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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
March on. Do not tarry. To go forward is to move towards perfection - Kahalil Gibran March embodies a kind of rekindling of hearts and meeting of minds. This month we feel the initial kicks of spring from the deepest bowels of the earth. And we are quickened...our soul rushes to meet its kindred soul and we set a course for forwardmomentum. There is no stopping the burgeoning birth of new life. March is a month to rush headlong and burst into an explosive expression. We have heard the term-‘As mad as a March hare’the rabbits feel the call of spring just as strongly as everyone and everything else - perhaps more so. Creatures of all kinds feel the tremors of springtime's return and respond to it in wild courtship. It's a celebration of life, and bunny rabbits get into the swing of things. March is when contests happen and every Toastmaster worth his salt airs his best speech. Table Topics is another kettle of fish altogether. As we come out with this month’s issue many Toastmasters will have tasted sweet victory probably for the first time. Some others might have been surprised at the outcome. But it’s all in the game. What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts. March is also a month of renewals and taking stock of DCP goals. The executive committee plays a vital role in keeping the club stitched at the seams. Toastmasters from across the district have shared their secret Mantra of how they use various ways to en-
Beena Mandrekar Newsletter Editor, District 98 courage members to renew; how they take their moments of truth and implement the results to ensure transparency. The winter months have moved away and spring is here. The move towards our goals shows a light step and a song on the lips. International Women’s Day was celebrated with élan and as we inch slowly toward the District Conference of District 98 there is a palpable excitement in the air! Toastmasters, let’s celebrate together!
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CONTENTS
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Features
12 The Youngest Of Them All INTERVIEW OF VENKATA RAMANA DITTAKAVI Chief Ambassador - Revitalized Education Program
Articles
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VETERANS TALK
Running For A Cause
The Most Valuable Member
MEENAL BALE
DR. BRILLIAN SK, DTM
Goa YMCA Toastmasters Club
District Director
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Are You Presiding or Leading...
One For Seven Seven For One
CHANDRASHEKAR DP, DTM
SAMEEKSHA SAMEE
Blue Quest Toastmasters Club, District 41
Program Quality Director
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To Do Or Not To Do
DISTRICT 98 CORE
SITA RAVINUTALA
Know Your Leaders
Secunderabad Toastmasters Club
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Virtual Attendance
TEAM
ASHLEY LOBO
Communicate 98
Mapusa Toastmasters Club
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CONTENTS
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
9 Celebrating Women Toastmasters SUMAN TARWAY
Toastmasters Club of Pune South East
10 Birth Pangs of Starting an Advanced Club SHIREESH NADKAR
17 The Call SRINIDHI DASAKA
District Public Relations Manager
Pune Advanced Toastmasters Club
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Golden Feather Award
Celebrations KUNAL SARPAL
Toastmasters Club of Pune Central
SANDHYA IPPILI
Waltair Toastmasters Club
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My Awakening At Toastmasters VARSHA PILLAI
Mumbai Toastmasters
3 ways to be connected with your
District 98 on the GO ! Follow us on
@d98tm Facebook ‘district98’ Website d98tm.in Twitter
For more information please visit www.d98tm.in/site/communicate.html www.d98tm.in
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THE MOST VALUABLE MEMBER
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school - Will Smith Dear Friends, As we March ahead into a new renewal cycle – it’s time for us to THANK ONE GOOD SOUL who has helped us all enjoy the benefits. This single individual has been responsible for helping many members work towards achieving their personal goals and club goals. These directly contribute towards the success of the District. Today as we sit back enjoy and reap benefits, it is time for me to thank this powerful and influential individual for making this program effective. I am thankful to my wife Vaishali and mentor Arvind who were instrumental in my attending and then joining this fantastic movement. Ladies and gentlemen, girls and boys, give it up for the most valuable member of the toastmasters program – YOU! Yes, you have read it right, YOU are the reason, I am here, YOU are the reason the district exists and YOU are the reason why we all enjoy 2gether. It is because of YOU that I am serving as the District Director. Without YOU none of us would be here! The Club VP Membership and Treasurer may already be knocking at your doors seeking for renewals Past International President Helen Blanchard said:
If you get out of Toastmasters all you can get out of Toastmasters, you'll never get out of Toastmasters Trust me I know many such members who live and breathe Toastmasters. YOU have contributed to that
Dr. Brillian S. K. DTM District Director, District 98 belief and feeling, thanks to your continued efforts to renew your ties. Toastmasters is the only platform that would not make you feel guilty and ashamed if you fail. In fact members motivate and encourage every individual, irrespective of who they are, to become better. This mutually supportive environment is behind the success of the program. The fun and learning enhances when we start contributing and sharing with each other. This is only possible with YOUR support! Learning, change and death are inevitable, while we do not have a control on death, the other two are something we can and we must control. The Toastmasters program is undergoing a change and a Revitalized Education Program (REP) will be launched. The REP would surely provide more and better opportunities for us to grow and learn 2gether. I am excited and eager to begin a new journey with the REP and look forward to YOUR support. I invite YOU the most valuable member of the organization to contribute to your growth and growth of many unknown, potential speakers and communicators. I thank YOU for making my journey memorable. YOU are amazing and most valuable.
