Hyderabad Toastmasters

HYDERABAD

TOAST MASTERSInspiring Leadership...

Official Bulletin of Hyderabad Toastmasters Volume - 18

District-82(N), Div-F, Area-4, Club # 946002 July-Oct '10

To ad sa tmba ar se td ey rsH

Hyderabad Toastmasters has had a thrilling start to this year with a new

and charged up Executive Committee. We have had two exhilarating

themed meetings and crossed a few milestones towards our attaining

HTM's DCP goals.

The Executive Committee is a great mix of young and old (in

Toastmasters & otherwise). HTM now has on the Executive Committee

a few members that have been in the club for less than a year – TM

Jagrut (VP-Membership), TM Raghu (VP-Public Relations) & TM Michael

(Sergeant-at-arms). This wonderful mix of old and new has brought in a

great amount of energy & vigor in the club.

The club level “Humorous Speech Contest” was an absolute entertainer right from the Contest Chair

TM Salil's pink wig till the last speech. The standard of evaluations at HTM was clearly portrayed

when the two contestants from our club went on to win the Area Level Evaluation Contest held at Elan

Toastmasters. HTM has already earned 3 CL's & 2 ALB's and I applaud these leaders.

We are doing well on the Membership Front with three new members joining recently. The surge of

membership requests is also an indication of the quality of meetings that we are having. We have had

two themed meetings already. “Foreigners” which was spearheaded by TM Raghu (VP-Public

Relations) & “Go Green” led from the front by TM Hasan.

“Speaking Tips” by sms is another initiative by TM Raghu which is indeed very commendable. We

have also had TM Hasan launch the virtual library. With close to 50 titles available for us members to

borrow, it would be a shame to see such a wonderful facility not being used.

As is quite clear from all the above member involvement is an area where our club has seen great

improvement. We seem to have more number of active members than ever before. I would also love

to hear from each one of you on suggestions to take our club, HTM to the next level. To conclude, in

the words of JFK rightly adapted by our Immediate Past President – TM Dr. A.V.S Prasad

“And so, My Fellow HTM'ers: Ask not what your club can do for you, ask what you can do for your club”

TM Johnny J Kandathil

PresidentHyderabad Toastmasters.

Report by President

If your actions inspire others,

to dream more, learn more, do more,

and become more…

You are a LEADER, indeed!

Dear readers,

The past 3½ months have been quite a rollercoaster ride as the VP-Ed of a

4½ year old club. My sole motto this year, as VP-Ed is to help each member

as much as possible to achieve greatness together, individually and

collectively.

The Division F Officer's Training Program was held on 18th July 2010 at SYNOPSYS. Six of seven HTM

Officers attended the program and have committed to attain the President's Distinguished status

this year!

The first club contest of the year i.e. Humorous Speech & Evaluation Contests saw great participation

from first-time-contestants Michael and Raghu among veterans such as Jagrut, Mario, Vidyashankar

and our very own JJK (Johnny)! The turnout for the contests was excellent. While Vidya & Jagrut (in

Humorous) and Mario & Vidya (in Evaluations) stole the show at club level; the individual

performances by Vidya and Jagrut (in Humorous) and Vidya & Johnny** (in Evaluation) were even

better at the Area F4 Contests that were held on 2nd October 2010 @Élan Toastmasters club.

@Vidya and Johnny – wishing you both the best of luck for the Division Level Contest on 14th Nov

2010.

I'm happy to report that we've had no cancellations in our regular meetings so far. Also, it's my

pleasure to report that we've achieved 5 Leadership awards already which are above the required

minimum of 2 Leadership awards in a year! These leadership awards achievers are:

We've had quite a few exciting meets that have been conducted till date, such as the themed

meetings “Go Green” and “Foreigners” and the conduct of the module “Going Beyond our Club” from

Report by VP-Education

Competent Leader Award· TM Mario· TM Vidyashankar (Club Founder)• TM Padmaja

Advanced Leader – Bronze Award· TM Harsh Singhal• TM Mario Rozario

**Mario had to back out of the contest on the grounds of technicality of contest rules.

the Successful Club Series. We also witnessed the Public Affairs Officer of the US Consulate

(Hyderabad) Ms. Juliet Wurr present a speech on interacting with foreign audiences. Readers can

find the summarized notes of the same in this edition of the HTM Herald.

