Showing posts with label Entertaining Speaker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Entertaining Speaker. Show all posts
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Friday, March 13, 2009
Entertainment Speaker (Project 5) - My life in US - A Roller Coaster
AC - Entertaining Speaker (Project V)
Speech after Dinner
March 13, 2009
Introduction
Steep climbs, deep falls, sudden twists & turns ... If I've to put my USA experience in simple terms, "It was a roller coaster". Wow ! What an experience. It was full of excitement, fun, adventures, and entertainment. Today, you are going to get a short peek into what was going on in my life in the last 6 years.
Beginning of the ride
I came to US in Oct, 2002, right after the dot.com bubble burst. I took my seat in the roller coaster, buckled up and got ready for the ride. When many immigrants were packing their things and leaving the country, I entered the country with lots of hopes and dreams. I felt like a firefighter marching into a burning house, when everybody in the house is running out to the doors.
Experience in Mobility Networks
I joined a start-up company in the valley. The company had lots of people, lots of hope - but, very little money in the bank. Our CEO was very optimistic. Every time we had an “All-Hands” meeting he'll tell us "Oh... We are doing extremely well. We are working on the last-mile of the technology and investors are very interested to give us money". This went on for about 6 months.
It was June 2003. We had an all-hands meeting, as usual. The CEO told that we are getting very close to raising funding and we may get a 'funding term sheet' any time. The next day, we didn't get the "funding term sheet" but we all got our "termination letters". Yes. My company couldn't raise funding. They filed for bankruptcy & closed the doors. Most of my co-workers were smart. They were already looking for jobs and they all had offers at hand. I strongly believed in the company and the CEO. I didn't expect the company to go under, this soon. I learned my first lesson about Corporate America - "Never blindly trust the CEOs. They are paid to be optimistic".
I managed to get into another job in a couple of weeks. That was a startup too. I spent my next 3 years with this company. I got a wonderful opportunity to manage a small team. The job also involved traveling to several places in Europe & North America.
MBA & Wedding
The ride got a bit more exciting in 2005. I signed up for 2 major things. I enrolled in a part-time MBA program and I signed-up for a full-time husband program. Yes. I got married. I thought I should prepare myself for a married life. The first thing that I did was I bought the book “Men are from Mars & Women are from Venus”. I read the book page by page, line by line, word after word. After reading the book, I thought I mastered the art of “understanding a women”. I thought I had learned all the tricks to keep my wife happy. Its 4 years since I'm married. Now, I feel, like writing a book. The title would be “Men are from Mars, my wife is not from Venus”.
Toastmasters
My MBA course was very intensive. While doing my MBA, I realized that I've to improve my public speaking skills. A friend of mine introduced me to Toastmasters. I'm glad that I joined toastmasters. I set myself a goal of completing 10 speeches every year. This is my end of 3rd year and I'm completing my 30th speech in Toastmasters. I'm thankful to all the fellow toastmasters for helping me to be a better communicator.
I'm also very grateful to 2 people in Toastmasters. The second person is my “friend”. He introduced me to Toastmasters. If not for him, I wouldn't have had an opportunity to meet wonderful people like you. The first person is “Warren”. I'm proud to say that I'm one of Warren's students. His workshops made a very significant impact in my thinking and communication. I would've spent another 10 years to learn the stuff myself, that I learned in just 1 year, from his work shop. Thank you Sir !
Returning back to India
With all the fun & excitement going around, I didn't realize that my ride is going to come to an end. I have been thinking about going back to India for a while. But, I kept postponing the decision. At first, I thought I should go back in 2 - 3 years, then I thought I should go back before I get married, then I thought I should go back before I get a kid, then I thought I should go back with a 'business' plan, then I thought..., then I thought ... there was no end to the list. Well, finally I had to pull the plug.
The turn of events in my personal life made it easy for me. It took just less than an hour for me to decide. I booked tickets for my wife/daughter in the next 1 hour. I packed and sent them to India in the next 24 hours.
