Ruby Hall , Presidency Club,

Commander-in-Chief Road,

Egmore, Chennai 6001 05

www.chennaitoastmasters.com

Time Management

Mentoring Catch'em Young

Opportunity

OTP

TM & MBA Feedback

TM Roadmap

LEADERSHIP

SPECIAL

SPEAK OUT

Monthly Newsletter of Chennai Toastmasters Club

February 201 3

Editors’Note

11 contributors spread across 3 cities in 2 countries, 25+ phone calls, 1 00+ emails, countless hours

of exciting work – just l ike every CTM newsletter, these are what made the concept of the February

201 3 Speak Out a reality.

As we set out the journey, we decided to experiment with a different format for the newsletter. As you

are aware, we decided to have a theme for the newsletter – Leadership. Based on the skil ls and

experience of the leaders and wanna-be-leaders in CTM (and other clubs), we requested each of the

contributors to write on a specific topic. All of them instantly agreed, and the result is what you are

reading now.

There are 1 0 articles in the newsletter, each examining different aspects of leadership. TM

Sadayappan shares his thoughts on perhaps the most controversial questions of al l time – Are

leaders born or made? DTM Saro Velrajan and TM Sakthi Prasanna explain two aspects of personal

leadership – time management and preparation, respectively. On team leadership, TM Sudha Rajesh

provides important mentoring nuggets – both for the mentor and the mentee.

Leadership in CTM – DTM Kartik Srinivasan highl ights some of the challenges CTM is facing, and

how members can convert it into boundless opportunities, while Immediate Past President TM

Thanigeaswara shares how conducting the Officers’ Training Programme(OTP) helped in honing his

leadership skil ls. TM Deepa Bharatkumar explains her experience in evaluation contest and her

learnings about giving feedback.

DTM Aditya Maheshwaran and TM Anjaneya Sasthry provide insights about how the TM experience

can be applied in outside world. Aditya answers some of the common questions about how TM

experience can be leveraged for job interviews and MBA admissions. Anjaneya applies his TM skil ls

in the leadership development in kids – catch them young.

Final ly, TM Madhavan Nampoothiri shares his Leadership development roadmap for the next 6

months – both for Competent Communication Track and Competent Leadership Track.

As Editors, we thoroughly enjoyed the creation of this newsletter. We hope we have done a decent

job. I t is for you to decide. Please send your feedback or evaluation (in TM parlance)- good, bad or

ugly - to us through mail or phone. We wil l col lect your feedback and share it with the next editorial

team, so that they can build upon our work. Cheers! !

Anjaneya Sastry K Madhavan Nampoothiri

2

SPEAK OUT - February 201 3

Contents

Editors’Note. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2

From the President’s Desk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4

Message from the VP – Public Relations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .6

1 . Born Leaders : A myth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7

TM Sadayappan

2. Your Time is With You. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9

DTM Saro Velrajan

3. Better prepared mind is best equipped to handle surprises. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 0

By TM Sakthi Prasanna

4. Mentoring nuggets. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 2

TM Sudha Rajesh

5. Leading To Leadership. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 4

DTM Kartik Srinivasan

6. My experience in conducting Officer’s Training Programme. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 6

TM Thanigeaswara Kalappan

7. Evaluation Experience. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 8

TM Deepa Bharatkumar

8. Leveraging Toastmasters during Interviews, MBA admissions & Career Growth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 9

DTM Aditya Maheshwaran

9. Catch Them Young! ! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .22

TM Anjaneya Sastry

1 0.A Roadmap for my Toastmasters journey. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23

TM Madhavan Nampoothiri

3

From the President’s Desk

I t has been almost a month since the newly-elected Executive Committee was sworn into office, and yet

my first opportunity to write in the Speak-Out newsletter in the capacity of the 1 7th President of Chennai

Toastmasters Club - I sti l l feel as privi leged and honoured as I did on the day I was elected, but my pride

has multipl ied manifold.

What an eventful month it has been!

We started with our very own Big Bang! The stupendous 375th meeting was a grand celebration of al l

the wonderful memories that Chennai Toastmasters have created and the milestones they have

achieved.

The Executive Committee met shortly thereafter and has chalked out their vision and action plan for the

next months - I bel ieve we have already begun to see their efforts.

With the help of our hard-working dream-team of an Executive Committee, we have already organised

four exemplary club meetings.

