Ja-Ela TMC Newsletter - December 2021

Beacon The Guide To Light

ISSUE 01

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DECEMBER 2021

Ja-Ela Toastmasters Club

Page 03 How To Select A Topic For A Speech

Page 05 Read ‘it’ For Riches

Page 08 How Communication Skills Sculpt Our Lives

Page 14 Christmas Hybrid Meeting

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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PRESIDENT'S NOTE

I'm honored to lead Jaela Toastmasters Club and happy to see members and club progress so far this year.JTC started this TM year with the theme of Build on success with the strong foundation laid by our previous year EXCO team.

During the past months, several new members have been added to the club and we were able to groom them to become promising toastmasters with the help of the senior members and club coaches.

I am happy to see the progress of the new members and their enthusiasm to improve their public speaking skills. At the same time by adding new members to the club, members have the opportunity to interact with a wide variety of people with different backgrounds hence enhancing the variety of learning and interaction.

JTMC has already achieved 5 DCP points and our focus is to achieve full DCP points during this Toastmaster year and all members are very excited to achieve that.

I should mention and give my gratitude to the club Coaches DTM Arshad Nizam and DTM Samual Jayaselvam for their untiring effort to bring the club to the present status by nurturing the present leadership team.

We shall continue to build an inspiring atmosphere so that you feel happy, inspired and go home with the feeling “I have learned something new today".We want to make JTMC the most sought-after community club for public speaking skills development in the areas of Jaela , Kandana, and Seeduwa.

TM NIROSHAN NANAYAKKARA President 2021/22

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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Note From The District Director Compliments of the Season!

As we come to the close of the year 2021, 06 months of our toastmaster calendar have passed by very swiftly. It’s absolutely GREAT to see the steady progress of your club achieving – 05 DCP points, enrolling 07 new members, and completing 05 educational awards.

As we step into the 2nd half of the Toastmaster year, we as a District would like you to continue your enthusiasm in achieving higher goals especially in enrolling more members and achieving more educational awards, delivering your speeches keeping quality in mind.

Conveying my wishes to all your club members !

“

Srianthie Salgado, DTM District Director District 82

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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HOW TO SELECT A TOPIC FOR A SPEECH Conducting a speech has and always been a challenge for every speaker. In toastmasters, various types of speeches are conducted throughout the pathways. Although general speaking assignments have so much importance, everyone is eagerly obliged to pick up a desirable topic for their competition.

Especially Humorous and International.

Based on my experience the speech topic generates the first impression about your intended speech. So people usually put a lot of effort and attention into this particular area.

If you carefully analyze the previous world champions they have intentionally used it as a pretext to their speech.

So, we better follow the same principles. But there were exceptions like World champion Aaron Beverly 57-Word speech title.

Since the topic describes your speech in nutshell better it to be consists of a few words. Yet should be able to arouse curiosity.

So, my point is just take the entire context of your speech and pick the most repetitive phrase in your speech and take it out as a speech title. It doesn’t always have to be a meaningful one. For example World champion Dhananjaya Hettiarachis's speech title. “I see something in you”. Throughout his speech, he used this phrase continuously reminding the audience about his topic and also creating an invisible connection between the audience and the speaker.The next most important thing is how relevant your speech is. Don’t try to write the most suitable topic.

But pick a rational topic that can be interpreted in different ways.

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

So the speaker can keep the audience at bay guessing your dialogue or phrase.

That will keep the enthusiasm from beginning to end.

The third one is to try to pick an uncommon topic. Maybe something a little bit funny. Or sounded funny. That will attract the audience and grab their attention.

Overall there is no clear-cut logic on how to pick your speech title. It should be interesting, arousing, relevant and funny. And the audience should be able to relate your topic with your speech.

Also, keep using the same tone and phase while reciting the speech title throughout your speech thus opening a bridge between the title and the narration.

Always try to experiment with wordings and try to relate and steer your speech in compliance with the topic.

Article by

TM Neyomal Rebera Vice President Membership 2021/22 Immediate Past President

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DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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Read ‘it’ For Riches

Toastmaster magazine is not a new phenomenon for toastmasters as each one receives the magazine at the very beginning of every month, but for anyone else, it’s something ‘unique’.

One day back in 2018, one of my cousins visited me with a pile of such ‘unique’ magazines. There were 42 magazines (I counted before I took the photo). Many of them were packed with a polythene cover, and very few were not. That means my person has read only a few of them. That was the first time I came across a Toastmaster magazine!

But I had no idea of what it was. Therefore, I took the pile and kept it in a corner of my cupboard where I usually keep my unnecessary but not throw-away things. It was there for a long time. But last year, I had plenty of time to read those magazines thanks to COVID-19.That was the first time I read a Toastmaster magazine!

