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CSF, Issue No.4 ,February 2012

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Why a newsletter? What is the purpose of a newsletter? Is it to showcase the writing

abilities of Toastmasters? Or is it a part of PR drive to increase membership? A newsletter

does serve both the purposes, but there is an-

other factor that makes a newsletter an impor-tant aspect of a Toastmasters club; preserving

our memories in a colorful way. It is a way to record our journey with Toastmasters, it is a

window to look back and cherish the beautiful moments and lessons we gathered from this

great movement.

Would you like to remember who you were with when you were younger? (If you think you

are not young, you are not getting younger anyway.)Do you want to absorb the collected

wisdom of every Toastmaster session? Do you want to celebrate the celebrations of the past?

If yes is an answer to any of the above

questions, you need to contribute to the club news letter. Writing is not the only way to

contribute to the newsletter; you can contrib-ute by reading it, by providing constructive

criticism to improve the quality, by appreciat-ing the contributors , and also by sending it to

your friends outside the realm of Toastmasters.

Special thanks to VP-PR , TM Jananee for providing me the opportunity to learn about

myself. A simple thanks is insufficient to acknowledge the efforts of the core Newsletter

team, TM Abhilash, TM Rohit and TM Aarthi. It has been a pleasure working with you guys.

Every month, the newsletter team puts in hours of effort to come up with something that

will take you only minutes to read. Do read it, and do write back to us.

TM Nijil Chandran

Editor

Editorial

From the President’s desk -3 What is Toastmasters International? -4 Fabric of Toastmasters-5 Book of the Month –6 Testimony Corner –7 Communication when ―Leading without a Title‖ -8 Collected Wisdom - Table topics template–11 Editor's choice- Speech of the Month –12 Grammar Granny –13 The Chosen one –14 The Month that was –15

Table of Contents

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From the President’s desk

Dear Readers,

A few weeks ago I was watching a Television Reality Show. It was a cooking con-

test for amateur chefs around the world. In that particular episode, there were 4 contestants competing. The episode was a team contest., so the four of them

were split into 2 different teams, each team having two cooks. Now this is how the split was done – Two out of the four were comparatively more experienced.

They had undergone training, and had a knack over technique.

The other two had not undergone any training. The only cooking they had done before was for their families – at home. They had not studied any Professional

techniques. Both professional cooks were put into one team (lets call it Team A) and the non-Professionals were put into the other (Team B). The challenge was to

make a French dish (that I can’t spell) within 70 minutes.

The whistle blew, and their time had begun. The Anchors went to the teams and

asked them what their strategy was : Team A – ―We’re going to use the advantage of our tech-

niques. Professional cooking will make us win.‖ Team B – ―We don’t really know what the right techniques

are. We’re just going to cook from our Heart.‖

70 minutes were up. Team A’s dish looked like a still from a cooking-magazine.

Team B’s dish didn’t look that appealing . It was time for the Judges to taste the dishes, and announce the result.

Here’s what they said –

―Team A’s dish had it all right – the ingredients, presentation, everything was great. But Team B’s dish had

something unexplainable. The taste was just astounding.‖

Team B won.

When asked what the secret of their success was, Team B said – ―We cooked this dish with a special ingredient – Love.‖

And how true is that, for every walk of Life - Toastmasters included! We take up

roles, deliver speeches, and participate in contests. We prepare our scripts; use various techniques; and practice ardently. But if we just add that one special in-

gredient; our Speeches, our Role-Plays will be taken to a new level altogether. That one special ingredient of Love.

So in this season of Love, let’s make it a point to fall in Love – with our Scripts,

with our Speeches, with our Role-Plays, with CSF, with Toastmasters!

Signing off with Loads of Love,

Arna Chugani President

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Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development. Our membership is 270,000 strong. These members improve their

speaking and leadership skills by attending one of the 13,000 clubs that make up our global network of meeting locations. It is also one of the most cost-effective

skill-building tools available anywhere

How Does It Work?

A Toastmasters meeting is a learn-by-doing workshop in which participants hone

their speaking and leadership skills in a no-pressure atmosphere. For more details visit: http://www.toastmasters.org/

What is Toastmaster International?

