Table Topics - Theme "World without Computers"

Table Topics

Good evening fellow toastmasters and dear guests …

I’ll be the table topics master for the day.

Theme & Introduction

The theme for today’s table topic session is “World without Computers & Internet”

Internet has become part of our everyday life. Infact, many of us eat, sleep and get up with a computer. Computers are yet to become water proof. Otherwise, they would be with us even in the bath tub.

Internet has been taken for granted these days. We get access to information from almost all the places. With the advancements in mobile technologies, Internet can now be accessed from anywhere in the world.

In today’s table topic session, we are going to get some of your perspectives about Computers & Internet.

Questions

I have four questions for our discussion, today. The first question is

1)      Tell us five things that the world would miss without computers & internet?

Rajesh's speech last week touched upon an interesting point. A growth in the rate of obese people is due to lack of physical activities. Computers & Internet not only have an impact on our physical health - but also our mental health. They've changed the way in which we do things.

2)      How do you think you are spoilt because of Computers & Internet?

Many of us even sacrifice our personal life and spend hours & hours together with computers & Internet. Internet is a double edged sword.

3)      How would Computers & Internet change your life in another 20 years?

The first time that I saw a computer was during my 10th Grade. The computers were locked in a room with glass walls. We were just given the opportunity to "see" them from a distant location. However, my 7 months old daughter gets to play with my laptop almost everyday.

4) Would you recommend kids to have access to Internet? If so why? If not why?

We read a number of stories/articles regarding personal identity being stolen and security being compromised over the internet.

5) Was there a situation where your personal identity/security was compromised over the internet?

Well, it is hard to imagine a world without Computers & Internet. Computers & Internet have deeply penetrated into everyone's life. While we cannot live in a world without them, we should make sure that we don't miss our personal life. For those who spend hours & hours in front of computers, please remember that there is a beautiful world outside the LCD panels.

With this, let me close today's table topics session.

Table Topics - Theme "If tomorrow never comes"

Purpose of Table Topics

            For the benefit of new comers, the purpose of this session is to give every one of us, an opportunity to speak in Toastmasters meeting. This is an impromptu session where a set of questions about a topic will be asked and audience can share their opinions/thoughts for a minute or so.

Theme & Introduction

The theme for today’s table topic session is “If tomorrow never comes”.

I read a nice poem recently and I would like to quote a few lines from it.

“Tomorrow is not promised to anyone,

young or old alike,

And today may be the last chance

you get to hold your loved one tight..

So if you're waiting for tomorrow,

why not do it today?

For if tomorrow never comes,

you'll surely regret the day”

How many of us spend quality time with friends and family? How many of us eat healthy food and stay fit? Do we regularly work towards achieving our goals & ambitions in life? Many of us keep postponing things to tomorrow – but tomorrow may not come at all. May be today is the last chance that we have.

So that sets the stage for today’s table topic session.

Questions

I have three questions for our discussion, today. The first question is

1)      If you just have one last day in your life, what are the things that you would take care of?

We should be thankful to tomorrow because it is the one that keeps us going. Some of us lead life dreaming that our goals will be achieved someday. While others work hard today for a better tomorrow.

2)      What would you want to become in 5 years from now? Are you doing something towards that today?

Thanks for sharing your thoughts with us XYZ!!

At times, I used to think… wouldn’t it be cool if life is like a video recorder. We can rewind and go back to yester years. We can erase and re-record things whenever and with whatever we want. I think God did not have that technology available when he created mankind.

3)      If you were given a chance to go back in time, what would you do differently?

Manage your time today and have control over your future! At times, we have all said, "Never mind, leave it till tomorrow, there's plenty of time". Unfortunately - "Tomorrow never comes!" These days, we do not have the luxury of waiting till tomorrow as by then things can be even worse. So what should we do? Well, let us take action and look at time as our most precious and valuable resource.

Table Topics - Theme "Halloween"

When you hear the word "Halloween", what comes to your mind?

Bright orange colored pumpkins, scary costumes & children going from one house to the other asking for trick or treats.

Well, for me, it reminds me about my daughter's birthday :)

My table topics questions is based on the theme for our meeting today ie., "Halloween".

