hill. When intelligence rides on subjectivity, it knows little; when it rides on impartiality, it knows a lot. </li>
<li>A rigid building may be solid, but under the stress of an earthquake, it may cause it to crumble. Whereas, a tree standing next to it can bend and flex to absorb the shock and therefore remains intact. </li>
<li>Those skilled in warfare move the enemy and are not moved by the enemy. </li>
<li>A victorious army is like a ton against an ounce. A defeated army is like an ounce against a ton. </li>
<li>A victorious army is like pent up waters released bursting through deep gorge.</li>
<li>Those skilled in warfare manoeuvres are as endless as the heavens and earth, as inexhaustible as the rivers and the seas. Like the sun and the moon, they set and rise again. </li>
<li>An army that acts with full force is like a stone thrown at an egg</li>
<li>An army's formation should be like water - adapts to the ground when flowing.</li>
<li>An army advances like the wind, marches like the forest and invades like fire.</li>
<li>During conflicts, balance can be a hinderance; Inequality is what helps put a quick end to the disorder. This is analogous to a sick person relying on medicine to get well. If the medicine and pathogens are of equal strength, what good would taking the medicine be?</li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">(Also read: <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2019/01/10-servant-leadership-lessons-from-art.html" style="color: #888888; text-decoration-line: none;">10 Servant Leadership lessons from "The Art of War" Book</a>)</span><br />
Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-70156580861934430872019-01-02T20:26:00.002-08:002019-01-02T20:26:52.077-08:00Pathways - Project 4 - Tick Tick to KickI was 10 years old then. We were all watching a magic show, as a family. The magician pulled a lot of plastic straws one after the other from his mouth… I clapped my hands in excitement, jumped up and down. We were wowed by his trick.<br />
<br />
(Also read: <a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2018/06/pathways-ice-breaker-who-am-i.html" style="color: #2288bb; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13.2px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Pathways Ice Breaker - Who am I?</a>)<br />
<br />
Last week, I saw a video in Youtube. I saw a guy pulling out plastic straws from the mouth… but, this time I was not wowed… I was not excited… I was not jumping up and down. In fact, I was shocked … because the straw was pulled out from the mouth of a turtle… and it was profusely bleeding from the mouth… and moaning in pain.<br />
<br />
Good morning fellow Toastmasters and Guests,<br />
<br />
Plastic production has increased 20 fold since 1964. Despite the growing demand, only 5% of plastics are recycled effectively, while 40% end up in landfill and oceans. Much of the remainder is burned to generate energy.<br />
<br />
According to a new Ellen MacArthur Foundation report, there will be more plastic in the ocean by 2050, than fish. The world's oceans are clogged with plastic debris - plastic spoons, plastic plates, plastic covers and fishing nets.<br />
<br />
Every year, nearly 8 million metric tones of plastic pollution enter the oceans from the coastal countries. Thats equivalent of dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050.<br />
<br />
In 2014, researchers from Gujarat did a post-mortem on the 1-ton carcass of a whale, which got washed away to the shore. They found four large plastic bags in the whale’s stomach. It appeared that the plastic had blocked the whale’s digestive system, which caused its death.<br />
<br />
<b>Why should you worry about it?
</b><br />
<br />
You may think “Oh! Who cares if these species become extinct”.
Wait a second… There are multiple ways in which plastics can creep from the oceans to the human food chain:
The plastics in the ocean get disintegrated into smaller pieces over the times and they become what is called “micro-plastics”. Fishes mistake them for food and consume them,. Eventually, plastics fill their digestive system and they die.
Or, a carelessly discarded plastic bag can break down in the sea, especially in warmer waters, and the process releases toxic chemicals that may be digested by fish.
When these fishes end up in the human food chain, we get impacted too.<br />
<br />
<b>Whats the story in India? </b><br />
<br />
In 2017, Indians generated about 72 million tonnes of municipal solid waste per day, according to an ICRIER estimate. Out of this, about 10% was plastic. The problem was that India was mismanaging over 80% of its waste, while in the U.S. it was only 2%. We just throw plastics into regular trash bins or on the road.<br />
<br />
<b>What can we do about it? </b><br />
<br />
Tamilnadu Government has imposed a ban on using plastic items such as carry bags, plates, cups, flags, small sachets used in packaging water. Clock is already ticking and the ban will be imposed from the 1st of Jan 2019, to kick plastic out. However, the ban excludes using disposable plastic for packaging milk, curd, oil and medical utilities.
So, there will be still some plastic around us… in our everyday life. How can we help the government and save our environment from plastics? I would like to share a 3 step segregation process that we follow at my home, to handle plastic:<br />
<br />
<b>Consolidate</b> - We have a separate trash bin at home to put all the plastic waste - right from chocolate wrappers to empty oil cans to faulty mobile chargers, go in there.<br />
<br />
<b>Separate:</b> Once every month, we identify plastic trash items that can be sold in the local waste paper mart and convert items such as water bottles, milk cover, broken mobile chargers into cash. We keep the rest of the plastic items such as thin plastic bags, chocolate wrappers, tooth brushes etc., at home. The moment someone buys your plastic waste, you can be rest-assured that it will be recycled.
