INSIDE THIS ISSUE

Presidents Message

Division-M Conference

High Performance Leadership

The Ultimate Question

WIIFM?

Coaching

Know Your Country

Madras Toastmasters Club Presents HEARSAY- Newsletter

April 2014

Editor’s Note

Dear Toastmasters,

It is an honor and privilege to release the Madras Toastmasters Club

newsletter for the month ending April-2014. The last 2 months has

seen hectic activity in the club with the office bearers and members

involved in various activities including conducting the Judges training

program, Rhetoric 2014 Division-M conference besides the weekly

club meetings. The focus of this newsletter is to highlight the great

contribution made by our club leaders towards the conduct of the

Division –M conference and also showcase a few knowledge articles

from our esteemed members.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for the

successful release of this newsletter. Please feel free to provide any

comments, feedback and suggestions to my attention for future

editions

Best regards and happy reading

Visit us @ http://www.madrastoastmastersclub.com

The thing to read is not the one which thinks for you, but the one which makes you

think…James McCosh

President’s Message

I'm just very thankful. And I say that a lot because that's the most important

message...Pharrell Williams

Arumugam Srinivasan

President – Madras Toastmasters Club

This newsletter is dedicated to our members who were instrumental in the successful completion of the Division M Conference. I

would say it is one of the best division conference I ever attended. All the activities planned are planned at minute level & executed well.

I would like to thank DTM Trinadha Rao (Division Governor - M), Mahendra varman (Conference Chair) and his team for the splendid

conference. Toastmaster Sridhar Mathur also had a stellar contribution in the success of the conference

Educational Speaker Sanjay Pinto has given formulae on how to prepare & Deliver a speech. The Formulae is AAPPQQ. A = Anecdote:

Start your speech with a story. It can be personal or from other materials. A = Anaphora: It means repetition of a word or phrase at the

beginning of successive clauses (e.g. Martin Luther king speech, I have a dream). P = Points / Substance / Research: For 5 minutes

speech you can have 5 points. P = Punch Lines: you all know that Super star Rajnikanth film is famous for his punch lines. Q = Question:

Ask audience question, and try to answer the question. Q = Quotation: Closing is as important as opening. During contest time, judges

may forget the entire speech but they will always remember your closing. So next time when you deliver a speech use this Formulae

AAPPQQ.

Rhetoric 2014- Division M Conference

Memorable Moments from Rhetoric 2014- Division M Conference

Rhetoric 2014 – Division M conference was held on 13-April-2014 at Hotel Benz Park in Chennai. The start of the conference had

all the ingredients of a great gathering ranging from a great ambiance at the venue, immaculate planning under the leadership of

DTM Trinadha Rao & Conference Chair Mahendra Varman and a ceremonial opening.. For those who missed attending the

conference, here a few excerpts from the memorable event.

Conference Venue

Conference Inauguration

Welcome Address by DTM Rao

Man behind the conference- TM Mahendra Varman

Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by

results not attributes... Peter Drucker

Rhetoric 2014- Division M Conference

Memorable Moments from Rhetoric 2014- Division M Conference

The best executive is the one who has sense enough to pick good men to do what he wants done, and

self-restraint enough to keep from meddling with them while they do it... Theodore Roosevelt

Rhetoric 2014 – As we started getting into the conference, there were a wide range of events ranging from the prepared speakers

contest and table topics contest where there was intense competition among the various participants who successful won the area

contest. The icing in the cake was the education session by Sanjay Pinto from NDTV who enthralled the audience with a few tips on

effective communication

Education Session by Sanjay Pinto

Prepared Speech Winner

Table Topics Winner

Closing of the Conference

MONTH, YEAR VOL # ISSUE #

Delete box or place a cption here.

HEADLINE SUBHEAD. SUBHEAD.

SUBHEAD. SUBHEAD.

High Performance Leadership

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done

because he wants to do it…Dwight D. Eisenhower

Author: DTM Dr. Trinadha Rao

Dr.Trinadha Rao DTM is Division M Governor and founder member of

Madras Toastmasters Club. He works in Cognizant Technology

Solutions as Associate Director

Madras Toastmasters Club has germinated High Performance Leaders since its inception .If one can keenly observe our Toastmasters

Logo and its caption, it clearly indicates WHERE LEADERS ARE MADE. Even though Toastmasters International contains multi-

layer leadership structure right from Club Sergeant at arms to International President, in a true sense leaders are made in the club alone

and all other leadership roles emerged out of club experience.

