itoast 7th edition mar2014

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7th Edition of Champions Newsletter - "iToast".

TRANSCRIPT

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

    2 | P a g e

    TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club Hosts its meeting on

    Every Thursday

    At 2.30 PM

    In

    Tata Consultancy Services,

    200 Ft, Pallavaram Ring Road,

    Thoraipakkam,

    Chennai

    For Details Contact:

    Aishwarya Sudhakar

    Vice President Public Relations @ 98840 58962

    Write your feedbacks to:

    [email protected]

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    Contents PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS ..................................................................................................................... 4

    FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM .............................................................................................................. 5

    SIGNING OFF. ........................................................................................................................................... 6

    THE DISTINGUISHED CLUB PROGRAM ............................................................................................. 7

    THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF BETTER SPEAKING ............................................................................. 9

    SEARCHING FOR SCRIPTS .................................................................................................................. 10

    CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE .................................................................................................................... 12

    THE P IN PUBLIC SPEAKING ............................................................................................................... 14

    WHAT THEY SAID? ............................................................................................................................... 17

    PICTURE PERFECT ................................................................................................................................ 18

    NEWS AND EVENTS .............................................................................................................................. 20

    TAMILNADU TOASTMASTERS FLYER MAKING CONTEST WINNERS ..................................... 21

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS

    TM Gautam Sharma

    Firstly, I would like to congratulate the iToast team for coming up with a wonderful

    newsletter which is informative and entertaining. The articles are indeed tremendous and have

    brought out the writer in every member.

    TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters is a club, whose name makes me proud whenever I

    tell people that I am from Champions Club. From a new member at meeting 50, the VP-Education at

    meeting 75 and now the President at meeting 100, the journey has been very memorable and of

    course filled with a lot of learning. In the last three contest seasons, we have had people from our

    club in the division contests consecutively. I wish we soon start entering the district contests as well.

    I am extremely glad to say that we have done a very good job in achieving educational awards,

    membership awards, DCP points, attending contests and conferences, conducting membership

    campaigns and many more.

    Champions club has always been a standing example for hard work. With every meeting, we grew as speakers and leaders. Every set of Ex-comm officers have done a

    better job than their predecessors and this kept the clubs standards high and higher. 100 meetings is a big milestone and I would like to congratulate each and every member for putting in a lot of efforts

    in building the club.

    As I always say, the biggest strength our club is the set of members we have. I sincerely thank each

    and every member for taking up responsibilities and taking the club to greater heights.

    At the end of 100th

    meeting we will be a Select distinguished club and I am sure that when

    our members attend Ovation 2014, we will be a golden gavel club yet again.

    Let Us Congratulate Gautam on

    Completing his CC#10.

    Our champion speaker is now a

    Competent

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    FROM THE EDITORIAL TEAM

    TM Kalpana

    TM Srishti

    TM Aishwarya

    Imagine MS Dhoni being run out at

    75Terrible! Imagine Suresh Raina walking out to

    bat and his score starts from 75. He then goes on

    to hit a century! TCS Maitree Champions

    Toastmasters Club celebrates its milestone 100th

    Meeting. We are all here to celebrate, but the

    foundation to this success is attributed to its

    charter members and the stalwarts who drove

    Champions to Celebrations.

    Our joy is doubled with the release of this iToast.

    The making of which was a journey like no other. It

    would be clichd and copied if we would say that

    we liked the journey. All that mattered was that

    this exciting journey culminated in a triumphant

    toastmaster moment for each of us. The reading of

    this newsletter adds joy to our hearts.

    We would like to thank all the Executive Committee

    Members, Champions Toastmasters, Guests and Well

    - wishers for their extended support to the club.

    You are the flag-post for our flag.

    You are the wind in our sails. You

    are the shining stars in our skies.

    You are the color of our rainbow

    The Rhythm in our words.

    Thank you to all of you for growing us.

