Communicate 98 - May 2016 Edition

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

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FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

The bird dares to break the shell, then the shell breaks open and the bird can fly openly. This is the simplest principle of success. You dream, you dare and you fly - Israelmore Ayivor As I write this, we are in the middle of a hot and sweltering May. Water shortage, tremendous heat and sticky under the collar. But does that deter us from participating in all the toastmasters’ activities?

No never. Division conferences are over and each division has declared its winner who will go on to participate in the finals to be held in Pune. The Annual District conference of District 98 will open its magnificent portals at the same time as we release this issue. So make sure you have a ringside seat to witness history in the making.

This month’s theme is flying high. Every success carries with it, tales of bitter sweet failures, long struggles and several teeth grinding episodes. Nothing comes easy. Nothing was ever meant to. All our toastmasters will tell you the number of times they have given their speeches just to get them perfect.

Their attempts at adding clubs, completing projects and winning contests can all be gathered in the hallowed covers of a tome and preserved as lessons for posterity. A few of them have written their stories for us.

As I sign off on this penultimate issue I look forward to the District conference where we will be seeing at least 300 toastmasters under one roof enjoying learning and cheering their fellow Beena Mandrekar, DTM toastmasters Newsletter Editor, District 98 at the Table Topics contest and the International speech contest. Be there to see them fly high because 2gether we are 1oo%

I do not need feet if I have wings to fly

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CONTENTS

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

Features

19 We Can Only Fly High Together RAVI TEJA MARRAPU Division E Director

Articles

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Behind The Scenes At Orafest 2016

Set Your Goals And Achieve Them

KARAN GUPTA

DR. BRILLIAN SK, DTM

Deloitte Hyderabad Toastmasters Club

District Director

VETERANS TALK

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Promoting Club Excellence

Be An Officer

CHANDRASHEKAR DP, DTM

Run A Company

Program Quality Director

BRAJADULAL PATNAIK Toastmasters of Capgemini Hyderabad

10 The Onward March

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SRINIDHI DASAKA

DISTRICT 98 CORE

District PRO

Know Your Leaders

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Don’t See the Whole Ladder…Just Take the First Step

TEAM

Communicate 98

ARNOLD SINGH Raisoni Institute Diamond Toastmasters Clubs www.d98tm.in

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CONTENTS

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Live In The Moment

Success Is Not An Accident

R RAVI KUMAR

SUMAN CHAKRABORTY

Toastmasters club of Pune

Toastmasters Club of Pune West

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A Leadership Experience at Toastmasters

Raise A Toast To Choices AMRITA SARKAR Toastmasters Club of Pune South East

KUNAL SARPAL Toastmasters Club of Pune Central

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Long March To DTM

Flying High Touch the Sky… AADITI KULKARNI

RON BILLIMORIA

Toastmasters Club of Pune Central

Agnel Toastmasters Club

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When It Rains

They Could Never...

TANUSHREE SHAW

SEEMA BINDAL Toastmasters Club of Pune North West

Avalara Technologies Toastmasters Club

3 ways to be connected with your

District 98 on the GO !

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@d98tm Facebook ‘district98’ Website d98tm.in Twitter

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SET YOUR GOALS AND ACHIEVE THEM What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals - Zig Ziglar Each year on July 01, the leaders commence work on achieving excellence in the Distinguished Club / Area / Division / District program. While each one has the same initial enthusiasm, as the journey progresses many fall apart. The reasons could be attributed to poor planning and poor execution.

Everyone loves to claim to be a Strategist, however the execution fails. It is a vital element in achieving goals which generally is taken for granted.

A few years ago I read a book “4 Disciplines of Execution” which I found relevant in everything we do.

I have taken the liberty to map these disciplines to our toastmaster’s journey – hope you find it useful.

Discipline #1: Focus on the Wildly Important Goals (WIG) A goal so important that not achieving it makes other achievements inconsequential.

At Toastmasters, this could be as simple as achieving CC, AC, DTM award this year for a member, Achieving 10/10 on DCP for Club Leaders or helping Area, Division, District become Presidents Distinguished for District Officers.

The best way to approach these would be look at the key tasks required to help you achieve the goal. The key is to focus on WHAT and not the HOW, make sure that the Goals are achievable and link it to a measurable i.e. timeline – WHEN! The key is to ensure that there is a review to check how you are moving towards the goal. This would help plan the next move.

Discipline # 2: Act on lead measures Lead is a measure of an action planned and taken as a means to achieving a WIG. The lead measures could be simple meeting roles and speech slots and for district officers it would be Training, Membership Payments and Renewals. The measures must be quantifiable instead of writing “review it occasionally” an alternate and recommended option would be “review it fortnightly with the VPE”.

Discipline # 3. Keep a compelling scoreboard.

This is crucial and success fill follow only if you have a

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

scoreboard that you can look up to for motivation and to engage the teams.

For members ensure Dr. Brillian S. K. DTM that there is a formal District Director, District 98 tracker for their performance, your VPE would be the best person to connect with. Having a personal scoreboard and putting it up at the regular meetings would help motivate others who are lagging or are new.

