RTMC Newsletter_Tenacity Issue 04 V1

EDITORIAL TOASTMASTERS

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONAL

Toastmasters International is a nonprofit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills througha worldwide network of clubs. Headquartered in Englewood, Colo., the organization’s membership exceeds 358,000 more than 16,800 clubs in 143 countries. Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people from diverse backgrounds become more confident speakers, communicators, andleaders.

TOASTMASTERS INTERNATIONALMISSION

We empower individuals to become more effective communicators and leaders.

DISTRICTMISSION

We build new clubs and support all clubsinachievingexcellence.

CLUBMISSION

We provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence andpersonalgrowth.

TOASTMASTERS

INTERNATIONALCORE VALUES Integrity Respect Service Excellence

Tenacity, symbolizing the continuous journey of Ragama Toastmasters Club hereby presents the beautiful insights of our multi-faceted members belongingtodifferentfields,yetwalkingtogether handinhandtowardstheardentaimofachieving excellence. It has been a precious walk down the memory lane, representing the significant benchmarks of success resembling the team spirit,leadershipandcommitment.

As the great maestro Ralph Waldo Emerson very correctly said, "There are friends, there is family, and then there are friends that become family,” the friendship that binds us together as one family has become our greatest asset. It is all about friends helping friends to become better versionsofourselves. With utmost pleasure and pride, it is to be stated that apart from the individual achievements following the pathways and victories at the speech contests pursuing up to divisional level representations, we are once again heading towards the greatest achievement a club could attain, the Golden club award for the toastmastersyear2022-2023. Just like mountaineers leaving their base camp withastrongwill,andtenacity inconqueringthe summits,ourmembersgrowandevolvebytaking up roles, doing speeches and comprehensive evaluations, networking with the fraternity throughjoinedmeetingsandothereventsatarea and divisional levels; to conducting meetings under very innovative and creative themes to bringoutdiversityamongeachindividual. Do enjoy reading this content- packed issue, and feelfreetoshareyourthoughtsonourjourneyso far!

MadushikaGamage

Origin and evolution of speech

• Australopithecus (Ape man)

When a speaker is at the podium our attention willbe focusedonthecontentofthespeech,body language and the way he or she manipulates the voice or how so-called vocal variation is being maintained. Also, we may give attention to the grammar and fluency of his or her speech. But rarelywouldwethinkwhatthe fate ofthe speaker would be if not for this amazing invention called ‘SPEECH’. Even Martin Luthor King would have been speechless in telling us all about his dreams! This article isa minute attempttorevealtheorigin of speech and its evolution.

Chimpanzees hoot, Cocks doodle, and lions roar. Yet those forms of communication are primitive compared with human speech. The difference betweenmonkeysandhumansisnotonlythatwe could laugh but we know more than 20,000 sounds or so-called words whereas animals can make only about 10 different sounds to communicate. In addition, we are the only animal species who can express thoughts in complete utterances or sentences. Because of this uniqueness in speech, humans have become superior to other species in the animal kingdom.

Ability to speak is based on certain physical features associatedwith the structureofthe brain ( Broca’s area and Wernicke’s area, connected together by a bundle of nerve fibers called the arcuate fasciculus) and the spinal cord which helps in manipulating the respiratory process, leading to oral motor movements in the active and passive articulators such as using the complex means of controlling the lips, tongue, palates and the larynx or the so-called voice box. The voice box is an organ placed in our throat consisting of the vocal folds or vocal cords or voice reed which create sounds.

Scientists or rather anthropologists categorised early humans to various groups based on their evolution. Following classification was made basedonthefindingson scatteredremainsof200 to 300 skulls and other small pieces excavated on archeological sites in Europe, Asia and Africa.

• Homo habilis (Latin word for handy man, their fossils were found in Tanzania.)

• Homo Erectus (Upright man, their fossils were found in Java, Indonesia.)

• Homo Neanderthal (Their fossils were found in Neander valley in Germany)

• Homo Sapiens (A Latin word for Wise man and fossils were found in Morocco)

With analysis of those fossils, they have reached a conclusion as to what group of humans possessed the organs required to speak. For example, analysing the remains of an early human: rather an early woman whom they named as Lucy, who lived in Eastern Africa between 2.8 to 3.9 million years ago paved the way to establish her ability to speak. Her skull was ape-like in shape and her spinal cord (which is needed to control muscles that coordinate breathing during speech) was relatively narrow. Also, positioning of her vocal tract was not in that much of a favourable position to assist with the ability to speak. Evidence based on those drawbacks in her organs suggested that she had a very limited ability to make sounds to maintain a conversation or form a speech. Similarly, with the fossil and genetic evidence scientists have come to conclusions that only Neanderthal and Homo Sapiens who evolved from a common ancestor between700,000and300,000 yearsago, had the ability to talk.

