Club No 822324
Area 4
Division F
District 82
Kandy Toastmasters Club Newsletter December 2021
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Kandy Toastmasters Club, Dr. Jayalath Edirisinghe, Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering University of Peradeniya, Peradeniya, 20400
Envisioned Future To be the first-choice provider of dynamic, high-value, experiential communication and leadership skills development. Mission We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.
Inside This Issue Thoughts from the Exceutive Commitee
A New Beginning - Area Director
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How to Craft a quality Speech Page 5
Core Values Page 6 -7 Notable Moments Club Events Calendar
Humorous Speech Contest Crawling
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Awards and Accolades of the club and members
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District Officers from our Club Noorul Munawwara, DTM Immediate Past District Director TM Dr Methsiri Herath Area Director, F4
Chat with A Champion - Area Director
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Club Mission We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.
Kandy Toastmasters Club We meet at 5:30 PM on the 2nd 3rd nd 4th Tuesdays of every month.
TM Ammar Faleel
TM Githmini Dissanayake
TM Kamala Rasheed
The Editorial Team
CEB Auditorium No.4, Asgiriya Road, Kandy, Sri Lanka. Owing to the pandemic we meet online through zoom or at an open air venue.
Thoughts f rom the Executive commitee T
Don’t just do it
oastmasters don’t just do things, they plan to make any activity proper and perfect. Planning and preparing well ahead is a habit of toastmasters to avoid poor performance. Toastmasters always pay attention to motivate thier members to be perfect and good human beings. Empathy and synergy are two important concepts of toastmasters. Originally new members joined the toastmaster movement assuming it is an eating and drinking club since the word ‘toast’ is included. Then they realize it is a public speaking club. Slowly members understand that it is a leadership club. Later everyone considered it as a finishing club. But after considering all the training and activities, everyone understands that it is a club converting any human being into a quality human having many basic qualities and good manners. Listening skills is one important quality developed during toastmasters training as it is a part of speaking skills. Empathy, synergy and helpfulness are few other qualities developed while playing roles such as ah-counter, grammarian, evaluator and general evaluator. Toastmaster is a good forum to extend assistance to fellow members while developing their own skills. Adequate preparation is required to play the role of a speech evaluator. To listen to the total speech carefully to identify strengths, weaknesses, points of improvement and prepare a two minute mini speech is an encouragement for the speaker. Ah counter, timer, grammarian are major contributors to a club process. When a member plays one of those roles, they commit their time and sacrifice their enjoyment and satisfaction on behalf of club members. All these acts develop a habit among members to help others. Therefore, toastmasters develop good qualities to shape their career in other activities also. Toastmasters pledge is to attend meetings
regularly, deliver speeches, help fellow members to develop and act within core values of toastmasters. As such all the members are expected to offer something to the club before gaining from the club. If toastmasters treat each and every role seriously and play with respect, the whole nation will benefit Dr Jayalath Edirisinghe, DTM President 071 448 8058/ 077 242 2624 jayalath@eng.pdn.lk
A choice and a change to last a lifetime The first day that I walked in through those
glass doors in 2018 as a guest, I was expecting to find a place where people learn new methods of cooking. Surprisingly it turned into a place where they learn new ways of “communicating”. Little did I know that from that strange day on my life will take a 180 turn. Kandy Toastmasters Club gave me opportunities that I experienced for the first time in my life and these experiences have been and continue to be of infinite value. With all that, here I am today holding great responsibility as the Vice President Education of Kandy Toastmasters Club, the first outstation club from Colombo and one of the best clubs in the District. Passing our 400th meeting, our Journey to Infinity is thriving with the guidance of our senior members and the commitment of the new members, and I am proud to say that we are many excellent public speakers and leaders. The Kandy Toastmaster Club is not just a club it’s like a family where we help each other no matter what the situation is. And that is what helps us create the network we have and the beautiful meeting environment wherever we may meet. I'm very grateful for what the club has provided me and my fellow members of the Kandy Toastmaster Family from developing our skills in
Kandy Toastmasters Club Where leaders are made
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Thoughts from the Executive Commitee
public speaking to leadership, creativity, the lessons we have learnt and continue to learn are infinite. I am especially grateful for the beautiful memories of infinite value/ which will last a lifetime. TM Dulendra Hapuhinna, IP4 VP Education 077 768 4865 dulendrahapuhinna@gmail.com
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If you think you are updated You are outdated.