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ARE YOU PRESIDING OR LEADING…
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Chandra (CSK) DTM Program Quality Director
I joined Toastmasters by chance in the year 2011. My first take on Toastmasters was: how could anyone improve leadership skills by interacting with a handful of people in a closed room. Leadership, in my mind was leading hundreds and thousands of people for a cause that is larger than life in the animated outdoors. In my opinion, the skill sets that are required for leading were somehow not available in the scheme of things done at the club. What are the things we normally do at the club?
Plan for meetings.
Organize role players.
Perform routine tasks using the simple tools and techniques.
Mere Technical Skills, if I may call it that; is all we do and that is all we are expected to do to keep the boat floating. Sometimes, to bring in a variety and to break the monotony, we plan some unusual things like contests, special meetings and celebrations. These initiatives are an attempt to serve old wine in a new glass. With such an opinion, I took over the role of the club President of my club in the year 2012. My view on my new role was anybody’s guess. Four months into the role, I realized that I have hardly done any of the above tasks which involved keeping the boat float-
ing. I was aggressively involved with people most of my waking hours – understanding their view points, communicating with them verbally and emotionally, developing new ideas, coordinating, motivating and collecting feedback constantly. This changed my world-view of things in Toastmasters. I felt overwhelmed with the enormity of tasks surrounding me and was pleasantly surprised at my narrow view of things. It was no way technical and more of Human Relation Skills at play now. As I was caught up with the changing demands of my role, I was well into the eighth month of my term. I was now feeling comfortable under my skin as the Club President, but soon I realized that I have only four months left in my term. This made me realize that, as a President, it did not merely involve, technical and human relation skills, it also involved looking at the overall club and its big picture, making strategic decisions, identifying the problems and not the symptoms, analytical and initiative skills to propel the club into the next level. All these skills can be grouped under Conceptual Skills. These conceptual skills added the third and the final dimension to my journey as a Club president. As I was readying to relinquish my office as a Club President I realized a rather profound fact. It’s not just the role of a president, these three skills viz., Technical, Human and Conceptual are seamlessly in-
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
CONTD... tegrated into each and every role of the executive committee in the club. Friends, if you look at the larger canvas of life, these are the three skills that are critical in every leading assignment in the world. Toastmasters in its categori-
cal way present us with an opportunity to test our mettle in a subtle manner in the safe confines of a club. For it believes, how you do anything, is how you do everything.
Skill Sets for a Leader
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VIRTUAL ATTENDANCE
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Travelling around the district, the biggest complaint from corporate clubs is: We keep losing members to travel (sigh) Well …Not anymore. Members can officially attend from anywhere... Even Timbuktu. TI has woken up and has embraced technology. TI now allows members to attend meetings- both regular and excom- via technology. Whose permission do you need? The club can permit Area, division or district has no say.
Ashley Lobo, DTM If the club members vote to allow virtual attendance, the club options need to reflect this on Toastmasters.org
Now you are virtual legal. What is not allowed? Contests : Contestants, judges and role players have to be physically present What can you do virtually? Everything else – Including role player, evaluator, speaker, TT, voting on resolution (yes you are part of the quorum) at regular and excom meetings. If an excom member relocates, or cannot get to the meeting you do not need to cancel the excom meeting or reconstitute the excom. This makes for a dynamic and stable excom.
