Communicate98_Sep21

COMMUNICATE 98 Communicate. Collaborate. Celebrate

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Cross-Cultural Learnings

SEPTEMBER 2021

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COVER STORY Run a Contest from Start to End

COMPETE TO LEARN, GROW & EXCEL

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In Conversation with WCPS 2021 Champion Verity Price, DTM

DISTRICT 98 LEADERSHIP TEAM 2021-22 Mukta Nadkar, DTM

District Director

Vishal Garg

Area Director, B1

Vinay Jain

Area Director, J3

Sapna Ohri, DTM

Program Quality Director

Vijaya Monteiro, DTM

Area Director, B2

Abhishek Sonar

Area Director, M1

Amandeep Singh, DTM Program Quality Director

Vrindavani Mulik

Area Director, B3

Nilesh Karande

Area Director, M2

Joy B. Hans, DTM

Program Quality Director

Pooja Daiya

Area Director, B4

Raj Bharat

Area Director, M3

Hardik Shah

Club Growth Director

Tanaya Sahu

Area Director, C1

Rohan Parakh

Area Director, M4

Sanjay R

Club Growth Director

Nishu Sharma

Area Director, C2

Riya Agrawal

Area Director, N1

Sandeep R Madasu

Club Growth Director

Varghese Vattathara

Area Director, C3

Gunjan Banarsi

Area Director, N2

Abbas Akbar, DTM

Administration Manager

Manish Kumar

Area Director, C4

Sapna Acharya

Area Director, N3

Pramod PB, DTM

Finance Manager

Himanshu Mahanta

Area Director, C5

Sakshi Bhuwal

Area Director, N4

Smita Mishra, DTM

Public Relations Manager

Kanchan Sonik, DTM

Area Director, D1

Sushil Pawar, DTM

Area Director, O1

Niteash Aggarwal, DTM Immediate Past District Director Tanay Rajwal

Area Director, D2

Deepika Kumari

Area Director, O2

Neha Bhatt, DTM

Division Director, A

Shreea Banerjee

Area Director, D3

Prashant Pote

Area Director, O3

Mohnish Dukhande

Division Director, B

Rahul Rashinkar

Area Director, D4

Unmesh Mohitkar

Area Director, O4

Milind Patwardhan

Division Director, C

Manasa Lakkakula

Area Director, E1

Aditya Saxena

Area Director, P1

Sanjukta Kundu, DTM

Division Director, D

Amulya Konda

Area Director, E2

Rabin Shetty

Area Director, P2

Kavitha Reddy, DTM

Division Director, E

Sai Santosh

Area Director, E3

Rajendra Waghmode

Area Director, P3

Shivani Singh

Division Director, F

Sunku Pruthvi

Area Director, E4

Sonia Cheulwar

Area Director, P4

Ravi Teja Peri

Division Director, G

Sivacharan Kollipara

Area Director, F1

Shubham Deshmukh

Area Director, P5

Haripriya Cherekar

Division Director, H

Swapna Pachala

Area Director, F2

Sriya Jambukar

Area Director, S1

Sakshi Shrivastava

Division Director, J

Kasturi Sydaiah

Area Director, F3

Poornima Thakur

Area Director, S2

Sunish Babu

Division Director, M

Jahanavi Rampalli

Area Director, F4

Ramanand Bhatt

Area Director, S3

Deepalika Kowar

Division Director, N

Charan Singh

Area Director, G1

Divya Iyer

Area Director, S4

Shaikh Shakil, DTM

Division Director, O

Alphamary Kuriachan

Area Director, G2

Ketkee Kamdar

Area Director, U1

Joylan Andrade

Division Director, P

Vamsi Yerrapragada

Area Director, G3

Dimple Mehta

Area Director, U2

Sunita Vinod

Division Director, S

Bhavana Tadiboina

Area Director, G4

Akshay Singh

Area Director, U3

Sanjan Shetty, DTM

Division Director, U

Vijay Kumar Bansal

Area Director, H1

Snehal Barve

Area Director, U4

Clyde Tellis

Division Director, W

Rishik Singh

Area Director, H2

Rajesh Kenkre

Area Director, W1

Rohin Sharma

Area Director, A1

Nivedita Rajurkar

Area Director, H3

Alvima Almeida

Area Director, W2

Utkarsh Dange

Area Director, A2

Nitya Sri Kalari

Area Director, H4

Anthony Gomes

Area Director, W3

Pinky Bahroos

Area Director, A3

Jayesh Kaushik

Area Director, J1

Pradnya Kosare

Area Director, W4

Nidhi Goel

Area Director, A4

Jyoti Bhat

Area Director, J2

Swapnil Jawale

Area Director, W5

Shailendra Singh

Logistics Manager

Ajit Limaye, DTM

Parliamentarian

DISTRICT 98

INDEX

1 2 3

District Director's Address Program Quality Director's Address Club Growth Director's Address

4

District Cross Connect

6

Cover Story

8

Perspectives

11

Prospective Clubs

12

Club Milestones

13

Member Achievements

14

News Bulletin

16

Club Spotlight

FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK

DISTRICT 98

Contest Season Many people often ask me this fascinating question: "Nishant, what made you learn a lot of educational qualifications?" And I give an equally funny answer: I realized I could charge more consulting fee from my clients by having more qualifications."

