Wings of Magic Toastmasters Club, Dubai Club 2527551, Area 25, Division F, District 105
Vol: I Sep:2017
Special features: Message from world champion (TM Manoj vasudevan) Articles from renowned and veteran toastmasters
In This issue
#
1- Editorial ....................................... (By TM Amjad Ali, ACB, CL)
2
2- President’s Message .............(By TM Sanjay Gagarani, CC, ALB)
3
3- Division Director’s Message ...........(By DTM Willson Lewis)
4
4- Area Director Message .........(By TM kamlesh Manek, ACB, CL)
5
5- 7 barriers ...........................(By World Champion Manoj Vasudevan)
6-8
6- Phobia ..........................................(By TM Sumanta Banerjee)
9-11
7- Place of Magic ......................(By TM Aravindakshan, ACB, ALB)
12
8- My Journey ................................(By TM Manjunath Murthy TC)
13
9- Effective Communication ......(By TM Sanjay Agrawal, CC, CL)
14
10- Cup Of Life ................................(By TM Amjad Ali, ACB, CL)
15
11- Magical Moments
16-18
12- New Members Introduction
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EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE 2017-2018
wings of magic Toastmasters club
President
Secretary
TM Sanjay Gagarani, CC, ALB
TM Shamsher Swar
+971 56 22 55354 sanjay.gagarani@topazworld.com
Vice President - Education
+971503171476 shamsher.swar@chanel-corp.com
Treasurer
TM Sanjay Agrawal, CC
TM TC Manjunath
+971 52 826 8731 tcmanjunathmurthy@gmail.com
+971 50 564 9107 sanjayshruti@hotmail.com
Vice President - Membership
Sergent -at-arms
TM Baby Pallipadan
TM Balram Reddy
+971 56 116 2886 babypallipadan@hotmail.com
Vice President - Public Relations
+971509866466 ballubalaram@gmail.com
Immediate Past President
TM Amjad Ali, ACB,CL
Raminder Singh, ACB, ALB
+971 55 202 0193 thisisamjadali@gmail.com
+971509866466
Mentor
Mentor
DTM Dharmajan Patteri
TM Prabhdeep Singh, ACG, ALB
+971503536885 caprabh@hotmail.co.uk
+97152 843 4080 dpatteri@gmail.com
Club Mission We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-conďŹ dence and personal growth. Integrity
Respect
Service
Excellence
editorial message We are delighted to welcome you to the first edition of News letter of our grown up, magical and magnificent WINGS OF MAGIC TOAST MASTERS CLUB, Dubai also known as WOM. Your fondness & appreciation echos in our mind as we put in a candid effort to showcase the dazzling journey WOM has had so far aptly reflected in its achievment of so many distinguished awards & toastmasters reach ing district l evel in many championships. Since time we have been airing the sweet endeavor of shaping leaders with del ineated set procedures having m ultitudinous fac ets yet to be explored. A Toastmaster is a reflection that exhibits a panorama of prowess. There is a world to be known about it apart from the fact that we at WOM are engaged in promoting public speaking along with the personality. We in our club believe in 4 important factors that makes us disparate from the mundanes outside, known as 4 C's and they are: i) Confidence -we aim at invigorating the conviction with which a person states what had remained unspoken for ages. When this aplomb combines with the right amount of ii) Oratirity -it is sure to leave everyone dumb stuck with the resultant poise. Each one of us here is aptly imaginative and artistic to do wonders with their presentation skill and without any doubt these skills will go miles if integrated with the ultimate quality of having. iii) Control - over the ups & downs in our mind in our thoughts. And finally what this breathtaking iv) Conceptualization of Toastmaster's boasts of is a gradual but exponential increase in the confidence of thoughts. Nothing is as crucial as making sense when speaking in front of an audience. As an editor we tried our best to conclude the collation of all the knowledge, perception into following pagesincluding the prize articles of the current world champion TM Manoj Vasudevan.
TM Amjad Ali, ACB, CL Vice President Public Relation
Life is what you live and not what you think
The articles, the event appearing in this news letter are exact voices from the soul though the entire ExCom team contributed in the making of this news letter yet special mention must be made of TM Sumanta Banerjee, TM Sanjay Agrawal, TM Prabhadeep Singh Baweja & TM Shamsher. We would also like to facilitate each and every Toast master till now for being the reason that we can impressively cruise the oceans of time and one and all with us on this voyage of reminiscence. "Life is what you live and not what you think" hence fellow t oast masters be on your wings to experience the highlights of the enormous and courageous expedition to ensure The Magical Make Over. Personally I am extremely honored to be the editor of this first news letter.
