THE OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER PUBLICATION : 08 June 2014
PRESIDENT’S CLUB OFFICERS 2013-2014 President TM Sivakumar
CORNER
Join and Get Groomed !!!
VP Education
Fellow Toastmasters,
TM Atul Shinde
It gives me great pleasure and pride to be part of Awal Gulf Toastmasters Club. We are literally at the end of the Current term.
VP Membership TM Elayaraja
VP Public Relations TM Sunil Kumar
Secretary TM Ramaswamy
Treasurer TM Raghuraman
Sergeant-At-Arms TM Vikrant Sawant
PAST PRESIDENT’S
Happy to see the Club flag flying high in the Toastmasters fraternity. The Goals set at the start of the term were achieved, except the dream of competing in DTAC ’14. Nevertheless my heartiest congratulations to all the members who contributed and supported to the performance of the Club.
TM RATINDER NATH (Charter President)
TM ASHOK KUMAR (2010-2011)
TM DATTATRAYA GHADGE (2011-2012)
TM SANJAY TIKOO (2012-2013)
As you all are aware that the incoming Ex-com is all set to start their journey. It’s time for me to say Good bye to the role of President of Awal Gulf Toastmasters Club. Still I remember the pressure and challenge we had when we started the journey for 2013-14, it was a dream come true for us as we started achieving our Goals and vision of our Managing Director.
Sivakumar Nagarajan ACB /ALB The beautiful concept of Toastmaster that I always love to remember is : Leaders are not born but they are groomed. Every year the Club will have new set of Ex-com, with new ideas and action plans. This makes the Club and Members energetic and fresh at all the time. It also gives equal opportunity to have the knowledge of the portfolio and hands on experience. Once again my hearty wishes to the New Ex-com. Please render your continual support to the new Ex-com and keep the Awal Gulf Toastmasters Club Flag flying high.
Message From : DTM ASHOK KUMAR Dear Toastmasters, Today’s Golden Jubilee is a joy that cannot be quantified. The Awalgulf Toastmasters have run a marathon. It is true that journeys begin with the first step, but here is the person who paved the direction; we have with us the torch bearers and path breakers. Hats off to our Managing Director, His support is our strength, His direction is our goal post, and on the 100th meeting our tribute and testimony is for the trust and conviction he placed in us. We are fortunate for all the favors it has taken to mark this day in a golden leaf in the chapters of ours, Awal Gulf Family history. The credit goes to the Management who saw the value of such an initiative; I am delighted to have been a humble part of it, our unlimited thanks and it is a proud feeling that we are one among the few corporate blessed with such a benevolent, large hearted, broad minded individual Mr. Adel M Mattar with the team of management. When one takes the values of life, it is not the number of years but the strength and wealth of intangible values that counts. 100 meetings is of great importance in that respect. In life it is not the commodities and clutter we gather but the goodwill, the giving without a second thought the gifts of intangible value that goes a long way.
Toastmasters International is a source of that gift and our management has opened the gift wrap for all of us to avail the unlimited values. The spirit of Toastmasters is to share knowledge, grow together and grow along together. Awalgulf Toastmasters have grown 100 meetings a milestone….brick by brick the speeches, evaluations, table topics, contests, debates and efforts have contributed to this credit Good leaders like Dr. Ralph C Smedley, our Managing Director Mr. Adel M Mattar and members of our management team know the way; they show the way and will go the way….. Ladies and gentlemen, today is the special day for us to celebrate our 100th meeting, let us show how proud and privileged we are for their guidance and gifts by giving a standing ovation.
Yours truly, Ashok Kumar
A good Speaker and Great leader ? No way…!! I am way beyond... ‐ a personal story When I heard of Toastmasters for the first time, I thought, this is the club where you have an enjoyable toast…..i.e. clinging of the Glasses…. share a drink… I was wrong…..This I realized after joining the Toast Masters Club. During the meetings, the Club members impressed on me that thru Toastmasters, I will be a good speaker and great leader. This I realized that I was wrong notion again. After completing my ACS & ALB, I realized that Toast Masters has so much to offer, other than helping you to be a good speaker and a leader. How…? Let me relate my personal experience…The forum of Toastmaster has been most helpful for networking. By the virtue of being a good listener and smart organizer, I have found acceptance among many groups and individual. As I am able to understand and comprehend the problems better, the solutions which I offer tend to be more practical and reality based. The Grammarian role and the Ah counter are the credit for this….. I always use to enjoy evaluating people, in other words, I was sarcastic in opinion. In another sense, I felt that I always knew better than anybody else. But the worst part of it…..nobody wanted to listen to me. Here again, being a Toastmaster helped. I have tried to specialize in the art of evaluation. The essence of evaluating an individual is to praise him for his efforts and also give him points of improvement.
