AREAS

This year under the leadership of CGD Khalid Jalal, DTM we organized various events by the DistricttopromoteToastmasters,attractnewmembersaswellasretainourexistingmembers. Our District Open House featured famous Kuwaiti Singer Mubarak Al Rashed and popular RJ fromBahrainRJMirchiJuhi.

Apart from organizing workshops on Club and Membership growth, Team CGD lead by CGD Khalid Jalal organized a Cricket Tournament as well as many other activities to go out to the publicandpromoteToastmasters.Theseuniqueideaswereunlikeanythingwehaveeverdone before.

Speaking about unique events, CGD Khalid conducted a LinkedIn workshop where he revealed his secrets of attracting more than 100+ members to our District as well as chartering a lot of clubs. The attending audience found it to be very valuable especially since they were able to implementsomeofthetechniquestohelpattractmembers.

V P P R S O F D 2 0

PASTPAST DISTRICTDISTRICT 2020 PRPR MANAGERMANAGER VPVP PRPR YOUNGYOUNG ADULTSADULTS TOASTMASTERSTOASTMASTERS CLUBCLUB

MahatmaGandhioncesaid,

“Bethechangeyou wish to see in the world” and that is how my missioninToastmastersbrandingcametolife.

They say the first step is always the hardest and, in our case, it is to understand why Branding is important. To ensure Toastmasters is known by all the people around you and the world, it must be recognized on the spot. Toastmasters does not belong to one individual or a club but the whole world and we must understand the branding guidelines set forth in the Brand Manual and follow them. Of course, online workshops and tutorials through District 20 YouTube channel are always available for first-timers or those who need to refresh their brandingknowledge. Trust me when I say, it is not that difficult at all and anyone can tackle the role of a PR officer. Here are some of my personal insights on how to make your promotional materials in your clubstandout: 1. Club Meeting Photos: ensures your posters are always personalized and reflects the happy and positive meeting environment your club possess which will attract guests. Otherwise, ToastmastersInternationaloffershighqualitymeetingphotoswhichyoucanfindHere! 2. Variety and Diversity: your social media page should not only contain meeting materials, but you can make it energetic by adding members’ educational achievements, members quotes,birthdaywishes,testimonials,mediafeatureinTV,ornewspapers,etc. 3. Hashtags:learnwhattrendinghashtagsaretheretogetmorecoveragethroughyoursocial platforms. I personally use an App called “Hashtag Expert” which generates trending hashtags aboutaspecifictopicsuchas“Father’sDay”or“Empowerment” .

4. Boosting: expands your social platform followers by reaching new people can always be helpful. Your budget should depend on the Club’s treasury but even USD 5.00 will make a difference. The only thing you need to do is to select the right poster to boost which should promote your club’s energy, environment, and members. Something simple yet powerful – not toodetailed–,justenoughtogetpeoplehooked.Perhaps,anattractivecatchphraselike“Want aPromotion?”or“BetheNextBIGTHING!” . 5. Consistency: Fully complying with the Brand Manual and its guidelines makes identifying your posters easy. I strongly recommend following these guidelines regardless of what other clubs or other districts or even Toastmasters International themselves on their website or magazine are doing. You can be the reason to inspire others to change their incompliance to compliance and paving the way for the clubs in your area or your fellow PR officers to do the same.

Remember! Toastmasters International is not just an organization, it is a family and we as PR officers must protect our family. Our responsibility is to preserve the Toastmasters Brand, protect its copyright and infuse the sense of pride in belonging to a worldwide organization that has helped millions of people with diverse backgrounds, experiences, and ethnicities. “BE THECHANGETOLEADTHECHANGE” .

V P P R S O F D 2 0 VPVP PUBLICPUBLIC RELATIONSRELATIONS ANGELSANGELS TOASTMASTERSTOASTMASTERS CLUBCLUB

When there is no door for opportunity to knock, we have to build a door. One such door, I chose 2 years ago was joining Toastmasters. Indeed, It has numerous opportunities, all we need is Passion to learn, spark to growandcommitmenttowork.

