Club No. 858173

Division C, District 82

Mission of

Toastmasters To provide a mutually

supportive and positive

learning environment

in which every individ-

ual

member has the

opportunity

to develop oral

communication

and leadership skills,

which in turn foster

self-confidence

JANUARY 2010JANUARY 2010JANUARY 2010JANUARY 2010

A new year, a new Executive Committee, and an all new edition of “Images”!

January marks the beginning of a new term in Toastmasters International. And as we, the new EC take

charge, we show our respect to the outgoing EC by highlighting in this edition their tremendous

achievements, making our club one of the fastest to fulfill all “Distinguished Club Programme” goals.

But basking in the sunshine of one’s predecessor’s glories isn’t what JPKU Toastmasters is about. So

the incumbent officers got trained to perform their duties to the fullest, as Aneesh Jain covers the Offi-

cers’ Training Programme.

And to give you a feel of the impact that the increasing population of IITians has had on the club, we

have Tejesh explaining Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. He also features in an interview for “Know Thy

Toastmaster”.

But that’s not all! Watch out for the all new section in our newsletter- “The Hyde Park”, followed by the

winners of the month. Hope you have a good read.

Aniket Bose

The Editor’s Note

Newsletter of the JPKU Toastmasters Club, New Delhi

Vol. 3, Issue 1; January 2010

January 2010 2 CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTS Change of Guard Change of Guard Change of Guard Change of Guard Page 3 The outgoing president hands over the charge of

the club to her successor Manoj and his team

—Shraddha Nakra and Manoj Kumar

Officers’ Training Programme Officers’ Training Programme Officers’ Training Programme Officers’ Training Programme Page 4 Fun, food and most importantly knowledge for the new EC as

they don their responsibilities —Aneesh Jain

Club SuccessClub SuccessClub SuccessClub Success Page 5 Find out the path to JPKU TMC’s success

story, and all those who contributed to it

Know Thy ToastmasterKnow Thy ToastmasterKnow Thy ToastmasterKnow Thy Toastmaster Page 7 Let’s get up close and personal with our very own Tejesh

NEW

The Hyde Park The Hyde Park The Hyde Park The Hyde Park Page 8 A glimpse at how our toastmasters select

topics for their speeches

—-Nikhil Sheth, Ritu Arora,

Malkiat Bindra and Garima Sharma

Best of the MonthBest of the MonthBest of the MonthBest of the Month Page 9 Find out our star performers week by week, and

also our “Winner of the Month”

My experiments with skepticismMy experiments with skepticismMy experiments with skepticismMy experiments with skepticism Page 6 A skeptical IITian realizes the importance of the Toastmasters

Club

— Nishant Ranka

Contest CircularContest CircularContest CircularContest Circular Page 10 It’s time to suit up, as the club contests approach

Club Contact DetailsClub Contact DetailsClub Contact DetailsClub Contact Details Page 11

AcknowledgmentsAcknowledgmentsAcknowledgmentsAcknowledgments Page 12

January 2010 3 CHANGE OF GUARDCHANGE OF GUARDCHANGE OF GUARDCHANGE OF GUARD The New Team Takes OverThe New Team Takes OverThe New Team Takes OverThe New Team Takes Over

Hello Everyone,

A new term has begun, and great new opportunities await us.

Exactly 6 months ago I felt the same nervousness Manoj

would be feeling today, having been given the responsibility

of JPKU Toastmasters Club. To tell you the truth, what

scared me the most was not how I'd do my job, I was scared

of letting people who had shown faith in me down. And

today, we are a President’s Distinguished Club with a 10 on

10 (all goals met). Our standards have been maintained, lots

of new members have come in, however, none of this would

have been possible without the amazing support system our

club had.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my team

mates , Richa, Nikhil Sheth, Malkiat, Manoj, Nikhil Malik

and Ritu Arora, for all their efforts and work put in to mak-

ing this club what it is today. I would also like to thank our

mentors.. Deepak Menon, Vinay Jain , Jyoti Narula and Ritu

Arora for having supported us through each step, pushing us,

motivating us and guiding us all through, and most of all I

would like to thank our members, without whom there would

be no JPKU TMC.

I know our new President with his team will take JPKU to

greater heights. My best wishes are always with JPKU

TMC... I wish the fantastic new EC lots of luck and growth!