    Happy Toastmastering! Be a Champion!

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    SIGNING OFF.

    TM Murali Manohar (Area G5 Governor)

    It has been just about 2 years in Toastmasters for me.

    But what I experienced here are worth all my life! I walked

    in to a Toastmasters meeting just to find out what the fuzz is

    all about. Today, Im here as an Area Governor leading multiple clubs. Thanks to Champions Toastmasters for

    making me who I am today.

    I vividly remember one incident which I would like to

    quote here: DTM Suganthi Periasamy, then Area Governor,

    applauded the success of Champions Toastmasters. I replied

    saying that we are too nave to fail but just

    . I believe that the success of learn and succeedChampions Toastmasters attributes to its members who are

    active to learn, ready to dirty their hands and most

    importantly least bothered to fail. When there is no fear of

    failure, everything is considered a success. You would

    consider yourself successful in attempting something and failed rather than just failed. You are one step

    ahead of someone who did not get that attempt! You are one step ahead by learning something new.

    Champions Toastmasters is known for the adage: GIVE IT TO THEM.THEY WILL GET IT DONE! With this outlook the founding members of this club TM Sushant, TM Kalyan, TM Rajesh, TM Azhar, TM Subhash, TM Vignesh, TM Vishal and I set the momentum for the club. The subsequent

    club officers and members are brilliantly taking forward the legacy and Im delighted about it! For someone who has been there since Meeting No.1, I know how the club has been shaped and what it is to

    be at Meeting # 100.

    Leaving the club at this stage, I feel awful yet comforted by the fact that the club is in good hands. If I start to write about my moments in Champions Toastmasters I would end up authoring a

    book. But some highlights that will always be remembered would be club photo sessions, beach walk,

    Ovations 2013 (esp. the fun night :P), iToast newsletter group meetings, 50th

    meeting gala, dozens of

    Demo Meetings, club elections, District Trio at 75th

    meeting, Reverberation 2014, contest speech

    preparations, TMI video shooting, word of the club, many, many such! These moments were not there to

    be taken. We created it and we cherished it. When a group of folks such as Champions Toastmasters can

    work towards one goal, anything is possible.

    I signoff with head held high and a big salute to this stupendous concept called Champions Toastmasters, where champions are made!

    Let us Congratulate Murali for Completing his Advance Communicator Series ACB

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    THE DISTINGUISHED CLUB PROGRAM

    - TM Srishti

    The Distinguished club program commonly called as DCP is a program

    started by Toastmasters International to help the clubs worldwide

    promote quality, productive meetings and enhance the experience &

    growth of the members. The program runs from July 1 through June 30. The qualifying requirement for participation in the program is that your club must either have 20 members or net

    growth of at least 5 new members as of June 30. The DCP houses 10 goals that a club should strive to

    achieve in a year in order for it to be recognized as a progressing club. Its 10 goals are categorized into

    four areas such as Education, Membership, Training and Administration.

    At this point it is important to note that the clubs which achieve any 5 out of 10 goals annually

    receive the Distinguished Club Recognition Award. However, the clubs that achieve 7 goals annually

    receive the Select Distinguished Club Recognition Award. Finally, the clubs that achieve 9 goals

    annually receive the President's Distinguished Club Recognition Award.

    Under the category of Education, DCP lists 6 goals. 1St and 2nd Goals combined are equivalent to 4

    Competent Communication (CC) awards. 3rd and 4th goals is equivalent to 2 Advanced Communicator

    Bronze (ACB), ACS(S=Silver), or ACG (G=Gold) Award. 5Th and 6th Goals requires 2 Competent

    leader, Advanced Leader Bronze (ALB), ALS(S=Silver), or Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) Award. A

    club receives credit for only one type of Education award per member per year. This encourages all

    members to progress in Education program. As of March, 2014 The Champions Club has achieved 1

    CC award and 3 CL/ALB(S)/DTM Awards in the complete goal list of Education Group. This result

    marks the completion of 5th and 6th goals.

