Anuradhapura TMC_Newsletter_2020 April

Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club DISTRICT-82A

Club Newsletter

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AREA H4

ISSUE 6

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CLUB NO: 2549382

Year 2019/ 20

April 2020

BEYOND the Circle

You can teach people public speaking and do it in a fun way

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Memories of Installation Ceremony -2019 P.12

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Contents 3

President Pens..

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Just the begining

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Area Director Writes..

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Youth Leadership Program- 2020

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Editor's Note

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Be a Contestant!

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Emerging Story of Success

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Area Contest

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Upgrade Yourself

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Recalling the Past

The Family of Love

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The best fertile land to cropping

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Jingle Bells

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Speechcrafter corner

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Installataion Ceremony

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Do you want to work miracles ?

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Chat with a Champion

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Experience of the Co-conference Chair

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Road to success

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Achievements & Recognition

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Cover Story

Editorial Team Newsletter Editor TM Maheshi Abeyrathna

Creative Editors The group photo taken with the club members, district leaders & key note speaker after the installation ceremony

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TM Darshana Ekanayake TM Tharushi Jayawickrama TM Thusitha Jayasuriya TM Mohamed Rifnaz

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President Pens Prosperity Through Dissemination If you suddenly come across a sack of paddy, what will you do? You may either consume all of it or you may sow them to reap a rich harvest in future. It’s obvious those who move with the second choice will encounter happiness.

As a toastmaster, how could you meet with ultimate happiness? Even though this question is a little tricky, if you can disseminate the prosperity you’ve already gained with future generation that will be the bliss at the level of self-actualization. This time ATMC initiated TM year with the tagline “Prosperity through Dissemination”. We have seen some people joining toastmasters and then leave once they’ve achieved their goals. There is certainly a doubt regarding the accuracy of this current trend. Experienced people should extend their hand to the descendants to groom more competitive communicators and skilled leaders. New toastmasters also have a responsibility to treasure the past members. Once this rapport is built up, the plant will be firmly and tightly fixed to the earth and would be a strong tree bearing sweet fruits.

Perhaps you are a well-established club with a prestigious history; you might be a club struggling to exist or a new club trying to bloom. However, the vital point is how your club provides a healthy environment to mingle the charter members with newbies. Once you have achieved this primary objective, sustainability of the club is beyond favorable.

Having already passed three quater of the year, let’s start to disseminate what we have reaped from toastmasters to create a prosperous club in the future.

Tharushi Jayawickrama, TC3 President Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club

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Area Director Writes

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“World record of 100m sprint is 9.58 seconds and the world record for 4 x 100m relay is 36.84 seconds.”

It is my pleasure to address you with your first edition of newsletter for the TM year 2019/2020 as the area director, your own area director. Thanks a lot for giving me an opportunity to share my ideas with you.

I am happy to see the performance of Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club within the first half of the Toastmaster year. Let me recall few of your achievements; the club has become President's Distinguished status with achieving ten DCP points, scored nearly 160 points in terms of golden gavel award, successfully conducted two Speechcrafter programs, helped the other neighbor clubs, helped to hold the mid-year conference of Division H in Anuradhapura and many more. As the area director, I am always delighted to see your performance and I would like to show you all as an example for other clubs in the area. First, let me thank all the ex-co members and the members of the club for all the good works that you all are performing. Hats-off.

In my early days, I had a question. Why the 4 x100m relay is faster than four individual 100m sprints? For an example, take the world record of4 x100m relay. It is 36.84 seconds. By dividing it by four, you will get 9.21 seconds, which is faster than Usain Bolt’s world record of 100m sprint.

Have you ever wondered about the same in your life?

In 4 x 100m relay, only the first runner needs to start from stationary position. All the other three runners have the advantage of running start inside the “exchange zone” which is 20 meters.

Therefore, it will take less time to other three runners to run their 100 meters.

It is the power of teamwork. Always, many hands make light work. However.Sometimes still, we fail to work as a team. Now a days “teamwork” has become a buzzword. We all know all of us are busy with our professional life and personal life and we only have 24 hours in a day to manage all.

Especially when it comes to a voluntary work like Toastmasters we all have these concerns.None of the clubs’ achievements that I mentioned earlier did not come only with a single hand. Many people might have helped to achieve those. We all should realize, we have the magical two­letter word with us to face whatever comes to us.

Good Luck!

TM Mohamed Rifnaz ,ACS,ALB

Area Director,

Area H4, District 82, Toastmasters International

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Editor's Note Our voice in words…

“Every individual has a voice that speaks in his mind” This valuable booklet has offered the members to find their own voice. At the initial stage, even holding the pen in hand is a great burden, yet once get started the flow of beautiful memories would not let you keep the pen aside. The seasonal toastmasters attempt to limit their success to a number of words, the recently joined tries to interpret their toastmaster adventure and the veteran puts forward the best educational instructions… In brief, this newsletter is a documentation of reminisce of what we did with our different aptitudes and what we offer others for their improvement. This is why Toastmasters is a different sensation, a different passion.

