Annual Club Speech Contests Report

Speech contests are looked forward to by each toastmaster Each year, thousands of Toastmasters compete in the Humorous, Evaluation, Tall Tales, Table Topics, and International speech contests Competition begins with club contests, and winners continue competing through the Area, Division, and District level

ICC EVES ANUUAL CLUB SPEECH CONTEST 2022-2023 was conducted on 17th Jan 2023 for the Evaluation Speech Contest and Humorous Speech Contest The Table Topics And International Speech Contest was conducted on 31st Jan 2023 The contest Manager was TM Smita Manoj

Humorous Speech Contest

TM Shyam Sunder was the Chief Judge of the Humorous Speech Contest supported with the Role players Latah Ramakrishnan conducted the humorous speech contest

There were 6 contestants 1 Chaitali Mehta 2 Sushma Harish 3 Tara Ashish 4 Rashmi Raghavendra 5 Jaya Majumder 6 Bindu Pillai

All the humorous speech contestants delivered their humorous speeches Chief Judge congratulated all the participants and distributed participation certificates to all the contestants

EVALUATION SPEECH CONTEST

Evaluation speech contest chair, Lakshmi Sarada, DTM Chief Judge Alar Mel Mengai, DTM along with the Role players conducted the Speech Evaluation Contest

Lornalyn Tallod presented her speech with the title “Gratefully MAD ”

The speech was evaluated by 6 contestants :1 Bindu Pillai 2 Mani Roy 3 Bindu Singh 4 Asha Shiju 5 Jaya Majumder 6 Usha Nagrani Chief Judge congratulated all the participants and distributed participation certificates to all the contestants

International Speech Contest

Contest Chair for International Speech Contest was Vinita Nangalia She introduced Chief Judge of the International Speech Contest, TM Philip Cherian along with the Role players

International Speech Contestants:1 Swapna Raghuraman 2 Asha shiju 3

Bindu Pillai 4 Chaitali Mehta 5 Sonali Ghosh 6 Sushma Harish All the International Speech contestants delivered their speeches very well Chief Judge congratulated all the participants and distributed participation certificates to all the contestants

TABLE TOPICS CONTEST

Table Topics contest chair, TM Beena Manzoor introduced the Chief Judge of the Table Topics Contest, TM Philip Cherian along with the Role players Table Topic Contestants :1 Anitaben Patel ,2 Siby Ripson,3 Bindu Pillai,4

Asha Shiju,5 Sonali Ghosh 6 Swapna Raghuraman 7 Sushma Harish Chief Judge congratulated all the participants and distributed participation certificates to all the contestants

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“Speakers may star, but contest functionaries play a critical role”

Close your eyes and imagine a Toastmasters club speech contest Do you immediately picturise a speaker, maybe enthusiastic, maybe a little nervous?

Perhaps he or she is using wit or an earnest tone to win over anonymous contest judges all while watching for the dreaded red light

But did you also think about the people who fill the contest roles, the ones who make the program flow and ensure that it adheres to Toastmasters International’s speech contest rules Volunteering to help run a speech contest offers a special opportunity to refine leadership and communications skills and can amplify the experience of simply being a Toastmaster Serving in those roles, gives you a broad perspective of what Toastmasters is all about”

One such role which I have performed during the Annual Club Contest 2022-23 as a Club Contest Manager The contest manger is essentially the event coordinator for a Toastmasters speech contest, overseeing all arrangements including budget, audiovisual and other equipment, publicity, venue, refreshments, and contestant eligibility etc

I am grateful to my club that they believed in me and provided me an opportunity to serve as a Contest Manager By doing this role I have come across my strengths and self-realization of my weakness too “

The amount of connec contest preparations b leadership skills Club but with help and exp with ease Of course, th comprehensive Speec There’s no sense in pla out part of your plan contest ruleHave all y ready before the con train functionaries Re the team understand to be an investment and emphasize teamw provides resources to including club contes Toastmasters websit including back-up pla event, is a must to ove So if you like the chall if you are looking to skills, contest manger club contest strengthens those connections” “It’s more challenging and we are in Toastmasters to be challenged”

A successful club contest is all about planning and teamwork

The secret of getting ahead is getting started

Keeping this in mind one fine day I joined ICC EVES toastmasters club to start my journey i always had a fear of public speaking and after joining ICC EVES,I felt the value of toastmasters with time As you keep attending sessions, you will see the change in yourself, you will witness your growth in terms of self-evaluation, understanding your speaking techniques, and most importantly the urge to express yourself and other technicalities that you may not have noticed otherwise, while communicating Toastmaster not only gives you the confidence to speak but it also enhance our growth by learning from others

My first winning experience!