While we have sailed through quite well on the TM waters till date, I perceive minor turbulence in

terms of Communication track completions this year. We have had only 2 confirmations so far for the

completion of Competent Communicator track, from TM Rameshwar and TM Surekha. However I am

unsure of the completion of 2 more CC's that we need this year. Members who've completed their CC ++tracks , if they so wish, can re-do their CC's and get the CC credit for themselves as well as help HTM

in completing the Distinguished Club Program.

REMEMBER...

No matter how difficult it becomes, as a Toastmaster,

you can always resolve it; one speech at a time

~Darren LaCroix (World-Champ 2001)

Wishing you, the reader, renewed vigor and enthusiasm to rekindle your passion for Toastmasters,

and to take a deep breath to dive deep into the TM waters and benefit from the exponential results

that the programme has to offer.

Looking forward to a year filled with more accomplishments, individual and collective! Cheers!--Warm Regards,

Harsh Singhal CC,ALB------------------------------------------------------------------------------Vice President - Education, HTM tinyurl.com/HydTMs

Area-4 Governor, Division F www.tinyurl.com/dist82fDistrict 82 (WORLD's #1) www.t82.org

email: duskfire@gmail.com

LinkedIn: http://in.linkedin.com/in/simplyharsh

++CC completed prior to the start of current TM year

LEADERSHIP AWARD ACHIEVERS

TM Mario TM Padmaja TM Harsh Singhal

Competent Leader,Advanced Leader Bronze

Advanced Leader Bronze Competent Leader Competent Leader

r noe wM !TH a m'I !oll

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Dear fellow Toastmasters,

The first two months of the 2010-11 term of Toastmasters has been amazing.

We have had meetings which were always well attended. The hall was jam

packed for all the meetings. A triplet of A's- Amit, Ashwin and Abhijit has

joined our Club and each of them has taken up the Toastmasters

assignments with a lot of gusto. Meanwhile, at the Area level contests, TM

Vidyashankar (Winner-Evaluation contest and 2nd runner up Humorous

speech contest) and TM Johnny(1st runner up Evaluation contest) have made

us proud. On behalf of all the members, I wish both of them all the best for

Division level contests.

We are constantly trying to increase the existing camaraderie and fellowship amongst the

Toastmasters with every meeting and new ideas from members are being implemented in regards

to that, so that, in this mutually supportive and inspiring environment provided by the Club we all

can achieve greatness together. Warm Regards,

Jagrut VaishnavVP-Membership 2010-11jagrutvaishnav@yahoo.com

Report by VP-Membership

Name: Abhijit Singh Sachdeva

f : c

Date o Birth 29th Mar h 1989

Profession: Apprentice at SunWatt India, Hyderabad

Hobbies/Interests: Music, Traveling

Passion: Music, Renewable Energy

cs

Expectations from HTM: To ontinuou ly provide a learning

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sp

envi onment for m mber to develop good ublic spea ing

e

k

ss

skill and al o become better individuals

Life dream: To tra el around the world and live in a pollution

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free environment.

Name: Ashwi TiwarinDate of Birth: 20 July 1980Pr fessi n: Proc ss Consultant

o o eHo bies I er sts: Reading & travelling

b / nt e

assion: T avellingP r

Expectations from HTM: Conduciv atmosphere fo e anci ge

r nh n Pub c eaking & leadership kills

li sp s

Life dream: Agric ture revolution usi new ec nolo es i my n tive

ulng t h gi n a

place a o ce established export agri produ ts

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Report by VP-PR

Dear Friends,

It's a great honour and an immense pleasure to be communicating through

the mouthpiece of our beloved club, the HTM Herald.

Lets reflect a bit on the opportunity called HTM Herald. I personally believe

that the HTM Herald, like any activity, forum or medium at our club, is

primarily a means to hone ourselves into better communicators, better

leaders ! After all, our club's motto is Inspiring Leadership and the HTM

Herald surely can contribute to that. But that will happen if and only if we

take the initiative to take time off to gather our thoughts and learnings, pen

them down and share with the world through this lovely newsletter. It can get

lovelier and more meaningful for its contributors and readers when each

one of us resolves to and works upon it. So here's wishing many more

committed contributors coming forward to enrich this learning experience.