was brought face to face with this particular quote that our President frequently utters. Given that I was a committee member of my college media unit, a shadow to our VPPRs, an area PRM, and am the marketing analyst of The Open Gate, I speculated that I am “up-to-date” and proficient in the art of public relations. When I studied the resources that toastmasters international has offered us VPPRs I realized that the truth is to the contrary. There is more to learn and that is the beauty of toastmasters, we have the opportunity and the resources to learn, and we are always learning TM Ammar Faleel, VC4 VP Public Relations 077 007 2322 ammarahmedfaleel03@gmail.com
Speaking of Toastmasters
The general notion of a Toastmaster is that
they excel in public speaking. Yet, when you are a Toastmaster, you learn that it is much more. You acquire skills in communicating, presenting your views, coordinating and planning, sharpening your listening ability, improving your vocabulary Page 2
and grammar, criticizing constructively and learning to talk without hesitation. All are attributes of creating good leaders. A Toastmaster means you belong to a family that supports its members by mentoring and guiding each other to reach higher through well-structured projects such as ‘Pathways’. As a senior citizen, I wonder if I have hit the fountain of youth! Because I have discovered many refreshing viewpoints and heard entertaining topics and stories from dancing to martial arts; reading to scouting; I am still learning and the sky's the limit!" TM Kamala Rasheed, LD3 Secretary 077 782 2604 kamilarasheed@gmail.com
Power Of Mentoring What did you expect from Toastmasters?
Many of us joined to become good speakers, leaders or socialize.
Let us group them as Speakers to Leaders, Leaders to Socializing & Socializing to Speakers. Now what has happened to all these 3 groups? Eventually, each has grown to become good speakers, good leaders & good friends. That’s the power of Toastmasters. Why is mentoring important in Toastmasters? When you see someone very confident on stage, you wonder as to how he is able to do it. What happens if you approach him and seek his guidance to improve your public speaking? He will definitely oblige. The end result? You will beat him at the next club contest.
TM Hareesz Rasheed, SR3 Tresurer 077 30 90 504 hareesz@gmail.com December 2021 Club Newsletter
Thoughts from the Executive Commitee
There is more to this Toastmasters was introduced to me by my
sister as a club that helped improve one’s public speaking skills with the added bonus of being able to network with creative individuals. This is what I assumed it to be and nothing more when I walked into my first meeting as a guest. That first meeting alone made me realize there was more to it, I froze when it was my turn during the round robin session. I was only met by looks and words of encouragement. The environment, the people, the support and the variety of opportunities to learn and grow are aspects of the club I slowly realized over the year and a half since I became a member. TM Ashok Mohan, DL1 Sergeant at Arms 076 864 1024 ashokmohan254@gmail.com
To become a Great Leader
Effective communication is an essential soft skill we all need to be successful in our life. Toastmasters is a platform which helps you to improve your communication and leadership skills. It’s a place where you can meet people from various age groups with diverse skills and experiences. Most importantly it gives you the freedom to express yourself without having fear of getting judged. Fear of getting judged is huge factor that keeps us away from expressing ourselves and become effective communicators. This is the place where people really listen to you and give you constructive feedback. The most important assets of Toastmasters community are its enthusiastic and extremely helping people and supportive community as a whole. By joining toastmasters, you can be an effective communicator and a leader with a great vision.
