Expolanka toastmasters club - December newsletter 2017

EXTRAVAGANZA

OFFICIAL NEWSLETTER OF EXPOLANKA TOASTMASTERS CLUB

DECEMBER 2017 | VOLUME 01 | EDITION 02 CLUB # 02302941 | AREA F2 | DIVISION F | DISTRICT 82

NOVEMBER 2019 / ISSUE 11 / VOLUME 2

FEATURING THE LEGEND MARK BROWN, 1995 WORLD CHAMPION OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

GUEST CORNER FEATURING SHAMEN SAMEERA 2017 HUMOROUS SPEECH CHAMPION , DISTRICT 82 AND OUR VERY OWN TOASTMASTERS

A WORD FROM THE PRESIDENT TM HISHAM YASIR

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Have you heard the saying 'what we sow is what we reap' ? I believe the Garden of Expolanka TMC is a place where the correct set of seeds are sown. It is a place for the people who yearn for an opportunity at leadership but doesn’t seem to find a way.

Expolanka TMC was envisioned by a true visionary Mr. Hanif Yoosuf. His essence of ‘dare to do spirit’ is a drive to our members. During our brief history, We have being blessed to achieve champion speakers, admirable chief judges, super star district officials and distinguished toastmasters now and again.

I believe this has been possible due to the correct set of ingredients that has been poured in to our members by the visionaries and the past club leaders.

In our second newsletter this year we hope to sow a seed in you. A seed of self inspiration and insight. When trials were dawned upon us we were able to remind ourselves as to why as individuals we grabbed this opportunity at Expolanka TMC. With the seeds of friendship, the spirit perseverance and most importantly a positive attitude we manage to rise up to produce the goods this half year as well.

The Smedley membership ribbon, two members representing division level, first runners up at humorous speech at division level to commencing a speech craft program are some of the compliments we have achieved during this 06 months.

With 06 more months to go In Sha Allah we are geared up for what future holds. Our humble endeavor is to achieve the presidents distinguished and also work towards golden gavel club by maintaining a fun, enjoyable, friendly, supportive and educational environment for our members .

With the level of speakers we have we are hopeful of achieving the unprecedented this year.

At Expolanka you will see a diverse membership embracing the club from various subsidiaries from Classic Travel, ITX 360 and Efl from around the country like Katunayeke, Orugodawatte and Colpetty. Our hopeful endeavor is to wide spread the diversity in the club even more to achieve far more recognition and respect in the group.

Am sure you may have come across the promotional activities of the club. We resumed the meeting recap and also continued the segment we started called ‘how well do you know me’. The comments we received for the Toast quiz where we gift a TMI merchandise to the winner Is something that all our members look forward to.

Compliance comes close to our values and hence we have maintained good records of meeting minutes and accountants details with the corporate.

I believe we were Alhamdulillah able to achieve such this six months, firstly, due to the blessings of the almighty and due to the seeds of friendship, the spirit perseverance and most importantly a positive attitude.

Till next time, Happy Reading!!!

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TOASTMASTERS IS ALL ABOUT YOU! Toastmasters International Mission: Who We Are?

We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.

Toastmasters International District Mission: is a world leader in communication and leadership development. Our We build new clubs and support all clubs organization has more than 352,000 in achieving excellence. memberships. Members improve their speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 16,400 clubs in 141 countries that make up our global network of meeting locations.

The world needs leaders. Leaders head families, coach teams, run businesses and mentor others. These leaders must not only accomplish, they must communicate. By regularly giving speeches, gaining feedback, leading teams and guiding others to achieve their goals in a supportive atmosphere, leaders emerge from the Toastmasters program. Every Toastmasters Club Mission: journey begins with a single speech. During their We provide a supportive and journey, they learn to tell their stories. They positive learning experience in which listen and answer.

They plan and lead. They give members are empowered to develop feedback—and communication and leadership skills, resulting accept it. Through our in greater self-confidence and personal growth. community of learners, they Core Values: find their Integrity , Respect, Service,Excellence path to leadersFor More Information Visit: -hip.

https://www.toastmasters.org/

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EXPOLANKA TOASTMASTERS CLUB

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE LEGEND TM MARK BROWN

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Becoming a world champion in any field is quite a challenge. Becoming a world champion of public speaking is no different. Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Mark Brown migrated to the United States at 18 years old with only $40 in his pocket and a dream for a better life. Today, he has become one of the most popular inspirational speakers in the world.

In 1995, Mark defeated more than 20,000 contestants from 14 countries to win the illustrious Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking. Today we have the privilege of featuring him on the second edition of our newsletter this toastmaster year.

Q: You were a featured speaker at the District 82 Midyear conference Reverberations 2017.