<br />
<br />
<b>Facilitate safe disposal:</b> We handover the plastic trash which cannot be sold - to the municipality conservation worker. He/she ensures that it is handled separately and sent for recycling. Most of the times, government uses such plastic waste for manufacturing cement or for laying roads.<br />
<br />
(Also read: <a href="https://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2018/07/pathways-project-2-evaluation-feedback.html" target="_blank">Pathways - Project 2 - E = M3R2</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>Conclusion</b><br />
<br />
All of us have a role to play in plastic waste management. Roz Savage, a famous ocean rower says “It is not right to manufacture billions of objects that are used for a matter of minutes and are then with us for centuries”. My request to all of you is to do CSF - Consolidate / Separate / Facilitate Safe Disposal of plastics, in addition to coming to CSF (Chennai Speakers Forum). We can’t wait… time is running out… to kick plastic out.Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-68858993725859894972018-10-14T06:25:00.001-07:002018-10-14T06:25:24.129-07:00How to start and end club meetings on time?One of the important skills that we develop through Toastmasters is "<a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/03/time-management-i-dont-have-time-to.html" target="_blank">Time Management</a>". Imagine going to a movie that doesn't start on time, and goes well over the time, irritating the audience who paid to watch the movie. It has a significant impact on the audience experience. When a club meeting doesn't start on time and end on time, it impacts the members experience. It affects the members' ability to plan their personal activities. Eventually, it results in loss of membership.<br />
<br />
On time club meetings have a direct impact on the quality of the club meeting. This blog gives you some tips on how to start and end meetings, on time.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>If a role player is not at the meeting venue, 15 minutes prior to the scheduled meeting start time, swap the role player. Even if the role player calls you and tells you "I am on my way", politely tell them that you are swapping their role with someone else. Do not "wait" for them to reach the venue. If you keep waiting for people to start your meeting, you are indirectly punishing the people who came on time. Moreover, the members who came on time the previous week, would come late this week, because they know that you would wait for them. VP Education should maintain enough backup role players who can jump-in and play the role. Alternatively, someone can double up the roles by playing multiple roles. For example, the Toastmaster of the Day and General Evaluator role can be combined. Or, the General Evaluator and Speech Evaluator roles can be combined.</li>
<li>Time all the role players. In Toastmasters meetings, most roles are timed. So, the role players would know when to end. However, there are roles such as Sergeant At Arms (SAA), Presiding Officer, Toastmaster of the Day which aren't timed and they end up consuming a lot of time. Don't give more than 2 minutes for each of these role players, during the beginning of the meeting. </li>
<li>Corporate clubs cannot afford to have a 2 hours meeting. Most successful corporate clubs meet for just an hour. However, it is critical that they start and end the meetings on time - so that, members can return back to take care of their official commitments. If a member had signed up for another back2back official meeting and if the Toastmasters meeting doesn't end on time, the member may miss an important official meeting. If you don't adhere to the meeting timings in a corporate club, you are sure to lose the members. </li>
<li>Clubs would often combine meeting roles such as Toastmaster of the Day and General Evaluator (especially the corporate clubs), to minimise transitions and save time. The Toastmaster of the Day, after explaining about the meeting flow would go ahead and ask the Timer, AH Counter and Grammarian to introduce their roles and proceed with the meeting.</li>
<li>Table Topics segment is the best segment to fine tune the flow of the meeting and catch up with the time lags, if any. The Table Topics master can decide on the number of speakers to call on the stage, based on the available time. In fact, the Toastmaster of the Day has the responsibility to alert the Table Topics master during the meeting, so that, the Table Topics master can wrap up, on time. (Also read: <a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/01/how-table-topics-master-can-hurt-your.html" target="_blank">How Table Topics master can kill a club?</a>)</li>
<li>If the General Evaluator observes that the meeting is running late, he/she can cut down Timer, Ah Counter and Grammarian (TAG) report and can request members to get an offline report from the TAG role players.</li>
<li>If the Presiding Officer notices that the meeting is running late, he/she can skip the "Guest Feedback" segment and request guests to share feedback offline. Alternatively, the Presiding Officer can just get feedback from 1 or 2 guests and request others to share feedback offline. </li>
<li>If you have guest speakers or educational speakers, inform them in advance about the timing rules being followed by the club. Time their speeches too.</li>
</ol>
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If we know the art of starting meetings on time and ending them on time, we can take that experience and skill back to workplace. We can use the skill to estimate resources and plan for projects well ahead of time, minimise project risks by having multiple backup resources and optimize the execution plan to finish projects on time. </div>
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[If you have other tips for time management, please share them below and I'll update the post to capture them]</div>
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Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-53133458788523693002018-09-30T07:13:00.000-07:002018-10-14T07:36:14.187-07:00Pathways - Project 2 - Evaluation & Feedback - Change is constant<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.2; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt; text-align: left;">