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A Great Experience
t was a great experience to be the President of the very prestigious ‘Kandy Toastmasters Club’ of 20/21 which was a special period for every one of us because it was the beginning of COVID era. Most of the functions moved towards virtual activities which were very new to Sri Lankans. But, in the toastmaster fraternity, it gave us a good learning environment to expose ourselves to this IT world. I was able to manage almost every activity through ZOOM, keeping the club members without much frustration, with the help of our energetic youngsters. Frankly, we didn't even feel that we hadn't been having many physical meetings. Even members from the far ends of Sri Lanka were able to join the Kandy Toastmasters club meetings through ZOOM and enjoyed it a great deal, while learning and developing amity with the club members. I personally developed confidence and consistency as a leader in countless ways. The Experiences of KTC proves the quote of the French poet, Charles Alfred Mercier, ‘What we learn with pleasure we never forget’. Further, I believe as a whole club, through our members’ untiring team work, we were able to achieve the highest award of the District, the "Golden Club" status making all members proud. All in all, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my sincere executive team including shadow exco members and all members who supported me selflessly throughout without uttering a single discouraging word. I wish ‘Kandy Toastmasters Club’, Good Luck forever and to produce competent communicators and excellent leaders. I love KTC a lot and the past, present and future members of it TM Prof. Chandra Herath, IP5 Immediate Past President 071 867 5609 ckh@yahoo.com
TM Dr Ruvini Liyanage VP Membership 071 867 5609 ruvinill@yahoo.com Kandy Toastmasters Club Where leaders are made
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Area Director’s Message
Paying your annual membership fee
and taking the membership is a new beginning. You have the driving license. Now what?
A New Beginning
You can park the vehicle for the whole year, like few of our members do in a regular way or you can drive your Toastmaster Mercedes Benz car on the new unidentified roads. It is going to be a different experience. You will meet new friends , you have to do new activities and you will gain new experiences. Nearly two years ago the Covid-19 pandemic took the whole world by storm. We were devastated. As Toastmasters, we had to encounter similar after effects the whole world is facing. We lost some of our friends. We could not hold a physical meeting for many months, although in person meetings were our number one DESIRE.
How to make the best of it? Tips from a seasoned Toastmaster
attendance of the club members. The members are the backbone of any club. So, having a good record on the attendance of the club members is crucial. Not only that, as a Toastmaster, you can only grow only if you attend regularly. The second, and an important quality Toastmasters must possess, is being open minded and open to criticism. We must realize that, as humans we can't be perfect and that there is always something we could work on . The third, this platform is a hub of opportunities, ranging from public speaking and learning leadership skills, to learning PR skills and meeting new people everyday. So, we must grab these opportunities.
We rediscovered new vocabulary; zoom master, virtual round of applause, social distancing, quarantine and online clubs are some of them. Those who prefer in person meetings unfortunately walked away from the clubs.
The fourth, always encourage yourself and your fellow members to take up roles, to help yourself to learn actively, while also learning passively through listening to other speakers.
We as a club had some similar scenarios. Those who tolerated the technical jargons remained as members while some senior members withdrew due to technical inadequacy.
And finally, Toastmastering is a journey, not a destination. Improving in public speaking doesn't happen overnight. It takes practice, effort, failures and a lot of hurdles to get through. So, be patient with yourself and be kind to yourself.
“Kandy Toastmasters Club", which is the oldest club in the region is going on her path in a slow and steady manner. And for her to keep rising and shining, we as members must work together, with dedication and determination to make our club the best it can be for all our members. The first and the most important thing in order to maintain a sustainable club is the regular
Dr Methsiri Herath
Area Director Area 4, Divison F, District 82
Giving his innaugural speech as president at the Installation ceremony 2018
Recieving accolades as the conference chair for the 2014 Division H mid year conference Page 4
December 2021 Club Newsletter
Educational Wrtings
How to Craft a Quality Speech Writing Speeches to Captivate Your audience
When I first started toastmasters in 2017, I had no clue as to how to craft a standard speech. As time went by, I realized that there is a format for articulating a narrative. Every time I delivered a speech, I applied the following pointers to give purpose and value to the audience. I take this opportunity to share a few of the techniques I applied into crafting my stories. Before you start your speech you must ask yourself what, where, when, how and who is the story? How can I be heard and remembered, without the audience falling asleep? And this, does not come easy unless and until you are ready to dedicate and put a little effort into your thinking and writing. Let me take you through a few steps which can help you craft your speech. 1. Story – what and when did it happen? The event, purpose, time, ideas and opinions can be used to divide the story into any of the following types; humorous, factual, inspiring ,persuasive and etc.