Warm Regards,

Shraddha Nakra

Outgoing President

Warm greetings,

New Year is an opportunity to reflect upon our pro-

gress so far and charting out plans for the future.

And 2010 is not an exception!!

Our club has done a fantastic job so far. Having

achieved 10 out of 10 DCP Goals (courtesy our en-

thusiastic members and dedicated EC Team), it’s

now time to raise the bar and strive harder for new

destinations.

All those awards, recognition and reputation that

our club has earned so far, signify the indomitable

will and spirit for excellence, of our club members.

Those, who realized their potential and travelled

that extra mile, made our club proud time and

again.

It’s now our responsibility to put in that extra effort

to realize our potential. Let’s take this challenge

and responsibility; let our development and success

contribute towards the success of our club -

because WE ALL make JPKU Toastmasters :)

I would also like to take this opportunity to wel-

come our newest members - Riecha Sharma, Poem

Kabra and Tarun Gautam to the club.

Happy New Year!!

Manoj Kumar

Incoming President

4 OFFICERS’ TRAINING PROGRAMMEOFFICERS’ TRAINING PROGRAMMEOFFICERS’ TRAINING PROGRAMMEOFFICERS’ TRAINING PROGRAMME January 2010

On a cold January morning, when a foggy quilt covered the world, seven brave

foot soldiers set out on a mission against time. State boundaries didn't matter, nei-

ther did the traffic on roads, since the former are only lines on a political map, and

the latter only the grunts from engines stuck like cotton seeds in a foggy quilt.

They moved on with their eyes firmly on the road and their hearts in their mouth,

but their tenacity paid off and target was soon in sight. The mission was supposed

to be long and tiring, but the foot soldiers had prepared well - some had woken up

early, others hadn't slept all night.

The Officers' Training Program for Division C of District 82 was held on January

17th, 2010 at Nehru Youth Center, NOIDA. The program was set to start at 10:00

am, but due to the late arrival of a lot of participants blamed unanimously on the

thick fog, started a bit late. After the opening of the ceremony by the Sergeant-At-

Arms, the Master of Ceremony (or should I say Mistress of Ceremony) Akshita

took over. The meeting was based on the 'art of listening' and the audience not only

enjoyed the art, but also learned a lot about it. The first speaker of the day was the

Division C Governor, Mr. Neeraj Gupta, who talked about the achievements of Di-

vision C in the past 6 months. Neeraj's speech was followed by a short speech by

the District 82 Governor, Mr. Deepak Menon, DTM. Deepak narrated an incident

from the day's morning when while he was reading the newspaper, his wife was

speaking to him, but he wasn't listening and how he was caught. Thankfully there

were no grave repercussions of this! This led the audience into the first session of

the day. Dr. Ritu Arora, DTM, presented the Distinguished Club Program to the of-

ficers. The session was made very interesting and interactive by the use of neatly

put together case studies.

The officers then split into two groups. Two parallel sessions for nouveau installed/

elected Presidents, Vice Presidents (Education) & Vice Presidents (Membership)

and for Vice Presidents (Public Relations), Secretaries, Treasurers and Sergeants-

At-Arms were conducted. Toastmasters who had successfully taken up these

responsibilities in the past took the new officers through their list of duties and also

gave useful tips about succeeding in their roles. Both the training sessions ended

almost at the same time and the officers and the trainers were well rewarded after

the intense sessions with warm tea and sandwiches during the break.

By Aneesh JainBy Aneesh JainBy Aneesh JainBy Aneesh Jain

After refueling their tanks, the officers were ready to continue their mission,

and all that energy they really needed. The program restarted with an intense

planning session where the club representatives had to set targets for the next

six months and design a road map to achieve those. After all the clubs were

through with this, it was time to face the reality. ALGM, Poonam Jain, DTM,

conducted a session on 'Moments of Truth', but unlike the similarly named

game show, there were no polygraphs used here. Poonam trained the officers

on the use of this very powerful tool which can be used to evaluate how well

the club is really doing.

The Officers' Training Program ended with the distribution of certificates and a

vote of thanks by the Division C Governor. A thoroughly informative program,

which helped the representatives of various Toastmaster clubs in Division C to

understand their responsibilities better.