The last part of the roller coaster ride is very exciting. I cleaned up and sold my household items. Things sold pretty fast. Thanks to the recession. People love used items! We spent years and years to accumulate those items. But they all vanished in days. I found a job in India, too. I'm all set to go back. The ride is going to stop soon. I'm ready to unbuckle my belts in a few weeks from now.
Conclusion
Life in US taught me a number of things. I got a wonderful exposure both from a career standpoint and from my personal standpoint. I'm not the same person who entered this country 6 years ago. My dreams became reality and my hopes were fulfilled.
If I had not come to US, I would have been like a tiny little fish in a pond. Today, I feel like a shark, that can swim in a ocean. I know how to go with the tides and against them.
I'm quite excited to return back to India and meet my family & friends. The ride was quite exciting and memorable. I'm definitely going to miss you all. But, change always happens. I strongly believe, “every end is for a new beginning”.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Entertainment Speaker (Project 4) - The Importance of Change
AC - Entertaining Speaker (Project IV)
The Dramatic Speech
February 20, 2009
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The Dramatic Speech
February 20, 2009
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Introduction
Today I'm going to talk about "The Importance of Change". You may be wondering ... Is this guy going to talk about the "change" happening in his personal life? Is he going to talk about the word "change" that is used often in politics? Hold your horses ... I'm NOT going to talk about any of those "changes". I'm going to talk about the importance of always keeping some CHANGE in your pocket.
Like most of you, I was quite used to the credit card culture. I never used to carry any cash in my wallet. I realized the importance of carrying cash, only when I made that trip to Seattle.
Toll Booth Experience
We took a flight from San Jose to Seattle. The flight landed in Seattle around midnight. We were so tired after our flight journey. We rented a car and drove to the hotel. There is something special about traveling with a kid. Right after you throw the kid into the car and start the vehicle they'll ask for one of the two things - either they want to get down and go "peppe" or they want to eat/drink something. My daughter asked for water. Unfortunately, we didn't have any water in the car. I had to take an exit to look for a shop. Right after taking the exit, I saw this small toll both. It was unmanned. I was quite surprised to see a tollbooth there. There was a signboard that said, "Please deposit 75 cents here". The machine doesn't accept dollar bills and accepts only coins. I had just two quarters in my wallet. My wife checked the bags, her purse etc., and we couldn't find any change. There were no lights in the near vicinity.
Handled Toll Booth Situation
There was a video camera sitting on the top of the tollbooth. It was smiling at us, eagerly waiting to picture us, making a violation. There was not even a single car/vehicle in that area. I got very frustrated. I spent nearly 10 minutes waiting there for someone to show up. My daughter started to cry for water. I was helpless. I decided to make a toll violation and pay the fines later. Suddenly, a light bulb went on in my head. I got off the car and looked down on the road. I found a glittering 25 cents coin on the road. I knew someone would have dropped a quarter when they were trying to pay the toll from their car. I thanked all the godly powers that dropped the 25 cents from the sky, just for me. I was lucky enough to find a quarter on that road. Otherwise, I would have paid a 100$ as fine. I learned my first "change" lesson - Always carry some "quarters" or "coins".
Trip to Vancouver
We spent a day in Seattle. The next morning, we got up and drove to Vancouver. We parked our car along the side of the road and roamed around in the downtown area. Around evening, we came back to the car. My wife & kid went to the back seat. I was the designated driver and I looked at the Google map for directions. It said, "Head northeast towards Main Street". First of all, I don't know which is "northeast". Second of all, I don't know where "Main Street" is. I was puzzled.
Man threatening for money
A gentleman walking on the roadside voluntarily stopped near my car and asked me if I need help with directions. He is a medium fit Afro-American. He looked very decent. He helped me with the directions and I was patiently listening to him. I was so happy and thanked him for his assistance. (You've to convey that he is talking to you from the other side)
He looked around inside the car and asked me for 5$. I told him that I don't have 5$ change. My photo camera was on the front seat. He immediately put his hand inside the car and grabbed my photo camera. He told that he'll give my camera back only if I give him 5$. I told him that I don't have change. All, I had was a credit card.