Having said that, today when I reflect on my journey as a Finance Professional and Entrepreneur, I realise that I can make a full circle: A Chartered Accountant with Masters in Law and MBA in Finance - this gives me an edge over other competitors as I make sure my solutions are compliant and at the same time have a business value.

As you turn the pages of this newsletter, you will find stories of learning, growth and excellence.

One thing I want you all to take home, what interest are you taking in your learning Journey at your Toastmasters club. Take part in contests, compete in a healthy way. I took part this year in both Humorous and Speech Evaluation contest at my club and the learning was immense. Whenever you contest, you explore a new dimension to learn. All the best.

Happy reading!

All of this I can do as I compete to learn and thus excel. Even today I keep abreast on latest happenings in Fintech, Blockchain, Crypto, etc.,

Dr. Nishant S Mehta, DTM Chief Editor, Communicate 98

NEWSLETTER DESIGNER OF THE MONTH When I came to know this edition will be based on the theme, 'Compete to Learn, Grow and Excel', I found myself thinking about my younger self taking part in several competitions, be it academic or extracurricular, failing in them, learning new things, and then emerging victorious. I remembered my heart racing fast before my first Table-Tennis Tournament and then seeing the tears of happiness in my parents’ eyes on my first win.

Kalpita Bhalerao NITIE Toastmasters Club Area U3

All of us have had such experiences all through our lives. As they say, “Life is a journey with the problem to solve, lessons to learn and most of all, experiences to enjoy”. No matter how hard we fall, how high we rise, we grow through these moments into wiser and stronger selves. I hope you enjoy this newsletter.

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

DISTRICT DIRECTOR'S ADDRESS

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The Essence of Time One of the most important assets we all have is TIME. Regardless of whether we are young or old, working or retired, we all have 24 hours at our disposal each day. But how much do we value it?

How well do we use it? Whether we are students, working professionals, entrepreneurs, stay-athome moms or simply retired, we can make a choice as to how we spend that TIME. I have often taken time for granted and not always appreciated how precious it is, till it’s gone. Every minute, hour or day that went by aimlessly, spent in frivolous activities. will be gone forever. So I realized how important it is to plan and manage the one commodity that is so valuable. Time is what allows me to do everything I want to do and love to do and that includes spending time with my friends, family and Toastmasters... of course, not to forget the household chores, exercising, reading WhatsApp and Facebook posts, and sleeping, for whatever hours are left.

Time lost has an opportunity cost: time that could have been used more wisely on activities that were more important, enjoyable and beneficial.

So when we say we don’t have the time, is that really true? If we add up all the hours wasted on things of little value, it would paint a different picture.

And that’s when we put Toastmasters on the back burner. Let’s not do that. Let’s make Toastmasters an integral, meaningful part of our lives and we can do it if we allocate time for it.

Let’s renew and make a difference to our lives and to that of others. Let’s commit and do a project once a month. Let’s make time to take up a role, visit another club, mentor someone. Let’s motivate, encourage and assist. It will be TIME well-spent, satisfying and fulfilling.

Ever since I took up District Office, I have been so aware of my time and how to maximize it. I am more conscious and aware of how little time I have and so much to do, but with prioritizing, I can accomplish most things. But there is still much to learn, improve and try to spend my time better.

Harvey Mackey said,

‘Time is free, but it is priceless. You can’t own it, but you can use it. You can’t keep it, but you can spend it. Once you’ve lost it you can never get it back.”

How do you spend your time?

So let’s plan our time so that we lead the life we want to live and accommodate all the things we have to and love to do. Each one of us has our unique responsibilities, lifestyle and interests.

This means that we have to choose how we spend time wisely. It is when we don’t budget our time, we feel rushed, stressed and unfulfilled at the end of the day.

Mukta Nadkar, DTM District Director

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COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

01

PQD'S MESSAGE

DISTRICT 98

Burn That Evil Study shows that most of mankind is biased and still most of us consider ourselves as unbiased.

We have various biases like cultural, religious, gender, information, generational and self biases.