As this is a collective attempt, each tries to give their best and eventually an inspirational work of art is formed. Indirectly we mutually bond with others, not only in compiling this document but even in our cherished memories of the past. This process itself is a form of cleansing of all our toastmaster spirits and the most precious victory of all times.

Personally I have accumulated a wealth of experience while compiling the articles yet the overall attempt and the feeling is shared by all of us. Hence, I would like to thank all my team for everything. Thank you, all the veteran writers including TM Aaron Beverly, for your articles.

I invite all of you to read our newsletter which has been piled with much enthusiasm!!!

TM Maheshi Abeyrathna ,IP1 Newsletter editor

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Emerging Story of Success

Among many accomplishments that we have achieved as Toastmasters, the greatest is OUR LOVING CLUB. Whatever the numerical value of the membership has been from time to time, many individuals have been groomed by the club since 2012. The club is not a mere miracle but the ultimate commitment, hard work and perseverance of many members. Hence, here the presidents share our club’s story of evolvement…

Experience of the inexperienced When I was given the responsibility at the inception to form a new club in Anuradhapura, I was quite embarrassed since I had not come across such an experience in my life before. I hardly knew anything about the purpose of forming a Toastmasters club, its proceedings or the structure of Toastmasters fraternity. Yet, I was very eager to take up this challenge with my capacity in organizing and gave my consent to arrange the first meeting on 23rd June 2012 at the Telecom Auditorium, Udaya Mawatha, Anuradhapura. Even though it was totally strange to us, it was truly successful and within a day we registered the Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club with 20 members and I was appointed as the Charter President, leaving a heavy load on my head.

Honestly, it was a great challenge to organize club meetings even without a single seasonal toastmaster within the club. At this juncture, DTM Munawwara who was the mentor and the initiator of the club helped us in grand scale, sending experienced toastmasters from Kandy Toastmasters Club and Hill Capital Toastmasters Club.

It was my sole responsibility to coordinate with them regularly for having successful meetings at the initial stage of the club. Thanks to their support, we were able to build up a very active club even if we were located in a remote area.

At the initial stage, the main challenge was to continue the club meetings without giving way for malfunctioning of the activities.

We actively participated in all training programs, mid-year conference and Ovation in the first year of the club and were able to increase the number of members more than thirty, with the motivational and inspirational mood created in the surrounding networks.

I am really happy about the present improvements and achievements that the club has achieved. Now it is much spread among various institutions and different types of professionals. Currently it is a leading club in district 82 and it has moulded many leaders to toastmaster fraternity. I strongly believe that the club will reach the top position in district 82 within a short period with the commitment of the membership. I sincerely wish all the very best to Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club.

Charter President TM Sujith Jayasurya ,CC,CL (2012/2013) o

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TM Lalani Wijesekara ,CC,CL (2013/2014)

Worthy Commitment I was the second President of Anuradhapur Toastmasters Club, from July 2013 to June 2014. First challenge I had was to have the installation ceremony. At that time, I did not have an idea about what an Installation ceremony was because during the previous year we had not had charter ceremony or installation ceremony. I had not attended any club charter ceremony or club installation ceremony.

Amid many difficulties and problems along with the help and guidance of Division Director DTM Zainudeen, DTM Munawwara, DTM Lawrence and TM Ramani I was able to have first installation ceremony of the club.

It was not an easy task to have club proceedings and programs without commitment of three exco members including VP Education. I did not only perform President’s duties but VP Education’s duties as well for the smooth functioning of the club proceedings. Finally, with the help of club members we were able to be select Distinguished at the end of the session. I have always been attending the meetings whenever possible up to date.

I sincerely well wish for the progress of the club in future as well

7 The Giant Leap I always prefer to remind Neil Armstrong’s famous moon landing quote “That’s one small step for man. But a giant leap for mankind”.

In 2009, There were three partners for the project “Rural Voices Unlimited” as Rotary International District 3220, US Embassy of Sri Lanka and Toastmasters International District 82.There was a training program organized to give the overall idea of the project to the partnering Rotary Clubs. The training sessions were completely organized and handled by Toastmasters. So I got the opportunity to meet some veteran toastmasters such as DTM Balraj, DTM Mahesh, DTM Sudash, DTM Ajitha, DTM Yusuf, DTM Munawwara, TM DJayalath, TM Dangolla, TDM Rehan, TM Ajit, DTM Saleem are a few names to remember. At our first model meeting, the model prepared speech was done

by TM Dananjaya. I was so impressed about the way they conducted the entire two-day program. I found how good singer DTM Saleem was, specially when singing songs of Pandit Amaradeva. After that “Spiritual Night”, according to TM DNiranjan, following day I came back home with the idea of taking this fantastic movement to Anuradhapura. Since then, we were trying hard to start a club with the support of Toastmaster District leaders and we conducted a speech-craft program but ended up with a failed attempt of forming a club.

In 2012, DTM Munawara initiated it again, through IESL Rajarata chapter and I was also invited to join. It was almost Engineers meeting, myself, being the only non-engineering person but was interested in, and I was more than happy because the club was my brain child. TM Sujith was elected as Charter President and TM Lalani was VP ED. When seeing the current position and achievements of the club I feel sincerely and humbly happy. TM Tharaka, TM Rifnaz and all active past presidents including the entire membership deserve the credit of sky rocketing achievements. Even though I was away from the club during past few years due to some personal commitments, I always like to be with my Toastmasters Family.

