CONTENTS 1. Behind The Scenes - Editorial Team To know what went on behind the scenes and for the making of this magazine, have a look inside.. • TM Priyanka Bhat • TM Praveena Mishra • TM Ashish Kumar 2. New Office Bearers Find out more about your Excom, their roles and their vison! • TM Sarathy Srinivas - IPP • TM Sateesh Kumar - President • TM Parandaman - VP-E • TM Mohan Subramanian - VP-M • TM Ilangathir - VP-PR • TM Ramalingam - Secretary • TM Seenivasan - Treasurer • TM Kruthika - SAA 3. Articles • A Milestone Marks Progress, Not The Destination Toastmaster Nalini truly believes in the theme of the magazine. Want to be inspired? Read on…

• TM Sarathy's Biggest Mistake All of us dream of becoming an accomplished Toastmaster one day and at least participate, if not win, at inter club events. Here's the script that helped Toastmaster Sarathy to stand 2nd runner up at the International Speech Contest in the division Conference held recently! • Wacky Tips For Unique Table Topics Answers Want to know how to handle nerve-wreaking TT sessions? Here's Division Champion TM Chandramouli giving you a few tips... • Reverberation 2014 Want to know about the biggest upcoming Toastmaster event? Here's an introduction to Reverberation 2014 by Conference Co-Chair and Division International Speech Contest Winner TM Ilangathir! 4. Popular Medleyan Exactly 1 month back, we had an online poll to estimate who are the most popular Medleyans of the lot. And the results come as no surprise..

5. Interview Want to know about the Toastmaster journey of the experienced and accomplished toastmaster? Read on! • TM Mohan Subramanian • TM Guruprasad • TM Ramalingam • TM Chandramouli 6. Interesting Facts Everything we’ve read so far is about Medley and its members. Now, let us learn something more about Toastmaster International! 7. Crossword Looking for some Toastmasters fun? Here is a fun crossword puzzle to tingle your mind.

PRIYANKA BHAT: What I learnt from this experience: 1.Perseverance Pays: I learnt that your work means a lot to you and only you. Everybody is busy with their own things. So if you want someone to do something for you, you need to push them and keep reminding them about it. It is unrealistic to expect people to leave their things just so they can help you. You need to persevere and keep at it till you get what you want. 2.Know When to Let Go: Too much of follow ups can be irritating for the other person. While it’s a good strategy to keep reminding people that the deadline is approaching, everybody doesn’t have the same level of patience. Sometimes it’s better to give people time and let them do things at their own pace. Here, I would like to apologize to all those whom I tortured with frequent phone calls! The magazine has been released now. You don’t have to be afraid to pick up my calls anymore! 3.Enthusiasm is Contagious: It really helps to have a team that’s interested and committed. When you share the work among yourselves and discuss each other’s progress, you feel like doing your best too and not slacking off

PRAVEENA MISHRA: Toastmasters is by far, the most enjoyable and engaging professional organization I’ve had the pleasure to be a part of. Every meeting I learn and grow with a lot of laughs and fun in the process. it is an exciting opportunity to be a part of the editorial team with two very enthusiastic and amazing personalities Tm Priyanka and Tm Ashish. I would like to thank everyone who has supported and contributed towards this newsletter. I learnt that work is important to each of us, but in a team, the contribution of every member matters. I have had the pleasure of working with two great personalities and I hope the activities and the need to keep the momentum moving forward with ambition and enthusiasm prevails.

TM ASHISH KUMAR: Toastmasters has been a wonderful journey all the way and is proving to be a significant milestone of my life. The credit to this wonderful journey surely goes to my mentor TM Jayanthi and all those senior toastmasters who were there to guide me. Within a short span of joining medleys I got the responsibility of coming up with newsletter for the club. This brought me in touch with two energetic toastmasters TM Praveen & TM Priyanka. We worked as a team and got the chance to know each other. This newsletter wouldn't have been possible without the contribution of other toastmasters who spent time to contribute despite of being busy with their work. I thank all the toastmasters for their continuous efforts and sharing their priceless experience with fellow toastmasters.