Mapusa Toastmasters
used a Mobile phone on a tripod. The view was set by swiveling the tripod head. An alternative solution is to have 2+ phones/web cams oriented differently and connected to the same net meeting. 5. As a matter of course, virtual attendance should be the exception NOT the norm. The fun of being in a club is lost when there is no personal “in your face” interaction. 6. Have more questions check out https://www.toastmasters.org/Footer/FAQ/ Virtual%20Attendance, email or call the education team at TI, or contact our intrepid PQD team pqd@d98tm.in
What is required? 1. The virtual attendance has to be for the WHOLE meeting, as though the member was physically present. Do not allow members to speak, leave and then come back only for the evaluation. 2. All “virtual speeches” need verbal and written evaluations to count. 3. The ‘virtuality’ has to be audio-video. Skype, Google hangouts are fine. (I am jealous of corporate clubs who have access to great internet speeds and web meeting tools) 4. The solution needs to allow the “virtual” attendees to see the audience, and at times to watch the person speaking. At Mapusa TM, we www.d98tm.in
All the best
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CELEBRATING WOMEN TOASTMASTERS
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Suman Tarway Toastmasters club of Pune South East On the 6th of March 2016, toastmasters (all women) from fifteen Toastmasters clubs across Division C and D, created history, that will be etched in our mental landscape forever. It all began when Area Director Anupriya Sinha envisioned an exclusive toastmasters meeting of the women, by the women and for everyone. This was to celebrate international women’s day. And needless to say, all those who heard, were overjoyed with the idea. Soon all the role-players slots filled up fast. Four speeches, four evaluations, and an exciting round of table topics, and the agenda was punched. The meeting hall was bursting with gorgeousness, illuminated with radiance and vibrant with colors. Adding to the flavor of the women-centric theme, Toastmaster of the Day, Beena Mandrekar, had a special introduction, for each role player, complimenting her on her personality traits as per her zodiac sign. That day, the podium was blown away by the quality of oratory exhibited by the inspiring
speeches. From Poonam’s narrative about the gallant Joan of Arc to Supriya’s views on gender equality in 2050, the variety was wonderful. A personal account of the most inspiring woman in Rekha’s life to Ravina’s tale of a relentless single mom- each speech worked its magic. The outstanding speeches were followed by an equally captivating table topics round by Shalini. The evaluators Avani, Abhinaya, Namita and I presented our evaluations with sugar and spice sandwiched between nice, adhering to the norms of the toastmasters. Indeed, it felt like a special moment for all. Many women were meeting for the first time and departed beaming with the new found camaraderie. The meeting was organized by women and men were invited open heartedly. Six brave souls joined us. Cheers to all participants for celebrating, educating and influencing in an off-beat way.
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BIRTH PANGS OF STARTING AN ADVANCED CLUB
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Shireesh Nadkar Pune Advanced Toastmasters Club When we first mooted the idea of starting an Advanced Club, we were categorically told by several senior Toastmasters that it wouldn’t work in Pune; that it's been tried before.
Having been Charter members of an Advanced Club in Dammam, Saudi Arabia, we had experienced at first hand, its benefits and how it takes the Toastmaster experience to another level. We continued to nurture that dream.
So what is an Advanced Club? It's a restricted club which has a minimum qualification for membership e.g. CC. or any other, as chosen by the Club members. Other features are that evaluations are more honest and critical, usually by a panel, giving superior feedback to the speaker. Advanced manuals with longer duration speeches are tackled.
In October 2015, we pitched the idea again to a few Toastmasters and discovered that there was significant interest in the proposal. On 30th October, 10 Toastmasters got together for a preliminary meeting to gauge interest and discuss the viability of starting a Club.
We were very clear about a few key requirements. We did not want to weaken existing clubs so dual membership was mandatory, in spite of the additional cost to the member. Minimum qualification for membership was CC. We also decided to meet on the days that did not conflict with other club meetings.
There was so much enthusiasm within the group that it was unanimously decided to start pre-charter meetings. The first such meeting was held on 5
November 2015 with a core membership of 8 and we started canvassing for members to make up the minimum 20. A Whatsapp group was started for all interested members. While there was active participation in the group discussions, only a few were actually prepared to put their money on the line, for various reasons. We continued to have meetings, refining the meeting criteria. We tried meeting on different days of the week and at different venues.
Since Toastmasters International requires 6 months’ fees up front, apart from the Charter fees, this presented a problem to some aspiring members, but we managed to overcome that. We also had to confirm the dual membership of members, especially those that had left Toastmasters, but who wanted to join the Advanced Club.
We soon reached a membership of 14 members but then the membership dried up. A concerted drive took us to 18 and once again we got stuck and couldn't reach the magic number of 20. Even appeals to Presidents of Pune Clubs and Area and Division Directors, did not elicit much response. Our hope to charter before 1st March 16, and take part in the Area contest seemed like a distant dream. The good news was that our core team was strong, supportive and dedicated. All decisions were taken democratically, with the consensus of all members. We even had proper elections with the required quorum, conducted by an Area Director. All candidates stood from the floor and a full Excom of 7 members was elected unanimously.
We struggled to get the balance members but finally, on 21 February, we enrolled our 20th member. We now had members from 6 Clubs in 3 Areas. The very
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
CONTD... next day, charter papers were prepared and sent to the District Club Growth Director, who after vetting the papers forwarded them to TI. st
We had asked TI for a Charter date of 1 March so that we could participate in the Area D4 contest scheduled for 6th March. Nail biting suspense followed. A phone call to TI told us that they had a backlog of February charters to complete, before reviewing March Charters. In anticipation we arranged a Speech Contest on 4th March, with requisite judges and Agenda. Winners who would represent us at the Area D4 contest were finalized. Members participated enthusiastically, even though they were fully aware
that they may not be able to take part in the Area contest, if the club was not chartered in time. The day of the Area Contest arrived and we were still not chartered. We kept hoping till the last minute; our representatives were raring to go, and the cheerleaders were in place, but we were all disappointed. We could not participate. Eventually we received intimation of our Club’s Charter on 10th March and Pune Advanced Toastmasters Club was born, the FIRST Advanced Club in Pune and in the newly formed District 98! It’s a healthy baby but the parents went through anxious moments, but finally it was worth all the trouble.