In Toastmasters journey, our focus is on two important tracks – Effective Communication and Efficient Leadership. Mainly member

focuses on developing public speaking in effective communication track through competent and advance communication manuals. While

member delivering speeches using competent communication manual projects, he or she will learn one skill through one project (through

project 2 organization of speech, project 4 articulation, project 5 body language, project 8 presentation aids, project 9 and 10 persuasion

and inspiration skills) then member can start advance communication journey based on his interested areas viz., Storytelling,

Entertaining speaker, Special Occasions, Project Management, Public Relations etc. from 15 advance communication manual projects.

In Leadership track, members acquire efficient leadership skills through competent leadership and advanced leadership manuals. In

competent leadership manual there are 10 projects, each project provide insight to develop a particular leadership skill while conducting

toastmaster events whether in a regular club meeting or club/area/division contest.

In regular club meetings, one can develop leadership skills- Listening, organization, time management while taking-up projects from

competent leadership manual to play leadership roles like Ah-counter, Grammarian, Time Manager, Toastmasters of the Day, General

Evaluator. In other events member can learn Interpersonal, planning, persuasion and execution skills.

Once member acquired basic leadership skills, he or she has to focus on developing high performance leadership skills which is one of

the requirements for Advance Leadership award in toastmaster’s journey.

Member may puzzle that what is the difference between competent leadership and high performance leadership in toastmaster’s arena.

Competent leadership skill is focusing one particular skill at a time where as High Performance Leadership skill focus on end-to-end

outcome based leadership achievements. For example in our recently concluded Division M conference Rhetoric’14 we produced two

High Performance Leaders (chair TM Mahendravarman and co-chair TM Sandeep) who have produced marvelous output in the form of

division level contests and external guest speech in the form of educational session.

High performance Leadership is one of the requirements for Advance Leadership –Silver award which in turn fulfils DTM qualification.

How it works? It’s like an 8 to 16 weeks leadership project, either major toastmaster event projects at District/Division level or any

community development projects.

In Division Conference, if member takes-up responsibility of chair to conduct mega event then that member will be eligible to apply

High Performance Leadership award through his/her guidance committee members. In Division Conference, if member takes-up

responsibility of chair to conduct mega event then that member will be eligible to apply High Performance Leadership award through

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,

they will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu

A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled,

they will say: we did it ourselves. —Lao Tzu

High Performance Leadership – Continued…

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done

because he wants to do it…Dwight D. Eisenhower

his/her guidance committee members. As part of High Performance Leadership, conference chair has to plan various committees –

Registration, Sponsorship, Souvenir, Education, Program, Mementos, PR, Event management and Hospitality.

For each and every committee chair, conference chair has to set appropriate goals and measurable outcomes to fulfill the division

conference needs. Each committee will form the appropriate team and work towards the holistic goals of the conference.

Conference chair will derive appropriate strategy for acquiring funds within and our side division. Also develop a practical agenda and

execution plans under the guidance of mentoring committee (senior toastmasters who are already obtained High Performance Leadership

award and experience from Toastmasters movement). Conference chair also identifies appropriate venue to conduct a conference with an

affordable rate as per district norms. Weekly, Guidance committee review and monitor the progress on conference preparation as per set

objectives to each and every committee. If committee chairs needs any inputs or clarifications, guidance committee provide appropriate

insights on High performance leadership achievements.

TM Mahendra Varman (Madras Toastmasters Club) and TM Sandeep Kumar (Infosys Toastmasters Club) has done exemplary job while

conducting Rhetoric’14 at Hotel Benz Park, T. Nagar, Chennai on April 13, 2014.

In previous division conferences- Eloquence 2010, Rhetoric 2011, Rhetoric 2012, eMpower 2013 our Madras Toastmasters club

members played as High Performance Leadership roles and has set an exemplary standards in Tamilnadu Toastmasters Fraternity.

My suggestion to all our Madras Toastmasters Club members, attend regular club meetings and play as many roles as possible to

enhance effective communication and efficient leadership skills and grab the opportunities as and when it arrives to become an High

Performance Leaders, As you know Madras Toastmasters Club is where High Performance Leaders are made.