How was your experience of the event as a whole, and how do you see the potential of toastmasters international growing within this district 82 A: Andrea and i thoroughly enjoyed our reverberations 2017 experience! The selection of speakers was very impressive! The delegates received us with such hospitality and love, and responded to my presentations with such enthusiasm. I've been to conferences on five continents, for over 20 years, and this was one of the best!

I spoke at ovations 2010 and i have seen the growth of the individuals in d82 over the past seven years. You have a world champion of public speaking and now an international president! That's evidence of your progress, and i think that this is just the beginning.

Q: The first speech that you delivered at the opening ceremony of Reverberations 2017 was absolutely sensational. I was quite amazed how you gave out about 03 to 04 messages in one single speech. In toastmasters, we are taught about “speaking to the point� . When it comes to an international speech would you recommend that we have one key message or is it better to have many messages in one speech.

A: For the international speech contest, i recommend that we keep it simple, and stick with a 05 single, focused message. A keynote speech is much longer than seven minutes, and gives room for more sub-points, but they should all be connected to a single message. In my keynote, the central message was 'run your dash to the best of your ability, despite the conditions and circumstances that you will face.' the sub-points were all delivered to support the central message.

Q: What significant differences do you see in toastmasters between the United States to South Asia? We would also appreciate any lessons or techniques that clubs in District 82 can use from United States that we can implement here to better our toastmaster experience.

A: In my experience, you may be underestimating yourselves! Hahaha! The growth in Asia is quite impressive! I haven't had a chance to visit clubs in south Asia, so i can't make a comparison. I know that clubs vary in size and regular attendance numbers. Many clubs in the USA have between 10 & 15 members attend meetings regularly. I don't know the average attendance in D82. I do know that in 2014, CEO Daniel Rex said, "international membership is growing about 12 percent a year, while north american membership is growing about 5 percent. Malaysia, India, china, the middle east and west Africa have been our areas of fastest growth in the last five years."

"First-time contestants don't always win. Several world champions won after two or more attempts. I competed twice, and others competed multiple times" - Mark Brown Q:From your speeches, we learnt that you attempted the world championships twice. What would be your advice for toastmasters who have tried and yet failed for many times?

A:The international speech contest is a wonderful way to learn quickly. First-time contestants don't always win. Several world champions won after two or more attempts. I competed twice, and others competed multiple times.including champions from 2001, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2011, 2014, 2015 and 2017. Jim Key was 2nd in 2001 and again in 2002, before prevailing in 2003. 2011 champion Jock Elliot beat me into third place in 1994, but that was not his first final. He first competed in the final in 1990, which shows that it took him 21 years to win the world championship! Toastmasters has a plethora of good speakers, but only one wins the title each year. The key is to always learn something from every contest experience.

Q:The recent winning speeches at the world championships seems to be quite humorous.

Could you recommend to us a simple technique that we toastmasters can use to generate humor at our speeches?

A:Humor comes from our daily experiences. We just have to stay aware of what happens around us. What makes you smile or laugh? Chances are that if you would laugh, the audience will laugh too. I don't recommend telling jokes. It's better to use humor from one's own life. Don't insert humor...uncover it.

Q:What does Toastmasters mean to you and what is your favorite session in a toastmasters meeting?

A:Toastmasters has changed my life and career. I was an computer analyst when i joined 19 1993, and now i'm a self-employed professional speaker.

The table topics segment is one of my favorite because it allows people to practice extemporaneous speaking, to think on their feet, and to construct a mini-speech almost instantly. It's also a great way to practice listening and to prepare for general conversation.

Q:What is the best method of practice that you liked for a prepared speech? For a toastmaster who is running for the world championships of public speaking, how many speeches would you advise him/ her to have in his speech bucket at a moment?

Furthermore, how many times would you recommend that these speeches should be practiced at club meetings, friends or even at work place?

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A:Each person should rehearse in a method that is most comfortable for them. I offer the advice that i got from 1994 world champion morgan macarthur. First, "write a speech that you can't wait to give!" the contest requires that contestants prepare no fewer than two speeches. Some have delivered three or even four...quite likely because they felt that they needed a better speech for the next level of competition. Prepare at least two speeches that contain messages that you believe the audience needs to hear. Some prepare both speeches the previous year, while others prepare one for the first four levels of competition, then focus on their second speech after they win their district final. It's a personal choice. Once a script is ready, rehearse as often as you think is necessary. Finding a new audience for each rehearsal can be challenging, but family, co-workers and members of social organizations or houses of worship can also be good audiences. I don't remember how many times i rehearsed my winning speech, because i changed my speech 18 days before the final...which i do not recommend. (smile) you have the benefit of 21st century technology that wasn't available to me in 1995; mobile phone video and YouTube are wonderful tools. Record every rehearsal to chart your progress. You can see and hear what the audience sees and hears. Many speakers now hire coaches to help them and send scripts and files electronically via media like google docs and unlisted/private YouTube videos. Again, these are all personal choices. Use a combination of whatever works best for you.