The Seven Learning Styles Everyone has a preferred method of learning. Seven basic learning styles exist, and each one uses a different part of the brain. People may use more than one method when they learn; in fact, when we use multiple styles, we use more parts of the brain and remember what we learn better. The next time you practice a prepared manual speech, try incorporating more than one method of learning. Your speech may resonate with more members of your audience.
And, my….my….the exercise also helped me to curtail my negative creativity. The flow was now in positive direction. My achievements, a fabulous group of people who look forward to my suggestions for improvements and what is my certification….Well, an able and efficient Judge. All said and done, there can be only one speaker or one leader at any gathering at one point of time…and the focus is always on him. Am I right…? No, this is not correct. The focus is always on the good listener who can give correct advice and solutions, who is able to praise people and suggest improvements in areas of weakness as an efficient unbiased evaluator. And now Could you guess the number of friends on my Face book, ….la…la that is another story. Needless to add, networking really improves with Toast Mastering. There is no second doubt about it. And if networking is perfect, the distance between alphabets A to Z is not 26 words, but just one…T for Toast mastering. Toastmaster Club will take you to the Moon, no doubt about it. But the perfect landing is your responsibility. Look at all the other options that any Toastmaster Club gives to develop your personality and take full advantage. You will have no regrets in life…..
TM Anil Menon / ACS & ALB
PARENTAL GUIDANCE to NETIZEN KIDS
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Internet is the most powerful invention and if used in the positive direction, Internet can prove to be very productive. But, these days, due to the social networking sites such as Facebook taking over, internet is producing adverse effects on the children, especially children studying in schools and colleges. Some negative effects that internet produces on the students are – Inactivity, Wastage of Time, Cyber bullying, Moral Corruption, Insomnia, Addiction, Privacy is disturbed, Sexual Exploitation, Thinking Capacity Reduced, No Face to Face Communication Below are few tips to safeguard children from Social media and internet addiction •
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Encourage your kid to spend considerably more time in actual communication than social networking communication Tell your kid to spend more time in real -life friendships and activities. Real faceto-face interaction is deeper and warmer than online friendships, Help to find
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friends Encourage your child's other passion or interest. Help to get involved in other activities that aren’t online Examples of these are sports, playing a musical instrument, writing, crafts, etc. Suggest to your kid to take advantage of social networking to enhance learning, to collaborate with fellow students, not just for “hanging out” Limit internet usage to include minimal use for social interaction. Internet use should focus on the need to use the internet for school assignments and research. Limit internet gaming Monitor internet use and set boundaries Keep internet usage restricted to specific areas of the home Talk to your child about anxiety, depression, school, and other potential triggers that may be causing additional internet use Seek help form a doctor, friend or professional if your child seems to be spending too much time online
- TM Ajit Dumbre.
Anger is never a SOLUTION. On 6th June 2014… a Friday morning, I just woke up with the ‘tiktik‘ sound of an e-mail message from our forwarder … a very important shipment which was supposed to be arriving Bahrain on 19th June has been delayed. This message made me upset and disturbed beyond the words could express on a week end. I got up from the bed and shot a mail to the person concerned. I did not even use any salutation in order to put my displeasure on record. My mail went on ………… “What do you mean? We have been constantly following up and now at eleventh hour you are telling us that too on our chasing that the shipment has not sailed ??? Do you understand the implication of such lousy, atrocious service on our business??
It does not work in business. ….. so on. Then he said,” sir please be kind enough to listen to me for few seconds. … Sir, I am standing at the grave yard for the funeral of my uncle who passed away last evening due to a heavy stroke. He was more than a Father to me. He only brought me up. Funeral will get over within few minutes, immediately after which I will update you with details” I could not say even a sorry to him and kept the phone down……… I did my head hang in shame for all my actions/false ego. What did I achieve by hurting a person without knowing his plight? In the process, my Blood pressure had shot up, I could not sleep that night, whole night I spent repenting on my harsh words to him. Even when he was at the grave yard, he did answer all my mails which shows that he is more committed than me.