    Under the category of Membership, DCP lists 2 goals. 7Th and 8th goals require the club to have 8

    new members added to its total strength of existing members. Transfer and Charter members do not

    count towards a club's membership goals. In the year 2013-2014, The Champions Club has had the

    addition of 23 new members which fulfills both the required Membership Goals.

    Under the category of Training, DCP lists the 9th goal that requires at least four of its club officers to

    be trained in their responsibilities of the position for which they were elected. Four Officers must attend

    & fully participate in each of the two district sponsored training sessions. First Training session occurs

    between June 1 & August 31. Second Training session occurs between December 1 & February 28(or

    Feb 29 in leap years). Audio-Visual aids may be used to enhance training. But officers who simply view

    a video describing their responsibilities are not considered trained even if the video was provided by a

    district leader. As of March, 2014 all the seven officers of Champions Club have attended the first

    training session.

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    Under the category of Administration, DCP lists the 10th Goal that requires On-Time payment of

    membership-renewal dues & list of names of renewing members for one period. It also requires On-

    Time submission of one club officer list. The club receives credit only if Oct-March membership-

    renewal dues are submitted at World Headquarters on or before Oct 10 and April-Sept dues on or before

    April 10. Before deciding the deadline for the submission of the Club Officers list two cases need to be

    considered. First, some clubs may hold annual elections (July 1- June 30). In this case the submission of

    the list to World Headquarters should be by June 30 of previous Toastmasters year.

    Second, clubs that holds semi-annual elections (July 1-Dec 31 & Jan 1-June 30). In this case the

    submission of the list to World Headquarters should be by June 30 of previous Toastmasters year/or by

    Dec 31 of the current Toastmasters year to earn credit toward Goal 10. As of March 2014, Champions

    Club has achieved its 10th Goal.

    In summary, Champions Toastmaster club has achieved 5 out of 10 goals till date making

    Champions the Distinguished Club for the year 2013-2014. It is known that these awards were designed

    to elevate a club's enthusiasm. However, it is imperative to acknowledge that the DCP program provides

    a stable structure through which a club can gain guidance & help itself in reaching world class standards.

    This would help the members to embark on a rewarding journey thatd satiate every member's purpose

    of becoming a part of the Toastmasters fraternity.

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF BETTER SPEAKING

    - TM Aishwarya (VP Public Relations)

    One step into toastmasters is not a

    giant leap in public speaking. It is

    rather the first step. Reaching

    the top is tougher,

    . staying there is tougherThere are few best practices that

    would always help in better public

    speaking.

    SPEAK SLOWLY

    We are not radio jockeys; we dont

    speak to fill the air. We speak for a

    purpose. Begin talking slowly and clearly. It is important that people understand what you are saying

    rather than them being awestruck by the way you say it.

    RECORD YOUR SPEAKING

    We are not always blessed with the best memory. It is always better to record what you practice. Listen

    to your speaking; you voice pattern and your pronunciation. There is no better evaluator of yourself than

    you. Record Record... Record.

    READ LOUDLY

    Take a newspaper or conversation book and practice loud reading so that you are able to listen to your

    own voice. Practice it for several minutes a day. It will improve your pronunciation as well as your way

    of speaking.

    LISTENING PRACTICE

    Listening to videos, news and discussion programs will help you a lot to get right pronunciation of

    words.

    KEEP A DICTIONARY WITH YOU

    Keep a dictionary that also tells right pronunciation of a word. Most of the people learn to pronounce

    properly with the help of a good dictionary.

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    SEARCHING FOR SCRIPTS

    - TM Subhash (VP Education)

    Are you one of them who struggle to get

    your scripts for your speeches?

    Have you ever been in a situation where

    you are unable to think of a script or not

    even an idea for your speech?

    Count me in I am one of those, but there

    are a few ideas which helped me to get my

    scripts for my speeches. I need to thank

    the toastmasters who gave me these ideas

    and I am reflecting those ideas.