It’s surprising that 90% people have one of more bias towards women.

He only talked numbers and would not accept any quality deviation. He got branded as a bad manager because he only spoke about work and productivity.

When I joined my last organization as a Leadership Coach, there were two very popular managers; so popular that everyone in the organization used them as a reference for good and bad leaders. The good leader was portrayed like God; he was considered a true gentleman, who had a solution for every problem.

The biases we form towards others work as a “frame of mind,” hampering our ability to see someone neutrally.

He was the reason the organization reached such great heights. Even when he walked into the room people got inspired. On the other hand the bad leader was considered like a demon, who was a bad human, arrogant, short tempered and abusive. He found a problem in everything and everybody. It was believed that he was the reason behind many employees leaving the organization.

As a coach when I interacted with both managers I was surprised that the opinions the employees had made about these two were purely fictional and biased; based on the experience of others.

They just believed the words of other employees who had either good and bad experiences with these two managers and then continuous office gossip added fuel to the fire. The good manager actually had average leadership skills and poor performance in the organisation. He got branded as a great leader because of his interpersonal skills, radiant smile and courteous nature. The bad manager on the other hand was a star performer with average interpersonal skills.

Many times we blindly go with our first impression or by the words of peers and form biases towards others. These biases work as a “frame of mind,” hampering our ability to see someone neutrally. This in turn robs us of the ability to interact fully with people and have meaningful relationships with them. How do you know you are biased? If you hate, criticize, gossip and badmouth someone continuously, you are biased. Also if you cannot see any negative in someone and tolerate any error from them you too are biased.

Let us learn to do away with biases to be better individuals.

Joy Hans, DTM Program Quality Director

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COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

02

CGD'S MESSAGE

DISTRICT 98

Contest Experience “Do not run behind success! Chase excellence and success will eventually follow!” – sounds familiar?

This is my best attempt at translating what Baba Ranchoddas told us in the movie 3 Idiots. What better time in Toastmasters than the contest season to recall this dialogue! Do you remember your first contest? Or are you yet to participate in your first contest? I vividly remember my first contest experience at Toastmasters. I won the club level, area level, division level and guess what happened at the District level? I lost! The word lost seemed a heavy load to carry for a long time to come!

It was months later when I realized that a Toastmasters contest (or any competition for that matter) isn’t only about winning or losing. The real essence of any competition lies in the learnings we gain from it to grow and excel in our personal and professional lives. Every time we compete, we step out of our comfort zone and expose ourselves to bigger opportunities and newer challenges. Through my contesting experience, I was able to get a sneak peek into the larger world of Toastmasters beyond the club.

As you prepare hard to contest (or have already participated), what are you expecting out of the experience? You may aim to win or just experience what it feels like to contest or to improve your humorous speaking and evaluation skills.

Irrespective of what our agenda is, competing has a very interesting way of teaching us at least a lesson or two, every single time! Over the years of competing on several occasions, I have learnt more than I could imagine, growing one step at a time and have constantly been chasing excellence, because remember what Baba Ranchoddas said?

"Do not run behind success! Chase excellence and success will eventually follow!”

Sanjay R Club Growth Director

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COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

03

DISTRICT CROSS-CONNECT

DISTRICT 98

In conversation with

Verity Price, DTM World Champion of Public Speaking, 2021 IIPP, ToastEd Toastmasters, Cape Town, South Africa, District 74 Verity, please tell us about your Toastmasters and contesting journey.

Competing online has been a challenge for many. What was your approach to contesting?

I joined Toastmasters in 2011 after my sister Kay had been a member for about a year. I joined because I really enjoyed the meetings and also wanted to support her to overcome her very serious fear of public speaking. A year into being a member, in 2012 she entered the club contests and I did as well, just for a little bit of fun (because I thought I was really quite confident at speaking). But my sister who had done only six speeches beat me! She went all the way to the World Championship semifinals and she came second. It was quite an interesting start to contesting, post which I only contested in 2015 where I made it to the Division level, and then the next time was this year, where I was lucky enough to become the world champion! In 2015, I was the District Speech Evaluation Champion for Southern Africa and I can honestly say that evaluations have been what really helped me to understand what a winning speech needed to have. The rest of my Toastmasters journey has mostly been around service leadership. I just love mentoring fellow members and working with my committees to make my home club as strong as I can.

Competing online definitely is a challenge - you don't have an audience or the same conditions as every other contestant, you are worried about the internet connection, about the lighting and this is just one of those things; this is where the pandemic has put us!

I embraced the fact that it was an online contest and set myself up for success. Along with ensuring a good internet connection, I also invested in a really good webcam that gave me HD quality videos. I borrowed a wireless microphone from a friend and I had two ring lights. I just made sure that I gave myself the best possible chance with the best technology to ensure that I didn't have to worry about that bit.