These findings conclude that the periods before Neanderthals and Homo Sapiens were very quiet, in terms of communication. No arguments, no gossip, no politicians, no philosophers, no family disputes, no lullabies, no bedtime stories. People must have had a very peaceful environment listening to the sound of silence. But then somebody uttered the word “AH”, though the ‘AH’ Counter may disagree it was assumed to be the first word uttered by those early humans which gave out a range of emotions such as surprise, pleasure and sympathy. Then onwards speech

began to evolve. For some reason Neanderthals extinct from the Earth but Homo Sapiens spread all over. With variations in new thoughts, new words were formed and produced which were strange to their distant relatives in other parts of theworldsonewlanguageswerebornindifferent parts of the world.

Thus, from the time of Neanderthal to present day more than hundreds of languages have been born and spoken. Also, many languages such as Pali, Sanskrit, Latin, Egyptian are treated as dead languages since they are no longer being spoken. Still there are some original languages which are being spoken in some parts of the world where history dates back from 2500 to 5000 years. Some of them are Hebrew, Greek, Lithuanian, and Farsi. Another ancient language which is still being spoken in Sri Lanka, India, Malesia and Singapore is the Tamil language which is considered to have about 5000-year-old history. Though English has become a global language, it did not originate in Britain. The West Germanic language originated from the Ingvaeonic language brought to Britain by Anglo Saxon immigrants from what is now known as Northwest Germany, South Denmark and Netherlands.

So next time when a Toastmaster is at the podium, we should give the speaker due respect because not only he or she will be exercising his or her vocal cords to give the proper sounds to the speech, but also his spinal cord will be exercising to hold breath while the speech is in progress. The lips and tongue will be manipulated to control proper words, or the correct sounds and the speaker's brain will be transferring the speaker's thoughtstowords. After all,the speaker is manipulating some organs for speech which are primarily made for respiration and ingestion. While so many actions happen within the speaker’s poor soul, the audience will be expecting him or her to maintain cheerful composure and deliver a good speech within Toastmasters norms.

From the moment the man uttered the word ‘AH’ he has progressed the speaking ability in numerous ways. Things like poems, lullabies, songs, speeches and many more have evolved with atimespanofthousandsofyears.Bymaking

speech Kings were able to lead people to the war and Philosophers were able to lead people to peace. Mothers were able to make children sleep with their lullaby while grandfathers were able to tell bedtime stories to their grandchildren. Lovers were able to whisper their love. Power of speech can never be measured, and it can be used to break or make harmony in society. There may be millions of histories behind a single word. Therefore be mindful and use your words with due respect.

ChandrasenaDeSilva

“Character Counts!”

No matter what you do, your ultimate smart goal, beyond what you are trying to accomplish now, is to achieve happiness and become a good person. Anindividualcanexercisemajorsuccessfactorsby developingamoralcharactertoachievethekindof happinesseveryonedesiresfor. Aristotleexaminedthehumanconditionandcame to a remarkable conclusion. He said, “Only the good can be happy, and only the virtuous can be good.”

It simply means, if you want to have a wonderful life, you must continually attempt to become a good person. Any deviation from this course will lead you to lower levels of happiness and dissatisfaction. Every time you act consistently with the highest assets you know, you feel happy and strong inside, your self-confidence and selfesteem go up and you become more effective in yourrelationshipsandwork.

To achieve happiness and become a good person, you must know that character is the greatest success factor of all. If you want to change your outer world, you must work, like a computer programmer at a keyboard, to reprogram your subconscious mind, your world of values, beliefs, so that the person you are inside is exactly the mental equivalent of the life you want to enjoy on theoutside.

If character is the greatest success factor in your life,thebasiccomponentofone’scharactercanbe trust.Inrelationships,trustisthegluethatholdsit all together. We can’t proceed in any kind of relationshipunlesswetrustandfeelconfidentwith theotherperson. Allgoodfriendshipsarebasedon trust. All strong families are based on trust. And in companies, which are based on larger business families,trustisthekeyingredientthatdetermines the success and wealth of the initiatives. This remindsmeofthisveryquoteof:

“Refuse to compromise your moral character. Refuse to pretend or wish or hope that something isnottrue,wheninyourheart,youknowitis.”

This means that you should live in truth with everyone around. You should speak of the truth simply and honestly. You should not stay in relationships that do not confide you or do things thatyoudonotagreewithorbelievein.Youshould notshareyourthoughtswithdishonestpeopleand hinder the sincere expression of your true beliefs. You should steadfastly insist on living in truth in every aspect of your life and strive to become a goodperson.