It was really an amazing journey through the pages. There were many personal thoughts, experiences, and life stories about being a toastmaster. I read them one by one. That was the first time I dreamt of being a toastmaster! I found everyone has a unique motivation for why they joined Toastmasters. I found plenty of advantages to be one of them. In each paper, I found something new, interesting, motivating, highly valuable, and unbelievable.

Reading the magazine could enrich my vocabulary, use of language, and knowledge of the world. I could read about Karen Jacobsen, the GPS girl who helps us find our way (October, 2013) and Lisa B. Marshall, the popular podcaster of The Public Speaker and Smart Talk (August, 2016).

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For me, Toastmaster magazine is my personal invitation to participate in a conference created by many international communication experts who contributed to it.

As an undergraduate, I benefited greatly from this resource by reading about speech writing tips and presentation skills. Once, Dive Zielinski wrote about techniques to take visual aids to the next level in presenting (March, 2014). In that article, Zielinski highlighted presenting tools and websites as valuable resources that assist in designing or delivering more memorable presentations My tokens to wisdom This is not an isolated example. I can list many other significant tips and engagements for my academic career that have been inspired by articles I read in the past year. I believe that reading the magazine is more valuable than scrolling through Facebook and Instagram 100 times.

Finally, as the best result, I became one of the significant characters, being a toastmaster. Now, I check each issue for interesting articles, and I love the variety.

Reading the magazine each time requires time, but that time is a sizeable investment in your academic or professional work. If you’re too busy to read it carefully when it arrives, save it for days when you’re traveling, or for weekends or holidays, for sure, because this resource will definitely help you succeed.

Next time you receive the new issue of Toastmaster magazine, treat it as one of the precious things that you could have in your life.

Article By TM Thisuri Jayalath

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C

hallenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.

In life we all face challenges but the format is different from one another like personal life challenges, professional challenges, and challenges in passion.

Though I heard about Toastmasters in 2011 I joined in 2015. Availability of Toastmasters in my workstation is my first challenge in Toastmasters.

Fortunately, with a Transfer to a new location, I joined Toastmasters.

For two years I attended all meeting and training programs and learned a lot. My communication skills improved a lot. More than that my network Improved. I got new friends in Toastmasters Family. Some of them became my life mentors.

In 2018 Again I got a transfer and I could not join TOASTMASTERS. In 2020 due to the Pandemic all Toastmasters meetings happened online. One of my friends suggested me to join Ja Ela Toastmasters Club. The quality meetings, guidance from fellow members and the opportunities helped me to improve my communication skills even more. I gained more networks.

TM Kanesamoorthy Prasath Vice President Education 2021/22

MY JOURNEY

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

In 2021 I was appointed as the Vice President Education of the club. I accepted the challenge though I had never done the role before. With the guidance of club coaches, I improved a lot. This leadership role helped me not only in my Toastmaster life but also in my professional life. Time Management, organization, people Management, Mentoring, and coaching are some of the skills that I developed through this role.

My experience in Toastmasters is one of the pillars of my personal and professional growth.

If you are a person who is looking forward to a platform to develop your communica -tion and leadership skills, I strongly recommend Toastmasters.

Let's grow together!

Article by

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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How Communication Skills Sculpt Our Lives

Effective communication is known as one of the main life skills that humans must have. When we compare the lives of other living creatures with humans’ communication is the major difference that can be identified. Simply communication is defined as transferring information to produce greater understanding. Communication can be done in different methods as vocally(voice), written (books, magazines),visually(maps, graphs)and nonverbally(body language). As an example when a baby listens to his mother and tries to repeat the sounds that she makes also can be categorized as communication.

“Communication is your ticket to success, if you pay attention and learn to do it effectively” According to the above quote communication skills are very important to our lives and developing them can help all aspects of our lives, from the professional life to the personal life. Good communication skills are essential to allow others and yourself to understand information. If we learn how to use it effectively the life will flow with great success and also poor communication skills lead to frustration and misunderstanding.

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Role of listening in communication Being able to actively listen is an important communication skill. Most of the time people tend to focus more on what they want to say rather than listening to the other person. A good communicator is also a good listener. So active listening skills will help us to have more open and useful changes. If we listen actively, it conveys respect to the other person’s thoughts and ideas.

Importance of communication skills Improves the professional life If we want to apply for jobs or looking for a promotion, we should demonstrate good communication skills. Communication skills are needed to speak appropriately with a wide variety of people. Maintaining good eye contact, listening effectively, present ideas appropriately and work well in a group are some of the skills that employers seek.

Improves the personal life The ability to communicate information accurately, clearly and intended will improve personal relationships by helping to understand others and to understood by others.