TM Mahesh Dissanayake ,CC,CL (2015/2016)

TM Chandana Seneratharachchi (2014/2015)

Cherished Memory I took over the presidency of the club on fourth June 2015 as the fourth president of the club. The installation ceremony of the club took place splendidly at Eagle’s Heritage Golf Club on the 13th, August. Yet, and I had personally served in the positions of secretary, VP Education by the time I reached to the level of president. By that time there were exactly twenty members in the club. One great difficulty that I had to overcome was less number of members in the meetings. As a fact, we never cancelled any of the meetings. Even when there were four to five members, we still conducted the meeting. I personally believe that this eventually helped the evolvement and the progression of the club. In order to overcome this problem, I tried my level best to contact different person and invite them. We visited some banks and other institution for encouraging people to get the membership. For instance, I invited TM Tharaka, as I heard of his arrival in Anuradhapura.

Toastmasters improve our communication and leadership skills. Club environment is mutually supportive and hence, a mutual bond spontaneously springs up among members and make good network among different professionals.

We can continue with our professions, enjoy our life while leaning. Ultimately Toastmasters mold a person with good communication and leadership skills and helpful sincere heart for the society. My dear fellow Toastmasters please enjoy the ride while you are on the go. I wish you Good luck!

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Leadership Experience “If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something You have never done”. As a result of such an effort of an extraordinary group, we are fortunate enough to experience the benefits of this marvelous movement. In my tenure, my responsibility was to give an extra lift while keeping the club health in normal condition. With the great support of TM Ramani Ilangasinghe who was the area director by that time, the District Heads and long with our team specially TM Tharaka and TM Mohan we were able to organize a roadshow to promote the club at Anuradhapura. The current president TM Tharushi is one of the great findings of that effort. I wish the club may succeed day by day and the members will become proficient in theirrt.

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TM Sisira Dissanayake ,CC,CL (2016/2017)

Collective Victory

TM Mohan Samaratunge ,ACS,CL (2017/2018)

It was in June 2017, that I became the president of this club. By then the membership was satisfactory. Certainly as a president, I had to grow through obstacles as well. For instance, club growth was very good news as well as it’s a pleasing challenge as well. We had to cater to the growth of more and more members. However we managed to succeed. I usually had a very open and friendly communication with all members immaterial of the existing members or the new members / guests. Having visited many other clubs such as Pinnacle ATMC, and having participated in the events organized by toastmasters as much as possible, with enthusiasm I explored the Toastmasters culture. This assisted me in gaining a better exposure and supporting my own club and the members to grow.I still have certain memories etched at my heart like Ovation 2017, Installation 2017, achieving the Golden Gavel as a great team and becoming the fourth Club of the entire district. In a way all these are traces of a sincere and victorious past.

In brief each and every member in the club is important. All should grow together and we should make sure that we do it in a friendly and entertaining way. Cheers & Good Luck

Forgotten Promise

If you are a Toastmaster, you will definitely know about the four core values of Toastmasters; Integrity, Respect, Service & Excellence. However, if I ask you do you remember the Toastmaster’s promise? Most of you might wonder what it is. The promise every Toastmaster gives at the time he/she gets the membership of Toastmasters International is the Toastmaster’s promise. It is obvious every president of any Toastmasters club has to go under a period of toughness in their tenure. As a past president of the Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club, my ex-co and I too had to go under some tough time.

If you ask me, why these problems occurred, it was only because the promise was forgotten.

As the ex-co how we reacted to the circumstances, it was again we went back to the roots of the same Toastmaster’s promise to address the problems. As a past president, I would like to request you humbly to be in-line with the Toastmaster’s promise anytime in your Toastmasters career. I know you are curious to know about the Toastmaster’s promise. Please log on to the following link, read it with your heart and make sure not to make it as a forgotten promise.

https://www.toastmasters.org/About/Toastmasters-Promise

TM Mohamed Rifnaz ,ACS,ALB (2018/2019)

The batton was then passed to the new team in the new tenure with the fine counsel of the immediate past president, TM Mohamed Rifnaz. Day by day the club moves ahead victoriously.

Let’s preserve this momentum forever. o

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Upgrade Yourself Sailors commence their voyages seeking their destinations. In the meantime, they face innumerous storms. Every sailor has a fear of facing storms, while sailing. These storms can change their directions. Because of that, they may not be able to find their destination. But in their attempt of survival, they gain innumerous skills, perhaps surpassing the number of storms they encountered, across the voyage. With their skills they can upgrade themselves in their preceding voyages.

Similarly, in the sea of public speaking, every toastmaster is a sailor. Contests are the storms which we are facing throughout our journeys in toastmasters. Some members don’t even try to face those storms due the fear of failing. In my life as a toastmaster, I got the challenge to face those storms. My destination was the island of victory.