Q:Finally, What advice would you like to leave for the young toastmasters specially for us at Expolanka Toastmasters Club A:Take full advantage of everything that toastmasters has to offer. Sharpen your listening skills.Accept every opportunity to speak.Fulfill all the roles at a club meeting at least once.Serve your club in whatever way that you can.

“Our stories are the key to connecting. They don’t have to be sensational; they just have to be sincere.”

Mark Brown

JOY IS A DAILY DOSE…

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Three years after my sister was born my mom was expecting me. My parents were so sure that I was going to be a boy, so I felt I had to live up to it. I was a real tom boy. My Mom was entertaining some friends one day, and I was out playing cops and robbers with the boys… she wanted me to come and meet her friends, so she called out to me and I came in to say “hi”. So, in I rode on my imaginary horse, bow and arrow in hand, pulled back my arrow and shot the first person I saw…. My mom wasn’t too pleased. She had just introduced my sister, who was studying at the dining table. Then she turned to me and says.. “This is Scerena. My younger daughter !”

Ever since childhood, I stood out like a sore thumb. I was always the one getting in to trouble, or the one who used to walk backwards up a hill, as I thought that would make the climb easier. I loved experimenting and I was always curious. I would jump in the drain without a second’s hesitation to catch a fish or crawl under a dirty culvert if I thought it was the best hiding place when we played hide and seek. Before the boys could get to them, I would clean out all the mangoes from the trees in the entire neighborhood. I was small and light and could reach the highest branches. During my teens…. well let’s not go there, as some things are best left as memories, but let’s just say that the crazy continued well in to my teens and I have very colourful memories because of it.

Then I hit my twenties, and suddenly I felt like the odd one out, and it wasn’t in an exciting way. Life got full of responsibilities, my days were filled with chores, and I found myself feeling weighed down. This soon became the ‘everyday’ and the colour just faded away in to mundane black and white. And like every other person, I got used to it. The years went by and it was just another year.. a decade went by and it was just another decade. If I tried to recall something significant that happened during this time, there would be very few.

One day in my late thirties, I found myself thinking back on my childhood and about the crazy things I used to do and in all these memories I was always wearing my biggest smile. My heart feels light, and I could easily drift in to a day dream about that time of my life. It is such a happy place. Then I remember wondering why we change our lives so much…

True that once you become an adult you take on responsibilities, you have chores to do and life gets a little disciplined. But the biggest problem I thought was that we are expected to live our lives in a specific way… society, the world around us and the way we think we ought to be perceived by the world… in that thought alone lays our biggest downfall, and that’s what turns life in to black and white.

Often we find ourselves doing things because it’s the right thing to do, but you need to ask yourself is it the right thing for you? If its not, then you gotta make some changes. Shed the negative…. I made some difficult choices, where society would have shunned me but it felt exhilarating.

Whether it is a person who is always brining you down or a way of thinking.. shed it. Think of 3 things that you love doing, and pledge to do it regularly. It can be very simple, but it can bring you a lot of joy.

Flying a kite can be loads of fun… who says you gotta be a kid to do these things… or if you love gardening, why not? how about painting or doing a craft project?

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Or it can simply be waking up to seeing something you love.

For me it is my jasmines, and it is the first thing that I see when I wake up and open my eyes, when I look outside on to my terrace. It’s a simple joy but it energies me and fuels my spirit so that I will have a great day. These little things will make way to start enjoying the bigger things.. whether it is jumping out of a plane sky diving or taking that pack packing trip you always wanted to do. Your spirit will crave for it and you will find the time.

Life doesn’t have to be in black and white or dull and mundane, and its not just our childhood that we should be looking back on as the happiest days of our lives, where we were always smiling.

If we can find a few things to continue doing that bring us joy each day, and remember that joy is a daily dose and our birth right, we can all have a colourful masterpiece of a life to look back on.

TM Scerena Dirckze

And the next time you climb a hill, do it in reverse,and let me know if it was an easier climb.

Keep smiling…!!

"Often we find ourselves doing things because its the right thing to do, but you need to ask yourself is it the right thing for you?"

