ccc feb13 newsletter
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Chennai Communicators Club - 2nd NewsletterTRANSCRIPT
Chennai Communicators Club
February 2013
1
Incubator of Impressive Leaders
Editor’s View All the wonderful opportunities that were screened by my monotonous life, flashed in front of me after I joined CCC . I rarely read the newspaper, and yet here I am, the editor of a newsletter! Toastmasters has taken me out of my comfort zone and given me ways to enhance my communication and leadership skills. Thanks to one and all for helping me along the way towards becoming a successful editor of CCC’s February Newsletter. Undoubtedly, it is a milestone. CCC has still got a lot of potential and I am sure that all of that will come out in the forthcoming editions. “Rhapsody” is filled with a lot of thought provoking articles. CCCians, in partnership with other club members have written down tips and techniques, which are quintessential, in order to become a good speaker. All of them are done so, using practical examples and personal experiences. I am sure that the articles and poems on display are going to be a great source of inspiration for all the readers to grow as future leaders. Finally, a big thank you, to Janani and Poothathan, my co-editors for helping me come up with this edition; because, all of this, wouldn’t be possible without their help. Enjoy reading!!!
– TM Kavitha Manohar
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Index Topics Page no.
President’s Note 4
3
A Baby or Born Youth? 5
Leveraging Your Strengths 6
5 Wives and 1 Husband 7
Life – an Amazing Teacher 10
Reconnaissance of the Psyche 12
3 Cs 15
It shall be over! 17
Change 19
Scramble Word Game 9
Puzzle 14
Guess Who? 21
My Angel's Flower-bud Sister 22
Club Office Bearers 23
Club Address 24
President’s Note
– TM Divya S President
As I write this, amidst the chirping crickets, the hum of my air conditioner, the otherwise eerie
silence and darkness of the night, I hear a happy groove in my head - The birthday song of the
Chennai Communicators Club. Undoubtedly, this is a special moment and this first anniversary
edition of the newsletter shall remain special. The growth trajectory in the last one year has
been great, for the club as a whole. With the enthusiastic and enterprising members this is here
to stay, for many more years to come.
In addition to helping Toastmasters of Chennai Communicators Club discover the speaker in
them, the executive committee has helped members to challenge their own boundaries, to
think out of the box and initiate the uninitiated. This newsletter is one such initiative. My
congratulations to the Newsletter Team for this edition, headed by TM Kavitha Manohar and
contributors for their articles. Before signing off, I would like to remind that it hasn't been easy.
We failed. We tripped. But we rose up dusting our pants. Like great souls said - It's not about
winning always. It's all about failing and learning to win after the failure. This is a place, that
gives you the license to fail, because CCC truly believes that failures give the most clear and
mist-free roadmap to victory.
Happy birthday CCC!!!
Happy Toastmastering CCCians!
4
COSTLY
BIKE RIDER
A Baby or Born Youth?
–TM S.N. Venkatesh Division N Governor
5
Almost a year ago, I was looking to shift my Toastmaster membership from a Corporate Club to a Social Club. I learnt of a new club that was started by an engineering student at that time and frequented & supported by Toastmaster DTM Saro Velraj. I was attracted to this Club like a bee to a flower. I moved my membership to this club called, The Chennai Communicators Club. Initially, the Club looked every bit of a start up Club with low attendance, low confidence level of the members, low memberships etc. The Club attracts good lot of guests from the surrounding society and from Corporate Clubs in Chennai. The Club has established itself very impressively in a short period of a year. It is well known around Velachery and in Chennai circles. The members circulate well with the Toastmaster fraternity at all levels up to the District and have reaped the benefit of growing at a rapid pace for a start up club. The Club conducts its activities in line in tune with Toastmaster Internationals guidelines and the meetings each week define a new standard for the Club.
The Club has many stars and budding stars who have displayed intense commitment and dedication. Their energy, innovations and enthusiasm is infectious. The question, if this Club is still an infant or was it born a youth is apt. I am glad to be a member of an energetic and youthful Club led by youngsters in college/just entering corporate world. Keep learning, keep contributing, keep growing, keep improving, the best way to grow in stature. Best Wishes to the Club and the members this Contest season.
Suitup
Everyone wants to succeed in their life. We
look up to the stalwarts in our chosen field.
We are inspired by their success and decide to
follow their footsteps. Wait a minute! Did I say,
follow their footsteps?
