I N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

Office of the

President 2

District Governor

Message 3

The Spotlight

who's on? 5

SHE & HE

Interview

9

Thrilling days of

Yesteryear 10

International Speech

Contest 14

The Inside Story

Born to Win 15

Inspiring you to be your best

N E W S L E T T E R D A T E

S P E C I A L I N T E R E S T

Thrilling days of yester-

year. Manama Toastmas-

ters @50 countdown!

District 20 Governor

Alex Ginete

What makes a speaker

dynamic?

JANUARY 2013

District 20

P A G E 2

Bharat Patil

President

Manama Toastmasters

(Jan-Jun 2013)

The Horizon Team

From The President’s Desk I am honored and happy to write my first Presidential message. Thank you so much for electing me as your Presi-dent along with my distin-guished executive committee members. I and my team mem-bers, need your support so we can continue to run the club as well as the previous team did. Today, I am proud to be the President of the oldest club in the Gulf which was established in 1964. In life, we have to take every step with confi-dence and without fear then only, can we have a positive impact on our lives. We are unique by nature. Everybody has their own qualities. Uniqueness is religious while comparison is politics. Unique-ness stands alone, it cannot be compared. Can you compare an elephant with a car? So, don't compare yourself with others. Your ambitions and goals should not be copied from others. Once you start comparing yourself with oth-ers, it will create misery. It will create hell. You will become political, you will become jeal-ous, and will start pulling oth-ers down. You will act like a politician.

Three ambitious politicians were walking along the beach, planning a strategic move to defeat a powerful rival. They saw Mulla Nasurdin catching crabs. As each crab was caught, Maulla was putting it in the basket. Looking at the basket, the politicians warned Mulla to be careful and cover the basket, otherwise they would climb out and run away. Mulla said these crabs are politicians from birth. If one climbs up, another will pull him down.

Never try to be special. The idea of being special comes when you are feeling inferior. Suppose you joined Toastmas-ters at the same time as your friend. Even though you started the journey at the same time, your progress and your friend's speed of pro-gress will be different. Maybe he will be faster than you. Do not feel embarrassed or infe-rior. Every time, have small goals, and try to achieve the goals with patience.

Patience consists of seeing things in a way such that eve-rything becomes a joy for you.

For example, you can see that every day is sandwiched between two dark nights. That will give you much misery and sadness. What a life? It is just a small day between two big, dark nights. A perceptive man will say that every night is just so small be-tween two beautiful, sunny days. Life is the same — but your outlook is different. Once, a group of illiterate people found a safe with a combination lock. But they did not know how to open it. They tried black magic and danced around it. They could not open it. They were disgusted, and finally abandoned the safe. After some days, a knowledge-able person found the safe along with the lock combination. He opened it and found valuable jewelry inside the safe. A person is just like a safe. Our talents are hidden deep inside of each one of us. We have to find the right combination to open ourselves up. Then we discover our talents and abilities. Toastmasters in-spires us all to develop our lead-ership and communication skills.

We will do all we can to help you and inspire you to do your best. “Inspiring You to be Your Best”

Editor In Chief

TM Edmore Mleya

Proof Reader

TM Guraz

Wankadia

Proof Reader

TM Claire

Cosgrove

Managing Editor

Vacant Design & Layout by

TM Edmore Mleya

Message from District 20 Governor P A G E 3

DTM Alex at Manama

Toastmasters on 19th January 2013,

delivering a speech “To be a winner

you have to make things happen”

“Discipline is the

bridge between

goals and

accomplishments.”

—Jim Rohn

As we pass through halfway of our district year 2012-2013, we look back, over the past year with a mix of wonders and amazement. How time flies. At the same time we jump with joy for a new beginning and a promise: 'we shall do better this time’.

Although I had watched the past District Governors in action over the years, there is no substitute to when you are doing the job yourself---and I must say that the experience has been enthralling, mesmerizing at times and definitely action-packed.

All these started from a humble beginning when I became a member of a Toastmasters Club. For over 12 years now, besides being a district officer, I have been in an assortment of roles, from a president back to vice president education, membership, public relations to Treasurer of the club. Almost always, these club roles are awesome and wisdom-filled experiences.

Yes, there is work---work that is beyond our families, our jobs and the community of nations we live in. The balancing act can be many times both gripping and taxing.