What can you expect at Chennai Speakers Forum (CSF)?

With a membership base of more than forty five toast-masters within four and half months, CSF is one of the

fastest growing community clubs in Chennai.

Apart from general regular meetings under TMI guide-

lines, we have an hour of optional classroom session before every meeting.

This is what our VP-PR Jananee had to say about what you can expect at CSF:

Here...you can "Challenge Safely and Fabricate" yourself. Here...you can "Change, Succeed and feel Fabulous".

We gather every week to grow by standing up,

We gather every week to grow by speaking up,

A safe place to challenge yourself

A cushioned room to track your progress.

A place where stress is a trespasser! A place where communication is THE HERO!

So that's why We all are here!

Did you know ?

CSF has already won

five DCP points since inception.

Who are our Club

sponsors ? S. Karthikeyan

Saro Velrajan

The mission of a

Toastmasters Club is

to provide a mutually

supportive and posi-

tive learning environ-

ment in which every

individual member

has the opportunity

to develop oral com-

munication and lead-

ership skills, which In

turn foster personal

growth and self confi-

dence.

Club Mission

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The Fabric of Toastmasters

In everyone's heart there is a dream of excel-ling in public speaking. This dream is best met

when he or she joins the movement called Toast-masters like I did in march 2009.

Since then it’s been just learning, learning and

learning. Sounds interesting right?

For me it is wee beyond just learning. I have begun to understand what makes me want to at-

tend meetings after meetings every weekend without being bored or burnt out.

Now what is it that makes people like me turn

up weekly for such self development meetings

knowing very well the structure of the meetings is the same every week, month and year.

I did some soul searching and came out with

my answers as to why it is so. What I realized is that its not just about taking part in these meet-

ings that makes you a better public speaker and leader but it is a sense of belonging with your

peers of different age groups that matters the most.

The camaraderie, the attitude of treating your

fellow Toastmasters as contemporaries and help-ing each other to excel is what I believe the fab-

ric or foundation on which the movement of

Toastmasters is firmly embedded.

That camaraderie and right attitude accelerates the growth of a novice speaker to become better

communicators and in turn better leaders.

Cheers!!!

-TM Rajeev Nambiar

Did you know ? Chennai Speakers Forum's

very first International

speech and Table topics con-test will be held on March

4th 2012 And the contest chair for the same is none

other than our beloved TM Rajeev Nambiar.

To quote him on the impor-

tance of contest, ―Judges determine who goes

home with the Trophy but they can't determine who

goes home as a winner. So discover the winner in you.”

Be part of the contest, as a contestant or as a role

player or as audience. The best of best is awaiting you!

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Book of the Month — Life of Pie by Yann Martel

This book should be read not because it is a Man Booker prize winner, but

because this is a book which will make us realise that fiction does not necessarily

lie in other galaxies or timelines, nor does it lie in the past or the future or in

other species, but can be found right in our backyard in our day to day life.

Piscine Molitor Patel, abbreviated to Pi is just another teenage boy with no

special powers or upbringing. Born in a middle class South Indian family, which

owns a zoo in Pondicherry, Pi has a very normal life when one day everything

changed.

Being stranded on the Pacific Ocean on a flimsy boat is enough to make most

people drown in despair. Imagine what would be the state of a boy stranded on

the high seas in the company of eminent species of the animal kingdom- A Zebra,

an Orang-Utan, A Hyena and A Royal Bengal Tiger!!

What follows is an unimaginable yet possible, unbelievable yet awe-inspiring,

distressing yet inspiring tale of a boy much like any one of us.

227 days, 356 pages of unadulterated fiction, touching moments of life everyone

of us has gone through at some point or other, written in simple language which

transports us right next to the boy sitting on the raft, with the tiger staring at him.

The author has bought to the front the bare minimum required for human sur-

vival and at the same time has explored philosophical implications and ideas without

going off the track. Gems of philosophy/spirituality are sprinkled across the book

which encourages reflection and contemplation, a welcome respite from the monoto-

nous existence on the seas.