In our quest to excel in a chosen field we have
three options in front of us.
• One is to emulate others.
• Second is to work on our weakness.
• Third is to leverage our strengths.
While the first option seem to be a shortcut to
success, it is disastrous to emulate others
since you lose your creativity. Second option of
working on your weakness will also not work
since how much ever we work, there are
always going to be weakness within us. Finally
we are left with the last and the best choice of
leveraging our strengths to achieve our vision.
Leveraging our strength in a chosen field is
like an arrow that comes out of the bow, there
is only one direction, FORWARD direction.
Leveraging Your Strengths
Similarly, inspired by listening to erudite and
eloquent speeches of toastmasters, we join
this movement to become better public
speakers. I take this opportunity to share a
PIECE OF good news with you. You can also
become a great public speaker. Not by
emulating others or working on your
weaknesses, but only by leveraging your
strengths. That will take you only in the
FORWARD direction.
The Extent you leverage, will not only make
your speeches special, but you will also
become special.
Happy Toastmastering!!!
– TM Rajesh Natarajan
Area N3 Governor
6
"What should I talk about? How do I come up with the content for
my speech?" These are the questions that will come to your mind
when you want to write a speech script. It is not such a herculean
task to write speech scripts. This article will introduce you to a
technique that you can use to expand your idea into a full blow
speech script. It is called 5 Wives and 1 Husband technique.
Wondering, who the 5 Wives and 1 Husband are?
They are
• What
• When
• Where
• Who
• Why
• How
Let us take a simple topic “My favorite
vacation” and try to ask these questions.
1. What am I going to talk about – “My
favorite vacation”
2. When did I take the vacation – “I was
leading a hectic life because of my work
pressure. I was hardly able to spend any
time with my family. My family members
were bugging me to take them
somewhere. I decided to take a short
break from work and go for a mini
vacation from my workplace”
5 Wives and 1 Husband
3. Where did I go for vacation – “I
considered going to Kodaikanal, but
didn’t chose it because it will be
crowded. Moreover, we had been to
Kodaikanal several times in the past. We
wanted to go to a new place this time…
After lots of research, we zeroed-in on
Coorg. I heard from my friends that Coorg
is a very nice place for vacation”
4. Who are the people that accompanied
for your vacation?
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5. How did you make all the arrangements?
6. What are the places in Coorg that you
visited? How was your experience?
7. Why is the vacation to Coorg very
memorable/favorite for you?
8. What did you do for dinner/lunch? …
Where did you go?
9. Why do you (or) Why won’t you recommend
the audience for a trip to Coorg?
– DTM Saro Velrajan
10. What are some advices that you’ll give
to the audience when they plan
for the trip to Coorg?
If you try to answer all the above
questions, you can easily come up with a 5
– 7 minutes speech
You can take any topic and expand into a
speech script with the 5 Wives and 1
Husband technique.
8
Sure!! This
technique is for
public speaking
mm!!! its true!!!
– TM Janani Srinivasan PT
Scramble Word Game*
9 * Email your answers to [email protected] with respective headings. First
3 right entries win a surprise gift, rush …
Only 100 dollars in my pocket!!!
Not knowing how to contact home and tell
about my whereabouts!!!
14 hours - no food!!!
Severe headache and stomach pain!!!
Welcome to the United States of
America!! What an amazing journey it was!!!
The very first day I was roaming at Chicago
International Airport like a Nomad. Boarded
Cathey Pacific international flight at Chennai
around 2.00 AM IST on Sunday and landed at
Chicago, Sunday afternoon 3 PM EST. Do the
Math to understand how long and how far, I
have travelled!
My domestic flight from Chicago to Atlanta got
postponed from 5.20 PM EST to 7 PM, then to
8 PM and finally was cancelled due to a weird
problem - captain of the flight crew missing!!
They scheduled another flight at 11 PM and
that was also cancelled due to mechanical
problems. I tried hard to push the airlines to
put me in the next available flight to Atlanta.
They booked me a flight at 6 AM in the
morning. Time was 12 AM and barely very few
people were in the airport. Almost everyone in
the airport had left.