Scerena Drickze

KNOW YOUR DATES Meeting # 134 : 17th January 2018 Meeting # 135 : 24th January 2018 Meeting # 136 : 7th February 2018 Meeting # 137 : 21st February 2018 Meeting # 138 : 28th February 2018 Meeting # 139 : 7th March 2018 Meeting # 140 : 21st March 2018 Club International & Table Topics speech contest : 28th March 2018

TOAST QUIZ WINNERS

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'Reverberation' the mid year conference of 10 District 82 was held in Chennai, India on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of December themed "Where memories are made" The mid year conference was followed by the district humorous speech and evaluation speech contest which was won by TM Shameen Sameera and TM Thisuri Dematogoda respectively.

This last Reverberation, A lasting Reverberation DTM Zaidh Naushard #sixwordsstories The event organizers carried out a splendid job by looking in to every little detail in order to provide a nostalgic experience for over 600 delegates who traveled from various parts from both Sri Lanka and India. 'Reverberation' also featured many distinguished speakers from different calibers which made the event more educational when the take home message is considered. Among the many Mark Brown, Derek Wong, Saveen Hedge, DR. Pawan Agrawal were a few who took the conference in to the next level especially based on the experiences shared with many learning opportunities given out to the present delegates.

Expolanka Toastmaster Club had 8 delegates in total who attended the last joint conference organized between the two nations India and Sri Lanka in India.

Hence lasting memories were surely made throughout the stay in Chennai.

First and last always the best!

TM Scerena Dirckze #sixwordsstories

THE JOINT MEETING THAT MADE HISTORY

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A call that was made by TM Hisham and TM Usman on a rainy day during a walk in Colpetty about a month prior to reverberations to check on their good friend TM Sheikh Dawood ended up being a History making joint meeting in District 82.

Expolanka TMC & Infosys TMC made history by becoming the firsts to have a joint meeting between two clubs presiding in two different countries within district 82.

The meeting was held at the Main Auditorium – B7, B8 at Infosys TMC, Mahindra City. This was also the venue for the Ovations 2015 and “It was indeed a very pleasant and blessed experience to visit Infosys again” said TM Hisham Yasir.

Division Director K DTM Subhadhip and Area Director K2 TM Arivarul embraced the joyous occasion.

The atmosphere was nostalgic and enterprising with the TMOD TM Arivarul keeping everyone engaged. TM Usman from Expolanka TMC and TM Hemavathi from Infosys TMC grabbed the opportunity to do their prepared speeches at the meeting.

The General Evaluator TM Safiya and her team played their roles with utmost interest and left the audience at awe with their respective reports. TM Bharani was elected the best role player, TM Usman best prepared speaker and TM Sharon was elected best evaluator.

Additionally the audience was entertained by a featured segment where DTM Zaidh and DTM Subhadhip explained about the benefits achieving a DTM and what one can expect in work life after DTM. The meeting was followed by a magnificent fellowship and dinner hosted by Infosys TMC.

DISTRICT EVENTS

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Ovations 2018 The year end conference of District 82 'Ovations' has been scheduled from 11th to the 13th of May 2018 at the BMICH in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Early bird registrations are now open at INR 5000.00 & LKR 10,000.00. Conference chair for Ovations 2018 is DTM Yusuf Jeevunjee (yusuf@jaywise.lk).

It is an event that must not be missed where members will earn an Everest of knowledge and network through both local and international participants.

The Iconic BMICH Conference hall

Educational Program by HNB TMC

An Educational program featuring the International president of Toastmasters International DTM Balraj Arunasalam, The world champion of public speaking TM Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, District Trios from 16 Districts and many other TMI officials is scheduled to take place on the 06th of January 2018 at the Auditorium at HNB Towers, Colombo.

The tickets are priced at Rs 1500.00 and interested participants can contact the below toastmasters for further details. (Tickets will not be sold at entrance).

Dhanushka (HNB TMC) +94777744377 Maheksha (HNB TMC) +94772452136

PASSION FOR PERFECTION IN LIFE

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If you want to be successful at your job and move up the company ladder you need to be passionate about your work. This same applies to toastmasters which I believe improves our communication and leadership skills. You need to be motivated and driven to be the best you can be regardless of your job or your work.

Passion, drive, motivation, zeal, call it what you want it is the self-driven attitude about your job and your work that can help lead you down the path to success.

I came across a quote by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. “If you are a street sweeper, you should sweep the streets just like Michelangelo would do one of his paintings, Or Beethoven would compose music, or Shakespeare would do poetry. You should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

I will start with a short story about me. I started my Career as a Business Analyst in the tech industry because I had a passion for it. All I had to do is to study the requirement and propose new tech solutions to streamline operations. As time by I got bored and wanted a change to pursue a managerial career with my functional and technical expertise. Therefore I pursued to become a Project Manager. I quickly discovered that the things I was most passionate about were being able to see a problem and then figuring out a way to solve it by designing software that could simplify and streamline the problem. This by disrupting the day to day TM Afraz Hassan routine jobs and introducing new things by internalizing technology.