I am proud to report that al l of the newly elected officers attended the Officers Training Programme and

are now ready and trained to unleash their potential over their tenure of six months. This has earned our

Club credit towards the Distinguished Club Program and the Golden Gavel. I t is only just January, and

we have already earned 9 out of 1 0 credits towards these programmes!

All this in one month! And we have so much to look forward to!

4

First and foremost, the club-level International Speech and Table Topics Contests on February 24th,

201 3 - Toastmaster Selvabharathi has taken up the challenge to lead this event in the capacity of

Contest Chair. Chennai Toastmasters Club contests are always one of the highest quality and

toughest-fought speech contests in the Toastmasters fraternity. I f you have never witnessed one, you

are in for a spectacular treat! Have you registered as a contestant yet? What exactly are you waiting

for?

In my inaugural address I said that the priority for this term is going to be the service of the newer

members. Nearly 80% of our members have not yet completed their Project 5 in the Competent

Communication manual. Many do not yet feel confident enough to deliver their Ice-Breaker or first

meeting role. Our VPE has already started tracking and monitoring members’ progress - new members,

stand by for some innovative initiatives to help you progress through your manuals!

And last but not the least; we can focus on member satisfaction and quality meetings. My vision is to

position the club such that earning that last but elusive DCP point should not be a cause for worry.

Another favourite excerpt from my inaugural address:

I bel ieve that if we continue to expect nothing but the best of ourselves and continue to work hard,

we can continue to be the Lighthouse Club of Chennai. In my day-dreams, I see Chennai Toastmasters

winning shiny trophies amidst thunderous applause, and I see Chennai Toastmasters blazing new trails

at the highest levels of leadership.

Amen!

TM Deepa Bharatkumar

President, Chennai Toastmasters Club

She is a Principal Architect and Partner at Architecture By Design

5

Message from VP - Public Relations

The purpose of a speaker is to effectively convey a message to the audience in a room. The purpose of

a Public Relation officer is also the same. But the audience is the entire world. How effective the PR

conveys a positive message to the public is how good job he is doing?

Now you might be wondering why I am saying all this things. There is a reason because; it is a great

opportunity for you to grab the editor of the next month’s newsletter. The leadership skil l the editor role

provides is tremendous. I t cannot be expressed in words only experience. How many numbers of

people you wil l be contacting? How tactful ly you get articles from them? How to fol low-up gently? I t is

definitely an art one has to master. Not only that, it wil l also take you one step higher in completing the

CL – Competent Leadership Manual. (Project 6 or Project 1 0 of CL)

So, those who are reading this article and are wil l ing to experience that ride. Quickly send me email ,

message me or call . Thank you.

TM Bharat Raja,

Vice President - Public Relations

Chennai Toastmasters Club

Bharat is currently a Masters of Engineering student at Anna University, Guindy

6

1 . Born Leaders : A myth – TM Sadayappan

The fundamental and the most basic question that al l of us have in our mind about leadership is ‘Are

leaders born or made?’ This is one of the hottest topics in leadership studies since Platonic days. But if

we start bel ieving that leaders are born then we stop giving attention to our personal development. I f we

start bel ieving that leadership is a natural instinct then we stop achieving our true potential . I f we start

bel ieving that leadership is in the blood then we stop believing in ourselves. Long back, I too believed in

the myth that leaders are born and leadership is in the blood.

When I was second year in col lege, I wished to contest the elections for post of ‘Hostel Representative’.

But I hasti ly withdrew my nominations the very next day I fi led it, as I was not confident enough of

taking up the being the representative of some 1 00 hot young bloods. I told to myself that ‘I am not fit to

be a leader’. In my third year in col lege, I had developed some confidence and stood in the election for

the post of ‘Secretary of Chemistry department’ and I won it too. (Mainly because it wasn’t a lucrative

post and I was the only one who had fi led the nomination for the post). Nevertheless I was happy. Soon

the reality struck me. My fel low office bearers were hardly to be seen in any of the meetings. Most of

the meetings I was the only attendee. And when the time came for me to lead my team to work the

biggest academic contest, I found myself in a difficult position. Nobody volunteered to take any

responsibi l ity for the contest preparation. I cajoled, pleaded and even forced my team to put a decent

show if not a great one for the contest but without any avail . The result was obvious. I had to face the

wrath of my Professors and Seniors (who had done a ‘clean-sweep’ in the contest the previous year).

And again I told to myself that ‘I am not fit to be a leader’. I stopped any further experiments with

leadership and told myself that leaders are born and not made.

