CC Project #6 - Vocal Variety - Lessons from the gym

Introduction

“An apple a day, keeps doctor away. Doing exercise every day, keeps Lord Yama away”

Good morning fellow Toastmasters and guests,

8 months ago, I enrolled in a gym to improve my fitness. I learned a number of lessons in my fitness journey. Today, I’m going to share with you the 2 most important lessons.

Lesson 1: What you do outside matters much more than what you do inside

Many people enroll in a gym thinking that exercising daily helps them to lose weight. When you start exercising a few weeks and step on that sleek weighing machine, you start realizing “OH BOY! THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO LOSE”.

If you continue to eat Pizzas and Burgers … If you continue to drink Coke and Pepsi… If you continue to sleep at odd times and wake up at odd times you aren’t going to reduce weight… no matter how long you run on the treadmill.

Before joining the gym, I used to eat like how a Camel drinks water. I normally eat for the next 6 hours. Guess what, 3 hours later I become hungry. I again eat for the next 6 hours and the cycle continues. The more I ate, the faster my digestive system worked. The faster my digestive system worked, the faster I gained weight. The faster I gained weight, the faster I was getting a hump like the Camel. The only difference was, the Camel had the hump at the back and I got it at the front.
After joining the gym, I learned from my trainer that my eating habits has to change, if I have to reduce weight and become fit. He recommended having 5 small meals instead of 3 heavy meals. He also suggested to cut down on the sugar in my diet. I started noticing the change immediately, after I changed my eating habits. In the last 9 months, I’ve lost 7 KGs.

Lesson 2: When you are not GOOD at doing something do it more often to become GOOD at it

My gym got a new trainer a few months back. The first thing he asked me to do was to do pull-ups. I looked at my new trainer Thiru who was in his early 20s, and asked “Thiru! Are you sure you want me to do that? The last time that I did that was during my teenage” Thiru looked at me and said “Yes Sir. You can do that. Give it a try”. So, I started giving it a try. The bar was about 7 feet high. I was clinging to the bar and trying to lift my body up… like an ant trying to lift a huge mountain. I started swinging back ‘n forth like a monkey on a tree branch, but couldn’t pull my body up. After a few tries, I gave up. I said “Thiru! My arms haven’t gained enough strength to pull my body weight. Once my arms gain enough strength, may be after a few months, I’ll give it a try. For now, I don’t think I’m GOOD at it this and let us pass it on”. Thiru smiled at me and said “Sir! If you are not good at something, you should try it more often. From tomorrow onwards, as part of your warm-up exercises, you should do 15 pull-ups. If you are not able to lift your body weight, at least jump up and start coming down by clinging to the bar”.

I started doing the pull-ups every day as part of my warm-up exercises. The first few days, I was just jumping up and down by clinging to the bar. In about 2 weeks, I was able to lift my body weight up. Today, I can comfortably do 6 continuous pull-ups. Still I have a long way to go to reach the 15 count. But, I’m confident that I can get there.

Conclusion

Dear friends, did you realize… there are more similarities between my Gym and our Toastmasters club. Both the places provide a platform for you to train yourself, to make you come out of your comfort zone and to make you discover your best.

It is not just the speeches that we do in Toastmasters club meetings that transform us… but, the number of books that we read to write speeches, the number of times that we do rehearsals at home, the amount of time that we spend with our mentors. These are the things that play a crucial role in transforming us. So, what you do outside of the club matters much more than what you do inside the club.

I’ve seen budding Toastmasters staying away from Table Topics session thinking that they aren’t good at it. If you aren’t good at it, you’ve to do it more often to be good at it.

Dear friends…

1. What you do outside matters much more than what you do inside
2. When you are not GOOD at doing something do it more often to be GOOD at it

Let us apply these 2 learning from the gym to excel in our communication and leadership journey, in Toastmasters.

3 Habits of Highly Productive People

Are you working hard, but lacking a sense of accomplishment? Do you hardly have any time for hobbies? Do you want to accomplish more and grow fast in your career?

If you had answered “Yes!” to any one of the above questions, I was like you… 10 years ago. I hardly had any time in my life, except for family and work. I was doing a lot of activities, but very few accomplishments. Today, I have lots of time to exercise, to read books and for hobbies like Toastmasters. So, what are the 3 most important habits that I learned from successful people that helped me to increase my own productivity?