Happy Reading Page# 2
president’s message Dear
Esteemed
Leaders,
of
Toastmasters Wings
of
and
Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships
Magic
………………You would think that the name says it all, and rightly so in some respect it does. I am happy to see 2017 off to a colorful start particularly with two magical wings of our club namely Communication and Leadership helping our members to rise, grow and anchor success on many frontiers. We have attained unique milestones
TM Sanjay Gagarani, CC, ALB
during the short span of 5 tender years of
your passion, perceive personality transformation and freedom from fear of standing before the audience & deliver your speech. The growth opportunities here are immense, & unlimited. Toastmasters is a place where people will not only listen to you patiently n with attention but will help you with constructive feedback as well since here everyone wants you to succeed. When you help others in their personal journey, it is a rewarding experience. When you mentor a new joinee and help them in realizing their goals, the feeling of satisfaction is immense. When you help somebody come out from their shell and put their voice across, it is priceless. Dear Toastmasters, It’s now festival time. By the time you receive this newsletter, Eid-al-Adha, Dussehra and Navratra would have been celebrated, and preparations for Diwali will be in full swing. Each and every festival has a deep meaning attached to it. Dussehra, as we know is the triumph of good over evil, not just on the surface but in heart of each and every human being. Diwali is known as the festival of light, and the lighting of the lamps signifies awareness of our inner light that removes the darkness of ignorance and illuminates the way of true knowledge. The enthusiasm of our members has indeed been overwhelming, and I must take this opportunity to extend my heartfelt gratitude to all our members. The affection showered and the confidence reposed in me has been the source of my strength while serving the club. Indeed your love and affection energizes Excom team and gives us strength and zeal to work even harder for the cause of the club. I am quite confident that your active involvement will give us further impetus to put in more energy and to take the club to newer heights. This is a joint endeavor. I seek your more active involvement and innovative ideas to translate the dream and the action Plan as well into a reality. Let us march together.
growing since 2012. This edition of our new letter carries separately a summary of our club achievements so far. We have had so many moment of pride& when I ponder over the past, present, and future; I feel a sense of triumph. Having resolutely upheld the tradition of Respect,
Integrity,
Service,
and
Excellence, today we are occupying not only an exalted position but also well set on the course to a fabulous future. The unprecedented
success
of
our TM TC Manjunath becoming one of the finalists
of
District humorous
speech contest in 2017, is testimony to our
objective
&
efforts.
Kudos
&
congratulation to Majestic TC Manjunath! Again another feather of excellence, recently, our VP PR TM Amjad Ali, has already received TRIPLE CROWN AWARD. Awesome Amjad Ali! He is on a mission. All the very best Toastmaster
not
only
stands
for
Communication and Leadership, its way beyond that. It’s a destination to foster friendship, nurture your network, peruse
I would like to close this address with the apt saying ‘Talent wins games, but teamwork wins championships.’
Page# 3
TRY NEW THINGS
message from Division director
“If it scares you, it might be a good thing to start” When did you try last to do something different? Last week/ last month/ last year? Or you have not tried anything different at all? It is very common for us to repeat the same thing because we are very comfortable with what we are doing and not taking an effort to do something different. The comfort is keeping us tied to old things. How about going to the same restaurant repeatedly, how best the preparations and cuisine that may have, you will feel bored and want to change the restaurant for different taste. Many complain that their job is boring and same reports every week/month. That is fine, if the management wants the same standard reports. However, we do not have any restrictions to stick to those standard report, you may go little extra miles and do something new which adds value to the company. One must have the positive mindset to do something different. With reference to toastmasters, there are many opportunities for the toastmasters to learn new things every day. It is the platform where you can learn new things. In toastmasters if someone wants to learn new things, the best way is to take up the leadership roles.
DTM Wilson Lewis, Division F Director
These leadership roles teach you different level of skills which add value to your personality development. Do not stick to only one role but keep changing the roles
One must have the positive mindset to do something different.
and you will enjoy these roles in your toastmaster’s journey. Keep doing the new things and you will rise from where you are now. Wish you all a very happy toastmaster year 2017-18.
Page# 4
are you ready?
message from area director A Club newsletter is a sacred duty of VP-PR and a sacrosanct opportunity to Toastmasters to showcase their power with words, ideas and thoughts! It is a moment to unveil, reveal, revel and share what you are, who you are. It is that opportunity to state what your journey has. Even all about and what do you think it will be in future. To say what makes you think and what is that you want to talk.
It is an opportunity to share, inspire and lead! Own it.
TM Kamlesh Manek, ALB, CC - Area 25 Director
Our Club completed 5 years, marking a milestone in its noteworthy and news making journey. Members have brought accolades and glory to us and our club. I say am WoM member with a lot of pride.
The next few weeks once again will offer such
It is an opportunity
opportunities, to shine ourselves and shine a spotlight on WoM - are you ready?
to share, inspire and lead! Own it.
Page# 5
7 barriers that might be preventing your career progression Last week I met a friend of mine after many years. During our conversation, Sarah (name changed) mentioned how frustrated she was in her current job at a large multinational company. “I have been working diligently for 3 years; they haven’t yet given me a promotion. I look around and see people getting ahead of me ‘out of turn’. They don’t even have half my ‘skills’. That makes me sick!” Does that situation sound familiar? What can you do? Unfortunately, working harder is not the solution.