In our Toastmasters journey, we shall meet a variety of leadership traits we are all required to take in. We need leaders who can tell us up front what is on their minds. We need leaders who har-monize with us in conformity. We even need leaders who just wouldn’t budge nor be nudged. In District 20, we are blessed to have these leadership peculiarities, in abundance.

Every role during meetings and slots during any term is one great experience.

This is exactly where we can make silly mistakes either by omission or commission. However in the process, we hone our skills, we throw out our desires and aspirations to become real. We learn to handle the slip-ups that make us better leaders. So that when we are in the real world, we have the wisdom and capability to do exactly what is most appropriate and apt.

Being a Toastmaster is a dream come true. Nothing else would have made the experience as won-derful and as nourishing as a Toastmasters journey.

”LET’S DO TODAY’S WORK TODAY!”

Cheers.

Alex Ginete, DTM District Goveror

District 20 Toastmasters http://d20.toastmastersdistricts.org

blessed with an audience that comes to listen, not heckle. The audience is there to support us. This is not the real world. So speakers, be grateful, appreciative and thankful. Take the time to prepare, practice and deliver presentations worthy of our audience.

Now back to being dynamic. You have a wonderful opportunity to develop yourself as a speaker and learn how to become dynamic as a speaker. I say develop your dynamic abilities. Be the dynamo that triggers ignition. Be the dy-namite that explodes the audi-ence into action, compassion, submission.

We are not born dynamic. No baby is born into this world throwing their arms wide open, grinning from ear to ear and brawling “Hey Mom and Dad, I am here, your dynamic son. The perfect son you have always dreamt of. It’s me. I am here now. Your life will now be per-fect and complete.”

No. As a speaker, we have to work on being dynamic. The basic speaking opportunity con-

Wow! I wish I knew the answer to that question be-cause then I could be dynamic too!!

Is that what you think? Is this what you ask yourself?

Some of you may think that being dynamic is being ani-mated and active. Some of us try appearing flamboyant and perhaps flashy in our clothing. Others think a dynamic speaker needs to be well groomed, hair styled, tie matching cuff links. Who wears them these days?

Or is it knowing your content? Being an authority figure?

Actually it is none of these. A dynamic speaker must be a confident speaker. A dynamic speaker is not thinking about self but about his/her audi-ence. How can I reach each person here and now who is listening to me. It’s really about connecting with your audience.

Remember, if there is no audi-ence then you are not a speaker. A speaker does not get up and present in an empty room. So if it’s the audience that makes a speaker, then the audience influences the nature of the speech, the speech content & the delivery of the speech.

Now as Toastmasters one and all, we need to NOT forget that we are treated royally with an audience every meet-ing. We are treated with an audience that comes to listen. They in fact come and listen to what we choose to speak about. This is the exception. Normally, the audience deter-mines the content. We are

sists of a speaker and an audience. Same situation all the time. It does not matter how much you know, how well you dress, how good your timing is or how eloquent you speak. If you do not convey to the audience that you care about them, you understand their needs, you wish to help them even in just a modicum way, you will never be dynamic.

To be dynamic, you must connect. To be dynamic, you must interact. To be dynamic, you must interre-late to your audience, with your audience. So where to begin? Yourself. Believe in yourself. Be-lieve in your own abilities. Be pas-sionate, be compassionate, be emo-tional, be motivational. Be an inspi-ration by releasing your inner self to your audience. Overcome or bury any anxiety or fear. Focus on your message with clarity and pre-cision. Be concise and clear. And most of all be relevant to your audience. Be the spark that ignites the audience. Its only one small match flame that sets a bonfire ablaze. Don’t get burnt up by fears and anxiety, be the spark that ig-nites the fire .

What Makes a Speaker Dynamic ?

Write an article or con-

tribute a story, joke,

picture or anything

that you would like to

share with fellow

Toastmasters and you

will be entered in a

Monthly draw to win

fabulous prizes and you

will also be entered

into the Grand draw in

June 2013.

So hurry up and con-

tribute to Horizon

newsletter.

Contribute

& Win

By TM Claire Cosgrove

P A G E 4

I N S P I R I N G Y O U T O B E Y O U R B E S T

P A G E 5

From Guest to Member

TM Maisa Sheikh

If it were not for

guests all houses

would be graves.

Kahlil Gibran

Q: How was your reception by fellow toastmasters when you were a guest?