Allows you to speak briefly Some people feel nerves when speaking to each other. So, communication skills will help to learn how to communicate effectively in a wide range of situations and how to deal accurately with others according to their requirements.

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Influences how you learn Communication skills have played a vital role of your existing knowledge and beliefs. You learn to speak in public by first having small conversations and expressing your opinions. When we learn to read, it improves our writing skills and good skills will help you to absorb information effectively. As a result of it you will be able to express your ideas in a meaningful way.

The ability to communicate appropriately with others in the society is essential for humans.

Good communication skills improve team spirit, develops the performances and enhances the productivity too. So, we should be able to understand other people’s verbal and non-verbal signals.

By teaching yourself how to communicate effectively converts the society to a positive manner.

Toastmasters is also a productive way that we can use to improve our communication skills. If you are a toastmaster, it is a magnificent decision that you have taken to become a great communicator.

Article by TM Naduni Ratnayake

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

Building On Success

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Installation 2021/22 Our 5th Installation ceremony was taken place virtually with the theme “Building on Succes. 2021/2022” on 24th June 2021.

The new executive committee was appointed with the participation of many guests from around the district and specially the district officials. We also had CTM Niranjan De Silva joined as our keynote speaker.

The ceremony was indeed a success and gave the best start to the new Toastmaster year 2021/22

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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First half of 2021/22 We started the new Toastmaster year gracefully with the new executive committee. Due to the pandemic situation, we had to conduct our meetings virtually. Each meeting was conducted with a theme and filled with fun events like exhilarating debates and games. we had the opportunity to conduct two joint meetings and have a speech marathon which brightened the meetings. We greatly appreciate the support given by the members who joined from other clubs. And the special appreciation goes to our members for performing exceptionally well in their roles. Specially the TMODs did a great job by bringing up games and fun activities during the educational meetings. It helped us to connect with one another and make our 7 new members feel at home. And as always, we are forever grateful to DTM Arshad, without whom we wouldn't have made this a success.

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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Awards

Contests

Pathways

ACHIEVEMENTS

Triple Crown won by TM Priya George

Smedley Award

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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Christmas Hybrid Meeting After conducting virtual meetings for more than one year, finally we were able to conduct a hybrid meeting with the theme Christmas. Some of us attended the meeting physically while the others joined virtually. For many of us it was the first time that got to meet one another in person.

And for all of us it was the first hybrid meeting experience. We all had a great time and it was indeed a success.

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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Ja Ela Toastmasters Club is the first Toastmasters club I became a member of after I returned to Sri Lanka. The most memorable events for me are when I won the Division contests in both International Speech and Humorous Speech contests while representing Ja Ela TMC. The members are like extended family and always are there to support each of us. I wish everyone the very best.

DTM Farhaz Feeling of achievement and celebrating success have made me confident in public speaking, which I was reluctant to do in the past. Delivering speeches and playing different roles in the educational-themed meetings created in a very friendly environment by Ja Ela Toastmasters Club has made me stronger to achieve my goals.

Hats off to Ja-Ela TMC!

TM Senadi

TM Jeewanthi

I think Toastmasters has given me the skills and confidence that I needed to effectively express myself as a manager. I'll further improve my interpersonal communication, confidence, and other skills by conducting speeches at Toastmasters which will help me to achieve my professional goals.

Toastmasters made an immense contribution in breaking the internal barriers of inner- confidence and most amazingly toastmasters is not only a matter of developing language proficiency but also polishing the personality.

TM Ranjeewa

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

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Ja Ela Toastmasters is one of my stepping stones as an aspiring toastmaster. I was able to grow myself not only as an individual but also as a speaker within this. It created lot of opportunities and I was lucky enough to play contest master roles, judging TM Neyomal roles, test speaking roles and mentor roles on my way and added lot of valuable experience and skills into my respiratory. I am so much thank full for DTM Arshad for his numerous support through out my journey. As a former President and current VP membership I highly recommend Ela Toastmasters for anyone because of I joined Toastmasters for the reasons most people do—toJagain it’s diversity and excellence confidence and improve my public speaking skills.

I went to my in delivery. first meeting at the Ja-Ela Toastmasters Club and have not looked back. I enjoy its easygoing atmosphere and all the loving people. I'm grateful for the skills I am developing at the club and for the new friends, I am making.

TM Thisuri

I had picked out that I have some kind of an ability in public speaking. When searching for a perfect platform to improve it, here I found Ja- Ela Toastmasters Family. My goal is not to be perfect by the end, but be better by tomorrow!