Having said that, as your club's VP-PR and editor of the HTM Herald, I have tried to provide in this

medium a platform for members to share their experiences which can inspire a few other members

and readers and help take some aspect of their lives a few notches higher.

In other areas of Public Relations, with the tremendous support of each one of you in conceiving

innovative methods of making club membership a great incentive for learning and fun for existing as

well as prospective members we have done few things that should keep Hyderabad Toastmasters at

the the cutting edge of the Toastmasters movement in not just the city and Division, but indeed in the

District. Few of these are enumerated below.

The Virtual Library, which has been referred by our President in his report, the Guest speakers

beginning with Ms Juliet Wurr (look out for more coming your way!), the Go Green theme being

extended beyond the meeting and into our lives (with car pooling) and many more. Its worth

reiterating that I seek the support of each one of you in making HTM known as the Toastmaster club

to be at, by stepping out and adding a dose of innovativeness and quality in every role that you play.

Little things actually matter much!

Yours in PR,

TM Raghu Honawarraghu.honawar@gmail.com

Title : Speaking On Special Occasions –by Jackie ArnoldPublished by : Hodder Education, UK ISBN 9780340 971659

At Toastmasters and more particularly at Hyderabad Toastmasters Club, our endeavor has always being to

weave into our experiences the theme of having fun while learning and growing. The medium through which

this is experienced is not restricted to just the Toastmaster meetings but various forms of learning are

embraced. The introduction of the virtual library in our club can be seen in this light (have you borrowed any

book through it yet?). It is a simple blend of 3 great teachers viz. technology, books and the essence of sharing.

On that note, here is an attempt to bring to you the goodness of a wonderful book that goes well with the

Toastmasters agenda.

While running my eyes over the shelves at the British Library, I intuitively picked up this book titled 'Speaking on

Special Occasions' by Jackie Arnold. Part of the popular 'Teach Yourself' series that began in 1932 and now

boasting over 500 titles, this guide struck me as a wonderful complement to a Toastmaster. Little wonder that I

read much later on the back cover that Jackie is an Advanced Speaker with Toastmasters International. She

leverages her skills as a voice coach, keynote speaker, Executive Coach and writer with consummate ease as

she literally handholds the reader through diverse situations with very practical and detailed tips.

The occasions for which the author prepares the reader as a great communicator span a wide spectrum

ranging from interviews, fund-raising events, networking events, award ceremonies and many more. Even the

seemingly mundane medium of telephonic conversation is raised to an art by highlighting how to 'listen without

judgment' , 'create rapport' and 'ask relevant questions to gain all the details'. Jackie borrows valuable tips from

other authors and leaders too to bring us the best of the best, so to say. Daniel Goleman's concpet is banked

upon when talking about 'facing your fear', In the chapter on Presenting to the Media' she makes it easy for us to

remember the essence by giving the five Fs of media relations (yours truly, VP PR, has taken note !) – Factual,

Friendly, Fair, Fast and Frank ! Well, we know how helpful mnemonics are.

Savour here some interesting aspects and portions of the book that really appealed to me.·A section on phraseology giving examples of phrases which can be used in telephonic conversations·Boxes placed at appropriate sections of each chapter that summarise Top Tips on the subject·Exercises to make our speech clearer (the author shares a portion of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol to be

read aloud to improve flexibility of our lips and tongue)

·The attention to detail and specifics – In the chapter 'Making an Initial Enquiry', Jackie guides on 'know what

you want and write it down', 'how to self speak' (wow !) and 'body language'

But if you ask me for my favorite chapter, its 'Making a complaint/confronting authority' which really perked up

my confidence towards being more assertive. You see, every individual will surely find some great take-away

from this heart-winning friend of a book.

The fact that this book, like all others produced by the publishers Hodder Education, 'uses papers that are

natural, renewable and recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests' makes it all the

more likeable. Hey, lest I forget, there's a chapter on taking part in a debate with tips for each role player

(HTMers , this is a boon in preparing for a debate session !). Top it all with a Toastmaster author and a friendly

writing style and you need no more reason to reach for this book.