2. Feelings – how did it touch me? All kinds of emotions, which include sadness, happiness, surprise, anger and etc. Despite any background or culture we belong to, feelings are the common concept we mutually share regardless of our origin. 3. Message – what did it teach me? Give the audience the reason as to why they must listen to your story. The narrative should communicate impactful teaching that resonates with the listener and encourage them to make a significant change. 4. Call to action – Where is the take-home message? Finally, this is where you challenge the audience towards transformation. All in all, these elements will guide you towards a proper structure of an opening, body and conclusion in your presentation. “A speech should not be a sharing of information but a sharing of yourself” - Ralph Archbold TM Milhana Anver Resource Pool Chair Extended Team, Divison B
Who is TM Milhana Anver? Toastmaster since 2017. Member of 3 Districts: Bangladesh, USA and Sri Lanka. 4 Times Division Humorous Speech Champion Division Champion for International Speech contest USA International keynote speaker Corporate trainer and coach for speaking effectively Notorious mother of 3 Kandy Toastmasters Club Where leaders are made
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K C A B 1 H 2 S 0 A 2 L F Take a step back, grab a cup of tea and a piece of cake while you’re at it! For we are about to go back to the past. To reminisce a sweet journey. A journey of adventure, Learning a journey of great lessons learnt. Our journey begins in the quiet citadel of Kandy. Yet, step in here and you will be perplexed as to why “Kandy” and the people of Kandy are considered quiet; for we are anything but quiet. You’ve entered Kandy Toasmasters. The first outstation club in Sri Lanka.
With the year drawing to a close and at the dawn of a new year, we decided to look to the future with hope and aspirations in our hearts will also looking to the past with gratitude for the journey we endured and the lessons that we learnt. We had the Flashback event to commemorate all this and more.
Flashback, I think in all earnest was a nostalgic event, all the past presidents and distinguished members joined this momentous event and The event in itself was incelebrated and reminisced with us. The past, has often been the a learning curve for us holder of many bitter sweet all, especially us memories, the past is also youngsters of the known for evoking great tumulus feelings that makes club. Taking charge of ones heart swell with joy.
an event and organising it and above else ensuring it was top notch was more challenging than expected
While our club is known for this and many other accolades that we have gathered throughout the year, I’ve realised we are more than just a club. We are a family. One very diverse, large and above all else loving and accepting family.
Kandy Toastmasters Club Where leaders are made Page 6
A testimony to this statement are the comments the many past presidents of our club made.
TM Jayampathi Dissanayake stated that Toastmasters had changed her life! TM Ranjith Dissanayake stated that the secret behind his success was Toastmasters. TM Indika said that the beauty of toastmasters is that it doesn’t only develop your communication skills but your leadership skills too but more of your social skills as well, which is as we all
Page X December 2021 Club Newsletter
News and Updates
now without a doubt essential in growing businesses and building relationships. TM Farweez Imamudeen said that toastmasters gave him a fantastic opportunity to empathise with people and set alight his career. So as you can see, toastmasters has truly changed many a people’s lives in numerous ways. The event in itself was a learning curve for us all, especially us youngsters of the club. Taking charge of an event and organising it and above else ensuring it was top notch was more challenging than expected. From, creating virtual backgrounds, to deciding the colour scheme for the attire (boy! Who knew finding a colour scheme for clothing for men and women was tough!) To creating the agenda it was all quiet tedious and we had graciously sacrificed many hours of sleep. Even on the night before the event we’d manage to shut eyes only for a few hours and to add to the dark circles the eye liner we ladies wore didn’t spare us from looking like zombies. Despite all the sleep deprivation and anxiousness we faced, we found something that I often think is missing both in our lives and in the tasks we perform. We managed to include an element of fun. So, even though we were awake
past midnight, time, seemed to drift in the air like silver dust. We also got to know each other better! And for some of us, it really was the perfect occasion to crack open our shells and show the world what we were made of. Our journey in this club, has been more than just about developing leadership skills and confidence in public speaking, our journey is one that has taught us love, acceptance and courage in the face of failures and the courage to step up. It has taught us that the power of encouraging one another is immense and one that cannot and must not be undermined. We’ve become better individuals and in the process of discovering our voice we’ve discovered who we are and what we stand for. They often say, don’t look back only forward. But I think sometimes, we need to look back to realise what a long way we’ve come and spend a few moments in the past. For the past is as beautiful as the uncertain future it holds. This ladies and gentlemen was our flashback 2020.