TM Manoj Vasudevan 2017 World champion of public speaking
When you perform well in your job and know you are competent, in due course you expect to get new positions, promotions and pay raise. However, that doesn’t happen automatically. When you ask your boss, he/she says “The economy is bad. The organization is not doing well. We are advised to cut costs.” But, wait a minute. Have you noticed this – even when the economy is not doing so well, there are people who get positions, promotions and pay raises! Why do these go to some and not to others? Here are the 7 barriers that might be preventing your career progression. Barrier 1: Lack of Will Most people don’t feel that they deserve a promotion. They don’t think they are ready. Thought drives actions. They sometimes justify their lack of will and confidence, by giving excuses. “After my baby grows up (or graduates from college), I will be more ready for promotion” “Things are going on fine. I don’t want to rock the boat.” “I don’t want the promotion. I want to spend more time with my family” “There is no point asking for a raise. They won’t give!” If you have a tendency to do that, you are probably ‘downsizing’ your dreams to justify your current predicament.
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Have you ever taken the time to chart out your career? Food for thought: The higher your position is in your organization, the higher your power to delegate your work, the higher your rewards and the higher your control over your time. With the extra reward and extra time, you are able to do the things you love to do – follow your hobby, take care of your loved ones etc. Barrier 2: Lack of a Career Plan Have you ever taken the time to chart out your career? Wait... have you? Do you know where you want to be 5 years from now or 20 years from now? What skills will you need to perform well in that role? Have you been preparing yourself for such roles? Most people can't progress because they don't stay prepared to take on the next role. Food for thought: Spare an hour or two to think about your career plan. You will be glad you did. Your plan might change, but you need to be aware of what skills, exposure, and experience you need in the long run. Start building up your repertoire. You see, soldiers don’t go into battle without their armor and weapons. Build your competence, particularly to lead, manage and persuade others. Your focus shouldn’t just be on staying employed, your focus needs to be to stay employable and promotable. In other words, stay ready for the next level. Barrier 3: Lack of ‘Pre-emptive Strikes’ Who else in the organization knows your desires and needs? Most people ask for a promotion during their performance review. That’s often too late!!! Let’s face it. Performance reviews are usually smoke screens, as the decision on you is probably made way before that. If you argue your case during performance reviews it is already too late. Your boss will defend and not budge. Someone else has already taken your share of cake and eaten it too.
7 barriers that might be preventing your career progression
Food for thought: No one else can read your mind. Before you can receive, you need to ask! Personally, inform your superiors and key influencers that you are expecting a promotion by the end of the year. For example: “I need your guidance for my career progression. I am aiming for ‘that position’ by this date. Based on your experience and expertise, could you please let me know what competencies I need to have to get ‘that position’?” Now, they will be inclined to give you “the expert advice”. This would also mean that you need to be committed to building those competencies, but at least you know what to shoot at! (… and your boss has a stake in your plan.) Barrier 4: Lack of Corporate Cheer Leaders Others in your organization need to know about your skills, talents, competencies, experience, and expertise. However, if you keep bragging about your fabulous achievements or keep telling everyone you are awesome, no one will listen to you or believe you. You need to get others to vouch for you. You need to do yourself a favor by building your internal network of well-wishers and cheerleaders. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time; it does need tact and technique. (… a skill you too can learn.) Food for thought: Who will vouch for your competence, experience, and expertise? Remember, your network determines your net worth. Even people who consider themselves shy and introverted can build valuable networks. (Hint: keep giving value to people you meet, they will spread your good name.) Barrier 5: Lack of Mentors and Coaches The easiest way to navigate the corporate maze is to have a corporate mentor (someone in the organization who has gone the path you like to take) or a career coach (someone with expertise in developing your potential and guiding you to your career goals). If you don’t have one, get one. It is not only nice, it is sometimes necessary. Sometimes an external coach is better than an internal mentor, as the assistance will be free from internal politics and bias. You get the much needed objective outsider's perspective. It is sometimes needed because - the higher you are up the career ladder, the less likely you are able to know the real perception others have about you. Food for thought: Even the sporting legends have coaches and mentors. As Tennis legend Boris Becker said “We can’t possibly know everything ourselves. Feedback is the breakfast of champions.” Barrier 6: Lack of Courage Most people are afraid to lose their jobs. That fear of loss controls their actions. Their actions are largely focused on making themselves indispensable and impressing others with their efforts. They keep politicking. They keep information to themselves. They prevent others from acquiring their skills, so as to make themselves indispensable. While that looks logical, that is ineffective. Why? You are not indispensable. No one is. Even Steve Jobs was kicked out of the company he founded. What you need to focus is to keep broadening your skill set and widening your exposure. Let someone else take your job as long as you are ready for a better job. The high achievers are usually those who are willing to prepare their replacements. By clinging onto your job for long periods, you are definitely keeping your job, but you may not be learning much. There is an opportunity cost as you could be learning useful things in a better position. The higher you want to go in the organization, the broader your experience needs to be. Food for thought: If your aim is to climb the corporate ladder, you shouldn’t cling onto your chair. You need to search for the ladder and prepare for the climb. Do your work well, but keep an eye on your personal goals too.