A: It was indeed very warm and very helpful. It was the deciding point for me after getting such a friendly and warm welcome from ALL the members.

Q: What was your motivation to join Toastmasters and what is your Goal

A: Definitely my motivation is to become a better leader and communicator. But I have come to realize that TM is much beyond that. You do actually custom-ize the benefits to your requirements, depending on the field that you are in. Its versatile, fun and very much a win win situation ! to learn learn learn, whether you are speaking, listening or thinking about Toastmasters My goal is to improve and help improve others. It will be a delight to witness and experience that I am able to assist anyone in getting better.

In January Manama Toastmasters welcomed a new member and this is what she had to say.

Q: How did you hear of Manama Toastmas-ters?

A: Well who wouldn’t hear about MTM once you enter the TM world? Honestly I was en-couraged by TM Asrar Merchant to visit the

My Toastmasters Journey

Mid 2012, I found myself at a crossroads and as usual, I decided to look for some-thing else to do (like my plate was not already full enough!). I had been toying with idea of joining toastmasters for a long time but I always found excuses; I'm too busy, its too expensive, I don't have enough time. An avalanche of excuses kept rolling in. Eventually, I psycho ana-lyzed myself and realized that the excuses were simply my cold feet speaking and trying to escape any opportunity to stand up and talk in front of a crowd.

After many pep talks to myself, I finally decided to start club shopping. Just like any woman does when she is shoe shop-ping, I walked into the doors of one club after another trying to find the perfect fit. I eventually stumbled upon MTM. I must say that it was "love at first visit!". I seemed to feel a certain camaraderie that made me feel like this was where I be-longed.

With much encouragement from the then VP Education, before I knew what was happening, I was on my way to giving my speeches even though most times I was as nervous as a cat. Before long, I was giving

a speech a month and I am slowly watching my dream coming closer and closer - To be a DTM!!

It has been 6 months and I haven't looked back since!. Every meeting brings with it an AHA moment - a moment that makes me realize that I made the right choice by choosing to join Toastmasters and for choosing Manama Toastmasters. With my current appointment as Sergeant-at-arms, I am well on my way to honing my public speaking and leadership skills.. Watch out world!!

TM Hannah Karanja

P A G E 6

To Reach 10 DCP we need

to achieve 3 more goals of

which could either be 2

Additional CC, 1 Additional

ACs, 1 Additional CL, AL or

DTM and 1 CL, AL or DTMs

GOAL !

To achieve 10 points

President’s

Distinguished Club

DCP POINTS-where do we stand? What is DCP ?

The purpose of a Toastmasters club is to provide an environment in which members learn communication and leadership skills.

The Distinguished Club Program and Club Success Plan helps clubs promote quality, ensure productive meetings, provide structure and guid-ance and increase the enthusiasm of the club.

Every year, high-performing clubs are recognized, and may proudly display a Distinguished, Select Distin-guished or President’s Distin-guished ribbon on their club banner.

“If I had 8 hours to chop down a

tree, I’d spend 6 hours sharpen-

ing my axe.

Abraham Lincoln

P A G E 7

Manama Toastmaster has 53 mem-bers Registered with TMI, however do you know how many attend the club meeting regularly . See below some statistics.

33 are Male, 20 are Female

Club meeting attendance in

January was an average of 19 members.

2 members Inactive till end of

April and 1 member resigned

Of the 53 members 38%

(20/53) did not attend a single meeting in January.

We all joined toastmasters to polish our communication and leadership skills. We do it step by step by undertaking various assignments. How can we differ-entiate a successful toastmaster from a non successful Toastmaster?

1. Dedication to the club

2. Commitment to undertake assignments

3. Set clear goals and strategies (CC, CL, ACB, ACS, ACG, DTM)

4. Challenge yourself and undertake various tasks

5. Check with your mentors regularly

6. Be loyal to your club by paying your dues on time

7. Contribute to the Horizon newsletter it’s the club’s magazine

8. Reward yourself for attaining each level

9. Keep in close contact with District, Area and Division updates

10. Attend workshops regularly.

Recipe for successful Toastmaster

Manama Toastmasters Membership Facts

JANUARY 2013 Sun Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat

1 2 3 4 5

6 TM Ratinder Nath

7 8 9 10 11 12

13 14 15 16 TM Shauna Nearing Loej

17 18 19

20 21 22 23 24 25 26

27 TM Mariam Jacob

28 29 30 31 TM Afaf Za-inalabedin

Fellow Toastmasters

Do you feel your last speech could have been

better?