CLUB SUCCESSCLUB SUCCESSCLUB SUCCESSCLUB SUCCESS 5 January 2010

DTM Dr. Ritu Arora told us all about the Distinguished Club Programme in the Officers’ Training Programme. JPKU Toastmasters’ Club

accomplished all 10 goals under this programme on the 17th of this month, thereby becoming one of the first 4 clubs in the Division C to

become “President’s Distinguished Clubs”. Here’s a look at all the goals we achieved, and the people who made it possible for us.

Goal 1-> 2 CCs

Goal 2-> 2 more CCs

devesh trivedi, nikhil Sheth,devesh trivedi, nikhil Sheth,devesh trivedi, nikhil Sheth,devesh trivedi, nikhil Sheth,

malkiat bindra, aniket bosemalkiat bindra, aniket bosemalkiat bindra, aniket bosemalkiat bindra, aniket bose

Goal 3-> 1 ACB, ACS or ACG

Goal 4-> 1 more ACB, ACS or ACG

deepak menon (acb)deepak menon (acb)deepak menon (acb)deepak menon (acb)

ritu arora (acb)ritu arora (acb)ritu arora (acb)ritu arora (acb)

Goal 5-> 1 CL, ALB, ALS or DTM

Goal 6-> 1 more CL, ALB, ALS or DTM

deepak menon (cl)deepak menon (cl)deepak menon (cl)deepak menon (cl)

shraddha nakra (cl)shraddha nakra (cl)shraddha nakra (cl)shraddha nakra (cl)

The Members’ GoalsThe Members’ GoalsThe Members’ GoalsThe Members’ Goals The EC’s GoalsThe EC’s GoalsThe EC’s GoalsThe EC’s Goals

Goal 7-> 4 new members

Goal 8-> 4 more new members

13131313 new members new members new members new members

registered by registered by registered by registered by

december 2009december 2009december 2009december 2009

Goal 9-> Getting at least 4 officers trained

manoj kumar, malkiat bindra,manoj kumar, malkiat bindra,manoj kumar, malkiat bindra,manoj kumar, malkiat bindra,

nikhil Sheth, aniket bose, nikhil Sheth, aniket bose, nikhil Sheth, aniket bose, nikhil Sheth, aniket bose,

chandni kapur, aneesh jainchandni kapur, aneesh jainchandni kapur, aneesh jainchandni kapur, aneesh jain

Goal 10-> Submission of dues renewal invoice and

officers’ list submitted on timesubmitted on timesubmitted on timesubmitted on time

January 2010 My experiments with skepticismMy experiments with skepticismMy experiments with skepticismMy experiments with skepticism 6

By Nishant RankaBy Nishant RankaBy Nishant RankaBy Nishant Ranka

The sudden insurgence of IITians (read ‘geeks’) from across the street into JPKU TMC has had a very noticeable change in

the environment of the club. But surprisingly not all of them like to only talk about technology and its impact on human

loneliness. This future consultant, despite being the skeptic he claims to be, decided to attend one Toastmasters meeting

and became a member for life. Here’s his story...

I am one of those skeptical guys who do not believe in anything at the first sight. It was

probably in August of 2009 when Ayush, my hostel-mate, told me about the Toastmasters

Club and my first reaction went something like “not for me”. At that time I had already

spoken a few times in front of a large audience during seminars and I felt that it had given

me sufficient public speaking experience. A couple of months later, two more friends:

Aniket and Tejesh joined the club, but I still refused to budge from my opinion about the

club.

The year 2009 was quite hectic due to job placements and the rest, but after I got placed in

a consulting firm and the time-crunch reduced, I thought of giving the Toastmasters club a

try. Finally, after much persuasion by Tejesh and Aniket I went to my first Toastmasters

meeting as a guest. I don’t know whether it was JPKU Toastmasters Club’s charisma in

particular or whether it is common across all Toastmasters Club, but my first meeting just

blew me away. I immediately realized that this was indeed the place for me.

The experience so far has been no less than amazing! If there is something which I like

about the club most, apart from the positive environment it provides, is feedback! Evalua-

tions by an assigned evaluator as well as the little chits which go around in the meetings

are the best way of judging how well did one speak and the aspects one needs to improve

upon.