Through the club level and the area level I could go one mile closer to the island which I was seeking. Having sailed the next mile, which was the division level, I amassed a whole collection of experiences and skills but had to wait to upgrade myself. However, when reminiscing about my journey, I can clearly define the wealth of experience, bundle of skills and the overall picture of my improvement. I did lot of practices and I participated in training programs to learn how to survive. At the end though I couldn’t reach to the district level which I was hoping to, I could upgrade myself to a better version of myself.

Though contesting is a seasonal process, the knowledge which we get through contesting is not seasonal. Throughout the journey from club level to the division level as a contestant, I have found a better version of myself. My path in toastmasters has changed me completely with those gatherings. As a toastmaster, whenever you see a storm don’t be hesitate to confront it. It doesn’t matter you win or lose, ultimately you will upgrade yourself to a better version of yours.

TM Banula Mahen, ,IP1

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The family of love “The limits of my English language limited my profession” …. So, I wanted to open and clear my path. The ability to work with English is the secret to achieve my target. I started learning English nearly 30 years ago and I have continuously attended to classes, and even completed my Diploma However, as I feel I am still standing at the beginning…

Before two-three years, I saw that some of my collogues are handling English in a very attractive manner and heard that the secret behind their mastery was the Toastmasters club. So, I wanted to join with them. However, I missed the chance, due to one of my misconceptions. That is, thinking that my ability of English speaking is not enough to join with toastmasters. Finally, I joined with the speechcraft program which was conducted by Anuradhapura Toastmasters club last year.

Day by day…It’s amazing how my style has been changing. Speaking in English is not only words or grammar. I learnt that the patterns and pitch of speaking attribute entertaining elements to the speech. I mainly understood that a Language is there for communication. The most important fact is that two speakers understand each other I realized that the creativity of the speeches, grabbing the audience attention, using body language, sound balancing, and stage usages are the shadows of championships through this program. At the end of the program, my life is bound with the Toastmasters family and I love being a Toastmaster.

Toastmastering is not only about speaking but it’s also about leadership. Now, I am a Toastmaster and I feel that I am on the correct path to become a great, talented leader.

Anuradhapura Toastmasters club is a lovely, strong and helpful family. The family members always help, take care of each other and correct each other to achieve the best. The lovely words of the seasonal toatmasters of this family always attach me to this family. Come and join with my new family to improve your public speaking along with leadership skills.

TM Samanthi Sudarshani

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11 Jingle Bells As the last fun game, we The round robin master TM had the balloon dance.

Samanthi Sudarshani had Toastmasters were very arranged a wonderful gift talented in dancing so it was passing session at the end of very difficult to find winners. the event. After the meeting They posed a great we celebrated the birthday challenge to each other. At of TM Banula Mahen who is the end of the game, we the youngest member of our shared our gifts. We had toastmaster’s family by asked everybody to bring a cutting a birthday cake. gift to share before the

meeting and they shared Then we conducted three them among each other fun activities. First one was and everyone got a gift the passing of the ring using from someone else. Thus pipes. We divided all the we had an exceptional night members in to two groups on that day... After having and all of them were very dinner we dispersed talented and some were promising each other to cheating for the purpose of spread love and caring. having fun.

Secondly, we played blasting balloons with toothpicks.

Some of us, middle aged people were running like youngsters. Everyone tried to protect his balloon. Some balloons even fell down.

Even though most of us were tired everyone seemed to enjoy the event.

TM Asanka Milroy ,MS2Â

It was Christmas. The arrangements were made for a theme meeting to celebrate Christmas. Thus we arranged a Christmas dinner on 18th of December, 2019 at Silver Crown Hotel. It was scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. All were dressed in Santa hats and the black and red dress code addedd more color to the occasion.

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Installation Ceremony -2019

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It was quite new for me to hear the event called the Installation ceremony in Anuradhapura Toastmasters club. However, I got the image from our members to be prepared for the event to make it successful. Our area director, senior Toastmasters, club presidents and members gathered and held a meeting to plan the event in advance.

The several sub-committees were introduced as advisory, Finance, Logistics, Decoration, Gifts, Emcees, public relations works, etc. Here I was allocated to the finance committee but I actively engaged in logistics and decoration committees also. At first in the finance committee, we had a plan to collect money for the installation ceremony from our members' sponsors and by doing a Speechcraft program in Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club.

Then the tentative monitory requirements were assessed for the logistics, decoration and gifts works in the installation ceremony. After having several meetings, phone calls, emails and social media messages with our members we were able to collect most of the money required for the installation ceremony. Here I learned many new communication methods required to contact members and ways and means of collecting sponsorships. o

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13 Then during the installation ceremony, I was able to identify many members in other Toastmasters clubs and to adopt their experience to improve myself. In the same manner, having this kind of installation ceremony was helped to carve the duties and responsibilities of executive committee members within themselves and to make other club members help these committees to do their club works properly.

On the other hand, this ceremony helped us to develop our teamwork, event planning skills and negotiation skills for the future sessions. Further, the keynote speaker’s motivational speech showed us how our dedication will carry us to excellence. Then, in the end, we were able to conduct a successful installation ceremony and it was filled with full of joy, experience, leadership, and communication with each other.