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">“<i>Saro! Study well upto 12th standard. You can start relaxing after that</i>”, told my well wishers. So, I changed myself from a not so studios boy to a studious boy. I studied well and came out of school with flying colors. When I joined college, the same people said “S<i>aro! Study well for the next 4 years and you can then start relaxing in life</i>”. If the books in school were like Karina Kapoor, the books in College life were like Kushboo Sundar. If memorizing the content from school books was like climbing the stairs in IIKM, memorizing the content from college books was like climbing the 7 mountains in Tirupathi. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Somehow, I graduated, got a job offer and joined a company. And the first thing my boss told is “<i>Saro! Technology keeps changing rapidly in this industry. You’ve to learn pretty much every single day</i>”.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear Toastmasters and guests, in this ever changing world, Change is the only constant. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Take for example my Toastmasters career. Toastmasters have brought great changes in me and my life</span></span></div>
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<ol>
<li>During those days, I used to have a Head full of hair but today, I have a head full of shine... I mean wisdom. During those days, I had more hair to comb, these days, I have more face to wash. </li>
<li>During those days whenever I went to the stage, I used to be scared ... but today whenever I go to the stage, my club members are scared</li>
<li>During those days, when I don’t achieve my goals at work, I used to get feedback.. today, whenever I don’t achieve my goals at work ... I start giving feedback to my manager, before he starts giving feedback to me.</li>
</ol>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">My food habits have also been continuously changing ...</span></span></div>
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<ol>
<li>There was a time in my life when I used to eat only the things that my mind asked me to eat - which, in those days, was almost EVERYTHING. Right from the things that grow on the land to the things that move on the land. Right from the things that float on the water to the things that swim inside the water.</li>
<li>Those were the times when if someone had asked me in Tamil “Saro! How much marks did you score in English exam or Saro! What did you eat for lunch ... I would give them the same response”. But over the years...my proficiency in English language as well as my diet have changed</li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Changes are rapid and almost everywhere. Look at changes happening in our lifestyle because of Technology today -</span></span></div>
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<ol>
<li>During those days, televisions used to be of XXL size and our T-Shirts used to be of small size. Today, because of the time we spend in front of Televisions, televisions have become small and sleek, but humans have bulged to XXL size. If we continue to change like this, we wouldn’t have traffic jams at all. Because, humans will develop ability to start flying in the air like hot air balloons. </li>
<li>Technology is enabling our directors and producers to create and distribute more movies today. With 200 movies getting released in a year, there are at least 3 or 4 movie releases, every week. By the time you see a movie poster and decide to go to the theatre to watch a movie, the movie is gone ! And unfortunately, good citizens like us are forced to watch the movie online at www.thiruttuvcd.com.</li>
<li>I remember the days when movies were called a blockbuster when they run In theatres continuously for a year. Movies like Batcha ran for more than a year. But today, movies run for just 2 weeks and they are called a blockbuster. If they run for 3 weeks, it’s called bumper hit and record collections. Occasionally, a movie may run for 4 weeks and that’s because the theatre owner is the producer for the movie.</li>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dear Toastmasters, the world is changing fast and our Toastmasters curriculum is also changing, to keep pace with the world. Toastmasters has brought all of us into the Pathways. No pun intended. Who knows… one day, we’ll be having this club meeting from our home sitting in front of our computer, eating our breakfast and sipping our coffee. Bharti… International Speech Contests may not happen in an international location in the future - but, it will happen right here in Sowcarpet, in your home, in front of your computer. Who knows, we may be doing a virtual handshake with the Toastmaster of the day in the future, through a hologram image. Until that change happens, let me do a physical handshake with our TMOD. </span></span></div>
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Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-973045696902182842018-07-29T06:58:00.000-07:002018-10-14T07:12:35.473-07:00Pathways - Project 2 - Evaluation & Feedback - E=M3R2Imagine getting stuck in a dark cave, with a bunch of young kids, staring at the continuously rising flood water, with limited supply of food, with limited oxygen to breathe and without knowing whether you are going to survive or not. What would you do?<br />
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Good Morning Fellow Toastmasters and Guests,<br />
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How many of you heard about the great Thai Cave Rescue that happened a few weeks back? A bunch of 12 kids from a soccer team and their coach got stuck in a flooded cave for nearly 2 weeks, before they were rescued out by a group of cave divers. Today, I’m going to explain to you the concept of Emotional Intelligence with the story of the Thai Cave Rescue event.<br />
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[Also read: <a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2018/06/pathways-ice-breaker-who-am-i.html" target="_blank">Pathways IceBreaker Who am I?</a>]<br />
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The name of the soccer team coach is Ekk. He is just a 25 years old young man, who displayed high levels of emotional maturity during the crisis. To me, Ekk is an epitome of Emotional Intelligence.<br />
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<b>What is Emotional Intelligence? </b><br />
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Emotional Intelligence is the capacity to:<br />
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<ul>
<li>Recognise your feelings</li>
<li>Recognise others’ feelings</li>
<li>Manage your emotions</li>
<li>Manage your social relationships</li>
<li>Motivate yourself</li>
</ul>
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If the coach Ekk is an emotionally weak person like many of us, he would’ve shouted at the kids. “Its all because of you guys… YOU wanted to celebrate the birthday. YOU wanted to go to the Cave. I told you its late. I told you its going to rain. Now, you got me into a BIG trouble.”.<br />
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Or, he would’ve blamed the environment and circumstances “God.. Why did you punish us like this? Don’t you have any kind heart? What mistake did we do? Why did you flood the cave?”<br />
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Or, the coach could’ve also got demotivated and said “Guys! Thats it. We are going to be dead”.<br />