Initially I did not take the specifications given in the module too seriously, but right after

my first two speeches I realized that it was very difficult for me to focus on all parts of

public speaking at once. The CC manual provided me the framework to plan my speech

and as a result I started focusing on one thing at a time, starting from the structure of my

speech to giving examples to using gestures to modulating my voice. Even today when I

focus on modulating my voice my movement on stage becomes random but it has im-

proved since the time when I used to pace up and down the stage 50 times during my

speech!

Once I got to know about Toastmasters, it felt like everyone I

talked to knew about it. My sister who is living in Singapore

called me up to ask if she should join Toastmasters there; my

friend living in Pune said that his institute has recommended

him to join the Toastmasters and so on. Infact, after I published

some of my speeches in a blog several people became curious

about Toastmasters. I am currently heading an organization in my institute and I really felt that Toast-

masters is necessary for people who will lead the organization once I have graduated, and hence I am

planning to bring them as guests. Hopefully they too will enjoy the experience and become members.

JPKU Toastmasters club has completely changed the world for me. It has given me a space of my

own and further it has given me the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone, my institute and

meet new people and listen to their stories. In its own special way, the JPKU Toastmasters club has

made the world a touch brighter for me.

You can read more about Nishant on his blog - www.nishantranka.blogspot.com

January 2010 KNOW THY TOASTMASTERKNOW THY TOASTMASTERKNOW THY TOASTMASTERKNOW THY TOASTMASTER 7

Tejesh Rajesh Kinariwala hails from Nagpur, Maharashtra. Besides being a final year student of electrical engineering at IIT

Delhi, he has several non- academic interests such as music, fine arts and the Rubik’s Cube! He has been one of the fastest

growing members of JPKU TMC lately. In fact, that’s enough of his description from me; let’s get to know more about thy

toastmaster from himself.

What is the role of Toastmasters in your life, and what do you look to

learn from it?

“For me Toastmasters came in at a very appropriate time. I started watching

some good speeches on a website called "TED.com". The speakers there are

amazing (I recommend TED to all toastmasters) and I wanted to speak like

them one day. After joining Toastmasters, I feel that I am already on the

right road.

Just after a typical toastmaster meeting on Saturday, while I am going back

to my hostel , invariably a thought comes into my head and inevitably I find

myself speaking on that topic the very next weekend. So toastmasters re-

mains with me throughout the week, while I am thinking about what I am

going to speak the coming Saturday.”

In all 5 of your speeches thus far, you have come across as a person

with a very eccentric choice of topics. What do you have to say to that?

“To recount the topics of all of my 5 speeches: the first was pretty normal

"I's breaker". Then it got interesting with me juggling balls in the speech

"Show, not tell", and telling importance of friendship through my travel de-

scription in "Finding Frozenland". For the fourth speech I tried a very dif-

ferent experiment of teaching special theory of relativity in simple language

in "thoughts of Einstein". Finally for my fifth speech I think I came up with

an interesting "Reintroduction" of Raja Bhoj , Gangu Teli, Shekhchilli and

Gobar Ganesh.

As to why I chose these topics- everyone has a criterion for rejecting topics.

Non-eccentricity of topic is mine.”

From an electrical engineer to a sales and

marketing consultant- what brought about

this drastic shift?

“I take life as it comes and so I hardly see it as a

drastic change as compared to what I have seen

till now. From a hardcore business family with

a well settled business to getting into IIT was a

drastic change in itself. All I can say for this

question is- I like to have the best of the sphere

I am in and then leave the sphere when there is

nothing more that interests me."

You are one of the most regular members of the club. What is that pulls you here-

the concept, the people, personal improvement or something else?

“All of the above , I would say . And in the something else field, I would like to put ’a

chance to be freely innovative’ as also ‘a chance to meet different people with different

stories’.”

Any observation or suggestion that you might have regarding the club's meetings,

and how we might be able to improve them?

“Keep up the spirit. It is the best thing to have happened to me lately.”