Also read: If you dream, you can

1. Start your day early - When I wanted to become successful in life, I started reading a lot of books on “How to become successful?” I learned that there is one thing which is common across all successful people – they get up early. Getting up early in the morning helps you to create extra time. If you want to develop a new habit such as exercising or planning your day, you can do it in the morning. During the day, you get interrupted by your priorities at work, by family and friends. But, at 5.30 in the morning, nobody is going to interrupt you from exercising or planning your day. Also, you save time because you spend less time in the traffic by starting early and you can accomplish more at work before your colleagues show up.

2. Learn continuously and pick up new skills - Abraham Lincoln says "If I had six hours to chop down a tree, I'd spend the first four hours sharpening the Axe". I’m in the Information Technology field and I get to use Microsoft Excel Sheet (XLS), a lot. A few years back, I had to convert the rows into columns and columns into rows from a 100 rows, 10 columns XLS. Being a novice on XLS, I started doing that manually, by copying and pasting each cell in the XLS and I spent nearly 3 hours on that activity. A few months later, I signed up for a course on using XLS and learned that I can do the rows to column conversion using just 1 formula in 5 mins.  I’m sure each one of you are doing an activity similar to this at your work. Identify such areas and pick up new skills to improve your efficiency.

3. Learn to differentiate between Relaxation and Distraction - Today, we spend (waste!) a lot of time in front of TV, Computer and Mobile Phone. For example, I see youngsters watching cricket on TV for hours together. When you read newspaper the next day, you’ll anyway get to know the results of the match. I wonder why folks still spend a lot of time in front of the TV. Those players and sponsors are stealing your precious time to make several millions of dollars. On the contrary, your performance goes down because you wasted your time in watching such programs on TV. Similarly, youngsters spend a lot of time in Facebook and Whatsapp. How much percentage of the activities that we do in Facebook and Whatsapp are going to help us in achieving our long term goals? These distractions are like dropping a few drops of ink into a glass full of clear water. It takes complete control of your mind/time and reduces your mind’s capacity to produce more. If you learn to limit/control the time you spend on your relaxation activities, you can accomplish more in life.

Also read: How to make self-development, a habit?

To increase your everyday productivity, imagine your day as a train. The train has an engine at the beginning, which is your early morning slot. They just let the driver alone to operate the engine. Similarly, the early morning time should be only for you. Use that for your own activities such as exercising and planning the day. Next, the train has AC coaches. This is your most productive / valuable slot and hence allocate it for tasks of high importance at work. Next comes the sleeper class. You can allocate this slot for the not-so-urgent, but important activities such as sending status reports or conducting meetings. Then, comes the unreserved coaches. These are the slots that can be used for doing unplanned activities. Finally, comes the observatory coach with the guard at the end. Use this slot for reviewing your progress and planning for the next day. If you follow these simple tips, your productivity is going to skyrocket and take you to places that you have never imagined before.

If you dream, you can

“If you can dream it, you can do it" said Walt Disney. I didn’t realize the power of dreams, until I read the book "The Alchemist" in the year 2006. I was working for a leading networking company, then… called Redback Networks. Whenever my Chief Executive Officer (CEO) goes to the stage, he sets the stage on fire and inspires everyone in the audience. I used to dream during those days to speak like my CEO, to address a large gathering from the stage. But, I was hardly able to speak well in English during those days. I always used to think in Tamil, translate that into English and then express my thoughts. Despite my inabilities, I strongly believed that one day my dream will become reality.

Also read: Power of positive beliefs

One fine day in Sep 2006, a friend of mine introduced me to a group called Toastmasters International and my life completely changed after that. Speaking is a skill that is similar to swimming. You cannot learn swimming by reading a book or by standing near the shores. You’ll have to jump into the water to learn swimming. Similarly, you can improve your speaking skills only by speaking. Toastmasters provided me a platform to practice my speaking skills and get feedback on my performance. I started getting help from my fellow club members and mentors. In about 3 years, I noticed that my confidence on the stage has tremendously improved and I could speak English well. In the year 2012 my dream became reality. I got the unique opportunity of conducting a workshop on “Servant Leadership” to nearly 500+ Toastmasters who attended the District 82 conference – Ovation 2012. Since then, I’ve conducted a number of workshops to both Toastmasters and non-Toastmasters.

Also read: How to make self-development, a habit?

Fellow Toastmasters, dream big… and believe that your dream will become a reality someday. Your beliefs become thoughts… thoughts become actions and actions produce results. When you believe, you can even turn mountains that stop you from achieving your goals, into moles. Believe in your thoughts and believe in yourself….to make your distant dreams, a reality. What are you waiting for?! Stop worrying… start believing !