The Ultimate Question

It doesn’t matter if you don’t have all the answers. What truly matters is do

you have the right questions? – Mahatria Ra

No matter how much you achieve, no matter what you accomplish if there is a spiritual

vacuum in your life, your life will feel incomplete … Mahatria Ra

Listening to the discourses of enlightened masters keeps me motivated. It not only gives me the inspiration but also answers the inner

questions. I recently happen to listen to the discourse of Mahatria Ra (T.Rangarajan), a famous spiritual personality from Chennai, who

created a new path, “Infinitheism”, realizing the great hunger in the world for a new way of life.

He addressed this arguably most ancient question in that speech.

Does god exist?

Here goes the story….

One day in USA, a young scientist was travelling in a train. He saw an elderly person nearby, who had Bible in his hands and was deeply

focused reading it. This young scientist after sometime started talking to that elderly person. He asked him, what are you doing?

“I am reading Bible”- replied the Old man

“Oh my god, do you people still believe in god? I am not able to understand”, said the young scientist restlessly. He continued…“In

today’s world, everything is science. There is an explanation for every single thing, there is a logic and meaning. Everything is

explainable, so there is no god and do not waste your time.

The elderly person listened to him carefully, but did not utter a word.

Young scientist continued, “I am a scientist and I simply do not believe… I test, I experiment and review results and then only I believe,

no one can fool me – said the young scientist with full of pride.

As they were talking, the train arrived at the station and they had to get down, before leaving, the young man gave his visiting card to the

elderly person and told him, to come to his lab – when he is free.

As it is a formal gesture to give your visiting card in return, the elderly person also gave his visiting card. The young scientist carelessly

stretched his hands to collect and the card and before putting it in his pocket, he just glanced at the card. His body shocked for a second.

The card said “Thomas Alva Edison”. The young scientist with enormous respect and shaking hands asked apologized for his behavior

and pleaded Edison for his appointment.

Edison smiled at him and requested him to come and meet his laboratory on a specific day. On that day, the young scientist showed up at

Edison’s lab. Edition welcomed him and took him through his lab. The young man was astonished to see such a big laboratory, as they

were walking, the young scientist noticed a huge model of solar system is one of the rooms. It was so huge, moons and planets were

positioned exactly in same proportion as in real. Motors were connected and they were enabled to move in their respective orbits. It was

brilliantly built and he could not take his eyes of it. He became speech less. He asked Edison, who built it?

Author: TM Raghavendran

Raghavendran works as Sr. Project Manager in CSS Corp pvt ltd. He

likes watching old Tamil movies and listening to the discourses of

spiritual leaders

The Ultimate Question … Continued

Judge a man by his questions rather than by his answers- Voltaire

With faith as the center of gravity of thoughts, soul stability blossoms for every living

moment of life… Mahatria Ra

Edition ignored the question and started moving further showing the other parts of his lab, but the young scientist became restless, he

asked persistently about the solar system. How you built it sir, how long it took, what mechanism you have used etc…

Finally Edison, said, I do not know. One day I opened the room and it was JUST there. I did not make it.

Shocked by this answer the young scientist said” Sir, that is impossible, it cannot be here JUST LIKE THAT. Someone should have

made it. How can it just appear it on its own? That’s impossible

Are you sure my son? Asked Edison.

Yes sir, absolutely, please tell me how you built it. I am eager to know.

Edison looked at his eyes and started his reply.

“When you believe that this model solar system must be made by someone, then what about the real solar system? How can you believe

that all of them with such a precision, just showed up one day on the cosmos? Please understand this. “

WHEN THERE IS A CREATION, there has to be CREATOR. So GOD does exists.

After hearing this, not only the young scientist, even I became speechless. So true. There cannot be a creation without a creator. At last

the most ancient question was answered.

Mahatira RA, when responding to the question on “how to measure our progress, Gave the 3 following questions to ask and thereby to

check our growth. This was very thought provoking and I look up to it all the time.

1. Am I am utilizing my potential to its fullest?

2. Every year, how many peoples life am I touching and contributing to their success?

3. Every day, have I lived my life in a way, which brings me one step closer to god?

These checklist helps us to determine where we are and take right decisions.

I am sure toastmasters international will definitely help everyone in the 1st question, by enhancing our communication and leadership

qualities and unleash our potential to fullest.