I don't know what to do. My mind went total blank. I was so tempted to ask, "Do you accept credit card?" :) I'm not sure if the guy carried a gun.
I don't know if I have to shout. In the mean time, my wife who was sitting at the back, searched through her bags and found a 20$ bill. I gave the guy a 20$ bill to get my camera back. We immediately left the place and drove back to Seattle. It took us a while to recover from this impact. If I had carried some "change" in my wallet, I wouldn't have had this terrible experience. I would've silently given that guy a 5$ note. This was my second change lesson.
Conclusion
I realized the importance of carrying some change in my wallet, after our trip to Seattle/Vancouver. These days, I always carry some cash.
Ladies & gentlemen ... Whether you believe it or not, "CHANGE" is important. Always carry some change in your wallet. Remember ... The greenback is at times more valuable than the plastic.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Entertainment Speaker (Project 2) - New Year Resolutions
AC - Entertaining Speaker (Project II)
Resources for Entertainment
January 2, 2009
Madam Toastmaster, fellow toastmasters and dear guests. Happy New Year!!
Introduction
How many of you take New Year resolutions? How many of you stick to your New Year resolutions? It is not very surprising to see lesser number of hands. Research has shown that 90% of the people give up on their New Year’s resolutions, before the end of January and guess what, majority of the remaining 10% give up before the end of the year. The initial enthusiasm you see in January vanishes soon like a piece of butter placed on a hot pan. Today, I’m going to give you some tips to effectively reach your New Year resolutions.
Try “to GET” instead of “to GET RID OF”
Many a times New Year Resolutions fail because “People try to desperately RUN AWAY from their bad behaviors”. Instead of RUNNING AWAY from something, focus on RUNNING TOWARDS something. The only time RUNNING AWAY FROM SOMETHING works is when you are chased by a hungry dog.
When you try hard to UNLEARN your bad habits, you focus too much on the BAD than focusing on the GOOD. For example, when delivering a speech, the more you focus on getting rid of nervousness, the more nervous you become. Instead, you should focus on how you would feel if you deliver the speech successfully.
Quit Smoking Resolution
One of the prominent New Year resolutions is to QUIT smoking. Zig Ziglar, the powerful motivational speaker was a “three-pack-a-day” smoker. Cigar was almost like a 6th finger in his hand. He had a New Year resolution to quit smoking. I think he was so passionate about that resolution. He took the same resolution every year for more than 20 years. He had tried to quit many times using every tool and technique he heard about. He tried all the things from applying “patches” to destroying the “matches”. But as long as he was trying to QUIT, he couldn’t break the grip.
Finally, he changed the approach. Instead, of trying to QUIT the habit of smoking, he developed a dream to become a non-smoker. He fell in love with the idea of breathing clean air instead of smoky air. He wanted his body and clothes to smell nice instead of smoky. He decided to start acting and thinking like a non-smoker, and when the thinking took hold he simply quit smoking.
Get support from your friend (or) spouse
How do you sustain your newly formed habits? Get help from your spouse and all your friends. Ask them to “remind” you. They’ll do it very sincerely.
Dan’s story
I read an interesting story from a book. Dan, a young man in his early 30s took a New Year resolution of getting up early and do jogging. He asked his wife to wake him up at 5 o’clock in the morning. Every day, his wife gets up at 5 o’clock sharp, wakes him up and goes back to sleep. He was very happy that his wife is very supportive to reach his goals. But, do you know the real reason why Dan’s wife woke him up everyday? Dan snores a lot during sleep. If she wakes Dan at 5, she can get at least a few hours of peaceful sleep in the morning.
Your friends and spouse will remind you promptly about your goals – if not for selfless reasons, they’ll do it at least for their selfish reasons. After all, they get some credit too, if you become successful.