[Copy of an article that I wrote for a club newsletter]

Power of Positive Beliefs

“If you really want to achieve something in life, the entire world conspires in helping you to achieve it” a quote from Paula Cehlo’s famous book The Alchemist. I didn’t realize the power of positive beliefs, until I read this book a few years ago. There are several occasions where we would’ve tried our best, but still … we might not have seen the results. The missing variable in the formula is belief. May be, our subconscious mind thinks that we cannot do it! For ex., you may be working hard as a VP PR, but you aren’t able to bring members to your club. You might have come up with the best speech ever, but you still lose in Speech Contests. You might’ve done the best campaign ever, but you still lost the club elections. I would like to share with you an interesting experience from my Toastmasters journey which highlights the power of positive beliefs.

Also read: Are shortcuts worth it?

It was 2 years back. I had a mentee by name Priyanandhan. He had just joined HCL, after graduating from college. One day he came to me and said “Saro! I want to do a High Performance Leadership project, before I go to US for higher studies. I wanted to organize a speech craft program for the community”. When a volunteer comes to me with an idea, I don’t stop him/her. I said “Priyan … great idea go for it”… though, I had my own doubts whether Priyan would be able to pull off a community speech craft. We hadn’t organized many speech crafts 2 years ago. Especially, we had never organized a community speech craft at that time. However, Priyan was so positive about organizing a speech craft. He started putting flyers in Facebook to get enrollments. As usual, he just got “likes”… and “comments” … but, no enrollments. He started sending emails to club officers and members… as usual… no response. When I thought he would get demotivated and give up… he said “Saro! I’m very confident and positive about organizing this speech craft. I won’t get demotivated by this short term setbacks”. He increased his pace of marketing… He started knocking doors of people he knew… he started placing advertisements in community newspapers… he started posting ads in books shops… he started reaching out to college students. Boom… in just 3 weeks, he got 30 enrollments. In fact, he had to say “No” to a few people, because the maximum capacity that we could accommodate was just 25 members. Priyan managed to pull off the first community speech craft in Tamilnadu and contributed nearly Rs.25,000 to Ovations. People who were part of the Ovation 2013 team would know the value of that Rs.25,000.

Also read: 3Rs of a Successful Toastmaster

In your leadership journey in Toastmasters, you may run into a number of tough people, number of tough problems and a number of tough situations. With positive beliefs, positive actions, and positive words, you can chase the obstacles out of your door. Positive beliefs can turn mountains that stop you from achieving your goals, into moles. Believe in your goals, believe in your team and believe in yourself….to make your distant dreams, a reality. What are you waiting for?! Stop worrying… start believing…

[Copy of an article that I wrote for a club newsletter]

CC Project #5 - Body Language - Take me with you

Introduction – Longing to visit beach

“We are going to the beach!”… When my uncle said this, my excitement became uncontrollable. I haven’t been to beach before… though I have heard about it in radio and television. I always wanted to go to beach… but I was too small and I couldn’t go on my own. Someone has to take me with them. I was longing for that day when I can go to beach… and the day has come.

Also read: CC5 - How to start/sustain conversations with strangers? (Your body Speaks)

Good morning fellow Toastmasters and guests…

How many of you would love to go to beach? I was like you…

City of Birth

I was born in a city where there was no beach… in fact, the city was so dry that you could hardly see any water outside of your home. They used to bring water to our home in huge tankers and lorries. So, the thought of going to beach… and seeing large quantity of water in one place was simply unbelievable to me.

Kid’s excitement & getting ready to go

The moment my uncle said “We are going to the beach!”, not only me… but my uncle’s kids Priya & Gautham, also got very excited. They were literally jumping in joy. I wanted to jump too… but I was too small and I was afraid that I might fall down and break my crown.

I can see everyone running around in a hurry and getting ready to go. Priya, who was just 6 years old started packing all of her toys to play on the beach sand. My uncle’s son Gautham, who was 8 years old packed his Frisbee and Ball. My aunt made sure that I’m also ready to go. I was happy that someone took care of me.

Car Journey

We got ready, locked the door and squeezed into my uncle’s brand new Maruti car. Priya, Gautham and my aunt occupied the back seats. I was thrown into the front seat. I thought I will also sit along with them and play with them at the back seat. But, I didn’t know why they wanted me to sit alone in the front seat. The only company that I had was the bag full of toys near me.

We were listening to one of those Ilayaraja melodies. When it comes to music, nobody can beat Ilayaraja. How many of you love Ilayaraja music? I too love his music.