For District Officers these would be easily available on the Dashboard Reports. Keep track on a monthly basis for a start and as we near the last quarter increase the frequency of review to weekly / daily. I would encourage District Officers to share the snapshot of the Dashboard on Social Media to create a buzz and help them know the big picture.

Discipline #4. Create a Cadence of Accountability Even if we have the best of plans and a scorecard, without aligning accountability it would be difficult to get the best from the team.

For members they could work on a reverse pressure – make their Mentors accountable (oh I would love to see the reaction of Mentors here) and work with them to achieve the goals.

For District Officers it will drill down to the Area Directors, Club Presidents or Area / Division Teams. Make sure that there is a clear documentation about the commitment and the desired outcomes. Unless it is written there is no accountability. Ensure that each and every individual in the team is held accountable for their respective actionable. If a commitment is missed, revisit the timelines and account for that in the next deliverable.

Yes, friends it is as simple as 1-2-3-4, if we can implement it in our lives, achieving excellence would be easy.

I wish the teams good luck and look forward to celebrating excellence 2gether.

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COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

PROMOTING CLUB EXCELLENCE Encouraging clubs to aim for excellence has long been part of the Toastmasters tradition.

Toastmasters’ founder Dr. Ralph Smedley has recorded in his history of our organization: “During 1938-39, International President Dr. Gordon Howard introduced the ‘Club-of-the-Year’ competition, in which each club was urged to strive to reach the highest standards of performance, not for sake of winning, but for the sake of giving the members the best service... In 1956, steps were taken to convert this ‘contest’ into a general competition with the title ‘Club Achievement Standards’ in order to stimulate clubs to the best possible performance in service to their members.”

A number of evolutionary steps occurred between 1956 and the Distinguished Club Program which we have in place today. Until 1989, a “Club Management Plan” (CMP) program required clubs to submit lengthy planning documentation, and to earn “Club Management Points” for achievements in several categories. The CMP was sometimes referred to jokingly as “TI’s answer to MBO (Management by Objective).”

In July 1989, the CMP was replaced by the Distinguished Club Program (DCP), which was initially a performance- based system that awarded points to clubs for achieving standards in 18 or so different activities or measurements.

These included not only those activities or measures that are familiar to us today in the current DCP, but also such items as Speechcraft, Youth Leadership, Club Votes casted at the International Convention, semiannual renewal rates reaching 75% or more, service as a District Officer and other categories which are no longer measured in the current DCP. Clubs were then ranked globally in one of four membership-size categories based on their July 1 membership level.

Chandrashekar DP, DTM Program Quality Director, District 98 Ten years later, in July 1999, this complicated “points” system was replaced by the slim and focused 10-goal Distinguished Club Program, which we enjoy today. Over the years, our organization has benefitted greatly by the various club recognition program, beginning with the one begun in 1938, which Dr. Smedley chronicled for posterity. Use the Distinguished Club Program to generate a rising tide of Club success that will lift your District up and above.

Ours is the only organization I know dedicated to the individual, we work together to bring out the best in each of us and then we apply these skills to help others

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BEHIND THE SCENES AT ORAFEST 2016

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becomes your responsibility in some way. You have to keep meticulous track of time, make sure that everything happens according to the plan and the schedule.

And when things go south, you need to be on your toes to throw out the plan and play it by the ear. On Day 1, the presentation deck that was used all through the day was not finalized until 5 minutes before starting. On Day 2, the laptop we were planning to use did not work and we found 2 replacements within 15 minutes, changed out the slides and got everything shipshape. No one noticed the difference. The show must go on, regardless of what fire breaks out, what crisis happens. You learn to adapt, you let go of the thing that was priority number 1 a second ago and throw it away as not important. You do this every hour of the day.

#ConnectToEvolve Divisions E and F had their annual Division Conference, Orafest in Hyderabad last month. I had the privilege to be a part of the event, serving as the Awards and Stage Management Chair. The work for the Awards committee starts weeks ahead of the conference. We have to get nominations and citations from Area Director’s for the Golden Feather and Golden Eagle awards. We have to finalize the number of awards and mementos, what each one will look like and what each one will say. At this Orafest, there were 71 awards and nearly 260 certificates to coordinate. Division Director Ravi Teja had a request that we make each role player certificate and memento personalized – every person should get something with a personalized message written only for them on their award or certificate. That meant nearly two dozen e-mails between us and the vendor to get everything right, down to the last comma and full stop. The biggest part of the job in Awards is following up with people.

That’s the essential skill we develop out of it.

At the end of it, a conference offers a huge opportunity to learn and grow. There is no other organization that will put such huge responsibilities on young and inexperienced shoulders, and then trust you to get the job done. I could hardly walk after the conference was over. My feet were sore, I was exhausted. I felt like I could sleep for a million years. But I would do it all over again in a heartbeat.

Stage Management is a different beast altogether.