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Dear friends… don’t we all go through these emotional bursts, in a crisis situation?<br />
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But the coach Ekk didn’t do any of this. He was aware of his emotions… he was aware of the emotions of the kids. He put a brave face to the kids and told them “Kids. Don’t worry! Let us conserve our energy. Let us meditate and keep ourselves calm. Let us share the food that we’ve. Let us drink the water that is seeping out of the cave. I’m very hopeful that someone will come and rescue us”.<br />
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Coach Ekk not only managed his emotions. He managed the emotions of the kids also. He kept himself and the kids motivated during the first week, when they were isolated from the external world. When the cave divers found them after a week, he sent a note of apology to the parents of the kids, displaying his ability to manage social relationships well.<br />
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Coach Ekk is a perfect example of a person with high Emotional Intelligence.<br />
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<b>How many of you want to develop your Emotional Intelligence?</b><br />
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You are at the right place. You are learning all of these skills at Toastmasters. Whenever you are playing a role in Toastmasters - be it a speaker or a club officer or a speech evaluator, you are learning to build your emotional intelligence.<br />
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When you are practicing and delivering a speech, you become conscious of your feelings and emotions. You learn the art of managing your emotions, to suit the mood of the speech.<br />
When you deliver evaluations, you learn the art of recognising other’s feelings - especially, the feelings of the speaker whom you are evaluating.<br />
When you walk into the club, you get to interact with various members and guests, learning to manage your social relationships<br />
And, last but not the least, you are learning to keep yourself motivated to attend the meetings regularly and play various roles week after week.<br />
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[Also read: <a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2018/06/pathways-ice-breaker-who-am-i.html" target="_blank">Pathways IceBreaker Who am I?</a>]<br />
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<b>Conclusion</b><br />
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Dear Toastmasters and Guests, research says that “An individual’s success at work and life is 80% dependent on EQ and only 20% dependent on IQ”. And what that means is “The time that you spend in learning Java or doing your CA inter, is less influential in deciding your success, when compared to the time that you spend here in Toastmasters”. You can look at some of the Toastmasters in our own club, who have developed enormous emotional maturity at a very young age and become successful … TM Shriram, TM Siddharth, TM Gautam Sharma… and many more.<br />
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If you want to be successful in life… start attending our meetings regularly… and start playing various roles… and develop your Emotional Intelligence… in the most intelligent way, through Toastmasters.Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-83190752843102951112018-06-30T08:43:00.003-07:002018-06-30T08:55:52.550-07:00Speechcraft - Don'ts (and some "Dos")<div>
Speechcraft is a program designed to teach public speaking skills to members and non-members of Toastmasters. It is a 6 - 8 sessions program, conducted over multiple weeks. Speechcraft program also provides a platform for experienced Toastmasters to practice their speaking skills in front of a new audience. </div>
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Also read: <a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/12/how-to-organize-ylp-youth-leadership.html" target="_blank">How to organize Youth Leadership Program?</a></div>
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The members who organize and facilitate Speechcraft program have a huge responsibility on their shoulders. They are the brand ambassadors of Toastmasters International. Whatever they do as part of the Speechcraft program can positively or negatively influence the Toastmasters International brand. </div>
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The following are some suggestions (based on my experience!), to improve the effectiveness of the Speechcraft program:</div>
<ol>
<li>Do not conduct the Speechcraft program without the original manuals or with photocopied manuals. </li>
<li>Do not conduct Speechcraft programs with inexperienced / untrained Toastmasters. </li>
<ul>
<li>Ideally, the trainers should've completed at least Advance Communicator - Silver (as the manual expects you to conduct two presentations from The Better Speaker Series and/or The Successful Club Series for getting the credit)</li>
<li>The trainers should've experience conducting workshops - for ex., they should've conducted some trainings in Officers Training Program or Area/Division events. </li>
<li>The trainers should strictly adhere to the format / contents specified in the Speechcraft coordinator's guide. I recommend the Speechcraft organisers to be trained by experienced Toastmasters from the Division or the District. </li>
</ul>
<li>Never go late to a Speechcraft meeting, be there in the training hall at least 15 - 30 minutes in advance. Speechcraft program that happens in a corporate venue may have additional security restrictions. Be there in advance, to park your vehicle, clear through the security procedure to be at the training venue, 15 - 30 minutes in advance. </li>
<li>Always be dressed up in a formal wear </li>
<li>Do not change the program contents / scope, drastically </li>
<ul>
<li>You can change the order in which the different topics are covered, to suit the audience's needs. However, you cannot introduce topics beyond the scope of the Speechcraft program (for ex., topics like "Interviewing skills" or "Time Management", even if the participants request for it)</li>
<li>Speechcraft coordinators guide clearly explains what should be the structure for each and every meeting. Adhere to the structure / format recommended in the Speechcraft manual. </li>
<li>There is a lot of differences between a regular Toastmasters meeting and a Speechcraft meeting. For ex., roles like Grammarian, Ah Counter, Sergeant at Arms, Presiding Officer etc., are not relevant for a Speech Craft program. </li>
</ul>
<li>Do not give away Speechcraft completion certifications for participants who haven't completed the minimum requirement of 3 out of the 6 projects. Ice Breaker, Organize your Speech and Get to the Point are mandatory speeches that the participant has to complete to be eligible for the Speechcraft completion award.</li>