We all face obstacles giving speeches and presentations to convey our perspective

effectively. "The Presentation Coach" will teach you the following steps to improve your speech:

P A G E 8

Book Review by TM Abdulla Mian

TAKE-AWAYS

1. You are constantly presenting, either informally or formally. To be more persuasive, plan your words in advance.

2. Presentations involve leading an audience from where it is to where you want it to be.

3. To make your presentations concise and compelling, use the “Bare Knuckle Method,” which includes the “Preparation Pipeline” and a set of specific delivery techniques.

4. Use the pipeline to define your goal and create content that is likely to achieve it. You want to use the fewest words possible to make your point in less than 20 minutes

5. Determine who your audience members are and what they need to hear.

6. Write a “Micro-Statement,” one sentence that says what you want people to recall. Support it with three to five “Key Elements” that form your “Hard-Core Content.”

7. Use strikingly memorable phrases as “Spikes” to open and close your presentation.

8. Precise preparation and powerful delivery is the best way to achieve a specific result.

9. What you say and how you say it is far more powerful than a PowerPoint show.

10. Your overall attitude should be, “Say It…Support It…Shut It.”

We encourage members to give birthday dates and anniversary so we can

As we were going to Print we got great

news on the birth of little baby Mariam

on 10th February. Proud parents are TM

Zakaria Sulaiman & TM Afaf Zainalbedin

Q: If you were stranded on a desert island, which 3 items could you not live without?

A: Book of Holy Quran - My iPhone - My bed.

Q: .What is your favourite sound or noise?

A: mom calling me for lunch, since it's my favorite meal of the day

Q: what would you dream holiday destination be?

A: Austria & Italy

Q: What’s the best

piece of advice you ever

Received?

A: Be yourself Manal !

Q: If you were to change

one thing about your self

what would it be.

A: Fighting for my rights .

In our first session of Manama Toast-masters Interviews and the rekindled column SHE & HE. I spoke to

TM Manal Al Matrook. A dedicated

Toastmaster who has not missed any

Toastmaster meeting in January. She is

also Area 59 Governor and it is my

pleasure to have had a few words with

her.

Q: What are some Goals you have set

for 2013?

A: Completing my DTM after almost

spending 13 years in Toastmasters

and learning new skills in Human Re-sources.

Q: Describe yourself in One Word?

A: Fabulous !

Q: What do you enjoy most about Manama Toastmasters?

A: Friendships.

P A G E 9 Get to know

Fellow

Toastmasters

TM Guaz Wankadia TM Manal Al Matrook

sets of clothes (to protect myself from the Sun and the "Google-Earthling" Techies) and finally, a waterfall with unlimited supply of water (Imagine a single tap to bathe & Drink water from.)

Q: What is your favorite sound or noise?

A: The gradually progressing sound from an intermittent gig-gle to an uncontrollable breath-less laughter of a small child (toddler).

Q: What would your dream holiday destination be?

A: The Palace on Wheels - Ra-jasthan, India.

Q: What’s the best piece of advice you ever received?

A: It goes like this: "Never give advice unless you are asked for it."

Q: If you were to change one thing about yourself what would it be?

A: My time management skills.

I also met up with TM Guraz Wankadia, winner of the Man-ama Toastmasters Interna-tional Speech Contest and dedicated Toastmaster, always ready to mentor and help fellow Toastmasters.

Q: What are some Goals you have set for 2013 ?

A: To improve the business levels at work and to Visit at least one country I have never been to.

Q: Describe yourself in One Word?

A: Emotional

Q: What do you enjoy most about Manama Toastmasters?

A: Friendships. Camaraderie. The Good Times. The Table Topics. The Joke Session.

Q: If you were stranded on a deserted island, which 3 items could you not live without?