Things are going on Fine. I don’t want to rock the boat.
Page# 7
7 barriers that might be preventing your career progression Barrier 7: Lack of Self-Education Most people stop their learning after they graduate. Others look up to their organizations to teach them new skills, tools, processes, and techniques. They do not develop a habit of self-education. Self-education is usually the best education. You can choose what you want you to learn, how you want to learn, from whom you want to learn and what depth you like to go to master something. If you are waiting for corporate training, that training is usually tailored to the organizational goals and limited to your immediate scope of work. They are often designed to teach you what you need, to do your current job better. Nothing more. It doesn’t necessarily prepare you for your next level. Be aware of that. If you aim to progress quickly, the following skills are necessary irrespective of your industry, position or years of experience. You need to master the Five Core Skills given below. – An ability to connect with people (break the ice, build rapport, carry a conversation and be remembered) – An ability to communicate (present persuasively, speaking effectively in front of groups and have structured conversations with anyone) – An ability to network (to know and be known) – An ability to lead (to inspire, guide and mentor others) – An ability to sell (your ideas, opinions, product or service) Food for thought: Most successful people were not born with these skills. They learn these. Personally, I have seen hundreds of people from different nationalities who turbo-boost their careers and transform their lives through learning these skills. These are skills you too can pick up easily if you wish to. If you have read this far, you are far ahead of most people. Most people do not pause to reflect on these reasons and take immediate corrective actions. Instead, they sit down and complain about their circumstances! (no time, no money, no energy, no need, "no one loves me" etc) If you have seen someone who is less talented flying high in your organization, it could be because they have overcome these 7 barriers. The one question that remains to be asked is this – Are you getting what you truly deserve? If so, congratulations! If not, read on. The Chariot, the Charioteer, and the Horses One of the things I tell my leadership coaching clients is this.(This is what I told Sarah too) You have to take charge of your career direction, pace and progress like a charioteer who takes charge of his chariot and horses. Otherwise, you are leaving your career to chance. You are letting others control your time, your mood, energy, and destiny. Remember to grab hold of the reins of your destiny! The distance between who you are and whom you want to be is what you are doing about that! For more articles and guidance on this topic, please visit Thought Expressions. Manoj Vasudevan is a renowned Next Level Leadership Readiness expert, management consultant, international speaker, popular author, and coach. World number 3 at the World Championship of Public Speaking Las Vegas, Manoj is known for his expertise in simplifying complex topics into practical strategies. He is the CEO of Thought Expressions and is an MBA from Imperial College, London. He speaks at international conferences, multinational companies, universities, and coaches leaders from all walks of life around the world. His books include the international bestseller Mastering Leadership The Mousetrap Way.
Page# 8
phobia
TM Sumanta Banerjee Are you afraid of expressing your feelings? Are you worried every morning that you might miss the office bus even though last one year not even once you missed the bus? Are you in discomfort with your job that you might not get the expected recognition even though you know for sure your importance in the organization because of the important critical jobs are assigned to you? If so then it’s a case of Phobia which is nothing but an intense fear of something that, in reality, poses little or no actual danger. We can develop phobias of virtually anything. This can be in the form of Animal phobias( fear of snakes, spiders, rodents, and dogs),Natural environment phobias(fear of heights, storms, water, and of the dark),Situational phobias (fears triggered by a specific situation, Examples include fear of enclosed spaces (claustrophobia), flying, driving, tunnels, and bridges),Blood-Injection-Injury phobia (fear of blood, injury, illness, needles, or other medical procedures).Those phobias which don’t fall into one of these four common categories are like fear of choking, fear of getting a disease such as cancer, and fear of clowns. Most phobias though develop in childhood, yet they can also develop in adults. In our childhood we could express our feelings freely. We cried when we were hungry. We smiled when we were happy. We yelled and pounded our dimpled little fists when we were frustrated. We didn’t muffle a cry because it might upset the people around us. We didn’t filter a smile because it might make us more vulnerable to be hurt. We didn’t stifle our frustration because it would be embarrassing to have others witness our sufferings. And we definitely didn’t block others from what we were feeling. And then, somewhere along the way, during our development into adulthood, we became afraid of our feelings. Maybe we stopped freely expressing our true self, began hiding, shielding, questioning, analyzing…and above all, protecting our heart from getting hurt. We learnt that feelings were dangerous and painful, so we began to block ourselves from our feelings, compartmentalize them, disconnect and numb out.