Read this book for what it has to offer, have no expectations from it, start it with

an open mind and I am sure you will truly know "Life of Pi". - TM Rohit J

Trivia

Life of Pie, a 3D fan-

tasy adventure film based on a novel

with same name is scheduled to be re-

leased in December, 2012.

The cast includes two famous Indian actors

Irfan Khan and Tabu.

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Testimony Page - Kiran

It all started on a fine day when one of my

close friends came home and started working on his laptop. I thought he was going to connect

his to my PC and set-up the connection for some game. But after a while I was astonished

to see him do something really useful. He was preparing an agenda for a "TOASTMASTERS

CLUB‖ meeting. Yes, the Toastmasters Club was Chennai Speakers Forum!

I joined the club as soon as my friend ex-

plained what exactly it does or rather what ex-actly the members do. As a person open to

speak with close friends and people whom I felt comfortable with, I thought this would be an op-

portunity.

When it came to speaking in front of an un-

known audience I used to tremble, shiver and please do add all the words having similar

meanings! I was badly in search for a platform like this wherein a person's skills can be vastly

improved.

Yes, the Toastmasters Club is a Non-Profit Organization that helps every member to im-

prove his/her public speaking and leadership skills.

Though it has been just a few months, my ex-

perience with Toastmasters has been fantastic.

I’m sure there will be so much more learning in every meeting and we ourselves could sense the

difference. I feel that this is something that we all should experience to understand the impor-

tance that it holds in our lives. Cheers!

- TM Kiran

Did you know ?

Kiran gave his long pending

Icebreaker in February, and boy

was it not worth the wait.

Filled with humor, subtle varia-

tion of voice, and quality con-

tent ,an Icebreaker from sea-

soned Toastmaster.

It is a tradition at CSF to give

standing ovation to every

speaker embarking on their CC

journey.

Congratulations Kiran!

What did they say about January Newsletter?

I went through the Newsletter. A product of sustained hard work.

Kudos to the Editorial Team.

- TM T.R.Thiagarajan

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Communication when “Leading without a Title”

Civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Father of our nation, Mohandoss Karamchand Gandhi, Social activist Anna Hazare. How do these individuals in-

spire people to work for a common cause? How do these individuals mobilize support of a large number of people?

They are not the Presidents or Prime Ministers of the nation. They are not CEOs of

a large corporation or associated with any political organizations. They were not born into a family of leaders. They neither had large sums of money nor a formal

authority over people

So, what are the tricks that these leaders used to attract people and influence them for their cause? How were they able to LEAD WITHOUT A TITLE? They know

how to effectively CONNECT, COLLOBORATE AND CONGRATULATE.

Connect I read a quote recently ―Whenever people get together, problems get smaller and

communities get better‖. What an interesting quote. It highlights the importance of team work in serving people. Our leadership skill is put to the best use, when

we ―Connect‖ with people and work together as a team.

So, how do you connect with your team, when you are a leader? When you are in a gathering, take the first step to introduce yourself to others.

Always, greet people with a warm and pleasant SMILE. Make them feel SPECIAL

Make them feel IMPORTANT Make them feel you CARE

Say, you are in a club meeting and you see a fellow toastmaster entering the hall.

You can just say, ―Good morning Sir!‖ (or) ―Hello Thiagarajan Sir! How are you? It is a pleasure to see you today. Welcome

to the meeting. We were missing you so much‖

Staying connected with people is like farming. In farming you plough the land, sow seeds, water the field, remove weeds, and add fertilizer at the right time.

Similarly, you’ve to invest your time in maintaining the relationship and staying connected with people –

by appreciating their accomplishments, by listening to their needs, and

by re-enforcing their belief that they are important

CONNECT, COLLOBORATE

CONGRATULATE...

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Collaborate ―Leadership is not about the Leader‖ said Wing-Kun Tam, International President of Lions International. It is very true.

Verbal – “I/You” ratio. When we collaborate with a team, we tend to create an impression that we are dominating, self-centered and egoistic. How do we avoid that impression?

There is a simple technique called I/You ratio in communication.

The most powerful communication combines both intellectual and emotional con-nections. Intellectual means appealing to educated self-interest with data and

reasoned arguments. We are good at that. Emotion comes from engaging the listener and answering their unspoken ques-

tion – ―What is in it for me‖? … by frequently using words such as "you" and ―we‖.