TM Shaakya Nathavitharana Kandy Toastmasters Club
Kandy Toastmasters Club Where leaders are made
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The Events Calendar
News and Updates
4th
Special Session Get the best out of Pathways
An indepth demonsrationon how to levarage the 3rd tools on the base camp Conducted by TM Ammar Faleel, Moderated by TM Dulendra Hapuhinna
4th
Official Visit of Region 13 Advisor Poh Kim Siong, DTM
26th
November
Journey to Infinity 400th Meeting
4th
Flash Back 2021
Educational Session Suganthi Periyasami,DTM Former Region 13 Advisor
Suganthi Periyasami, DTM conducted an inspiring and 14th i n f o r m a t i v e educational session on how be an effective evaluator
28th Club Level Contests
Evaluation TM1Ammar Faleel TM2Dulendra Hapuhinna TM3Shaakya Nathvitharana
Humorous Speech TM1Farweez Immamudeen TM2Charmi Basnayake TM3Ammar Faleel
21st
December
A humble and joyful event as members enjoyed each others long awaited company and a delicios cake. Special Thanks to Ms Ayomi Perera for generously offering the Castle Hill Bunglow as the venue.
29th
October
An overview of the features of zoom and how to best use them. The hands on session was a highlight. An immensely successful event. Conducted by TM Ashok Mohan, Moderated by TM Githmini Dissanayake
September
Special Session Get the best out of Zoom
May June August
Annual General Meeting 2021
January
7th & 8th
9th
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December 2021 Club Newsletter
We level Up
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Educational Wrtings
Humorous Speech Contest Crawling Can you be a good contestant too? Notes from a rising champion
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had only finished my icebreaker speech and the next thing I knew was I was competing at the Humorous Speech Division Contest. It was a rollercoaster ride for me as this was a complete new experience that pushed me out of my doors, windows and all the boundaries. As much as it was stressful it brought me great pleasure in learning a domain where I had never treaded in. As a toddler toastmaster I put my heart and soul into the contest crawling, learning and experimenting with techniques of speaking and humour as a child would experience the world with whatever they get in their hands. If not for our very own immediate past President Professor Chandra Herath I would not even dream of contesting at this stage. I initially did not want to take part but after pondering over for some time I decided I should take up the challenge. I did not confirm my participation at the beginning as I wanted to write my script and see how it would turn out. Taking one step at a time helped me to overcome my doubts of myself. I wanted to contest merely to get out of my comfort zone and I did not even know this goes up to world championship when I contested at the club level. I came 1st runner up at the club and the area contests and contesting at the Division level was something I hadn’t dreamt of a few months ago. I may not be the best person to talk on how one can prepare themselves for a humorous speech contest I would yet like to share my
experience and what I learnt throughout my humorous speech contest journey for anyone who is hesitant to take up the challenge, to give it a thought. You don’t need to be a person who is known for making people laugh
A
lot of toastmasters including myself hesitate when it comes to humorous speeches thinking others would not laugh listening to their speech. Well the audience would not most probably, if you just go with your first script. My very first script sounded more like a lamentation rather Page 10
than a humorous speech. It is with constant editing and practicing, learning from other speeches and guidance from my mentor and club members I was able to come up with a speech that I was content with which I could deliver at the contest. Let your mind work on it
Once you start developing the mindset for a
humorous speech your mind will do the trick. Letting you mind to come up with ideas will not be enough, you need to work on it. Once you open your mind for a humorous speech you will notice mundane things which can be turned into humour. For instance there was a conversation in my speech where our Vice President Public Relations (VPPR), asks “why do you use orange when you create flyers”? “because it is my favourite colour” “You can’t use your favourite colours here, you have to follow the brand manual” A lot of members from the audience told me they laughed listening to this part of the speech. It was a real conversation I and TM Ammar Faleel (VPPR) had where asked me why I used black as a background of a flyer once. I brought the colour orange and tweaked the actual conversation a bit to bring humour. Humour does not fall from the sky it is those everyday incidents that you find humour from. If you are thinking of participating in the next year humorous speech contest, you can programme your mind for it from now. You will be surprised to see how your brain works. One step at a time