And it turns out to be a good move at first! Since it spared you from feeling the full extent of a broken heart when someone you loved hurt your feelings. It spared you the suffering and disappointments when you didn’t get the expected result in your professional examination, failed to get due promotion in the job, or when life generally didn’t go your way. You had the feelings-buffer protecting you from experiencing the depths of your pain. This all was great…until…those unexpressed feelings started manifesting in other ways. Sometime we feel Fear and Phobia is synonymous but there is little difference between the two. Some examples are 1) Fear- Feeling anxious when flying through turbulence or taking off during a storm. 1a) Phobia- Not going to your best friend’s Island wedding since you‘d have to fly there. 2) Fear- Experiencing butterflies when peering down from the top of a skyscraper or climbing a tall ladder 2a) Phobia - Turning down a great job as its on the 10th floor of the office building. 3) Fear - Feeling a little queasy when getting a shot or when your blood is being drawn. 3a) Phobia - Avoiding necessary medical treatments or doctor’s checkups since you are terrified of needles. Even the great personalities of the world were not immune to this. For example 1) Franklin D. Roosevelt had an intense personal fear of fire. His fear was likely to stem from his childhood, when he had several frightening experiences. His phobia increased after he lost the use of his legs in the 1920s; he feared being immobilized in a burning building, unable to escape. During his presidency, his fear of fire even outweighed his fear of assassination. He refused to lock the door to the presidential bedroom at night in case of fire, forcing the Secret Service to maintain regular patrols in the hallway each night. His wife is said to have commissioned an architect to design a special fire escape chute for him to use. It is unknown if it was ever built, but the plans are filed with the Secret Service Archives in the FDR Library. Despite his fear, Roosevelt still insisted his family Christmas tree be decorated with candles rather than electric lights 2) Genghis Khan, according to legend and some passages of the biographical Secret History of the Mongols, feared only three things: his mother, his wife, and dogs. Some have criticized Genghis Khan for his cowardice around dogs, but the fear was probably a wise precaution because of well known ferociousness of Mongol dogs. 3) Heraclius Byzantine emperor had a period of great victories against the Persians, but reversals and defeats at the hands of the expanding Muslim armies caused him to develop a number of nervous conditions, including a fear of water. While retreating with his army following a crushing defeat by the Arabs in Syria, he delayed a crucial tactical retreat out of Asia Minor across the Bosphorus. After several weeks of lingering in his palace at Hiereia, he was finally induced to cross over a bridge of boats lined with tree branches. 4)Winston Churchill ,One of the greatest speakers of the 20th century, former British Prime Minister, once struggled with a stutter that made his early attempts at public speaking nerve-racking experiences. As a newly elected representative at the age of 29, he stood up to give a speech to the House of Commons and froze in terror for three minutes before returning to his seat and covering his face with his hands. He resolved to never suffer such indignity again. 5)Muammar Gadhafi, former Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi was by all accounts a difficult man to work for, made worse by eccentric phobias of heights and long flights over open water. According to a cache of secret diplomatic cables released through Wikileaks, the dictator could not fly over open water for more than eight hours, causing logistical headaches for his staff. They organized alternative routes and frequent layovers to calm his nerves, stopping in Portugal during a trip to the United States and planning a layover in Newfoundland when returning to Libya from a trip to Venezuela.
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6) Adolf Hitler, had a phobia of visiting the dentist, which is almost distressingly humanizing. He allegedly suffered from a range of oral health problems due to his fear of the dentist—as well as a sweet tooth. Dr. Hugo Blaschke, Deputy Chief Dental Surgeon of the SS, who worked as Hitler’s dentist for nearly 20 years, noted Hitler frequently complained of pain and had “terrible bad breath, yellowing teeth, abscesses and gum disease.” He once insisted that a simple root canal be spread over eight days, claiming to be unable to handle the pain. Some have suggested Hitler’s poor oral health may have contributed to his psychological anxieties and overall decline in health toward the end of the war. The problem is even though we might realize the irrationality of the fear; we fail to control our feelings. Just thinking about the feared object or situation may make you anxious. And when you’re actually exposed to the thing you fear, the terror is automatic and overwhelming. At times the experience is so intense, nerve-wracking that you may go to a great length to avoid it—inconveniencing yourself or even changing your lifestyle. If you have claustrophobia, for example, you might even turn down a lucrative job offer if you have to ride the elevator to get to the office. If you have a fear of heights, you might drive an extra 20 miles in order to avoid a tall bridge. But then these fears, these frustrations these pains don’t disappear. Those feelings hide but not beyond a point anymore– the space in the compartment has run out. They begin to spill out in ways that seem strange and random. They show up in the form of anxiety, depression, back pain, migraines, eating disorder, or some other mental-physical-emotional pain. And the moment you get to this point, it becomes even more difficult to heal. After years of honing your ability of course unconsciously, to separate your feelings from yourself, now they are here – causing you pain, taking