For some, their passion may be tied to a specific industry, like medicine, or law, or science, but I tend to believe that for most their passion is tied to a desire, such as to lead, or to teach, or to help others. And often times these passions can be pursued in countless jobs or industries.

For me this jumped out as examples of both passion and success. Our success comes not so much from what we do (our job), but how well we do it (our passion for our job). It also illustrates that regardless of your job or your position on the company ladder, you can be successful if you have passion for your work.

Passion is an emotion that comes from within you. It is your enthusiasm, your zeal, your drive and your motivation. You don’t want to just feel passionate about your job, you want to put passion into it. You want to apply all of your skills and all of your energy into your work.

Passion does not go unnoticed. People will see how well you do your job and your attitude towards it. They will see even if a task is hard you don’t give in, you apply yourself even more to overcome it. They will notice your drive and your motivation and consider how you would do in another position.

So be a passionate person in what you do, Have a dream, Set your goals, Convert them into objectives and accomplish it time to time.

As per my favorite Cricketer Imran Khans famous quote says “Compromise for your Dream but Never Compromise on your Dream”

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OUR NEXT MOVE

COMING SOON!!!

IF CREATIVITY IS AN ART, EXPOLANKA TOASTMASTERS CLUB IS THE PICASSO

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As a past member and a past Secretary of Expolanka Toastmasters Club, it gives me great pleasure to pen down few words for the Official Newsletter. Even though I’m not an official member of Expolanka Toastmasters Club, still I consider me as a member and never forget to make my presence on and off. Therefore, I still feel that I’m a part of this prestigious club.

In Toastmasters District 82 fraternity, Expolanka Toastmasters are well known for uniqueness.

Because whenever an event or a meeting is organized, it has something unique and creative. The installation ceremony is one of the highlighted events among other Toastmasters Club. Every year the Installation Ceremony had some theme, like the Oscars, Bollywood Night, Back to 80’s, etc. This made Expolanka Toastmasters a special club and fellow Toastmasters from other clubs would not miss to attend our events. This year the Installation Ceremony was very well organized under the theme “Down the memory lane” which took me back to my days at ETMC. Not only the Installation Ceremony is a highlighted event, the theme meetings are also a fulfilled and liked by everyone. Thai Pongal, Valentine, Women’s Day, Awurudu, Halloween, Christmas are some notable theme meetings.

Expolanka Toastmasters Club has grown even bigger now. I’m one of the happiest person to witness the untiring growth of this club. Presently there are many unique and creative things are done. They have initiated the Instagram page and it is constantly updated. Also the 'Re cap' flyer is done after every educational meeting with the summary of the particular meeting.

In terms of achievements, Expolanka Toastmasters Club has achieved many awards. They were able to secure the Golden Gavel award and all the ribbons. Also they produced Division winners for Humourous Speech & Evaluation Speech Contest.

Expolanka Toastmasters also known for creating history. This year before the recently concluded Reverberation, members of ETMC were able to register their name in history book of Toastmasters International, District 82, by having a joint meeting with a club from another nation in District 82.

This is why I mentioned that “If creativity is an Art, Expolanka Toast-masters Club is the Picaso” I congratulated Expolanka Toastmasters Club for the wonderful job done throughout and wish them success in their future endeavors.

TM Haaziq Jaleel

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE DISTRICT HUMOROUS SPEECH CHAMPION TM SHAMEN SAMEERA

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Reverberations 2017 was themed “where memories are made”. Here is one gentlemen who undoubtedly made a memory for life in this year’s humorous speech contest. Shameen Sameera represented Serendib Toastmasters Club from Division F with his speech title “The way of the coward” to go on to win 01st place at this year’s contest. Shameen has contested several times through various other divisions for humorous speech and this year for our second edition of our newsletter we feature this amazing speaker to fulfill your readers digest.

Q:After couple of attempts from different divisions how does it feel to finally win the district 82 Humorous speech competition ?

A:It actually took me 3 years in Toastmasters to get to where I am today. The first time I contested in 2015 from Division C after about 6 months in to Toastmasters I could only get up to Division level. When I saw the level of competition that day I realized I need to give lot more time and improvement to get through. Second time I was able to win Division C and this time I couldn't get through District Semi Finals and I realized how good I need to be win at that level. So 3rd time I contested at Reverberations 2017 and I was finally able to realize my dream. It was the happiest moment of my life not because I won the trophy but I was able to deliver the best speech I have done in my life on that stage. And listening to people laugh and seeing there smile meant a whole lot to me.

