January – February 2019
P O BOX 3060
MANAMA
KINGDOM OF BAHRAIN
MANAMA TOASTMASTERS CLUB. CLUB 2916, AREA 1, DIVISION C, DISTRICT 20
From the desk of The Vice President - Education
Friends, “Each morning we are born again. What we do today is what matters.” – Buddha
Do you need to feel successful in life? If the answer is yes, you need to make it come to you. For that to happen you need to work towards the scenario where you see yourself as rising and shining. The world makes it complicated but all you need to do is make your life feel like some music which is flowing effortlessly. You have to be the one creating the music by synchronizing the efforts of all your fellow musicians which is the world around you. You have to make them move according to yourself and yes, the music will flow! And this music will make you rise and shine!
We, as the Executive Committee of the term January to June 2019 have chosen the theme “Rise & Shine.” First of all, it is short and crisp. Secondly, the word ‘rise’ includes all the four main core values of Toastmasters International which are respect, integrity, service and excellence.
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January - February 2019
From the desk of The Vice President - Education Rising and shining is not just a saying. It’s a lifestyle. When you decide to get sleep at a decent hour then you can wake up at a time that’s optimal for you and get so much done throughout the day. Your productivity is important.
As with all new beginnings, you need to shake off your lethargy, and rise and shine. In life, we all need to grow and find a passion in our lives so that we can be successful and content in our personal and working life.
Azza Al Bakai Vice President - Education January to June 2019
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As we begin the New Year and also the new term with a group of enthusiastic Executive Committee, we are filled with a sense of a fresh new beginning.
At the same time, we struggle with uncertainty. This year is not going to be a cake-walk. We are going to need to work hard, and our hopes and expectations are totally dependent on the amount of work we are willing to put in to find the change we seek. We have to remember that the future isn’t predetermined based on past experiences. It’s an incredible blank palette waiting for the first brush stroke.
The first step we must take is to strip our thoughts of all negativity. I never realized how negative my expectations were all these years. Whenever I thought of doing something new, I would think to myself, “No way, I could never do that. How embarrassing if I failed.” I learned swimming when I was about twelve. After the basic course, I did not even attempt to enter the pool even at pool parties. I was not really afraid of the water, but rather of how it would look or what other people would say.
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More than twenty years later, I thought to myself, I have to do this or die trying. I cannot keep running away. I got up the courage and without looking around, got into the pool, took a deep breath and took a chance. These days I can always be found at the deep end of the pool, floating without a care in the world. It is that attitude of “not being good enough� that prevents far too many from enjoying the blessings they already have. We have to claim the life we desire. I am pleased to announce that Nicholas August has consented to become the new VP Public Relations. I am sure that he is going to excel in this role and do his very best. He is already off to a flying start! Chris Noronha Editor
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From The Desk Of The Vice President - Education
Editorial BTAC - C
Toastmaster Of The Month – January & February 2019 Club Updates
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Smiles & Celebration at Manama Toastmasters
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Installation Ceremony
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Did You Know?
International Speech Contest
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Word Of The Day
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Change Your Life – How To Leave The Rat Race!
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Leadership to take you or your Organization through the 21st century
One Word That Will Change Your Life
January - February 2019
Get ready to witness the champions of Division C as they compete in the Humorous, Evaluation, Table Topics and International Speech contests at the Bahrain Toastmasters Annual Contest - Area C (BTAC-C 2019) . It is sure to be an unforgettable experience!
Register now by clicking on the link below : https://btacc2019 .eventbrite.com For location click here : https://maps.app. goo.gl/dg47G
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January - February 2019
January 2019
TM Bilkais M. Khan
February 2019
TM Fadia Mubarak 9
Activity
Points Earned
Master of Ceremonies
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Educational Speech
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Project Speech
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Newsletter – Horizon Contribution
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Replacing Dropouts
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Pay Dues In Advance
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Any Other Role In Weekly Meeting
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Pay Dues On Time
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Attendance
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Participating In A Contest
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Judging A Contest
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Mentoring
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Winning A Contest
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Do you have what it takes to be the next Toastmaster of the Month? Chris Noronha Get involved today! VP Public Relations
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January - February 2019
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Contestants: •
TM Claire Cosgrove
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TM Kishore Babu
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TM Shubhashree Srinivasan
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TM Khalid Amin
•
TM Biljana Davceva Winners :
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1
TM Biljana Davceva
2
TM Khalid Amin
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TM Claire Cosgrove
January - February 2019
The contestants give it their all as they compete for the coveted title.
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The winners of the International Speech Contest along with the President of Manama Toastmasters Club, Chief Judge and Contest Chair
Group photograph of all attendees 14
January - February 2019
There is always cause for celebration, eating and smiles at Manama Toastmasters Club!