My expectations to join Toastmasters was to improve my communication skills, to boost my confidence and to find a way to revive my career. I never knew I was going to reinvent myself anddiscovertheskillswithinme. Taking up leadership roles in Area and Division Speech contests gave me an opportunity to exhibitmyITandPRskills.Italsoincreasedmyvisibilitybeyondmyclub. AngelsToastmastersClubhasalreadysetabenchmarkincreatingleaders,Championspeakers andPRs. Being in the ExCom as a VPPR was really a challenge for me. I had to keep up the expectations. Our club already had 2 social media accounts on Facebook and Instagram. We informed our members and general audience about our club activities by designing flyers, creating videos, newsletter,spotlightingandcelebratingourmembersmilestonesandaccolades. Otherthanmanagingsocialmedia,PRcampaignsweredevelopedtobroaden thenetworkinexistingaccountsandalsocreatingawarenessonother socialmediaplatforms.

One such good choice is Stepping foot on LinkedIn platform. The mission of our club is to empowerwomeninpersonalandprofessionalgrowth.IbelieveLinkedInwillplayavitalroleto envision our mission. By publishing our members achievements and milestones on LinkedIn, it surely will pave the way for our talented members to connect with likeminded people to flourishtheircareer. Another challenge, we VPPRs faced (I believe, most of the VPPRs will agree with me ), was applying for monthly PR awards. Our District 20 PR Team has announced many awards in differentcategoriestoappreciatethehardworkofallthePRs. Applyingfortheseawardsneededstrategicplanningandtime.Weneverdisappointedourclub to bag the PR awards whenever nominated. We are humbled to receive the awards in most of the categories. It's a great feeling to be acknowledged and appreciated for the efforts we have putin. Personally,thetransitionIhadinmy2yearsoftoastmastersjourneyhasbeentremendous. From a person who could hardly give an introduction, to a person with a good profile with lots of learning and experience. We never know what destiny has in store for us. Until then, Believe in yourself, set your goal higher, develop your skills, work diligently towards it and when the opportunityknocks,bereadytograbit. Believeit,Thedistancetochasethedreamisn’tveryfar. -TMNeyasFathima,VPPR,AngelsToastmastersClub

V P P R S O F D 2 0

VPPRVPPR KUWAITKUWAIT CHALLENGERSCHALLENGERS TOASTMASTERSTOASTMASTERS

Election Chair: Secretary, kindly cast a single vote on behalf of Kuwait Challengers club for Vice President Public Relations, Priscilla Dias, DTM. Me:Yeah!!!Finally,IamtheVPPRofmyclub.Iwaited longandwhilewaitingIgroomedmyselffortherole. So,whatexactlyismyroleasVPPR???AsVPPRImust build and keep a positive image of my club in the eyesofthepublic.

And how did I do that? Simple!!! Follow the guidelines of Toastmasters International listed at www.toastmaster.org. It is that easy. Everything on how to perform your role as VPPR is listed in the Club Leadership Handbook 1310. Pages 30 to 34 (if you don’t want to go through the entire handbook) and browsing through pages 17 to 21 will help you create your own (minimum) calendar for the year (you can always be more creative). Look for number 4 in blue, thatiswhereyourresponsibilitylies.

For myself, I got to work even before my term and thought the best way to expose my toastmastersclubtothepublicwastoexposeitsproducts,ImeanitsMEMBERS,soIrequested members to send me their experiences being toastmasters and how it had helped them. Now, wetoastmasterslovetoexaggerateandsoIhadmembersofourclubpourintheirexperiences. Allittookmewastocreateatemplatelabelled“MemberSpotlight”andplaceamemberinthe spotlight with their accomplishments each month then post it on our club social media (Instagram,Facebook,LinkedIn).

Twothingshappened. 1.Ourmembersreminiscedtheirjourneyintoastmasters;andtheyweremotivated. 2.OurfollowersonsocialmediagottoknowthebenefitsofToastmasters.

Motivated by the President of our club, I plunged into creating a YouTube video featuring our Champion member through the Public Speaking series, giving an insight into how Toastmasters enhances public speaking skills. With the support of our club members, we are creatingmoresuchvideoseriestobuildtheimageofourclub.