Then I got used to filming myself and practicing on my own, because in the contest you're not going to have an audience that you can work with, on the Zoom platform. So I just got used to delivering my speech through my own videos and acting as if I had an audience; that was really helpful.

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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DISTRICT CROSS-CONNECT What is your magic recipe for the perfect speech?

Tell a personal story! Talk about something that means a lot to you, that has shaped you and changed you. It could be something really simple, it doesn't need to be a profound moment that you experienced, but it needs to be a story that you tell quite often to friends and family - maybe an experience you’ve had when you were younger, about someone who had an impact on your life, or a problem that you overcame and you just felt fantastic for having told someone! Speak about something personal and how it changed you.

That for me is what makes a really powerful speech. It also means that you don't preach to your audience or tell them what they should change. You simply share YOUR story, let the message come across, and then show your audience how you applied it to your own life.

Your audience will change by listening to you.

How can a contestant create a sense of stage delivery in an online contest?

You've got a very small space to work with online, probably 1.5 meters away from the camera and you've only got the width of your screen to work with.

1. Take the time to rehearse – Remember that for your audience, you want things to always read left to right. For you, the past or the negative will be on the right and the positive or the future will be on the left. (Because it’s a mirror image) 2. You've got to work in moments – Connect with your audience. In my semi-final speech I held up my hand and I said “Raise your virtual hand”.

Even though I couldn't see if the audience did that, I was creating a moment. In a live situation, they would have, but at some of the clubs that I’ve practiced at, I could see that people held up their hands virtually via emojis.

DISTRICT 98

3. Stop, pause, look at the screen – “Have you ever wondered that?”, “Have you noticed that?” speak directly to the camera as if there is one person sitting on the other side and you're having a conversation with them.

These things allow you to feel as if it were more like a stage delivery but you have to imagine that the audiences are laughing, or crying, or gasping and you create the space by pausing, giving a little wink to the camera or looking away when you’re sad. You have to act like you on the stage and bring that stage energy; regardless of the fact that you're on your own, in a room with some ring lights, trying to make the most of it.

What is your message to the members of District 98 who are participating in this contest season?

Give yourself permission to give it your all, and to be open to being a much better and much bigger speaker than you were at the start of the contest. Because in order for that to happen, you have to give yourself permission to get feedback and to apply it too. Find a mentor right at the start of your journey and try your contest speech at some meetings before the club contest. Ask people for feedback and see if you can start improving that speech before you compete at the club.

Then, as you progress through the levels of the competition, broaden your circle of whom you want to help you and who you are open to getting feedback from so that you can keep tweaking, refining, and perfecting your speech and finding the best possible way to deliver it so that your audience is moved by your message.

Give yourself permission to want this to be the best learning experience of your life. Play in front of the camera, give it your all, speak to your invisible audiences, and have fun!

You can witness Verity's winning speech here

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05

COVER STORY

DISTRICT 98

Run a Contest from Start To End Covered by Venkatraman B.

‘If you can dream it, you can do it’ quoted Walt Disney.

From the era of in-person meetings, to online meetings, to online contests, Toastmasters International has taken giant strides by progressing and transforming in a big way in the last 2 years. The members took to the online meetings in a positive way across the globe. The online contests offered abundant opportunities to the members from participating as contestants, to being role players, and contest officials.

Technology aided new ideas - from briefing of role players and contestants, doing dry runs, preparing agendas, creating certificates for the role players etc. Of course, drawbacks of technical glitches also emerged as a by-product, but it also encouraged members to be more proactive in preparation and ensuring back-ups to tide over any such situation. A big advantage of the online contests was the networking of the members with other clubs; location was no longer a constraint! Members enthusiastically started taking up roles to enhance their learning.

As the contest season kept progressing, many members put on their thinking cap to bring more elegance to the online contesting experience.

Today we interact with some members to understand their experiences.

Despite being a new entrant to Toastmasters in April 2021, Anupriya Rathore from Speakathon Kalwa Toastmasters Club, Thane, enjoyed donning many roles during the contest season.

Elated to be chosen as the Contest Chair for Area M4 Contest - Ebullience 1.0, she shares, "As Contest Chair, contrary to popular belief, it was not only just about hosting the show. There’s a lot of coordination happening at the back end.

From briefing the participants to staying coordinated with the role players and making sure that everything went as per the decided flow." She feels the contests were a great learning experience for her.

Judges are a central role for any contest and that is the biggest responsibility for a Chief Judge.