Chris Noronha VP Public Relations 15
INSTALLATION CEREMONY NEW EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE JANUARY TO JUNE 2019
Toastmaster of the Day – DTM Kishore Babu Outgoing President, TM Biljana addresses the attendees
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January - February 2019
Awards on display awaiting distribution
The outgoing Executive Committee
A group shot of all attendees
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Manama Toastmasters is trying to do its part in saving the earth by going green. At every meeting, we try to go paperless. Instead of printing 40+ sheets of the Agenda per meeting for members and guests, we use the overhead projector displaying the Agenda to all attendees. Consider some of the environmental impact of using paper : • Cutting trees that release oxygen for our environment • Energy usage and release of harmful gases in pulp and paper industry • Fuel consumption by air, rail, and road transport distributing reams of paper • Fuel consumption sending paper documents via ground & air courier services • Manufacturing printers, ink and toner cartridges Consider the following about the paper & ink industry: • Paper consumption has tripled since 1960 and we generate more than 85 million tons of paper into the waste stream.
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January - February 2019
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• The pulp and paper industry is the 2nd largest consumer of energy • EPA estimates that more than 400 million ink and 100 million toner cartridges end up in landfills each year • The average officer worker prints 10,000 pages per year Consider the environmental impact of just 10 million pages: • 2,500 trees • 56,000 gallons of oil • 450 cubic yards of landfill space • 595,000 KW (kilowatts) of energy (Data Source: www.epa.gov) Unfortunately all over the world, marketing messages touting the environmental benefits of going paperless are falling on deaf ears. The results of campaigns show that such green claims have little impact on the consumer’s choice for switching from paper to online options.
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Expand your working vocabulary
Noun
Adjective
Meaning : 1. Physical strength good health. 2. Effort, energy enthusiasm
Meaning : 1. Noxious 2. Harmful or poisonous
and and
Example : 1. I was 79, but still full of vigour and vitality. 1. They set about the new task with vigour.
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Example : 1. Washing of hands prevents the spread of nocuous germs. 2. Sitting inside the deadly car, the driver was unaware that he was breathing in nocuous gas.
Adjective
Adjective
Meaning : Looking or sounding bizarre or unfamiliar.
Meaning : Cheerful and full of energy.
Example : All ideas no matter how outlandish will be considered.
Example : She sounded and happy.
ebullient
Verb Meaning : Withdraw from commercial punishment or protest.
or
social
relations
as
a
Example : We will boycott all banks which take part in the loans scheme. 21
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by DTM Claire M. Cosgrove
Only one man in 100 is a leader of men . . . The other 99 are followers of women. Let’s put joking aside and look at what is needed for new and effective leadership as we progress through the 21st century. There is a High Performance Development Model (HPDM) with eight core competencies. The top competency is to lead by example and this is achieved by creating a positive, motivating, supportive work environment.
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Leadership is a process of action followed by results. Good and effective leadership will result in good results. And effective leadership infers interaction between who is leading and who is being lead. Therefore, effective leadership has to be dynamic and result in influencing, motivating, directing and encouraging those who are being led. To be effective in the role of leadership, the leader must have a vision. This vision is what drives the leadership to influence and direct others to work diligently towards achieving the vision. The leadership must be able to share the vision with others and promote a plan that will lead to achievement of the vision. Initial responsibility lies with the leadership. After sharing the vision and plan to achieve the vision, then one needs to instill confidence and optimism. Bearing in mind, that the whole system is dynamic and constantly changing means there is the need for two levels of life-long learning within an organization: individual personal skills and organization skills.
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These two paths need to be under girthed by understanding the needs of the clients, yes, but also the needs of those being led with all their diverse factors. The diversity component needs to be valued and respected as this is a rich source of expertise and potential for creativity and innovation. The leadership also needs to be focused on competency, quality, processes all supported by transparency and effective communication.
The eight core competencies are as follows: personal mastery, technical skills, interpersonal skills, customer services, flexibility and adaptability, creative thinking and systems thinking, and finally organizational stewardship. This is dealing with self first and dealing with others that will lead into a state of becoming other-oriented when is comes to colleagues and clients. As everything is dynamic and changing, individuals need to be flexible and adaptable to change and to the unpredictable. This leads into taking risks and moving beyond the realm of the norms. And eventually achieving a more holistic approach to leadership and operations.
Of course there is much more to implementing the HPDM model but this is a good starting point. Perhaps we will continue this in another article next edition.