<li>Non-Toastmasters participating in a Speechcraft program may be least interested in "Toastmasters" and most interested in "Public Speaking skills development". While you can talk about "Toastmasters" and encourage them to join a club, that should not be our prime objective. For ex., avoid boasting about Toastmasters history, why it was started, who started it, how is Toastmasters International structured etc., during the first few meetings. You can talk about it offline during the networking time or during Session 8 (last session). A salesman normally asks the prospect to buy a product after the prospect has understood clearly the benefits of the purchase. That is one of the reasons to keep the marketing part for Session 8. </li>
<li>When you assign coaches / mentors for the Speechcraft participants, ensure that the participants get a high-quality support from their coaches / mentors. </li>
<li>Ensure that you pick the "right" Speechcraft coordinators or trainers based on factors such as age/experience of the participants and expectations from the participants. For ex., in multiple occasions, we've noticed that the Speechcraft organizers pick some junior (age/experience) Toastmasters to conduct the session and the Speechcraft participants weren't very comfortable with them. </li>
<li>Do not finish the entire Speechcraft program in 1 week over 8 meetings. The effectiveness of the learning is directly proportional to the amount of home work done by the participants. It is recommended to give sufficient time between each meeting, so that, the participants have time to prepare for their speeches. </li>
<li>Send out agenda for every meeting in advance, so that the participants can come prepared. </li>
</ol>
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Also read: <a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2012/12/high-performance-leadership-hpl-project.html" style="background-color: white; color: #33aaff; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; font-size: 17px; line-height: 19px;" target="_blank">High Performance Leadership - Project Ideas / Requirements</a></div>
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There is a famous quote that goes like this “You will be the same person in five years as you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read". Speechcraft program provides a great opportunity for Toastmasters and non-Toastmasters to connect with new people and learn from each other. </div>
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Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-5837100561413577372018-06-24T05:34:00.001-07:002018-06-24T05:34:58.773-07:00Pathways Ice Breaker - Who am I?<style type="text/css">
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Who am I?</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">[Play the audio clipping of “Sollunga…Sollunga…” dialogue from Baasha, while walking to the stage]</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Wait … Wait… Wait… I am not a underworld Don, like Rajini in the movie Baasha</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Life has given me several identities over a period of time and today, I’m going to share a few of them with you.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Good morning fellow Toastmasters and guests,</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Also read:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3333ff;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2007/11/cc-project-i-ice-breaker.html" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;">CC1 - My College Life (Ice Breaker)</a></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3333ff;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/05/cc-speech-1-ice-breaker-my-journey-so.html" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;">CC1 - My journey so far (Ice Breaker)</a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2016/03/cc-project-1-ice-breaker-lost-found.html" style="color: #2288bb; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">CC1 - Lost & Found (Ice Breaker)</a></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Early Life</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I got my identity as a son, 40 years ago. Thanks to my dad and mom. During those days, my dad was working in a grocery store and my mom was a home maker. We were living in a tiled house almost half the size of this room. The house had just 2 small rooms - 1 room served as the living room, study room, dining room and bed room and the other room served as kitchen and bathroom.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Education<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I got my identity as a student very early, when I was just 2.5 years old - because of being too mischievous at home. I finished my schooling in Chennai and went to Coimbatore to do my Bachelors in Engineering at Government College of Technology.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Life, away from home, in College was great fun. I had a dual identity in College, like the contrasting Indran and Chandran in the movie Thillu Mullu. On one side, I used to spend a lot of time in the computer lab … and that helped me to stay in the good books of faculties. On the other side, I bunked classes, jumped off the hostel wall to go to late night movies and studied just before the exams.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Corporate Life</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Right after the college in 1998, HCL Technologies gave me a new identity as corporate professional. I worked in HCL for 4 years and moved to US in the year 2002. When many Indians in US were returning back to India after the dot com burst, I was walking into US with a lot of dreams.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>It was like the firefighter who walks into a burning house, when everyone in the house are running out.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Toastmasters</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">My English proficiency during those days was very poor. If someone asks me “How good is your English”… I’ll say “I talk English, I walk English I speak English” like Rajini in Velaikkaran movie. That’s when a friend of mine referred me to Toastmasters.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I’ve been a Toastmaster since 2006. Thanks to Toastmasters, I can express myself effectively in English today, like Rajini in Mannan movie.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Family Life</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I got married in the year 2005, and received a new identity called husband. My wife is very understanding, supportive and caring. I owe half of my successes to her. The wheel of life started spinning fast. Soon, my daughter gave me the identity of a father.