Saurabh Tiwari from Golden Falcon Toastmasters, a seasoned Chief Judge shares his experience. “As Chief Judge, I leverage my networking skills to identify mature and sincere members as voting judges as this leads to the most accurate results. Collaboration is another critical skill I’ve learnt as I work closely with the Contest Chair for a smooth and successful contest. My advice to members taking up roles don't play the role just to play a role, understand the purpose of the event and emotions of the people and do proper justice.”

No role is small or big when it comes to a contest – there is ample opportunity to introduce innovation. As Akshay Singh from Goregaon Speakers Community Toastmasters shares, “Being a roleplayer enables one to experience contests from a different perspective. You learn the importance of preparation, dry runs, and organization. I have been experimenting with and perfecting playing the role of a Timer. On Zoom and Teams meetings, using a virtual background or the jugaad of covering the camera with paper,

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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COVER STORY

DISTRICT 98

one can easily display cards to contestants. When not the primary timer, apart from tracking and recording the time, the virtual background is in sync with cards displayed by the primary timer.

Even in case of the timer dropping, the contest can smoothly sail through.”

Another role that is critical to the functioning of a contest is that of a tally counter. Riya Agrawal from Gurukul Education Toastmasters Club says that “I learnt from my experiences of being a Tally Counter that the most important thing is not to disclose the identity of the judges ever. Also, it is important that the tallying process is fair, and confirming the ballots received are correctly signed. It is exciting that you are aware of the results before the contests chairs get to know it and on a lighter note, you enjoy the look on every participant's face, when the results are being announced!”

Prachi Mishra from RG Speakers Toastmasters Club reminisces how nervous she was to take up her first contest role as a Test Speaker.

"Initially, I was excited to perform but goosebumps started surfacing as the day neared.

I felt as if I was going to get ragged by the evaluators! But, a friend explained to me how evaluators use the sandwich technique of Commendation Recommendation Commendation, and that helped in removing my fears. It was a wonderful experience and I encourage others to try it too!"

Come contest season, organizers often struggle due to a lack of availability of role players. The reasons could vary between unawareness of these roles to feeling a contest role is too big or too small. However, hearing such enriching experiences of members taking up roles in contests tells us of the immense learning opportunities.

We hope the next time someone approaches you to take up a role, you’ll embrace it wholeheartedly!

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District 98 Contest season is here!

Have you saved these dates yet? Reach out to your Area Director to take up a role.

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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CROSS-CULTURE LEARNINGS

DISTRICT 98

With distance not being a constraint anymore, our members share their experiences attending meetings at International Clubs "Few weeks back, I attended a meeting in the UKDidcot Speakers Toastmasters Club as a Speech Evaluator. One thing which immediately I observed was that 100% of the attendees had their videos on, which came as a surprise for me.

It gave me the feeling as if I was attending an offline meeting, and the benefit of it was that I was getting kind of an instant feedback to my Evaluation by the facial expressions. Second learning was that even table topics can be in parts like an education session. Whenever any experienced Toastmaster came forward, Table Topics Master was asking speaking tips related questions, which was helpful."

Pinky Bahroos Toastmasters Club of Baroda and Swami Vivekanand Toastmasters Club

"Virtual Meetings over Zoom has given me the passport and funds to travel around the world.

Joint Meetings - gives me an opportunity to experience culture from another part of the world and share with them our culture. I have been amazed by the energy and passion clubs members from USA clubs chartered in the 1980s or 1990s. have with whom TCS Maitree Toastmasters Mumbai have done 2+ joint meetings. Members from such old clubs take you back in time with their speeches. You also learn many good practices that you can take back to your own club."

Akshay Singh GSC Toastmasters Club

"I have attended quite a few meetings in Africa lately. I witnessed how they start their meetings with a "Celebration" - a song at the beginning & ending with a networking activity like karaoke, dancing or singing together. Celebrate life like the Africans!"

Gopal Mantri TCS Maitree Toastmasters Club Pune

"I attended the club meeting of The South County Presenters Toastmasters Club, USA earlier this year. There were 19 members attending and the president Mr. Joseph Skoda welcomed me whole heartedly. Theme of the meeting was related to Story Telling. I was initially struggling to catch their accents but later on with focused attention I was completely absorbed in the meeting. Later on I also participated in the Table Topics session in which I was the winner! The theme helped me understand story telling techniques and I was lucky to hear the wonderful evaluations of two prepared speeches. I am thankful to this online world where I could join and learnt from the club of USA. This meeting was nowhere different in terms of motivation, compassion, encouragement and the unwavering spirit of Toastmasters."

Amit Nandan Ahmedabad Toastmasters Club

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COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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PERSPECTIVES

DISTRICT 98

Chronicling some contest experiences of our members...