Life – an Amazing Teacher
Fear started to engulf me!! What I am doing
here at an unknown place? I don’t know
anyone in Chicago. I don’t have enough
money in my hand to rescue myself if I got
caught in any major problem. I was not sure
whether to sleep as I had all my originals and
Passport with me!! Even if I wanted to sleep,
I was not sure whether my bag would be
safe!! Thanks to my severe headache due to
continuous travel and sleep deprivation, I
definitely had to sleep. In US, without prior
consultation with physician, you can’t even
buy any basic medicine. Thankfully, I had
some first aid tablets with me. After roaming
in the airport for more than two hours, I
finally closed my eyes at 2 AM and again fear
was gripping me as I thought I might miss my
6 AM flight if I had a sound sleep due to the
tablet. So, I tried to avoid sleeping.
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Finally, the time had arrived. I stepped inside
the flight at 6 AM. Still, the fear of uncertainty
was there as with all my previous flights I
actually boarded the flight and then they
cancelled it due to weird reasons. So, until the
flight took off, I didn’t believe that I was
travelling. Finally, I landed at Atlanta at 8 AM.
It was now time for me to collect my baggage.
As I travelled in a different domestic flight, I
couldn’t get my baggage and airport authority
was not even sure where exactly my luggage
was. Again, I was bit tensed as I had only my
certificates and passport in my hand. They
assured me that they will trace my baggage
and send it to my office address. With
minimum hope, I left to a hotel nearby my
office and took complete rest for the whole
day.
Next day, I went to office and reported to my
manager. But still, I hadn’t recovered from my
traumatic travel experience and I was
pondering why I had to undergo all of this.
Back in Chennai, I was very comfortable and I
knew plenty of people, particularly
toastmasters who were always ready to help
me and give me company! Without knowing
anyone in Atlanta loneliness also started to kill
me.
With floods of thoughts in my mind, I
entered my cabin. Suddenly out of nowhere,
I got the answer to my question in the form
of a quote near my desk “A ship in harbour is
safe, but that is not why ships are built”. I
slowly started to realize that all of these are
happening for a reason and I am sure that my
stay in US is going to teach me so many new
things in life. I am looking forward to go
through all the amazing experiences which
are going to teach so many new lessons in
my life. Welcome to the US!!
– TM Eshwar Raju
11 International Toastmaster
Reconnaissance of the Psyche There are times I feel that words are best left unspoken. Times when I feel that being a solemn recluse is for the best. Times when I feel that being clandestine is the way forward. Times when I feel that being me is more important than anything else. Times when I feel that I have nothing to do but stare into the abyss. Times when I feel that I have wasted my mind. There are times when I feel, for more than just a fleeting moment that I have myself for company and that gives me fulfillment. There are times when I feel like I was destined to be this way and there will never be anyone to see me through the light of day. There are times when I feel as if I am all alone, even when I am surrounded by people who seem like a stone. There are times when I feel, as though the only meaningful conversation that I seem to enjoy is with the figment of my imagination. Those are the times when I am proud of myself. Those are the times where I feel like I belong. Those are the times that I cherish and enjoy. Those are the times that I thank god.
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Because, those are the times when I know what to do. One of the rare times when I feel like I am true. Because, those are the times that no matter what I do, will forever be in my mind, because I was always true. Because, those are the times when I came to know that life is best enjoyed when you don’t know.
– TM Srihari
13
An all
rounder
– TM Janani Srinivasan PT
Puzzle
14
Which CCC toastmaster will win the Girl’s heart?*
* Email your answers to [email protected] with respective headings. First
3 right entries win a surprise gift, rush …
3 Cs
What to do?!!!! – Badri Narayanan
Honesty, Love, Passion, Fear, Sacrifice, Work,
Relationship so many words run on our mind
like an unstoppable train. But in the end what
happens?
Dear readers, have you ever experienced the
adrenalin rush when you sit down to write
your speech. Have you felt the catalytic stream
of thoughts that bombards your mind? You
come up with so many ideas on how you can
choose and select your topic. Well it was a
very similar experience to me when I sat down
to write my CC 10 project. I was engulfed with
so many ideas about what all I can do in my
script. Today, I am going to share my
experiences. The best way to select a topic
and make your speech is based on the
following
C-C-C.
C – Collect
C – Convince
C – Connect
Collect the data or experiences of your life,
retrospect within yourself to see what is that
incident that you want to share with the
audience that’s going to make a difference to
them. Collect the information about the
message you want to give the audience. In my
CC 10 I brought out the experience of how I
learned to face life amidst all my challenges.