A part of this success goes to experienced toastmasters of our club because their proper guidance to the new members was immensely helped to do the organizing works of this ceremony. Now it is a much valuable memory for me and I want to say most of the time we were not able to know the true value of that moment until it became a memory.

TM Thusitha Jayasuriya ,IP2

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14 Chat with a Champion- TM Aaron Beverly "One lamp is capable of lighting a raw of lamps",Hence it’s better to seek one bright lamp to educate us of the path of public speaking. The bright lamp that we deliberately sought for this time to have the chat with, is none other than the World Champion of Public speaking Toastmaster Aaron Beverly

1. Who is Aaron Beverly?

Beyond the world championship, I am a person who loves public speaking. I am a person who loves the feeling of teaching other people. I’m a traveler; I love to experience different cultures. I believe that it makes us better people especially when we approach it from the mindset of understanding. By trade, I am a project manager working at J.P. Morgan Chase for nearly a decade. I am also a nerd that loves cartoons and superhero movies and I have no shame of that either.

Aaron Beverly- The ‘world champion’ of Public Speaking - 2019

2. What inspired Aaron Beverly to become the world champion of public speaking?

What inspired me to become the world champion of public speaking initially was one of my beliefs. I believed that being the champion is the inspiration for many people; I wanted the trophy and the accolades that come with the world championship.I used to think that in order to be a prominent speaker, I had to become the world champion of public speaking. Only through maturity and growth did I realize that was not the case.Once I gained that insight, I began to compete in the international speech contest for the purpose of growing and getting better as a speaker. I improved my public speaking skills exponentially by competing in the international speech contest. While competing I met many different people from all over the world. In the end, I did still want to win, but I realized that I did not need to win in order to feel fulfilled.As the world champion of public speaking, one of my many missions is to spread that message that the world championship does not make you fulfilled only you can do that.

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15 3. In 2016, first runner-up, in 2019, the world champion. How would you describe your journey from 2016- 2019?

In 2016, I participated in the world championship of public speaking for the first time.

That was a great achievement by itself, but I even placed second in the world which is another extraordinary accomplishment. However, after I gave my final speech in 2016, I left the stage with regret. I did not believe that I had given everything that I could have in 2016. That regret lasted for three years. I made a vow to myself that if I ever got to the world stage again, I would not allow myself to leave the stage with regret. I would make sure that I did the best that I could for that particular speech.

4. How can you differentiate yourself from other speakers?

I would say what makes me different from other speakers is the fun that I bring to teaching public speaking. I believe that a lot of people see public speaking as something that is overly formal or something to be dreaded. I believe that you can teach people public speaking and do it in a fun way. What also makes me different is the fact that I am an introvert however I can perform one of the most extroverted activities known in the modern day. Even with my introversion,I still love to speak.

5. Many toastmasters dream to become a world champion. Dreaming is not enough.

Which procedure they should go through to achieve their dream?

There is no procedure to win the world championship or to even proceed to the second round of the International Speech Contest. What you need is simple. You just need to have a desire to get up in front of people, speak, and get better at doing it. The process of improvement is one of the factors that drove me to become a better speaker. It is a process. Only by dedicating yourself to this process can you see success in a public speaking competition. However, that is not just limited to a competition that can be applied to public speaking in general and even life

"I believe that you can teach people public speaking and do it in a fun way" o

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16 7. How can one write a winning script?

The key is to just start writing a script. Don’t worry about it being a winning script. Many Toastmasters who dreamt of becoming the world champion of public speaking think that they have to have a certain story that will elevate them to the world championship. If it were that simple everyone would be the world champion of public speaking. Just like with your growth as a speaker, having a quality written speech is a process. The speech that I gave in the world championship of public speaking came from a story that was over a year old. Most of the stories that I use in my speeches are multiple years old before I even put them into a speech. When I first write a speech script, it will not be at a championship level. However I will continue to tweak and work on it over time. I will go to a club or find an audience to give my speech. I will use their live feedback to make changes and correct what I believe did not work. I will also reinforce anything that did work. My speeches are pieced together. Never have I written a quality speech in one sitting. . Having become the champion in Public Speaking, your Toastmaster journey does not end. How would you use your title and skill for the betterment of the world?

What I am trying to do now is put my education of public speaking on to YouTube. I have a channel where I plan to post more videos about public speaking education to help people who want to become better speakers. I want to do this because I believe that public speaking is a skill that can help save the world. A skill that important should not be hidden behind exorbitant price walls. This is why I plan to release all of my public speaking education for free.

You can find my YouTube channel by searching Aaron W. Beverly.

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I improved my public speaking skills exponentially by competing in the international speech contest.

www.facebook.com/aaron.w.beverly https://twitter.com/abev917 www.youtube.com/user/Abev91788 www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-w-beverly

Aaron Beverly at the 2019 Toastmasters International World Champion of Public Speaking in Denver, Colorado o

Compiled by: TM Maheshi Abeyrathna ,IP1

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Road to success In this life journey we could find so many platforms, It gives various kinds of experiences to our life. Our future will be determined by the number of difficult platforms that we cross in our life. My humorous speaking platforms are some of such experiences .