HIT AND MISS I have been participating in contests for 6 years now. Speech Evaluation contests has taken me across multiple levels. Fortune has favored me to reach till Division, but I was always let down gently and elegantly at that stage. This was my hit-and-miss journey till May 2021.

Last year after winning Division, I was competing with evaluators par excellence at the District level. The excitement was palpable. Every Division’s winner was a shining star. They had learned all the tricks in the book and were raring to go after 5 minutes of being in the breakout room.

Beena Mandrekar Aundh Toastmasters Club

It is every Evaluation contestant’s ardent wish that the test speaker is mediocre, not too proficient, and gives enough scope for recommendations. It is easy to praise but tremendously hard to find recommendations for a really good speaker. Our test speaker gave us a wide range of things to comment on. The last mile for me was to forget all else and focus on the speaker. Giving him encouragement from the heart and practical recommendations; telling the speaker what is in his control. The judges could understand the genuineness of emotion. My hit-and-miss journey ended with finally reaching the top three at the district level.

HUMOR ME Contesting has been a major part of my Toastmasters' journey. It keeps my passion for writing and my zeal to become a better speaker intact.

While writing a contest speech, here are a few hits and misses that I have done and certainly I don't want any of my fellow Toastmasters to do: Sakshi Bhuwal SSIPMT Spellbinder (a) Be careful about choosing your speech title; don't be direct but choose something that keeps your speech a mystery with a pinch of hints. (b) Do not forget to give a clear message. (c) Humorous speech is not about making people laugh but it's about giving a message in a humorous style.

Choose your Speech Title Wisely Humorous speech is giving a speech in an humorous way

Give a clear Message

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COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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PERSPECTIVES

DISTRICT 98

Chronicling some contest experiences of our members...

EXPERIENCE THE JOYS OF CONTEST About the contests in Toastmasters, It is said that “Contests are not about the victory, but about the experiences we have as contestants.”

However, I had a belief that any contest is about victory. With this belief, I participated in International Speech Contest at my club in 2019.

The speech was on the impact of Bollywood movies and how I used to live in that imaginary world. In the speech, I enacted actor Amrish Puri’s popular dialogue from the Bollywood movie Dilwale Dulhaniya Le Jayenge, “Ja Simran ja, jee le apni zindagi (with same voice modulation, gesture and pose)."

Akanksha Sharma Gandhinagar Toastmasters club

Through the audience’s reaction I was assured that I would win the 1st place. My performance was great in terms of content as well as delivery. Yet, I didn't win as I did not translate that dialogue in English. To my surprise, I did not feel bad about it. That day, when everyone was congratulating me for my performance, I was enlightened with the truth that contest is not about winning or losing, but about touching the audience's hearts.

In Toastmasters, sometimes we would hit the judge’s ballot and other times would miss it but when we touch audience's hearts, that feeling is not less than grabbing a trophy in your hands.

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FEATURED ON "TOASTMASTER" MAGAZINE!!!

Congratulations to Aditya Saxena from Kolhapur Toastmasters Club, Gagan Mogilineni from TCS Maitree Synergy Park TM Club and Deccan Toastmasters Club for being featured in the October edition of "Toastmaster" magazine!

This is a proud moment for District 98!

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

DESIGN OF THE MONTH

TM Ambika Kulkarni TCS Nagpur Toastmasters Club

Congratulations!!

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PROSPECTIVE CLUBS

Orange City Toastmasters Club

DISTRICT 98

Clowning Glory Toastmasters

Chalk & Duster Toastmasters Club

DIVISION N Nagpur Contact: Deepalika Kowar- 7420 904451 Sapna Acharya- 85848 32151

DIVISION S Mumbai Contact: Ramanand- 99206 51204 Sunita- 98201 85976

Mumbai Contact: Kartik Srinivasan - 98929 78833 Raj Bharat - 81086 16240

Kolshet Toastmasters Club

The Millennial's Toastmasters Club

Pride Toastmasters Club

DIVISION M Mumbai Contact: Ramanathan N.S. - 88794 98694 Rohan Parakh - 96198 18414

DIVISION S Mumbai Contact: Muskaan- 81696 68570 Poornima- 73973 70200

Bilingual Hindi-English Toastmasters Club

Ghatkopar Toastmasters Club DIVISION U

Mumbai

Contact: Sanjan Shetty- 97694 46292 Ketkee Kamdar- 98335 24556

DIVISION J

Jamnagar

Contact: Deepali Parikh -99989 86982 Jyoti Bhat- 78386 13506

DIVISION M

DIVISION U Mumbai Contact: Avantika Narayan -98336 55216 Dimple Mehta- 98700 34109

Cocanada Toastmasters Club DIVISION F

Kakinada

Contact:

Lasya- 91335 57887 Subhash- 98852 32661

Know of a prospective club you'd like to be spotlighted?

