ebullience 8

TCS Insurance Toastmasters Club Ebullience

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TCS Insurance Toastmasters Club 2 Ebullience

Absolutely Audacious .. Nivedita Rani

District Finalist in humorous speech contest shares her experience

on her inspirational journey with the humorous speech 6

COVER STORY

What veteran toastmasters feel about Nivedita’s Journey to

District Contest

Veteran’s Viewpoint Related Story

7

INTERVIEW

Leaders are not born;

they are made

Pavithra Manivannan shares her learning

and experience as a contest chair.

9

Everything at once

Lavanya Adapala shares her experience

of donning the hats of Judge at various club

contests, Registration chair at Area Level, Con-

test Master at Division Level and Chief SAA at

the District Level and how she manages to do

"Everything at once".

10

God Joins TCS Insurance Toastmasters 12

Success, One step at a time 15

Pause Potent 16

Unlimited Free Lunch Buffet by TITMAS 26

People -> Accident -> Life 14

TITMAS Fun Corner 23

DTM Corner 24

Club Dashboard 28

Outgoing Ex-comm Experience 29

Happenings in TITMAS 33

Upcoming Events 35

My take on Evaluation 19

A Few Lessons Learnt 20

How to nail Table Topics ? 22

Connecting the Dots... 13

Adieu to the personification of perseverance

TCS INS TM Club bids adieu to TM Karthik

Palaniappan, charter president of the club ,

who is going to pursue different career

opportunities outside the organisation.

27

What's Inside

My Toastmasters Journey 18


Toastmasters is the knight in shining ar-

mor which helps us in discovering ourselves by

making us confident and awakening in us our true

potential. I discovered that Toastmasters yielded

rich dividends for those who were willing to invest

their time and effort on themselves. TCS Insurance

Toastmasters (TITMAS) club is a team of members

with astonishing flair. I feel much honored to be

part of such a prestigious club. The contest fever

has added bling to this season which was brilliant.

So far this year has been a blast and it is shaping

up to be our best year yet.

First week of December 2014 turned out to be a

novel tryst for us with Toastmasters fraternity.

Yes, me – Shiqnaaz, TM Lova Kiran, TM Pratima

and TM Vishnu Priya were accorded with the privi-

lege to be in charge of the prestigious TITMAS

newsletter, "Ebullience” 8th edition. Since TITMAS

is marching towards great goal by stepping foot

everywhere, we zeroed down the theme as,

"One step at a time, step-up every time"

which rightly suits the progress of TITMAS.

Here is Ebullience 8 in your hands, to inspire, mo-

tivate and add some zing to our otherwise monot-

onous lives. In this edition, you can expect to see a

slew of features - achievements and landmarks

during the quarter, guest column, some tidbits

here and there – to make you laugh, think, ponder

and hopefully, act.

Special thanks to our advisor, TM Lakshmi

Priya, one of the most active Vice President Public

Relations. She spent a lot of time guiding us on

how to publish the newsletter as per Toastmasters

International guidelines. She used her vast net-

works to solicit articles for this edition.

We would have celebrated our club's third

anniversary as well by the time you are reading

this. So take a plunge. We dive in every Tuesday.

I wish all our members a “Speechful” 2015!!

-TM Shiqnaaz S

Editor-in-Chief

Toastmaster Shiqnaaz S

Editorial Team

TM Pratima TM Lakshmipriya TM Lova Kiran TM Vishnupriya

From the Editor ’s Desk


2014 has been an inspiring year for TCS Insur-ance Toastmaster club. We have had some glori-ous moments embarking into unconquered heights and exhibited unabated passion & dedica-tion to stage some of the successful events in our club. The year had its fair share of challenges as well but when you got an Ex-comm team who constantly motivate each other and an extraordi-nary set of members who believe in themselves, you are bound to march ahead in style.

In 2014, our district became the home of world champion of public speaking and our club became the home of division champion of humorous speaking! TM Nivedita Rani’s “Absolutely annoy-ing” was nothing but “Absolutely Awe inspiring!!!” Her success was a testimony to our belief on "One's success is everyone's achieve-ment". I am confident that her inspiring journey to the district finals was just a beginning of many such journeys to take place in our club!

Imagine, week after week every Tuesday hosting a meeting and also decorating the year with a grand 2nd anniversary celebration, fabu-lous 150th milestone meeting, Marathon ses-sions, Membership campaigns, healthy Interna-tional speech contest season, glorious humorous speech contest season, overwhelming participa-tion in outside events & contests all the way up to district level and combined meetings with our sis-ter clubs in Siruseri - all were made possible by the passionate and consistently performing lead-ers in Ex-comm team and each & every member who stepped up in a quest to learn, to hone their leadership skills and to help others in achieving the same. I will always be indebted to my fellow officers, my dear members, Area governor, and

Division governor and to all my friends & mentors in toastmasters! Thank you all!

I am delighted for the new officers who are all set to continue the service to our club! I wish them a successful term and gratifying leadership experience. There is no looking back for TITMAS! Let us continuously strive to provide an exhila-rating experience to our members to speak and learn in a warm, supportive, nurturing environ-ment with a healthy dose of fun and camaraderie.

Wish you all a happy and successful New Year 2015! And for TITMAS, 2014 was just a warm-up, Game time begins in 2015! The day that our club becomes the best club in our district is not so far! Remember, “One step at a time, step-up every time !!!”

Yours lovingly, TM Karthikeyan Boopathy President, Jun-Dec’14 TCS INS TM Club

Toastmaster Karthikeyan Boopathy

President Address

“Let us continuously strive to provide an exhilarating experience to our members to speak and learn in a warm, supportive, nurturing environment with a healthy dose of fun and camaraderie.”


Dear Insurance Toastmasters,

As 2014 comes to an end I would like to take this moment to thank all the Officers & Members for helping TCS Insurance toastmasters club put up a fabulous show in the past few months. The Progress of your club has been slow and steady and stands as a true Testimony to your theme “One step at a time, step-up every time”. The Insurance Juggernaut kept rolling.

There were lot of accolades showered on

your prestigious club; to name a few we had the

division champion TM Nivedita coming from your

own club and it is indeed a great honour for any

speaker to represent their club at the district lev-

el. I am sure it would have been extra special for

you since the first one always remains close to our

heart. There were also lot of active participation

from this club in the Area as well as the Division

conference.

Last but not least TM Lakshmi Priya's Flyer

had been chosen twice as "The Flyer of the

Month" which is an outstanding feat. You guys

have made me and our Area immensely proud.

Looking at the future I wish all the very best to the

new Ex-comm team and I am looking forward to

work with them. We are already at DCP 7 and I am

sure the new officers will continue to keep the In-

surance Toastmasters flag flying high.

Before the golden sun sets,

2014's calendar is destroyed,

And mobile networks get jammed,

I wish in 2015 every moment is enjoyed

Enjoy !! Have A Blast !!

- Ranganathan R

Area G2 Governor (2014-15)

District 82, Toastmasters International

Dear TCS Insurance Toastmasters,

Greetings from your Division!

I am happy to get an opportunity to address the members of this club through the news-letter, which has been meticulously prepared time and again by the editorial team. Going with the theme of this release, I would like to point out and reiterate how Toastmasters has been of immense help to me and to fellow mem-bers by allowing me to progress through the edu-cational program at our own pace and taking a step forward with the help of our peers. The effec-tive feedback from our evaluators, mentors and fellow members is the step we use to climb to our success. I must congratulate the executive com-mittee and members for stepping up every time both for your club and to support activities be-yond the club. The last six months have been of immense learning for all of us - albeit through contests, conferences and our weekly meetings.

I hope to see this continue and the members of TCS Insurance to end on a high note at the end of the Toastmasters Year. My hearty congratulations to you on achieving the Distinguished Club status within four months of the start of the education-al year!

I greatly look forward to members stepping out of the comfort zone, enjoying the learning process and always progressing upwards!

All the best & Seasons Greetings!

- Rahul Shankar

Division G Governor ( 2014-15)

District 82, Toastmasters International

Toastmaster Ranganathan R

Area & Division Governor ’s Address

Toastmaster Rahul Shankar


1) What made you to select us as humorous speech topic? Are we looking that much humor-ous to you?

Horror movies have always freaked me out and have left me little jumpy. To curb my fright after watching a scary movie and to show my friends that I’m not a chicken I would mock at all the scary scenes watched. I then realized it becomes utterly hilarious while enacting such scenes. This gave me the idea why not try you in a fun and mis-chievous way ;)

2) How did you feel when we made you the win-ner in Club Level Contest?

I was spell-bound. I never thought I could ever be funny or humorous and winning a contest was a distant thing for me. Moreover, it has mostly been thought that humor is not a genre that women dare to try. So when it happened it definitely was an icing on the cake.

3) Share your experience of freaky nights. Who freaked you the most by asking you mocks?

The journey of freaky night from club to district

level would always be the most cherished and re-main closest to my heart. It was nothing short of spectacular learning, bonding and fun. I am so grateful that there were so many encouraging people to guide me in every possible way and at every step I took.