It was not an easy task for me. But it gave me tremendous opportunities and skills to rise up as a confident speaker.

One incident about division contest has itched in my memory hard. One Day while I was practicing for my division contest speech, I couldn’t pronounce one word correctly. The word was "enthusiastic", I have pronounced that word nearly 50 times with TM Tharaka Amarasena. Now I can confidently say that I can pronounce that word correctly now. Let me say once "enthusiastic"

In this year division contest, I could not become the champion. But I believe Rome wasn’t built in a day’, the bricks were being laid every hour.

TM Pubudu Kaushalya ,CC

Just the begining When a pupil or adult gets into difficulties in communication; whatever the language they use it is a major problem, sharing the ideas and also understanding the same. When it comes to the English Language there is no use of 'Mute English', while having a sound grammar knowledge. Although many of us learned English nearly one and half-decade, in speaking it seems very poor usage.

While I was also floating in the same boat, I heard about the Toastmasters and also Speechcrafters program. as a proud member of the first speechcrafters program and having an encouraging and fantastic learning experience,I eagerly and enthusiastically got involved with the Toastmasters on behalf of my future success. I've never seen such an organization before; "A real improvement taking place" apart from "where the leaders are made." and this is just the beginning. I will continue to be a part of this.

TM Ashoka Nilmini

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Youth Leadership Program - 2020 Being a member of Anuradhapura Toastmasters club, I got the golden opportunity to be one of the coordinators of Youth Leadership Program (YLP). YLP is conducted for school children to develop their leadership qualities and the English language skills. This year as the club we had an opportunity to train 160 youth leaders in 4 separate groups. This invaluable program is conducted under the patronage of Colombo Rotary Club and with the guidance of our district director, TM Sarma Mahalingham.

Since I have been teaching English in the area nearly one and half decade, I know how difficult it is children to make speak not only in English but also in Sinhala. As far as English is concerned these students learn it only as a subject not as a language. They have no any idea about the practical value of English than answering their test papers. In language teaching methodology it is advised to let learners listen first, secondly speak next read and later write but we can see that these students do only last two.

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The first day of the program students got the experience of how a toastmasters meeting is conducted and identified role-players and their duties as well as ice breaker speech and table topic speech. At the beginning I thought it would be difficult to make them speak, however after couple of sessions I understood what a thirst they had to speak in English it was really amazing. At the beginning in some ice breaker speeches they just gave conventional self-introductions but with the guidance of Toastmasters they made wonderful ice breaker speeches. For instance one boy narrated about himself at his grandmother’s point of view he acted as his grandmother who is proud of her grandson. Another girl narrated that before coming to this world she had been an angel in the heaven and she was asked to come to earth as a girl like angel

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19 In addition to speaking and doing the roles of the meetings they started to interact with the students from the other schools. At the beginning they tried to select all role players from the same school later they are ready to do any role with others, they started to understand all of them are alike.

As a YLP coordinator and an English teacher I understood that it is a great program which gives the students the practical knowledge of English and arousing their desire for the language instead of the phobia. In addition it is a unique platform for them to develop their leadership qualities and expose to the society confidently.

TM Gamini Wijerathne, CC

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Be a contestant!

Speech contests are such wonderful opportunities which provide us a great platform to become better public speakers and push our limits to achieve success.

I

have

been

on

the

Toastmasters speech contest stage since 2014 competing at club, area and division levels in International speeches, humorous, evaluation and table topics categories. Also I have been privileged to share the stage with some of the brilliant speakers all these years. That experience has enriched me a lot.

Staying in your club will definitely help you grow but the moment you go to the next level representing your

When you contest you get to push yourself to become better. You won’t get a better opportunity than being a speech contestant to learn the art of speech preparation, thinking process and holding nerves while performing. It will challenge you in ways that you would not find in a standard manual speech. The amount of effort that you need to put in to this process will definitely help you to achieve success in your personal and professional life as well. So contests help us to achieve higher level of confidence!

Contesting is fun and fulfilling. So my humble request to all Toastmasters who haven’t contested yet is to just try and participate. As the 2003 World Champion of Public Speaking DTM Jim Key said during his winning speech, “It’s never too late”.

Once you contested you will feel that you are not the same Toastmaster as you used to be. Win or lose you will become a better version of yourself. Some people will come back with certificates and trophies, but EVERYONE will come back with memories and inspiration that propel them towards pinnacle!

"You won’t get a better opportunity than being a speech contestant to learn the art of speech preparation, thinking process and holding nerves while performing"

club you will realize how wide and vivid the world of Toastmasters is. There are people from various clubs who have different personalities than yours. They bring various experiences and ideas to these forums. You will make new friends. Therefore contests improve our creative thinking

TM Moditha Sendanayake ACS, ALB Area Director – E4 (2019/2020)

and expand our network!

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Area Contest - March 2020

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International Speech & Table Topics contest 2020 of Area H4, District 82, Toastmasters was held on 8th March 2020 at Kekirawa Base Hospital Auditorium. It was a huge success with the support of our contest chair TM Savithri Upananda and her team and the chief judge TM Kasun Meegahakumbura and his team. We would like to appreciate all the contestants and wish the winners. First and second place winners of both the contests will proceed to the division contest.