Share with us at newsletter@district98.org

CONTEST CORNER Put on your Thinking Cap!!

Bring out your Creativity!!

" If you were to give your contest winning speech in one line, what would it be..."

Your speech is your Brand, write a tagline for it.

Get a chance to be featured in the next edition of Communicate 98. mail them to newsletter@district98.org

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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CLUB MILESTONES

DISTRICT 98

&

MILESTONES

ANNIVERSARIES The club completed 14 Years on 15th September!

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Date: 15th Sept '21 th

Toastmasters Club of Pune, Area P1, Division P

Anniversary

InfoCepts Toastmasters Club celebrated the club’s 1st Anniversary meeting and 1st milestone - 25th meeting with Theme “Turning Point” by TMOD TM Vamsi, Area Director G3, Charter Member of the club.

Date: 14th Sept '21

Milestone Meeting

25

th

InfoCepts Toastmasters Club, Area N2, Division N

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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MEMBER ACHIEVEMENTS D IS T

IN G UIS

DISTRICT 98

ER HED TO AST M AST

S

Udayshankar, Usha

Tiwari, Saurabh

Toastmasters Club of Pune South East

Golden Falcon Toastmasters

Congratulations on your persistent and tenacious efforts to achieve the highest accomplishment in Toastmasters!

T RIP

LE CR O W N A W AR DEES

Congratulations on achieving three (or more) educational levels in the year.

Anjum, Shaikh Shakil Chandan, Jisha Jitendra Chukka, Rahul Daptardar, Tarang Daryanani, Heshma Deshpande, Gauri D'Souza, Lancy John Garud, Kirtiraj Rajendraprasad Ghadially, Farzan Gupta, Akanksha Hiraskar, Ajay Jha, Bhaskar Joshi, Dheeraj Kashid, Pooja Dilip Kotak, Mayur Kumar, Manish Mahanta, Himanshu Shekhar Mani, Usha CK Manthena, Dharani Mehta, Nishant Misal Prashant

Mishra, Ashish Mishra, Smita Mittal, Digant Mohapatra, Annish Narvekar, Aditi Arun Nigam, Khushi Panpaliya, Surendra R Paralikar (KP), Krishnaprasad Parihar, Vishal Patoriya, Krushita Rameshbhai Patwardhan, Milind Pinto, Vanessa Ranka, Lokesh Tansukhraj Rathore, Rukhman Singh Sastri, Saishri Sikka, Vikram Singh, Ishwant Singh, Jai Thakur, Poornima M TV, Swathi Verma, Priyanka

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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NEWS BULLETIN

DISTRICT 98

PQD BOOTCAMP learning series When: First Sunday of every month

Through this monthly learning series, Bootcamp offers you a unique learning opportunity about basics like Club Success Plans, Contests, Judging etc.

Episode 4 is on "Mentors, Sponsors, Coaches" on Nov 7!

Watch past sessions on the D98 Youtube channel

PUBLIC RELATIONS MASTERCLASS When: Third Sat/Sun of every month

From designing basics, to social media tricks, creating a impactful newsletter, to video editing - learn about all things PR at the PR Masterclass monthly session!

Session 2 on "Branding and Social Media Tips" on Sep 18 by TI Expert Kristi Yablonski is available on D98 Youtube channel.

POWER OF ONE When: Last Sunday of every month

Humans of D98 When: Fortnightly

Want to understand the best practices of running a quality meeting? Want a friend or prospective member to understand better what happens at a Toastmasters meeting? Look no further!

The strength of District 98 comes from its diversity of members - diverse ages, diverse backgrounds, diverse professions, diverse aspirations.

Power of One 2.0 is a unique monthly session that will combine learning with fun!

Humans of D98 is a humble attempt to spotlight some of these members and bring their stories of resilience, courage, fun and more to light.

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

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TOASTMASTERS TRIVIA Do you think you know Toastmasters

DISTRICT 98

Brand It right !!

without a doubt?

Take this quiz and let's find out!

Presenting the Toastmasters Trivia: 11 Months ~ 11 rounds ~ 55 questions Answer 5 questions correctly every month and at the end of 11 rounds, stand a chance to win exciting prizes from District 98!

Mail them to newsletter@district98.org

Trivia #3 1. When did Toastmasters International incorporate?