Regarding mocks I would say that I was grateful that the entire club was there to see things are tuned before the contest but I would like to men-tion about 3 people who (freaked me ;)) made sure no stone is left unturned before contest- Our club’s big daddy i.e. Mr. President (Karthik Tendlya) , our club’s MD (Master of Design) Mad-am Vice President Public Relations (Lakshmi Priya) and the Iron lady Madam treasurer (Lavanya Adapala). I would also like to thank our friends Virat and Ilu from our sister’s Club TCS Maitree Chennai Toastmasters Club and TCS Maitree Alpha Toastmasters Club. Such was their care that they even made sure to come in my dreams without fail and remind me about the next day’s mock tim-ing and venue. On a serious note, I would only say that they are great mentors, they gave me all sup-port to try fun things, learn new skills and they are one such people whom I can reach out whenever I

Absolutely Audacious.. Nivedita Rani !!

Cover story interview with the Champ

At the sets of "freaking nights" TV show in Haunted TV channel studio,

“AAAAAAAAAAAArgh!

“Hey you scared me Vampire Kova.”

“You too don’t come with out make up White ghost- nushvi. I am also scared.”

“Do you know the talk of the town? A tiny human creature gives speech on us making people see us as comedians instead of ghosts. She has won the club ,area and divisional level ‘Humorous Speech con-tests’. Even the head of Haunted TV Anabellie Aynaval and Art Director Conjuring Kakshmi laughed too much and wants an interview of her for our Haunted TV Channel. Get ready to take interview. That tiny creature will come at any time.“-nushvi

“See there. She came”-Vampire Kova

“Lets show who we are-Start Camera Action”- Conjuring Kakshmi

Ghost Interviews TM Nivedita Rani

“Welcome Ms Nivedita Rani to the Show ‘Freaky Nights’ by the Haunted TV Channel. For the first time in our Haunted TV we have invited a human for a celebrity interview. ”


need support and comfort.

4) Competition became tougher n toughest in area n district level..how was your feeling when I sent more n more tough ghost to compete with you?

It has been rightly said- “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” At every contest I only felt the excitement to perform in front of new set of audience and against new contestants. It was indeed a self-actualization journey for me and I am really happy that I discovered so many things about myself via these contests. Though I lost at the finals I would only say- As excellence is a continuous process and not an accident I am sure many such amazing journeys are yet to come!!

5) Share with us about Nivedita- Before and After Humorous Speech and Evaluation Contest.

Before:

Shy, reluctant to crack myself up (what if my jokes fall flat) Canned expressions

After:

Now it doesn’t matter if people are laugh-ing with me or at me as long as they’re laughing I’m happy. Now I’m more open to experiment with my sense of humor. Yay!! I have recently realized I’m an expres-sion queen..:D


“Though I lost at the finals I would only say - As excellence is a continuous process and not an accident I am sure many such amazing journeys are yet to come!!”

Thank you TM Nivedita for giving us such a cool, Humorous interview and All the best for your fu-

ture Speeches which may be on Aliens, dragons, werewolves and so on. Thank you viewers for

watching the show.

- Interview by TM Vishnupriya with Nivedita Rani

TCS INS TM CLUB

Veteran’s Viewpoint

I got to know Nivedita a bit late in her journey to the District stage. What I loved most about her pur-suit was the enthusiasm and will-ingness to receive advice. I saw passion in her and a truck load of self confidence. On stage she was brilliant. Her delivery was im-maculate! She's sure going places and I wish her all the very best!!!

- DTM Jayan Narayan

Coromandel TM Club

Nivedita Rani, aka Rani Sahiba for me is a pocket dynamite made up of expressions, humour and a constant will to learn and get better. I had been one of the people who had witnessed her speech at the club, area and the division level and that’s how I can re-late to her and her speech with the word Growth. I have had my share of fun and learning with her when we used to share ideas of making her speech better with other great people like Ilu, Karthik and Lakshmi. At the district, she won her first ever expe-rience of being a district finalist and I was proud that I was a small part of her success. -TM Virat Mehta

TCS Maitree Chennai TM Club


Meet the Budding Toastmaster - Arun Prabhu

Toastmasters is not only a great platform for improving our communication & leadership skills, But also, it is a platform to interact with diverse people.

People work as a team to make the weekly sessions energized with great learning.

My New Year resolution would be to complete at least CC5 in the next six months and in this pro-cess I would like to overcome my inhibition to talk freely. My long term goal is to be a complete pro-fessional with good technical and communication skills and in turn be a role model to the younger generation.

I always believed in setting short and long term goals, so that we feel success regularly and it becomes a habit.

Toastmaster Arun Prabhu


I have heard speeches where

the script is very funny. But in

case of Nivedita, it's not just the

script, but the person delivering

itself is very funny .Any joke

gets boring after two-three

times, but on the contraire, her

speech seemed to get funnier with every re-

hearsal. Her expressions and body language is so

natural and impeccable, I would have laughed

out loud even if I witnessed the speech on mute

mode. After the final rehearsal, I knew the per-

son who defeats Nivedita had to be beyond ex-

tra ordinary. but then Nivedita had already won

us all over and reached a point, where there is

no such thing as defeat. Listening to her speech

and being an audience during the rehearsals was

a delightful experience and I was very lucky to be

a part of it.

-TM Ilu Jain

TCS Maitree Alpha TM Club

Expression queen Nivedita in Action


“Leaders are not born, They are made by hard work which is the price all of us have to pay to achieve

any goal” and here we have one such leader among us who mastered that skill. We wish you all the

best for your future endeavors.

Contest Chair Experience

“You can do anything if you put your mind to it, You work hard and you take that

responsibility” – This is the spirit needed to be the contest chair for Area level con-

test and no doubt Madam Toastmaster Pavithra Manivannan has taken that re-

sponsibility and has done the duty of contest chair excellently. When asked for an

interview, She shared with us her learning and experience as a contest chair.

1.Contest Chair for Area level contest- a very

responsible position. How did you feel when

you first get this opportunity?

I was very glad to take up role of contest chair as

it helped me take more responsibilities and in-

teract with other club members as well.

2.Co-Ordination,Delegation, Follow up are the most important role of a chair person. Share us your experience, perspective or learning in the fields as a chair person.

I took the help of our club members and our ar-ea governor. I had lot of learning as a part of this role like delegating the task for registration

team, effective contest management, managing the contest with in the budget, following up with role players, contestants, judges to name a few.

3.How do you felt about Networking with our sister clubs. How do you managed to get assis-tance from them?

Other club members were very supportive and their guidance helped to make it a grand success inspite of the political issues on the contest day.

4. How do you feel when a member of our club Nivedita qualified for the district level?

Of course happy and enthralled.

Meet the Budding Toastmaster - Meyyammai

The innovation factor in making

the sessions very interactive

and interesting is what I love

about Toastmasters.

Although, I ‘m very fluent and

clear in my communications, I

have stage fright. Therefore, my

New Year resolution is to be-

come a competent and fearless

orator.

And my long term plans include

becoming an entrepreneur and

having my own fashion brand of

clothes since I love art in any

form and it is my passion.

Success is the outcome of one’s

happiness, passion and hard

work.

Toastmaster Meyyammai

Leaders are not born; they are made

TM Pavithra Manivannan


Everything at once

Toastmaster Lavanya Adapala

1) You have played various roles in the confer-ences, what are the points to be taken into ac-count while playing the role of a contest master?

As a contest master, the most important point to be noted is the pronunciation of the contestant names. While briefing the contestants, the contest master has to get the correct contestant names spellings and pronunciations. If required, you can write the contestant name in phonetics to call out the contestant name correctly. Other than that, the contest master has a lot of organizing to do such as to follow up with the contestants for the profiles, get their speech titles, gather them for drawing of slots. Also, never to forget to shake hands and above all be neutral.

2) Playing the role of a SAA, you must have close-ly watched each participant before the battle, how do they combat the nervousness. Do you help them in anyway?

I have observed the jitters that the contestant feel before the contest, the deep breaths they take. However, the same contestant will be completely different on stage, on command, full of control and confident. Nevertheless, I try to calm them down, give them a pat on their backs and give few encouraging words before they get on the stage.

3) You have been a judge for many Humorous speech contests. Based on your observations as a

judge, what advise or suggestions do you give for the speech contestants since the speech contest is round the corner?

I would tell the contestants to give a speech which is heartfelt. For E.g. don't sprinkle humour, just to make the audience laugh. Let the humour come from inside. You need not take a jig at others or crack jokes on their weakness to create the laugh-ter. Keep in mind not to embarrass or make the audience uncomfortable. At the end of the day, you want your audience to remember your thoughts, your punch lines or how comfortable you made them feel. Let the message flow from your heart. Rest is assured.

4) You have played so many roles Judge / Regis-tration Chair/Contest master/Chief SAA. Which role did you enjoy the most and why?