WIIFM

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I

learn...Benjamin Franklin

WIIFM (What's In It for me?) is one of the frequently asked questions. This question arises in everyone’s mind whenever they want to

start a new initiative. Given the choice, not many would be interested or inclined to start new initiatives unless they are benefitted in

some way or another. The question may arise even when someone is doing something for a long time. The same may happen when

someone wants to join Toastmasters. VP-Membership would share the benefits with the prospective member. The person may decide to

join based on the perceived benefits. If the person joins, he/she may evaluate the benefits over time and decide to continue or drop.

On my part, I reflected on the same question a while ago. I have been a part of this movement for over 2 years. What did (or do) I get out

of Toastmasters? Here are some answers.

1. Public Speaking: It is a no-brainer! The most common (and most important) benefit of Toastmasters for anyone is the

improvement in Public Speaking. I am no exception. Though I had conducted team meetings and large all-hands meetings at

office, I realized that talking in front of strangers (now friends) was not my cup of tea. Constructive inputs from my mentor /

evaluators and the guidelines in Toastmasters manual have helped me improve my public speaking skill.

2. Blogging: In my enthusiasm to join the Blogging Bandwagon, I registered my blog in Blogger 4 years back. However, I never

published a single post. There was a lot of inertia. I was not sure of what would be worthy of publishing. After joining

Toastmasters, I overcame the inertia. I started posting my prepared speeches with minor changes. It helped me connect with my

friends and colleagues. Some of them compliment me saying that my writing has improved over time.

3. Creativity: Each and every project in Toastmasters manual stimulates and nurtures my creativity. I experiment and think of off-

beat topics and experiences and connect with the project objectives. “Missed the bus” is an example.

4. Knowledge: In the course of preparing for a few speeches, I gathered and gained knowledge. E-Waste, Budget Process and

Apple varieties are some instances. More importantly, I come to know of many things through others’ speeches.

5. Better Conversations with Friends: Toastmasters has become an additional talking point in my conversations with friends and

relatives. At times, I share my speeches with them and ask for feedback. This acts as a trigger for them to share their related

experiences which we might not have discussed but for Toastmasters.

6. Impromptu Speech: I used to be uncomfortable with Table Topics for a long time. Of late, I have become less uncomfortable. I

don’t hide my face! Though I still blabber half the time, I have gained the confidence that I can make meaningful speeches

instantly in the long run.

7. Productive Sunday: Sunday mornings are much more productive than it used to be. Inspiring quotes, interesting anecdotes,

enthralling stories, enlightening knowledge and rib-tickling humour fill my Sunday morning.

8. New Friends: I have got a set of new friends outside of my school/college friends, relatives and colleagues. I get different

perspectives from people from other industries / non-profit organizations.

Given the wide range of benefits gained by being a Toastmaster, I am sure I would remain a Toastmaster always.

Only I can change my life. No one can do it for me.… Carol Burnett

Author: TM Ashok Kumar, CC

Ashok Kumar is senior IT professional. He is a former VP-Education of Madras

Toastmasters Club

Coaching

No one learns as much about a subject as one who is forced to teach it…

Peter F. Drucker

A guru never experiments with his seekers. A guru always experiments on himself and

gives the seeker only the experience … Mahatria Ra

COACHING: A poor teacher screeches, an average teacher preaches; a good teacher reaches; an efficient teacher teaches; an excellent

teacher COACHES; a brilliant teacher hatches – meaning produces a lot of brilliant teachers.

All Toastmaster contestants on their return, victorious from the contest, thank quite a number of senior toastmasters who were behind them.

Especially, they mention a few names who contributed considerably to their success. The other name for that contribution is coaching.

Coaching plays a significant role in helping people function efficiently, effectively and elegantly. People are aided and guided to

realize their strengths, weaknesses otherwise called areas of improvement, opportunities and threats. People thus coached get to

know their current performance level, receive feedback [incidentally, it is no more called feedback; in modern term it is called feed

forward]. When you are fed, you move forward. Therefore, it is FEEDFORWARD.

Strengths are the internal positive aspects or attributes under control of an individual and can be amplified by coaching. Weaknesses are

the internal negative aspects under his or her control and when addressed, the individual improves and turns strong.

Opportunities are positive external conditions not under his or her control but coaching can help them tap and take advantage. Threats are

negative conditions not under his or her control but coaching can help them lessen the effect or turn them into opportunities. This coaching

process in training domain is called SWOT application.