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THE YOUNGEST OF THEM ALL
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Venkata Ramana Dittakavi Chief Ambassador, Revitalized Education Program
When were you attracted towards Toastmasters? When and why did you decide to join this organization? In August 2005, I attended my first meeting of Hyderabad Toastmasters, which was not yet chartered. My cousin who is a Toastmaster in the USA told me to attend a meeting. The friendly atmosphere at Hyderabad Toastmasters, made me join the club, and to date, I enjoy every club meeting, where I meet my friends. Over time I have also realized that Toastmasters is a place where one can learn life lessons, not just public speaking and leadership skills. How was your journey so far? What are the benefits of being a toastmaster for so many years? The journey so far has been awesome and invaluable. Confidence is a quality everyone needs, in order to be successful in life. Being in Toastmasters, I see a more confident, and better me day after day. The ‘Evaluate to Motivate’ idea in toastmasters taught me to look out for positive aspects first in everything that I come across. Did you ever find it uncomfortable to be among the young Toastmasters, given your age and seniority? Oh no! They never made me feel uncomfortable in their company. As long as they are comfortable with me, my life is easy here. The credit should go to them. I would like to mention that one of my men-
tors in the initial part of my Toastmasters journey was 19 year old Harsh Singhal (now DTM), and I was more than twice his age. We both had a great time learning together. The youth in toastmasters may think of how best technology can be used in our learning processes for the benefit of all. This is one way of giving back to the Toastmasters movement. For example, they can think of an App that can be used in contest judging instead of paper ballots or an App for mentormentee use. They can think of so many things. My advice is: keep in mind the two important guiding principles of Toastmasters education program: experiential learning and self paced program. They should participate in all club activities to get maximum benefit. Could you give some advice to the contestants of this year’s ISC and Table Topics Contest? Participation is important. Always grab the opportunity to participate in any contest to learn by experiencing the journey. A contest offers several lessons how to finalise a topic, draft the speech and discuss with mentors. We come to know the rules of the contest, have umpteen practise sessions, and experience butterflies all through. At every level of competition, it is a different learning, like, facing different audiences, level of competition, new speech topic (I always encourage to go with a new topic), and the process of preparation at each higher level and so on. One
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
CONTD... who wins in International Speech Contest at District Level has to participate in Semi finals and finals in just a day’s time. You have to submit a totally different speech. Everyone should dream of undergoing this experience. Never worry about your co-contestants, whoever may be the other contestants, give your best shot always. That is how you improve.
If you continuously compete with others you become bitter. If you continuously compete with yourself you become better
Your single most unforgettable experience in your toastmaster journey so far? There are many. But one experience that stands out is the journey towards chartering of my club, Hyderabad Toastmasters. The journey from August 2005 to November 2006 (our club charter date - 17th November 2006) was full of invaluable learnings. We never cancelled any of our club meetings irrespective of number of members attending. It was a challenge to conduct the meeting effectively when there were very few members and many guests. Interacting with guests and convincing them to become members, struggling for venues, conducting meetings in public parks, corridors of buildings, a member’s living room, without cancelling the meeting, were all memorable challenges. Working along with wonderful people and excellent leaders of my club like Ajit Dembla, Dr. AVS Prasad, Vidyashankar, Salil Ganeriwal, Mario Rozario, our club’s first mentor CTM Saadi, VMRG Suresh, who provided a small hut on his house terrace for conducting our meetings free of cost where the club flourished for 5 years, and many others who pioneered the movement in those days in Hyderabad was an unforgettable experience and I will cherish those moments for life. .