On 7th June, early morning, I called him up and said “I am really sorry”. He replied, no sir, The person replied……… “sir please you don’t have to be sorry, it is give me one hour time, and I will my mistake, I should have kept revert to you”. you informed of the delay” .I have arranged with shipping His reply obviously did not satisfy lines to load your container on a third party vessel me…….I shot back again……………….. “What one hour? After goofing up our critical shipment, why you want which will arrive before the original schedule” one hour? Have you been sleeping on it for more than 2 weeks? Forget about one hour. I cannot I felt too small in front of him. even wait one minute. I want the details immediately otherwise be ready to face the serious conse- I don’t think I will be able to change myself overnight. However, this incident is an eye opener for quences.” me. The concept of screaming at people and getting Again the person replied ………… “Sir I beg the work done is definitely wrong. We can get the you, please give me one hour time, I will defi- work done by making others aware of the importance of the situation, the impact of which will be nitely get back to you”. much more effective. Though I could not digest his reply, very reluctantly, I warned, fine I am giving you one hour time, but I More significantly, this wonderful platform of Toast Masters Club provides us with not only the improvemust have the answer within this time. ment on our communications skills, but also the way of communication, and how we address an issue. He again replied…….”sure sir” The question is how many Toastmasters implement For one hour, I was impatient, I just waited, one it in real life/ career? As saying goes… better late hour passed……… I did not get a reply, and I could than never, let us begin it from our Club, Awal Gulf be patient only for another 10 minutes. I called Toastmasters!!!!!!!!!!!!! him …………… he answered in a pail voice…..I am sorry sir, without even waiting to listen to him, I Moral: Never judge anyone….. Because you never know how their life is & what they’re gostarted screaming at him. ing through. Then stopped for a while just to take a breath. To my surprise, the person was literally weeping ………. By—TM Hari Kumar Still I screamed at him saying……….there is no point
FOOD MATTERS
Chronic diseases has taken its toll, fueled by modern diets and lifestyles; yet it’s easy to eat for your good health & well being and reap immediate benefits, once you realize how to get there.
Dear Toast masters as we live in this island we need to keenly look in to the most delicious part of our life in order to live a hale and hearty life. The healthful eating plate studies reveal that in order to avoid or better manage diseases, your plate should focus on unrefined or minimally processed plant foods. What’s on the plate? Fruits and vegetables should fill half of your plate and showcase various colors. They supply fiber and phytonutrients to fight disease and prevent excess weight. •
You don’t have to go carb free! Whole grains can occupy one-fourth of the plate. Unlike refined carbs, which can bring on type 2 diabetes ,colon cancer & low hypoglycemic index, whole grins help regulate your blood glucose and insulin levels, lower bad cholesterol, and assist in weight management. •
Plant proteins need to take up another quarter of each plate! So you needn’t worry about the missing out on the protein and minerals found in meat. Think legumes, nuts, seeds and convenience products made from these •
HOW TO RENOVATE YOUR PLATE…..! It may look strange and unusual but it is always important to have a check on your diet. You cannot say it’s not my cup of tea!! Because it’s your Plate of food that matters and always remembers “HEALTH IS LIKE MONEY, WE NEVER HAVE A TRUE IDEA OF ITS VALUE UNTIL WE LOSE IT” - TM Anthony
ABOUT TOASTMASTERS
I crave for a drop from thy,
Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations.
Whose heart brims with love & solace, For in life did I never feel. Debarred from life's charm, I kept weeping for those days of bliss that weren't mine!! Child of street was I, though not by choice I remain. Desolated since birth, cared by none - a jinx in disguise!
Headquartered in Rancho Santa Margarita, California, the organization has more than 292,000 memberships in 14,350 clubs in 116 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience. www.toastmasters.org
Omen and doomed-they labelled; Unknown did remain the reason. Days too scary was for him, Night remained like a bliss – Reclined on the lamp post did I count,
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL MISSION We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.