    Idea no 1: Tell me your story:

    This is the most famous formula which was used in toastmasters, share your personal stories. Depending

    upon the project you are doing you can personalize the contents. For example you and your friend went

    for a trip to Andaman. You can share your experiences there, using story-telling technique, with the

    audience. You can use this kind of speech for CC5 by using body language to convey your message, or

    for CC7 (research a topic) by which you can provide information about that place to your audience , and

    also for CC8 by using visual aids to share your travel experience with the audience.

    All you need to do is modify the content to meet the speech objectives, conclusion and Delivery.

    Idea no 2: Your speech in 10 Words:

    The courtesy of this idea goes to Craig Valentine & Darren LaCroix. Write down what you want to

    convey to your audience in a sentence having not more than 10 words. Examples: I want my listener to

    start doing blood donation; I want my listener to know about this place. I want to convey how to

    create scripts for speech.

    Once your ideas are put in simple statement, then you can start focusing on stories and personal

    incidences or create a story of your own to tell the audience.

    Idea no 3: Walking Story Boards:

    When you feel you dont have personal stories to share, Start looking outward. Look out for walking

    story board. Your friends, family, people whom you have met, friend of a

    friend, your neighbors, your Pets -they are all walking story boards.

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    Rewind your memory about stories or incidences which happened in their life, something which they

    shared, and something which you observed. You can get stories from them and you can personalize the

    story & express their emotions and conclusions.

    Idea no 4: The Insignificant:

    Have you ignored something, which you thought was too small or insignificant to notice?? If you have,

    then you are missing great stories. Incidents, like a dog chased you or you chased one, which you feel

    are too small or insignificant, can turn out to be one of the best stories that you can share with your

    audience. Re-look at those incidents that will make really interesting stories.

    Devil is in details, stories too...

    Idea no 5: The Big Brother:

    The primary source for our everyday search is Google. You can search stories or incidence which meets

    your message's objectives. Once you get the stories or information, dont forget to personalize the story

    as if it was happened to you or someone close to you. When you narrate a personalized story to the

    audience, the story forms the connecting bridge between yourself and your audience.

    Let Us Congratulate Subhash on

    Completing his CC#10.

    Our champion evaluator is now a

    Competent Communicator.

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE

    - TM Kalpana

    Table topic, an interesting and exciting section in a traditional

    Toastmasters meeting aims to improve the impromptu speaking skills of a person. Every Toastmaster meeting has a table topic master who comes up with certain set questions or scenarios based on a theme. The

    table topic master would pick anybody from the crowd and gives them

    the scenario or question. The speaker has to spontaneously speak on the

    topic for two minutes.

    Table topic greatly helps individuals in dry mouth or blank brain situations in real life. It develops and quickens the thinking process of a

    person.

    A successful table topic requires preparation both by the table topic

    master and the speakers.

    Table topic master:

    For a table topic section to be entertaining, one has to choose a lively theme and prepare

    questions that all people can connect to. Creativity and individuality are the key

    requirements to an impressive table topic.

    Following are a few theme ideas:

    Award Nights the table topic master brings a list of awards, calls two respondents, one to give the presenter speech and the other to deliver an acceptance speech.

    Picture Interpreting the table topic master could bring various pictures and ask the speakers to discuss what is going on in the picture.

    Grab Bag the table topic master brings a bag full of objects and asks the speaker to pick an object and gives questions based on the object.

    Secret Guess - the table topic master asks everybody to write a secret, collects them and asks the

    speaker to read it and also state who think they wrote it and why.

    Word Maniac -Give the speaker a strange and unheard word from the dictionary and ask them tell

    everyone what they think this word means. At the end, give the real definition.

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    Alphabet Soup - Respondents have to start each sentence with a word that begins with a specific letter

    (first a, then b, etc.), then the next person creates a sentence beginning with the next letter.