I cannot pick one because I enjoyed playing all the roles. Each role taught me something. Be it begin-ning or setting the stage as the Chief SAA or the co-ordination and organizing that needs as a Contest Master, welcoming the contestants and guests or handling the money as a Registration Chair. Every role helped me grow. As long as I am part of Toast-masters and giving back something, I am most hap-py and having loads of fun.

As sly as a fox, as strong as an ox, As fast as a hare, as brave as a bear, As free as a bird, as neat as a word, As warm as the sun, as silly as fun, Sweet as sugar and everything nice, All I wanna be is everything, Everything at once.

These were the opening lines of Lavanya

Adapala's CC10 speech. And very true to these

words, she flawlessly manages her household

chores, project work and Toastmasters. She

shared with us the experience of donning the

hats of Judge at various club contests, Registra-

tion chair at Area Level, Contest Master at Divi-

sion Level and Chief SAA at the District Level and

how she manages to do "Everything at once".


“Every role helped me grow. As long as I am part of Toastmasters and giving

back something, I am most happy and having loads of fun.”

Meet the Budding Toastmasters - Phani & Gokul

An optimist and always ready to

self learn. I’m here to improve

my interpersonal and public

speaking skills.

Toastmasters not only help you

to be a “Leader without a Title”

but way beyond that.

My long term goal is to pursue

Global MBA. My definition of

Success is that it is a journey

not a destination. If our today is

better than yesterday then we

have succeeded.

Toastmaster Phani Pandiri

5) What is that one thing, that you take away

from the Reverberations?

A) Apart from the fun night *laughs+, I really en-

joyed Toastmasters from two countries, different

backgrounds under one roof. Interacted with

many people, was given tips from veterans, en-

joyed company with other club members and

great learning over all. Educational sessions were

the highlight. Jim Key's " How can I serve you?"

speech was very motivating. Sujith's foundation

"Maatram" was very inspiring.

6) You are a mother, project leader and a Toast-

master. How do you juggle your family life, work

and Toastmasters?

Planning is inevitable and is everything. I organize

things needed for household during weekends.

And during weekdays, I do most of the work in

office itself. However, The client I work for has a

option Work from home. If I need to attend any

meetings I go home and work, parallel making my

daughter do her homework. My family as well as

my team know that I dedicate one hour of my

Tuesdays to Toastmasters. In fact most of my

team mates are Toastmasters. Even at home, my

husband gives me ideas on the topics on which I

should speak. My daughter is my biggest critic. I

practice my speeches with my daughter. She cor-

rects my expressions as she is dancer, and she un-

derstands which expression to keep and when.

My family understands what Toastmasters is. And

they support me everyway.

- Interview by TM Pratima with TM Lavanya

Adapala

TCS INS TM Club

Apart from the communication

and leadership skills, the most

important thing I like about

Toastmasters is the connectivity

with various backgrounds, cul-

tures of people and the expo-

sure that comes with it.

I’m very friendly and energetic;

however, through toastmasters I

would like to overcome the fear

of public speaking and would like

to create a positive impact on

the audience. My long term goal

is to become an entrepreneur.

And according to me, Success is

the confidence to face any sit-

uation.

Toastmaster Gokulakrishnan


“Vows to make every weekday as Tuesday to attend more club meetings”

Reporter Kova Liran after meeting Baba Bow Bow

ATL Building, TCS Siruseri: If you are one

among the millions of people praying to God day in and day out hoping that God will listen to you and respond back, then this is a good news for you. In what could be termed as game changer in God-Human relationship, God was seen joining TCS Insurance Toastmaster club (TITMAS) to im-prove his communication skills. Experts feel that God is set to get closer to human than ever be-fore as he realised about his poor communica-tion and listening skills.

When asked how he felt about God joining into Toastmasters, an over-enthusiastic member replied, ”We humans has tried every possible channel to communicate to God. But due to lack of proper response from him has led to strains in our relationship. Hopefully, at least now God will become a decent communicator”.

In an exclusive chat with our staff reporter, Kova Liran, God explained why he had chosen TITMAS. God said, “I have attended a couple of club meetings as a guest and found that people in toastmasters are very well using the sixth and seventh dimensions – SMILE & APPLAUSE- to communicate. I have never seen anyone smiling at me without asking me anything. These guys are so “un-human” that they are smiling at every possible thing. Pretty much impressed, I used the escape velocity of galaxy which landed me di-rectly into first row first chair of this club”.

Unconfirmed sources got in touch with God’s wife who responded on God’s decision. “His leadership skills are really pathetic. As you can see, under his leadership, much of the world is in shambles. I want him to improve his leadership skills and more importantly his listening skills. That’s why I pushed him with escape velocity of galaxy which helped him land in toastmasters,” a visibly aggressive God’s wife explained her side of story.

When our reporter asked God if he want to reply back to his wife, God changed his online status to invisible.

Later he updated his online status message to, “Life is not easy if you have a Goddess as your wife :( ”.

According to God, his confidence was re-newed after his first TT speech. An eye-witness narrated about God’s first TT speech when the TT master gave the topic “Whom did you invite for your marriage and why??”. A visibly nervous God took his full 30 sec and replied,” I think I in-vited my wife”. Amazed and dazed by God’s un-believable IQ, audience gave a spontaneous standing ovation. Latest reports reveal that God has gained a considerable fan base after that TT speech.

Talking to our press reporter one of his hard-core fan, Baba Bow Bow said,” We are very im-pressed with Godji’s speech. We are even plan-ning to start a fan club named Godji Listeners Association (GodjiLA). I will take GodjiLA into people in big way to get more people into God’s way of thinking.”

In complete contrast to this, a disheartened follower of god said, “I used to skip my home-work every day, to pray to God. My only wish was a BMW car. Today all I have is an auto rick-shaw. That is too little too late. So, I completely disagree when someone says God can think on his feet and all other funda. Today, my only sol-ace is whenever I overtake a BMW with my auto rickshaw”, he lamented.

God Joins TCS Insurance Toastmasters Club


It is evident that God don’t socialize much as he normally restricts himself to his room, even though millions of people visit God’s home every day to meet him. Whether God can improve his interpersonal skills after joining toastmasters is something which we have to wait and watch.

However, readers are requested to control their excitement during their prayer time if they

see God using body language, vocal modulation and visual aid etc. as it is just the case that God could be practicing for one of his speeches now that he is into toastmasters.

- TM Lova Kiran

TCS INS TM Club

It has been a year since I joined Toastmasters. I always had an interest towards public speaking and that made me to join Toastmasters.

Before joining Toastmasters I was a talkative, active, creative and interactive guy. These were my dots before joining Toastmasters. After joining Toastmasters I could connect these dots in a use-ful manner.

After joining Toastmasters I am able to articu-late my creative thoughts and put them into words. I am able to successfully add purpose and meaning to my talkativeness. I could convert all my interactions into connections.

And the best part is I am now able to focus more and streamline all my qualities into a single area and deliver it with confidence in a productive manner.

In a nutshell I can say that through Toastmasters I connected all my dots.

Thank You Toastmasters !

-TM Atchyut

TCS INS TM Club

Connecting the Dots...

Meet the Budding Toastmaster - Pavan Basva

Though I’m always smiling, I have a difficulty in interacting with people.

I would like to improve my public speaking skills which in turn will help me in opening up. In my free time, I play and watch cricket, tennis and listen to music.

My long term goal is to live a happy life with my family and uti-lize my mechanical knowledge to the best. For me, Success can be achieved only when one thinks in terms of possibilities rather than limitations.

Toastmaster Pavan Basva


People -> Accident-> Life

We don't meet people by accident. They are meant to cross our path for a reason.

This quote really made my life meaningful only when I met those 2special persons. Yes, Mr. Sridhar and TM Karthikeyan are those 2special persons whom i met by accident , but later I realized that they crossed my life to make a difference.

I was struggling for a long time to improve my communication skills right from my schooling. The quest to improve my communication skills made me seek the help of Google frequently for some tips. Sadly, I practice them only for a couple of days. Mr. Sridhar, my well wisher and close friend work-ing in a reputed software company used to discuss with me, point out the best in me and motivate me. He helped me understand my communication abili-ties are good and gave me an insight about Toast-masters clubs to better the best.

I was puzzled whom should I approach to join this forum. It is rightly said that "When a person re-ally desires something, all the universe conspires to help that person to realize his dream". I crossed one of my colleagues cubicle and accidently noticed Toastmasters Best Speaker award at his desk. I en-quired and gathered the needed details which I was looking for a long time. He invited me for the ses-sion as guest and was really stunned to see the

speakers delivering their speeches with great confi-dence to an audience strength of 40 odd plus. I enjoyed the session and im-mediately enrolled myself and started my journey in toastmasters during Feb 2014.

First time in my life , I addressed a room full of audience for my cc1 and now successfully complet-ed 4 projects in my CC Manual. As the theme goes "One step at a time, Step up every time" I pro-gressed steadily with great vigor not only in the communication track but also in the leadership track. I took the role of Contest Master in the Club Contest ,Chair for the club's 150th milestone where i got an opportunity to address a mass gathering and exhibit my leadership skills. These roles helped me discover and rediscover my abilities to organize and host any show with great perfection.