You might have predicted what might come next in the article. Yes, I had to change my opinion when I

joined Toastmasters. Very soon after joining Toastmasters I understood that leadership is just another

skil l that can be learned if we are wil l ing to learn. I embraced the learning whole heartedly.

I started understanding that leadership skil ls are hidden behind every single role that we do in

Toastmasters. I had to just look for it and learn it. Be it Timer or President or Mentor, al l the roles

provide opportunities for us to learn from the necessary skil ls to become a good leader.

I t is worthy of mentioning an important lesson I learnt when I was the VP-Public Relations of CTM and

when Rajesh Natarajan was the President of the club. Rajesh was appreciative and encouraging of

even the sil l iest thing that I tried to do. Every time Rajesh introduced me to the new members of the

club or to visiting senior members from other clubs, Rajesh use to l ist what activities that I did for the

club and he said how proud he was to have a great team. He never took any credit for himself and

generously credited al l the achievements of the club as the team’s work rather than his work. These

gestures, consciously or unconsciously made me work more for the club. The lesson that I had learned

during the days with Rajesh was ‘Make your team members feel important’.

7

Once I had an open mind a number of lessons fol lowed. I learnt ‘How to delegate jobs to others?’ from

Saro, ‘How to be humble and yet be a leader ?’ from Prabha, ‘How enthusiasm and cheerfulness is

important for a leader?’ from Arna Chugani, ‘How dedication is a must for a leader ?’ from

Thanigeaswaran, ‘How confidence is a must for a leader ?’ from Kartik and the l ist continues. I no more

tel l myself ‘I am not fit to be a leader’. I no more believe that leaders are born. What I now believe is

that Leaders are made. Made in Toastmasters ! ! !

TM Sadayappan has done his BE in Computer Science. He is currently working as 'Senior Systems

Analyst' in Reflexis Systems UK Ltd. He is married to Mrs. Meena Devi and blessed with a l ittle girl . He

l ives in Basingstoke, UK. He has been one of the most active TMs when he was in India

8

2 . Your Time is With You – DTM Saro Velrajan

"I don't have the time to write my next speech!"

This is the response that I get from new toastmasters when I ask them "I t has been months since

you gave a speech in our club meetings. What happened?".

"Everyone on this planet is given the same 24 hours in the day. The question is: what do you choose

to do with yours?”. Al l of the self help books tel l the same thing and the chances are, you might've

already tried some of those things and given up already!

- Getting up early in the morning

[You] I come back from office at only 8 or 9 o'clock. By the time I have dinner, and spend some time

with the family. . it becomes 1 0 o'clock. I watch some TV, and browse some Internet and it becomes

1 2. How can I get up early then?

- Maintain a task l ist

[You] I t looks awkward to carry a task l ist everywhere. I t al ienates me from my friends

- Time your activities

[You] I t

DTM Saro Velrajan: Former President, Man behind the growth of many new divisions, Epitome of

leadership, mentor to many.

Currently he works as Director - Technology at Aricent Group.

 

9

3 . Better prepared mind is best equipped to handle

surprises – TM Sakthi Prasanna

As I write this piece, I ’m wondering if I ’m eligible to write an article on better planning and implementing

efficiently as requested by our senior Toastmaster and ever energetic Anjaneya Kantheti. I ’m a person

who has always lived at the last moment. Ti l l the trigger is pul led and the bullet comes out I won’t

move. For the sheer interest in wanting to become a good planner, I accepted to write this article.

As I crossed the most important age barrier of late twenties from a boy and entered into the gateway of

a man into 30s the first thing I thought is geeOI should become more responsible from now on. Can a

dog’s tai l be straightened in a day. .no way! ! I always go late to the office, meetings, catching up with

friends, sti l l the rigmorale continues . .sometimes, no most of the times I wil l always be left with

frustration and guilt when I mess up with the time because it affects other people who I gave a

commitment.

Well planned is half the job done!

I have seen many meticulous planners in corporate, family, sports, etc. I never heard them

failed. .There is something about planning and implementing efficiently! One fol lows the other. You plan

well first and then implementing efficiently is a natural process. There are so many examples that even

after you plan better, you mess up in implementing the plan. But who doesn’t fai l . . i t is always better to

fai l after great planning than to fai l without planning at al l . The world is ruled and run by great planners

l ike it or not. I ’m not talking about the leaders at the helm, they may be or may be not great

planners. .but the people behind or under them ensure that their leader plans and implements

efficiently.