Conclusion
New Year Resolutions are easy to make – but hard to sustain. Experts say it takes 3 weeks to develop a new habit and 6 months for it to become a part of your life and just 1 week to completely give up. Giving up a resolution is THAT easy. Focus on what you WANT TO BECOME than focusing on what YOU DON’T WANT TO BECOME. Get the help of your friends & spouse. If you follow these, 2009 is going to be the first year where you will be reaching all your New Year Resolutions.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Entertainment Speaker (Project 1) - Life on the Wheels
AC - Entertaining Speaker (Project I)
Life on the Wheels
November 28, 2008
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Life on the Wheels
November 28, 2008
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Introduction
We take so many things for granted, in our life. For example, any time we open the tap in the kitchen or bathroom we assume there is going to be water. Any time we turn-on the television or the air conditioner, we assume there is going to be electricity. But, I realized the importance of these simple things, during my trip to Glen Canyon in Page, Arizona. Today, I'm going to share my experience of living in a Recreational Vehicle (RV).
Friend dropped out
My friend & I decided to go to Glen Canyon for the Christmas holidays, last year. We were very excited because we had booked an RV for the trip. Unfortunately, the day before the trip, my friend's daughter got sick & he had to drop out. I have never driven a RV before. The longest vehicle that I've ever driven is a 10 feet U-Haul truck. So, I was in a dilemma whether I should cancel the trip (or) should I go ahead with the original plans. Finally, I decided to go ahead with the original plans.
The RV
My wife, kid & I flew to Phoenix and rented the RV there. It was a 29 ft motor home. It was so huge. I was staring at the RV like a tiny little kid standing in front of a huge elephant. The RV had all kinds of appliances like stove, microwave, fridge, air conditioner, television etc., It had all the facilities that you would typically have in a house - kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, sofa, dining table, etc., The RV also had a generator to power-up the appliances.
Driving Experience
I have always enjoyed driving. But, for the first time in my life driving was so unpleasant. Driving a car is like riding a horse. You can go really fast. But driving a RV is like riding a camel in the desert. The RV was going very slow. A 3 1/2 hour drive took us nearly 6 hours.
The worst thing about driving a vehicle of this size is - you don't have a rear view mirror & you cannot really see if a cop is behind you. For the first time in life, I did something that I've never done - Driving within the speed limits.
RV Park in Page
By the time we reached our camping area in Page, it was 11 pm and it was completely dark. The weather was very cold. I was literally shivering when I hooked-up my vehicle to the water, electricity and sewage outlets in the camping area. We were so tired. We had our dinner and went to bed immediately.
Frozen Pipe
The next day morning when we opened the tap in the kitchen sink, we didn't get any water. I wore several layers of clothes including a sweater and a thick leather jacket. I stepped out to see why the water supply stopped.
I was amazed when I stepped out of the vehicle. Our camping spot was near Lake Powell. The lake had completely frozen due to the cold weather. I looked around and we were the only party to camp there. I went around the vehicle to check the water connection. The water in the tap & the tube had completely frozen. That is the reason why the water supply was blocked. We waited for a couple of hours for the sun to show up & melt the ice.
Generator
We got ready & visited a few places in Glen Canyon. When we were not in the camping area, we had limited access to water and electricity. We were so tempted to turn-on the heater when the vehicle was parked. But, we cannot let the generator run forever. Otherwise, we would run out of gas.
We cannot take a long shower when we were not in the camping area. Water was precious :)
Nice things about RV
Though we had some shortcomings, there are several nice things about living in a RV. Have you ever thought about lifting your home, placing it on wheels and taking it along wherever you go? Well, that is exactly what an RV is. Whenever you want to drink coffee, you don't have to look for Starbucks. You can pullover the vehicle and prepare hot coffee with fresh aroma. You don't have to search for rest areas along the roadside. Because ... the roadside itself is your rest area. I mean, you can pullover and use the bathroom in your vehicle.
How many of you feel drowsy when you drive your car during the sight seeing trips, especially after a heavy lunch? Did you ever feel like taking a nap? Well, if you are driving a RV you can park your vehicle and take a comfortable nap.
Conclusion
We stayed in the RV for 3 days. I realized the importance of water & electricity during our trip. I have been conserving water and electricity, since we made that trip.