When you attend a Toastmasters conference as a contestant, audience member or guest, it seems to be a perfectly choreographed setting with things moving smoothly all through the conference. But when you’re back stage, everything is always falling apart. Toastmaster Prathima told me at one point - doing backstage work is like firefighting, there’s always a crisis going on. Doing stage management in one of the toughest things in a conference, but it is also the most rewarding. You are hardly ever seen by the crowd, but everything that happens on stage www.d98tm.in

Karan Gupta Deloitte Hyderabad Toastmasters Club

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LIVE IN THE MOMENT

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away

What if I told you that this was our last day on this beautiful earth? What would we do on this last day? I am sure the day would be frittered away in shock without even realizing what hit us!

We'd end up leaving this world with a lot of regrets. We would regret not having taken care of our parents, not having told our partners that we love them unconditionally, not having apologized for the harsh words spoken to our friends or not having chosen a career where we could've been happy rather than just minting money. The list is endless!

I start on this stark note because the Toastmasters fraternity in D98 just lost a dear friend, a sincere toastmaster and an extremely humble human being who was much too young to die. Is there any way to console his mother who just lost the best son in the world? I fear the answer to this question is a big NO. This brings us to the eternal question "Are we ever going to be prepared for this eventuality called death?" We are not Harry Potter who has the Deathly Hallows and mastered death itself. Our existence in

R Ravi Kumar Toastmasters Club of Pune

this world is ephemeral, to say the least. The countdown has already begun. Every minute that we spend cribbing about the frivolities and banalities of our lives and our never-ending sufferings, we are losing precious time. For every problem we have, we will always find someone who is better off than us and at the same time, if we look hard enough, we will surely find someone worse off. So, what do we do?

Should we curse God for making us worse off than someone else or count our blessings and move on?

The cup is either half empty or half full. The choice of

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CONTD...

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selecting the half is entirely ours.

As Toastmasters, we have had a lot of blessings to be cheerful about, in the last year. Our District Champion (erstwhile District 41) went on to win the coveted 2nd Prize in the World Championship of Public Speaking, which was a monumental achievement. As District 98 we came into existence on the 1st of July, 2015, and we have accomplished so much in less than a year. The credit should go to the Trio and their team of able leaders for leading from the front. We had a fabulous conference in 'Confluence' wherein our Toastmasters at Hyderabad, enthralled us all with their amazing hospitality, stupendous arrangements and breathtaking entertainment. We can also applaud the success of our respective Area and Division Conferences, which have churned out new champions, who in turn would compete for glory in what is expected to be a mouth-watering contest at Eloquence 2016

With TM Achyut's passing away, the entire Pune fraternity was in mourning but we realized that he was a die-hard Toastmaster and the ONLY way we

could pay tribute to him was to be avid, diligent Toastmasters ourselves, ready to live for others, focusing on servant leadership. This was the only way to acknowledge what he did as a Toastmaster. The whole of Pune is now channelizing all its energies on ensuring that Eloquence is a grand success and humbly returning the favor of all our beloved friends in the district. This is our way of saying 'Thank You' for the wonderful conferences they hosted for us in the recent past - Goa, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

With so much action happening in our lives, the choice is indeed ours. If we choose to crib, the negative energies will continue to haunt us and we would never be able to get out of the vicious circle of wretchedness. Instead, if we decide to live every moment as if it were our last, trying to cash-in on every opportunity to be happy, focusing on the enjoyment of the journey rather than the outcome, living a life where are there are no regrets, wherein emotions are expressed, pardons given, apologies blurted out, loves proposed, without waiting for tomorrow, then nothing in this world can stop us from taking control of lives and find true bliss!

They could never‌ The wish of flying was always high Since childhood I continued to strive There were few who held me back Cut my wings and pulled me down Tied my legs with the social frown But my determination overcame all Clarity in thought and trust in the rest Made sure I gave out my best

Seema Bindal Toastmasters club of Pune North West www.d98tm.in

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THE ONWARD MARCH

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

Srinidhi Dasaka District PRO

TM Srinidhi is the current District PRO of District 98.

She was instrumental in bringing more visibility of the district during her tenure. She shares her experiences of her Toastmasters’ journey in conversation with our reporter Sanjeev Patra.

tended the meeting. The rest, as they say, is history. I have had some of my best learnings of life in Toastmasters.

Why and when did you decide the join a Toastmasters club? How has your journey been so far?

You have taken various leadership roles in Toastmasters. What was your biggest achievement so far?

In November 2011, I had just joined TCS as a management trainee in HR. With an interest to explore the extra - curricular activities in the company, I came across a poster talking about the Toastmasters Club.

I wanted to understand what it was all about and at-

Having got the opportunity of leading close to 150 volunteers for our first district conference Confluence - has been an amazing leadership experience, personally and professionally.

Why did you associate with two clubs? What difference did you observe in a community club and corporate club?

I’m a member of two clubs. TCS Maitree Hyderabad Toastmasters Club (corporate) and Secunderabad Toastmasters Club (community). Each club has its own share of creating a different experience for a member. I have met some amazing people in both the clubs and made friends for life.

Both Corporate and Community Clubs face unique challenges to remain afloat. What is your suggestion www.d98tm.in

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to improve the quality of both types of clubs as well as to sustain them in the long run?