I thought winning was my DNA till a certain date and then meeting failure in the most obnoxious way in high school had helped me to cherish the quote “Failure is the stepping stone to Success”

Participating in any toastmasters contest, be it club level or above is a learning curve on its own, falling and rising again is the mantra I too, took part in the contest this year without much preparation and the result was evident – need not say much!! But the thrill and the adrenalin rush are the reasons for my participation The arrangements and the preparations by the contest manager were unbelievably good I urge each Eve to keep participating, not just for the experience but to instill that self-belief “yes I can do it too” and keep learning from each nook and corner

Being a new member I was eligible to participate in humorous speech contest in the club level on Jan 17, 2023 My mentor motivated me to pen down on any of the topics or incidents in my life, that too humorous

At first, I did not know what to write about Then I thought for a while and decided to write on my own experience about beauty products and make upAgain with the help of my mentor I got my script edited and she helped me in adding some more humor in it And when the script was finalized, started preparing my speech I did work hard and even though was scared on the day of contest, especially after seeing all experienced senior members who were all so excited for the contestI did my best A lot of appreciations and genuine feedbacks poured in for my speech delivery and content I was already on cloud 9.And finally when the results were announced, I was surprised to know I won the third place, I was never expecting that My first ever contest in Toastmasters and winning the third place was really a great thing for me All credit goes to my mentor without whom I would not have achieved this I was overwhelmed with huge round of applause while holding the trophy and certificate I will always be grateful to the toastmaster fraternity for bringing out the best in me I would definitely participate in more contests in future and deliver my best

Progress to Success

Have you ever seen a caterpillar coming out of its cocoon? Have you tried to force it out? What do you think will happen? All right…

During my school days, I was good at studies but in department of public speaking, i was really weak My weakness was because of my lack of confidence Whenever I participated in any class competition, i was discouraged by my friends and mocked for my expression less face during speech However, under the teacher and parents’ pressure once I participated in poem recitation competition My mother helped me in that as she knew that I would not do myself. I won the competition. And the good thing was, now friends stopped laughing at me. Next competition was elocution and I really wanted to take part in it and wanted to win, so friends should not laugh at me ever So, I went to my brother this time and he wrote for me

When it was just about my turn, I started panicking I requested a boy behind me in queue to go before me. He said something which boosted my confidence and I gave a good performance. I still remember what he said to encourage me. He said, “are you going to get national award for doing good or jail for doing bad? Don’t worry just give your best After that I won again but with what my brother wrote So i was still the caterpillar who was trying so hard to make the wings strong and wanted to become an independent butterfly It went on and on till my adulthood.

Just 4 years ago I came here, and I joined this toastmasters club just because of my friend invited Again, have to give speeches Now who will write speeches for me My toastmaster’s friends and my mentor told me chaitali you have to write and deliver yourself. And they guided me saying write simple things about your life experience. Just come and share it in the club. Though it was way out of my comfort zone, I just wrote about myself and I delivered ice breaker And today I am already delivering my 12th speech, I am also the vice president of membership of this strong club So, I came out of my cocoon as a strong butterfly Growth always arises from the challenges Why don’t even we try to come out from our comfort zone? Why do we hide behind the obstructions and difficulties? Why do we become depended on others for our own success? Don’t be bogged down by the obstructions. Now I learnt my lesson. Friends, it is important for us to get out of our cocoon strong I am inviting all the caterpillars over here to become strong butterflies

Today the caterpillar in me is flying like a butterfly. Remember in school days my family members had tried to help me like pulling a caterpillar forcefully out of the cocoon. If we want to fly, touch the skies, be successful we need to come out from the obstructions like afraid of being judged, having less selfconfidence, negative feelings Otherwise, you will feel anxiety, depression which will result into your own failure

Now finds tell me what will happen if someone else tries pull the caterpillar out, it never can make its wings strong We have to fight with our own difficulties to become strong Don’t wait for the opportunity, create it by yourself

We have one life Give it the wings of self-confidence and fly high to reach the skies.