Taking one step at a time is important. I confirmed my participation in the contest once I scripted my first draft and I was not confident whether I should go ahead with the speech. There were many times I wanted to quit as I was not happy with the script. Working on the script and delivery constantly made me to build confidence and I loved every step of the way. Taking one step at a time can take you a long way when you feel quitting or not giving it a try. December 2021 Club Newsletter
Educational Wrtings
Editing is the key
As an amateur participating in the contest,
what I realized was that the first draft would not be up to a level of a humorous speech in the first go. It is important to take time to keep editing the draft to make it more structured. While you work on it you would come up with new ideas and there could be times, after editing for so many times you would finally opt for your initial draft. Yet it lets you reach the untapped humour or potential within you. Rome wasn’t built in a day
Drafting
a speech may not be as pleasurable as listening to a humorous speech. It really was a stressful experience. Along with stress comes the love of living with your speech. I had been editing the script till the night before as best ideas would pour at the last moment. There could be pros and cons to having an evolving script. Waiting till the last moment to have a proper script would not let you have a peaceful mind to prepare yourself for the contest. As an amateur contestant this worked for me. If I’m to contest in the years to come I now know how I should prepare for the contest ahead of time. The contest itself was such a learning experience and I have a baggage full of learnings I can use in future contests as well as delivering a speeches at club meetings or at other occasions. Jerks are important
I always believed that for one to excel in a particular domain, one has to gradually work towards it. The contest proved me that I was wrong. Jerks push you to levels you wouldn’t even imagine. But to maintain consistency you need to continuously work on speaking. Jerks would take you to unthinkable levels but continuous engament is the key for sustainability. Be authentic and share your experiences
We are prone to be influenced by other speakers while losing ourselves. Experimenting with humour and find your own humour I think is important . It is far more pleasurable experimenting with humour than winning a contest. Let the judges do their job, while you do yours. Different perspectives help you to polish up your speech
If not for my mentor I would have quit half
way. My mentor TM Shaakya Nathavitharana was my listener, mentor, crying shoulder and the one who guided me every step of the way. TM Prof. Chandra Herath and TM Dr. Methsiri Herath helped me guiding me throughout and every encouraging word I received from club members meant so much for me to keep myself moving forward. There were certain areas I was not sure I should include in the speech, at such times feedback from others were helpful to brush up my speech and delivery. Practice
Practice helps you to be comfortable with
the stage usage and to internalize what you say without trying to recall the script at the contest. Practicing using a timer is important to ensure that you do not exceed the time. This means you might have to remove certain parts of your speech or to make it concise. Cutting chunks off the script is like ripping a piece your heart as you put your heart and soul into every sentence you write, yet for the sake of time limitations one is confined to do so. This makes you to find ways of presenting your ideas concisely, as Shakespeare would say, ‘brevity is the soul of wit’. These are a few things among many other things I learnt participating in the contests. Exploring your own ways of expressing yourself through humour is definitely worth trying as it opens up potentials you wouldn’t have believed you have. Give it a try taking one step at a time, you will never know where you would end up.
If you watch humorous or prepared speech
contests you find speeches of same content. Take examples from your life when you weave your speech. You can learn the techniques from listening to other speeches but it is important not to get carried away by them and to get you mind programmed to common topics the speakers have spoken on.
TM Charmi Basnayake Humorous Speech contestant Division F 1st Runner Up, Area F4 Kandy Toastmasters Club
Kandy Toastmasters Club Where leaders are made
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CHAT WITH A CHAMPION How was your journey towards achieving the championship of the oratory contest?