My message was to let my audience know
that life was full of blocks and they can build
their foundation using it or stumble upon
them and feel sad about it. I looked for the
incidents in my life that everyone could
relate to. I collected my life together and
broke it down to experiences. Well now I
have content what to do next?
Convince yourself that this is what you
choose to speak about. Many a times I see
toastmasters not convinced about the
particular message or topic they have
chosen. They keep deviating and end up
writing multiple incomplete speeches.
Convince yourself that “Yes this is the
message for my audience this is what I want
them to feel after hearing to my story”. To
give the best speech the only person you
need to convince is yourself and that
whatever you chose is the best you have
chosen.
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Of course, be open for feedback but do remember it is your master piece at the end of the day You need to be convinced about the topic you have chosen. Third and most important step is to …
Connect the information you have collected in
a sequential way so that the audience can follow your speech. Your speech is nothing but an art work. Every stroke in your speech describes an aspect about yourself to the audience and makes them move closer to the edge of their seat. To me, giving a great speech is about creating connections with the audience - a short 5-7 Min connection. Make sure that your speech has that connection factor.
If you frame your speech based on the ideas above I am sure yours will turn out to be a really beautiful music that everyone would want to hear over and over again.
– TM Badri Narayanan
16
Everlasting
Energetic
Evaluator
“The doctor said it is over” she said her eyes
gleaming with joy as she hugged me tight and
bit my cheeks under the pretext of kissing me.
Shravantika, my 9-year old neighborhood kid
was diagnosed with advanced cancer a
fortnight ago. If only she knew what the doctor
meant when he said, “it is over!”, it is over!
For two days, I was extremely upset seeing her
parents distressed and the kid soaked with
innocence bearing the brunt of a brutal
disease.
Few days down the lane, I had my own set of
problems to ponder about – What do I wear to
Medleys? How do I look as beautiful as
Jayanthi Sundar? Sitting on the window sill, I
refused to look upon the wider horizon,
beyond my micro world!
The tiny lotus feet, the piggy tails, the vibrant
smile and the cosy hugs, everything was set to
become a distant dream! Shravantika became
a shady image of her past, high doses of
medicine and chemotherapy suck her smile
and joy. Pathetic, it was to see the kid who
never stood still for a moment, struggling to
stand now!
From ashes to pristine memories, she left it all
for me. To say we miss Shravantika will be an
understatement, it is the world’s loss
It Shall Be Over!
Standing at her funeral, the doctor shed a
tear and muttered, “if only we had had
enough platelets to save the girl!”. I have
heard of blood donation but never knew
platelets could be donated. Interestingly,
blood is separated into components red
blood cells, platelets and plasma. Some
cancers and cancer treatments harm blood
cells. If red blood cells drop, a patient feels
weak, tired and short of breath. If platelets
or plasma proteins decrease, a patient may
bleed.
Don’t you think Shravantika deserved to lead
a life as normal and happy as ours? May be
not just Shravantika, it could be any
Ramasamy, Kuppusamy or Arulsamy. If that
drop of our blood does matter, why don’t we
make it count?
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Rendition of a few blood donation facts:-
• If you are in good health and you meet all
requirements, you may donate:
• Whole blood every 56 days (8 weeks)
• Platelets every 48 hours, up to 24 times in
one year
• Platelets and red blood cells together every
56 days (8 weeks)
• Double red blood cells every 112 days (16
weeks)
There are almost no risks to you. Except for a
slight discomfort at the beginning of the
collection, most donors report no
problems. You cannot become infected with
any new disease by donating.
To donate platelets, you need to wait 48 hours
after taking aspirin or aspirin-containing
products such as Motrin, Advil, Nuprin, Aleve,
Excedrin and herbal supplements containing,
ginseng, garlique or ginger.
Energy drinks that contain any of the
previous products will also defer you for 48
hours for platelet donations.
Whole blood - collection takes only about 7-
12 minutes, the complete process takes
about 20 to 40 minutes.
Probably, the time you have invested in
listening to my dumb speech, could have
made a difference to someone else’s life!
Keep your hands on your chest - feel the
beat? well, that is called purpose – everyone
has a purpose in life. You have your own
purpose - to inch forward, make someone
else’s life special too and give them the joy of
looking at the beautiful world. Well, if you
think it is an option, let me remind you it is
your duty as well.