I wanted to see the road and Chennai traffic… however, I was too small that I could hardly see anything outside of the car. I was patiently sitting in the front seat, eagerly waiting to reach the beach.

Reaching Beach

After a short drive, Priya & Gautham screemed … “We’ve reached the beach”. I got very excited to see the beach for the first time in life. My uncle parked the car and all of us got down. My aunt carried me with her. Priya & Gautham were running fast on the beach sand. I wanted to run too. But, my aunt didn’t let me down. What can I do?

Beach Experience

Finally, my uncle selected a place for all of us to sit… facing the water rushing to the short. Priya & Gautham were playing with the sand by building castles and with all the toys that they brought from home. I was happy watching them play with the sand. I was sitting near my aunt on the sand. The cool breeze made me to feel cold. I started enjoying it.

Breaking the surprise

After playing for 30 minutes, Priya came to my aunt and asked her “Mom! I’m very thirsty. Give me something to drink”. My aunt lifted me from the sand and gave to Priya, for her to drink. Priya pierced a straw into my head… and emptied me in one full gulp. When she realized that I’m empty, she threw me on the sand again.  My uncle said “Kids! Let us pack and go. It is getting dark”. My aunt picked up all the toys and packed them up. I was eagerly waiting for her to carry me. But my aunt completely ignored me. They all stood up, dusted the sand on their legs and started walking towards the car. I shouted “Uncle… Aunt… Priya….Can you take me also with you… please… don’t leave me here”. But, they hardly could hear my voice. I started crying … but, it didn’t bother anyone.

Also read: CC6 - How to get the best rating in performance reviews? (Vocal Variety)

Conclusion

Dear toastmasters… did it bother you? The next time you go to beach and see me there… will you please take me with you? TMOD…will you take me with you? 

CC Project #4 - How to say it - Make it theirs

“If an egg is broken by a force outside, life ends. If an egg is broken by the force inside, a new life begins”. During my Division Governorship in Toastmasters, I learned a number of leadership lessons. One of them was “to motivate members”. I thought I had mastered the art of motivation and I can motivate anybody to do anything. My self-confidence became overconfidence, when I thought I can even motivate an unhatched egg and make it fly.

Also read: CC4 - Good to Great (How to Say it)

Good morning Toastmasters and Guests,

Let me take you back to the year 2012… almost 6 months since Chennai Communicators Club sprouted in Velachery. It was a beautiful Sunday evening and the meeting was supposed to start at 3 pm. However, the time was already 3.15 pm and only a few members had come to the meeting. I was nervous and was walking back and forth on the corridor, like a hungry dog. None of the role players were present and 3 guests were already in the meeting hall. I am a man of punctuality and I always wanted to start the meeting at 3 pm … no matter what. But, we had only 3 or 4 members and it is absolutely impossible to run the show with those new members. This was the scene in Chennai Communicators club for nearly 6 months in a row.

I had tried all of my “usual techniques” in the first 6 months… I tried talking about the benefits of starting the meeting on time… I tried to write lengthy inspirational emails about punctuality… I tried commenting about late start time, whenever I played the role of a GE … I tried, I tried, I tried… until I became really tired.

One day, I lost my patience. I called the perpetual late attendees outside of the meeting hall and gave them a real bash. I said “Each week you give a fancy excuse for coming late. I’m coming all the way from Choolaimedu to Velachery for the last 6 months and I’ve never come late even once. If you are signing up for a role, you should be here 15 mins before the meeting. If you can’t come on time, don’t sign-up for a role. Do you think I don’t have any other work to do and I’m coming to CCC meetings just for time pass? With members like you… the quality of the meetings are getting affected. Either come on time or leave the club”. If somebody other than me had done this, I’m sure the club members would’ve deserted the club and left. However, I realized that the members had lot of respect for me. The average age of the Club was just 23 … literally college kids. I believe they might’ve seen me as a passionate professor in the college who wanted his students to learn & grow.
After this incident, I stopped attending CCC meetings a few weeks in a row. I told the club officers that I want to distance myself from the club. I unsubscribed from the club officers’ mailing list. I asked them to approach me only when there is a REAL NEED. I let them conduct the club officers’ executive committee meetings without my presence. I stayed away from the club for nearly a month.