The important thing in any club is to look for ways that work best for them and keep the momentum on. For example: There could be last minute drop outs for a weekly meeting in a corporate club owing to clashing schedules of the members. The club needs to always have an extra speaker or an extended Table Topics segment planned so that the others get the most of the time spent. Each member needs to have a strong association with the club and then definitely they’ll look for ways to keep up the quality.

While in TCS you organized the Youth Leadership Program for the new joinees. How was that experience? Is it still being continued in TCS? It was a customized program for close to 80 trainees in the company to help them get acquainted with certain aspects of leadership. The program gave them an opportunity to learn from senior Toastmasters in the division which helped them get a different perspective outside their training room.

The management appreciated this program a lot and the second leg of this might start this year.

Was this your first experience as a District Leader?

How was the learning experience of taking up the role of District PRO? What was your contribution to the District 98 during this period?

I started my Toastmasters journey as the VP-PR of my club. Last year when I got the opportunity to lead the PR program for the District, I took it up as a challenge. Apart from creating awareness about the Toastmasters program, my team and I also worked on reaching out to clubs in order to understand their best practices for promotional activities. The experience has been good so far. Each day teaches you something interesting.

of them in the next few days before the term ends.

Did you set any communication and leadership goals in your Toastmasters journey so far?

My goal has been simple. I would like to learn with each project and get better at it. Till the time I’m not satisfied with a speech, I try and look at ways of making it better. Of course this year I plan to finish all projects and file for DTM.

What will be your advice for Toastmasters who have recently joined a club? How they set their goals correctly from the beginning?

One should not look at just completing a project.

The entire learning in this amazing journey is important. The more you enjoy and do something, the more benefit you get out of it.

After more than 4.5 years in District 98, you are leaving, and will soon be part of another District in Bengaluru at your new home. What are your thoughts?

I have had a very amazing experience so far and in the new district that I am going to be a part of, this learning will be put to good use. I would like to thank D41 and D98 for making me what I am today. From my entire experience so far, I would like to tell all the members to keep learning, keep experimenting and keep moving ahead. Your Toastmaster journey is a lot beyond just communication and leadership.

It makes you a better human being. Experience it to enjoy it.

Do you have any unfinished plan for District 98?

There aren’t many unfinished plans but new ideas keep flowing always. I plan to execute at least one

Sanjeev Patra www.d98tm.in

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THE LONG MARCH TO DTM As I write this I am 10 speeches away from becoming a Distinguished Toastmaster or DTM as we call it. I am not one of those lucky plucky Toastmasters who zoom to DTM, rather it was a long struggle for me to reach this point. Looking back at the journey I am amazed and overwhelmed at what I have accomplished.

A while back, a fellow Toastmaster remarked with disdain that DTM is just a piece of paper. All you get at the end of the day is a plaque and the right to add the initials DTM in front of your name, according to him. With an attitude like that I wondered how he got anything done!

Like some of the most important things in life, DTM is one of those things where just doing it is its own reward. The journey is important, not the destination. In fact many Toastmasters after achieving DTM restart it again just to be in the journey.

And what a lovely journey it can be! Just the friendships I have formed have made it worthwhile. The learning and personal growth seem like a bonus. The confidence and self belief that have come with this experience have uplifted my life in so many ways.

For those a bit material minded (no harm in that, I am too), it has been profitable as well! I improve, so my business improves and so my finances improve. It’s simple.

Some parts of the journey have been scary as well, especially when we take responsibility. I remember when I became an area governor (now called area director) I was petrified! I was afraid to let down all those who had put their trust in

Ron Billimoria Agnel Toastmasters Club me. But as I performed the role, I got so much support and encouragement from fellow Toastmasters that it turned into a memorable experience which made me grow as a leader.

But the biggest thing that I experienced in my Toastmasters journey and which still humbles me to this day is the enormous love and respect that flows within the organization. No one is alone in Toastmasters, there is an enormous reservoir of support, encouragement and love available at all times. Those of us who have been a part of this have been touched right to our soul!

As I continue my journey to DTM I am forever grateful to myself that I saw that little advert in the paper, called up a number and joined Toastmasters!

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GETTING READY FOR ELOQUENCE

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The grand venue for the event - Hotel VITS, Balewadi, Pune

The official PRESS MEET of Eloquence held in Pune. It was attended by leading media houses. www.d98tm.in

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A LEADERSHIP EXPERIENCE AT TOASTMASTERS

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Life, like Toastmasters is self paced. It’s your choices and action on these choices that make you Toastmasters as an organisation is a place where learning just doesn’t stop. The moment you think, this is it, I’ve achieved a certain milestone as a public speaker or as a leader, and the next opportunity presents itself for grabs.

After representing my club in various District and International Contests since the past 2 years, this time, I choose the leadership route to give back to an organisation which has given me so much.

I chose to be part of the core team of Eloquence and took up the most daunting task of getting partners and sponsors for our event. A herculean task to say the least! It started with creating the most basic invite and information documents and went on to negotiations and inking deals which my team and I closed beautifully. The entire process of finalising sponsors, their collateral and the deliverables from both sides is still on and we are happily taking the conference to a surplus position and aiming to deliver to the attendees the best Toastmasters experience there is! Lots in store for all of you!