Coaching is required when the performance is unsatisfactory or the person aims at a better performance. Coaching is also required,

when the individual is poorly trained, inadequately equipped, not properly motivated to perform or trapped under the clutches of

mediocrity.

In detail, as we discuss the with the person in need of coaching, we have to look in for the factors which help us determine which reasons

apply such that the coaching solves the problem areas of the person. Then the coaching attempt fructifies. Some of the possible factors are:

1. Does the person know, what is supposed to be done?

2. What is the specific difference between PRESENT performance level & the DESIRED performance level?

3. Is the performance standard realistic as against expectation?

4. Does the person have the required skill set?

5. Does the person have adequate resources to do the job?

6. Are the obstacles beyond the person’s control affecting the performance?

7. Does positive performance yield positive rewards?

8. Does he or she enjoy the implantation of coaching?

In Toastmasters, a coach trains and the [TMS] train drives the coaches

Author: TM Pattabiraman, ACS, CL

Former president of Madras Toastmasters Club

Miltonian Freemason, loves sports, nature, animals, colors and observing

people.

Know Your Country

We owe a lot to the Indians, who taught us how to count, without which no

worthwhile scientific discovery could have been made....Albert Einstein

India conquered and dominated China culturally for 20 centuries without ever having to

send a single soldier across her border - Hu Shih

India is the news across the world these days for all the wrong reasons. We get negative press on a wide range of issues ranging from

acute poverty, illiteracy, gender related crimes and corruption. However as Indians we need to look at us positively, and be proud of the

great contribution that we have made to humanity and world at large. The following are 10 such interesting and positive facts about India

which we all need to be proud of:

1. Education: The world’s first university is said to have been started in Takshila in 700 B.C. Over the years thousands of students

from all over the world including Chanakya studied a variety of subjects in this university. The minimum entrance age into the

university was 16 years and around 10,000 students studied in this university every year

2. Mathematics: Baudhayana, an Indian mathematician first calculated the value of PI. He is also said to have discovered other

mathematical theorems still in use. Number and concept of zero was invented and documented first by Indians.

3. Cities: Varanasi is the oldest continuously habituated city in the world. The earliest known archaeological evidence suggests

that settlement around Varanasi in the Ganga valley began in the 11th or 12th century BC .Gautama Buddha visited Varanasi in

500 B.C.

4. Rail and Road: India has the world’s third largest road network at 1.9 million miles. India also has the world’s second largest

rail network, which is the world’s largest civilian employer with 16 million workers

5. Medicine: Sushrata is considered to be the father of surgery. Over 2600 years back, Sushrata along with his team conducted

complicated surgeries such as artificial limbs, cataracts and urinary stones removal. Most historians agree that the first recorded

account of plastic surgery is found in ancient Indian Sanskrit texts.

6. Sport: Chess was invented in India. The original word for “chess” is the Sanskrit chaturanga, meaning “four members of an

army”—which were mostly likely elephants, horses, chariots and foot soldiers.

7. Religion: The Maha Kumbh mela in Allahabad which happens every 12 years is the largest religious gathering in the world.

Around 100 million people (almost equal to one third of US population) attended the kumbh mela in 2013.

8. Infrastructure: The highest bridge in the world is the Bailey bridge, which is situated in Ladakh between the Dras and Suru

rivers in the Himalayan mountain range. The highest cricket ground in the world is in Chail in the state of Himachal Pradesh.

The pitch is about 2444 meters above the sea level and was built in1893.

9. Information Technology: The Pentium chip and Hotmail were created by Indians—Vinod Dahm and Sabeer Bhatia

respectively. Half of the outsourced IT services in the world come from India

10. Peace Loving: In 100,000 years of history India has never invaded any country. It was invaded by other countries and rulers

rulersAlexander the Great.

Author: TM Srinivasan Krishnamoorthy

Source: Historical Information from the internet

Srinivasan works as Associate Director in Cognizant Technology Solutions. He

is also the VP-PR for Madras Toastmasters Club

Visit us @ http://www.madrastoastmastersclub.com

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm – Abraham Lincoln

Visit us @ http://www.madrastoastmastersclub.com

Toastmasters is learning through doing and improving through criticism– Ralph.C.Smedly

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