Twothingshappened. 1. Our Champion member shared her experiences and motivated our You-Tube subscribers to joinourtoastmastersclubtolearnpublicspeakingskills. 2.Thoughchallenging,Ilearnthowtocreate,editanduploadvideostoourYou-TubeChannel.

The very essence of the role of the VPPR is to create interesting, interpreting and inviting communication that will captivate the curiosity of the public, to learn more about toastmasters. This was the best thing to happen to me. I got creative with every poster I made for our club, in line with the theme or event, and most importantly in line with the Branding Guidelines of Toastmasters International, all well tucked in their Brand Portal link on their website,forourlearningandapplication.

Thisrolealsocamewithimmensesupportfromthedistrict20PRteamandfellowVPPR’sinthe district. It was a learning experience creating posters, posting them on District 20 VPPR WhatsApp group, taking feedback and areas of improvement and applying them to the posters to create Brand Compliant promotional material, which enhanced the image of Toastmasters International and of course the image of our club. Not forgetting the workshops and awards hosted by District 20 PR Team which not only educated VPPRs but also encouraged us to performourrolebeyondourcapabilities.

Twothingshappened: 1. I learnt a new skill, creating Brand Compliant posters using Canva for PR activity, and thus beingawardedoneoftheBrandChampionforthisterm. 2. Toastmasters around the globe and the public were made aware of our club activities, meetings,memberprofiles,contest,contestwinners,andeverythinginbetween.

Leaving no stone unturned, our club made it to the newspapers on its 20th anniversary with an article showcasing the birth, high notes, struggles and achievements of the club and its members. To maximize the outcome of that advertisement in the newspaper, club members blew their trumpets about the leadership skills they had developed at toastmasters which madeforenticingcommunicationthroughpostersonoursocialmedia.

Twothingshappened: 1.Onceagainmembersandtheclubwereexposedtothepubliconalargescale. 2.Ourclubhad2guest,prospectmembers,joiningour20thAnniversarymeeting.

To sum it up the VPPR role is the most interesting and colorful one, though Toastmasters International has only 6 colors as its brand colors, getting creative is all up to you and your club members. I appreciate the support and enthusiasm I received from my club members. Performing this vital role in promoting our club and Toastmasters International has helped me develop communication, leadership, designing, podcast hosting and public relations skills. Given the opportunity I would love to assume the VPPR role once again to brush upon the areas I did not touch upon, and that I believe will take me to a whole new level in Public Relations.

ThinkingoftakinguptheVPPRpositioninyourclub. Twothingswillhappen: 1.Youwilllearnnumerousnewskills. 2.YouwilltakeprideinpromotingyourclubandToastmastersInternational.

PriscillaDias,DTM VPPR KuwaitChallengersClub Club#2865,Area22,Div.F,District20.

V P P R S O F D 2 0

VPPRVPPR LEADINGLEADING LADIESLADIES TOASTMASTERSTOASTMASTERS

TMTMTMTM MAIMUNAMAIMUNAMAIMUNAMAIMUNA PANKHAWALAPANKHAWALAPANKHAWALAPANKHAWALA

If someone offers you an amazing opportunity & you are unsure about it, believe in yourself and say thatyou can do it. Instead of being afraid of the unknown, believe in yourself and conquer that unknown. Say Yes and embrace the opportunity with open arms and learn how to do it later. Saying yes is your first step towards success.

My very first meeting at the Leading Ladies Toastmasters club was actually my very first meeting as well that I had participated in. It was all very new to me. During the role player distribution,DTMKaneez asked me if I wanted to take the role of VPPR. Not knowing what it actuallymeant,withabitofhesitation,Iacceptedandsaidyes. Slowly and gradually, I started learning about the duties and responsibilities that a VPPR is entrusted with. One such inclusion was how to create meaningful posters and flyers that impart valuable information to the audience at large. I had no idea before my joining Toastmasters on how to create any of these but through the various club officers’ sessions in many meetings I was able to learn about Canva ‐ an app used to design flyers and posters. At home when my husband saw my zestful approach, he encouraged me to learn and design such posters and flyers in a much better way using Adobe Illustrator which is a programme that mostprofessionalsworkintocreateattractiveartworks.