Planners are Aliens!

This is how I always related to them. Since aliens are always stronger than mankind (atleast that’s

what they show in movies) we all can become aliens too.

How planners are different from normal human beings? That is the level of difference between a

successful person and not so successful person. Women are better planners than men because they

don’t have a choice. They have to manage the household, take care of the children and family, etc.

Men mostly plan regarding the work but very less for the family!

I ’m a great cricket fan l ike every other Indian. .please excuse me if you are not one. Again l ike every

Indian, i ’m one of the biggest fans of Sachin Tendulkar. He is one of the best batsmen the world has

ever seen. Why is he the best? Ofcourse he is a god gifted talent. But the story doesn’t end there. He

is a successful player because he plans his every innings. Before he walks into the field, he has a clear

plan against the opposition and against each bowler. After his innings is over, he goes to the recording

of his game and see what is missing in his game.

1 0

I f there is a correction needs to be done, he wil l ensure that is done and he is a better player next time

when he enters the field again. This he does every single time. No wonder why is he considered as

one of the greats of the game.

What it takes to be a successful man or a woman? I feel the secret l ies in planningOJust imagine this,

every morning you wake up, l ist out the number of activities you need to do for the day and at

particular time. Once you are done with it, you go about doing the activities planned for the day with

integrity. Ofcourse, you may not be able to complete al l the tasks you have planned and the way you

have planned but at the end of the day you wil l retire to bed as a satisfied human being. Before sleep,

you have got to done one thing. Analyse how you went about doing the activities, see what you

accomplished and what you haven’t and see how we can improve on those things next time. . these

small steps on a continuous basis make you a leader one day. Because better prepared mind is

best equipped to handle surprises.

TM Sakthi Prasanna is the Vice President - Education at Chennai Toastmasters Club. He works as a

Senior Account Manager at MSL India.

11

4. Mentoring nuggets – TM Sudha Rajesh

When a speaker delivers a spectacular speech and also wins a ribbon or a trophy for the performance,

everyone immediately appreciates the speaker and admires his speaking skil ls. Even though it is the

speaker’s efforts that win him accolades, there is a small contribution from his mentor that led to the

victory. Every speaker who has won the International Championship has attributed the success to the

efforts of the man behind the scene – his mentor.

So, the role or the responsibi l ity of a mentor is very crucial. What are those responsibi l ities?

1 . Make it very clear to the prodigy (referred to as mentee) that he must send the script at least

one week before the speech. There should be some time to practice the speech after it is reviewed by

the mentor.

2. As soon as the script arrives, check for the ingredients. What are those ingredients?

a. Does this speech subject fulfi l l al l the objectives of the current speech?

b. Does the script fulfi l l the objectives of the previous projects?

c. Has the mentee drafted the script keeping in mind the feedback given by the evaluators of the

previous projects?

d. What is the total word count? Is it sufficient for the allotted time or does it need any change?

e. Is the script suitable for the speaker’s strengths? Wil l this speech allow the speaker to capital ize

his strengths to the maximum possible extent?

f. Is the script written from the audience point of view? How wil l the l isteners receive it?

g. What else can be added or changed to increase the effectiveness of the speech?

3. After checking for the above essential ingredients, suggest the suitable changes and send it

immediately.

4. Meet the mentee in person if required to discuss the changes.

5. Final ly, on the day of the speech, closely observe the speaker’s performance and note down

both the best ones and blunders and offer it to the mentee when requested.

6. Ask your mentee to talk to the evaluator in person after the meeting to get more information.

The evaluator gives only partial feedback due to time constraint. Talking to the evaluator after the

meeting helps the speaker build a bond with the evaluator and also learn many other aspects that the

evaluator noticed but couldn’t share it during the evaluation.

7. Ask your mentee to obtain feedback from two or three other senior members about his

performance.

8. Suggest your mentee to give speeches in front of different types of audience in various clubs.

Getting comfortable with a set of audience gives one an impression that one has overcome the fear of

public speaking.

9. Always motivate your mentee. Be positive in your feedback. I t should be constructive and not

negative.

1 2

That is just one half of the entire picture. The other half of the responsibi l ity l ies on the mentee’s

shoulders. What can a mentee do to make his speech an outstanding one?

1 . Start preparing the script well in advance and not too close to the date of the speech.