Also read: 

Table Topics - Theme "Christmas"
Table Topics - Theme "New Year"

Question 1

==========

Situation:

"XYZ" is an aggressive 10 year old boy. You'll not give up until you get what you wanted.

Have you seen the movie "Incredibles"?

You desperately want an "Incredible" costume for the Halloween.

You had already boasted to your friends that you'll get one for this Halloween.

"ABC" is your father and a stock broker. You don't want to spend a lot of money in costumes. You consider that as a waste of money.

You would rather invest them in stocks.

Question 2

==========

You go out for a movie on a Friday night. On the way back, you car tire got punctured on a croocked street.

You don't see any one around. Suddenly, a scary ghost appears in front of you - with

long uneven teeth, blood all over the face and nails so long & sharp.

The ghost says "I am very hungry and I want to eat you. However,

                I will let you to go, if you talk continuously for a minute and 30 secs"

Imagine that I'm the ghost...

Question 3

==========

You get elected to be the president of United States.

You don't like the current way of conducting Halloween celebrations.

You want to bring in changes to the way in which Halloween is being celebrated.

What are the changes that you would bring in?

Question 4

==========

You are the manager of a team. Your company has planned for a Halloween costume contest in the evening.

One of your team members has dressed up well for the Halloween costume contest.

She is so fanatic about participating and winning in the contest. She was in a very beautiful costume

and the probability of her being the winner is more. However, an urgent work has showed up.

She is the only person in your team that can do this work.

You want to motivate her to do the work instead of attending the costume contest.

Question 5

==========

XYZ

You are the head of your family. You want to do a grand Halloween decoration in your home.

You want to buy a lot of colorful lights, some spider webs, antique items, scary stuff, etc.,

You want to spend a lot of money to decorate your front yard for Halloween.

ABC

You are his wife. You are a very conservative women.

You do not want to waste money in buying things that are going to be used once a year.

XYZ has to convince ABC.

Question 6

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What is your most favorite Halloween Costume? Why?

Question 7

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What is your most memorable Halloween? Why?

Question 8
==========

Why do you think Halloween should not be celebrated in our country?


Question 9
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Do you believe in ghosts? Why or Why not?

Question 10

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What is the Halloween Costume that you hate? Why?

Question 11

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Celebrating Halloween is a waste of time

Question 12

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Why do kids love Halloween?

Question 13

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What was your most scariest Halloween?

Question 14

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5 things that you love to do during Halloween.

Question 15

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I love Halloween because ...

Question 16

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There are millions in the world without food... but there is at least a dozen carved pumpkins in our garden.

Question 17

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5 reasons why we should celebrate Halloween every year

Question 18
===========

A great person from history visits your house with a "trick or treat" bag - who do you think that person would be? What would you like to ask him/her?

Also read: 

Table Topics - Theme "Christmas"
Table Topics - Theme "New Year"

Toastmaster of the Day - Script (14th Feb 2011)

Introduction

Good evening fellow toastmasters and welcome guests… Now, I’m going to give you a puzzle… “Chocolates, Flowers and Greeting Cards”… what is the occasion … “Valentine’s day”.  Yes! Valentine’s day it is. This is a day to express love by presenting chocolates, flowers and greeting cards. We are going to do exactly that, in today’s toastmasters meeting.

(Also read: Sample Toastmaster of the Day Script with Speaker Introductions)

A toastmasters meeting has 3 segments:

·         1^st segment     - Prepared speeches is equivalent of presenting chocolates. The taste lingers even after the speakers are done with their speeches. Speakers deliver their speeches according to the objectives defined in a project manual.

·         2^nd segment     - Table Topics … which is equivalent of presenting colorful flowers. A set of colorful speakers are going to do some impromptu talking, and will spread their fragrance with their short speeches on table topics given by the table topics master.

·         3^rd segment     - Evaluation… which is equivalent of presenting greeting cards. While the taste of chocolates or the fragrance of flowers last only for a short time… the Greeting Cards allow you to cherish the memory of your valentine for a longer time. Similarly, the Evaluators are going to share with you their feelings and thoughts on the speakers’ performance, orally and also in writing.

We are going to have an evening of education, entertainment and excitement … an evening of sweet, and fragrant memories to cherish.

