CC Project #9 - Persuade with Power - Oh.. My God!

“Mitra! If you steal a pencil from your friend, God is going to watch you and prick your eyes”

That was my wife trying to instill the fear of God in my 10 years old daughter. Does God exist? Is God real? Should we believe in God?

Good morning fellow Toastmasters and guests,

It was the year 1991, the month was December. I was doing my +2 at that time. I was seriously preparing for my half-yearly Chemistry examination. No matter how hard I studied, it was hard for me to understand the complex atomic structures, molecules and compounds. Finally, the D-day arrived… Chemistry examinations. Those were the days when I go to God for pretty much everything – when I lose my pencil, I ask God to find that, when I’m not getting a bus in time, I ask God to send that, when I don’t do my homework I ask God to bring rains to get me a holiday. Since I haven’t prepared well for my exam, I went to temple to pray to God. I promised God to shave my head for him, if he somehow makes me to score 80% in Chemistry. As a token advance, I even deposited Rs.5 in the Hundial and sealed the deal. I whitewashed my forehead with the ashes given by the priest. I reached the exam hall and uttered a few verses from Kanda Shasti and got the question paper in my hand. I closed my eyes praying to God again and opened the question paper. The moment I saw the question paper, my head started to spin. I became dizzy. Most of the questions were very tough and I couldn’t even understand some of the questions, let alone answering them. I started scolding God for not honoring our gentlemen agreement. I went back to the temple in the evening. How many of you have seen Annamalai movie… and remember the famous “Ashok! Mark this day in your calendar” dialogue? I did pretty much the same thing and parted ways from God. Since then, I’ve started questioning the existence of God and started appreciating the power of humans.

Deaths

I feel that the concept called “God” was originally invented by a smart guy to unite people in the society and stop them from doing barbaric acts. But, look at what actually is happening today. The same concept called “God” is killing several 1000s and 1000s of people today.

Close to a 100 million people have died in the last 1000 years due to religion – that is equivalent of killing 300 people every day, in the name of God. Every day, you see news about Hindus killing Muslims and Muslims killing Christians. Nobody in this world has seen God, but look at the number of deaths happening because of God. It is not only humans who are getting killed, but poor creatures like goats and cows are killed in the name of sacrifice to God. Is God really uniting people or dividing people?

Blind Belief

There are many individuals who take people’s blind belief to their advantage. Asaram Bapu, Swami Nithyanandha, Swami Premanandha and even the popes are involved in scandals such as rape, murder and child trafficking. People donate a lot of money to religious trusts, which get misutilized.

People blindly believe in God and don’t provide proper medical care to their kids resulting in death of young children. Blind belief results in people not doing their job and expecting God to perform a miracle to improve their financial condition.

Where was our God when 30 innocent people died because of stampede, when they came to take a holy dip in Godavari river in Andhra Pradesh? Where was our God when 2000 innocent people died because of the stampede in Mecca, recently? Blind belief shuts off reasoning capacity of people.  Why would you assemble in such large numbers in a place without proper safety measures?

Purpose vs Practice

In those days, people used to walk to the hill top to worship God, which kept them fit. Today, we are going to the hill top in an A/C car. Those days, people sacrificed their personal pleasures in the days that lead to a special function or festival. Today, even the Sabarimala devotees are smoking and eating unhealthy food. Those days, festivals where used to force people to keep their homes and surroundings clean. Today, when there is a festival the surroundings of a temple become a junk yard.

The concept called “God” was invented to keep people united, to keep people disciplined and to keep the surroundings clean. We forgot the purpose of “God”, but we keep having blind beliefs.

Conclusion

God does exist, not in temples but in the minds of humans who treat others with respect, courtesy and dignity. God does exist, not in temples but in the hearts of people who help others, people who care for fellow human beings and people who do their job. God is everywhere, he is in the water bodies that are kept clean, he is in the air that is unpolluted, and he is in the surroundings that is kept clean. God is in you and God is in me. Will you start following the REAL God instead of the dummies in the temple?