Now I am confident enough to say that "I am not just a speaker, but I am a TOASTMASTER". I take this opportunity to thank those 2 special persons Mr. Sridhar and TM Karthikeyan who added value to my life and made their presence meaningful in my life.

TM Karthikeyan D

Did you know ???

We pronounce the combination "ough" in 9 different ways, as in the following sentence which contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scar-borough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

The longest English word that can be spelled without repeating any letters is ‘uncopyrightable’.

The longest word in English has 45 letters: ‘pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis’! It is a type of lung disease caused by inhaling ash and sand dust.

The most difficult tongue twister in the English language is “sixth sick sheik’s sixth sheep’s sick”. Why not try it out on your friends and see if any of them can say it without making a mistake?

The word 'swims' when turned upside down will still look like same i.e. 'swims'.

The sentence 'Are you as bored as I am ' can be read backwards and would still make sense!


As my little nephew was skimming through his General Studies book, I sat behind him in the couch sipping my coffee on a Saturday evening. He is fugitive and would always demand a ground for whatever he reads, for him to believe, some-thing that makes me envious about the current day education system.

He queried me as I was cherishing the aroma of the typical south Indian filter coffee that my moth-er made, he asked me a question over which I stumbled. He asked, "Mama why is that My Gen-eral Studies book has coverage of the lives of Ma-hathma Gandhi, Sachin Tendulkar, Ratan Tata, Ab-dul Kalam and such people buy not yours or my dad's?" I guffawed and spilled my coffee, but he still remained with a serious inquisitive look in his eyes demanding an explanation. I called him to sit over my lap as I contemplated to give a reasona-ble explanation to his legitimate question.

What’s so common, they all excelled in their own fields; they believed that they are here to do the best and above all they chased value over money.

They were Successful in their own fields, and they believed they still had a long way to go, yes they did believe they haven't done with what they had to do. As said, Success is never a destination, its a journey. Gandhi didn't stop as he got India the independence, Sachin didn't stop as he crossed the 10k runs mark, Kalam didn't stop as he cracked the rocket science, they perceived more, they perceived for the better. Success is not just the monetary or the material possessions, its beyond all that, it is about the values, it is about the mind set, it is all about what you define your-self.

The personalities said above always believed, that success never comes with a magic wand over the blink of an eye, they knew it demands hard work, sweat, passion and they did knew it de-mands perseverance. At each stage of their suc-cess, they believed the best is yet to come, and believed they are here to do more, for them, for the society or for the nation.

And, another important point to be taken, their failures never stopped them, as you and I do, they did fail too, but failure is never final for them.

I concluded to him saying, success, indeed has stages, which you need to climb one step at a time and the prominent stages are as said “First they ridicule you, then they fight at you, and finally they accept your victory”. I know I’ve diplomati-cally handled him not answering his question, but have fed his minds well enough to ignite a spark in him

- Karthickeyan Jayaprakash

A blogger and a passionate writer

Success, One step at a time

Karthickeyan Jayaprakash

“Success is not just the monetary or

the material possessions, its beyond all

that, it is about the values, it is about

the mind set, it is all about what you

define yourself.”


A mediocre speech will never be extraordinary

if not delivered strongly. There are many aspects of speech delivery that will make it memorable to the audience. These include voice modulation, making eye contact, usage of gestures and the po-dium.

Many speakers speak too much in short time; they try to squeeze in as many details as they can get which leaves the audience attention to veer. There is a small yet effective way of grabbing the audience attention, the use of Pause.

Mark Twain once said “The right word may be effective, but no word was ever as effective as a rightly timed pause.”

Let us discover how the power of pause draws audience’s interest instantly and gains apprecia-tion.

1) Pauses help the audience to reflect:

As Darren LaCroix, World Champion Public Speak-ing 2001 states “Don’t pause for effect, pause so they can reflect “. In his World Championship speech opening, Darren LaCroix uses long pauses while face down letting the audience to reflect. Speaking without pauses will make it difficult for the audience to keep up. It will break the connec-tion which speaker is trying to make. Pause for a couple of seconds after making a strong point or ending a sentence for the audience to sink in the information which in turn will trigger attention.

2) Pauses help convey emotion:

In the movie King’s Speech, there’s a scene where King George VI is preparing to address the British people and his speech therapist Lionel Logue advises that “Turn the hesitations into pauses. Long pauses are good. They add solemnity to great occasions.” Using pauses effectively that is placement and duration of pauses will differ while conveying different emotions such as sad-ness, perplex, celebration, annoying.

3) Pauses is a substitute for filler words

Excessive use of fillers in the speech will result in audience getting lost or losing interest. It will

create an impression of lack of preparation, lack of knowledge and lack of confidence. Pausing after a Key Point brings the focus to the point and helps them to connect to their own experiences. They will be able to recall the message later.

4) Pauses will slow the rate of speech delivery:

The audience can absorb the information at a certain rate. The speaker rushing to another sen-tence will not create the impact which the point should make. The message will be lost and audi-ence will struggle to keep up. If the speaker feels like they are moving on quickly and need to take the breath, so do the audience. Taking a breath will give the speaker a chance to use the voice effectively and deliver the message.

Pauses in speeches is no math, it is an art. Let’s have a look on the types of pauses and when should the speaker use:

1) Clause, Sentence pause and Paragraph Pause

Use short pauses in the speech whenever a comma is used in the sentence to separate two clauses. And use medium pauses whenever peri-od is used in the written language just as the peri-od is a more forceful punctuation mark.

For Example: In the movie Gladiator, Russell Crowe gives a rousing speechafter winning the Super Bowl.

My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius. *Pause+ Father to a murdered son. *Pause+ Hus-band to a murdered wife. *Pause+ And I will have my vengeance, *Pause+ in this life or the next.

Use longer pauses transitioning from one para-graph to another.

For Example: Separate an anecdote from the normal speech with a long pause before and after the anecdote.

2) Emphasis Pause and Power Pause

When the speaker wants to focus on a key word, pause before and after the key word. The preceding pause signals “Listen up” and the suc-ceeding pause says “put that in your memory”.

Pause Potent


According the temporal delay hypothesis, a de-lay immediately before the key word will help the audience remember it. Also, powerful peo-ple indulge in power pause.

For Example: In the movie Braveheart, Mel Gibson rouses his fellow Scots in patriotic fervor.

“*Pause+ They may take our lives, *pause+ but they’ll never take *Pause+ our freedom! *Pause+’”

3) Rhetorical Question Pause

Pause after you ask the audience a rhetorical question. This in turn will engage the audience and let them think about the answer. Similarly, you can always welcome a silent participation from the audience.

For Example: “Just Imagine, what would have happened if….”

4) Visual Pause

When using the visual aids, pause while switching from one slide to another and let the audience take the moment to study the slides. And later, when the speaker continues to speak, the focus will shift to the speaker automatically.

5) Punch line Pause

Comedians say that pauses should be used before the punch line in jokes which will create anticipation. However, pauses should also be used after the jokes are delivered to allow the audience to release laughter. And extend the pause as long as there is laughter and not ask for their attention by continuing to speak after the punch line of the joke is delivered.

For Example: The championship speech “I see something in You” by World Champion 2014 Dananjaya Hettiarachchi triggered huge rounds of laughter between the punch lines.

“In the middle of the night *Pause+ I wake up my beautiful wife and ask her *Pause+ Honey *Pause+ why did you marry me? *Laughter- Pause+ She says *Pause+ I saw something in you *Laughter-Pause+ but I still don’t know what it is *Laughter-Pause+”

As Darren LaCroix puts this beautiful principle “Pausing is a muscle”. It cannot make a speaker instantly comfortable, but they should keep working at developing the Pause Muscle. Once it is nailed, the audience is impressed and the speech will be always remembered.

- TM Pratima TCS INS TM Club

-Article inspired by Darren LaCroix blog

“Many speakers speak too much in short time; they try to squeeze in as many

details as they can get which leaves the audience attention to veer. ”

Meet the Budding Toastmaster - Rajan Babu

Exposure to different ideas is

what I love about Toastmasters.

I’m very dedicated and com-

mitted as a person and would

like to work on burying the

jitters I feel when I speak to a

larger audience. In my free time,

I indulge in reading.

My long term goal is to travel

to as many places as possible.

In my opinion, Success is self

satisfaction.

Toastmaster Rajan Babu


As I travel down the memory lane recalling how it

all started and progressed , I end up recollecting

the different phases of my toastmaster journey.

Here it goes.