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">In the movie Annamalai, Rajini accumulates a lot of wealth through hard work, in a very short time. Similarly, thanks to the IT industry and the US life - I achieved my financial goals very fast. I returned back to India, in 2009.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Conclusion</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Like the US return Rajini in Sivaji movie… I feel bad that India hasn’t improved much even after so many years. We still see garbage on the roads… We still see a lot of poverty around… we still see a lot of corruption in the system. The urge to do something good to the society continues to haunt me, every single day.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">On one side, my corporate career is at an all time high and the momentum continues to accelerate. On the other side, my passion towards serving people is pulling me hard. But, today, I hardly have any time to think beyond work, family and Toastmasters.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I don’t know what is in store for me in the future… So, who am I going to be … What is going to be my new identity? I’m puzzled like the Rajini in the climax scene of the movie Baba.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Also read:</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3333ff;"><span style="color: #2288bb;"><a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2007/11/cc-project-i-ice-breaker.html" style="color: #2288bb;">CC1 - My College Life (Ice Breaker)</a></span></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #3333ff;"><span style="color: blue;"><a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2013/05/cc-speech-1-ice-breaker-my-journey-so.html" style="color: #2288bb;">CC1 - My journey so far (Ice Breaker)</a></span></span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #3333ff; font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://toastmasters.saroscorner.com/2016/03/cc-project-1-ice-breaker-lost-found.html" style="color: #2288bb;" target="_blank">CC1 - Lost & Found (Ice Breaker)</a></span></div>
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<br />Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-34003419088553278802018-04-15T02:11:00.000-07:002018-04-15T02:11:16.093-07:00Never judge a book by its cover !I have this bad habit of judging people - no matter how hard I try to change, I find it difficult. The "real me" pops out once in a while.<br />
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I want to take all of you to the year 1994. I was doing my Engineering first year at GCT Coimbatore. We had a dozen odd subjects to study during the first year - but, the most dreadful one was Engineering Drawing (ED). The terms cuboids, trapeziums, quadrilaterals created night mares not only for me, but for the entire class. Until we joined college, all that we knew was "A pencil is just a pencil". But, after the ED class, we learned that there are different types of pencils such as HB, B, 2B, F etc., based on the grade of the lead.<br />
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To add salt to the wound, we had a professor for the ED class, who was as strict as an army major. He can't expect anything that is short of perfection from the students. In fact, he continuously said "Small things make perfection, but perfection isn't a small thing". Let us call him as Mr. Victor to keep his identity anonymous.<br />
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One day, during our ED class, one of my classmates didn't use the right pencil for the drawing. He got her drawing sheet, tore it into 8 pieces and threw it into the trash bin. Another day, another classmate didn't have the right dimensions and margins in the drawing sheet. He got the sheet and dropped it from the 3rd floor to the ground floor. All of us at that time thought "Had he been in Hitler's army, he would've grown to the ranks of Army General in no time". He was so brutal.<br />
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Almost all students made a visit to the Vinayagar temple near GCT campus, on the day of the ED exam, to successfully clear the exam. Thankfully, all of us cleared the exam and moved to our 2nd year. And most importantly, we didn't have to deal with Engineering Drawing and Mr. Victor anymore, because we had chosen "Computer Science" as the major.<br />
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Fast forward to December 2017. We had our 19th year reunion at the GCT campus. We invited many of our staff members to join us for the reunion. The first person to show up for the reunion was Mr. Victor. He had grown old and he told us that he retired from GCT a few years back. To our surprise, he was one among the 3 staff members who showed up for our re-union. When he spoke to us during the reunion, Mr. Victor said "Dear students, I know I was very hard with you in 1994. But, you know what... yours was simply the BEST batch that I ever dealt with. I never saw the kind of commitment / sincerity that your batch exhibited. Your Engineering drawings are simply the BEST that I've seen in my entire career. I still have some of your drawings with me. I'm very glad to see many of you nearly after 20 years". I thought "He is trying to flatter us and this may be the standard talk track that he has for ALL reunion events". After the meeting, he told us that "He can share with us some of the drawings that he has, if we want". I was really curious to see, if he is really preserving those drawings for 20 years. We asked him to mail it to us.<br />
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A week ago, my friend received a courier. When he opened the courier, he was shocked. Mr. Victor had mailed one of the 20 year old drawings from a fellow classmate to him. This is the same girl whose paper was torn into pieces 20 years back. My friend took a picture of that and shared it in our Whatsapp group. I couldn't control my tears when I saw that picture.<br />
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Mr. Victor was so hard with us during our college days because, he was trying hard to bring the best out of us. Not only that, whatever he told us during the reunion was 200% true ! For a person who deals with several 1000s of students over a 20 years period, to maintain a drawing from a student for 20 years is unbelievable. Our educational institutions still have such sincere professors, who wanted to bring the best out of their students.<br />
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I felt so sorry for having judged Mr. Victor in a bad light. I learned a very important lesson from this experience "Never judge a book by its cover". Long live Mr. Victor and his values.<br />
<br />Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-6777809231081327582018-01-07T06:45:00.000-08:002018-01-08T05:14:23.961-08:00CC Project #10 - Inspire your Audience - You are an Inspiration<div class="p1">