control of you, and taking over your life. What then you do now? The reality is without fear, we aren’t alive. So, fear is simply our friend who reminds us of our humanity and our vitality. However, when it comes to treating phobias, nothing is better than self-help strategies and therapy both of which can be effective. What’s best for you depend on a number of factors, including the severity of your phobia, your insurance coverage, and the amount of support you need. The more you can do for yourself, the more in control you’ll feel—which goes a long way. However, if your phobia is so severe that it triggers panic attacks or uncontrollable anxiety, you may want to get additional support. The good news is that therapy for phobias has a great track record. Not only does it work extremely well, but you tend to see results very quickly—sometimes in as little as one to four sessions. However, support doesn’t have to come in the guise of a professional therapist. Just having someone to hold your hand or stand by your side as you face your fears can be extraordinarily helpful. Some tips can be of help when you venture into it and they are: 1. Face Your fears, one step at a time. Facing your fears is the key. While avoidance may make you feel better in the short-term, it prevents you from learning that your phobia may not be as frightening or overwhelming as you think. You never get the chance to learn how to cope with your fears and experience control over the situation. As a result, the phobia becomes increasingly scarier and more daunting in your mind. Gradually and repeatedly exposing yourself to the fears in a safe and controlled manner is the most effective way to overcome a phobia. During this process, you’ll learn to get over your anxiety & fear until it inevitably passes. Through repeatedly facing your fear, you’ll begin to realize that the worst isn’t going to happen; you’re not going to die or "lose it." With each exposure, you’ll feel more confident and in control. The phobia begins to lose its power. Successfully facing your fears takes planning, practice, and patience 2. Learn to calm down quickly Once you are afraid or anxious, it’s natural that you encounter uncomfortable physical symptoms, like racing heart, suffocating feeling etc. These physical sensations can be frightening themselves—and a large part of what makes your phobia so distressing. However, by learning how to calm yourself down quickly, you can become more confident in your ability to tolerate uncomfortable sensations and face your fears. Socially interacting face-to-face with someone you trust is the quickest way to calm your nervous system and diffuse anxiety. When you don’t have a friend close by to lean on, you can quickly self sooth by using one or more of your physical senses: Movement – Go for a walk, jump up and down, or gently stretch. Dancing, drumming, and running can be especially effective at relieving anxiety. Sight – Look at anything that relaxes you or makes you smile: a beautiful view, family photos, cat pictures on the Internet. Sound – Listen to soothing music, sing a favorite tune, or play a musical instrument. Taste – Sip a hot cup of coffee or herbal tea. Chew on a stick of gum. Enjoy a mint or your favorite hard candy. Touch – Give yourself a hand or neck massage. Cuddle with a pet. Wrap yourself in a soft blanket. Sit outside in the cool breeze.
Page# 10
3. Practice relaxation techniques
Deep breathing with muscle relaxation are powerful antidotes to anxiety, panic, and fear. Regular practice helps improving your ability to control those physical symptoms of anxiety and will make your phobia less intimidating. Relaxation techniques will also help you cope more effectively with other sources of stress and anxiety in your life. During those anxious moments, one tends to take quick, shallow breaths that actually add further to the physical feelings of anxiety. On the contrary with deep breathing from the abdomen, you can reverse these physical sensations. You can’t be upset when you’re breathing slowly, deeply, and quietly. Within a few short minutes of deep breathing, you’ll feel less tense, short of breath, and anxious. You don’t need to feel anxious to practice this technique. In fact, it’s best to practice when you’re feeling calm until you’re familiar and comfortable with the exercise.
Sit or stand comfortably with your back straight. Put one hand on your chest and the other on your stomach.Take a slow breath in through your nose, counting to four. The hand on your stomach should rise. The hand on your chest should move very little.
4. Challenge negative thoughts
It’s an important step in overcoming your phobia. When you have a phobia, you tend to overestimate how bad it would be if you’re exposed to the situation you fear. At the same time, you underestimate your ability to cope. The anxious thoughts that trigger and fuel phobias are usually negative and unrealistic. It can help to put these thoughts to the test. Start writing down any negative thoughts you have when confronted with your phobia and those thoughts normally fall into the following categories: Fortune telling. For example, “This Bridge is going to collapse;” “I’ll make a fool of myself for sure;” “I will definitely lose it when the elevator doors close.” Overgeneralization. “I fainted once while getting a shot. I’ll never be able to get a shot again without passing out;” “That pit bull lunged at me. All dogs are dangerous.” Catastrophizing. “The captain said we’re going through turbulence. The plane is going to crash!” “The person next to me coughed. Maybe it’s the swine flu. I’m going to get very sick!” Once you’ve identified your negative thoughts, evaluate them and use it in a positive manner like 1) “I see many people using the elevator and it has never broken down.” 2) “I cannot remember ever hearing of anyone dying from suffocation in an elevator.” 3) “I guess I could press the alarm button or use the telephone to call for assistance.” 4) “I would probably say that the chances of it happening are very slim as you don’t see or hear about it very often.”