Avoid Embarrassment Phase: I still remember the

day in 2010, when my boss took me for a Toast-

master club meeting in Siruseri. I just thought of it

as another training session, where I can be a mute

participant. Only after the TMOD briefed about

the agenda did I realize that I may be called upon

to deliver a speech (Table Topics). Those were

days when speaking in front of a crowd or among

a group of people instilled fear in me. After hear-

ing the agenda, fear gripped me and I wished I am

not called. My wish was fulfilled. I just listened to

others speaking and felt a huge sigh of relief after

the meeting. Instead of being happy about not

facing any embarrassment (which I imagined

would have happened if I had to speak), I felt un-

easy about the fear factor. I did a self-

introspection on how long can I carry this fear of

public speaking, because my job demanded me to

be someone who possess good oratorical skills

and here I was afraid of speaking for 1-2 minutes

in front of a group. As with many self-

introspections that I do, this one was parked to be

acted on later.

Coming out of the Shell Phase: Later I attended few Toastmasters meeting in the same club and did 2-3 Table topics speeches. It was a fight be-tween the two minds that I had, one said why do you want yourself to get embarrassed before a group of people and the other said, never mind keep going; the former being the winner most of the times. Speaking before an audience whom I didn’t know before or had little interactions with was one of the reasons for not attending the meetings every week. Also, another reason was a self-doubt if I can talk like the seasoned speakers in that club. To negate my excuses, the opportuni-ty came in form of Insurance DFG Speakers club (not an official club), which used to meet in the 16-seater conference rooms. It had a good mix of people whom I know and whom I didn’t know till then. I gave few prepared speeches and that is when I discovered I too can speak before an audi-

ence and impress them. I prepared and gave speeches whenever I got an opportunity and grew in confidence.

The transformational Phase: In 2012, The Insur-ance Toastmasters club was officially chartered, but I for some reasons (still thinking as to what it was) didn’t become a member then. The internal push came from within after I came across this quote, “you are only as good as the amount time that you spend in practice”. Right out of the blue, I can’t expect myself to be in front of the customer or my team and make a presentation or a talk that impresses them at the same time meet the pur-pose. It is only with continuous practice I can effectively speak before an audience. And Toast-masters offered me that platform to practice and improvise. I enrolled in TCS Insurance Toastmas-ters Club in Sep 2013 and it has been a transfor-mational journey so far. I got an opportunity to speak on a range of topics, evaluate a fellow speaker’s speech, be a host for a special meeting and what not. Now when I sit back and think of the different topics that I’ve spoken about, I real-ize that I wouldn’t have researched on those top-ics had it not been for a Toastmasters speech. Apart from being a platform for public speaking and getting new friends, I learn in detail about a range of topics – what more can I ask for. The benefits are multi fold and if I were to change one thing today in my life today, I would choose it to be becoming a Toastmaster in 2010 itself.

TM Srivatsan

My Toastmasters Journey

-TM Srivatsan

TCS INS TM Club


Taking up an evaluator role can be very stress-ful for some of the toastmasters and I was one among them until I decided to participate in evalu-ation contest. This year's humorous speech and evaluation contest became the most memorable toastmaster experience to me, thanks to the fan-tastic journey of TM Nivedita who made our club proud and it was also memorable for the reason that it brought out the "Evaluator" in me!

Yes, I have been consistently inconsistent in my evaluations and made it as a habit to walk back unsatisfied not delivering a proper evaluation with no take-away to the speaker and also hurting my confidence. But I perhaps did the best thing by participating in evaluation contest and managed to turn things around and found a new love in evaluating speeches!

As the saying goes, "Speech contest are your fastest route to greatest improvement", it was indeed an efficient passage of self-learning during which I took up evaluation role in almost all the sessions, attended educational sessions, emer-gence workshop , referred evaluation contest vid-eos and more importantly practiced diligently!. Although I couldn’t move onto the division level, I was happy with how much I learnt and pleased to share my ideas with you:

1. A Good evaluator is a good listener - It is very important not to have a preconceived notion while listening to a speech. Your knowledge of the speaker beforehand or about the subject can only be an add-on.

2. A Good evaluator is a good speaker - Often overlooked but a neatly delivered evaluation with appropriate pauses, expressions, vocal modula-tion to support your thoughts about the speaker's speech is nothing short of a speech in itself. An evaluator in total control while delivering creates a stronger appeal to the speaker.

3. A Good evaluator is a good TT speaker - While the target speaker's speech is your topic, your impromptu skills in identifying an appropri-ate anecdote, simile’s, technique to convey your ideas & suggestions are also tested. Thus by taking up an evaluator role, you get to participate in all

the segments of a Toastmaster meeting.

4. A Good evaluator is a good motivator - The whole point of evaluating a speech is to help the speakers improve themselves and the only way to serve the purpose is by providing a motivating, positive evaluation focusing on the improvements.

So, to summarize, practice doing evaluation regularly in the meetings and take part in contest to hone all the above skills. Remember, the most essential part of toastmaster educational program is evaluation and the most significant aspect of toastmaster is "learn by doing" approach. So get better at evaluation with more practice.

- TM Karthikeyan Boopathy

TCS INS TM Club

My take on evaluation

Toastmaster Karthikeyan Boopathy

“As the saying goes, "Speech contest are

your fastest route to greatest improve-

ment", it was indeed an efficient passage

of self-learning during which I took up

evaluation role in almost all the ses-

sions…”


“Winners don’t do different things. They do

things Differently”

I personally Love this quote by Author Shiv Khe-ra. And what better time to quote this than now. You know why?

Because Its contest time again !! One of the best things about Toastmasters is the contests. Now I love contests, because of the excitement that one goes through when contesting. The nerv-ousness that one goes through during the contest, the hours of preparation one puts just to be better than the other contestants and the appreciation one gets from the audience. These are feelings that you can experience only if you take part in a contest.

Toastmasters conducts various contests, but my personal favourite is the International Speech contest, for two reasons. One , it was the first con-test I took part in after joining toastmasters. And two , It is a contest which anybody can win. You don’t necessarily have to be funny, or experienced to win this contest.

Please note that I said you don’t have to be ex-perienced. Not that you don’t have to put much effort. There is a difference. And I will be sharing a few lessons that I learnt by being a part of Interna-tional Speech contest last year.

Disclaimer: These are my views alone. This may or may not help you win the contest. So take them at your own risk.

Your Message matters:

One of the key components of a contest speech is the message. If you have a look at the previous year world champions of public speaking, you will notice that it’s the message that stood out from their speeches. And the audience only remem-bers the message. So choose a message that will help you connect with the audience so that even if they forget your speech, they will remember your message. Also stick to minimum number of mes-sages in a speech. It is a usual practice to have one message in a speech. However, it differs from speaker to speaker. The world champion of Public Speaking 2004 Randy Harvey had 3 messages in

his speech. So its up to you .

Now how do you decide on what message you want to give the audience?

Imagine yourself lying in a death bed and your son/daughter is standing beside you. What advise would you give?

That can be the message of your speech. This is the advice given by the world champion of public speaking 2001 Darren Lacroix on choosing the message. So find that message. Because your mes-sage matters.

What is your story :

Once you have found your message, the next step is to find a way to convey it. And what better way to convey it than through stories. Audience love stories. So your script should have a story that will hook the audience so that they can easily get the message of your speech. The stories can be of any type. They can be humorous or emo-tional or both. They can be stories from your own life or stories that inspired you. I believe that a personal story will have a better impact than sto-ries of other people. However the world champion of Public Speaking 2003 Jim Key used the story of a girl who was mute to convey his message. So choose a story that is apt for your message. But remember that the story should not overpower

A few lessons learnt

Reporter Kova Liran after meeting Baba Bow Bow

TM Jaswanth Krishnamurthy


your message. Similarly a powerful message with a weak story would not have a major impact. Keep both the story and message on equal terms.

Have your own style

Now that you have the story and the message of your speech, the next part is the delivery. The most common mistake that novice speakers do is to copy someone else’s style. Say for example, a champion speaker puts on an accent. The novice speaker would try to put on an accent too. This is a big mistake. Just because the champion speaker uses props or uses the stage or is overly dramatic doesn’t mean you have to be. Because that is his style. And by copying another speaker’s style of delivery you are hindering your own style.

For instance, the world champion of public speaking 2011 Jock Elliot hardly used any dra-matics . However the world champion of public speaking 2012 Ryan Avery literally enacted the entire speech. I don’t think if they had swapped their delivery styles they would have been cham-pions. So find your own style and stick to it. Do what suits you and you will see the difference.


When I had contested the last time, during my journey from club to District I made a lot of mis-takes. And I also saw some of my fellow contest-ants make some mistakes. And they taught me a few important lessons

Have a backup script :

Last year when I was contesting I had just one script for every level of the contest. However it is important to have a backup script. Because some part of the audience is repetitive and the surprise element is gone if you have the same script throughout.

Last minute changes:

Be ready to make any last minute changes to your speech. For instance I had a lot of theatrics in my speech. But at the district semi-finals, the stage was so small I had to reduce my movement on the stage by almost fifty percent. So always be prepared.

Technical problems :

Sometimes the mike may not work. Do not stop speaking. Continue to speak and make sure you throw your voice in the absence of the mike so that the audience can hear you.

Use of props:

Always have a backup for your prop. I was us-ing a pair of glasses as a prop in my speech. I had two pairs of glasses as backup, just in case.