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The place was GCT, Coimbatore. The occasion was the reunion of all of our classmates, after a gap of nearly 20 years.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Good morning fellow Toastmasters and guests.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Imagine how exciting it would be to meet all of your friends under one roof, after a long gap. The untold theme of that day was Nostalgia. Some of them had put on weight… some of them had lost weight… some of them looked old, some of them still looked young, some of them had lost some hair, one of them had lost ALL the hair….</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The first session was an Ice Breaker session.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I was called first to the stage. I went to the stage with an inflated chest and head held high. I boasted about my improved communication skills, as a result of joining Toastmasters. I boasted about my success in career and my role as a Delivery Head in a leading MNC. I boasted about achieving financial freedom. After talking on the stage for a few minutes, I came back to my seat with lots of pride. I thought I’m the most successful and I’m going to be an inspiration, for all. My ego got inflated like a helium balloon and started going up and up, crossing the moon… the stars and inching closer to the sky.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-converted-space">[Names of characters changed to ensure privacy]</span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Next, they called Naren to the stage. As Naren was walking to the stage, I was tracing back my old memories… the flash back unfolded in black ’n white.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<li class="li3"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Naren used to be very short, like the millimetre boy in Nanban movie. He hardly combed or oiled his hair. His teeth used to be stained. He used to wear bathroom slippers for classes.</span></span></li>
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<li class="li3"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Naren is from a village near Salem. His village didn’t even have electricity during those days. He was the first graduate from his village. The first time he saw a Television was after he joined the college. The first time he saw a computer was after he joined the college. Until +2, he studied in Tamil medium. So, he found it extremely difficult to cope up with the studies in college.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
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<li class="li3"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">He used to be a lone wolf at the college</span></span></li>
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<li class="li3"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">I remembered an incident from the final year. Naren was asked to take a seminar on “Computer Hardware”, his hands were shivering and he was sweating in an Air Conditioned hall. His English was so poor that nobody could understand what he was trying to say.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>The entire class pitied for him.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
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<li class="li3"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Naren studied very very hard, but despite the hard work, he had many arrears… because, his hand writing used to be like Doctor’s prescription.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
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<li class="li3"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">During the final semester, while many of us came out with a handful of offers, Naren came out with a handful of arrears. We graduated in the year 1998 and I lost touch with Naren after that.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">“Hello Friends”… When Naren started to speak on the stage, I switched from the black ’n white to the colour<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>mode. Naren was in proper formals and wearing leather shoes. He had grown up a little bit, too. The millimetre boy has now become a centimetre boy. He was well groomed. Those stains in his teeth had vanished. Naren continued his speech with a lot of enthusiasm and in a simple English. “Friends… Happy to see all of you here. I work for the prestigious Hindustan Aeronautics Limited as a Technical Engineer. I take care of the maintenance of all the fighter planes that India produces. I know you may be shocked. Yes… I went through a very hard time immediately after we left college. I went back to my village. I didn’t know what to do. But, I didn’t lose my hope.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>I studied hard and cleared all of my arrears in a year. Later, one of my relatives asked me to sign up for a Apprentice program at HAL. Thankfully, my application got selected. I worked in HAL as an Apprentice for a couple of years. My supervisor got impressed by my performance and gave me a full time job there. I have been working there for the last 18 years. Outside work, I love doing Yoga. I’m a certified Yoga instructor. I help a number of people in my community to improve their wellness through Yoga. I change their lives. I’m married to a beautiful wife and I have 2 young kids. Starting from a village that didn’t have electricity to graduating in GCT with arrears to maintaining Fighter planes and changing the lives of people around me, my journey was exciting”.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>When he stopped speaking, there was a pin drop silence in the hall. We were amazed by the progress and transformation in Naren’s life. All of us gave a thundering applause to him. My hologram image stood up and gave a standing ovation to Naren. My inflated ego got pierced, lost some gas and came down to the moon, from the sky.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Then, Suresh was called to the stage… a back bencher from the college days. He told that he is currently an entrepreneur giving jobs to 25 youngsters and delivering software to multi-national clients. Then, Vinod was called to the stage… Vinod was just an ordinary student during college days. He said “He works in US currently, for the IT department of Blue Cross. His hobby is to do counselling for a number of alcohol addicts and he has helped several dozens of people to recover from their addiction”. One after the other, all the batchmates were called to the stage. When all of them finished speaking, my ego, the inflated helium balloon was punctured left, right and centre and was lying dead on the ground. I realised that “Everyone’s life is inspirational” in their own way.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Fellow Toastmasters, look around you, there is so much of inspiration in this place. Our past Presidents Shriram and Siddharth, reviving a struggling club and bringing its membership back to 40 plus are an inspiration … Our own DTM Gautam Sharma quitting his high paying job at TCS to pursue entrepreneurship and training youngsters is an inspiration. Our current President Pravin, who rolled up his sleeves … helping the club during the last term, without looking for a credit, when we lost our then VP Education is an inspiration. You can be an inspiration too… When you have the courage to face adversities head-on, when you come out of your comfort zone and take risks, and most importantly, when you help others selflessly”… someday … someone will pop-up in front of you and say “Hey! You are an inspiration”.</span></span></div>
Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1632063784649700474.post-48907846933967966972018-01-07T06:43:00.000-08:002018-06-23T09:17:46.942-07:00CC Project #9 - Persuade with Power - Tick... Tick... Tick...<div class="p1">
<span class="s1"><i><span style="font-size: small;">This is the last and final boarding call for passenger Shankar R travelling by Spicejet SG831 to Hyderabad. Please proceed to gate 3 immediately. Thank You.</span></i></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Good morning Toastmasters and Guests,</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The place was Chennai Domestic Airport. The time was 5.30 in the morning. I was traveling to Hyderabad for an office work and my flight was at 7.45 am. The security queue was too long that if you look at it from the top, it will look like an Anaconda.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The moment this announcement was made… I saw a man in his 30s with a shiny bald head and a pot belly, popping out<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span>from the end of the long security queue and jumping up like our Alaypayuthey Madhavan… for the “Sagiyea….” song. He immediately starts rushing to the front of the queue by telling everyone “Sir! My name is getting called. My name is getting called”. I immediately thought “Dude! They are not calling you to give Nobel Peace Prize. You are late … and it is a shame on you to jump the queue like this. Why can’t you come here 2 hours before your flight starts”.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear friends… I see people showing up late not only in the airports… but in office, in birthday parties, in weddings, in schools, in colleges and even in Toastmasters meetings. We, the Indians, have proudly created a new definition for “Indian Standard Time”.. which is an hour later than the promised time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">The man that I admire for punctuality is my Dad. I still remember my childhood days. If we have to catch a train at 6 pm, my Dad will ensure that all of us leave home by 3 pm itself. Those days, we relied on public transport heavily. So, my Dad didn’t want to take a chance. Most of the times, we’ll end up reaching the station 2 hours in advance. It is not only during travel… he does that for movies, weddings and other family functions. Many times, we’ll be there at the venue even before the hosts…. And welcoming the hosts !</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Why is Punctuality important?<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Let us try to understand the importance of Punctuality from the context of a Toastmasters meeting.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;"><b>Being punctual doesn’t mean that you are jobless, it means that you value others’ time as priceless. </b>Lets take for example a Toastmasters meeting. When a few role players come late, they waste the precious time of other 15 odd people who might’ve come ontime.</span></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Research shows that <b>110 million people</b> die every year as a direct result of stress. That is <b>7 people</b> every 2 seconds. You know what? “Being punctual reduces stress levels”. Not only that, being punctual helps you to manage complex tasks and work twice as better as compared to being late. If you show up early for a Toastmasters meeting, it helps you to prepare well for your role and also to minimise nervousness on the stage.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Showing up early, helps you to network and socialise with people.. which you would otherwise miss if you are showing up at the last minute. In Toastmasters, it helps you to develop your interpersonal skills.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></li>
<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">If you want to know the value of one month, ask a mother who gave birth to a premature baby. </span></span></li>
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<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">If you want to know the value of ten minutes, see the movie Mersal. </span></span></li>
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<li class="li1"><span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">If you want to know the value of one second, ask the Toastmaster who lost in the speech contest. </span></span></li>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">If you feel that you are going to waste time by showing up early, always carry a book along with you. You can use the waiting time to read.</span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">So, how can you be more Punctual?</span></b></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Start doing backward planning. For example, this is what I do. If I have to be in a Toastmasters meeting by 9.45 am… I have to start from my home by 9.15 am. If I have to start from home by 9.15, I should’ve had my bath and finished breakfast by 9 am. If I have to be ready by 9 am, I should’ve got up an hour early, at least by 8 am. Also, if my commute time is just 15 mins, I give some extra 15 minutes buffer time for unusually heavy traffic. The buffer time is dependant on the distance that I travel for the meeting. The longer the distance, the higher the buffer time.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><b><span style="font-size: small;">Conclusion</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span class="s1"></span><br /></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Dear friends… Punctuality is all about planning, prioritising and preparing.<span class="Apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span class="s1"><span style="font-size: small;">Marvin Ashton, a famous politician said “<b><i>Punctuality or the lack there of, is the only introduction that you will ever have to new groups and friends</i></b>”. Punctuality is the most admired quality. <b>Let us take a resolution today… to be on-time, all the time… throughout our lifetime. Will you?</b></span></span></div>
Saro Velrajanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09546833967237131245noreply@blogger.com0