Modern day Philosopher Sadguru made it simple to understand: “You don’t have to leave your fears and insecurities because they don’t really exist. You keep creating them unconsciously. If you don’t create them, they don’t really exist. So your question is essentially about why you create them and how to stop creating them. The fundamental reason why fear has arisen in you is – one way of looking at it is – in this vast existence of which you don’t know the beginning or the end, you are just a little human being. Being the small entity that you are right now, naturally there is fear and insecurity about what will happen to you".
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place of magic Always be respectful and value the time audience spend for you.
TM Aravindakshan Edayillam, ACS ALS Wings of Magic is not just the name of the club. It is the continuous story of the magic happening in all of us by being a toastmaster. Like Wings of Magic, there are about 15300 clubs all over the world and every club has same story to tell… story of personal growth and great transformation in personal, professional and social life of its members. The magic start on the first day of our toastmasters meeting. By getting aware of the activities in a meeting and being actively part of its communication and leadership programme, slowly, we realise that this magic really works. I remember the first table topic speech I tried, it is true that I could not speak to the audience on that day. But later I could think about ten different ways of talking on that table topic. I tried it in my home imagining hundreds of audience with me. In the next table topic attempt, I could speak till green light showed, 1 minutes 1 second… Now I am very confident and can speak till red light… and I will make sure the allotted time is not wasted. I believe this magical story is the story of every one. To experience the magic within you, I suggest the following three points
1) Always be respectful and value the time audience spend for you. Audience are here to support you, encourage you and to celebrate your success. They are giving highly valuable opportunity for us. 2) Prepare your communication and leadership assignments strictly as per the objectives in the manuals. Spend enough time for preparing the speech, getting support of mentors and practice as many time till you are comfortable on its successful delivery. 3) Always try to give the best you can. By ensuring these points, the magic will happen automatically and the positive effect of this will reflect in all the activities in your life.
Let the magic continues in our club and within all of us. Wish you all the best
Aravindakshan Edayillam ACS ALS
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My journey We all have visions, we all want to be recognized, and we all want to be better than what we were before
TM Manjunath Murthy TC I Join the Toast Masters International no sooner I attended a motivational speech at ICAT Toast master club which hold values such as Respect, Integrity, Service and Excellence along with the mission of encouraging, empowering the individual to become effective communicators and leaders as well. Millions of individuals are benefited in improving their communication & leadership skill and those ingredients brought happiness to me & helped transforming & flowering me as a speaker.
My mentors deserve all kudos for instilling the seed of confidence in me to win over the fear factor and start speaking with confidence. Their 24x7 guidance made my TM journey that much smooth and without hiccups.
The icing on the cake was the moments of my participation in district level competition at "Bahrain DTAC 2017". You guessed it, supports from my all Toastmasters made this possible and I sincerely owe them for all their gestures. Needless to mention it was a dream come true for me as a public speaker.
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Effective Communication Effective Communication is the key factor in the success of an Individual or any organization.
TM Sanjay Agrawal, CC, CL How important is Effective Communication in our life? Have you ever felt that something you spoke to someone is not understood clearly? From the time we get-up in the morning, till the time we go to bed, we do a lot of communication either listening or saying and this keeps on repeating every day. Effective Communication is the key factor in the success of an Individual or any organization. Communication is the activity of conveying thoughts. It means to share information. Communication has 3 components sender, message, and intended recipient. Communication process is complete once the recipient has understood the message of the sender with the same intend. Communication can occur across vast distances in time and space. Communication can be Verbal & Non verbal. A variety of non-verbal communication includes Body gesture, eye contact, facial expression, sign language, even silence etc. Verbal communication includes written text, speech, presentation, discussion, and interpersonal communication. . In your normal routine, you may have come across that an email you wrote was understood wrongly and it became a big issue. Verbal communication can also employ visual aids of pictures, sound and motions for better understanding. So with combination of verbal and non-verbal mode, we make an effective communication. Examples:- Business plan presentation, Sales pitch presentation People often feel that effective
Communication can be Verbal & Non verbal. A variety of non-verbal communication includes Body gesture, eye contact, facial expression, sign language, even silence etc. Verbal communication includes written text, speech, presentation, discussion, and interpersonal communication. . In your normal routine, you may have come across that an email you wrote was understood wrongly and it became a big issue. Verbal communication can also employ visual aids of pictures, sound and motions for better understanding. So with combination of verbal and non-verbal mode, we make an effective communication. Examples:- Business plan presentation, Sales pitch presentation People often feel that effective communication is as easy and simple as it sounds. It happens sometimes that what we said is not understood correctly. This is because there are several barriers in effective communication. Let me explain you few barriers and tips so that you can caution and overcome barriers. Physical barriers are outdated equipment, distractions like background noise, poor lighting and an environment which is too hot or cold which can affect people's concentration. Ambiguity of Words: Certain words pronouncing the same but having different meaning can convey a different meaning altogether. It would be better if such words can be avoided by using alternatives. Incorrect pronunciation, use of difficult words or poorly explained messages can create confusion. So message should be simple and short. Syntax, Grammar, verb, tense mistakes and overload message etc. can disrupt communication. Poor eye sight, ill health or hearing difficulties can prevent effective communication. Environmental Noise that physically disrupts communication, such as standing next to loud speakers, noise from a construction site and musical concert in surrounding area etc. makes it difficult to hear. Let us all overcome the barriers of communication and be effective communicator.