For example, don't say, ―I met the District Governor last week. I was asked to or-ganize a conference. I have to form a team. I’m looking for people. If any of you

are interested to join the organizing team, let me know‖.

Instead, you can say ―We have a tremendous opportunity to serve our toastmasters and perform a number of lead-

ership roles. Our District Governor has given us the task of organizing a conference. We need a large number of

volunteers. Each one of you is qualified to be a role

player. Will you be able to join me in this mission to serve, learn and grow?‖

Look at the impact that it creates.

Leading by example TM Saro How do you inspire people to follow your cause, without verbal communication – ―leading by example‖. Let me give you an example. Joe Girhard is a Guinness

record holder. Joe worked for General Motors and he holds a Guinness record for selling the most number of cars, not just one year, not just two years but con-

tinuously for 15 years in a row. In one of the interviews, he was asked ―Joe! How were you able to sell more cars, when your colleagues in the dealership had ex-

actly the same opportunity as you?‖ Well! It was simple. He said, people watch what you do … much more than listening to what you say. Many of my colleagues

were selling Chevrolet, but there were driving a Honda, Toyota or a Volkswagen

car themselves. But, I was selling a Chevvy and also owned a Chevvy. When my prospects see that I believe in the product that I sell, they tend to buy it from

me. I just walk my talk and that made the difference.‖

What an excellent example of leadership? Leaders just don’t preach the world to act; they ―lead by example‖. When you do it, others will get inspired and auto-

matically follow you.

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Congratulate Genuinely appreciating the performance of your members!!

I read a book called ―How to teach so that kids can listen‖. The book talks about ―How to motivate kids to get repeatable behaviors?‖. The author says ―Don’t just

compliment your kid, but compliment them for a specific reason‖.

For example, instead of just saying ―Son! You did a fantastic job‖, you should say

―Son! I like the way you are keeping your room neat and clean. You are saving a lot of time for dad and mom. Great job‖. When you communicate the specific rea-

son for which you are appreciating them, they remember it better. They feel ―I’m getting this appreciation because I kept the room neat and clean‖. You can use

the same technique for adults also. After all, we were also kids once upon a time.

For example, instead of saying ―Ramesh! You did a great job of conducting an eye camp‖, you can say ―Ramesh! You displayed extraordinary commitment, team

work and service mentality by organizing the eye camp. You were able to make it happen despite the challenges you had in mobilizing funds. You are trustworthy

and I can rely on you every time. Great job‖.

At times, folks will come to you and ask for feedback on

their performance. ―How did I perform Sir? What can I improve?‖ Our, natural tendency is to either say ―You

did a great job‖ or to you would start listing a long list of mistakes they did. But remember, volunteers are spend-

ing their spare time to help others. Each one of them is trying to do their best.

When giving feedback to your team or team members,

highlight the areas they did well highlight the areas they could’ve done better

end it with appreciation of their good work

The LAST impression is the LASTING impression. When giving feedback, always END WITH A HIGH NOTE.

Leaders can be MADE

I strongly believe that leadership is something that can be learned. Leaders don’t have to be BORN. Leaders can be made – all we need to have is the determina-

tion to be leader. If there is one magic pill that we can swallow before going to the bed and wake up the next morning as a GREAT LEADER, everybody will be

leaders today. But Leadership requires constant practice with persistence, pa-tience and passion, you can be a great leader too. When you follow these simple

techniques to effectively CONNECT, COLLABORATE AND CONGRATULATE PEOPLE, you are going to be a Leader everyone would love to work with.

- TM Saro Velrajan

Saro Velrajan is the governor of Divi-

sionv G. He is also one of the two CSF

club sponsor ? Who is the other one?

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Nervous and breathless in a table topics session ? Check out the all new mind-map to get your ideas flowing.

So how do I read a mind map ? The word in the middle is the central point, and the green clouds represent the sub topics, and the red clouds are the actual idea triggers.

Try to elaborate your Table topic based on any one of the below. Mix and match

and practice a lot until you become an expert!

Source : The classroom sessions from CSF. No rights reserved, you can use it as

you like.