January 2010 THE HYDE PARKTHE HYDE PARKTHE HYDE PARKTHE HYDE PARK 8

The Hyde Park in London is famous for its Speakers’ Corner, which allows anyone and everyone to speak on a

topic for as long as they can unless the police finds it offensive, and the Hyde Park police has had a history of

being offended very very rarely even on sensitive issues. As a salutation to the freedom of expression, we

bring Hyde Park from London to our newsletter, and invite everyone to publish their comments on a certain

topic, which for this month is: “Selecting a topic for your speech”

There are always way too many topics to choose from for me; and I have diffi-

culty deciding which topic would best suit the speech purposes. Many times I

have started with one, then got stuck somewhere and then found another topic

more favourable. For my 8th, 9th and 10th speeches I fortunately had my topics

planned out. It's a good idea to go through your Communication Manual - not just

your pending project but all of the projects. Then we can divide our potential top-

ics - we can identify the ones that can better fit a project other than what we're

currently working on and so eliminate them.

For example, make a horizontal list of the topics you'd like to give speech on, and

under each one write what it can have more of - like, "This has the most body lan-

guage so I'll make it my 5th, this has the most facts and statistics so I'll make it

my 7th, this can have the best visual aids, so make it 8th" and so on. After one

round, we will have some topics relegated to other projects and hopefully come at

a topic ideal for the next one.

NIKHIL SHETH

We live in a society and there are many

things which make us feel happy, sad or

make us wanna kill others or just leave.

So, for selecting a topic for my project, I

select a topic which is concerning/

bugging/inspiring/making me happy the

most. Be it Same religion Marriage, Too

much love for material things, sister's mar-

riage, etc. By doing this, I come as a very

honest speaker because the feelings are

right there.

MALKIAT BINDRA

I often derive topics for my speech from other topics. It

happens many a time that I hear someone delivering a

speech on a certain topic, and I feel that I could do

more justice to that topic, or maybe treat it in an alto-

gether different manner. And there- I have the topic for

my next speech. The other source of topics for me is

the Table Topics session. As soon as I finish speaking

on a table topic and take my seat, I feel there is so

much more I could have said on that topic. I instantly

jot them down on a piece of paper, and more often than

not, I have an entire speech ready.

RITU ARORA

A great speech begins with a great topic. However there is nothing extraordinary

that makes a topic “great”. It only requires some basic thinking. A topic should

be such that it should be thoroughly planned and designed according to the

theme, the time allotted and most importantly the ‘interest’ aspect.

That is if I am an Arts student with very little knowledge of Science, I rather not

try my hand on any Science topic. The same holds true for my audience’s inter-

est. My speech should not include unnecessary jargons difficult for the listeners

to comprehend.

Lastly, one should pay emphasis on the principle of “KISS” that is Keep it Short

& Simple.

Considering these basic aspects would make any speech a great one provided it is

delivered with passion.

GARIMA SHARMA

January 2010 BEST OF THE MONTHBEST OF THE MONTHBEST OF THE MONTHBEST OF THE MONTH 9

Here come

the

results!!!

2nd Jan:2nd Jan:2nd Jan:2nd Jan: Deepak Diwani 9th Jan: 9th Jan: 9th Jan: 9th Jan: Tejesh Kinariwala 16th Jan:16th Jan:16th Jan:16th Jan: Aniket Bose 23rd Jan:23rd Jan:23rd Jan:23rd Jan: Tejesh and Manoj Kumar 28th Jan:28th Jan:28th Jan:28th Jan: Aniket and Deepak Menon 30th Jan:30th Jan:30th Jan:30th Jan: Deepak Menon and Riecha

2nd Jan:2nd Jan:2nd Jan:2nd Jan: Ritu Arora 9th Jan:9th Jan:9th Jan:9th Jan: Aniket Bose 16th Jan:16th Jan:16th Jan:16th Jan: Ritu Arora 23rd Jan:23rd Jan:23rd Jan:23rd Jan: Deepak Menon 28th Jan:28th Jan:28th Jan:28th Jan: Deepak Menon 30th Jan:30th Jan:30th Jan:30th Jan: Aniket Bose

2nd Jan:2nd Jan:2nd Jan:2nd Jan: Ritu Arora 9th Jan:9th Jan:9th Jan:9th Jan: Nikhil Sheth 16th Jan:16th Jan:16th Jan:16th Jan: Ritu Arora 23rd Jan:23rd Jan:23rd Jan:23rd Jan: Aniket Bose

And the

Winner of the

Month is..