2. Who was the first president of Toastmasters International?

3. When was the first Toastmasters district organised?

4. Up until the 1936 Convention in Santa Barbara, What was the cost of annual member dues In U.S. dollars?

5. In which year did the 100th club charter?

Answers to Trivia #2

ANSWERS 1. Logo Placement 2. Wrong Red color 3. Wrong combo of gradient usage 4. Non-compliant font 5. Non Toastmasters environment pictures are not to be used even if they are relevant to theme

Winners 1. Akshay Singh 2. Sweta Sao 3. Jyoti Bhat

Trivia Leaderboard

1. Smedley Chapter One Club 2. The Club Management Handbook 3. 1995

1. Mayuri Assudani 2. Bhumi Panjwani 3. Jyoti Bhat

4. Homer Blanchard 5. Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

15

CLUB SPOTLIGHT DIV A

Toastmasters Club of Allscripts Vadodara, (6090393), Vadodara Thursday, 02:00 PM President: Neelu Shah

DISTRICT 98

DIV B

Toastmasters Club of Baroda (TCB), (6886272), Vadodara Wednesday, 07:30 PM President: Neel Patel

DIV C

STS Pune Toastmasters Club, (7431038), Pune Tuesday, 06:00PM President: Meghraj Mitkari

Tech Talkers, (2543055), Mumbai Wednesday, 12:00 PM President: Snehal Kadu

DIV D

Emerson Innovation Center-Pune Toastmasters Club, (2645684), Pune Wednesday, 09:30 AM President: Amol Somase

DIV E

Invesco India Toastmasters Club, (02221384 ), Hyderabad Friday, 03:00 PM (Alternate) President: Kalyan Chaitanya

HITAM Toastmasters, (07160333), Hyderabad Saturday, 10:30 AM (1st &3rd) President: Rahil Hussain

DIV F

KIET Toastmasters Club, (7657911), Kakinada Sunday, 10:00 AM President: Lolla Sai Charan

KW's Silver Tongue Toastmasters Club, (7780796), Kakinada Sunday, 04:00 PM President: Kopparthi Satya Sindhu

DIV H

VJIM Toastmasters, (06945484), Hyderabad Monday, 04:00 PM President: Vishnu Bharadwaj Corporate Club

ADP Pune Toastmasters, (01813871),Pune Friday, 06:30 PM President: Dhiraj Korbollu Teradata Pune Toastmasters Club, (07327561), Pune Wednesday, 10:30 AM (1st and 3rd) President: Bhaskar Jha

Toastmasters For Hyderabad Entrepreneurs, (07833894), Hyderabad Sunday, 07:00 PM President: Kalpana Chandika

DIV G

Chatterati Toastmasters Club, (6786470), Mumbai Sunday, 11:00 AM President: Ratan Shetty

TCS Maitree Synergy Park Toastmasters Club, (01534632), Hyderabad Friday, 03:00 PM President: Dibyajyoti Das Secunderabad Toastmasters (3123809), Secunderabad Sunday, 11:00 AM President: Rajeev Srikar

College Club

Community Club

Get in touch with the clubs at Toastmasters International - Find a Club COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

16

CLUB SPOTLIGHT DIV J

DIV N

DIV P

DIV U

RG Orators Toastmasters Club, (7185923), Jamnagar Tuesday, 03:30 PM President: Pravina Bharija

Raipur Toastmasters Club, (7911256), Raipur Sunday, 04:00 PM (Thrice a month) President: Vaishali Rai

3DS Pune Toastmasters Club, (6641278), Pune Friday, 10:00 AM President: Soham Naik

General Mills Toastmasters Club, (02017514), Mumbai Thursday, 03:00 PM (2nd & 4th) President: Neha Menon

Corporate Club

DISTRICT 98

DIV M

DIV O

DIV S

DIV W

College Club

Agnel Toastmasters Club, (2380536), Navi Mumbai Saturday, 05:00 PM (1st & 3rd) President: Sunish Babu

Mastering Leadership TMC, (7870960), Pune Friday, 10:00 AM (Alternate) President: Yuvaraj Patil

Santacruz Speakers Toastmasters Club, (7677706), Mumbai Saturday, 04:00 PM (2nd & 4th) President: Lawrence Mohan

Kharadi Toastmasters Club , (7300474), Pune Saturday, 03:00 PM President: Lipika Chowdhury

Community Club

Get in touch with the clubs at Toastmasters International - Find a Club COMMUNICATE 98 | SEPTEMBER 2021

17

MEET THE TEAM PR MANAGER

DISTRICT 98

CHIEF EDITOR

Smita Mishra, DTM

Nishant Mehta, DTM

CONTENT MANAGERS

DESIGNERS

Madhuri Vadari

Kalpita Bhalerao

Meenal Bale

Madhumita Acharya

Venkatraman B

Tanisha Somvanshi

Vinod Basalalli

Meghana Mehta

COMMUNICATE 98 | AUGUST 2021