Our Excom is a team of 8 well known toastmasters. For the next six months, these 8 toastmasters will act as the captains of the Medley ship. They divide the key roles and responsibilities among themselves and ensure that the club and its meetings are being conducted in an orderly fashion. Before finding out more about the excom members, let us first see what our Immediate Past President has to say about the incoming President.

TM SARATHY SRINIVAS – IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT: It is my distinct privilege and pleasure to pen down a few words about the incoming President of Medley Toastmasters Club, TM SATEESH. As I sit here recollecting my moments with Sateesh, I wear a smile and am overwhelmed by a sense of pride. We both joined Toastmasters at about the same time, almost three years ago, but it’s funny that we only really got to interact on a regular basis in the last 18 months. The reason is because one of us was initially not so active – we tend to put the blame on each other. But as time passed, our paths intertwined. During my first role as TMOD – when I was 20 minutes late to the meeting! – Sateesh was delivering his CC 1 during this meeting, and I did my best to make him uncomfortable. So, the prolonged gap between his CC 1 and CC 2 may possibly partially be blamed on me. In the last year and half I have gotten to work in close quarters with Sateesh, and have been truly blown away by this gentleman. He has achieved several accolades both in the communication and leadership spheres since then, but putting awards on one side, it is his persona that stands out and Sateesh has proven himself to be an elite leader.

Even on a personal level, there have been several instances where as the President I have been fortunate to have Sateesh beside me giving advice, stepping in, taking charge without being asked, without wanting to show off, but with the mere intention of keeping the club headed on the right track. When I think of Sateesh’s traits, the words of Jim Rohn come to mind: “The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humour, but without folly.” Sateesh has inculcated all these traits and more, and it’s therefore easy to see and to acknowledge the leader in Sateesh. I am proud to have worked closely with Sateesh. I have personally learnt so, so much about leadership from him, and would be glad if I could become half the leader he is. I am in no doubt whatsoever that Medley Toastmasters Club is in for a world of positive change in the next six months under his stewardship.

TM SATEESH KUMAR S – PRESIDENT:

I am an Electrical Engineer by Education and I am currently working with the Wind Turbine Manufacturer where we try to reduce the CO2 emission in this world. I have been working with Vestas for the past 10 years. I am proud to say that I have been an active toastmaster for the past three years. I am married and have two sons of the ages 7 and 4. I am proud to be the President of Medley Toastmasters Club exactly after 3 years of joining this club. My role as a president is to provide leadership for the club whenever it is required. This includes creating a nurturing learning environment by conducting well-run, energetic, interesting meetings; actively seeking and connecting with club members and officers; listening patiently and offering assistance; and resolving conflicts as they arise. My vision for medley is to satisfy the needs of each and every individual member. Without them, t will not be possible for the club to grow and flourish. At the same time, I would like to improve the contest participations of Medley members. This way, the member’s abilities will be better exhibited in the toastmaster community and at the same time, this club also will grow to greater heights. The change I would like to bring in my role as President is to create more competent communicators not merely CC’s or AC’s…

TM PARANDAMAN – VICE PRESIDENT EDUCATION:

Hi, I am Parandaman. I am a one year old baby in Toastmasters and I am so excited to be part of this forum. I found the right platform to overcome my fear and failure with a lot of encouragement. The role of VPE helps to meet educational needs of the individual members and fulfil the club DCP points. My immediate activity is to understand the members’ interest through Membership survey along with VPM. Our past and present VPE have done an amazing job and I need to sustain their efforts to bring the best not only from me but also from Club Members. My vision for Medley is to make it a champions club.