Q:How was your commitment and explain to us your preparation?

A:I always believe that luck favours those who work hard and you need to work hard if you want to achieve it. Even last year what I did was I went to as many area contests and division contests I could and I was always observing magnificent speakers and taking down notes and learning from them. And this year I did it even more and I had diaries and diaries of things I collected from listening to others and speaking with well experienced speakers. What I am today is thanks to everyone who knowingly or unknowingly contributed with knowledge and I am forever grateful to them. Also I put lot of time to improve my speech and I did quite lot of test speeches and all the evaluations helped me improve. But I always made sure I keep my own identity intact because I wanted people to love me for who I am and make that connection with me when I am on stage.

Q.Any tips as to how to create humor in a speech?

A:One of the best ways to do is actually to keep things very simple. Speak about things that everyone can relate to and use simple language shorter sentences so that even a primary school child can smile at your speech. Also it is very essential to keep your humor clean and not put down or offend other people.

Otherwise you will only make part of the audience happy.

Another good way to make people laugh is to create vivid images of funny situations that people come across in life. Then when you tell the story they will imagine the situation as if it's happening right in front of them. But to accomplish this you have to have a high level of sincerity so that they believe your story. Over exaggerating things will only create distance between you and the audience.

Also voice variation helps a lot in creating humor. It doesn't mean you can do a lot of voices. I myself cannot do it. But I make sure that the punch is always distinct and people are guided by my voice to let them know when it is time to laugh.

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Q.How was your experience in Reverberations?

A:It was the most amazing experience specially when it comes to the amount of friends I was able to make. Even the hospitality shown was heart warming and random people would come and ask me how well I slept and how well I enjoyed the meals. And it was a gathering of most of my beloved Toastmasters family members so I was able to sculpt so many memories using photographs which I will hold on to until death. I am eagerly waiting to experience the same at Ovation 2018.

Q.You and your club have been a part of many divisions. How has this helped you in getting experience and connections in the fraternity of toastmasters.

A:Being in several divisions it has only opened doors to many more friendships. Even though I am in Division F I like to think of myself as a member of the entire Toastmasters family so I love to visit even Division events of other divisions. I also don't forget to visit clubs from our previous areas and now I have more and more clubs to visit. Even my club has benefited from this by being able to have joint meetings with different clubs and it has been a wonderful experience for my club members.

"Being in several divisions it has only opened doors to many more friendships"

TM Shamen Sameera

Q.How important is networking 19 when it comes to pursuing a district championship, specially visiting unknown clubs and mentors.

A: To me the best way to learn is to be open minded and start things off by thinking that you don't know anything. You can only fill a cup that is empty and you have to be open to learn from others. Along the journey to become a champion you will come across lot of criticism and evaluations but be humble enough to take things in good faith. Because they were kind enough to spend time to give you a feedback and use it to come out stronger and better the next time. And the way to get more feedback is to speak and get advice from a wider pool of Toastmasters friends. The number of people who helped me and encouraged me this year is uncountable and I owe everything I am today to them. So anyone who wants to be the champion with the trophy first reach out to people, be humble and sincere and be ready to help others. And you will be the Champion of the people no matter whether you win the trophy or not. One Toastmasters I truly look up to one day told me no one remembers who won. But what matters is what you represent and what you do for others and who you truly are.

"Along the journey to become a champion you will come across lot of criticism and evaluations but be humble enough to take things in good faith" Q.Any message you would like to give the fellow readers?

A:I would like to request them to try and think out of the box. Most people think they can only create humor out of the usual topics like Love and marriage etc. But there are so many other things that we face in our lives. So many issues that impact the society and you can take them and put a Humorous spin on them but still bring those issues into light. We are all here to enhance our lives and a humorist should also try to give some value to the audience by giving a good take home message. Try to do this every chance you get to speak and use those 5-7 minutes to change lives.

"If you can speak, you can influence. If you can influence, you can change lives" Rob Brown

THEMED MEETINGS O C T O B E R

On the 25th of October the club 'Halloween Themed' meeting was held with TM Safiya Ismail being the toastmaster of the day. All toastmasters were present in their own unique Halloween costumes.

TM of the day TM Usman Jauffer transformed this themed meeting in to a whole new level with a record breaking number of guests being present from various clubs. 22nd November was all about a 'Tamil Movie' themed meeting which bought in a lot of unique activities to create participation engagement throughout the meeting.