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To Leave - How The Rat Race by TM Bilkais Khan If you want to change your life nothing will happen until you make that decision. No one will come in on a white horse and do it for you. You’ll get some help along the way if you ask the right people but it’s up to you to make that change. If you want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse ~Jim Rohn Now that said, making that decision needs to have some fuel behind it to be more than just talk. This is why you need to find your WHY and motivation behind why you want to change. Let’s use me as an example: I wanted to go back to a life that included more free time, less work and more of a freelance kind of lifestyle. I also wanted to be able to work from anywhere, travel and spend more time with my family. Plus I wanted to make a difference. I wanted to wake up every day feeling as if what I was doing mattered as I was no longer getting that from the situation I was in. Now wanting that kind of lifestyle and getting that are two different things and we’ll get to how to achieve that down the road but this is where your WHY is coming into play. 27
That WHY fueled my decision to change. I knew it was up to me to create the kind of life I wanted. Ask yourself: WHY do you want something different in your life? WHY do you want to quit your job? WHY do you want to get out of debt? WHY do you want to leave the rat race? WHY? The more specific you get the better. To just say: “I’m tired of going to a job I don’t love” isn’t enough WHY. You need something stronger than that to motivate you. Your reason needs to be really STRONG…you need to find that burning desire within you that you are willing to do what it takes to get to your goal. Think of an athlete that wants to go to the Olympics, let’s say in swimming. That is not an easy goal to achieve. That means that the motivation and the WHY must be there or getting out of a warm, nice bed at 4:30 am in the morning to be in the pool by 5 am is going to be a constant struggle. Without that strong WHY when the going gets tough it’s really easy to get derailed and give up. Start asking yourself why you want something different in your life. Write those things down. Search for your WHY. Be specific as to why. When you do, changing your life is no longer talk. You get fuel for action. Fuel that serves as your catalyst for change. Now, what action will you take today in order to get closer to finding your WHY? 28 January - February 2019
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by TM Chris Noronha
Every year we make a New Year’s Resolution with the hope that we can make a change for the better. In a couple of days or in a week’s time, most of our Resolutions are cast aside until the next year when this whole cycle starts all over again. I personally am not a person who makes Resolutions (many of my close friends can vouch for that). I like things to be the way they are.
These days as I look around, I feel like Rip Van Winkle, waking up after two decades and finding out that everything around me has changed but I am still stuck in the past. Several of my friends got married, divorced, have children. They moved on. I. Did. Not. Unfortunately I am at this stage in my life where I feel I am stuck in a quagmire and I simply just cannot pull myself out of it. I feel that if I make any sudden movement I may sink even further. But I know that I cannot stay this way forever, I have to take the first step. But what is the first step for me? 30
January - February 2019
I believe in the power of words. I know that certain words touch the deep recesses of my soul and trigger powerful emotions. So this year I have decided to try something different and let words be my guide and inspiration. Do you believe that just one word can change your life for the better? I have come across several individuals whose lives have changed after putting into practice what they read in a little book called “One word that will change your life” by Jon Gordon, Jimmy Page and Dan Britton. They have chosen one word to guide them through the year, one word which is more effective and long-lasting than any New Year’s Resolutions. According to the book, here are some steps that will lead you to your own word: 1. Unplug from your daily life. Finding your word is a process. You need the time and space so you can really focus inward, on your own thoughts, hopes, and fears. So take a little time away from your daily routine. I usually go on long drives all by myself, muting my cell phone so that I can hear my own thoughts more clearly.
2. Ask yourself three vital questions. What do I need? (Not want, but need.) What's in my way? What has to go?
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3. Open your heart and let your word come to you. Take a note book and a pen. Write down whatever answers the three questions inspire. As you write, you will likely find a word or phrase popping out. 4. Keep your word front and center. Once you've chosen your word, put it someplace where you can see it every day. Maybe make a sign or a screensaver. This is a big part of why the process works-having your word in front of you reminds you to enact it. It helps you see opportunities that have always been all around you.
My word for 2019 is “Courage.” This is not easy, especially for me as it means really stepping outside my comfort zone and into turbulent waters. It’s scary, but only time will tell whether or not I have been successful.
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Executive Committee : January to June 2019
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Azza Al-Bakai VP Education
Cini Joseph VP Membership
Nicholas August VP Public Relations
Zeinab Khalil President
Yasir Iqbal Secretary
Dominic Carroll Treasurer
Deena Al-Bakai Sgt. At. Arms
We hope this newsletter has been informative and helpful. Do let us know what you enjoyed and what you would like to see in future issues. Contact the Editor on mtmbahrain@gmail.com
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Toastmasters International • Non-profit Organization. • Over 250,000 members in 106 different countries. For further details please visit, http://www.toastmasters.org
Visit Manama Toastmasters Club Every Saturdays from 7pm to 9pm at Crowne Plaza, Diplomatic Area. • Toastmasters International affiliated. • Formed in Bahrain in 1964 • Helps you become confident and comfortable in speaking to an audience. • Improves communication & leadership skills. • Cordial & friendly atmosphere. www.facebook.com/manama.toastmasters
For further details please visit, www.manamatoastmasters.org
Contact : TM Chris Noronha +973 39881984
www.manamatoastmasters.blogspot.com 35