TM Asanka I joined Toastmasters with the hopes of improving my public speaking skills. In my very first meeting, I was extremely nervous to speak in front of everyone but little by little I gathered up the courage and decided to give it my all. All the toastmasters in my club encouraged me to do better and they all became my close friends. As I look back to my very first meeting, I realize how confident I am now and how much I have matured. Toastmasters, not only helped me improve myself but it became a place where I can freely express myself.

TM Jasmine

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

TM Nishalini

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i joined Ja Ela Toastmasters Club this year and I have got the opportunity to play almost every role by now.. Day by day my confidence level increased and I gained network within the club and also outside the club. Most of the members are very friendly and supportive. Some of them became my role models and gave me motivation to grow more. They give constructive feedbacks which inspired me to attend all the meetings without failing. And the online platform is more flexible to Join Toastmasters meetings from Jaffna. I hope to shine not only in toastmasters journey, But also in personal life too.

I was about to bite the bullet with my English. So I was looking for a platform and ultimately I found the best; Ja-Ela Toastmasters Club. I got to know about it through my university friend TM Neyomal and after joining here I met a bunch of people who are ingenious, tenacious, hilarious, and adroit. I am very grateful because I learned a lot. .

TM Mahesh I joined toastmasters in September 2021 because I realized how important public speaking skill is for my career and personal growth since it will make me go past my comfort zone. The best thing about toastmasters is that the members look out for each other, encourage you to step out of their comfort zone, and encourage you to try no matter what. I found the support immensely helpful to make myself go beyond my comfort zone

TM Dilosan Before joining the Ja Ela Toastmasters Club, I was a highly introverted person who often shied away from many social situations, especially those that involved public speaking. It's only been a few months since I joined the club, but I realized that I was able to form connections with amazing people while becoming a bit more comfortable in actively engaging in social situations that I found to be difficult before. I hope that I can continue to become a better version of myself through this invaluable club

TM Mikil

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

TM Naduni

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In the year 2021, the biggest decision I took was becoming a member of Ja-ela toastmasters club. In the Ja-ela toastmasters club, there is a friendly environment and it gave me the confidence to become a part of this fraternity. The club members help each other and they are comprehensible about the ideas of fellow members. Ja-ela toastmasters club gave the support to improve my leadership qualities, language skills, networking, etc.

I am grateful to all the members and to the club for the constructive feedback which I received throughout this year.

Editors' Note Welcome to the first edition of the Ja-Ela Toastmasters club newsletter for 2021/22, which is sure to be a thrilling ride with exciting and inspirational issues that would have you at the edge of your seat.

While this year had been a difficult one for all of us with the pandemic, Christmas is a time that brings a smile to all our faces, however, that also means it’s time to bid farewell to 2021. While all of us are waiting eagerly to start a new year, we think we must take a moment to recall all the glorious meetings we had and the joyous times we spent together that made this year brighter for all of us.

We hope you enjoyed the journey, as we took you back on all our best memories; the installation, themed meetings, members competing in speech competitions, exhilarating debates, joint meetings with clubs from all over Sri Lanka, and ending the year on a high note with the hybrid Christmas meeting.

None of these glorious moments would have been possible without the love and support from all our club members, coaches abd mentors. We are extremely grateful to all of you that made this year brighter and helped our club become a success. Let’s hope to have an even better year ahead and spend precious moments together sharing our highs and lows.

Let’s end this year on a high note and be ready to conquer 2022 with all our might!

TM Sakuni Sethunga Vice President Public Relations

TM Jasmine Jayakody Assistant Vice President Public Relations

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Members

Deputy Executive Committee 2021/22

Executive Committee 2021/22

Coaches & Mentors

DECEMBER 2021 | ISSUE 01

Arshad Nizam, DTM

Samuel Jayaselvan, DTM

Farhaz Farouk, DTM

TM Niroshan Nanayakkara President

TM Kanesamoorthy Prasath Vice President Education

TM Neyomal Rebera TM Sakuni Sethunga Vice President Membership Vice President Public Relations

TM Senadi Nanayakkara Secretary

TM Ranjeewa Senadhira Treasurer

TM Jeewanthi De Silva Sergeant At Arms

TM Dilosan Ravindran Ast. Vice President Education

TM Mahesh Pothuwila Ast. Vice President Membership

TM Jasmine Jayakody Ast. Vice President Public Relations

TM Hashan Shalitha Ast. Treasurer

TM Asanka Sapukotana Ast. Sergeant At Arms

TM Priya George

TM Dhammika Hettiarachchi TM Shenali Wickramathilake TM Naduni Rathnayake

TM Mindula Perera

TM Mikil Kuruppu

TM Thisuri Jayalath

TM Nishalini Mathukaran Ast. Secretary

TM Chandrakantha Chandrasegar