D E C E M B E R

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N O V E M B E R

This Christmas got a lot better with TM Amanda Perera taking up the toastmaster of the day role in our club Christmas themed meeting which was held on the 20th December. among the usual meeting proceedings were a Christmas carol session, Santa Claus distributing gifts which bought in a lot of entertainment and togetherness before the vacation mode was on for many of the club members.

WANT

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Kumar Sangakkara, the mastery that is his batting. When the pitch is gripping and the ball is holding up in his back lift he cocks right hand and relaxes his bottom hand places his front foot to precision to be able to play the ball wherever he wishes. When he is digging in and playing himself to tea on the first day of a test match his preparation cycle is shortened to reduce mental effort and his bat hangs down. The focus, organization and class of that man with bat in hand is astounding and almost unparalleled. The flair he brings to into a very orthodox batting style we all know is of supreme beauty. He joined Surrey an acclaimed county cricket club with an incredible history long after his prime and still was regarded as the best cricketer to wear the illustrious baggy brown cap.

A person with such precision and culture on the field while facing balls thrown in excess of 100 mph how organized would he be off it. His good friend might even be his best in his playing days Mahela says “Sanga is the most unorganized person I know”.

We have countless examples my favourite footballer, Lionel Messi, was diagnosed with growth hormone deficiency. When he was recruited as a wonder kid by football club Barcelona the age of 12 the agent from the club thought they have been cheated. They were promised a 12 year old wonder kid from Argentina and walked in a boy that looked 7 and today 16 years later is regarded as one of the greatest if not the greatest ever.

In my personal experience 2 people have told me the same story ‘when we were young and the times were tough we did what it took collected money to buy bread walk to the closest stream dipped it in the water and ate it to be sure that we don’t choke. One of them was a maid that worked at our house the other Mr. A. H. Fawz a philanthropist the owner of Rainco and a few more profitable institutions. Having spent time with both of them there was 1 clear TM Ahamed Abdullah and telling difference not many just 1. 1 of them wanted to navigate through life the other wanted to make a difference and they both managed what they wanted.

That reminded me of a story that I heard, a young man making his way through life came into contact with a successful businessman. Seeing the opportunity for some advice the young man asked how to succeed in life, long story short the guru asked him to come to the beach the next day, well having been offered the formula for success the next day morning he was buzzing got up suited up and went to the beach he should have worn a short. The guru met him and asked him to follow him in to the sea all the way till the water was to the young man’s neck. Jumps on him and presses his head under the water, the young man fights his way back up so that he can breathe.

Again long story short the guru says the only way to be successful is to want success as much as you wanted to breathe when your head was held under water.

The problem with youth, some of them want to sleep more than they want success some choose temporary joy over success some choose social media over success. With Sangakkara all of us have heard about his commitment to a practice regime. Messi was seen taking tablet it and was later revealed that it was because he was suffering from a stomach issue gastritis.

To be or get something want it enough.

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SPEECH CRAFT 2017/18

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Under the guidance of the Managing Director of Expolanka Freight Pvt Ltd Mr. Safi Yoosuf & the supervision of the company human resource department, Expolanka Toastmaster Club was able to launch the first speech craft program for the ‘EFL A & B team’ members. The members consist of two teams which are under the direction of the Managing Director and consist of staff of above senior executive level and below directorate level.

Key elements of personality development such as self-confidence, technical areas of good communication skills, courage to take up responsibility and team work will be taught during the 10 week program. The program begun on the 27th of October and is held on every Friday from 0530 Pm to 0730 Pm at the auditorium of Expolanka Freight Pvt Ltd. The speech craft is being coordinated by the club president, TM Hisham Yasir with the support of the EC members, IPP TM Darren Pullenayegam, DTM Zaidh Naushard and TM Ahamed Mauroof. Feature presentations had been conducted by top professionals in the industry such as TM Farill Farook, TM Buddhima Subasinghe, DTM Chrishanthie Emmanuel & TM Shameen Sameera.

The members involved in the speech craft program are as follows.

Previously two speech craft programs were conducted by the Colombo TMC which lead to the initiation of Expolanka TMC. This is the second speech craft program that the club is conducting for the corporate which is being followed after the first program done in 2014/15 coordinated by TM Scerena Dirckze & DTM Zaidh Naushard.

TGIF

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When I was told to be a part of Speech craft by our HR manager I was a little bit worried and had a doubt in my mind whether it will ruin my Friday night and the time to catch up with my friends.

And to make the matters worse it was on December where most of them are on their annual leave and keeps most of their Friday’s off for vacation or a time off to meet with colleagues. But then again everything I assumed about speech craft soon turned out to be wrong. It was a place where we were waiting to spend our Friday nights. A place where we met our own colleagues working in different departments and a place to make our bonds much stronger.