UmeirahFareed

CLUBACHIEVEMENTS

“Consistencyandcommitmenthaveyetagain enabledustokeeptheRagamaToastmasters clubbannershinebrightintheD82Toastmasters fraternity.”

Achievementsfortheyear2022/23 SmedleyAward

PresidentsDistinguishedClubAward

8-80MembershipAward

GoldenClubAward

TalkupToastmasterAward

MEMBERACHIEVEMENTS

MemberName Levelcompleted

MarioDeSilva InnovativePlanning-Level05

FazalRazick DynamicLeadership-Level04

MadushikaGamage PresentationMastery-Level03

RusselAmidon StrategicRelationships-Level02&Level03

SuraniDias InnovativePlanning-Level02

KavindriAlexander DynamicLeadership-Level02

DileshaPerera PresentationMastery-Level02

IsiraYapa VisionaryCommunication-Level01

LakmaliAlgama PresentationMastery-Level01

KasunAriyawansa PersuasiveInfluence-Level01

VaughnErnst DynamicLeadership-Level01

InternationalandTableTopicsContest

“It’s not the mountains we conquer but ourselves”.Ifwefalldown,wecanstandback. “Whatthecaterpillarsays‘theend’,therestof theworldcalls‘abutterfly’Nicholas

Lifeoffersuspleasantaswellasnotsopleasant experiences.Sometimeslifeknocksyoudownto causesevererepercussions.Peoplecryandkeep onponderingoverthesamenegativeexperience over and over to its extremes and get sick. In psychology we call that trait “rumination”. The very end of this might be Depression. When we try to fight with negative emotions those emotions grow stronger. At a certain peak point these negative emotions hinder your daily routine and work. It seems difficult to get out of this negative thought process and there arises theneedforhelp.Thereforeitishighlyimportant that all of us have a better awareness of mental health and mental illnesses in order to help ourselvesoranotherinsuchcrucialsituations.

Dr. Timothy J. Legg, psychiatric mental health practitioner defines mental health as cognitive,behavioral,andemotionalwell-being. Itisallabouthowpeoplethink,feel,andbehave. Mental Health or wellbeing is of equal importance as physical wellbeing. According to the World HealthOrganizationannual reportsof 2019,Depressionisoneoftheleadingcausesof disability. Suicide is thesecond leading cause of death among 15-29-year-olds. People with severe mental health conditions die prematurely.

According to the statistics presented by the Ministry of Health Sri Lanka, Mental health has been a cause for concern in Sri Lanka for some time.Ourcountryhasoneofthehighestsuicide

ratesintheworld,withanaverageof6000deaths 000 people will attempt suicideeveryyearinSriLanka.

Despite progress in some countries, people with mental health conditions often experience severe human rights violations, discrimination,andstigma.Thisismainlydueto the lack of awareness among the public on mentalhealthillnessesanditsimpactonhealth. Apart from the campaigns led by the government,it is our individual responsibility to self- study and have a basic understanding. Reliable resources can be the official websites such as National Institute of Mental Health and The American Psychiatric Association which is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. The American Psychiatric association sets an updated list of symptoms to help the professionals diagnose mental health illnesses, the latest is ‘The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders,FifthEdition(DSM-5)’.

Let’s be aware to raise awareness. Stay close to your loved ones, communicate and feel free to reachout the professionals suchasa Counselor, Psychiatrist, Psychologist or a Psychotherapist. 1926 is the National Mental Health Helpline and 1333 is a free Telephone Counselling service in Sri Lanka that provides emotional support and guidance for people facing difficulties or simply wants to talk to someone about their problems where callers can speak to trained telephone counsellorswhoarewillingtolistenandassist.

The famous mountaineer Nicholas once said that, “It’s not the mountains we conquer but ourselves”. If we fall down, we can stand back.

“What the caterpillar says ‘the end’, the rest of theworldcalls‘abutterfly’.”

MadushikaGamage

“WhenLifeknocksyoudown.”

Meetingonwheels

Weheldour41stEducationalMeetingofRagamaToastmasters clubinaninnovativeway.Forthefirsttimeatoastmasters meetingwasheldonboardabus Itwasanovelexperienceforbothmembersandguests.

�� VoiceforVoicelessFoundation

Should I? Should I not?

ShouldI?ShouldInot?ShouldI?ShouldInot?

These were the constant questions that were running in my head when the contest season commencedforthetoastmastertenor2022/2023.