One fine day, I gave a surprise visit to the club. I was at the venue by 2.45 pm. While I thought, I will give them a surprise, I was pleasantly surprised. All the members were at the venue ahead of time… the role players were preparing for their roles. When the clock struck 3, the meeting started … yes, on time. Because the role players were well prepared, the quality of the meeting was also very high. I learned from the club officers that they are starting the meetings regularly for the last 3 weeks in a row.
That is when I learned another technique to motivate members “Making it theirs”. When you make it theirs…they’ll take it to great heights. All along, I have been indirectly passing-on the message to everyone that “CCC is my baby”… so, members & officers didn’t get a sense of ownership.

Whenever I try to motivate & persuade them, they thought “If I don’t do it… Saro will find someone else to do it”. By distancing myself from the day-to-day affairs, I passed on the message that it is YOUR CLUB and YOU DECIDE ITS FATE. That technique worked… Our youngsters have REMARKABLE capability to achieve success. If you can bring the sense of ownership to them, they can even move mountains and walk over the seas. When you MAKE IT THEIRS, THEY’LL TAKE IT TO GREAT HEIGHTS.

Also read: CC4 - Rhetorical Devices (Ideas & Examples)

Fellow Toastmasters, this technique is not only for youngsters. It works well for others too… the next time your kid doesn’t do her homework, the next time your spouse  doesn’t keep the house clean, the next time your team mate doesn’t take work seriously… when you MAKE IT THEIRS, THEY’LL TAKE IT TO GREAT HEIGHTS.

Chennai Communicators Club Interview for 125th meeting newsletter

1.             On the 125^th meeting of Chennai Communicators Club, travel your memory lane and ‘Reflect’ on the journey that CCC has gone through!! Which was possibly the best Excom team, accordingly to you who were the trend-setters? Some memorable events that you can share.

I have closely observed the growth of CCC over the last 2 years. From a flight that is just on the runway and trying to pick up speed with its jittery moments… today, CCC has successfully launched itself into the air and is at cruising altitudes. The pilots who have steered the ship - Divya Iyer/Dharma, Akshaya, Chandramouli and their team of co-pilots have done a spectacular job of ensuring that the flight continues to reach higher altitudes. Each Excom has brought in a new trend into the club. But the passion, discipline and dedication of the excom and members has never diminished.

2.            How diverse is community club? Community Club – Corporate Club – Which is better equipped to pose challenging opportunities for learning and club proceedings?

Community clubs are more diverse when compared to corporate clubs – since they are open to all.

Starting a community club is very difficult. However sustaining a community club is very easy. Starting a corporate club is very easy – however sustaining it is very difficult. Toastmasters program creates challenging experiences & situations for members to solve, thereby acquiring new communication/leadership skills. Every member who faces a challenging situation in Toastmasters has two options – (a) run away from it (b) face it with courage and transform. Both corporate and community clubs provide equal amount of challenging opportunities to its members. However, I see members of community clubs rising up more often to such challenges than corporate clubs.

3.            What motivates you to attend TMI sessions?

I joined Toastmasters in the year 2006. From someone who had the difficulty of thinking in Tamil, translating into English and then expressing thoughts… today, I am able to talk fluently in English.  The credit goes to the Toastmasters program and my mentors. I continue to attend Toastmasters sessions for 2 reasons:

·         I’ve got so much benefits from Toastmasters and I want to give it back to the community

·         Any Toastmasters meeting/event that I attend, helps me to acquire new skills and new ways of solving communication/leadership challenges. Toastmasters is a platform that brings “small, but continuous improvements” into your life.

4.               How to pick up a topic of common interest in a group and develop it?

Always pick topics that you know, topics that you love to talk about and topics that audience care. If you pick topics that are at the intersection of those 3 criteria – you’ll definitely be an admired / sought after person in any group. There is a famous ZigZiglar quote “People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care”. So, when you are in a group always pick topics that the members in the group, care about. When you show genuine interest in listening to others’ views, the topic will automatically get developed into a productive discussion.

5.             Being a DTM has helped you in your professional life in what way?

No.

I don’t want to mislead members by saying “If you get a DTM, you’ll be successful in your career”. I know of several DTMs who completed their communication / leadership journeys for the “sake of just getting the DTM title”. I doubt their professional success.

Honestly speaking, the journey/experiences/opportunities that were presented to me when I served as the Division Governor, helped me to learn a number of communication/leadership skills which in-turn helped me to establish a successful career. From just a Technical Marketing Engineer in May 2009, I become a Product Manager, then a Sr. Product Manager and finally, Director Technology in Jan 2013. I attribute my professional success to Toastmasters. What my MBA program couldn’t do to my career, Toastmasters program was able to do J

6.               Who is your ‘Role Model’ in Toastmasters? Why? How one should chose their ‘Role Model’?

I have several role models in Toastmasters – both seniors and juniors. Many of the current/past District/Division/Area Governors are my roles models. I have learned “what to do” & “what not to do” from each one of them.