    Start with a brief story. . The Motivate people to come on to stage and participatequestions have to be challenging as well as humorous and also easy to interpret. Always encourage and

    applaud the speakers.

    Table topic Speakers:

    Greet the audience and repeat the question that was given to you. Ask a question to the audience

    related to the topic. Make a witty or humorous remark on the topic. All these activities would help you

    buy time to think of the topic. Make a quick decision. Truth or lie. If you have a good imagination, go

    with lying. Else, stick with the truth. Personalize the answer. Connect with audience.Use the theme of the day or word of the day if possible.

    You could also prepare ahead of time based on the theme of the day. Put yourselves in the shoes

    of the table topic master and imagine what kinds of questions you would ask for the particular theme and

    think of answers for it. This would help you if you were called upon. This imagination would also help

    if you get to be the table topic master later.

    Participating in table topics at every opportunity you get and practicing will help you handle

    table topics.

    In simple terms, success in table topics maps to more confidence in social life and work when

    you are faced with unsettling questions from your boss or client.

    So there is no need to panic when the cat has got your tongue...

    DID YOU KNOW??

    The dot over the

    letter i is called a

    tittle.

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    THE P IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

    - TM Gautam Sharma (President)

    "Public speaking is an art and every speaker is an artist". Having said so, no art form can be

    mastered without proper efforts. These are few P's that might be essential to give a good speech. These

    are the points I have learnt from senior speakers and out of the little experience I have.

    Speech scripting phase

    Passion - Develop passion towards the art of public speaking. As Oprah Winfrey said, "Passion

    is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you". Let the art of speaking in front

    of an audience excite you. Feel elated each time you speak in front of an audience. Your passion will

    drive you to write great speeches.

    Purpose - Speech Purpose is a very important element in public speaking. A speech would have

    a general purpose and a specific purpose. At a high level, the general purpose can be to entertain,

    enlighten, inspire or persuade the audience. Specific purpose depends on the topic or subject you choose

    to speak upon.

    Preparation - Prepare a rough outline of what you are going to speak. You may have 100 speech

    topics running through your mind and you may be confused on which one to choose. Finalize on one

    topic and have a set of ideas which you can speak about in 5-7 minutes. Normally when I get a subject to

    speak, I take a piece of paper and have the ideas like a flow chart. It helps me to keep the ideas ready so

    that I can start writing.

    Pen down your ideas in the form of a proper speech. Choose the points that are of high

    importance and organize them so that you stick to time limits. Remove the points that are of less

    significance. It is ideal to have roughly 100 words per minute. For a 5-7 mines speech, which has 30

    seconds grace time, you can roughly have 750 words in it.

    Prioritize your ideas properly as speech organization and development is very important. A

    speech can be organized in many ways such as chronological, cause-effect etc. Make sure you have a

    striking opening and a bang on conclusion. Your opening has to be attention grabbing. Have an

    organized body, which keeps the audience hooked to your speech. Conclude in such a way that it leaves

    a lasting impression in the minds of audience. In DTM Saro's words, "Last words are the

    lasting words".

    Personalize your speech according to the target audience. At times we use few jargons and end

    up in excluding a set of audience. For example when a speaker says, "Life was tough when I was

    working in night shift. Every day we used to have compilation issues and the deployment would fail. I

    had to fix them diligently". In the above statement, words like compilation and deployment may suit

    only those who are from a Software engineering background. It is ok to use them in corporate clubs

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    where all of them are from the same field. But when you address a mixed crowd, make sure to avoid

    these. Ensure that everyone in the hall is included and none of them feel excluded from your speech.

    Proofreading or script review is a very important phase. This is the phase where your speech

    script would attain a state of completeness. Send your script to your mentor who would review it and

    give his/her comments. Based on those comments, edit your script and create a final copy that would be

    delivered on stage. You can rehearse your speech in front of your mentor before going on stage so that

    you feel more confident. Make sure to send the script well in advance to your mentor, at least 10 days

    prior to the day of speech delivery. This gives sufficient time to mentors to review the script. This also

    gives you enough time to implement the changes and rehearse.