Never make fun of other speakers:

Although this is considered as a plus point in humorous speech contest, this may not work in International Speech contest. Some judges may take offence of the same. And this may cost you the trophy.

So there you go. These are some of the lessons I learnt by taking part in just one contest. I am sure there is a lot of learning in store for me and you as we take part in International Speech con-test this year.

We are the home district of the world champi-on of public speaking 2014. Who knows the world champion of public speaking for the year 2015 maybe you?

- TM Jaswanth Krishnamurthy

TCS Maitree Alpha Toastmasters Club

District 82 Semi-Finalist in ISC-2014

“One of the key components of a

contest speech is the message. If

you have a look at the previous

year world champions of public

speaking, you will notice that it’s

the message that stood out from

their speeches. And the audience

only remembers the message.”



'The very best impromptu speeches are the ones written well in advance.' Stranger than fiction as it may sound, it's unfortunately true, though i hate to admit it. Table topics often referred to as an impromptu speech isn't much of an impromptu. It's the shortest form of an prepared unrehearsed speech which has a beginning, body and a conclu-sion.

How to prepare? - Look inwards

Your life is a source of inspiration and tragedy too. You don't have to look elsewhere. Write down all the things from your childhood to the present. Things that have surprised you, times where you were victorious, when you failed, what life taught you along the way. All the topics have always fall-en under the bracket of success, failure, going after dreams, hard work, love etc. So here's a way on how to organize your anecdotes.

1) Start with a quote if you are comfortable, there's a quote for every occasion, write one down which is easy to remember, connect it with an anecdote. Oscar Wilde once said "Some people leave happiness wherever they go, others whenev-er they go". My friend falls under he latter. One day...(talk about a personal incident/anecdote.

2) For/ Against- This is the easiest technique which most of the toastmasters follow. E.g., "Harder the battle, greater is the success". You could start off with the agreement saying that Yes! success tastes better only when you are made to sweat for it. Remember the downfall of Hitler, Pearl Harbour or the 1983 Cricket WC finals. The explain an incident in details to make your stand clear. If you disagree do the same, quoting an ex-ample. You could also take the middle path and neither support nor oppose. Use the material that is self explanatory and doesn't need a validation/proof.

3) Connect the dots - Pick up the words that make up the quote, E.g., "Harder the battle, greater is the success". I hear only 'battle' and 'success' the first time its read out. So i would start talking about success or battle. And move on to talk about the equation between the two. What effects the success or how could it be made even greater in the context of battle.

How to start? Just talk- whilst organizing your ideas

Talk something, whatever comes to your mind, this would give you time to think/formulate what exactly you want to say and make some sense in the minutes to follow. Unlike the regular club ta-ble topics where you have 30 seconds to think on what you'll say, the contest doesn't provide any such flexibility and forgot about the suggestions that say walk slowly to the podium, while topic is being read out so you have ample time, they're useless. I've been through this many times, so be-lieve me when i say, just start with whatever artil-lery you have, inspiration would soon follow and you would be in control.

What to say? - Whatever! Be eccentric

Mark Twain once said, "There are two types of speakers in this world 1. Nervous 2. Liars". You sure wouldn't want to be the former on stage. Once you've got rid of your nervousness, dig deep in your mind and bring something that you've pre-pared that might connect (even vaguely) with the topic given. I'm sure everyone has got something to talk about. But how you make sense and con-nect your personal story or a quote with what you started with is your ingenuity. Everybody talks but being creative, being unconventional, being ec-centric with your ideas will certainly make you stand out. Be a liar, exaggerate everything. Make your stories creative and interesting.

Toastmaster Faraz Mohammed is a semi-finalist in

District level TT speech contest 2014.

How to nail Table Topics?


How to end? - Read out the topic given with conviction

This is the tricky part. If you yourself have no idea about what you spoke, may god be with you. For others, conclude in a way that is inline with the introduction and body, yet leaves the audience with a smile. Prove the credibility and connect of your introduction and body with a line or two to convince toastmasters that you knew what you were saying and it wasn't an act of pure blabber. No matter if you remember your own speech or

not, the best way to conclude is to re-iterate the quote/topic that was given to you. Saying I agree/Yes!...(topic given).

Even the district winners of TT would tell you

that the only way to prepare for a TT is keep tak-

ing part in it and practise sample TT with your

friends everyday in the run up to the contest. All

the best.

- TM Faraz Mohammed

TCS Maitree Alpha Toastmasters Club

“Your life is a source of inspiration and tragedy too. You don't have to look else-

where. Write down all the things from your childhood to the present. Things that

have surprised you, times where you were victorious, when you failed, what life

taught you along the way.”

*Answer can be found in the last page of newsletter

Fun Corner-1

Fun Corner-2

Fun Corner-2

*Answer can be found in the last page of newsletter


Immediate past Area Governor (Area G2) and

Charter President of TCS Maitree TITANS Toast-

masters Club, DTM Asha Verghese bagged the

prestigious Best Area Governor at Reverberation

2014. She talks to us about her DTM journey and

her Governorship term.

1) What is the biggest Challenge faced serving as

the Area Governor being in a corporate company

(like TCS)?

The biggest challenge that I faced being an Area

Governor was the geographical spread of the

clubs in my Area, this ranged from Coimbatore to

Ambattur and Perungalathur. Working for a cor-

porate and taking up a role like Area Governor in-

volves a fine balance between work and Toast-

masters. I am thankful for the support I received

from my Division Governor as well as the Club

Presidents in helping me find this balance. A cou-

ple of times when I had already scheduled club

visits, I was forced to cancel these due to work

related commitments and although this was diffi-

cult for me, the members of the various clubs

were very understanding and would quickly help

to find another mutually convenient date.

2) What did you find the most exciting aspect of

being a) The President of the Club and b) The Ar-

ea Governor?

I was quite excited in being the Charter President

of a newly formed club in TCS. Fresh from my ex-

perience for a year as an Area Governor, I think

my term as President helped me to put into prac-

tice all the lessons that the Area Governorship

taught me. As an Area Governor, you work pretty

much by yourself and manage the clubs in your

area while as a President you work with a team of

Executive Committee members. Both have been

exciting in their own ways and I am glad I could

experience so much through the Toastmasters

movement.

3) During your journey to becoming the DTM,

which track (Communication or Leadership) did

you enjoy the most in Toastmasters and why?

It is quite difficult to decide which track I enjoyed

more because both these have taught me invalua-

ble lessons in Communication and Leadership.

Like most Toastmasters, when I started off, I was

very focused on the Communication track and did

not pay much attention to the Leadership side.

But the beauty of the program is that in the run

up to the DTM award, one learns to become a

well grounded leader as well as a good speaker.

4) In your opinion, what is the key factor that

needs attention while running a corporate club?

Running a club is never easy irrespective of

whether it is a Corporate or a Community club.

Sustenance and quality of speeches is the key. In a

corporate set up, management as well as mem-

bers should be well informed of the purpose of

Toastmasters and its long term benefits. Toast-

masters is sadly treated by many corporate as a

one stop communication improvement program

which it isn’t! The real benefit of Toastmasters can

be experienced only if a member is willingly to

continually attend and participate diligently in at

least one meeting a week for a whole year, if not

DTM Corner

DTM Asha Verghese with the prestigious Best Area

Governor Award


more. In a Corporate club, there are a lot of dy-

namics with people moving in and out, amidst all

of this, it is quite easy to lose track of the raison

d’être of the club. And when that is lost, the club

can virtually become non-existent.

5) What would you like to see different in a cor-

porate club based on your experience with the

community club?

Something that I have experienced and

enjoyed in a community club is the fellowship and

camaraderie after the meeting. Although in a cor-

porate set up, it may not be possible for members

to have lunch together or network over a cup of

coffee, it may be good once in awhile at least to

have such fellowship meets. I believe these would

go a long way in cementing the bonds of friend-

ship between members.

6) Your words of advice to the speakers partici-

pating in the upcoming contests based on your

experience in all the speech contests?

Contest time is never easy if you are a con-

testant. Remember to filter good advice from bad.

A lot of people would like to give you advice and

though they mean well, all of it will not work out!

A contest is an experience; enjoy every bit of it,

the good, the bad and the ugly!

-DTM Asha Verghese

TCS Maitree Chennai TM Club

Meet the Budding Toastmasters

Time management and to curtail

the fear of presenting myself to

larger group of people made me

join Toastmasters. I have the atti-

tude and the voice to portray my-

self however; I would like to work

on the sentence formation and

finding the right words for a par-

ticular sentence. I play video

games and watch movies in my

free time and my goal in life is to

Live Happily always.

Success is seeing others happy

and not just making ourselves

happy.

.

Toastmaster Saravanan S

Always eager to learn new things,

I’m also a hard worker and a team

player. By joining Toastmasters, I

would like to improve my listen-

ing skills and to speak eloquently.

Above all, I would also like to lead

successfully. I play and watch vari-

ous sports in my free time and my

goals are to be fit and succeed in

whatever activity I take up.

