THE NEWSLETTER OF MANAMA TOASTMASTERS CLUB
Aug 2017
A Gain & Again WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE
From the President’s Desk A few weeks ago I delivered an address on the challenges of leadership which, I was told during the coffee break, had many members sit up & take notice And so I pen my thoughts on what it is to lead. In a few months from now, our club will be holding its elections for the new executive committee to take charge from the New Year.
Toastmasters International is one of the most successful, non-profit organizations because of the work, dedication & voluntary leadership of its members. Which other club can boast of this? Frankly, none! Today, there are more than 15,900 clubs worldwide and they are all being managed by thousands of members with a will to grow & succeed as leaders. Without a doubt, that there is never a dull moment for our club’s officials. Starting with the VP Education who puts in place an educational plan for the weekly meetings, VP Membership encouraging members to attend/achieve goals, our VP Public Relations who creates a promotional flyers/posts it on the club’s social media, while our Secretary records details of each activity & our Treasurer who ensures members settle dues on time to ensure liquidity & the Sergeant-at-arms who arranges the venue, menu, etc. are all in place. Every member has his/her role cut out which gives them a chance to hone & sharpen their leadership skills. So you have 7 leaders all doing a lot more than communicating, leading & learning from each other. The education plan of Toastmasters gives us ample opportunities to develop ourselves to progress in our personal & professional lives as well. Many members have attributed their career advancement to Toastmasters with the confidence & skills developed while serving the club. Toastmaster clubs depend on strong, committed leaders to carry forward the legacy of our founder Dr. Ralph C. Smedley to benefit the future generations as well. Once again, I urge you to accept the challenge of enhancing your leadership skills while also helping current & future leaders to benefit from the Toastmasters’ proven program It is after all ‘A gain & again’. So, say ‘YES’ to every leadership opportunity that comes your way Best always Sheela Pai President July – December 2017
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Know your Executive Committee teams July – December 2017 President Sheela Pai
VP Education Roshan Vaghjee
Rashid Maymoon Ratinder Nath Biljana Davceva
VP Membership Bilkais Khan
Ameena Nathani
VP Public Relations Mohamed Saleem
Sub Committee
Chris Norohna Azza Bakai Arfa Mudasar
Secretary Raja Chandra
Usha Nenwani
Treasurer Prashanth Gudibande
Prashant Renghe
Sergeant-at-arms Bharath Iyengar
Asiya Anwar Anup Sudhakaran
My role & objectives as the VP-Education is to plan, organise & direct our Club's Educational program. Accordingly, I will do my best to : Motivate each member to define their own educational goals and plan ahead how to achieve them. Schedule our members speeches, to meet the educational goals of individual members in a timely manner. Inform and circulate the meeting role schedules so that members are aware what roles are available and/or assigned, and can adjust accordingly. Assist with Education Awards, including explanation on the Toastmasters Education program to new as well as existing members. Verify projects as members complete them, and submit award applications to Toastmasters headquarters when all requirements are met; Provide guidance as well as any assistance to Role Players prior each meeting to ensure each are adequately prepared. Provide and encourage feedback after each meeting to assignees performance, to enable their improvement. Organise our Club contests for the term. Ensure Members achievements are recognised. Instigate our Club progress towards the Toastmasters Club program points & awards. Participate in Club Officers Training and stay aware of new developments in Toastmasters International. Chair the Education Committee. Prepare the successor for next VP-Education. Stand in for the President, in case of absence, at Club meeting. With best regards, Roshan Vaghjee Your VP-Education ( July to December 2017 ) 4
Meeting No: 2623 and 2624
Best Speaker
Best Evaluator
Best Table Topic Commentator
Best Role Player
Raja Chandra
Arfa Mudassar
Ratinder Nath
Guraz Wankadia
Best Speaker
Best Evaluator
Best Table Topic Commentator
Joel Indrupati
Kishan Kumar
Ratinder Nath 5
The Big Breakfast
Madam President Sheela Pai pinning a member pin to newly joined Toastmaster Majeed Baloch at the meeting
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Dear Toastmasters, we would like to say thank you to all for making our 'Big Breakfast' meeting a successful one. It was our first event outside our comfort zone (CP) and we were delighted with the response. Master of ceremonies Claire Cosgrove with her super BBBB team. 'Big, Bold, Beautiful Breakfast' for invigorating us with her grand performance and of course to you members for your enthusiasm and keeping a commitment for Manama Toastmasters.