    Practice makes a man perfect is a well-known adage to all of us. Nothing makes you a better

    speaker than constant practice. You can practice the speech in front of your mentor, family members, or

    even a mirror or camera. Make sure to time the speech when you practice at

    Be sure that you do not get time disqualified on the day of delivering it in your club. home.

    Pronunciation is a key challenge for most of us while speaking. Since we are not native

    speakers of the English, we end up in pronouncing the words with mother tongue influence. One

    technique that has really worked for me is "Words in the news" by BBC learning English. It gives you a

    passage from the current news. Ten words the in passage will be highlighted and their meaning would be

    given in the bottom segment. There is a listen button which enables you to listen to that passage as read

    by the BBC news reader. So every day, if you can spend 3 minutes on this, you can learn ten new words,

    with meaning, usage and pronunciation. Another technique that I learnt from my mentor is to read

    newspaper or an English book loudly for few minutes every day. By doing this your tongue gets

    comfortable in pronouncing English.

    Speech delivery phase

    Punctuality - You might be thinking, "What is public speaking to do with punctuality". I would

    say that there is connection between them. Arrive early to the club meeting when you are delivering

    your speech. If you come late and see that the meeting has already started, your nervousness will

    increase. It is very important to make sure that you are in your comfort zone when you are delivering a

    speech. So go early, say by 15-20 minutes, have casual talk with people around and relax yourself.

    Positivity - Positive attitude defines your performance on that day. It is necessary to look

    positive and sound positive. As Toastmaster Rajesh Natarajan told in one of his sessions, "Everyone has

    fear. It is inevitable. What is important is masking the fear and looking positive and confident on stage".

    If you want to mask your fear, the only way is to be positive.

    Pleasant look - Look pleasant with appropriate dressing when you deliver a speech. A pleasant

    attire does not just mean wearing a suit and tie. The clothing that looks appropriate to the speech content

    is always welcome. If it is a professional talk, or a seminar, an educational session etc., a suit and a tie

  • iToast 7 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club

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    would be the perfect choice. Your dressing is the first thing that would catch audience's eye even before

    you start your delivery. Make a careful choice in this aspect.

    Pitch, Pace, Pause and Projection - These are the major elements of vocal variety. Pitch is the

    ups and downs that we bring in to add emotions. Pace is the rate at which we deliver the speech, or the

    speed of delivering. It should neither be fast, as this may lead to few words

    being unheard, nor be too slow. The pace has to be in accordance with the

    script. Pauses play a major role when we speak. The can be used for a lot of

    purposes. For example, you can pause before you break a suspense in your

    speech, or you can pause after you deliver a heavily emotional line (both

    happy and sad emotions) thereby giving the audience some time to

    absorb those emotions and react to them. Projection of your voice is

    based on the size and acoustics of the auditorium. The projection should be

    such that even the last seated person in the hall is able to hear you.

    Palpitation is your friendly enemy. You can neither avoid him completely, not let him take over

    you. It is natural to be nervous, but make sure that it doesn't become obvious. At times when we get

    nervous on stage, we start clasping our hands, fiddling with our tie, holding our id card, looking up and

    down etc. Make sure not to do all these as this would portray your nervousness evidently.

    Performance - At the end of the day, what matters is your performance. Try and give the best

    shot. Despite the Sergeant's instructions, there might be mobile phones ringing, people walking in and

    out. Do not get distracted by all these elements. Just focus on the delivery and make sure that it creates

    an impact. Deliver a speech to express yourself and not just to impress the audience.

    Power - The power of your speech should be such that it has to leave an imprint in the minds of

    the audience. The audience should be able to take away something from your speech. It may be a

    message or it may even be memories, ensure to deliver in such a way that it stays longer in the hearts of

    audience.