Some of my role models include volunteers such as Sharma Duraisamy (Medleys), Thanigeash (CTM), Thiagarajan Sir (Medleys), and Ramakrishnan Sir (Medleys) who inspire me with their selfless service, dedication, and passion to serve fellow Toastmasters. They never ask “What is in it for me… if I do this for you?”

Choose role models who continue to inspire you and help you to scale to greater heights.

7.             What is one important thing that any new Toastmaster should look-up to TMI?

Thomas Alva Edison once said “Opportunity is missed by most people because it is dressed in overalls and looks like work”. It is true in Toastmasters too. I encourage new Toastmasters to sign up for a variety of roles (both communication & leadership) at the club level. It will help you to transform into a great person. After all, I was like you … 8 years back. When I started my leadership journey at the club level as a Sergeant at Arms, I was a Sr. Development Engineer at Ericsson with 8 years of industry experience. There is never a perfect time to start your self-development journey. So, never hesitate to sign-up and never procrastinate to deliver.

Toastmaster of the day (TMOD) script - Chennai Articulator’s Club – Meeting #1

Chennai Articulator’s Club – Meeting #1 
Toastmaster of the Day Worksheet

Date: 10th April 2014
Word of the Day: beachhead
Theme: New Beginning

1. Accept control from President and thank him/her for the introduction.
2. Introduce theme of the day and word of the day. Encourage the speakers to use them during the meeting. Ask the audience to applaud when the Theme of the day and word of the day is used by the speakers.

• 70,000 babies are having their new beginnings in India, every day
• Approximately 3 new clubs are having their new beginnings every day in Toastmasters International
• Today, is the “new beginning” of Chennai Articulators Club. All of you are part of this historical meeting… and give a big round of applause for yourself.
• “New beginning” is the theme of the day, today
• The first Toastmasters club in Chennai was established in the year 2003. Starting Chennai Toastmasters Club, became the  beachhead for Toastmasters movement in Tamilnadu
• Beachhead - an initial accomplishment that opens the way for further developments

3. Explain the flow of meeting and the 3 segments (Prepared speeches, Table Topics and Evaluation) for guests.

April marks the new beginning for the Financial Year 2015.
For any “New Beginning” to be successful, there should be 4 things: (1) plan/ preparation (2) execution with commitment and passion (3) ability to handle impromptu situations and (4) continuously fine tune the strategy based on feedback.
• Prepared speeches – Provides an opportunity for members to plan & prepare their speeches
• Table Topics – Provides teaches members how to handle impromptu situations
• Evaluation – Provides members an opportunity to improve, through feedback from peers

4. Introduce the General Evaluator (based on the meeting theme) and ask the General Evaluator to introduce his/her team:

Introduction:
1) Work at TCS Siruseri as a Systems Engineer.
2) Been with Toastmasters since March 2012
3) Internship with Duke of Edinburgh - It began his journey across Asia and India in discovering stories of social entrepreneurship.

Please join me in welcoming the General Evaluator for today TM Rahul Shankar

5. Regain control from General Evaluator.
6. Inform the audience that you are starting the prepared speeches segment.
7. Prepared Speeches

Speaker #1 TM Srinivasan
Project Details Manual: CC
Project #: 9
Project Title: Persuade with Power
Speech Title: Sometime for yourself
Introduction of the speaker (based on the meeting theme)
1) Tech trainer (Internal) for 12 years, DGM Training in S&N Hayakawa Enterprises Pvt. Ltd Chennai
2) Been with Toastmasters for the last 1 year
3) New Beginning: The day I started doing my Technical Training, and realized that it is my real "calling" from inside

Before I call TM Srinivasan to the stage, may I request the evaluator of the speech TM Vishnu to read the project objectives?

Speaker #2 TM Mahendra Varman
Project Details Manual: CC
Project #: 10
Project Title: Inspire your audience
Speech Title: Belief
Introduction of the speaker (based on the meeting theme)

1) Working in Real estate industry i.e building promotion and land promotion
2) With Toastmasters for 3 years and has already completed CC/CL
3) New Begginning : Serving as Conference Chairman Division M Conference

Before I call TM Mahendra Varman to the stage, may I request the evaluator of the speech TM Paul Baskar to read the project objectives?