Stepping Stones to Success

Despite having brilliant ideas, thoughts and opinions, I failed miserably to express myself due to lack of communicational skills. Over the years I realized there was a considerable gap between mind and mouth which could not connect when in public and while facing a crowd. Emotionally drained and stuck, I was curious to re-invent myself, and then, I came up with the idea of joining toastmaster. I knew one of my colleagues was into it and had personally observed him growing

I decided to join and after few sessions, gained confidence to deliver my Ice -Breaker speech , slowly and steadily I started gaining the confidence to express myself I started communicating to connect and not to impress, delivered by speeches 1, 2, 3, completed my levels 1 and 2, started participating in table topics, as TMOD , Evaluators , role players and all activities which pushed me out of my comfort zone Slowly and steadily I started to develop the art of connection between thoughts, feelings and actions and gained emotional mastery in life and is able to remove all the limiting beliefs .Most importantly I have started believing in myself and able to relate and communicate well with friends , family and colleagues .

Toastmasters accepted me the way I am will all my flaws, thought me it is okay to fail, it is very much okay to stumble, fall if you are willing to take a step forward to learn, develop, grow and progress It has transformed my mind which has helped me transform my world and reshaped me to believe in myself and think out of the box

With every session I am only growing, learning and developing my soft skills with confidence and poise

I look forward to many more sessions and support of my mentors and fellow toastmasters to achieve my full potential and complete all my levels and pathways to become a distinguished toastmaster and a confident speaker and person

Beyond Toastmasters

Toastmasters is a platform that can change you 360 degrees, make you confident and positive & exploit your potential to the maximum, you just need to stay glued to it.

Toastmasters galvanises you and the best example is our Distinguished Toastmaster and Past President , Asha Shiju

A passionate educator for past 25 years and at present working as Principal of Brilliant Indian International School a dedicated distinguished toastmaster for more than a decade and presently the District Gavels coordinator- the journey has been a great one of learning and as service leader

Past President ICC Eves, Past Area Director,Past Division Finance director,Past ICC Eves Gavels counselor,Mentor for Bhavan’s Toastmaster and charter member,coach and mentor for many clubs,have won accolades in contests and have taken up role of Chief judge for DTAC in Qatar and District 20 Kuwait.

She enjoys her role in the ICBF team of counseling for students. A sports enthusiast and a virulent traveler having visited more than 50 countries… She believe in keeping each day simple and live each moment with smile and positivity

Asha Shiju, DTM says Teamwork is my mantra in life and it has brought to me beautiful moments of joy and contentment Ialways believe that we rise in life by lifting others"

Awarded and Recognised for her contribution to the Society And when media captures you for the difference that you make

Invest In Yourself

- Asha Shiju,

Truly quoted life begins at the end of your comfort zone. My journey of toastmasters has been amazing and incredible. It has helped me to hone my skills as a service leader and educator.

I joined toastmasters in 2010 with an intention of discovering myself as a speaker and honing my presentations and PR skills Before joining toastmasters, I was a science teacher who was enthusiastic and passionate about my job but today I have grown up my leadership role as founder principal of a cbse school ready to take risks and bring paradigm shift in various areas All thanks to the tagline of Toastmasters Where leaders are made Personally, and professionally, I have learned to be an effective evaluator, good motivator, and encourager, confident at impromptu speaking, patient listener and to inspire and persuade others with effective communication. My skills of building teams with good inter and intrapersonal relationships always had an added advantage in my career The impact of toastmasters has been great and changed me and my vision in life

I am proud of the remarkable confidence that I carry today

Embark on this beautiful unstoppable journey of finding your best version and live an inspiring life out of your comfort zone reaching out to others