will be in a phased manner, beginning sometime at the end of 2016. There are 17 Ambassadors available in our District for spreading awareness about the Revitalised Education Program. They will contact the club presidents and VP-education, and the information will be simply and clearly transmitted. One important thing to note is that the guiding principles of Toastmasters – self-paced experiential learning, and peer feedback and mentoring remain the same. Your inspiring leadership with Youth Leadership Program (YLP) has brought significant value addition in government school children. You inspired many of us to join the YLP. Do you think Toastmasters movement can act as a transformational agent in serving the society? This is our twin Divisions initiative. I am a part of a huge voluntary group of toastmasters that is involved in the YLP. Here, I must appreciate the efforts of Manish Rahtekar, Area Director, and his team for taking this to a totally different area - introducing the YLP to a school in Hyderabad for children who are visually impaired. In the last 2 years, the regular YLP was conducted in 4 batches for students of 8th standard to Polytechnic students with rural background studying in three different Govt. Schools and Colleges. The amazing transformation in the kids in just a few sessions is a testimony to the power of ‘Toastmasters’ education system. In toastmasters, we have an excellent supportive environment to learn. Our members spread positivity all around. What more can one want than positive surroundings to live in? The Toastmasters movement can surely be a transformational agent in creating a more positive Society. Thank very much for your valuable inputs. In conversation with our reporter Sanjeev Patra
You are the Chief Ambassador of the Revitalized Education Program of TMI in India. Could you please throw some light on any new strategic changes which are finalized so far in toastmaster projects that we should be aware of? The manuals and the awards will change. Evaluations will be standardised and mentoring will be regulated. The new program defines 5 areas of learning, which will have 5 levels of competency. Each level will have two paths. The roll out of the new program www.d98tm.in
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ONE FOR SEVEN - SEVEN FOR ONE
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016 The executive committee in any club has major responsibilities to keep the club running towards success. However, the Blue Quest Toastmasters club Excom team seems to go one beyond. We have a different definition of EC-Electrifying Commandoes. The entire excom is an all women’s team and we believe that the race has to be won. We also make sure that we are getting better at our job and try to outdo our previous benchmark. It’s just the third month for us as excom members and we are already President Distinguished Club. Also, we are the first corporate club in District 41 to claim the Rising Star Award. For International Speech Contest and Table Topics Contest, all the four winners on Area level are from our club. To attract new members, we organize PR campaigns and demo meetings. A few things that we keep a note of, when organizing such events, are: we try to keep the meetings at such times that are convenient to all. We hold the venue which has open access to all, like a cafeteria, where we know, people will come for sure. To encourage guests, we give away souvenirs for speaking up for table topics. For promotions, we send the message across on a personal level, because we believe that one on one communication is the best way. We keep various themes in every 5th meeting to keep up the creativity and energy. The most important thing, we never treat each other as competitors, but as peers, trying to become better individuals. Every member has a unique role. We are lucky to be blessed with such amazing creative leaders, who know how mix well. ‘Too many cooks spoil the broth’ does not apply to us. As quoted by our VP-Ed, Shakthi, waking up to ‘what next’ acts like the energy drink. We bond well as a team We are friends first and colleagues later. (President Gopa’s Mantra). Aditi, and I make sure to keep up the bubbly and cheerful mode on, even in a state of tension and pressure. We involve each member of the club in some activity or the other. Shradha, our Secretary, has a tab on all things and Neha, the treasurer, keeps us grounded. Finally, the last link in our chain is Nidhi, the sergeantat-arms, who brings creativity into everything we do.
Sameeksha Samee Blue Quest Toastmasters Club District 41 www.d98tm.in
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TO DO OR NOT TO DO
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
You learn something every day if you pay attention - Ray LeBlond This quote resonates with my belief in learning. Learning never stops…whatever we are today, we have learnt it all from parents, siblings, elders, teachers, colleagues, nature, each other, and at times from kids. And we keep learning. We learn ‘to do’ or ‘not to do’ some things during different interactions, class room trainings or by observing. Realizing positive aspects to ensure we don’t lose them and work on improving. Realizing negative aspects to ensure we learn to correct them. Both are part of learning. Many times we learn things without knowing it at that time. You can say I am learning a language, a technique, an art but even the fact that we have interest in something has actually been triggered by something that we observed or went through in some situation. And we realize about most of such natural learning in retrospect; how we react to a situation, how we overcome a hurdle, how we communicate, how we celebrate a moment everything is part of bits and pieces of what we have learnt through our life. Good experiences, bad experiences, they all teach us something. What is needed is for us to pay attention. We seem to stick together with individuals who are willing to learn, take initiative, are creative and do something different. All may not have all traits but one or the other aspects of the above is there. We get together on basis of shared values, beliefs, interests. The Toastmasters club is one such example. We all share a common interest of improving our communication skills. In this group we may have closer groups where people have two things in common, or three.
Sita Ravinutala Secunderabad Toastmasters Club I told my Supervisor once, ‘I don’t think I feel comfortable if someone who does not know what my job is, comes and tells me how to do the job better’. After I said that I learnt how important it is for me to see that I do not step on others’ toes, because they would feel offended if I did. It is important to respect others’ way of working especially if you are not completely aware of the process. Along with all the school, clubs and professional training we undergo, it is this day-to-day learning that shapes our personality, that makes us the individual and professional we are today. Let us all try to make conscious effort to learn something new, by paying attention, and move forward happily with our love for learning.