Aniket BoseAniket BoseAniket BoseAniket Bose with 5 awards

Deepak Menon achieved three Deepak Menon achieved three Deepak Menon achieved three Deepak Menon achieved three milestones this month. He again milestones this month. He again milestones this month. He again milestones this month. He again completed the Competent Leader, completed the Competent Leader, completed the Competent Leader, completed the Competent Leader, Advanced Leader Bronze and Advanced Leader Bronze and Advanced Leader Bronze and Advanced Leader Bronze and Advanced Communicator Silver Advanced Communicator Silver Advanced Communicator Silver Advanced Communicator Silver tasks. Cheers to Deepak!tasks. Cheers to Deepak!tasks. Cheers to Deepak!tasks. Cheers to Deepak!

January 2010 CONTEST CIRCULARCONTEST CIRCULARCONTEST CIRCULARCONTEST CIRCULAR 10

As we crown winners week after week, we only pre-

pare them for greater challenges to come– chal-

lenges at the Area, Division, District and Interna-

tional levels. But before that, you must prove your

mettle at the Club level..

And I, the VP– Education need you all to participate.

Yes, Uncle Malkiat wants YOU !!

Malkiat Singh Bindra

Vice President, Education

JPKU Toastmasters Club

malkiat07@gmail.com

+91-98110-64605

It’s contest time…….

So gear up for the club contests

The International Speech ContestThe International Speech ContestThe International Speech ContestThe International Speech Contest (Eligibility criteria: All members in good standing having completed

6 speeches from the Competent Communication Manual)

The Table Topics ContestThe Table Topics ContestThe Table Topics ContestThe Table Topics Contest (Eligibility criterion: All members in good standing)

Date: Date: Date: Date: 13th February 2010

Time:Time:Time:Time: 11:30 am

Venue:Venue:Venue:Venue: At club meeting

Come one, come all !!!

January 2010 CLUB CONTACT DETAILSCLUB CONTACT DETAILSCLUB CONTACT DETAILSCLUB CONTACT DETAILS 11

Our Executive Committee

• Manoj Kumar: President

manoj.k8@gmail.com

• Malkiat Bindra: Vice President, Education

malkiat07@gmail.com

• Nikhil Sheth: Vice President, Membership

nikhil.js@gmail.com

• Aniket Bose: Vice President, Public Relations

aniket.bose@gmail.com

• Chandni Kapur: Secretary

chandni20002000@gmail.com

• Neha Kapoor: Treasurer

nh_kapoor882000@yahoo.com

• Aneesh Jain: Sergeant-at-arms

aneeshjain@gmail.com

Venue of Meetings

Vivekananda Vihar, Opposite J.P., Kapur & Uberai, Chartered

Accountants, LGF C-4/5 Safdarjung Development Area,

New Delhi—110016.

Time of Meetings

Every Saturday, 12:30 p.m.

Whom to Contact

For all membership and PR queries, please contact:

Nikhil Sheth (VP, Membership): +91-99114-79900; nikhil.js@gmail.com

Aniket Bose (VP, Public Relations): +91-99119-16333 ; aniket.bose@gmail.com

January 2010 ACKNOWLEDGMENTSACKNOWLEDGMENTSACKNOWLEDGMENTSACKNOWLEDGMENTS 12

Club No. 858173

Division C, District 82

Always Ahead…!

Copyright JPKU Toastmasters Club, 2009

No part of this newsletter maybe printed or reproduced

without intimating the JPKU Toastmasters Club. All enquiries

and requests should be directed to the club’s public relations

committee at jpkunews@gmail.com.

I would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to everyone who

contributed to the newsletter, especially for the overwhelming

response to “The Hyde Park”, making the section a grand suc-

cess. Thanks to my predecessor Malkiat for his guidance (both

journalistic and technical) and letting me inherit his stuff. Fi-

nally, I would like to specially mention the names of Shraddha,

Manoj, Aneesh and Tejesh for their prompt contributions.

Images is published on the last day of the month. All contribu-tors are requested to send in their entries to ani-ket.bose@gmail.com by the 25th of the month.

Important Links: JPKU Toastmasters: http://jpkutoastmasters.bravehost.com Division C members: d82Cmembers@googlegroups.com District 82: http://www.t82.org/