Speaker #3 TM Nandith Durga
Project Details Manual: ACG – Entertaining Speaker
Project #: 3
Project Title: Make them laugh
Speech Title: That Night
Introduction of the speaker (based on the meeting theme)
1) CA in the Final stage
2) Has been an active member of TM from 2 years and has played club officer role in Vishakapatnam TM Club
3) New beginning: Life in Chennai
Before I call TM Nandith Durga to the stage, may I request the evaluator of the speech DTM Suganthi to read the project objectives?

8. Ask the timer if any of the speakers are disqualified due to time. Ask the audience to vote for the Best Prepared Speaker.

9. Introduce the Table Topics Master (based on the theme of the meeting):

Introduction:
• Working as Analyst IT Quality Assurance working with Verizon
• Has been with Toastmasters for the last 2 years and has served several officer roles in the club
• Memorable New Beginning: First day in my Job with my previous organization Alcatel lucent it was a start of a dream career in Telecom industry

Please join me in welcoming the Table Topics Master for today TM Christopher

10. Signal the Table Topics Master to end the session when the time limit is reached / exceeded.
11. Regain control from Table Topics Master.
12. Ask the timer if any of the speakers are disqualified due to time.  Announce eligibility. Ask the audience to vote for the Best Table Topics Speaker
13. Invite the General Evaluator TM Rahul Shankar to conduct the evaluations segment
14. Regain control from General Evaluator.
15. Final remarks (try to end with a BANG). Not exceeding 1 minute.

Today is a new beginning … with bells and whistles ringing
Today is a new beginning ... with speeches still lingering
Today is a new beginning… with members from all over Chennai joining
Today is a new beginning … for Chennai Articulators Club to start running

16. Return control to President TM Vishnu

CC Speech #3: Get to the Point - One Step at a Time

Introduction

“Studies show that it takes 3 weeks to develop a habit, 6 months for it to become a part of your life and just 1 week to give up”.  Every year people take New Year resolutions. Do you know how many stick to it? Only 1 in every 10 people stick to their new year resolutions.
Today, I’m going to share with you a technique which you can use to successfully achieve our goals… a technique that you can use to stick to your New Year resolutions… One Step at a time.

Reducing Weight Example

What do we do when we take New Year resolutions? Let us take for example, a simple resolution of losing your weight and staying fit. The moment we take a resolution like that … We set our alarm clock to ring at 4.30 a.m in the morning … We start with Yoga for 1 hour. Then you sign-up for a costly membership in a nearby gym. We go to gym for another 2 hours. You stop eating anything that an ordinary human being eats. You start taking only salad… or cut fruits for your meal. I’ve seen people carrying a huge tiffin carrier to work before their resolution… but they start to carry a small Tupperware box after taking resolution.

You’ll do this for a week and or may be a month and give up because it is practically unsustainable. Who in the world would find 2 hours every day for exercising – unless your full time job is to maintain your body like athletes. Who in the world can sacrifice their cravings to eat food like pizza, icecream and cakes? After the 2 weeks, you’ll start getting philosophical thoughts “Saro! What is the purpose of living in this world… Is it worth sacrificing your sleep … Is it worth sacrificing good food… At the end of the day, everyone is going to die… and may be, you’ll die faster… Is it all worth it?”.

When you try to climb up fast… you’ll give up fast.

Toastmasters Example

Let me give you another example which is near and dear to all of us… Toastmasters. I’ve seen people joining Toastmasters wanting to be become DTM in 2 years… or Toastmasters wanting to master communication skills in just a year. They’ll start attending meetings of 4 clubs a week. Whenever they see a flyer that says “educational sessions”… they’ll be there. They participate in all contests. You can see them all over the place. And all of a sudden, they vanish. They delete their Facebook account… They stop responding back to emails… and they don’t even pick up calls from Toastmasters.
When you try to climb up fast… you’ll give up fast.

Saro’s story to become a Vegetarian

I have gone through the same set of challenges whenever I want to develop a new habit. I had tried to give up non vegetarian food several times in the past… but, failed miserably because I was trying to take “Too many steps at a time”.

It was the year 2001. I was young, charming and good looking … then.  I got a chance to read the book “My experiments with Truth”, by Mahatma Gandhi. Immediately, I got inspired and wanted to become a pure vegetarian like Gandhi. However, I didn’t become a “pure vegetarian”, the next day. At first I stopped eating meat – I continued to have eggs & sea food. It went on for a year or so. Then I stopped eating eggs and sea food… but, I continued to have milk and other dairy products. Later, I stopped eating Pizzas, I stopped eating cake, I stopped eating curd and ice creams - I became a pure vegetarian (aka Vegan). It took me about 5 years to transition from a non-vegetarian to a pure-vegetarian. If I had tried to stop eating meat, eggs and Pizzas on day one, I would’ve soon given up my quest to become a Pure Vegetarian.