Birds of a feather flock together
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CELEBRATIONS
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Celebrations are moments of festivity, of party or carnival, of merriments and definitely a lot of fun! I love celebrating every little occasion that brings me happiness; celebrations are a part of each day. Why restrict them to the clichÊ days which are customary or as Tagore would say, thrust upon you...? Why let a calendar or a bunch of people decide a moment of celebration for you? Like luck, love and immense opportunities, we must create celebrations for ourselves. At Toastmasters, two things that come to my mind at the mention of celebrations are contests and the epic season of renewals! It’s amazing to represent and see your club represented at various contests and at various stages of winning. One receives so many laurels and goodwill in the process. To see members blossom and come out of their cocoons is indeed rewarding. Coming to the renewals, it is staggering to see the new wave of members joining. They bring a different ethos and energy to the club. Their transformation from a nervous speaker to a confident one puts them in the category of experts in no time. The merriment involved in applauding the actions of the Executive Committee, congratulating members who achieve leadership and communication awards, is worthy of mention here. I enjoy each speech I deliver, make most of each role I play and enjoy myself at each meeting I attend, in my club or otherwise. Add to that the new responsibility of serving in the sponsors and entertainment team of Eloquence 2016. Every little
Kunal Sarpal Toastmasters Club of Pune Central achievement is stupendously celebrated, every ad or sponsor finalized is lustily cheered! Make celebrations a way of your daily life, let it dominate your to-do list.
Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die
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-Dave Mathews
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THE CALL
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
On a bright Friday morning and in the midst of heavy traffic jam, I was planning for the coming weekend. Suddenly the ringtone of my phone startled me. It was a work related call and the person on the other side checked for my availability in the following week and then broke the news. One of the well-known engineering colleges in the city had invited me to be the Chief Guest for International Women’s Day Celebrations on the 8th of March. For a Toastmaster, getting an opportunity to talk on stage is always welcome. This time though I was a little nervous. The challenge on hand was not to address students but 200 lady faculty members who would be part of the celebrations.
Srinidhi Dasaka Work-Life Balance, Career Development, Breaking the Glass ceiling – These are topics that find place in any session related to women. There came the second challenge, choosing a topic that was not very common yet being able to customize it to suit the occasion. There were too many ideas and too little time. The task on hand was getting more complicated. On March 7th, I came home early from work to start working on my speech. For a moment I closed my eyes and pictured my teachers sitting in the audience, wondering what they would like to hear. Was I getting too worked up about this whole thing? From the moment I heard about the invitation, my mind was only thinking about the response from the audience. I was chasing applause even before starting the preparation. People may argue saying that there is nothing wrong in visualizing success. However, if someone’s response is the only measure in determining your success, then there is a lot that needs to be thought about.
District Public Relations Manager 1.
Do not keep the audiences reaction in mind while choosing the topic. Choose something that you would be comfortable to talk about – both from the mind and heart. 2. Your experiences and learning can make any topic stand out. No one can copy this from you. As Dale Carnegie said, There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave The next time before working on any speaking assignment, just: PAUSE to get all your questions related to the speech answered THINK about the topic and the content.
The challenge was not in finding the right topic. It was about finding a topic that would make the audience cheer for me the loudest. For the first time in the last one week, I experienced a sense of calmness inside me. Yes! I had found the solution. All the topics were present right in front of my eyes but in an attempt to stand out, I had overlooked them. I could take a conventional topic like Work-life balance and talk about the digital impact on it. Career growth is a common theme but encouraging more women to take up coding could have offered a better scope to talk about. Suddenly, I had many things which I could take up. Simple yet effective! While I did end up giving a good speech and getting some positive feedback from the audience, this experience taught me two important lessons.
ACT in terms of putting the speech on paper and practicing it well.
There are always three speeches, for every one you actually gave. The one you practiced, the one you gave, and the one you wish you gave.
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- Dale Carnegie
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RUNNING FOR A CAUSE
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Living up to the tradition, the Goa Toastmasters in its third year of participation at the Goa Marathon, on 13th March 2016 witnessed a spectacular attendance from Toastmasters across Goa for the 5km Dream Run held at Campal, Panaji. A run for hopes and homes by the El Shaddai Trust for the under privileged children in association with multiple other organizations; this Marathon is eagerly looked forward to by individual runners all over the world as well as corporates that participate in large numbers to create brand visibility. Toastmasters from the various clubs across the state – Goa YMCA, ICG, Mapusa and Margao participated
with utmost zeal. The entire activity, right from enrolling of the participants, to registering as a group, from creating a buzz on the social media to uniting Toastmasters across Goa, was spearheaded by TM Navin Abraham and his team. Being one of the major PR opportunities, the marathon proved to be a vital platform for creating awareness of what is it that we do and also to communicate about Toastmasters to the rest of the crowd present. From HR to Dentists, working professionals as well as students; we networked with one and all. From grooving to the tunes of Zumba music as a warm up before the Dream Run to posing for some really candid moments, we definitely made a huge noise to convey that we exist with elan. The event was graced by the ebullient presence of our Area Director Akbar Khan. We also had the opportunity to interact with our District Director – Brillian S.K. DTM, who took part in the 10 km run, along with our very own TM Luven Rodrigues and TM Anup Jawalekar from the ICG Toastmasters Club. TM Avinash Patil from the Mapusa Toastmasters Club successfully completed the 21KMS race. We even had a future toastmaster 8 months old - baby Amairah McMahon on board. It proved to be an excellent cross club bonding activity, and needless to say; we have successfully managed in garnering plenty of attention to our existence as well as getting a few interests piqued for future enrolments.