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Writing skills are an important part of communication. Good writing skills allow you to communicate your message with clarity and ease to a far larger audience than merely via face-to-face contact or whatsapp messaging. And this is also why we write out our speeches in the preparation stage. Look at all the great speakers and leaders - its not off the cuff. But to improve this skill we need to practice. And practice is continuous process. It’s not once and it’s over, 'finito'. It is practice today, and again tomorrow, then the next day, and the day after that. It is about writing about any subject, small subjects, big topics, personal matters, professional content. Today, we have just so many ways to publish our ideas and thoughts. Facebook, whats app, twitter, instagram, blogging, commenting, reviewing. Not to mention the traditional forms of writing editorials and articles for newspapers and magazines, or even publishing your own book of writings. But do we take the opportunity to improve our communication skills? Communication skills are not improved when we populate our messages with emoticons instead of articulated thoughts, or use ” txt” spelling and ”one letter” words. The only one letter word that really exists is all about me, “I”. But you need to be willing and ready to set some time aside for personal reflection and thought. With your willingness and the support of an editorial team, Manama Toastmasters offers you the opportunity to develop your writing skills and improve your written communication. The Horizon is waiting with blank pages to be populated with your thoughts and ideas and even speeches. Some Toastmaster clubs produce a quarterly newsletter, but Manama Toastmasters gives you a monthly opportunity to be in print. Every writer dreams of being able to publish, to be read, to be distributed online. I cannot turn down such an opportunity to share my thoughts and ideas. What about you? So Toastmasters, step up to the plate, sit down at your laptop and tap, tap, tap that article out. Make it a first publication, or your monthly publication, or the beginnings of your first novel. Claire Cosgrove, DTM
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Be Charismatic Fellow Toastmasters, In meeting no: 2624 Master of ceremonies Dr. Amina Alhajeri was herself charismatic and spread the goodness around with her energy and attention to detail. Our first speaker Joel Indrupati rode high and fast with his ‘3 War Horses’ Our second speaker Rashid Maymoon, as always, enlightened us toasting the “helpless” singletons at his new club. Our third Speaker: Biljana Davceva’s award for ‘best teacher in the world’ Topics Master Nivedita Chandra sparkled as she stayed with the theme and brought out the charisma in Ratinder Nath, our best-selling author. 1st time Grammarian Dr. Majeed Baloch brought forth great ‘synergy’ at the meeting with his unique style of admonishing members who faulted in their language. Timer Todd Dinwiddie kept his eyes glued to the stop watch in spite of all the drama & helped us wrap up a very invigorating meeting on time. As for the fun session with Pounding Jailers, Cocoa servers, a visit to John’s Grave & Jovial bros, our Presidential Joke Master Sheela Pai had everyone’s brain cells ticking. The "B" team, led by Kishan Kumar, stole the show & rightly earned their brain food (cookie box).
Madam President Sheela Pai delighted to receive the ‘Home Club of the Area Director’ Ribbon from Area Director Rashid Maymoon.
Guraz Wankadia receiving his DTM pin from Madam President Sheela Pai
Executive Committee Installation Ceremony Fellow Toastmasters, We would like to extend our gratitude to you all who attended our new Ex-com installation meeting. We all witnessed that very special moment when the outgoing Committee sighed with relief and the new club officers made a grand entry with enthusiasm & energy to serve the Club for the next 6 months. Outgoing President Tanaji Omer gracefully shared her Excom experiences, nostalgia, and wisdom gained through achievements as well as the challenges. Ratinder then took us through the meeting with such grandfatherly, fatherly, brotherly and friendly charm, as only a true Distinguished Toastmaster ever could.
Rashid Maymoon wore so many hats that meeting, that we just stopped counting. Among the highlights: the past VP-Education's report which was presented with many accomplishments, humour and enthusiasm that even the title "Dynamo of MTM" was an understatement. Awards & Trophies were presented to the gems of our Club, who gave their best and were duly acknowledged. Our new President Sheela Pai delivered her Presidential Address and unveiled the term's theme "A Gain & Again! ", meaning that as Toastmasters we only gain & it’s the reason we keep coming back again & again
New Ex-Com installation We were bestowed with, first, the honour of our Division C Director DTM Khurram Salman's address, reminding us of the exceptional assets in our club (a huge such number of DTMs and high achievers) and left us with the ultimate question "What are you going to do about it ?