TM MOHAN SUBRAMANIAN – VICE PRESIDENT MEMBERSHIP: I am an IT Advisor and Leadership Coach based out of Chennai. I did my B.E from R.E.C (NIT) Trichy and have played various roles as a Business Leader in the IT Industry. My last position was with Cognizant Technology Solutions as a Vice President and Business Unit Head. My new role will be VP-Membership. This role is key to sustaining and increasing membership at Medley and also addresses any concerns of members at Medley. In the new role, I want to sustain and increase membership count as well as membership satisfaction. This will involve continuous communication with all members, guests (even if they attend only one meeting) and also Medley Alumni. I'll focus on both managing member attrition as well as guest conversion to members. I will take feedback from members and increase the overall satisfaction by fixing any issues by closely working with VP-Education and all other office bearers.

TM ILANGATHIR VENUGOPAL- VICE PRESIDENT PUBLIC RELATIONS: Taking over as Vice President – Public Relations at Medley Toastmasters Club is a special feeling. It has been a year since I joined Medley, and I have gathered a lot of knowledge and thereby benefited vastly. On a personal note, Medley Toastmasters has served as the launch pad for me in my Toastmasters journey. The encouragement, support and compassion shown by the members and leaders at Medley are unmatched. It is now time for me to pull my weight and do my bit to take our club to further heights. It is certainly a huge pleasure and pride for me to be part of the most enviable executive committee in town that boasts of some of the most committed leaders in the fraternity. Medley is already one of the most popular clubs in the city. My job will be to progressively exploit the existing popularity and build on it to make Medley Toastmasters Club the most popular club in District 82.

Here are some of the areas I plan to concentrate during my term: • To set the base to win the Best Social Media presence award in District 82 • To get coverage of our meetings by newspapers like Adyar Times, etc. • Increase awareness of Toastmasters among public by distributing TMI magazines and

newsletters in receptions of public places like salons, hospitals, restaurants, etc. • To have an active Facebook page for the club, buzzing with activities • To revive the club website, redesign it and have it updated regularly with latest events • To have at least 2 flashy flyers per meeting published on social media across all

Toastmasters District 82 related groups • To create publicity for the club events in a manner that makes our club the most

envied • To release at least 2 top notch newsletters and distribute hard copies to all team

members • To ensure video coverage of meetings are done and shared in our online YouTube

Channel • To provide ample opportunities for new members to learn various facets of club PR

activities • To help members on their CL journey by offering PR campaign opportunities • To conceptualize innovative meetings that attract public attention within and outside

Toastmasters If you have any ideas to improve the club’s PR activities, you are most welcome to share your ideas with me. Together we can do wonders. Look forward to scaling new peaks with the club.

TM RAMALINGAM K – SECRETARY: I completed my MBA from University of Madras and CFP (Certification in Financial Planning) from FPSB. I was the former VP-PR of Medley TM club. I am currently mentoring a corporate club called Servion TM club. I take this opportunity to thank all the Medely members who have elected me as the SECRETARY for the coming term. As a secretary my duties are: • Maintaining an accurate membership roster • Submitting club officer lists to World Headquarters • Keeping club files and records • Recording the meeting minutes (both weekly TM meeting and

Monthly Ex-com Meetings) During my tenure, I would like to bring more transparency between the excom and other members. ‘What is the vision of excom?’ ‘What are all the steps excom takes to achieve the vision?’ All these things should be communicated to all the members. This brings more clarity to the members and attracts better contribution from the members. Also Medley has made many achievements like sponsoring a few clubs. I would like to make these achievement records accessible to all the members. This can inspire the members and this inspiration will turn each and every member progress in their leadership track and become achievers.

TM SEENIVASAN.S - TREASURER: Basically, I am a mechanical engineer. I am working as the Deputy Manager for vendor development in a mobile manufacturing company in Chennai. A treasurer’s role is indispensible for every club meeting because without enough finance, nothing can be arranged. From hall booking to taking care of all the purchasing, the entire responsibility to manage Medley’s money falls on the treasurer. It is also my responsibility to maintain the reputation of our club. My vision for Medley is to ensure good governance in money handling and maintaining the accounts. I will control the total money income and expense with the help and approval of all the Excom members. I also want to take the initiative of planning for a discount in membership renewal fees and organize family get together in medley meeting.