Meenal Bale Goa YMCA Toastmasters club www.d98tm.in
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GOLDEN FEATHER AWARD
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
‘The things that have been most valuable to me I did not learn in school’ - Will Smith It was June 2013. One of my colleagues who was already into Toastmasters for quite awhile, talked me into attending a meeting. I had absolutely no clue about the organization or its process. I knew it was a club to hone one’s speaking skills. On 9th June 2013, I attended my first meeting. I was asked to speak on a topic which was given right there! I was nervous but members who were present were encouraging and supportive. After two months of introspection, I finally decided to become part of the Toastmasters club.
Sandhya Ippili Waltair Toastmasters Club
I attended several meetings after I joined. Once while the SAA was absent, I filled in his shoes and many similar incidents followed. I questioned myself if I could take up the challenge of managing a club. The incumbent President observed my determination and offered me a role to serve the fraternity. That was the moment when I first was given a chance to contribute as the Vice PresidentEducation of the club which had 22 members. I took up this leadership role and tried to motivate members to take them closer to their goals and targets. The learnings from the role had a positive spillover in other spheres of my life. It also gave me the confidence to participate in the Area level Evaluation Competition. After successfully completing the first stint of 6 months as a leader, I was offered another role to keep contributing. I tried my best to keep giving back to the community by inducting new members into the club and mentoring whoever I could. Meeting new people from different backgrounds and knowing them was always in my priority list. In this journey, I even learned that there are no limits for learning. The more you learn, the more you gain.
was felicitated with the Golden Feather award! I was selected from the whole fraternity from Vizag and it was the maiden recognition for our club. I could see my club members congratulating me on my success. Pleasantly surprised as I was, I couldn't resist urge to disturb my family and my friends at that point of time to share my recognition that the Division proffered. As I look back on the journey, Toastmasters helped me a lot in both, personal and professional life. It helped me better in organizing personal and professional events being a committee member of SICASA (South Indian Chartered Accountant Students Association). I also completed the journey of CC, CL & ALB. -I realized it wasn't the end; for life is a journey not a destination.
‘A willing heart adds feather to the heel’ - Joanna Baillie
Fast forward a few months. It was the month of October 2014, Vizag and neighboring areas were strongly devastated by Cyclone Hud Hud. It took almost a week for the city to be restored to normalcy. A few days after everything was set right, I woke up and checked my Whatsapp messages at 9 am. I found some messages in Waltair Toastmasters group from our Area Governor regarding interesting Division Conference- Fun ’n’ Furore-2014. It was mentioned that there was a surprise. .I was totally baffled and waiting for our Area Governor to reveal the surprise. This was revealed at 11pm. I was recognized as ‘the most promising Toastmaster and www.d98tm.in
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MY AWAKENING AT TOASTMASTERS
COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Topics I often come across in Table Topics are Women versus Men or Do women make better managers? It always makes me wonder whether we are still stuck in the age of 'Who is better? Men or Women?' It seems to be a pointless question one can ask at this juncture when we are realizing that gender is an illusion and a limitation we cannot shy away from. Gender is an illusion because, apart from our pop culture stereotypes, I believe it is hard to find a completely 'Male person or 'a female one. We have, according to our experiences segregated traits like 'Being vulnerable' as Feminine and 'Being strong' as Masculine. Is it not possible for a man to be vulnerable or for a woman to be strong?
It certainly is. It is hard to pull apart masculinity from femininity. They are en-twined in every element of nature, and since gender is an illusion, we can say that gender is a limitation. Restricting oneself to traditional roles assigned for each gender is definitely a limitation to one‘s freedom of expression. I am a millennial, and along with 50% of the millennials in the world I believe that gender norms are going out of style and instead we should focus on 'Individuality’. We‘ve had artists like David Bowie who have encouraged people to celebrate themselves and others regardless of gender.
Varsha Pillai Mumbai Toastmasters During my last six months in Toastmasters, I‘ve come to believe that we at Toastmasters too celebrate Individuality. We celebrate our speakers based on their speeches and the way they make us feel, rather than pondering whether the speaker is a male or female. So, as we celebrate Women‘s Day this month, let's celebrate with all the women in our lives and encourage them to be Individuals in their own right.