Our trip to Glen Canyon is very memorable because of the RV. We enjoyed our life on wheels. We had quality time.
Ladies & Gentlemen, if you are planning for your next trip, you should definitely consider renting a RV. I bet you, its lots of fun!!
Saturday, September 6, 2008
Entertainment Speaker (Project 3) - Economy is driving me crazy
AC - Entertaining Speaker(Project III)
Make them Laugh
August 29, 2008
Introduction
Gas price keeps going up and up like a balloon filled with helium. House price keeps going down & down like a rock falling from the sky.
My favorite toasted sandwich is getting smaller and smaller in size ... but bigger and bigger in price.
Today, I'm going to talk about how this "Economy is driving me crazy".
Gas - Price goes up
Once a week my car turns-on that ORANGE indicator on the dash board and tells me "I'm hungry!" I saw 4.10 per gallon at the gas pump. I thought I'd wait for one more day for the price to come down. The next day, I saw, 4.18 per gallon. I could wait for one more day. But, I don't want my car to die in the middle of highway 101 at the peak hour. I filled my tank in a hurry before they increase the gas prices again.
Have you ever been to Casinos & played in slot machines? To me, the numbers in the price board in Gas station go up faster than the reels of a slot machine.
Gas - How bad the economy is? (Costco Gas Station)
These days, I fill gas in Costco. One year back, when I go to Costco, I saw only the medium income folks with their Hondas & Toyotas lining up at the gas station. These days, I see BMWs & Mercedes in the queue. That tells me how bad the economy is.
Gas - Mileage improvement tips
I thought I should find out ways to save gasoline. Someone said, "If you avoid applying brakes often, your mileage will go up". For the past 6 months, I have been trying that. My car's mileage didn't go up, my insurance premium did! Well, what would your insurance company do, if you had two accidents in 6 months because of not applying brakes?
Stocks - Catching a falling knife
Having gone through all these, I thought, it's a right time to generate some passive income. I decided to invest in stocks. I bought some shares of a technology company. The stock value dropped 10% on the same day. Being new to the stock market, I asked my friend, "Mr. Stocks! Why did the stock go down by 10% on a single day". He said, "Well, the company's revenue didn't meet analysts' expectations. The investors were concerned & hence, the stock price went down".
I waited for the next quarterly results. This time, the company had EXCEEDED the analysts' expectations. But, still the stock price dropped by 20%. I asked my friend, "Hey Mr. Stocks! What happened? The company EXCEEDED the targets but still my stocks went down by 20%". He said, "Well, the company exceeded the expectations. The investors are now concerned that the company cannot sustain this growth rate in the current economy". Come-on, give me a break. I tried to catch a falling knife & my hand is full of blood. Till date, I have lost 50% of my investment in stocks.
Work - Vacation
You would be surprised to know what happened at my work. My company is in cost cutting mode. When times are bad, what will you do? You expect everyone to work hard, right? Well, we got an email from our HR department. "We request all the employees to use their vacation hours". What? The economy is bad. The projects are slipping. They want everyone to go on vacation? Have they gone mad? How is that going to help the company?
Home - Washing Machine
Have you ever noticed this in your life? Good things come like drizzling rain shower. But, bad things hit you hard like hurricanes.
When I was worried at the growing expenses and hurting economy - something happened at my home that was like icing on the cake. I bought a brand new washing machine last year with 1-year warranty. We celebrated the first birthday of our washing machine and the next day it doesn't start. I don't know how they program these appliances to die right after the warranty expires. I paid 50$ for the washing machine spare part and 150$ to the guy who fixed it. He earns twice than what I do for an hour of work.
Conclusion
My valet lost several pounds in the last one year.
Well, the economy has made only a small dent on my life & my dreams. But, there are people whose dreams were crushed into pieces by the economy. I have food to eat, a nice home to sleep and a doctor to go to if I'm sick. When I think about the millions of people who lost their jobs, who do not have money to feed their hungry little ones, who lost their homes in fore closures, who do not have health insurance... I'm better off than these folks. I should thank God for blessing me with this wealth.
God bless America!
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