2. Send it to the mentor at least a week or 1 0 days before the speech.

3. Allow the mentor some time to review. Do not pressurize him.

4. Talk to the mentor over phone or meet him in person to discuss the changes.

5. After the script is reviewed, spend enough time practicing the speech. Focus more on your

areas of improvement. Put in your best, genuine efforts.

6. On the day of speech, meet the evaluator before the speech and ask him to focus on specific

areas which you wish to improve.

7. After the evaluator’s report, meet him in person to learn about other aspects of your speech that

were not told during the evaluation.

8. Meet your mentor after the speech and get his feedback.

9. Talk to a couple other senior toastmasters and get their feedback.

1 0. Work honestly on the areas of improvement suggested by the mentor and evaluator on your

next project.

That’s it. With al l this organized preparation, you wil l rock.

TM Sudha Rajesh is a training Consultant. She is the active mentor of the month.

1 3

5. Leading To Leadership – DTM Kartik Srinivasan

Fellow Toastmasters & Friends!

Toastmasters is Where Leaders are MadeO and year after year, Chennai Toastmasters has

produced several high quality Leaders. Chennai Toastmasters has time and again produced

Leaders at al l levels and all wakes of l ife, both within and outside Toastmasters fraternity.

Chennai Toastmasters has continuously produced Leaders in the form of Role Players in

Club/Area/Division/District level events; in the form of Club/Area/Division and the No. 1 District

Officer position. YES! Chennai Toastmasters has given meaning and purpose to the tag-l ine of

Toastmasters – Where Leaders are Made!

Not everyone is born with the abil ity to lead, yet everyone can develop their leadership

effectiveness. Leadership is essential ly a quality that can be nurtured and developed. In

Chennai Toastmasters, we provide every single member the opportunity to develop his/her

leadership qualities by various means. Starting from taking on different roles and

responsibi l ities such as Timer, Ah Counter, Grammarian, Evaluator, TMOD, TT Master, the

opportunities expand to Website Creation & Designing/Release of Newsletter, and taking on

the running of the Club by assuming Leadership positions in the Executive Committee of the

Club every term.

The starting point of such development l ies in your ‘commitment’. Are you ready to commit

yourself to a journey of self-development? If the answer is ‘Yes’, I SALUTE YOU!

Til l the end of last month, Division ‘G’ stood tal l as the leading Division in District 82 – 33 Club

strong where every Area, Club & Member strived relentlessly to better themselves and the

Division. Since its inception, the Division has produced hundreds of Leaders dedicated to the

cause of ‘mutual ly supportive’ environment for learning and development. At any given point,

we can look back at our history with pride with a sense of achievement and accomplishment.

YES, we have been successful this far and we have stamped our success on the TMI map by

producing three Divisions out of the one Division ‘G’! While this is a GREAT achievement,

what we have to constantly bear in mind is the fact that effective 01 st July 201 2, Division ‘G’

is no longer the ‘leading’ Division of District 82! We are only a third of what we were a few

weeks back, just 1 2 Clubs to our name!

This fact brings with it a huge opportunity; the opportunity to introspect, the opportunity to consolidate

& the opportunity to re-build. This is an opportunity for every single one of us to bring out our ful lest

potential as a Communicator & as a Leader, by adding more Clubs to our Area/Division, by adding

more Members to every Club and by progressing on our own individual development by achieving

more Educational goals. The journey, my friends, has just begun!

1 4

The joy of any journey comes in the sharing and caring, and that comes out of a sense of belonging.

While in Division ‘G’, we have always grown with that sense of belonging, the purpose of ‘SiGnature’,

your new Division ‘G’ Monthly Magazine is to enhance and nurture that sense of belonging, that of

sharing and caring, to a much higher level. With our daily busy lives, it is not practical for us to meet

one another regularly, not even through mail , phone calls or text messages, with our doubts,

problems and queries. SiGnature is intended to provide that additional platform for the entire Division

to meet with their del iberations and doubts; & together we move forward to build a stronger Division

‘G’.

To quote ‘Habit 6’ of ‘The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People’ by Stephen R Covey, “Synergize –

Combine the strengths of people through positive teamwork, so as to achieve goals no one person

could have done alone”. Cheers!

DTM Kartik Srinivasan: Current division Governor.Former President. Man who needs no introduction,

who has most number of mentees in TM.