Lets resolve to make Cancer nothing more
than a Zodiac Sign!
– TM Akshaya Mahalingam
18
A cute little
motivator
Be The Change
The total youth population in India is close to 232 million.
According to the NASSCOM-McKinsey report, only 10% of
these graduates are actually employable. So, what happens
to the rest of the youth population?
They are actually free to choose their own profession
according to me :)
I asked a couple of my B-School friends a few years back, "so, friends, what make your B-
Schools stand out from the engineering institutions or the colleges you studied? “ And not to
anyone's surprise, their answers were very simple and unanimous. “Exposure is very good in B-
schools and students are allowed to explore new avenues of varied opportunities, inculcating
entrepreneurial attitudes blah.. blah.. blah.. “
But, deep in the root, the basic problem is that most of our engineering institutions lack a basic
platform. A platform? “A platform for what?”
That would be your next question! Right?
You may also simply point out the social media as an ultimatum for this ideas exchange and
99.99% of us think the same. Just see one step beyond the concept of social networking. What
was once a hot shot trend in Orkut is just a piece of junk today. How many valuable
“communities” we had lost during the transition from Orkut to Facebook? The numbers are
alarming but our minds never think about the past if something is better than its past. So, in
the end, we’ll upgrade and that’s the real trend nowadays.
Change
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Imagine
..a platform that brings you together, locally and globally.
..a platform that could Connect leaders, experts, companies, organizations and citizens.
..a platform where you could Share your tools, data, designs, successes, and ideas.
..a platform that could Empower entrepreneurship & Re-imagine education.
Together you can bridge the gap between poor and rich communities. Fellow CCCians !
Let's begin by connecting !
Let's Connect with our college !
Let's Collaborate for a cause !
Let's Create more opportunities !
And last but not the least,
Let's spread the best practices that we know to our colleges !
Just remember Mahatma's quote,
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
If you want to bring the Change, YOU BE THE CHANGE !
– TM Pradeep Varman
20
Cool…
baby
Guess Who??*
21
– TM Kavitha Manohar
Pictures from the CCC special meeting
1. 2.
3. 4.
* Email your answers to [email protected] with respective headings. First
3 right entries win a surprise gift, rush …
My angel's flower-bud Sister
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O my love angel .. Your scent , a dew-dipped flower's name Even a flower bud too heavy on your delicate frame ! Awaiting your arrival , Excitedly oscillates my life's beat Chatting with the park and your empty seat . At that moment A shine yellow flower bud falls on your place From the shade tree that understood my trance. The flower bud Then looked at me with a smile reminding yours Trying even in vain to emulate your fragrance . What do I do ? Command it, to vacate my angel's seat ? or Converse with it to soothe my wait's heat ? What do I say ? That my angel is prettier than it by miles ? or That both have beauty unique in different styles ? To my relief then You walk towards me , wings flapping , Aroma, Breeze and Delight as friends flanking.
Now I am confused . Romance is best experienced in solitude. With too many intruders, are we diluting its magnitude ? As I twitch in fear The poor bud melts in awe at your appeal My heart captures the moment , savouring its feel . Without much thought At a gentle stroke, you swept the bud down the chair The heart-broken tree cried and shouted it was unfair . " O poor cute thing " I empathise with the bud and hold it in my palms And look up to see your eyes, fiery like nuclear arms . In fury You stare cold and walk away from me I see in my palm , a cute yellow enemy . Helpless , I blame the flower bud and the tree And run for you on a convincing spree.
– TM Gomathi Shankar Shall I write
poem or story
Club Office Bearers
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PRESIDENT TM Divya
Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9884882495
VP-Membership TM Akshaya Mahalingam
Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9176843075
Secretary TM Kashyap
Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9677148821
VP-Education TM Srihari
Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9952053658
VP-Treasurer TM Aravinth
Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9944089336
Sergeant At Arms TM Poothathan
Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9789180262
VP-Public Relations TM Mohan Raj
Email id: [email protected] Mobile no. +91 9677192197
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Chennai Communicators Club Toastmaster club # 2441171
CCC meets every Sunday Timing: 3 PM to 5 PM Venue: Sunshine Chennai Senior Secondary School (near Velachery Railway Station) Velachery Chennai – 600 042 Contact: +91 9677192197 Mail ID: [email protected]