Collected Wisdom—Table topics Template

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Speech of the month—Break the shackles

It was a fine Friday morning. I woke up at 7 AM to prepare a presentation

for my project. By 8 AM, I started driving to my office. Gentle morning breeze, lovely music in my ears, beautiful sun shining amidst those clouds, a climate bal-

anced between summer and winter and the lovely OMR!

While I was feeling like a prince on his horse, there was a sudden change in the scene. The car in front of me stopped and skidded. I was cornered between

an auto and a gutter. My right hand hit the backlight in the car as it crashed into pieces. In fraction of a second, I was on the road and blood was gushing out of

my hand. All these 4 fingers were cut and I fainted.

Toastmaster of the day, fellow Toastmasters and dear Guests, when I woke up, I was inside the operation theatre. I was able to see everything around me as

only local anesthesia was given. The doctor who treated me deserves a mention. She was stitching my hand and suddenly her phone rang. She answered the call,

it was from her daughter. I heard the doctor scolding her daughter for bad scores

in the exams. While I wondered on the uniformity of the ―Mom‖ factor, my hand was shivering in panic. What if those scores result in

scars in my hand! Somehow the operation got over and the nurse showed me my fingers. It was like lumps of

meat stitched together. The doctor asked me my pro-fession and I told I am a software engineer.

She said, ―Thankfully, your hand will get cured in

2 months and it will be fit enough to type‖.―What! Typ-ing! What about my regular life, playing, writing, driv-

ing etc. ― ―Why are you worrying, I told you will be able to type, what more does a software engineer need!

Anyway, do physiotherapy and try your luck. Good luck!‖

With those encouraging words from her, I re-

turned to home. My hand was immobilized with Plaster of Paris for 2 months. Where ever I went, I had to go

like this (Snake-like posture of palm). You can imagine the fun my friends and colleagues would have had with this.

They branded me unfit for driving. When they opened the covering on my

hand after 2 months, I saw my hand shrunk and weak like corpse shrimp! Pa-thetic, I was not even able to lift it properly. I went for physiotherapy; they told

me if I followed their instructions, I can gradually get well. But it was not easy to see the slow progress and my dreams to be back on the bike shriveled.

A few days later, I went to a temple. There I saw an elephant tied to a pillar

with a chain. I went near its Mahout- its care-taker, and asked ―What assures you that such a massive elephant can be held tied to this small piece of Iron chain? It

can break that easily anytime!‖

Editor‟s note:

The new feature –

Speech of the month will bring out the

editor‟s choice best speech of the

month.

TM Abhilash‟s CC#9 „Break the shackles‟

is the speech of the month.

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Speech of the month—Break the shackles He answered calmly: ―When this elephant was young and

much smaller, I used the same chain to tie it. At that age, this chain was enough to hold it. As it grew up, it is conditioned to

believe that this chain can hold it and it never tries to break away!‖

Bingo! That meant much more than an answer, much be-yond a single elephant; it was a statement to mankind! This so-

ciety attaches to every human, a chain of limitation. It puts you in shackles just because you failed once and says that: you are

not fit to study; you are not fit to work; you are not fit for mar-riage, and the list goes on… In this competitive world, where, there are family and

friends all around you constantly putting you down, de-motivation is ubiquitous! But is there any real chain that can hold you? Your teacher is not God to call you a

stupid student. Your manager is not God to call you a bad performer. Your doctor is not God to decide what your hands are meant for! You are the God! You hold the

Ultimatum to your destiny!

The very next day, I began to break the shackles that held my right hand.

For the next 1 month I did strenuous exercise. I believed I can play. I believed I can drive my bike again. I put my beliefs to action and today, my friends, my right

hand is no different from any of yours. I drive myself to wherever I want to go. My right hand is the rightest-hand!

Now, how many of you have these shackles around you? Is this society in-

stilling fear in you to reach out to your interest? Give them a damn right now! Do the thing you fear the most! Break the shackles and live your Life!

- TM Abhilash

Tip of the month from Grammar Granny.

Fewer: Use fewer when you're referring to people or things in the plural

fewer things, fewer people, fewer women, fewer cars Example:

People are buying fewer books. Fewer people are smokers these days.