Personally, it was an enriching and exciting
journey to be a part of because It challenged me to push myself out of my comfort zone. For starters it was required for us to share our ideas and perspectives on social media which was a little daunting. It was a part of the score, which was a part of ensuring whether we got into the next level or not. Even though it was uncomfortable, I had no option but to really put myself out there, and, you know, share my ideas and perspectives on a public forum. In that sense, I think the end journey in itself taught me a lot because I had to try out new things. And overall I must say that it's more than I had ever expected. How has Kandy Toastmasters Club benefited you in that particular success?
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t has benefited me greatly. Genuinely! I joined Kandy Toastmasters about 2 years ago. And I remember the first time I walked in, they asked me to do a table topic. Even though I had done impromptu speeches in school it was nerve-racking for me. Going in with a prepared speech is very different to being totally unprepared, and then having a topic thrown at you. As a part of the Global Unites oratory competition, we had to do an impromptu speech. In that sense Kandy Toastmasters has really helped me and prepped me in being able to speak on the spot since table topics are a part of every meeting. The table topic sessions really push you to muster all your courage and take up a topic and I think, with time, having done so many table topics, having listened to toastmasters who are well versed in the field of oratory giving me feedback really helped me understand how I can speak in an impromptu speech. And also the exposure you gain through the club is very enriching. Personally, I had to interact with people who are a lot older than me where I could learn a lot. Page 12
TM Shaakya Nathavitharana placed first in the Global Unites International Oratory Contest held online on the 9th October 2021
It was only after the competition came to an end, I was thinking about the entire journey that it dawned on me. My goodness, being a part of this club, really has benefited me and taught me a lot. Circling back to the typical first question of any interview,tell us about yourself?
I am Shaakya Nathavitharana. I’m 19 years old
and I'm a blast from the past, as I like to call myself. I'm greatly interested in music from the 80’s, TV series or anything to do with things that are old and not from the twenty-first century. I'm also very passionate about teaching.I enjoy reading and writing as well. Those are, I think, a few of the things that I really do enjoy. So That's a little bit about me. I think I'm as ordinary as it can get. Apart from the challenge of handling time, what are the other challenges that you came across so far? I'll start off by telling you the challenges I faced with the competition. Firstly the challenge was putting myself out there. I was very uncomfortable with it and how I overcame it was I did a root cause analysis of the problem I was facing. It was that I was scared people would think I was making a fool of myself and that I would get negative comments. Then what I thought about in retrospect was, it's true. But at the end of the day I think as an individual, we all have a right to voice our opinion. If you know what you're saying is good and if it's something someone can learn from, there's no harm in sharing it because not everything is always black and white. You'll always have the people who admire you, and you'll always have the people who don't like you, who don't like your ideas and perspectives. Sometimes you need to learn to cut off the negative voices and the negative opinions, and continue on your path. At the same time, since I knew it was something I struggled with, I was adamant to push myself and get myself out of that feeling of discomfort, of putting myself out there. The problems and challenges I have faced in general though, one is with my startup, the winning
December 2021 Club Newsletter
underdogs. So the startup has been challenging, because, like anything, when you're venturing out on your own, there are a lot of challenges that come forth with it. The first challenge was to find the students I needed to pilot one of my workshops. I was lost as to how to find students. The reality is a little disappointing. It’s okay to be disappointed, that's fine. But the important thing is, you start even with the challenges that you have. Once you start the next problem that comes is to keep going along the way. I think as long as you, as an individual, are passionate about what you have to offer. As long as you are convinced that your idea is worth sharing, even though it takes a long time, you will get there. Sometimes it can get really tough but as long as you don't forget why, keep it burning, that is your fuel. At the end of the day challenges will come, but take them head on. How did the Tostmaster's contesting experience support you to become a stronger contestant?