Another Major responsibility of mine as VPPR was to make sure that we are able to reach a large audience with the information and this is when I truly understood the power of social media.TosupportmewiththesameIhadmywonderfulclubmembersDTMTabassumand TMLaxmiwhohelpedmeovercomemyinexperiencerelatedtotheseplatforms.Thisishow I was introduced to the actual power of Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn and still many othersremainuntappedbyme. MymainaimforjoiningtheToastmastersclubwasprimarilytoimprovemycommunication skillsbutithelpedmetowardsmyoveralldevelopmentasaconfidentindividual.Iendedup exploringahiddentalentinme–creatingdesignsintheformofflyersandposters.Withthis newlyaccquiredtalentofmine,IgotanopportunitytoworkwiththePQDteamandasPRof DivFcontest&PRofSpeechCraft.Currently,IamworkingasapartofD20PRteam. None of this would’ve happened if back then I had not decided to grab the opportunity of beingaVPPRofLeadingLadiesToastmastersClub.

Moral of the story here is- when an opportunity is made available to you, don’t let go of it and make the most of what you’ve been provided and you will definitely be surprised at the positiveoutcomeandthewayitleadsyouto.

V P P R S O F D 2 0 VPVP PUBLICPUBLIC RELATIONSRELATIONS C2AC2A TOASTMASTERSTOASTMASTERS CLUBCLUB

Ilookedbackin“amazement” ,thejourneyIhadtravelled with the C2A Toastmasters since I joined 3 years ago. Well,indeedithasbeenanastoundingtransformationfor me from a ‘shy girl’ who shivered with stage fear to a competent and confident toastmaster competing with other seasoned veterans in the District 20 Annual Conference 2022! It has also been a terrific transformation of a girl terrified to face public to rise to performasVicePresident–PublicRelationsfortheclub!

My work as VP-PR has enriched my knowledge and taught me new skills. The district workshops provided me the canvas for learning poster design through ‘CANVA’ software. I profusely used this skilltoeffectivelysharetheclub’spromotionalcontentandleverageonthepowerofsocialmedia.Of course, It has been challenging not to get tempted to use a wide variety of flashy colours while creating the posters, but to stay disciplined with the TMI colours. But this disciplined approach has helped me comply with the unique TMI brand and create captivating posters with relative ease.I am pleasedthatmyworkhelpedmotivatefellowtoastmastersintheirpaths. Not only the VP-PR journey helped me learn new skills but also provided ample scope for honing themandtowindistrictPRawards!

All this was possible only with the cheerful cooperation, help and support from my fellow executive officersledbyPresidentTMAnjaliGupta,myclubmembers,andDistrict20toastmasters. Iamstillbaskinginamazement.TotaltransformationofanyoneispossibleinToastmasters!

VPVP PUBLICPUBLIC RELATIONSRELATIONS ICABICAB TOASTMASTERSTOASTMASTERS CLUBCLUB

Attimesifyoufinditdifficulttobefunny,trytobepun-ny. When used judiciously, puns can punch up your language andflavoryourspeecheswithwittywordplay. A pun can be called a 'play of words' or a 'game of words' that are similar in spelling, sound or meaning to make their listener laugh whereas jokes are narrative structures intendedtocreatehumorandlaughter.

However be cognizant that audience sense of cleverness and intelligence plays an important part if they will understand thepunjokeornot.

Here's some different types of punch lines - your level of intelligence will determine if it will make your belly hurt or justwanttocallitadullmoment:

Readingwhilesunbathingmakesyouwell-red

Everycalendar'sdaysarenumbered

Jungleanimalsareveryfair.Cheetahsarealwaysspotted

Shehadaphotographicmemorybutneverdevelopedit

The best way to communicate with a fish is to drop them aline

It'snofuntellingjokestocattle,they'veherditall

DoyouwanttoKetchup?