CC Project #8 - Visual Aids - Speech Crafting Lessons from the Advertisers

Are you craving to make speeches that get audience attention, speeches that are memorable and speeches that make an impact? Raise your hands if you said “Yes!” to any of these questions

Good morning fellow Toastmasters and guests,

We are in the Diwali season and advertisers are competing with each other to push information, to promote products and to persuade us to buy. What are some lessons that we can learn from them? Today, I’m going to share some techniques / lessons that we can learn from the advertisers.

Grab their attention

Look at these advertisements. The moment you see this advertisement, what catches your eyes?

Ad#1: "Pain Relief Without Surgery". If you are someone who is going through a lot of body pain due to illness or if you know of someone who are going through excessive pain, this advertisement will force you to read the advertisement further. 

Ad#2: "Own a fabulous home at a surprise price". If you are looking for homes to buy, this advertisement will entice you to look at the various deals given below.

We can use similar techniques to get audience attention, while crafting speeches. You can start with a quote such as "Good health is not something we can buy. However, it can be an extremely valuable savings account" or ask a startling question "Do you know that 90% of the diabetics are unaware of their condition?" It immediately hooks the audience with you. 

Keeping the main thing, the main thing

Look at these advertisements. In the 1st advertisement, the shoemaker is trying to sell every type of shoe that they carry in their inventory. However, in the 2nd advertisement, Maruti is trying to sell just the Baleno. While Maruti has 20+ car models to sell, they decided to just focus on selling one thing, instead of trying to sell multiple things in one advertisement. It will help the readers to remember Baleno, better.

Similarly, through our speeches we always sell ideas, thoughts, products, services and at times, ourselves. Patricia a famous public speaker says "Life is a series of sales situations". It is very true. How do we make the best out of these sales situations. I've seen novice presenters carrying 30+ slides for a 30 minutes presentation. And, each slide will be like a word document filled with lots & lots of textual content. Instead, we should carry just 6 slides for a 30 minutes presentation. The extra information can be shared as handouts or sent offline via email. In Toastmasters, a 5 minutes speech can be used to convey only 1 main point and a few sub points.

Help them Visualize

Look at these advertisements. In the first advertisement, the advertiser is just showing the Golden necklace. However, in the second advertisement, NAC is trying to show how the Golden necklace will look on a beautiful girl, when she wears it. It helps the readers to visualize how the product / service will be of use to them.

Similarly, in speeches help the audience to visualize by including stories / examples in your speeches. For example, instead of saying "Always split your goals into smaller tasks for you to quickly accomplish your goals", you can say "Imagine going to a pizzeria and ordering a pizza. After a few minutes of wait, your hot delicious pizza is served with your favorite toppings - olives, mushrooms, pepper etc., Now, when you are about to taste your pizza, I hold your hand and say that you'll have to gulp the entire pizza in one GO... you'll be sitting there thinking "How the hell that I'm going to eat the pizza without cutting it into slices". If I allow you to slize the pizza into smaller pieces, you will be able to comfortably finish eating the pizza. Similarly, your goals are like those large size pizza. You'll not be able to accomplish them in one GO, if you don't split them into smaller tasks. When you slice your goal into smaller goals, you'll be able to accomplish your goals faster"

Make it Stick

Look at the following advertisements. The advertisers are trying to help us remember the message longer. The first advertisement is condensing "20K per month for first 20 bookings" into a "20:20 offer" and that too by showing a cricket ball. The second advertisement is introducing a new term called "Selfietude" by combining "Selfie" + "Attitude". These are techniques that can be used to make an idea "stick"


Similarly, when we deliver complex information such as statistics, we can simplify them for audience to remember the information longer. For example, instead of saying "Ford sold 2,34,428 cars in this month", you can say "1 in every 10 cars sold in the city this month is from Ford". Another example is "If you want to be a successful toastmaster, you should follow the 3Rs - be regular to meetings, do enough research for your speeches, and rehearse your performance before delivering".

Conclusion

Dear friends, the next time you are reading the Sunday morning newspaper sipping a cup of hot coffee, don't just look at the advertisements and offers... look at what you can learn from those advertisements... so that, you can craft your next speech.