Then we had the honor of our Area 1 Director TM Rashid Maymoon's address, reiterating the core values of our Club and accomplishments which eventually follows.
TM Kishan Kumar eventually captivated our attention right up to the end of the meeting with such a creative team building exercise, that ‘time & tide’ lost all meaning & Arfa (our charming timer) was left wondering as the echoes the of encores kept ringing in Board Room 2. The audience wanted to unearth the Picassos & Dalis amongst us & just could not get enough.
Eventually, our meeting concluded with a special culinary treat which not only satisfied our taste buds, but also enabled social catching up amongst friends, which to our further delight, included so many long missed senior members, such as Mariam Jacob, Zakaria Sulaiman, Abdul Aziz, Kawther Al Taitoon, among so many others. Thank you all for being there, and looking forward to a successful term ahead. ..."A Gain & Again !"
Beat The Heat with a Beach Party Our dynamic Toastmaster Bilkais Khan took the MC role for Meeting # 2625. The entire meeting room was decorated like a beach party with beach balls, swim rings, parasols etc.,
Best Speaker
Best Evaluator
Best Table Topic Commentator
Best Role Player
Roshan Vaghjee
Azza Bakai
Ratinder Nath
Anup Sudhakaran
Excom installation - In the Media Featured in ‘Bahrain This Month’
Gulf Daily News
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Featured in the ‘Daily Tribune’
Picture of the Month Beach Babe Biljana Davceva
Madam President Sheela Pai presenting a member pin to new joiner Shruthi Premanad.
Birthday Boys for the month of August
Rashid Maymoon
Prashant Renghe 13
Interview with Toastmaster of the Month -August
Azza Bakai
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When did you join Manama Toastmasters? • I joined the club in the year 2014
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What motivated you join? • Improving my communication and leadership skills are what motivated me to join toastmasters
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How did you prepare for the role of Master of Ceremonies? • To prepare for the TMoD I search for information related to the theme of the day, ask the role players questions related to the theme and prepare fully for the role
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What is your next goal in Toastmasters? • My next goal is to complete ALB and ACB
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What is your advice to fellow Toastmasters? • My advice for fellow members is go for it. Do not hesitate to try new things and take up roles and come regularly to the meetings
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Any words about your mentor • My mentor is a hard working toastmaster and a successful lady she never hesitated to help me also I would like to thank all the members who helped me by giving their feedback and comments in each role I took 14
Bits & Pieces Welcome back to all those who returned from exotic locales- Venice, Hyderabad, Goa, Dubai et al. Good to have you back where you belong on a Saturday night , folks
Hearty congratulations to Azza Bakai on being awarded the ‘Toastmaster of the month’ for August 2017. A star she is!
We salute our member Majeed Baloch who is very generously conducting spoken Arabic classes for our members every week, FOC. Oh yeh, no charges – just voulantry service in the interest of promoting a language. This is what Toastmasters is all about
MTM congratulates our new doctor in the house - Yes, Dr. Jeena Ann John, the newly decorated doctorate at our club. We wish her continued success on her
Manama Toastmasters’ need no reason to celebrate & so the ‘Big Breakfast’ meeting came back with a bang after many, many years
Hearty welcome to our new joiner Shruthi Premanand a.k.a. shoortha (oh yeah, she has the trappings of a cop), sushi (delicious, she is!) & sharotti (a new type of bread). So much for a name!! Welcome aboard Sharotti oops! Shruthi
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About Us Manama Toastmasters Club was founded in the year 1964 & prides itself as the ‘mother’ of all Toastmaster clubs in Bahrain & the Middle East region. We have a vast & diverse membership of over 55 members representing more than 13 different countries making it a truly multinational, multiracial & multicultural club of men & women of all age groups, with eclectic interests & backgrounds
We meet every Saturday at 7:00 p.m. for 2 hours, at the Crowne Plaza, Bahrain Conference Center. Guests are always welcome to attend & discover for themselves the benefits of being a Toastmaster. Please visit our website www.manamatoastmasters.org or our Facebook page www.facebook.com/manama.toastmasters/ to keep updated about our club & its activities. 16