A: My iPad, My Blackberry & High-Speed Broadband Inter-

net Access. No. Just

Joking. I guess the answer should be Spouse, Family & friends. But if you stress on the word "Items" being non-human, then I feel it is : A 64-Element Swiss Knife, A few

“Don’t wait for the

world to recognize

your greatness, Live

it and let the world

catch up to you”

Thechristopherfields.com

P A G E 1 0

The quality of social and guest nights have almost always been good with good atten-dance but normal meetings sometimes suffered due to lack of attendance. When I was elected Treasurer (probably during 1979), we were not very rich. I had to contribute 300fils to take charge from ex-Treasurer because the balance of the cash-in-hand was minus 300fils. I was elected Presi-dent during 1981 and re-elected to repeat one more term during 1982. I also served as President for 6 months during the 1990’s. We used to have yearly terms. With the increase in member-ship, we reduced the term to 6 months to provide more opportunities to the maximum number of members. From the very beginning, I was too involved with Toast-masters activities and there-fore, could not concentrate on my project speeches. I obtained my ATM recognition during 1994 after completing 15 projects from the Ad-vanced Manuals. If I had not delayed my Projects, I could have gone straight to DTM because ATM-Bronze, Silver, and Gold were introduced later. I have also lost many credits for not claiming them in time. When I was President in 1982, we made around BD900 in-

It was the early 1970’s when I was

introduced to the Manama Toastmas-ters Club by the late DTM MNK Rana. I was about to be inducted as a Toast-master but I ran away due to my fears of speaking and I was in hiding for quite some time. Eventually, with the help of a founding member , the late TM AN Kikla, and another senior Toast-master, the late P.P. Varkey, I was found. They assured me that they will not push me to deliver a speech or give a table topic commentary until such time that I was ready for it. So I happily agreed and I was inducted. Unfortunately, there is no record of the date of my joining. However, I delivered my first project speech dur-ing 1977. Therefore, I think I joined Manama Toastmaster during 1976. When I finished my Ice Breaker speech (“High Ambitions vs Frustrations”), I could not believe my eyes and ears when I received encouragement with remarks like “you have smashed the ice”. Believe me, I was sweating when I was smashing the ice. It took me 6 years to obtain my CTM recognition in 1984. At that time, there were15 Projects in the Basic Communication Manual. It was also as a matter of policy, Manama Toastmas-ters insisted that members delivered non-project speeches before attempt-ing the next project. The standard of Individual Evaluation was very high and despite the fact that the environment was very friendly, the speakers were frequently asked to repeat their pro-ject.

come from the Souvenir. For the first time, I introduced the tradi-tion of writing articles in the Souvenir editions although I had to face strong opposition from some quarters. I moved a resolution in the House to allocate 30 pages for material about Toastmasters activities and through parliamentary procedures, the Resolution was passed by an absolute majority. The second biggest souvenir was published in 1994 when I was nominated Chairman of 30 Years Celebration Committee and we made a huge profit. This was the most prestigious occasion. We had the longest pro-gramme for almost one full week The International President Elect, Ian Edwards and his wife Pat, spent the whole week in Bahrain for this event. We also received an audience with the late Amir of Bahrain, H.H. Shaikh Isa bin Sulman Al Khalifa. This was my 2nd oc-casion to have the honour to have an audience with the late Amir. H.H. Shaikh Sulman bin Hamad Al Khalifa graced three programmes with his presence. I have always said that Manama Toastmasters has always been my second love and the club has great sentimental value for me.

By DTM Mohammed Iqbal

30 Years Anniversary on 5th May 1994

Next Issue we hear from

DTM Clement Vinayak

Toastmaster of the Month P A G E 1 1

Donkey’s Attitude & Health Issues by TM Zakaria Sulaiman

one was amazed as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and happily trotted off!

MORAL :

Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up.

Remember the five simple rules to be happy:

1. Free your heart from hatred - Forgive.

2. Free your mind from worries - Most never happens.

3. Live simply and appreciate what you have.

4. Give more.

5. Expect less from people but more from God.

One day a farmer's donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer tried to figure out what to do. Fi-nally, he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway; it just wasn't worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbours to come over and help him. They all grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was hap-pening and cried horribly. Then, to everyone's amazement he qui-etened down.

A few shovel loads later, the farmer finally looked down the well. He was astonished at what he saw. With each shovel of dirt that hit his back, the donkey was doing some-thing amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up.

As the farmer's neighbours contin-ued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up. Pretty soon, every-

Well Done to TM Manal

Al Matrook on becoming Toastmas-ter of the Month January 2013.

If you're still wondering how you can get this award, its a 3- step process : perform a lot of assign-ments, pay your dues in time, and be regular at the toastmaster meet-ings. The point - system is de-scribed in the table to the right.