We can see success, If you are

able to successfully communicate

to someone and they agree with

your idea.

Toastmaster Saravanan


Mixed Veg-IRRESISTIBLE RAWESOME

Take yourself through the awesome experience of meeting people from diverse backgrounds. This irre-sistible feeling of expanding your network helps you look at finer elements of life in different aspects.

THRILLED PanPEER PEPpercorn TALKka Get engrossed in lively & thought provoking discussions from peers who are really thrilled & excited to explore the world of challenges. This appetizer will leave you nothing short of asking for more.

Aromatic APPLAUSEappam

Tickle the taste buds of the speaker in you as our authentic aromatic spices of cheers, giggles, laughter and goose bumps takes you through the eternal feeling of applause .

Extra Bettered LEADERsabzi

This buttery feeling will help you explore the better leader in you marinated with slices of organising and planning, roasted and toasted with fusion of critical thinking and listening skills garnished with other essential ingredients to lead from front.

Stuffed BringJoy with Toastmasto Gravy

Brings you joy as you will be stuffed, huffed and puffed with motivation coupled with tangy feeling of toastmasto gravy will serve as a side dish for the leader and speaker in you.

CHEERa RISE

Stay cheerful and rise your spirits in our mutually supportive positive learning experience.

AllYou PalLUCK PuLOVE with YouGet CONFIDENSalad

You will love to take on challenges head-on and convert them into opportunities redefining the mean-ing of luck as you are set rediscover yourself in this toastmaster journey which complements you with your self-confidence

CONSTANToori FEEDBACKebab

Grilled and Roasted feedback served by our expert chefs from time to time will not only satisfy your hunger for excellence but also motivates you with an everlasting desire for self-improvement.

Sugar-coated VermiSMILEY LAUDoo

Enjoy sweet savouries made of smiles and Lauds for every step of progress you make.

ManGO ISPEAKream with IMPROMPeanuts

Pamper yourself with delicious honey moments that let you unleash your frozen thoughts as you learn the art of speaking and thinking on feet.

Cocktail FUNcola(Complimentary)

Relish our complimentary unlimited fun factor (continental style) as its popping sensation shows learning can be fun

TCS Insurance Toastmasters Club Offers you Free** Unlimited Buffet lunch

At 02:45pm Every Tuesday

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Menu:


TCS Insurance Toastmasters club – A club which fosters many talents. A club which caters to the needs of people from different sect. TCS Insurance toastmasters club today is looked upon with rev-erence by everyone. This is because of the numer-ous jewels that have been tucked into its glorious crown over the years.

However, the club has not grown on its own. There were pioneers who steered the course of the club to bring it to its position today. In the coming lines, am going to speak about one per-son. A person who as far as I know was the clout in placing TITMAS in the forefront. The glory of TITMAS can be directly mapped to the many efforts of this person.

TM Karthik Palaniappan, Charter President of TITMAS. Never can we see a perfect president, a disciplined democrat, an inspiring individual, the adjectives will go on. Karthik will always be a Pres-ident who planted the seed of TITMAS, watered it, nurtured it everyday, tended to it every minute and derived pleasure from its growth. Karthik was a leader who stayed austere when it comes to tak-ing the club forward and drew elation from suc-cesses of the club. TITMAS was his baby and he was the one who held its hands while it took the first wobbly baby steps. Be it the elections, Char-tering ceremony, milestone speeches, ice breaker marathons, 25th session, Officer Training pro-grams, every single session had the name Karthik etched to its memory. He was the first person to laud us if we obtained our certificates and he was also the first person to browbeat us into getting the same. He was a silent simmer of strength to every one of us and I personally had a great time working along side with him in the excomm. Words won’t suffice to pen the role played by Karthik in grooming TITMAS.

But, the article here is an attempt, an Endeav-our to bid adieu to the President who was not just a mentor with aspiration to see TITMAS bloom into a revered club but also a spearhead with spir-ited fire to bring about change. He was a leader, an epitome of élan and efficiency who placed

TITMAS at the zenith of its glory.

Karthik, consider this an ode to your many struggles in building a club from scratch. Many people has shaped and moulded TITMAS into what it is today. But, you provided the shell and poured the soul. Adieu to the man behind the scenes .

- Srividhyaa Sainathan

TCS INS TM Club

Adieu to the personification of perseverance

Toastmaster Karthik Palaniappan charter president

of TCS INS TM is going to pursue different career

opportunities outside the organisation.

“Karthik will always be a President who

planted the seed of TITMAS, watered

it, nurtured it everyday, tended to it

every minute and derived pleasure

from its growth.”


Educational Awards

Club Dashboard

Competant Communicator

Lova Kiran

Competant Leader

Lova Kiran

Lakshmi Priya

Advance Leader Bronze

Pavithra Mohan

Karthikeyan Boopathy

Triple Crown

Karthikeyan Boopathy

TM Lakshmipriya TM Lova Kiran TM Karthikeyan Boopathy TM Pavithra Mohan


President:

Thank you TITMAS!

"Toastmasters provide every bit of opportunity to groom the leader in you and the Spirit of leader-ship is best felt when you serve as a club officer" - Those were my words at the start of 2014 in ebul-lience 6.0 and here I am at the end of a magnificent year after my last session as a president echoing the same words as my belief! It has been a proud and humbling experience to serve as the president of our club for 2 straight terms.

The breadth and depth of lessons I learnt in this role will definitely help me in any walk of life. I practiced and learnt how to make quick & mean-ingful decisions, manage conflicts, lift the spirit and help people to move towards the target, how to delegate and how to be receptive enough to admit my mistakes!. Along the way I have met got some wonderful friends, well-wishers, like-minded peo-ple. Thank you TITMAS!

When you learn how to integrate your Toastmas-ters education into your personal or professional life, you are certain to get the most gratifying & long-lasting learning experience.

- TM Karthick Bhoopathy

President, Jun-Dec’14, TCS INS TM Club

Outgoing Ex-Comm Experience Vice President – Education:

It is definitely a great moment for me as a member of the Toastmaster club as such. Looking back, I re-alize that, this is the second term for me as the VP-E of this club. On retrospection at this wonderful journey, it has been a mixed bag to say the least. Lot of things to both learn and un-learn. Lot of per-fectly planned events and occasions have gone mis-erable, and lot of last minute or unplanned events have successfully progressed with utmost perfec-tion. But one factor has remained the same, in all these ups & downs, highs & lows, crests & troughs, my co- Ex-Comm. thoroughly extended their help-ing hands, without which it would have been a her-culean task.

I would grab this opportunity to express my gratify-ing 'Thanks' to each one of my Ex-Comm. and my fellow club members. Right from the Ex-comm. meetings, Officer Training Programs, planning for events, roping in people for speech slots and other roles, contests at different stages, contest prepara-tion and so on has been an awesome experience of learning with fun & frolic. Thank you guys for the wonderful and the ever cherish able memories!!

My heartfelt wishes to the new set of club officers! Let our Club scale unimaginable altitudes!! Keep rocking!!

- TM Pavithra Mohan

VP-E Jun-Dec’14, TCS INS TM Club

Vice President – Membership:

Tory Burch once said “One of my greatest talents is recognizing the talent in others and giving them the forum to shine.” As a Vice president Membership, my job is also similar, trying to con-vert as many guests as possible to Toastmasters. And I find it great pleasure in interacting with guests, finding out what are they looking forward in Toastmasters, explaining the benefits of joining this program and this club. Occasionally, guests are ready to join this program, however; they have this tingly feeling that stops them from join-ing. Along with our club officers, we encourage and elucidate them by saying that they have come

to the right place and we can work together on taming their fears. Apart from introducing the new members to the benefits of toastmasters, I work with the existing members to enhance the quality of the club and the learning; innovation quotient is always kept high. Another difficult task is to bring back the inactive members. And I’m grateful for the Ex-Comm. team for helping me yield back the members. We put our heads to-gether and are progressing "One step at a time, step-up every time".

- TM Pratima

VP-M, Jun-Dec’14, TCS INS TM Club


Outgoing Ex-Comm Experience

Vice President- Public Relations

What could have been more exciting, experi-

menting and gratifying opportunity for a prosaic

and introvert like me than to serve TITMAS as VP-

PR for two consecutive terms. The theme of the

magazine "One step at a time, step-up every

time" rightly describes my PR journey. A picture

speaks thousand words and I agree with the fact

that flyers are the most effective means of promo-

tion, as it not only attracts the viewer’s attention

but also open the doors of creative imagination.

This PRO role helped me to do cognitive analysis

on my creative quotient and learn the art of effec-

tive promotion through flyers and other means.

Be it designing flyers, promoting the club in social

media like FB or knome , making broadcast an-

nouncement through email or PA , jotting down

the minutes of special meetings, editing the

newsletter, maintaining the club website, keeping

the club FB and watsapp group active and up to

date or networking with toastmasters, I enjoyed

doing every bit of it. My initial days were more

confined to my club and within the butterflies of

Siruseri. As days progressed, I started visiting oth-

er clubs, interacted with them, actively participat-

ed in their meetings and closely observed their

promotional style. In the course of this one year

journey many new opportunities unfolded in the

form of contest chair - Coromandel toastmasters

club, PR Co chair - Opulence 2014, newsletter edi-

tor - SWAS and part of district 82 design team.