    Pride - Pride is one feeling that has to invade you after your delivery. You may or may not have

    done well. Whatever be the case, feel proud that you have taken one step forward in your career as a

    public speaker.

    "Proper planning preparation & practice prevents poor performance"

    DID YOU KNOW??

    The longest English word without a true vowel (a, e, i, o or u) is

    "rhythm".

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    WHAT THEY SAID?

    An Australian Toastmaster names Maurice visited our club and took part in our Weekly meeting. Here is

    what he had to say about our club.

    It is with pleasure that I recount a wonderful Indian Toastmasters experience! On a recent trip to

    Chennai for a conference, I decided to extend my stay for a few extra days to attend some of local

    Toastmasters club meetings. I was introduced to Former Division Governor, Saro Velrajan who advised

    clubs in his district of my attentions.

    As a result the President of TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club, Gautam forwarded me a

    lovely email inviting me to attend his club's meeting. He then arranged for my transport to and from my

    hotel and was diligent and cordial in making sure that the trip was seamlessly executed to and from my

    hotel.

    Upon arrival at the club's address I was warmly greeted outside by President Gautam and

    Toastmaster Diwakar who whisked me through security and escorted me to the meeting room. There I

    met a number of club members who introduced themselves and made me feel right at home. I was even

    included in the meeting agenda and asked to evaluate toastmaster Murali's speech!

    The meeting impressed me

    by professional way it

    conducted and the energy

    and enthusiasm of all

    members. The quality

    of the speeches and

    evaluations was such

    that it belied such a

    . I have no young clubdoubt TCS Maitree

    Champions is a club on rise

    and greatness will come from

    this group in the next few of

    years. All the members

    were amazingly friendly and welcoming and gave me what I can only describe as a

    After the meeting I was treated to a traditional Indian meal. "top shelf" experience.

    President Gautam spoke with the authority of a future leader and I suspect that he personally

    bankrolled my taxi fares to and from my hotel. I will always remember my visit to TCS Maitree

    Champions Toastmasters and although I will never be able to reciprocate likewise, I suspect some

    international toastmaster will lob at my club (currently Saigon Toastmasters) and hopefully I will be

    able to show them hospitality just like TCS Maitree Champions!

    With My Compliments!

    Your new friend, Maurice!

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    PICTURE PERFECT

    Stealing the Gavel from Wipro Toastmasters on December 19

    th 2013.

    New Club Officers with Area Governor Murali and Division Governor DTM Suganthi

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    Club Contest Winners: International Speech Contest: 1 TM Gautam, 2 TM Diwakar, 3 TM Srishti

    Table Topics Contest: 1 TM Gautam, 2 TM Siva, 3 TM Aishwarya (February 2014)

    Club Members Beaming

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    NEWS AND EVENTS

    TM Gautam Sharma and TM Diwakar secured 1st and 3

    rd Place in the Area Level

    International Speech Contest. TM Gautam will represent Area G5 in the Division

    G contest.

    On March 25th

    , 2014 TCS Maitree Champions Toastmasters Club becomes a Select Distinguished Club in the Toastmasters International Distinguished

    Club Program for the year 2014.

    The Annual Division G International Speech Contest will be held on April 26th

    .

    The District 82 Conference will take place in Goa on May 23rd

    to 25th

    .

    Let us congratulate TM Diwakar for completing is Competent Communicator Series

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    TAMILNADU TOASTMASTERS FLYER MAKING CONTEST WINNERS

    In celebrating our 100th

    Milestone meeting, a flyer making contest was held across Tamilnadu

    Toastmasters and here are the winners

    I Prize TM Pradeep (TCS Maitree Infinity Toastmasters Club)

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    II Prize Anuradha (Thirdware Chennai Toastmasters Club)

    III Prize Laxmi Priya TCS Insurance Toastmasters Club

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    Till the Next time.