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CUP OF LIFE Let’s stop wasting time and start living every sip of our cup of life
TM Amjad Ali, ACB, CL Your cup of life is made by you, you know the taste, you know the heat and you know how to hold it to sip it to enjoy it so no one else in this world can handle your cup of life well than you. Problem in our life start only when we handover our cup of life to someone else who doesn’t know how to handle it and care for it. Remember no one in this world will understand the taste of your life and handle it they way you deserve. When I was young in twenties I used to be depending on others ideas because of less confidence about my qualities, expertise and capabilities. I thought someone can help me to achieve my goals and but I found out later that no one else has the access and reach to the level of your goals and mission but yourself. As we all know “late is better than never and now is better than later” so it’s been decided that the my dreams and missions will be achieved by only myself with the Believe, Respect and Teamwork. On the journey of our dreams shake hand and respect everyone to let them with you success. Everyone of us has been in a situation once or more, I have been to but how many of us has come out of that black box and started living our life? I urge everyone to start realizing not today but now to start loving and enjoying your cup of life because no one else can do that for you at all. Let’s stop wasting time and start living every sip of our cup of life what we have prepared with love, honesty and choice. Happy cup of life!
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Magical Moments Meeting dates 11 july& 25 july 2017
Magical Moments Meeting dates 8 August & 22 August 2017
Magical Moments Meeting dates 12 September & 26 September 2017
New members
TM Sumanta Banerjee
TM Amjad Ali
By profession a Chartered Accountant, Sumanta is in Dubai since 2006 January and serving a well-known Jebel Ali based company M/S KIMOHA ENTREPRENEURS LTD as its CFO leading a successful career with reach experience of 36 years in the industry.A resident of Mumbai for more than 36 years, born & brought up in Saamastipur, Bihar, India, Sumanta is a very sensitive person with passions for many activities including in particular music, literature travelling and social works. He is a regular travelogue & feature writer for a Bengali magazine in Kolkata, writes frequently for Gulf News as well. He is an Ex Rotarian and was a President Elect for his club Rotary club of Mumbai Goregaon West in 2005 before he left for Dubai. During his 10 years stint in Rotary he was a very active & recognized Rotarian, was in charge of his club Magazine & in his first year itself the magazine was recognized as the best magazine in the district with more than 200 clubs. His pet project was Wheel Chair projects where wheel chairs were distributed to the needy poor handicapped to give them a new lease of life to stand up on their own which he continued for 4 years before he left for Dubai and all these 4 years the project were blessed with the presence of 3 Miss worlds and one famous gazal singer Ms. Mitali Singh.
Born and brought up in Lahore, Pakistan in a middle class humble family. Studied Masters in Computer Sciences and worked in advertising field for 17 years including 14 years in UAE and running and Advertising business in Dubai for past 5 years. Eager to learn new things from any point of time and people. This man has nothing called impossible in his life with the having a strong believe in himself.He loves traveling and wants to complete his world tour by 2020. He joined Toastmasters International just few months ago and finished his ACB and CL and wants to become professional motivational speaker to help the less fortunate with his words of love and humanity.A proud brother of 7 and father of 4 Toastmaster Amjad Ali.
New members CA with 25 year post qualification experience majority in FMCG multinational companies. Family lives in Sydney An Australian citizen with 2 children my Moro is learning.
TM Sundeep Vanjara
Anil Jain is a fun loving person born in Chennai and professionally qualified to hold the membership from the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India and Bachelor of Commerce from Jiwaji University Gwalior, who has worked in India and the Middle East from manufacturing to retail. He is passionate about his work and a team player, currently working in an Emirati FMCG company in Dubai as Head Finance & HR.
TM Anil Jain
Electronics and communication Engineer. Working as Sales Engineer in Dubai for approx 1 year . He is happily married and blessed with one 2.5 years old son.
TM Sivakarthik Chellappa
Wings of Magic Toastmasters Club, Dubai Club 2527551, Area 25, Division F, District 105
Meeting Days: 2nd and 4th Tuesdays 7:30 to 9:30pm Contact: President - TM Sanjay Gagarani +971 56 2255354 Vice President - TM Sanjay Agarwal +971 50 5649107