Each and every role played, be it within the club

or outside the club thought me something or the

other and made my learning curve active. 4 of my

Flyers made it to the top 5 in the “Flyer of the

month” contest organized by District 82 and 2 of

them winning the contest was the icing on the

cake. I owe a lot to TITMAS for helping me to

groom myself as not only better communicator

and leader but also for the opportunities to dis-

cover my hidden potential and for the transforma-

tional changes that made me more confident and

extrovert. I am sure that the learning will continue

for the years to come. As my tenure comes to an

end, I would like to express my gratitude to the

members of TITMAS, Area G2, Division G, and Dis-

trict 82 for all the opportunities, learning and fond

memories. A special thanks to the President TM

Karthikeyan Boopathy who has been there with

me supporting and encouraging throughout.

Thank you all!! I Wish all the incoming officers all

the very best. Let the legacy continue under your

leadership.

- TM Lakshmi Priya

VP-PR, Jun-Dec’14, TCS INS TM Club

Secretary :

First responsibility that I took in my professional

life, I went through the roles and responsibilities

of a secretary and nominated for the same for the

period July 2014 to December 2014 with lots of

hesitation. But when I put those into place one by

one, I was able to realize how crucial those duties

are and how responsible I am to run a club. Right

from the Membership Roaster till recording the

meeting minutes not only helped me in Toast-

masters, but also taught me many things for my

professional life. It has been a long journey, felt a

kind of difficult in putting the roles in place at first

but later on I realized that things will go nice

when you keep on practicing. Ex-com Team pro-

vided their support right from the start till the

end made my role much easier than I expected. I

take this opportunity to thank each one of them

for making their presence in almost all the

meetings. The Exposure being a secretary and

special support from President and VP-PR gave

enough confidence to be a 150th Milestone Ses-

sion – Chair. It’s been a six months wonderful

journey in keeping the club properties safe and

helping the ex-com team to run the club very

sleekly and feeling very happy to serve TITMAS in

future.

- TM Karthick Dev

Secretary , Jun-Dec’14, TCS INS TM Club


Outgoing Ex-Comm Experience Treasurer :

Being a Treasurer requires a lot of responsibilities to run the club smoother and efficiently execute all the events of the club. I was glad that TITMAS had counted on me to count the club money. It thought me the tricks and trades of managing the budget of the club. It was also challenging for me to not to compromise on the quality of the events

of the club with the restricted scope of the treas-ure. I was blessed to work with such an excellent and a committed team , looking forward to contin-ue my exuberant journey in TITMAS.

- TM Lavanya A

Treasurer , Jun-Dec’14, TCS INS TM Club

Sergeant at Arms:

I have taken up SAA role on purpose; to make my-self feel comfortable on the stage as this is the only role where we will get a chance to speak in all sessions. This role has really helped me grow and now I will be eagerly waiting to begin the session and I love the stage.

SAA is not all about beginning the meeting , man-aging the articulates , its more about welcoming guests , setting up the right environment in the meeting, the momentum and the theme should

be carried from the beginning till the end smooth-ly without any hurdles. It really helped me in im-proving my management, organizing skills and most important mycommunication skills. Above all, based on the theme chosen for the day, I had to come up with interesting and witty way to begin the meeting. I really enjoyed playing the role of SAA in this team.

- TM Lavanya Y

Treasurer , Jun-Dec’14, TCS INS TM Club

Meet the New Leaders


This is a special award given to recognize the efforts and commitment of a toastmaster based on

their active participation in delivering speeches, taking roles and their attendance in toast-masters

meeting. Congratulations dear Toastmasters!! Keep up the Good Work!!

Toastmaster of the Month

For the other Toastmasters, here is the sim-

ple formula For you to be crowned Toast-

master of the month. Playing the roles as

mentioned in the following table will not

only fetch you the award but the amount of

learning that goes in hand will help you

grow to become a Competent Communica-

tor and Competent Leader. The highest

points will be awarded to Toastmasters

speaking and playing the TMOD. After addi-

tion of points, the Toastmaster with the

highest number of the points win the covet-

ed award.

Role Points

Prepared Speech 5 TMOD 4

TT Master/GE 3

Evaluator 2

TAG 1

TT Speaker 1

Attendance/Session 1


Happenings in TITMAS Toast to Men Session - 25th Nov 2014

Here's to the men we love,

Here's to the men who love us,

Here's a toast to every men in the world!!

Belated happy men's day to the readers from the

ladies of TITMAS.

While everyone is voicing their opinions for wom-

en, their rights, equality and celebrating the wom-

anhood, our Charming TMOD TM Shiqnaaz decid-

ed to give a toast to the men who are being the

integral part of every woman.. Following the gold-

en rule "do unto others”. She began the session

with a poem:

Realize man is not an ATM,

Stop treating men as unpaid bodyguards,

Stop violence against men,

Understand men too need love & care,

Understand men too need protection,

Demand gender-neutral laws,

Demand men welfare ministry.

Which received a thunderous applause from the

audience and made every men present there feel

special. The session was lively, exciting and filled

with loads of surprises. Wrist bands with fasci-

nating titles, chocolates and a video presentation

was a true delight! The session came to an end by

playing a video dedicated to every man in club pre-

pared by TM Nivedita. It was indeed a classic toast

to the men!!

Diwali Trio Session: 21st Oct 2014

The Latin phrase, "omne trium perfectum" means

everything that comes in threes is perfect or every

set of three is complete. Here we, the tremendous

toastmasters trio of Siruseri joined hands together

for the first time to celebrate the festival of light

with a delightful session on "celebration".

This session was an opulent confluence of Siruseri

toastmasters where every member experienced

the power of three - thrice the participation,

thrice the energy levels, thrice the learning and

thrice the fun factor. The session was meticulous-

ly planned and seamlessly executed by the trio

excom that ensured active and equal participa-

tion from all the three clubs.

If the prepared speeches were the highlight, the

TT speeches took the limelight and the evalua-

tions turned out to be elite.. Overall, the first trio

meeting was a delight!!!

The session ended on a high note felicitating the

division humorous and evaluation champions

Nivedita Rani and Virat Mehta respectively!!

Super Speakers Session - 23rd Sep 2014

“Super Speakers” being the first of its kind in TIT-

MAS, created a reverberation throughout the ses-

sion. Right from seating arrangement of speakers,

role-players, evaluators and the audience as sepa-

rate groups to engaging every member during the

session, every minute detail was taken care by

the TMOD.

The Super Speakers session was made analogous

to the Super Singers by drawing parallels- Gurus

as Mentors, Singers as speakers, musicians as TAG

team with GE, host as TMOD and judges as Evalu-

ators. The entire session was in lined to the

theme.

The best part of the session was evaluators had to

evaluate the speeches immediately which were

challenging to think on their feet and yet provide

eloquent feedback. This experimental session

helped the evaluators to kick off their prepara-

tions for the battle at the area level contest.


Flyer of the Month “An image is not simply a trademark, a design, a slogan or an easily remembered picture. It is studi-

ously crafted personality profile of an individual, institution, corporation, product or service.”

-DANIEL BOORSTIN

Likewise, Flyers are a very constructive way of promotion. They trigger the audience attention instantly

and is a very promising for promoting the events within the Toastmasters and beyond. Therefore, the

District 82 introduced “Flyer of the Month” award to recognize the Toastmasters who make the best

flyer, every month, which has effectively spread the name of Toastmasters across borders.

TM Lakshmi Priya won the Flyer of the month for the month of October

TM Pavitra Mannivanan won the Flyer of the month for the month of August


Upcoming Events

January

OTP Meeting

Third Anniversary Cel-

ebrations

February

Club Level Interna-

tional Speech and

Table Topics Contest

March

Area and Division

Level International

Speech and Table

Topics Contest

Upcoming Events

The following are events that TITMAS is looking forward in the New Year 2015

Feedback

We would like you to answer

Just 3 Questions about this newsletter:

1. What do you love about us?

2. What do you hate about us?

3. What would you like to love about us

in the next Edition?

Kindly mail your feedback to

[email protected]

Queries and Suggestions

Post in your queries or suggestions to our

Club President TM Karthikeyan

@ [email protected]

For queries related to Membership and

other general queries write to

[email protected]

Please write to us

May

Ovations –District level

International Speech

and Table Topics Con-

test. May 22 -24 2015

Fun Corner-2 Fun Corner-1

Meeting Info

We meet every Tuesday at 2.45 PM in ATL Building , TCS Siruseri. For more information write to our

VP-M Pratima - [email protected]

ebullience 8

Documents

ebullience toastmasters

toastmasters journey

veteran toastmasters

toastmasters fraternity

prestigious club

club dashboard

progress of titmas

various club contests