D
efinitely, It did make me a strong contestant. I have been contesting for auditory competitions in school and national competitions since I was 12. The exposure you gain through that is also very valuable. I remember the first day I took part in the competition,the atmosphere itself was very different. Suddenly everything weighs on you, and you are like this is an international contest and that exposure to that caliber really molded me to understand what a competition environment was like and how to be prepared for it. The experience you gain through toastmasters is very different. It’s holistic, it's nourishing and the best part is you don't just learn by being a contestant yourself you learn by observing others too. Most importantly you need to learn to be competitive, but not arrogant which I learned from toastmasters. It's such a positive learning environment that even though it's competitive, it's
friendly. It’s an environment where you learn from each other and inspires you to push your limits. What would you tell someone who might wish they achieved more at their age like you have or feeling behind in life?
S
uccess is very subjective. I read a book called The Winner's Manual. It's a beautiful book, they were talking about how success shouldn't be defined according to what society expects from you, or what anybody else in general expects you to have. It should be based on what you want out of life. Don't ever compare yourself to what you have, and what another has, because you can't. Your circumstances will be different from another. I look up to my dad a lot and still he is this idol who's accomplished so much. And then I'm looking at myself, and I’m thinking, Hey, he has a daughter who hasn't done half the stuff he's done at this age. So I came back and told my dad I'd really like to be as accomplished as you were when you were young. My dad told me don't compare yourself to me, you will never be me because he is Vidusha Naathavitharana and I’m Shaakya Naathavitharana. We are related by blood but we are different in every aspect possible. We are our own person. It took me a lot of time to let go of that notion of trying to be like somebody else. Once I removed that notion and owned who I was, things started to fall into place slowly because then you're not focusing on competing with anyone or being the best compared to another. You're focusing on being the best person you can be. To accomplish your goals, age should never be a barrier, it's true a lot of people accomplish a lot of things at a young age. But hey, you can dream endlessly and as long as there's a dream and a vision, and you keep going you'll get there someday.
TM Hansani Kularathne Kandy Toastmasters Club
TM Shaakya as the runner-up of the club level humorous speech contest, 2020 along with TM Farweez Immamudeen (winner) and TM Anoshan Jayahanthan (2nd Runner Up)
Kandy Toastmasters Club Where leaders are made
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A t K a n d y Toa s t m a s te r s C l u b What if you could learn a life lesson that inspires you, add up something that enhances personal growth and communications skills, polish up your vocabulary and be a better communicator you are and gain so many things which you never could in years of schooling within just two hours? That is Toastmasters for you! Yet Kandy Toastmasters was far beyond that which helped me grow as a communicator as well as a leader under the shades of very experienced and senior Toastmasters and very enthusiastic youth and many champion speakers thanks for this being the first outstation club from Colombo, Within the healthy yet mature competition and immense supportiveness within the enthusiastic members, I was able to reach my 5th level of Innovative planning pathway and gain a lot for my toastmastering career. Having great mentors helped me achieve many milestones in my contest career and developed a passion for public speaking in Me. I am really glad that I chose Kandy Toastmasters and I am really grateful for it. TM Chamuditha Guruge, IP4 Undergraduate at the faculty of Science, University of Peradeniya TM Chamuditha as the Toastmaster of the day and event chair of the new decade themed meeting
TM Chamuditha at Halloween themed meeting, Delivering an impromptive speech during the table topics session.
I may be the strangest member of Kandy Toastmasters club for being a resident of Galle. I have had to publicly speak a lot in my professional life. The stress I had during such occasions was immense and I couldn’t speak continuously. I knew that I had to improve. I came to know about toastmasters but couldn't find time or bring myself to join it due to a busy schedule. With the Covid pandemic I had more time and one of my dear friends invited me to Kandy toastmasters as a guest because the meetings had become virtual. I visited it as a guest and later became a member. Initially I was worried whether I would be accepted. But soon I realized that the club environment was welcoming and friendly and everyone felt myself gradually was very helpful. Soon I started feeling like a “I true member of the Kandy Toastmasters improving in communication family. and leadership skills and the I felt myself gradually improving in people around me also communication and leadership skills and started recognizing it.” the people around me also started recognizing it. Being a toastmaster for 9 months I have gained the confidence to speak even in challenging situations. It helped me to develop personally and professionally. I am very grateful to all the members who helped me throughout the journey at toastmasters. TM Dr Nilmini Abeygunawardana, PM2 Dental Surgeon, Teaching Hospital, Karapitiya