Some of the highlights of the knowledge I gained was: *The entire sponsorship team had to read up on all Toastmasters’ history and material there available.

This ensured that all the details were at our fingertips and we made the best, most impressive pitch to the sponsors we met. *Even though some were not interested in sponsoring the event because of various reasons, they made it a point to register for the event or give us some other credible contacts of theirs whom we could approach. *We also understood that no pitch goes waste. Even though the sponsors did not agree to sponsor anything for us this year, we were able to plant the seed of toastmasters in their mind and get them excited about the movement! *We realized that leadership is a step ahead of speaking as leadership is truly public speaking eliciting action. No matter how good a speaker you are, it’s no use if your speech cannot make people act on what you’ve said

Kunal Sarpal Toastmasters club of Pune Central *We also realised the immense potential Toastmasters as a concept has and how eager people are to associate with the brand. *The 3 months I spent as the Sponsorship Chair have given me many lessons in time management, people skills and priority management.

I look forward to meeting you at Eloquence 2016, where we will enjoy incredible hospitality, conference learning and a rich educational experience

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SUCCESS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT

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Have a vision of life that inspires you, and then try every day to grow closer to the fulfillment of that vision - Deepak Chopra Timelines of flying high and reaching my dream destination 

17-March-2012: First International (Fly High) experience at Singapore

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1-July-2012: Back to India from Singapore

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1-July-2012 to 31-December-2012: Mundane life nothing exciting either in my professional or personal life.

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1-Jan-2013: Joined Toastmasters Club of Pune West and won the ‘Best Table Topics Speaker’ award.

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1-Jan-2013 to Jan-2016: Flight Plan to fly high (skill sets learnt from Toastmasters experience applied in the corporate world)

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In 2015 (USA H1-B Visa in process): What’s app status said – ‘Waiting to Fly High’

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15-Jan-2016 (Flight from Pune → Delhi → Chicago) status changed to ‘Time to Fly High’

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16-Jan-2016 onwards status changed to ‘Life is Good’ (Continued application of the skills learnt in Toastmasters as an onshore work stream lead for a major Financial Services client)

Every engineer joins an IT company with the ultimate dream of going to an international location especially the USA. I came back from Singapore in June 2012 and was already missing the international experience. I felt gloomy in my personal and professional life. I used to do mundane and nonproductive work in office and home and this impacted my professional and personal growth.

There was no longer any fun.

Then I started 2013 with probably the best step I have taken so far in my life. I became a member of Toastmasters International, on the 1st of January.

Toastmasters experience is truly an international experience. The moment you join the family, you are connected to the entire international community

Suman Chakraborty Toastmasters Club of Pune West irrespective of where your home club is. I was pleasantly surprised to know that I could attend meetings anywhere in the world. I won the ‘Best Table Topics Speaker’ in my first table topics session and from that time on, Toastmasters became an addiction. I started enjoying attending meetings, fellowships, educational sessions and taking part in leadership roles and contests. It was a great experience to learn new things and meeting new people. Toastmasters meetings were so much fun that even after a hectic day in office, I used to drive all the way for the club meetings. I brought this energy to my work and started contributing in organizational initiatives such as organizing team building events and anchoring major corporate events. Some of the major achievements include, becoming the Top-5 finalist of the Public Speaking contest in my company, conducting public speaking workshops for fellow colleagues, anchoring a major corporate event in front of 900 people and winning

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SUCCESS IS NOT AN ACCIDENT

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the annual award in 2015 given only to 10 people out of 2000+ employees. These initiatives highlighted my core skills and speaking and leading came naturally to me. In 2015, the hard work to fly high finally paid off as I was among top 5 employees to be nominated for the prestigious USA H1-B visa. Finally, in 2016, I flew high from Pune, India to Chicago, USA. The moment I landed at Chicago International Airport, I could see the result of all my hard work. It was an amazing experience. From that day onwards, life is running like a FERRARI. In just 4 months I was able to achieve several audacious goals that I had written down in my wish list.

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Choose Your Destination

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Review Your Flight Options

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Write Your Flight Plan

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Prepare for Your Journey

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Take Off at Full Throttle

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Plan for Turbulence

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Make Continual Course Corrections

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Accelerate Your Learning and Progress

For me, Flying High means to dream big, be ambitious in goal setting and find all possible (ethical) ways to achieve it. It will not be wrong to say that like my parents, the Toastmasters family has taught me innumerable things that have impacted me positively and made me bold. So, don’t doubt yourself or your potential to achieve your goal. We all have our unique strengths, talents and goals and we all can fly high to reach our dream destination.

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Activate Your Super conscious Mind

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Avoid Shortcuts and Other Mirages

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Master Your Fears

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Persist Until You Succeed

[Brian Tracy, the author of Best Selling book “Flight Plan”, outlines the path very well that we should follow to Fly High and reach our goal.

I may not be able to take part in Eloquence 2016, but I will surely cheer the district winners at the World Championship of Public Speaking 2016 in Washington D.C. USA.