A TOASTMASTER TO CURL UP WITHA book review

TM RAGHU

A Life of Giving is a life of self –expansion.

To give is to grow

In the words of Lao-Tzu,

“ The man of calling does not heap up possessions.

The more he does for others

The more he possesses

The more he gives to others, the more he has”.

People who give with joy realise that this act of giving is the inviolable law of nature's kingdom

because nature will eventually take away what is not given. The body, mind, power, privilege all that is

held dear will ebb away with the tide of time. The hair will turn grey, skin will wrinkle, eyes will fail and

intellect will be dulled. What will remain in circulation even when we are not around are the intangible

things we gave away – the little acts of love, the gifts of service, companionship and compassion.

Kahlil Gibran wrote:

There are those who give little of the much they have – and they give it for recognition and their

hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.- And there are those who have little and give it all. These are the believers in life and the bounty of life

and their coffer is never empty. There are those who give with joy and that joy is their reward.

And there are those who give with pain and the pain is their baptism. And there are those who give

and know not pain in giving nor do they seek joy nor give with mindfulness of virtue. It is well to give

when asked but it is better to give unasked through understanding…….

You often say “I would give, but only to the deserving”. The trees in your orchard say not so, nor the

flocks in your pasture. They give that they may live for to withhold is to perish.

GIVING WITH JOYSome readings that changed my life

TM Madhu Suresh

TALKING TO FOREIGN AUDIENCESA talk by guest speaker

Ms. Juliet WurrPublic Affairs Officer, US Consulate, Hyderabad

The 26th of September 2010 was World Heart Day and banners were all over the

city alerting citizens to take care of their heart, keeping it healthy by always

smiling and being happy. However, Hyderabad Toastmasters didn't need that

piece of advice. More so since that day HTM had a wonderful meeting on the

Theme of 'Foreigners'. However, that's not all.

The icing on the cake was an insightful talk by our Guest of Honour Ms Juliet Wurr, Public Affairs

Officer for the US Consulate, Hyderabad. Juliet kept the audience engaged and in splits on many

occasions as much as she informed. Here are snippets of learnings from her enlightening talk on

'Talking to foreign audiences'.

1. Find out if they (the audience) understand you/ your language

2. Take some images along (or power point) - it is always nice, but can save the day if they don't

speak the language.

3. Be respectful of the audience

4. Jokes are NOT necessary. give them the info they need.

5. If you must try humor, first check with someone local to see if it would be acceptable.

6. Pick out the commonalities - between your country/culture etc and theirs

7. Try and use their own language to break ice - greet them, say, with a bon jour!

8. Ask questions to see if people are with you

9. Check if you might be quoted in the press - i.e. if reporters are present...

10. Don't be afraid to speak openly (while maintaining respect) - being totally

neutral/noncommittal will not build a bridge.

11. Don't get upset with the audience - even if they sleep and snore while you speak

12. Try and stay humble.

13. Show something personal about you - e.g., some pictures of your country/ family - so they

know where you come from and identify with you better.

14. Repeat what you already told - reiterate the points so that it stays with the audience.

15. Enunciate clearly - they may not understand your accent easily.

16. When in a foreign country, try and see what is nice and good about the place, rather than

focus on the problems/ difficulties/ negatives17. Remember that you represent your country/ place of origin18. Just go with the flow of events19. Choose your topic well20. Be honest - a fake shows easily

The sumptuous lunch that we hosted for Juliet was a fitting finale to a day of fun and learning !

UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL

with TM SUREKHA

TM Madhu Suresh

To know more about us and our members visit www.hyderabadtoastmasters.org

Keep yourself updated about our pictures, videos and fortnightly activities via www.meetup.com/hyderabadtoastmasters

Other useful links Division F: www.tinyurl.com/dist82f

District 82: www.t82.org Toastmasters International: www.toastmasters.org

HUMOROUSLY SPEAKING• Recently our speaker had to discontinue several of his long talks on account of his throat. Several people threatened to cut it

• Our speaker needs no introduction. What he needs is a conclusion.