(Also read: Sample Toastmaster of the Day Script with Speaker Introductions)

Conclusion

Chocolates are sweet, but their taste doesn't last

Flowers are bright, but their fragrance doesn't last

Cards are great, but their life is short

True love is the best, because...

It lasts till you rest.

"Getting RID of Habits" - Just doesn't work

Do you take New Year resolutions? Do you stick to your New Year resolutions? 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 February. The initial enthusiasm you see in January vanishes soon like a piece of butter placed on a hot pan.  I’m going to give you a tip that helps you to effectively stick to your New Year resolutions.

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.

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.

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.

Steven Covey, the author of Seven Habits of Highly Effective people says “Substitute bad habits with good habits.  It is easier to develop good habits, that way”. Focus on what you WANT TO BECOME than focusing on what YOU DON’T WANT TO BECOME.  If you follow this, 2011 is going to be the first year where you will be reaching all your New Year Resolutions.

Published in March 2011 Chennai Toastmasters newsletter 

Marriages are made in heaven, so are thunder and lightning

AC - Humorous Speaker (Project I)
Warm-up your audience
March 13, 2011

A man goes to a marriage broker and says, "Sir! I'm looking for a wife. Can you please help me find someone suitable?"
"Sure!  I can help," replies the broker, "may I know your requirements?"

"Well! She must be polite and have a good sense of humor. She must have knowledge about most subjects. She needs to sing. She must be able to treat my parents and relatives well. I want her to tell me interesting stories when I’m bored and should be quiet when I need to take some rest. Oh! Last but not the least… She needs to be sleek and very attractive"

The broker smiles and says, "I understand exactly what you need. You need a good LCD TV."

Good evening toastmasters and guests,

Every man in this world wants a wife who is beautiful, understanding, economical, and a good cook.  But the difficulty is finding all these in just one woman. After all, the law allows you to marry only one. 

Today, I’m going to share with you my saga of getting married and leading a married life.

It was the year 2003… I was in Silicon Valley, USA. I was tall, young and handsome… just like Mustaffa.  Yes! I had more hair too. My parents were aggressively looking for a bride. Every week, my parents sent me pictures of at least 2 brides. But, none of them impressed me. Weeks became months, and months became years. It was 2005, I had seen nearly 98 profiles in 2 years – but, still looking for my perfect bride.

Either the girl that I saw looked like an Aishwarya Rai, but hasn’t crossed 12th grade or she looked like an Oprah Winfrey, with a Ph.D. Either the girl was as tall as our Complan boy Karthik or the girl was as short as a 10th grade student. Either the girl was very fat or the girl was very thin. Either the Sun sign didn’t match or the Moon sign didn’t match. At the end, every profile got rejected.

My parents had a short checklist for who my future partner should be. I had a long checklist for who my future partner should be. Finally, the lists didn’t converge. I decided to lower my expectations. First I gave up a few, then I gave up some more, and finally I had very little to give up. My expectation of a wife came all the way from Aishwarya Rai to Asin to Sneha to finally “some decent looking girl from a good family”.

After 2 long years of waiting, I finally got married in 2005. Had I known PATT then… he would’ve wished me “Congratulations on the termination of your isolation and may I express an appreciation of your determination to end the desperation and frustration”.

As you all might know, I’m a very organized person. Immediately after the marriage, I wanted to prepare myself for a successful married life. The first thing that I did was I bought the book “Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus”. I read the book page by page, line by line, word after word. After reading the book, I thought I’ve mastered the art of “understanding a women”. I thought I had learned all the tricks to keep my wife happy. A few months into the marriage, I realized “Men are from Mars, my wife is not from Venus”.

Wedding rings are the world's smallest handcuffs.

When you wake up early, she tells “You are getting older and not getting sleep”. When you sleep too much “She calls you lazy”.


When you help her in house hold chores “You are making it a mess”. When you don’t help her “You are not considerate”.

When you watch television, “You are wasting time” and when she watches it “She is just relaxing”.

6 years into the married life, things have really changed. Yes! Now, I don’t feel bad when she calls me as “lazy, old and not considerate”.

Friends … many of you are young and are at the age of getting married. Sadayappan… I know you are very eager to lead the 1234 life… But, “think twice before you make the decision to get married… think one hundred times before you say “Yes!” to a girl…. Because…

“Marriages are made in heaven, so are thunder and lightning”.