International Speech Contest

TableTopics Contest

Winner - TM Tharushi Jayawickrama (Anuradhapura) 1st Runner up - TM Nishantha Anuruddha (Kekirawa) 2nd Runner up - TM Asanka Milroy (Anuradhapura)

Winner - TM Maheshi Abeyrathna (Anuradhapura) 1st Runner up - TM Anuradha Gamage (Kekirawa) 2nd Runner up - TM Zahra Marzook (Puttalam)

TM Mohamed Rifnaz ,ACS,ALB

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Recalling the Past The great American president, Theodore Roosevelt once said that “The more you know about the past, the better prepared you are for the future”. The study of history is not only to see the mistakes that we can learn but also witness the good impact of the world and culture that shapes our lives.

History is more than just the living record of nations, leaders, and wars. It’s also the story of us. It’s packed with tales of how someone stood up for what they believed in, or died for love, or worked hard to make their dreams come true. All of those things are concepts we can relate to.

As emerging leaders, we Toastmasters are in the need of refining ourselves to be the best version of ourselves. For

When brainstorming through history it paves the way to recognize the parallels between the past and the present. In the heat of

The history of The Anuradhapura Toastmasters club is very rich. The difficulties they endured have shaped the club to the current

decision making, it is all too easy for leaders to both forget the past and pay little attention to the present. Great leaders must be able to hold these dual and sometimes conflicting notions in balance at the same time. In some cases, the links to the past may not be as apparent or as relevant, but a leader’s ability to at least recognize the value of history should enable them to make more informed decisions.

form. Leaders who make the effort to learn from the past and understand the present context will make better decisions, With that intension in mind, our president decided to organize a meeting among the past presidents and current exco.

that learning from the past is a must. It shows us the struggles the previous leaders encountered the way they stood up for the vision of the thing they believed. And how the power of will emerged despite all the shortcomings. o

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"recognize the parallels between the past and the present."

23 The 5th of August 2019 was an unforgettable experience of all the new executive members of ATMC. The strong concrete pillars of the Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club were at the same table, mentoring the newly appointed exco and they were able to gain so many insights from the past presidents starting from charter president to 7th past president including Division H director as well. The presence of TM Sujith Jayasuriya the charter president, 4th past president TM Mahesh Dissanayake, 5th past president TM Sisira Dissanayake, 6th past president TM Mohan Samaratunge, 7th past president TM Muhammadh Rifnaz and our own Division Director TM Tharaka Amarasena for sharing the experiences and advising on the future betterment of the club. Though the 2nd past

The lessons learned the inspiration they reflected, uplifted the spirit of the new exco. It's proud to share that when a house has a stable foundation any blow of wind cannot shake it. The lessons learned from the past will help the young exco to navigate their through rough seas

"a leader’s ability to at least recognize the value of history should enable them to make more informed decisions"

journey

President TM Lalani Wijesekara and 3rd past President TM Chandana Senaratharachchi was not able to make it because of unavoidable personal commitments, we should be thankful for them to raise the

TM Darshana Ekanayake, CC

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Our New Member Relates..

The best fertile land to crop As a newcomer, I have gathered valuable experiences and lessons from toastmasters where every member is always willing to help. Their supportive quality is the most significant featurer in the club premises. At the beginning I never thought, toastmasters, can make such an influence on me especially to overcome stage fear and nervousness. I’m being carried a long way by their positive evaluations and encouragements, not only in the club performance but also in personal and career life. Every meeting day is full of joy and enthusiasm. It is an amazing companionship between members of different backgrounds. Here we are, one family

I spent many years trying to achieve communication skills and leadership abilities which I couldn’t fulfill my purpose properly. But finally, I found the exact place.

Toastmasters is a fertile land I found accidentally in my journey, no doubt it will enrich my future life and will add a new dimension to my life.

TM Wasana Eashwara

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Speechcraft Corner A Drizzle to the Drought "A Drizzle to the Drought", that's how I feel about the Speechcrafters program conducted by the Toastmasters club of Anuradhapura.

Firstly,I have to point out that Speechcrafters program provides us with an excellent chance of being in an English speaking environment.

Secondly I’d like to come to the point of excellent knowledge imparted by this program. Actually as an experienced speech and drama teacher I had the ability of public speaking. Yet with the intention of adding colours to it I joined this program. Because I'm always interested in improving my skills so as to do a better service to my students.

At the beginning I saw how some of my fellow speechcrafters were struggling to be stood in front of the audience. But amazingly after 2,3 sessions

now they've become very talented and also they've mproved their English.

It's the miracle of this program. Here the friendly environment cherished with love and kindness has made the speakers very fluent and confident.

Actually the trainers do wonders. They are very friendly, patient and supportive.The way they encourage beginners without harming their personality must be appreciated. This is a great chance for everyone.

I hope there may be more and more such programs for those who missed this golden opportunity. And at last but not least I must thank Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club for organizing such a wonderful program.