1 5

6. My experience in conducting Officer’s Training

Programme – TM Thanigeaswara Kalappan

I recently got an opportunity from our division to organize the officer’s training program (OTP). Officers

training program is conducted twice a year to give training to the newly elected officers of the club to

perform their roles efficiently. Training Sessions are conducted for al l the 7 officer roles (President,

VPE, VPM, VPPR, Secretary, Treasurer, Sergeant@Arms ). Any member who is interested to know

about the leadership roles in the club can participate. I t is conducted at the division level.

Lots of leadership lessons from the experienced toastmasters regarding how one can perform the roles

effectively and efficiently. The tips provided here can be put into action in our official and personal l ife.

I t seems like a small event but the learning’s one can have are immense. First we have to find a venue

suitable for our budget, seating for al l the attendees, location. TM Vivekanandhan(CSF) through his

reference introduced me to the “Institute of company secretaries” management and then we got the

venue.

Then the important one, we have to invite al l the office bearers of al l the clubs under our division. For

any event crowd is very important, so we started our campaign in the facebook & sent individual mails

to al l the office bearers. We created a registration form using google docs and requested all the

attendees to use it. In the initial days of our campaign, the registrations were low, so we requested the

area governors to act fast. Then the registrations came. With that count in proportion we ordered for the

snacks which prevented wastage or scarcity at the event. More than 11 0+ members attended the event.

Next we gunned for the trainers and MC’s who can take the session well . Then we ordered for the

mementos, bouquets etc.

On the day prior to the event, we have informed the attender that he has to present at the venue by

8:30 AM. Also we have sent sms to all the registered attendees requesting them to present at the venue

on time. On the day of the event we had arrived earl ier to the place and stick the relevant hoardings for

registration and session names at the appropriate places. Then we have to check the projectors, mic

etc in the two halls.

We have to start the session at the earl iest and prior to the break, we have to bring in the snacks. Then

we have to take care of its supply to al l the attendees. Then again we have to start the session in time.

 

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Then we have to recognize all the people who have contributed for the event at the end. Then we

have to vacate the place in a clean manner. This seems like a small event but the exposure and

contacts you wil l get are enormous. Now we know that with this budget we can organize this event

efficiently. A mini project had been executed successful ly.

Nowhere can you get these type of opportunities. Communication & Leadership go hand in hand.

TM Thanigeaswara: Very dedicated and honest leader. Scaling new heights in his leadership journey.

He is presently a Senior Technical Lead at HCL Technologies

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7 . Evaluation Experience – TM Deepa Bharatkumar

I f you have ever attended a Toastmasters meeting, then you have witnessed the power of a Speech

Evaluation in l ive action - in 2 - 3 minutes, the speakers gain a huge dollop of much-needed validation

of their strengths, get very specific bite-sized tips on what they can do make their next speech better

than their last, and return from the meeting feeling motivated to speak again and implement the

evaluator's tips.

Needless to say, an evaluation can make or break a speaker - a 'bad' evaluation could leave the

speaker feeling frustrated and demotivated: the speaker may never attempt public speaking again. A

'good' evaluation, on the other hand, can, in the long run, develop a speaker into a confident and

eloquent stage presence by developing strengths and overcoming weaknesses. This puts the

evaluator in an extremely powerful yet emotional ly and intel lectual ly challenging role, and it was

precisely this power and challenge that appeals to me.

Little did I expect that participating in an Evaluations Contest for the first time ever would take me into

the prestigious and coveted District-level contest! I t was thri l l ing to be rubbing shoulders with the elite

class of District-level evaluators, but can you imagine the plight of a novice evaluator on that dias?

What was I doing there?At each step I had to remind myself 'I am here because I am a good

evaluator'. 'I am here because I deserve to be here'. 'I am here because I have worked hard to get

here' - and so on.

On Contest Day I did not win the trophy - but I am neither disi l lusioned nor discouraged. I t seemed to

me that from the minute I entered into the club-level contest unti l the moment the District-level winners

were announced, I was in an Evaluations whirlpool. In my mind, I was evaluating every word that fel l

upon my eardrums. My mentors, fel low-contestants and supporters were prepping and pepping me

along. As if in a frenzy, I was coming up with new formats and tables and charts and methods for

speech evaluation and testing what worked best.

The Contests are long gone, and so is the fervour of that season. What remains to this day is a wealth

of knowledge about speech evaluation gained in an extremely compact time-interval, the rock-sol id

faith which well-wishers placed in me that did not falter even though I did not win the trophy, and the

sti l l-burning desire to be the best evaluator I can be to the given speaker at that given time. I had

heard, and now I 've experienced for myself: Participation is equal to winning.