Health safety issues:

7 don’ts after a meal

1. Don't drink tea - Because tea leaves contain a high content of acid. This substance will cause the Protein content in the food we consume to be hardened thus difficult to digest.

2. Don't eat fruits immediately - Immediately eating fruits after meals will cause stomach to be bloated with air. Therefore take fruit 1-2 hr after meal or 1hr before meal.

3. Don't loosen your belt - Loosening the belt after a meal will easily cause the intestine to be twisted & blocked.

4. Don't bathe - Bathing will cause the increase of blood flow to the hands, legs & body thus the amount of blood around the stomach will therefore decrease. This will weaken the digestive system in our stomach.

5. Don't walk about - People always say that after a meal walk a hundred steps and you will live till 99. In actual fact this is not true. Walking will cause the digestive system to be unable to absorb the nutrition from the food we intake.

6. Don't sleep immediately - The food we intake will not be

able to digest properly. Thus will lead to gastric & infection in our intestine.

7. Don't smoke- Experiment from experts proves that smok-ing a cigarette after meal is comparable to smoking 10 ciga-rettes (chances of cancer is higher).

TM Manal Al Matrook

P A G E 1 2 Grammar Rules 1 What are pronouns?

Pronouns

A pronoun takes the place of an unknown noun. The unknown noun is called the “antecedent.”

Example: Maria wondered if she was late for work.

Maria is the antecedent of “she.” Instead of saying: Maria wondered if Maria was late for work, “she” appears to take the place of “Maria.”

The Nine forms of Pronouns:

Personal, possessive, indefinite, reflexive, reciprocal, intensive, interrogative, relative, and demonstrative.

The pronoun must always agree with antece-dent, so if the antecedent is male, the pro-noun must be male, if the antecedent is plu-ral, the pronoun must be plural, etc.

Example:

Correct: When Maria bought the detergent, she used her credit card. Incorrect: When Maria bought the detergent, they used his credit card.

Pronoun Cases

Nominative Cases: I, you, he, she, it, we, they, who

The nominative, or subjective, case pronoun is the subject of the sentence.

Examples: She went to the store. Who has the book? I am he.

This is she.

Objective Cases: Me, you, him, her, it, us, them, whom

These function as direct or indirect objects.

Examples: We gave HER the bus money. We gave IT to HER. I don’t know to WHOM I speak. The bag is with HER.

Possessive Cases: My, mine, his, her, hers, its, our, ours, their, theirs, your, yours, whose

The possessive case pronoun shows possession

Example: That is MY bag. That bag is MINE. HER bus was late. The bags are all HERS.

Personal Pronouns can refer to the person/people speaking (First person,) spoken to (second person,) or spoken ABOUT (third person.)

First person subject singular: I First person subject plural: We First person object singular: me First person object plural: us

Second person subject singular: you Second person subject plural: you Third person subject singular: he, she, it Third person subject plural: they Third person object singular: him, her, it Third person object plural: them

Example: I wanted to give them to her, but he wouldn’t let me.

I — first person singular Them — third person plural Her — third person singular He — third person singular Me — first person singular

Source is www.Englishgrammar.org

Writing a Speech P A G E 1 3

Club Etiquette

The Act of Kindness

and conclusion. This is known as the speech structure. It is helpful if you pre-pare an outline or a draft then get feed-back from your mentor. The final version of the speech should be available and kept as a reference.

Delivery is key to success as much as writ-ing the speech. You need to practice the speech very well. Most successful speeches are the ones that have been practiced and practiced a number of times. If you do not have an audience for practice purposes, then use a mirror. Its very handy. Check out the venue and make sure that if you need visual aids and equipment such as a microphone that is tested prior to the speaking slot. Try not to bring distracting huge speaking props nor ones that are too

Writing a speech can be a wonderful ex-perience however we encourage members to write a script prior to conducting the speech. Once the speech is written it’s a good idea to share it with your mentor and also perform in front of your mentor so that he/she can give you the necessary advice.

Prior to planning a speech we need to establish a speech theme and its relevance to the audience. Certain speeches relate to specific occasions therefore its impor-tant to identify the public speaking occa-sion in advance.

Once the theme and the audience are known, the next step is to write a speech. every speech has an introduction, body

small where the audience has to struggle to see it. Props should be appropriate to the subject of the speech otherwise the audience’s atten-tion will be distracted.