Speechcrafter Lorani Dissanayake

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Do you want to work miracles…?

“If you just communicate you can get by, but if you communicate skillfully you can work miracles”

Why do we learn a language? The basic answer is “for communication”.

Listening, speaking, reading and writing are the four pillars of communication.

Each and every pillar has its special hallmarks. speaking has different facets.

The power of words is the most cardinal feature to be considered in communication. There are plenty of words that can be used to say the same thing.

Selecting the best word for the appropriate context is a skill to be improved by a Public speaker. The facial expressions, vocal variety, gestures and postures add more colour to the speech. If these features can be used appropriately and sufficiently you cannot talk to the ears of another person but to his heart directly. That is the art of the communication

There is a common quote, “The art of the communication is the language of the leadership.”

There is a great correspondence in between the Communication and the leadership.” Leadership is not about a title or a designation.

It’s about impact, influence, and inspiration. To inspire your group, you should be able to speak to their hearts not to the ears. If so, you are capable to translate vision into a reality as a leader.

Then you would become a great leader among leaders

Hidden in every person there is a great leader. If we communicate well, we can take the hidden leader out.

Toastmasters is a place where leaders are made. We groom leaders, enhancing their public speaking skills. I endorse Toastmasters for the leaders who want to experience miracles in their lives.

There is a great correspondence in between the Communication and the leadership.

TM Mahesha Hettarachchi ,CC,CL

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27 Experience of the Co-conference Chair

Mid-Year Conference of Division H, District 82, Toastmasters International The mid-year conference of the Division H was proudly held at The Lake Forest Hotel which is situated on the bank of the ‘Thisawewa’ with natural and scenic value, in Anuradhapura on 7th December 2019.Being the coconference chair of the event, I personally developed my communication, organizational management and leadership skills through organizing this event.

having a cooperative and committed team was the secret of my success and success of the whole event

The organizing committee shared the burden of organizing the event with me visiting the location of the event and the key stakeholders including food and refreshments, lodging, sounds and stage arrangements in advance to make arrangements.

All the contestants performed very well in the contest, leaving a timely message to the audience. Above all, many participants were head over heels about the location and countryside food.

The Past International TM President DTM Balraj Arunasalam enlightened the entire audience of toastmasters with many hints for their further development, as the key note speaker of the event. His presence together with district Trio was very much encouraging for all participants

I would love to tell everyone since Toastmastering is developing one’s self; accept these kinds of challenges as well while you are enjoying the Toastmasters fraternity.

However, having a cooperative and committed team was the secret of my success and success of the whole event.

TM Sanjeewanie Ginigaddara , IP1

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Achievements & Recognition Club achievements during TM year 2019/20

PRESIDENT'S DISTINGUISHED CLUB We could achieve President's Distinguished status this time also. Fourth time in a row the club has achieved this prestigious achievement during this seven and half years journey.We should thank each and every individual for their honest dedication towards achieving our goals. By any mean you have contributed which took us as one of the high performing clubs in Division H & District 82.

RIBBONS RECEIVED FROM TI Home Club Division Director Home Club of Area Director Added 5 new members during AugustSeptember 2019

AWARDS BY DISTRICT 82 Excellence in Training - First Term

- All 7 club officers were trained in the first OTP

8-80 Award- First Term

- Added 8 new members & retained 80% membership in the first renewal cycle

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Achievements & Recognition Member achievements during TM year 2019/20

TM Gamini Wijeratne

TM Pubudu Kaushalya

TM Tharushi Jayawickrama (TC3)

COMPETENT COMMUNICATOR

TM Lalitha Thenuwara (DL1)

TM Sanjeewanie Ginigaddara (IP1)

PATHWAYS LEVEL 3

TM Banula Kumarage (IP1)

TM Thusitha Jayasuriya (IP1)

TM Thusitha Jayasuriya (IP2)

TM Asanka Milroy (Ms2)

PATHWAYS LEVEL 2

TM Maheshi Abeyrathna (IP1)

TM Asanka Milroy (MS1)

PATHWAYS LEVEL 1

TM Tharaka Amarasena (ACS)

TM Mohamed Rifnaz (ACS)

TM Mohamed Rifnaz (LDREXC)

ADVANCED COMMUNICATOR

TM Tharushi Jayawickrama (ALB)

LEADERSHIP AWARDS o

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TM Mahesha Hettiarachchi (CL)

MEMBERS Onboard

You are not late to be onboard

If you are around Anuradhapura,

Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development which consists of 16,800 clubs in 143 countries.

Anuradhapura Toastmasters Club would like to give you an open invitation to those who are around Anuradhapura, please visit us for a club meeting to get an idea about the club proceedings. We assure that, if anyone comes to the club meeting, he/she will get the maximum output to uplift his/her leadership and communication skills.

“Today a visitor to the club, tomorrow a member”

Find us on /AnuradhapuraTMC (Use this time to learn the art of public speaking. Follow our Facebook page to know more about our online meetings)

Club Meetings Every 1st and 3rd Wednesdays From 5.15 PM onwards

CSE Auditorium, 257/11, Main Street, Anuradhapura (Second Floor, Sarath Motors Building)