TM KRUTHIKA MANOHARAN - SERGEANT AT ARMS : 'Toastmasters should be an oasis of order and purpose amidst the chaos and confusion outside meeting halls' It is my privilege and pleasure to serve as SAA for the forthcoming term. It is not only a responsibility to serve as club officer but it is also an opportunity to learn and practice communication, leadership and organizing skills. I will ensure that the meetings start on time in an orderly fashion and will strive to serve spicy introductions about presiding officer and also spicy snacks. :P The first time I visited medley, I received a warm welcome and I will make sure all guest, members and dignitaries feel at home when they are at medley. I also want to change the SAA bag into slim, trim and lean one.

MEDLEY @ IGNITE 2014

A MILESTONE MARKS PROGRESS, NOT THE DESTINATION: For someone who wants to achieve their full potential, they need to check if they are on the right track and the milestone will just do that. We cannot be satisfied with just reaching the milestone. The milestone is the proof which reassures us that the destination is not very far off. The destination will just become a distant dream to the people who are content with their achievement. Many people will be happy by just reaching the milestone but Winners use it to confirm their path to the ultimate. Our hard work, effort and focus should be on the destination. We must work hard to reach our destination. Nothing can stop a person who refuses to be stopped. People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of. “If I have the belief that I can do it, I shall surely acquire the capacity to do it, even if I do not have it at the beginning” is one of my favourite quotes by Mahatma Gandhi.

Have Your Own Goals: Never ever make someone else’s destination as yours because a fish can never reach the top of the tree and the bird can never do what a fish does. Destination is something which constantly moves further. Every time we reach the destination we should push the boundaries a little bit more and so we make that destination another milestone. One might ask ‘if someone’s destination is to reach Mt. Everest then how can it be a milestone?’ I say that it can because for him now the new destination will be to help others reach the top and experience what he experienced. For the great legend Steve Jobs, every one of his signature apple product was just a milestone.

Have Precise Goals: To achieve the ultimate destination one must set a precise goal. Without clearly defined goals for both the near future and the long-term, you are like a ship moving through the deep seas without a course. Excellence will only come about when you set precise objectives for every facet of your life. Peak performers know precisely where they are going mentally, spiritually and financially. As Henry Ford has said: “Thinking always ahead, thinking always of trying to do more, brings a state of mind in which nothing seems impossible”.

Little Drops Make A Mighty Ocean: Everyday, you must take some action to advance confidently in the direction of your ultimate destination. Every thought must be a useful one that will boost your enthusiasm for the accomplishment of your hopes. The most important ingredients to reach our ultimate destination are Discipline and Willpower.

Success in any Endeavour requires a focused mind and regular application. Above all as my favourite author Paulo Coelho says, “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”. When you look back on your life, what will make you happy will be the great things you have done, the family you have raised and the people you have touched with your work. So keep it going, you may take a breath or two when you reach the milestone but don’t stop there. Keep it going... -TOASTMASTER NALINI ARAVINDAN

TM SARATHY’S BIGGEST MISTAKE: Mistake, it’s a funny word isn’t it? Riddled with several connotations and extremes, but the mere mention of this word gets our mind racing and triggers a flurry of images of personal mistakes – some comical, some not so comical… but, there is one image that is deviant and dominant, one that stands out… and that is the mother of all mistakes.. your biggest mistake! I’m sure you all have a biggest mistake… Guruprasad says that becoming area governor was his biggest mistake, Raghavan says becoming handsome was his biggest mistake… Raghavan’s dad said Raghavan was his biggest mistake Contest Master, Fellow Toastmasters and Friends, I’m sure you all have a biggest mistake… My biggest mistake? I still keep thinking about it… When I was five years old – that’s about 10 years ago – I remember seeing all these other children “Daddy, daddy I want to be a policeman, catch all the bad guys and put them in jail…… Daddy I want to be an astronaut go into space and jump on the moon sky… Daddy I want to be the next Area Governor like Guruprasad…”