The unending miseries forged since birth! Unnoticed went him, the innocent chap, in the shades of a dark nook Whose face so pale and bleak; Yearning for a pinch of love, a soothing touch... To subdue the pain deep in the heart. Lost in the mishap of bygone era, he soliloquy "Y me, lord?!!"
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL VALUES: • • • •
Integrity Respect Service Excellence
TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL ENVISIONED FUTURE
Tears so intense & red flown down, Seemed like an erupted volcano, with lava, so powerfully flowing, of despair and solitude. An ordeal, wild n wicked, my life was!
- TM KIRAN CHANDRAN
To be the first-choice provider of dynamic, high value, experiential communication and leadership skills development
MISTAKES ARE O.K. We have been thru the grind of our club meetings - with some of us having had the privilege of handling leadership positions in our club; some of us remain either active members and or leaders of other clubs / Area / Division and some of us are at the least, blessed to have the glimpse on the functioning of our sister clubs in this wonderful island. I am sure everyone shall agree that knowingly or unknowingly, we are going thru this exemplary process of learning in developing our communication and leadership skills, most of the times by our mere presence during the meetings / events and listening to the various gifted speakers. During our normal course of our work or even daily life at home we may be even involuntarily using those skills that are learnt thru this Toastmasters platform, which we are blessed with, by the Founding fathers of the Toastmasters movement. We are not only using those learning but also evolving them by doing the course corrections where required. As a member of our club for almost 5 years and also participating in contests and taking up some assignments during the contests, I can say with conviction that MISTAKES ARE OK in Toastmasters meetings. Does it ring like an alarm to tickle the aspiring speakers to transform themselves into versatile speakers? Just go thru the rest of this passage in which I attempted to put my realization in perspective: •
I have never seen a forum other than Toastmasters, where every person is encouraged to perform, by providing a structured base for learning as per the individual’s choice, aptitude and at their own pace without any undue pressure whatsoever from peers or other fellow toastmasters.
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Not only the stage is set with right education material, exercises for everyone to perform but also the mistakes committed by the aspiring leaders are corrected in an unobtrusive and polite way with tons of encouragement by way of supporting, appreciative words and gestures by fellow toastmasters - just to shore up our confidence to bring out our hidden talents.
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This made me to realize that yes, indeed it is the forum I have the privilege to experiment - that is to make Mistakes!!!!
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But before making mistakes in a freewheeling style, I wish to share herewith the essential tips. One has to essentially understand these tips in order to stay alive and still continue to make mistakes!!! 1. Yes, Mistakes are OK if we learn from them. I found one of the best opportunities to learn has always come to me whenever I have made mistakes. This gave me a feel that the reducing the opportunities for mistakes seriously limit the opportunities for learning. 2. Mistakes are OK when they are not repeated. Whenever any mistake is made, I worked within me and learnt the right things by listening, observing others so that I can avoid repeating that mistake again. 3. I realized thru my experience that Mistakes are OK if they are done in pursuit of the overall goals and objectives. I found in a hard way that in order to achieve any worthy goal or objective in its larger perspective, different things must have to be tried out. And at such occasions, mistakes are bound to happen and the learning process continues. Ask the frank opinion of any of the DTMs. One can listen to their side of learning thru mistakes for sure. 1. Mistakes are OK if they are not conflicting with the values. This is yet another learning I had thru Toastmasters. Certain laws and values are set for the Toastmaster sessions. As long as the mistakes are not violating those laws, does not cause any harm to any other fellow toastmaster and no values are broken either individually or collectively and if the mistake does not create a major repercussion, go ahead in doing the mistake and learn the right things by experiment.