CC Project #7 - Research your topic - Sweetie... I hate you!

Introduction

I broke up with the love of my life

[Start with a sad voice]

Good morning fellow Toastmasters and Guests

Yes! You heard it right... I broke up a few months back. My wounds aren’t still healed. I was not sure if I should be sharing this in my Toastmasters speech, at all. But I thought Toastmasters is like my extended family and in the past I've shared my happiness with you. Why don't I share this also in the meeting? The bond that I had with her for the last several years is gone... I almost grew up with her since my childhood days and she became very close to me. At one point, we exchanged vows to stay together for life. But today... we are separated. She was the reason why I was able to grow fast... on all dimensions. But when she started affecting my real progress ... I decided to part ways from her and said to her "Sweetie... I hate you!"

(Also read: Ms. Smelly)

Problem of Sugar

She is the reason why nearly 50 million Indians are suffering from diabetes today. It is equivalent of the entire population in the state of Gujarat having diabetes. My sweetie’s vision for India is to make the nation the Diabetes Capital of the world by 2025. She kills more people than both HIV + Breast Cancer combined… according to a report published by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention.

Different Incarnations

When a poet admires a beautiful woman, he calls her using different names. Similarly, when a corporate admires Sweetie, they use her in the processed food and call her using different names. She is called the Sucrose, Maltose, Dextrose, Fructose, Glucose, Galactose and Lactose, Cane juice, Barley malt, Corn syrup, Caramel, Buttered syrup, Carob syrup, Malt syrup, Golden syrup and Maple syrup.

Impact of Sugar

She gets into each one of our lives, easily. The most common form of her entering our life is through the drinks that we often have … coffee and cool drinks. When we prepare coffee, we add a spoon of her … and we add another spoon. But, when they prepare a can of coke, they add a spoon of her … and another and another and another … up to 10 spoons of Sweetie.  A can of coke adds 160 calories to your body. Let us put this into perspective. You’ll be served a glass of cool drink at the end of this meeting every week. If you happen to attend 6 meetings in a row and have 6 glasses of cool drink, you’ll put on 1 Kg of weight. In order to burn those extra calories and lose weight, you’ll have to actually walk in the treadmill for about 30 minutes a day, for 7 days in a row.

A piece of cake or a chocolate bar has about 5 spoons of Sweetie… so, if you eat a piece of a cake or eat a chocolate bar, you’ll have to walk in the treadmill for 30 minutes for a day … to get rid of the extra calories.

Sweetie vs. Fattie

Sweetie is next to God, she is omnipresent. She is in the canned juice that you drink, she is in the cake that you eat, and she is in the chocolate bars that you munch… she is everywhere. Escaping from her is very difficult… She also has a cousin sister called the Fattie… any time you have more of the Sweetie, she gets transformed by our body into the Fattie. Fattie is more harmful to your body than the Sweetie… because she gets to your heart faster than the Sweetie. They both compete with each other to take control of you and your life.

Processed vs. Unprocessed Sugar

It is absolutely impossible to get rid of Sweetie from your life… She is like those ghosts that we see in the horror movies. They’ll come back at the end, for the next episode. Most of the times, Sweetie comes in front of us like a modern girl… in a processed form… with lots of makeover, with lots of glittering ornaments, with lots of shiny clothes. However, her younger sisters … the Jaggery, Palm Jaggery and Honey are like those village girls exhibiting natural beauty… They are good for you. You can substitute the processed Sweetie with her unprocessed sisters like Jaggery, Palm Jaggery and Honey.

Conclusion

Dear friends… today, several millions and millions of people are getting addicted to Sweetie, knowingly or unknowingly. She is as deadly as the drugs. It is easy to say “Sweetie! I hate you…” in the first place, than trying to marry her and divorce her later… by running on the tread mill. A few months back, I developed the guts to look straight into her eyes and say “Sweetie! I hate you…” Dear friends… do you have the guts in you… to say “Sweetie! I hate you…” ?!

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.