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FLYING HIGH TOUCH THE SKY…

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Is a human being a combination of flesh and bones or heart and brain or a unique DNA with willpower dissolved in it?

The first few steps of a child makes parent fly high, successful films make actors fly, Victories and medals make India fly high. So it’s always about someone’s action and another’s reaction to it. This makes the doer proud and others cheer aloud.

When my parents heard my voice for the first time on All India Radio Pune FM station, they were literally flying high and I (being alone in the soundproof studio) touched the sky. When my friends and dear ones called me up and appreciated my role of anchoring a show on Television, I touched the sky.

Each person spends countless nights dreaming something, then burns the midnight oil to make it a reality and when finally it comes into existence, that person finds himself fulfilled and somewhat surprised (how come I did this?)

Amongst all living creatures human beings proudly believe that only they can dream and rest of planet is sleeping!! But here he forgets the significant Law of Nature – everything is recycled!!

Aaditi Kulkarni Toastmasters club of Pune Central A one man show is a Myth… not the truth Unseen efforts and prayers ….builds the booth Man keeps wondering…. how and why I should begin flying high and touch the sky!

Infinite dreams … game of thoughts Mind and breath shattered rocks

Realizing nature... when and why?

I need to fly high to touch the sky!

Laws of Nature … teachers to train Experience glimpse of ‘power of brain’ O Almighty, enlighten me to….

Fly high and touch the Sky!

Today’s dream of flying high gets transformed into tomorrow’s reality of touching the sky.

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WE CAN ONLY FLY HIGH TOGETHER

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

When I first attended the ADP Hyderabad Toastmasters meet I was truly amazed. The energy was unique and infectious. The Toastmasters’ Friday became a part of my regular life. The environment was so positive and encouraging that it made me attend all its meetings. A few of the seniors slowly left the organization, the new group wasn’t able to sustain the energy, and slowly I lost interest and stopped coming regularly. I thought it was a waste of time and skipped them conveniently.

I am by nature a very curious person, but not an outgoing one at that. Hence I have a lot of questions to answer all by myself. On one of those Toastmasters’ Fridays, after a long day at my office, I sat in a garden nearby and was watching children play ‘Hide and Seek’.

One kid was trying hard to get away from the den.

He ran helter skelter and fell flat in a pile of cow dung. His friends laughed and rushed to pick him up.

His face was smeared with the muck but he smiled, showing his shiny white teeth which glowed like a 100 watts bulb, and everyone in the park along with me laughed out loud. These kids were Flying High; they loved each other’s company and did not care about anything. The kid saw right into my eye, gave a childish smile and went away. For a moment and thereafter all the stress I had was forgotten as I continued to see this group play.

We all love to be a part of a group which is fun, and gives us a feeling as if we really belong there. The kid was happy because his group was fun. Aren’t we all affected by the environment we are in? Then again it is up to us to form the environment of fun isn’t it?

Which means it is my responsibility to create or enhance the environment in my club rather than blaming a few individuals and running away from it. Every club goes through these phases, and these are the turning points of a club’s journey.

Ravi Teja Marrapu Division Director, Division E What matters the most when we are in our club, or working in an organization, or in a team, or for that matter in a family, is what kind of an environment we create and thereby become part of it. Great environments are the reason ordinary become extraordinary. Peaceful Environments create exemplary human beings and an Ideal Toastmaster Environment creates leaders for the future. We value Integrity, Respect, Service and Excellence and we are all together in a mission to “provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth”

When a flower doesn’t bloom you fix the environment in which it grows, not the flower I went back to my club and decided to do something about it. Took up an EC role, spent time talking to the club members and worked hard on my speeches. Within no time things started to fall in place and in the process, I became a better person too. Until that point I did not realize that I was an integral part of the environment and it was me who had the power to create or destroy it. Friends, it is important to understand that in Toastmasters we grow taking each other’s support. Each one of us is responsible for the other’s success. The success so achieved is much sweeter and memorable. So, Lets make our clubs a happier place for people to come in and thrive, lets strive always to create an Ideal Toastmasters’ Environment, because you see I cannot fly high alone.

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RAISE A TOAST TO CHOICES

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

Life is all about the choices we make.

We are the mere reflection of the choices made by us So, which was the smartest decision or a fruitful choice that you have had made recently?

I believe for me, joining Toastmasters has been the coolest choice that I have had made in the recent past, and the reflection of the choice is quite visible not only in my enhanced communication skills but also in my increased network across the district.

Making the Toastmasters choice: Hectic corporate life, or full time home maker, early stage start-up founder, surgeon or PHD candidate you may be any one of this non exhaustive list. Life has already given you a number of concerns to look after, so why make another additional choice which needs time commitment? And to top that you are a decently good communicator.

Do these aforementioned circumstances seal your mind to decide otherwise? Maybe yes.

The Toastmasters fraternity, in broad strokes, is a public speaking platform where people grow and evolve as better speakers with the continuous feedback mechanism. However there is more about Toastmasters than meets the eye.