TM Deepa Bharatkumar

President, Chennai Toastmasters Club

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8. Leveraging Toastmasters during Interviews,

MBA admissions & Career Growth – DTM Aditya

Maheshwaran

Recently I del ivered a talk to the employees of TCS on the ‘Role of Toastmasters in MBA and beyond’.

I ’ve written this article based on the questions the audience had after the session, which I ’ve tried my

best to answer.

Should I declare that I am a Toastmaster during an interview/admission?

Be careful when you say you are a Toastmaster!

Sitting in an interview, it is clever to tel l the recruiters that swimming is your passion. I t cannot be

validated at that moment. But the moment you declare that you are a Toastmaster, you are validated

then and there by the way you present yourself. I happened to conduct an interview recently where the

candidate claimed to be an excellent communicator, while looking at the floor with a hesitant voice. He

might have got a better rating if he hadn’t made that claim at al l . My point is, to maximize the use of

‘Toastmasters’ in interviews, it is imperative to do your speech projects sincerely, become a robust

speaker so that the moment you mention TM, the interviewers (for that matter anyone you interact

with), immediately notice the difference between you and a non-TM person. I ’ve realized TM does not

make the ride bump-free. But it does help regular TMs who deliver speech projects sincerely a lot!

Ok. I am a sincere TM. In what ways does Toastmasters help me in Interviews?

TM helps a lot! I ’ve noticed that Toastmasters helps in 2 ways. Firstly, the fact that you have invested

time on self-development demonstrates proactivity. Most companies/B-schools look for candidates

who have strived for personal excellence. There are many exciting things that you could do, and TM is

definitely one that wil l stand out in your resume. Secondly, even without your knowledge, a year of

sincere ‘Toastmastering’ would have moulded you into a positive communicator and good listener with

healthy interpersonal ski l ls. The first is on paper, the second is what is visible. A good combination of

both is a kil ler.

Isn’t grades enough to get into a good b-school?

In India, due to the over-importance given to grades and exams, candidates consider GMAT or CAT as

the most important preparatory step to get into a good b-school. I t is time to dissolve this myth. Of

course, b-schools that take freshers as majority l ike the I IMs do focus a lot on CAT score.

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But if you have a few years of work experience, Global b-schools use GMAT only as an entry point.

More weightage is given to Past work experience, Leadership instances, Interpersonal Skil ls, Team

work instances and Abil ity to handle fai lure. These parameters are judged using the essays you

provide during admission.

Ok. So what has TM got to offer here? Isn’t portraying my work experience enough?

I f you are in your 20’s, you may not have too many life stories that portray all the qualities

l isted above. Toastmasters can be leveraged for this purpose! Let me il lustrate using my

personal example. I joined TM at 1 9. Became the President of my club at 21 , Area Governor

at 22 and Asst. LGET at 24. I recall instances where I had to settle disputes between people

twice my age, when I had to manage cross-cultural teams, when I had to represent my home

club at District conferences, when I fai led at contests after wanting to win so badly. I f your

work experience is average, these can be great substitutes. In case you have rich work

experience, you can play down TM and use it just as support material . I f you are new to

Toastmaster, you could sti l l talk about networking, diversity and what your CL manual has

taught you.

I understand. Now that I’ve become a TM, how do I make full use of it, to form life

stories that interviewers may like to listen to?

The above graph is self-explanatory. Over 80% of our daily tasks are predictable and often

under our control. There is nothing heroic in achieving these tasks. Few examples are status

reports, running test cases, creating RFP’s etc. . .

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So when you join Toastmasters, it is but natural for you to navigate to such tasks again.

Though such tasks are important for running a club meeting, whenever an opportunity

presents itself, take up tasks that are highly unpredictable and that you have very less

control off. These tasks fal l in the leadership zone. I recall the time when we decided to split

Chennai Toastmasters Club. Difficult decision, unpredictable results (who could have

guessed whether CSF would be a success or not), and very less under our control (member

decides which club they want to be part of). That we came out successful is a matter of joy,

but even otherwise, it was a great experience! These experiences add value to the TM

journey. What more, it gives you a story to tel l !

In a nutshell , interviewers / admission teams / managers want to l isten to exciting stories

that substantiate your claims about yourself. Toastmasters is a place that I know of that

gives you such opportunities to self-actual ize. But start with small steps. Because all jazz

aside, when did you do your last project speech? Boom!

DTM Aditya Maheswaran: Former president, International contest speech and evaluation winner.

currently doing his MBA in ISB.