At the first toastmaster meeting we were briefed about the program and a summary was given about the tasks that we had to complete. With those tasks the Ice breaker was a task which everyone hesitated to complete. I thought myself that I would wait around three meetings to do my 1st speech but as soon as the briefing was over the president of the club requested me to do my first speech on the next meeting, unable to hesitate as my colleagues around me cheered me to take up the challenge, I had to accept it.

I still remember the day in which I made my first speech which was truly an Ice breaker. My hands were almost shivering at the beginning but as I was in the middle of my speech I started to enjoy my speech through the expressions of the audience. My ice breaker was about the dreams I had and how they all changed but how my passion towards them still remains. I connected the learning's I gathered from each passion I had and how those learning's have helped my career.

Through the dreams I had I explained about myself and about my childhood.

SC Nisal Wijeratne

Speech craft not only helps to build public speaking but it also helps to build the leadership qualities and the confidence within the members. For this the program has several roles which we were asked to take up and perform. My first role was the role I played as the table topic master at the 4th meeting. I wanted to do something different so without writing all topics on the board I kept some interesting topics in my hand and told the audience to come and select topic from the board or from my hand. There were three people who selected topics from the board and two people who were

brave enough to select topics from my hand. The topics in my hand had topics such as “tell us something that no one knows about you, your crush at office, if you had the option to be Single or married what would you do”.

After the 4th meeting we were given the chance to evaluate our own colleagues which was a new experience since it gave us an opportunity to look at some one and take the best out of him, and to make adjustments in ourselves looking at others. Speech craft has not only given us the opportunity to improve our selves in public speaking rather it has helped to improve selfconfidence, leadership skills and personality which will help to make a good speaker eventually.

I highly recommend the speech craft program to anyone who is a part of the corporate world, since at some point of our career we will have to speak to an audience to inspire our peers or to attract new customers.

HAPPY 2018!!!

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Happy New Year!!! hope that this coming year will be the year that all your dreams are made a reality..cheers to a very prosperous, productive and adventurous year!!! - TM Sharon Wish you all a very Happy New Year and may you all reach to the pinnacle of success!!!

DTM Zaidh In a few days it will be the firs blank page of a 365 page book, Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right TM Malith Read a good book. Listen to some soothing music. Raise the bar a little high with smile on your face. Take a good breath & start fresh.

Happy 2018! - TM Thiwanka Everyday is a new opportunity to have a fresh start. Wishing you a new year filled with new hopes, new joy and new beginnings TM Kavya

Tomorrow is a blank page of yet another book, go out and make this novel count, God bless and a Happy New Year TM Darren Learn from yesterday, Live for today, Hope for tomorrow Happy New Year 2018!!!

TM Gazzaly

12 new chapters, 365 new chaances, have a blessed year ahead Happy 2018!!!

TM Shehani

EDITORIAL MESSAGE BY TM SAFIYA ISMAIL

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It is with great pleasure that I take this opportunity to pen down a few words as the editor of the 2nd newsletter for the toastmaster year 2017/18. “Extravaganza” as it means it’s all about bringing in spectacular spectrum of our members as well as other toastmasters around the world. This edition we have the honor of featuring TM Mark Brown, 1995 world champion of public speaking and TM Shamen Sameera , 2017 district 82 humorous speech champion along with many other people who have been an immense strength to our club in every little way possible.

Drawing a picture in one’s head about the end product is always easy. However carrying out the activities and making the dream product a reality is a tough job especially when good quality needs to be maintained. Hence forth the same applies to doing this newsletter from scratch. It is my duty to thank each and every one who helped even through a word of advice on the picture placements etc. to being behind me on checking the progress to motivating me when I thought it is an impossible job. A special thanks goes out to the management of Expolanka as well for believing in Expolanka Toastmasters and supporting us to face the challenges among our busy routine work schedule each needs to go through.

Hope you enjoyed reading Extravaganza and came across meaningful learnings as promised.

As the VP Public Relation of the club and the editor of this newsletter here is me signing off till the next amazing edition to come in a few months.

“Keep It short (but make it) EXTRVAGANZA” Till next time!

2017/18 Executive Committee of Expolanka Toastmasters Club

DO GET IN TOUCH WITH US...

Meet us every 2nd and 4th Wednesday From 06 Pm onwards, at Expolanka Holdings, 15A Clifford Avenue, Colombo 03, Sri Lanka Follow us on , expolanka_toastmasters Expolanka_TMC Expolanka Toastmasters E mail us on : toastmasters@expolanka.com Call us on, Hisham Yasir : +94768593763 Thiwanka Premathilaka : +94771080844

"It's always so great to see you, Lets keep in touch"

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