Why Toastmasters for already good speakers: Good, better and best- these are more of qualitative terms rather than quantitative ones. You might be an excellent speaker and well appreciated wherever you go, however there is always an opportunity for deep diving into oneself and learning how to grow on your existing skills. This is where a platform like Toastmasters comes into play, unearthing your hidden potential.

5 Reasons great speakers should chose to become Toastmasters:

1. Witness your own transition: Toastmasters gives you the perfect opportunity to spread your wings and grow and the best part - you can see your own metamorphosis into a great speaker with time.

Amrita Sarkar Toastmasters Club of Pune South East

overall outlook. We all love that smart, know-it-all person in our circles right?

3. Make a difference: You don’t always need to join a human rights force or a NGO to make a difference. You make a difference in the life of an individual simply by bringing him/her as guest for a meeting and see the perfection unfold for a soul.

4. Learning is timeless: Beauty and learning is timeless, attend the educational sessions, annual and semi annual conferences and learn more than you could have done otherwise in your lifetime.

5. Do you love tennis? It maybe tennis, salsa, golf or pot pie recipes, you will certainly find a partner in crime in any one these Toastmasters meeting.

Indulge in the pleasure of learning growing and winning. # RaiseAToast to life

2. Absorb perceptions: Remember the blue or the black dress conundrum? You need to agree with all but different perceptions broaden your perspective and www.d98tm.in

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DON’T SEE THE WHOLE LADDER…JUST TAKE THE FIRST STEP

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

One of the most memorable moments of Raisoni Toastmasters club in the history of 10 years was the Achievers Day, the day where we as a part of the club felt overjoyed.

There were total 8 Toastmasters- students- who were completing their CC 10 and there were 3 more that were making history in the club as they were completing their AC Bronze project.

What a proud day for the students and as well as for their parents. The most touching moment of Raisoni TM club was that the talent were seen by their mothers and fathers. Mothers had tears in their eyes and fathers encouraged their children to fly high and go beyond the limits of the sky. we are proud of you.

CC participants were 1.

Karthik Somani

2.

Gauri Maloo

3.

Ajinkya

4.

Chaitali

5.

Vasundra Bisa

6.

Tanish Azad

7.

Navneet Gupta

8.

Mehul Siddhapara

ACB participants were 1.

Sunny Gupta

2.

Himani Goswami

3.

Arnold Singh

Arnold Singh Raisoni Institute Diamond Toastmasters Clubs It was a warm and joyful Tuesday morning when the students were preparing to give their last completing

level An event cannot be started without taking the blessings of Maa Sarswati. We inaugurated the event by lighting the lamp and then quickly moved on to introductions where each participant’s strong points were highlighted.

After a mind boggling performance of the CC participants, many in the audience were moved to tears. The next batch of advanced speakers then regaled us with their humor and prowess. It was really wonderful to see the students in their full glory.

Vikram Chandra Area Director, F2 www.d98tm.in

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BEHIND THE SCENES

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

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WHEN IT RAINS...

COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

One day, the sound of thunder was real high in volume and scary too. The view of the reddish bright thin lines, were similar to the slowly increased frequency of a red signal light on a foggy early morning while travelling towards it. In the midst of such a fearful environment, the cold and soothing wet air was giving a fresh relief after a scorch sunny afternoon. Yeah, that was a stormy rainy evening. All around me the sky was dark and I felt very close to nature.

At that very moment, various thoughts were flitting around in my mind making me realize various aspects and different perspectives that can be invoked from such a situation: A farmer who is eagerly waiting for the rains to make his land grow enough grains, so that his family can have a full meal.

Tanushree Shaw Avalara Technologies Toastmasters Club A

cute, innocent and cheerful little girl, can dance in the rain after along boring day at school.

A small street boy whose mother has built a tiny shed as a place to live, the rain is an unintended curse.

An enthusiast and creative photographer, combines the strange and wonderful pastels, red, yellow, white and black of nature with bright thin red thunder lines, and creates amazing photographs.

While all of these thoughts were running around in my head, I was jolted into hearing a lady’s voice saying: ‘Kindly fasten your seat belts, as we are experiencing high turbulence in our flight due to the storm outside. We will be landing shortly’. I was on a flight home. After 15 minutes, our flight landed safely

by God’s grace. But those aspects of the stormy rain impacts still knock my mind frequently.

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COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

BE AN OFFICER RUN A COMPANY This is the time for club elections. All of us will be selecting the best possible candidates to lead our club. These selected individuals will form the executive committee and will lead the club for the next term.

A club is a microcosm of an organization or a company. Being a club officer is like running a company. As there are different function heads in a company with their own teams, in the club, we have the different officers with the various committees under each.

The President is like the CEO of an organization. He has the supreme authority and power. He sets the vision of the club and shows the direction where the club has to go.

The Vice President education is like the chief people officer or HR head. He is responsible for overall people development. He oversees all the operations of the club, schedules who will give speeches and when and certifies when the members have reached their goals.

The Vice President membership is akin to the sales head of a company. He is responsible to convert visitors to the club to members of a club. This is just like the sales head of a company getting a new customer.