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
STRATEGY FOR RENEWALS Bhalshankar Geet VP membership HARMAN Toastmasters Club shares with us his strategy for renewals: 1) Form a membership committee consisting of 3-4 members. 2) Speak to guests at a meeting. (Asking every member to speak to a guest seated next to him and make him comfortable.) 3) Fix all ribbons achieved by everyone at their desk. 4) Send a mass mailer to all employees once every month. 5) Word of Mouth.
connect with them. 7) Show off the club’s achievement at the end of term, by mass mailer. 8) Run a membership campaign, by posting a Toastmaster in the canteen area during lunch break. 9) Display the membership renewal papers/pamphlet (at the cafeteria/pantry) 10) Print a T-shirt with the Toastmasters logo
6) Get the list of freshers/new joinees, from HR and
Contributed By Mayuresh Sagare
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
KNOW YOUR LEADERS DISTRICT 98 CORE
BRILLIAN SK
CHANDRASHEKAR DP
ARVIND NAIR
FARIDA DSILVA DIAS
DISTRICT DIRECTOR
PROG QUALITY DIRECTOR
CLUB GROWTH DIRECTOR
DISTRICT ADMIN MNGR
NISHANT MEHTA
SRINIDHI DASAKA
CHINMAYA DAVE
SOMNATH B
DISTRICT FINANCE MNGR
DISTRICT P.R. MANAGER
DISTRICT CHIEF JUDGE
DISTRICT WEBMASTER
BEENA MANDREKAR
MOHAN KARAMBELKAR
PANKAJ KOTHARI
VENKATA RAMANA DITTAKAVI
DISTRICT NEWSLETTER EDITOR
DISTINGUSHED CLUB PROG MNGR
DISTRICT PARLIAMENTARIAN
CHIEF AMBASSADOR, REVITALIZED EP
CHETAN THAKKAR
ANAND KUMAR
ANKIT JAIN
HITENDRA BHADANG
DISTRICT LOGISTIC MNGR
MANAGER CLUB EXT AND GROWTH
ASST CLUB GROWTH DIRECTOR
CREDENTIALS CHAIR
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
KNOW YOUR LEADERS DISTRICT 98 CORE
NIKHIL SALVI DIVISION B DIRECTOR
NITESH AGARWAAL DIVISION C DIRECTOR
RAVI TEJA MARUPPU DIVISION E DIRECTOR
ARUNA THAPA DIVISION F DIRECTOR
PRITAM AREKAR
NAMRATA SRIVATSAVA
PRAMOD MOHANDAS
REEBA GEORGE
AREA DIRECTOR A1
AREA DIRECTOR A2
AREA DIRECTOR A3
AREA DIRECTOR A4
VIPUL JAIN
SAHIL SHARMA
EKNATH HOLE
CHETAN THAKKAR
AREA DIRECTOR B2
AREA DIRECTOR B3
AREA DIRECTOR B4
MOHIT CHABRA DIVISION A DIRECTOR
AREA DIRECTOR B1
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LEO PAULOSE DIVISION D DIRECTOR
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
KNOW YOUR LEADERS DISTRICT 98 CORE
NAGAPPAN P
RAHUL KALE
ANUPRIYA SINHA
ARUN NAWGE
AREA DIRECTOR C1
AREA DIRECTOR C2
AREA DIRECTOR C3
AREA DIRECTOR C4
AKBAR KHAN
SHAILESH NATU
SANJAY UPADHYAY
TUSHAR SONJE
AREA DIRECTOR D1
AREA DIRECTOR D2
AREA DIRECTOR D3
AREA DIRECTOR D4
NAVNEET PERI
MANASA INAMPUDI
RAJASEKHAR M
PAVAN S
LAKSHMI KIRAN M
AREA DIRECTOR E1
AREA DIRECTOR E2
AREA DIRECTOR E3
AREA DIRECTOR E4
AREA DIRECTOR E5
BHARATHI DEVI R
VIKRAM C
MANISH R
DARSHAN KHANNA
PRATHIMA M
AREA DIRECTOR F1
AREA DIRECTOR F2
AREA DIRECTOR F3
AREA DIRECTOR F4
AREA DIRECTOR F5
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TEAM NEWSLETTER EDITOR , District 98
BEENA MANDREKAR WEBMASTER , District 98
SOMNATH BHATTACHARJEE
NEWSLETTER LEAD
SANJEEV PATRA Representing HYDERABAD NEWSLETTER LEAD
AISHWARYA CHANDRASEKARAN Representing PUNE NEWSLETTER LEAD
PAVAN PUNJABI Representing MUMBAI TECH TEAM
SHALINI GANDHAM
NEWSLETTER LEAD
COLIN SAVIO COELHO Representing GOA
TECH TEAM
RAJIV PINGALE
TECH TEAM
MIHIR MANDSORWALE
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COMMUNICATE 98 | MARCH 2016
Disclaimer: Although great care has been taken in putting together this issue, we apologize for any inadvertent errors or omissions. The newsletter contains individual views of contributors. District 98, the District Director or the Editor may not subscribe to the same. You may report errors and suggestions to newsletter@d98tm.in
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