ApessimistbloodtypeisalwaysB-negative

Anelephantopinioncarriesalotofweight

I used to disapprove of organ transplants, but now I've hadachangeofheart

Ifyoudon'tCsharpbeforecrossingthestreet,you'llBflat

Don'tannoyapediatrician.Theyhavelittlepatients

Theroadtosuccessisalwaysunderconstruction

Itispointlesstowritewithabrokenpencil.

The next time you give a humorous speech display your brain power with a well placed pun or two. You might be convinced thatattimes"Thepunismightierthanthesword"

VPVP PUBLICPUBLIC RELATIONSRELATIONS SIMSSIMS TOASTMASTERSTOASTMASTERS CLUBCLUB

This is Khuloud Naveed, The Current Vice president of SIMS Toastmasters Club. I have been a Toastmaster since November 2020. I grew up watching Public Speaking videosandalwaysdreamtofbeingapublicspeaker.Being a toastmaster was a dream come true for me. Toastmasters not only made me a speaker but I have experiencedandlearnedalotofthingsasaby-product.

This Platform not only helps you enhance your public speaking skills but also helps you in your overall growth. Practicing different roles like Grammarian, Ah-counter, Evaluator, table topics, each andeveryroleisanewopportunitytowardsgrowth.

In the term 2021-2022, I had the opportunity to become a Vice President of Public Relations of our club. It was a wonderful journey with toppings of a rollercoaster life but the fear of the jump-scares ofarollercoasterwereovercomebymyteambeingbymysideeachmoment.Myteamhasbeenmy greatest strength in achieving our PR goals. For goals to be achieved we need to have a strategy, togetherweworkedonourstrategieswhichIwouldliketoputalighton.

Ourstrategy: • To increase the motivation of our members, we worked on the member level awards: we asked our members to post their achievements on their social media platforms. As their success is our success, also Our Club’s purpose is met only if our members are satisfied and keepstrivingfortheirpersonalgrowth. • We planned our OPEN HOUSE: we encouraged people to join the meeting and since it was online, people could join from all around the globe. We had a maximum of 74 attendees joining. We encouraged our new members the most to boost their morale. This open house wasorganizedbyoneofournewmembersTmKarima. • We focused on promotional videos: this year we focused more upon promoting different eventsthroughourclub,tohighlightafewwere: oMentorvsmentee. oSimsToastmastersclubmemberspromotionvideo. oOpenHousePromotion oOur75thmeetingvideo

The last but not the least DTAC promotion video. (The DTAC promoting video scored first position). • The Posters: My PR team consisted of 5 members, TM Fariah, TM Faiza, TM Karima, TM Rimzan & myself. I got constant support and guidance from my entire team; thus, we were abletopublishandpostcreativeposterstimely. • Our YLP programs which we conducted in the month of August won the PR award. This program required a lot of poster making and Tm Fariah took the lead for PR for youth leadershipprogram. •ForthejointmeetingTMRimzanwithhiscreativeandinnovativeideasbroughtaccoladesto Sims Toastmasters club by getting best joint meeting poster award in the first quarter of the year. • In the second quarter of the year, we again bagged the joint meeting award. Here the credit goestoTmFaiza. •Intotal,webaggedElevenPRawardsThisYearwiththehelpofourteam. Thus,Itrulybelieveteamworkisthedreamwork.

OF DISTRICT 20 “It’s the simple things in life that are most extraordinary” -Paulo Coelho

MEMBERS MEMBERS MEMBERS

theirgoals.IfeltthesamehereinToastmasters. We are blessed with such amazing mentors and leaders who continuously support and encourage us to take a lead and help us to be a good speaker andaleader.

Thecentralideaisthatwhenwetrulyunderstandthateachofourlivesisintertwinedwith somanyothers,kindness,compassion,andcollaborationflowmuchmorenaturally. Although we are unique individuals, our lives are part of a dynamic and vibrant larger network. I am very blessed and fortunate to become a part of such an amazing platform which has so manydedicatedleadersworkingtogetherasaDistrict20Toastmastersfamily.