One step at a time… for results that last for a life time.

Fellow Toastmasters… Be it reducing your weight… be it starting your own business… be it getting a good girl friend or a boyfriend … Achieving your goal… or sticking to your new year resolutions… is like eating an orange. If you try to eat the entire orange in one go, you can’t… you may probably get choked to death. If you try to eat one slice at a time… you can finish eating it soon.

I encourage all of you to take … One step at a time… for results that last for a life time.

Also read:

CC3 - Mitra - My little one (Get to the Point)

Speech Topic selection Ideas

Are shortcuts worth it?

Last week, I was driving with my family in the Padi area in Chennai. Songs of A.R. Rahman was playing on my car stereo. Padi area was relatively new to me. I had asked directions from a relative who asked me to come through the main road to reach his house. However, I thought I will use my (“so called”) intuitions and take one of the cross roads to get to my destination faster. I drove my car into one of those narrow streets which was just 15 feet wide. Half way into that street, I found a water tanker filling water on the black water tank erected in the street. People surrounded the tanker like bees in a bee hive. There was absolutely no space for me to overtake the water tanker. I thought I would take reverse and get to my destination through the main road. To my surprise, a few cars followed me into the street and were right behind me. My car was pretty much jammed in between, with water tanker on the front and with loads of trucks and cars behind me. I had to wait for nearly 15 mins for the water tanker to finish its job and leave the street. I had to pay a price for taking a short cut on that day. I reached my destination 30 minutes late.

Also read: 3Rs of a Successful Toastmaster

How many times, we try to take such shortcuts and get stuck in our life, career and even in Toastmasters. Sometime or the other, we end up paying the price for it. For example, all of us join Toastmasters with the intention to improve our self. However, after joining the movement, some of us get side tracked by awards and recognition. Some of us rush to complete our projects and do speeches just for the sake of doing them.

Let me share with you an interesting incident that happened, recently. An Area Governor called me on a Friday evening and said “Saro! I have a Toastmaster who has been with the movement for 2+ years. He has completed all the roles from the CL manual, except for playing the Contest Chairman role. Every time there is a contest, he signs-up to be a contestant and skips the opportunity to become a Contest Chairman. Even this time, he is a contestant in my Area contest. However, I want him to play the role of a Contest Chairman and get a CL credit for his role. Can I do that?” I first thanked her for reaching out to me for consultation. I told the Area Governor, “Mme! The role of a Contest Chairman is to form a team, coach the team members, take care of logistics, and make sure that every role player does their job well on the contest day. If you are a contestant, you cannot do any running around on the day of the contests. I personally feel that it is not appropriate to make someone play dual roles in a contest – that too heavy lifting roles such as Contestant & Contest Chairman. Moreover, TM rulebook doesn't allow a contestant to be a role player during the contests. So, there is a chance for someone in the crowd to challenge you on the day of the Area Contests”. The Area Governor was trying very hard to convince me that she wants him to complete his CL at the earliest, so that the club and the area can get a CL credit. I asked her "If he has been with Toastmasters for 2 years and still hasn't completed his CL...Why can't he wait for another 3 months to conduct a club level contest to get the Contest Chairman credit?" She finally accepted to take him off from the Contest Chairman role.

Also read: 5Ps of a successful speech contest

It is not just new Toastmasters who are trying to complete their CCs & CLs in a hurry. I have seen a few senior Toastmasters, who rush through their communication and leadership assignments to just add a DTM to their title. The “so called” DTMs continue to pace back ‘n forth on the stage thinking that they are “using the stage”. The “so called” DTMs cannot conduct a 30 minutes educational workshop, after which at least a handful of participants would stop-by to say “Sir! I liked your session”. The “so called” DTMs cannot inspire even 5 members with their speeches. What makes you really distinguished, the title or your actions? Recently, I read a news that “Mahatma Gandhi’s spectacles were bought for $1.8 million”. I was wow-struck when I heard that. DTM title is just a name tag… the value of the tag is decided by the person who wears it.
When leaders take shortcuts to achieve results, the results are not long lasting. It is like building an empire on top of a sand castle. The next time you take a short cut think twice – “Are short cuts really worth it?”