Beingatoastmasterforalmost05years,contesting was something I never considered as one of my strengths nor was something I was remotely interestedinformyself.Myversionoftoastmasters wasaboutimprovingmyselfwhilehavingfun.

Early 2023, when the Table Topics and Humorous contests were announced at club level, I was planning on cheering for my fellow club members and helping them prepare for their contests. My perception was shifted to a totally different directionswhentwoofmyfriendsaskedmesowhy areyounotcompeting?Thisquestionwaskindofa wakeupcallformeandIrealizedthatIhadnoreal reason for not competing other than my own laziness.

Ithoughttomyself, ShouldI?ShouldInot?ShouldI?ShouldInot?

It occurred to me that the only thing that was stopping me from competing was my own self, my own lack of confidence, my own fear of losing and mostly my own laziness. Year 2023 was different; I wanted to make it different. I signed up for table topics contest simply because it was the easy option (at least that’s what I thought). On contrary my friends had other plans. They wanted me to sign up not just for one contest, but for two. Once againthesamequestionsraninmyhead: ShouldI?ShouldInot?

ThistimeIdecidedtochallengemyself.Isigned-up forbothcontests,TableTopicsandthemost challengingInternationalSpeechcontest.

Thi

ShaliniSamarasinhe

The real beauty of this toastmasters fraternity is thatyouwillbesurroundedbypeoplewhobelieve in you more than you do. These people see the potentialofyouwhichyouneverthoughtpossible. This contest season was an eye opener for me because this made me realize that as contestants we require a lot of self-discipline hard work and most importantly a load of practice. Each level of contest required a enhanced version of me. This forced me tochallengemyselfand improvemyself ondailybasisalsocontestbycontest.

Not only our own self-improvement, it also brings out instances to cheer for one another, celebrate wins together and lifts up the team spirit among theclubmembers.

The learnings a person get from competing in a toastmasters contest is not limited to simply winning the contest. Even if you lose, you can alwaysgetfeedbackfromyourfellowtoastmasters and make them points of improvements for your nextspeechorevennextcontest.

We all have our own stories that we cherish, but onlyaveryfewsetofclosepeoplewould knowit. Toastmasters stage can also become a perfect platformforyoutotellyourstorytolargernumber of people. It may inspire at least one person to embrace a new challenge in their lives with a positiveattitudeandalittlelessfear.

In the next contest season ifyoutooface the same questions; ShouldI?ShouldInot?

Take up that journey because the rewards are endless.

MessagefromClubPresident

DearfellowToastmasters,

As we approach the end of another Toastmaster year,Iwantedtotakeamomenttoreflectonallthe incredible successes we've achieved together as a club. Our meetings have been filled with laughter, learning,andpersonalgrowth,andit'sallthanksto thededicationandhardworkofourmembers.

I believe that our consistency and commitment to the Toastmasters program have been the key ingredientstooursuccess.It'sbeeninspiringtosee how everyone has shown up week after week, ready to push themselves out of their comfort zones and take on new challenges. Whether it's giving speeches, taking on leadership roles, or providing valuable feedback to our fellow members, everyone has played a vital part in making our club a supportive and thriving community.

It's important to remember that success is not achieved overnight. It's the result of consistent effort and dedication over time. By staying committed to our Toastmasters goals and working towards them consistently, we've been able to make incredible progress and achieve things we neverthoughtpossible.

As we look towards the future, I encourage everyonetokeepupthemomentumandcontinue to push themselves towards their goals. Together, we can achieve even greater things and make the coming Toastmaster year even more successful thanthelast.

Thank you for all your hard work and commitment to our club. I'm proud to be a part of such an incredible groupofindividuals.

Sincerely,

SuraniDias ClubPresident

ThemedMeetings

CLUB DETAILS

EXCOMembers

President

SuraniDias

Mob:+94779927665

sdias475@gmail.com

VPEducation

RusselAmidon

Mob:+94778499139

rusamidon@gmail.com

VPMembership

DileshaPerera

Mob:+94765789482

dilesha96@gmail.com

VPPublicRelations

KavindaPerera

Mob:+94777715439

Kavindaperera97@gmail.com

Secretary

MadushikaGamage

Mob:+94715412879

madhu_harshani@yahoo.com

Treasurer

FazalRazick

Mob:+94773426469

fazalrazick@gmail.com

SergeantatArms

ShihaneSilva

Mob:+94769367689

Silvashihane@gmail.com

Youmaycontactthefollowingofficersin ordertoparticipateforclubmeetings.

President

SuraniDias

Mob:+94779927665

sdias475@gmail.com

VPEducation

RusselAmidon

Mob:+94778499139

rusamidon@gmail.com

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