IjoinedToastmasters,justtopolishmypublicspeakingandleadershipskills.It’srightlysaid, “Leadershipandlearningareindispensabletoeachother. “Absolutely,Imyselfknow,howthis platformhasencouragedandsupportedmeinmanyways,eachmeetingandleadershiproles gavemealotoflearningexperienceandstillintheprocessoflearningmore.Ijustgotso addictedtothewarmandfriendlyatmosphereofToastmasters;Ijustneverwanttoleave toastmasters. Leaders must communicate and facilitate healthy collaboration. As a leader you shouldneverbeafraid,alwaysmoveforward,youhavetobewillingtotakethestepsnecessary for self-growth even if it scares you. Always go with the choice that scares you the most, because that’s the one that’s going to help you grow. Always remember that sometimes teaming up with others who have more skills than you could build and grow from is always a good step to take. Also when you are with like-minded people, you can learn from them and theycanlearnfromyou.Youcanbecomewhoyousurroundyourselfwith.

Being a toastmaster not only makes you a good speaker and leader but at the same time it makes you explore other things too. Ample of leadership opportunities has encouraged me to grow into an efficient leader in my professional and personal life, it has also motivated me to readmorebooksandobservethingsdifferentlyandveryconfidentlywithoutgivingup.

Thereisasayingthatyoucannotdobusinesstomorrowwiththesametoolsyouusetoday. Committocontinuousimprovementbylearningnewthingsovertime,andforthatweareat thebestplace,Toastmasters–“Whereleadersaremade. ” “Magicisbelievinginyourself…

M E M B E R S O F D 2 0 OF DISTRICT 20

MEMBERS MEMBERS MEMBERS

Adult life by and large is consumed at “work” . We start working within two-five years after gaining adulthood. Depending on how we succeeded in our years at school we go on to establish our “careers” working away from 9 AM to 5 PM for the next forty yearsorso!

We stretch the boundaries because we must “fit-in” , “grow” ,

“learn” etc…and before we know it, we actively give away another hour or two to our eight hour routine and somewhere it becomes a norm to work for nine-ten hours. Without us realizing, an hour prior and an hour after adds to this “routine” , as we get ready in the morning and unwind in the evening. Depending on where we live, we also transit to and fro from our “routine” . By and large, we spend 54% of our time “working” . An average human spends seven-eight hours sleeping which when added-up is 21 hours gone. If we add other essential activities such as eating, we lose anotherhour.

A whopping 22 hours in a day is already spent and we have not even started with the time that we need to spend with our life partner, kids, parents, friends, our near and dear, our passions, self-development, exercise...it is them and those moments we spend with them or doing them whichmakesourother22hourshappeneffortlesslyinthelongrun! Ifourfamily,nearanddear,self-developmentandpassionsarenotaddressedfirstwewilllose both sleep and peace! Yet, in all practicality we only have that much time to allocate to the mostimportantpeopleandthingswhoputourliferighton-track.

Fellow District20 Toastmasters, let's take a moment and reflect! How can we make those two hours better? How can we improve the two hours that matter for the rest of our day and make ourlivesmoreeffective?Ileaveyouwiththethought…

PS:Peoplewhoruntheirownbusinesswouldonlyworkanhourortwolongersothatsubsetof peoplearecoveredaswell!

MEMBERS MEMBERS MEMBERS

OF DISTRICT 20

DearToastmasters, Ittakessunshineandraintomakearainbow. Around 2 years back, when I was given the mike to talk about breast cancer awareness, I was at a loss of words. The fear and shyness of public speaking was appalling... so to learn public speakingIjoinedToastmasters.

As a child every person dreams of holding a mike and either sing or speak into the mike. I was no different...but the shyness to talk in front of others was always appalling. At every stage I felt at a loss of words and could not communicate my thoughts in a proper fashion. My mind would be racingtotellsomanythingsbutIwouldmerelyblurtouta"yes,Noorthankyou"andkeepquiet. Finally, I found the light at the end of this dark tunnel of shyness when I came to know about an all Ladies Toastmasters Club that too with a name "Communicate to Achieve" . I could relate to the nameasIcouldnotcommunicatetoachieve.