Come on my budding and aspiring Toastmasters. What are you waiting for still? Plunge into this ocean of opportunities, make mistakes, LEARN from the mistakes and come out with the Pearls of Wisdom. By TM Sethuraman
MY LEARNING FROM TOASTMASTERS: During my college days, I used to wonder how people conduct grand events and conferences in such professional ways. I thought I will never be able to deliver to that level and then I did not even attempt as long as I was in India. Finally when I joined toastmasters in Bahrain I learned the art of public leadership and conducting programs and events. Recently I had an opportunity to serve in two grand events, first as Chair Person of Division K and then as Coordinator for GCC CMA Summit 2014. Indeed it was wonderful experience and the single important factor that helped me in this project is my experience as toastmaster. With toastmasters training of conducting various assignments, things just happen systematically and need not be remembered particularly. The difference was clearly seen not only by own mind but also by my friends and family members who often wondered on my capacity as an organizer. Of course like in any speech assignment, there are always points for improvement and I have duly noted all the points this time as well to be implemented in the future assignments. To summarize for your convenience I would like to briefly describe the learning’s from toastmasters as under: •
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DELEGATE: Delegation to the right people is the best way of handling leadership. You can not be everywhere and the way you can make your friends own their action is by delegation only. In my both the assignments delegation was the major key. In fact on the day of Division K summit, I was merely sitting on the chair and my team was handling their jobs with perfection. In GCC summit I had some issues as we did not have enough people on the team. However TM Siva, TM Abbul Rahman, TM Anil Menon and Banu extended their help to a great extent. PLAN IN ADVANCE FOR CONTINGENCY: Always expect that everything can go wrong. In that case you will be ready with the backup plan. Ensure that the backup is as involved as the original assignee. This will ensure that even if majority of the things fail, you always have back up. HAVE COMBINATION OF VOLUNTEERS: Always have combination of experienced, under development but ambitious and new people in the team. This will ensure that the work will progress with speed and perfection and will provide learners an opportunity to learn.
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ALWAYS RECOGNIZE YOUR TEAM: People do not work for money, they work for satisfaction and genuine recognition for efforts. Always make a point to recognize your team in front of the audience so that they feel honored.
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KEEP IT SIMPLE: Complicated things lead to nowhere. Hence keep your plan simple but detailed one. Give straight instructions, leaving no scope for ambiguous actions. Always communicate the instructions properly.
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LEARN THROUGH EXPERIENCE: Leadership experience can never be learnt by reading books. They need to be practiced. Always take part in any small assignments that are offered to you from time to time. When you have learned enough then move on. With the experience at grass root level, no one can fool you in the future at high level. You cannot become a leader overnight. The respect has to be earned and learned, not commanded.
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SPREAD HUMOR: No one likes tense atmosphere. Keep creating small humorous moments, jokes, making little fun of every one in the team without hurting any one. This makes the atmosphere cordial for conducting any work. This keeps the team in good spirit.
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KEEP WRITING AND UPDATING THE CHECK LIST: It is always better to maintain check list of even small point that you remember. Keep the same updating with new points as and when you come across. Always develop habit to go through the list whenever you get the time.
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PRIORITIES: Do not jump into any work without prioritizing assignments. It amounts to wastage of energy. Spread your plan in to ABC analysis so that main items can be attacked forefront.
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BE IN THE FRONT: Should the team face any issues face the challenge on the face of it. In our GCC event, we had last minute change in hotel venue. We were all let I shambles, However we decided to peruse the hotel management and achieved desired compromised.
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TRY FOR PERFECTION DO NOT INSIST ON IT: Some times it is not possible to get 100% perfection. However do not get disoriented. After 90% perfection, it takes more and more efforts to increase perfection for every 1%. This energy may not be worth spending.
Editors Note:
RESPECT HUMILITY AND BE HUMBLE: We are all human beings and we make mistakes. We are similar but not equal in tastes, capabilities, preferences, etc. Respect individual identities. Take any project as people engineering project and not as machine engineering project. In the process, there could be some deviations but the overall picture will be very good.
ter- THE SUNSHINE on the special
I profusely thank all who contributed and supported in bringing out the special and final edition of News letday . I sincerely feel happy to be in Toastmasters and lucky to be a part of AWAL GULF TOASTMASTERS Club. Always welcome your suggestion and advices . Thanking you all and look
These are some of the learning I received from my recent two projects. I credit entire success of the projects to my training as Toastmaster. Finally
forward your continual support in the
Be a toastmaster! Lead life positively! D M Ghadge
Best Regards
future course
VP PR – TM Sunil Kumar
A flash back…..
We meet 2ND& 4TH Sunday From 06:45 pm to 08:30 pm Location: Alumni Club, Adliya, Kingdom of Bahrain
visit us :http://www.awalgulftoastmasters.com/ Face Book :www.facebook.com/awalgulf.toastmasters