Less:

Use less when you're referring to things that can't be counted less time, less air, less money

Example: It's a better job but they pay you less money.

People want to spend less time in traffic jams.

Grammar Granny

When to use less and

when to use fewer.

Here's how to get it

right.

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The Chosen one - Suresh Babu , We miss you!

We remember you enrolling as a member soon after your first visit. What made

you to take that instant decision to join Toastmasters? Right from my childhood, I felt that stage fear acted as an obsta-

cle in putting across my thoughts. Last year, I felt that the same started affecting

my professional growth; hence, I decided to find some way or the other to get rid

of it. I heard about Toastmasters and then came as a guest.

What made you come forward and grab every opportunity to perform in

Toastmasters meeting?

I strongly believe that Practice makes a man perfect. Just to get

rid of my stage fear and to communicate effectively

What do you feel Chartered Accountants-Toastmasters combo can do?

Great combination to do wonders especially in career front.

What is the most fun stuff about your work and how do you see

yourself performing in that situation? Being in the client facing industry, I need to interact

with clients to provide optimal solutions. Despite having the

mindset, to expect the unexpected, there might be some situa-

tion were clients arise some queries for which I don’t know the

solution at that moment. Initially, it was little embarrassing to

say, ―I will get back to you‖ but later I felt it is fun to handle

such type of question in a convincing manner. Still, a long way

to go.

If you were to create to a totally different world, what kind of place would that be?

I am really confident that God would never dare to outsource his work and stay unemployed.

If you were to talk about Toastmasters to your Chartered Accountants

family what will you tell them about Toastmasters?

I will give a brief introduction about Toastmaster in terms of public

speaking and leadership skill development, but, definitely invite them to attend

the meeting as a guest to feel the difference.

We understand that you are caught up in your work / personal circumstances .

What can the club do to advance you in the projects?

Let me sort out few pending stuffs and join our Toastmasters family

at the earliest. Anyways, thanks a lot for offering me the helping hand.

- Interviewed by TM Aarthi

Suresh Babu ,

a Chartered Accountant ,

is an enthusi-astic Toast-

master who during

Chennai Toastmasters

days was very active. This is

what he had to say about

when TM Aarthi caught

up with him.

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The editorial team of CSF congratulates the following members for their outstanding achievements in the month of February.

DTM Aditya Maheshwaran — For winning the Rotary young achiever of the year

award TM Arna Chugani and — For Becoming Competent Communicators officially.

TM Abhilash Annadurai

Other notable winners of February:

Events of February:

CSF’s first International speech and Table topics contest dates were announced. The contest is chaired by TM Rajeev Nambiar.

Best Role player award introduced in the third meeting of the month; the first

ever Best Role player award was bagged by TM Aarthi for her General Evaluator role.

The month that was...

Date Best Speaker Best Evaluator Best TT

Speaker

5th February

TM Arna Chugani TM Saro V TM Krishnan

Chidambaram

12th February TM Karthik S TM Saro V TM Sandeep

19th February TM Abhilash DTM Aditya M DTM Aditya M

Online edition of January Newslet-

ter release.

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Office Members:

President :

TM Arna Chugani.

(bubbly_arna@yahoo.co.in)

VP - Education :

TM Pravin Mani.

(pravin1314@gmail.com)

VP - Membership :

TM M Mustafa Azeez.

(mohammedmusthafa@gmail.c

om)

VP - PR :

TM Jananee R

(jaramakrishnan@gmail.com)

Secretary :

TM Gurumurugan.

(gurumuruganindia@yahoo.co.i

n)

Treasurer :

TM Vivekanandan.

(vivek.acs@gmail.com)

Sergeant At Arms :

TM Nijil Chandran

Chennai Speakers Forum meets every Sunday @ 10 AM At Ruby Hall, Presidency Club. Class room session happens between 9 AM -9.45 AM before every meeting. If you have any suggestion, an opinion or a perspective to share with the Newsletter team, write to us, we are listening. Feel free to contact us at Editor: TM Nijil Chandran Nijil.mail@gmail.com VP-PR: TM Jananee R jaramakrishnan@gmail.com