The Vice President public relations is like the advertisement and marketing head of a company. He is responsible to get the word out to the public and increase the footfalls in the club.

Brajadulal Patnaik Toastmasters of Capgemini Hyderabad The Treasurer is the finance head of the club. He handles all receipts and payments for the club. He also prepares the budget and maintains the accounts of the club.

The Secretary is like the administration head of the company. He maintains all records and presents them as needed.

The Sergeant at Arms is like the facility management head of the company. He arranges all logistics and set up for the club.

Thus, if you want to experience how to run a small organization, stand up, nominate yourself and be a club officer. As a club officer, with respect to all, integrity to your word, an attitude of service and striving for excellence, you will be a true leader.

Today you learn how to run the club. Tomorrow, you will be confident to fly high and run your own company!

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COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

KNOW YOUR LEADERS DISTRICT 98 CORE

BRILLIAN SK

CHANDRASHEKAR DP

ARVIND NAIR

FARIDA DSILVA DIAS

DISTRICT DIRECTOR

PROG QUALITY DIRECTOR

CLUB GROWTH DIRECTOR

DISTRICT ADMIN MNGR

NISHANT MEHTA

SRINIDHI DASAKA

CHINMAYA DAVE

SOMNATH B

DISTRICT FINANCE MNGR

DISTRICT P.R. MANAGER

DISTRICT CHIEF JUDGE

DISTRICT WEBMASTER

BEENA MANDREKAR

MOHAN KARAMBELKAR

PANKAJ KOTHARI

VENKATA RAMANA DITTAKAVI

DISTRICT NEWSLETTER EDITOR

DISTINGUSHED CLUB PROG MNGR

DISTRICT PARLIAMENTARIAN

CHIEF AMBASSADOR, REVITALIZED EP

CHETAN THAKKAR

ANAND KUMAR

ANKIT JAIN

HITENDRA BHADANG

DISTRICT LOGISTIC MNGR

MANAGER CLUB EXT AND GROWTH

ASST CLUB GROWTH DIRECTOR

CREDENTIALS CHAIR

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COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

KNOW YOUR LEADERS DISTRICT 98 CORE

NIKHIL SALVI DIVISION B DIRECTOR

NITESH AGARWAAL DIVISION C DIRECTOR

RAVI TEJA MARUPPU DIVISION E DIRECTOR

ARUNA THAPA DIVISION F DIRECTOR

PRITAM AREKAR

NAMRATA SRIVATSAVA

PRAMOD MOHANDAS

REEBA GEORGE

AREA DIRECTOR A1

AREA DIRECTOR A2

AREA DIRECTOR A3

AREA DIRECTOR A4

VIPUL JAIN

SAHIL SHARMA

EKNATH HOLE

CHETAN THAKKAR

AREA DIRECTOR B2

AREA DIRECTOR B3

AREA DIRECTOR B4

MOHIT CHABRA DIVISION A DIRECTOR

AREA DIRECTOR B1

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LEO PAULOSE DIVISION D DIRECTOR

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COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

KNOW YOUR LEADERS DISTRICT 98 CORE

NAGAPPAN P

RAHUL KALE

ANUPRIYA SINHA

ARUN NAWGE

AREA DIRECTOR C1

AREA DIRECTOR C2

AREA DIRECTOR C3

AREA DIRECTOR C4

AKBAR KHAN

SHAILESH NATU

SANJAY UPADHYAY

TUSHAR SONJE

AREA DIRECTOR D1

AREA DIRECTOR D2

AREA DIRECTOR D3

AREA DIRECTOR D4

NAVNEET PERI

MANASA INAMPUDI

RAJASEKHAR M

PAVAN S

LAKSHMI KIRAN M

AREA DIRECTOR E1

AREA DIRECTOR E2

AREA DIRECTOR E3

AREA DIRECTOR E4

AREA DIRECTOR E5

BHARATHI DEVI R

VIKRAM C

MANISH R

DARSHAN KHANNA

PRATHIMA M

AREA DIRECTOR F1

AREA DIRECTOR F2

AREA DIRECTOR F3

AREA DIRECTOR F4

AREA DIRECTOR F5

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COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

TEAM NEWSLETTER EDITOR , District 98

BEENA MANDREKAR WEBMASTER , District 98

SOMNATH BHATTACHARJEE

NEWSLETTER LEAD

SANJEEV PATRA Representing HYDERABAD NEWSLETTER LEAD

AISHWARYA Representing PUNE NEWSLETTER LEAD

PAVAN PUNJABI Representing MUMBAI TECH TEAM

SHALINI GANDHAM

NEWSLETTER LEAD

COLIN SAVIO COELHO Representing GOA

TECH TEAM

RAJIV PINGALE

TECH TEAM

MIHIR MANDSORWALE

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COMMUNICATE 98 | MAY 2016

Disclaimer: Although great care has been taken in putting together this issue, we apologize for any inadvertent errors or omissions. The newsletter contains individual views of contributors. District 98, the District Director or the Editor may not subscribe to the same. You may report errors and suggestions to newsletter@d98tm.in

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