Ihadthoughtatutorwillbeteachingushowtospeak. Somaybeitwasgroupmentoring. Imagine, a gaggle of geese waiting for instructions from their chief,

"Come on team, this is your instructions and flight manual. We are flying tomorrow morning at 6 am. No one asks questions. Meetingover. " But I was assigned a mentor. So I wondered...how would he be? A formal mentor.... Would he give meaquestionnaireandformsandaskmefillupmyeducationalqualification,analyzemystrengths and weaknesses... But instead my mentor walked alongside me to show me what I can do in an extremelyinteractivemanner.

And at the toastmasters meeting, when I started giving speeches, I realised something precious when I saw the faces of all of you sitting in front of me in the zoom meetings.... Your eyes encouraged me, eagerly waiting to hear from me. I saw that all of you at C2A wanted me to succeed at my attempt to speak confidently. So indirectly all of you too are my mentors as you give me evaluation and feedback on how I should improve. The fortnightly Toastmasters meetings have builtinmeconfidencetospeakupandvoicemythoughts.

As a first timer, I was very scared to participate but the encouragement given by our VPE and Presidenttoeverymembertoparticipateincontestsinanunabashedmannerwasheartwarming. With this Triple Crown Award, I have achieved a small pot of gold under the rainbow but I still have manymorerainbowstogoto.

MEMBERS MEMBERS MEMBERS

OF DISTRICT 20

DEEPADEEPA PARTHIBANPARTHIBAN

“Mundane” conjures up images of everything dull, boring, routine and ordinary. The exact opposite ofextraordinary!!

Yet mundane can be extraordinary, if one could only open up one’s mind and soul to the simplest ofthings.

A routine evening walk can turn into a beautiful and exciting experience, if one could just take the time to stop and look up at the sky. Lo and behold the largest canvas in the world, with it’s myriad hues. A kaleidoscope of colours, from the brightest of orange to the deepest of blue. The ever changing shapes of the clouds, testing the limits of one’s imagination, as if someone out there with a giant paint brush was making one master stroke after another. Then by nightfall, millions of stars twinkling all over the vast expanse of the midnight blue sky, as if it was Diwali, Christmas and Eid all rolled into one. The moon, sometimes glowing bright and radiantinherowninnerbeauty,orattimesacrescentsmilingdownuponyou. The same mundane and routine walk, now if one could just look down, one would notice the green grass with the tiniest of beautiful flowers peeping out, basking in the sun’s energy, radiatingwarmthandpositivity. The beautiful bougainvillea along the sidewalk, dressed in the prettiest of ball gowns, swaying and dancinghandinhandwiththebreeze.Enticingindeedifyouwouldtakethetimetostopand notice. The bees and the butterflies sampling from the buffet of flowers, Mother Nature has spread out for them to feast on. A little birdie hopping around happily, seemingly oblivious to thepasserby. One would find that each and everything in nature radiates with a positive energy if one could just clear our minds of all the clutter and take a deep breath and look around at the extraordinaryworldaroundus.

Deepa’sMusings

MEMBERS MEMBERS MEMBERS

OF DISTRICT 20

DEEPADEEPA PARTHIBANPARTHIBAN

EntertheworldofToastmasters, Aworldlikenoother BeautifulandUniqueIsay Butyouquestionandwonder Maybeatadbitoverratedyouponder? Juststepwithinand SeeforyourselfIsay AnEnchantedworldindeed, Filledwithtreesofconfidence, VibrantflowersofJoyyou’llsee, Fruitsofself-confidenceyou’lltaste, Butterfliesofhappinessaflutteryou’llfind, Andfeelthebreezeofpositivityyouwill, AMagicalworldyouask? Disbeliefonyourface, BewitchingIanswer, Asmileonmyface, Onceyousetfootinside You’llneverbethesameagain, Transformedtothebestversionofyourself! MagicalindeedIsay.

-Deepa Parthiban

YOUTUBEYOUTUBEYOUTUBE LINKEDINLINKEDINLINKEDIN

INSTAGRAMINSTAGRAMINSTAGRAM

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The District 20 Newsletter (January-June, 2022) was created and distributed by The District 20 Public Relations Office, and therefore is independent of Toastmasters International. It is not authorized by, endorsed by, sponsored by, affiliated with, or otherwiseapprovedbyToastmastersInternational.

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