Prepare to make a speech with a stunning in-troduction followed by salutations to the audi-ence and the Master of Ceremony. Don’t for-get the guests as well as they are part of the audience. Make sure that your appearance is well presented. Speak clearly and adjust your voice in accordance to the speech. Never shout unless needed in the speech. Do not forget to speak at an appropriate pace in the speech. Make appropriate eye contact and build a trust-worthy relationship with the audience. Use the facial and body gestures and lastly BE YOUR-SELF.

the club Madam/Mr President/Master of Ceremonies

4. No slang language

5. No SRP (Sex, Religion or Politics)

6. No chewing gum

7. Don’t walk around when people are speaking

8. Respect each other

9. No talking across the room

Do you know what is the club Etiquette?

1. No jeans or casual wear & dress decently

2. Always hand control back to the person who allowed you to speak

3. Be polite. Address people by their position in

10. No making signs at each other

11. Always keep a paper note handy if you need to urgently send a message across

12. Keep your phone in silent mode

13. Clap to commend each assignee

14. Come to the meeting with a smile

Fellow Toastmasters, There are times when we do goodness and are kind to people and nature. We do it and then we forget. However there is a famous old saying that what goes around comes around. Have you ever been in a situation where you were stuck say some-where and then suddenly someone comes to your rescue. Did you ask yourself why did this person come at that moment to rescue me from the circumstances. The recipe is easy, its due to the “Act of Kindness”. Do goodness today so that it comes back to you when you need it. Take that extra effort to be nice to the peo-ple around you. Let all your sayings and action target kindness and goodness. Not only to human beings but to animals, plants and all the world’s nature.

International Speech Contest Night P A G E 1 4

the best speech out of all the out-standing speeches presented). TM Ammar gave us a motivational speech on how not to fail. His tips on how to succeed were clear and con-cise. TM Zakaria took us through his personal story that reminded us of the importance of keeping our prom-ises – even if they are to a little child. TM and President Bharat moved us with his Big Zero to Big Hero—a childhood story that has made the speaker who he is today. TM Waleed reminded us to step away from our TV/gaming sets and to “read something or do stuff”. TM Laxman, who brought his lovely parents along, also inspired that there are two decisions for each stage in life . For every challenge step back or go for it. TM Chris reminded us to honour our beloved parents and take time to say thank you. TM Asrar drove the importance of compliments home while “sore-throated” TM Guraz closed the evening by reminding us not to allow social media to turn us into idiots! By TM Hannah Karanja

Talk of a room bursting at the seams!! The first contest of the year on 26th January saw a total of 35 peo-ple squeezed into the boardroom -12 of them guests (3 of them coming cour-tesy of TM Manal – thanks Manal!). The turnout gave a whole new meaning to the phrase "Standing room only!!" The evening was a roller coaster of emotions as the well prepared, well-rehearsed high caliber speeches took us from laughter to tears as we connected in one way or another with the per-sonal stories. To kick off the evening, President TM Bharat Patil gave a befitting presidential address about competition. The healthy kind that is. He reminded us that were it not for competition between the 2 great nations of USA and Russia, man-kind would probably never have made that “one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind” which led to the landing on the moon. With out much ado, we nose dived straight into the eagerly awaited compe-tition. TM Claire was the embodiment of true professionalism as she seam-lessly took us from one competitor to the next. (Our sympathies were with the judges who were charged with the responsibility of picking and choosing

From left to Right: TM Asrar Merchant, TM Bharat Patil, TM Laxman Singh, M Waleed Noaman, TM Ammar

Madan, TM Chris Noronha, TM Zakaria Sulaiman, TM Guraz Wankadia & Contest Chair: TM Claire Cosgrove,

Chief Judge TM Isaac Mathew

Winners of the Contest.

1st Place—TM Guraz Wankadia, 2nd Place. TM Asrar

Merchant, 3rd Place TM Zakaria Sulaiman

Quotable Quotes and message from Speeches

by TM Thuraya Juma P A G E 1 5

“Don’t just accept whatever comes your way

in life. You were born to win. You were born

for greatness. You were created to be a

champion in life”

Joel Osteen

You should have the desire to achieve your goal.