9 . Catch Them Young!! – TM Anjaneya Sastry

I always inspired by the inquisitiveness, innocence and purity of children mind. They are natural ly

interested in doing things which excites them and avoid anything that dul ls their brain. Recently we

have initiated a small club for children aged eight to twelve and love to share my experience.

This club meeting happens weekly and I share them an interesting story from Mahabharatha with a

message. When I told them about Kacha, Devayani story and how Kacha acquired Sanjivinini which

has the power of bringing dead back to l ive children were amazed and realized the evil effects of

alcohol. With the famous story of “I am no Crane” how a Brahmin mendicant learns the importance of

Dharma (call of duty) from a butcher, chi ldren thought about their role as a son and their contribution to

the family. They have enjoyed the story of Sage Agatysa and how he kil led the demon Vatapi and his

brother I lavala to their heart content. Many more stories are inl ine to go in the next 7 sessions

Poems when memorized and sung in group builds a healthy and energetic atmosphere. I made them

to recite “Daffodils” by Wil l iam Wordsworth and “Rain Drops on Roses” song from “The Sound of

Music”. I sang these songs along with these children and completely refreshed myself. Along with this I

also make them work on basics of English grammar. I cal l this Communication Development for Kids

(CDK) and committed to do ten such sessions. Three done seven more to go and enjoying every bit of

itO

Anjaneya Sastry K (a.k.a ASK), works for Wipro as an InfoSec Assurance Manager. He lives near

Thiruverkadu with wife Mrs. Kalpavall i and son Saket Ram.

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1 0. A Roadmap for my Toastmasters journey –

TM Madhavan Nampoothiri

Like a majority of members joining Toastmasters Club, I also joined TM to improve my public

speaking skil ls. When I walked into the CTM meeting as a guest, l ittle did I real ise that TM offers

something much, much more. I t was when Sakthi Prasanna, the VP-Membership at that time, send

me an email with the welcome kit that I understood the enormous possibi l ities TMI offers. Sakthi

mentioned something called “Distinguished Toast Master(DTM)” and shared a link to an article titled

“A Two- Year Path to DTM" by Earl D. Kersting. In this article, Earl mentioned how he became a

DTM in 2 years flat.

As I read through, some of what the author said sounded very famil iar “Some members think, “I

real ly joined Toastmasters to improve my communication skil ls. I do not need to work on my

leadership skil ls. ” I have also met members who simply do not understand how the Competent

Leadership manual works. They see the Project Completion Record on page 6 of the manual, see

more than 40 tasks l isted – 45 to be exact – and put the manual aside in favor of the CC manual,

with its 1 0 projects.” Lot of us can relate to it, can’t we?

The author gave 3 suggestions on how to work towards become a DTM. They are

a. Read the CC and CL Manuals

b. Make a Plan

c. Work Your Plan

He then gave a convincing argument as to “Why Do It?”

Since knowing is not the same as doing, I decided to do what he suggested. Given below is the

summary of what I learned and what I am doing.

a. Read: More reading of the manuals gave me an idea of how TMI puts equal emphasis on

Communication AND Leadership, and not just on the former. CC manual gave a clear idea of al l the

1 0 projects whereas the CL gave the requirements for CL Project Completion.

b. Plan: As always, planning is the easiest part. I created a 6 month roadmap for both the

tracks – CC and CL. I shared it with my mentor and the VP- Education for their review.

c. Work: This is the most difficult part. Once my mentor and VP-Education approved my plan, I

started working on my plan. My report card for the 8 weeks since joining CTM looks like this.

• Completed CC4 (1 best speaker award and some narrow misses)

• Completed 2 role plays in CL manual(Project 1 in CL)

• Taken up the responsibi l ity of a newsletter(Project 6 in CL)

• Working as Club Webmaster(Project 1 0 in CL)

• Contested in the club election . .

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All in al l - a fun ride. While it is tempting to go at ful l speed and take up as many roles and speeches

as possible, it should not affect the quality of the work. So, I decl ined to take part some of the

competitions outside the club so that I can do a good job of work already on hand.

With the responsibi l ities of running a company, helping my wife in managing twin boyss at home and

finding time for TM, wil l I succeed in sticking to the plan? I do not know. But try, I wil l ! !

Given below is my roadmap.

The roadmap for the Leadership Track fol lows in the next page.

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TM Madhavan Nampoothiri is an entreprenuer in the renewable energy sector.

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