Preparing to win:

Equip yourself with the right tools, knowl-edge and skills. Surround yourself with positive and influ-ential people. They are necessary to help you achieve your goals. Expecting to win:

Believe in yourself and your ability. Think positively, and expect to win. Always expect the best result in what you do. Don't let negative thoughts pull you back-ward. Now, this is what some of our fellow toastmasters shared with us when I asked them what does "Born to win" mean for them.

TM Shauna who celebrated her Birth-day just few days before the meeting said that " my birthday forced me to think about life and my goals for the upcoming year. This year I want to be better organ-ized and more focused on what is impor-tant in life. I think I was born to win and we all are but we may define winning dif-ferently. For me, being born to win is hav-ing a positive outlook on life and going after what you want, which brings me back to being more organized and focused! I need these elements in my life to win

TM Chris said "I feel that in this case, the winner does not mean the person who beats the other. I believe that a winner in life is one who is responsible, acts kindly, does what is right and is looked up to by society. Each person has his or her own talents, capabilities and limitations. All fingers are not the same. Each person is born unique and has his own way of tast-ing, thinking and acting. As each person uses his own way of thinking and knowl-edge in life, he assumes responsibility for his own life and in this way, he is a true winner".

TM Krishnadas said for him "Born to win signifies the focus of the individual, it is

Born to win was the theme of meet-ing number 2398 which was held on

19th of January 2013.

In 2011 I was in USA and I came across a CD by the motivational speaker Zig Ziglar with the title "Born to Win". The title attracted me. Therefore, I bought the CD and listened to it. It had a profound im-pact on me and changed my life. The most important things that happened to me was the belief that I was born to win and there is nothing I can't do if only I plan well my goals and work towards achieving them.

Yes fellow toastmasters, you were born to win but as Zig Ziglar said "to be the winner you were born to be, you must plan to win and prepare to win. Then and only then can you expect to win".

In what follows you will learn how to plan, prepare and expect to win.

Planning to win:

You should have a clear vision of what truly you want to achieve.

Set and write your goals and targets.

Measure how you are doing through all your steps. Are you happy with your pro-gress or can you do better?

a lifestyle everyone should adopt".

TM Mobin view was that "Every person on this planet is born to win. When we find our purpose and start doing it with passion, it will bring us success".

TM Asrar commented by saying that "born to win is a thought which emphasizes single mind-edness. And if you look at it from another angle, we are all precisely born to win, win our life. Life starts with a struggle to breathe and that breathe is in itself a means of victory".

TM Sayam Basheer said "Win is always a relative concept. Sometimes I felt internal fail-ure even if I win a situation and vice versa. For me Born to win means not only material victory it is the victory of soul and mind and victory of the people along with me".

For TM Manal "Born to Win means a lot to me, because winning is considered to be one of my top ten reasons of my happiness in life!

And lastly, TM Ahmed said "Born to win means that your attitude is tuned with what you want out of life. When someone is born to win, they have clearly defined goals and are willing to sacrifice to get them".

Fellow Toastmasters, I end with this quote below

T H E I N S I D E S T O R Y

THE EXCOM JAN-JUN 2013 Manama Toastmasters Club was established in

1964, It is the first in the Middle East and

is registered under the Ministry of Labour and

Social Affairs (reg. no. 74/C/C). It is affiliated to

Toastmasters International USA.

Our mission is to provide a mutually supportive

and positive environment in which every member

has the opportunity to develop communication

and leadership skills which, in turn, foster

self-confidence and personal growth.

Our meetings are held every Saturday from 7:00

p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at the Crowne Plaza Hotel,

Kingdom of Bahrain.

Guests are always welcome.

Visit www.manamatoastmasters.org

for more information or Like us on face book

https://www.facebook.com/manama.toastmasters

Contact VP-Membership Muna Alaiwi

on +973 39271739 or

VP-Public Relations Edmore Mleya

on +973 36061524

Visit Toastmaster International

on http://www.toastmasters.org/

District 20 Governor DTM Alex Ginete seated centre with Manama Toastmasters members on January 19th 2013

TM Bharat Patil TM Thuraya Juma

VP Education

TM Ed Mleya

VP Public Relations

TM Sadaf Gill

Secretary

TM Asrar Merchant

Treasury

TM Adulla Mian

librarian

TM Muna Alaiwi

VP Membership

Sub Committee

VP PR: Shauna Nearing

VP Membership: TM Zakaria

& TM Krishnadas

Stg st Arms: TM Maisa Sheikh

TM Hannah Karanja

Sgt at Arms