I’m sure we all had such dreams as children. If not the same, certainly similar…, if not an astronaut a lawyer, if not a lawyer the next Guruprasad, I’m sure all of you had such dreams. I did too… I remember when I was just 5 years old going up to my father … “daddy, I want to play football” – Contest Master – that was the genesis of MY biggest mistake… My fantasy with football was to be the genesis of MY biggest mistake. My father looked at me, confused, amused, and bemused – but humoured my wish, and later that evening, he called me over and handed me a bag… My education went for a toss! He wanted me to become a doctor! I didn’t care. I remember holding that football in my hand, and feeling as if the whole world was in my hands – and that everything revolved around football. And just as football and I were going steady, in a relationship of our own, along came the most beautiful girl in the world .... oh she was divine… I had never seen anything like her before, and in the evening I mustered up the courage to walk up to her…. I looked up at her name tag… “Diya” … and stretched out my hand with a rose… Diya Smiled and accepted that rose. Accepting that rose, she later said, was her biggest mistake. I quickly forgot how beautiful she was, and we parted ways no sooner than had I fallen for her… But, there was still football, and that was all that mattered to me…My manager said that hiring me was the biggest mistake he ever made. That was when I had a major injury.

Doctor told me that it would be three months before I would be able to start running, and 6 months before I could start playing football. I was able to start running in three months, but it’s been 3 years since that incident, and I haven’t played football since. I thought that the biggest mistake had been wasting my whole life on football, forsaking my education, my love life, and my career – I could have done a phd, gotten married, …. But I gave it all up for football – I had wasted countless hours on my “dream” instead of being practical I was feeling sorry for myself when last month, on valentine’s day, I was lying on my bed – alone – when I heard this beautiful quote that resonated deeply “it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” “it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all” The words resontated… and it was then that I realised, that the biggest mistake of my life had been that brief period when I thought pursuing my dreams had been a waste of my time. I had been foolish enough to devalue my dreams to the extent where I thought I should have not spent so much time on it. And I’m sure we all do it for our dreams… we think, oh if there’s time I’ll work on that, If there’s time I’ll go travelling… If there’s time I’ll stand for area governor.. Why do we give our dreams so little importance, do they not matter? Aren’t they supposed to matter the most. We all have one finite window of opportunity – it’s called life, and at the end of our chapter, when we flip back the pages, do we want to see blank and dull white pages void of any dreams, or do we want to see pages of joy and of tears, of triumph and despair, full of colour and life, from having pursued our dreams and having given them their due place in our lives.

The biggest mistake we can make is having dreams, but not having the courage and conviction to pursue them. Don’t let this be your biggest mistake. -TOASTMASTER SARATHY SRINIVAS

WHACKY TIPS FOR UNIQUE TABLE TOPICS ANSWERS: Table topics is my favorite part of Toastmasters meeting. I believe it is one opportunity to flex the creative cells inside our brains. I believe it is more important to give an outstanding uncommon answer than a common safe answer. Though the success rate might be lesser, eventually the answers will stand out very often. Please note that you might wish to read how to handle a table topics by searching on Google and you will get various strategies; that is a good place to start. These are the tips to make your answers more spicy and unique. So to give a creative, unique answers, here are 4 whacky tips that I follow:

Failure Is A Necessary Step To Success: When starting to think whacky for answers, initially, you might face a lot of forgettable performances. Accept that it is OK to fail. Grow to be your own critique and evaluate your forgettable answers on how creative they were, what were the various thoughts that came to your head, what could have been a better line to work on.

Try To Go Against The Topic Every Time: More often than not, it appears that the table topics speaker is bound by laws and the only way to speak is for the topics. Let me assure you, you CAN talk against the topic. I personally believe that making an attempt to always go against the question, one can be more creative and more often than not, be unique.

Try To Extrapolate The Topics: Say the question is ‘Honesty is the best policy’, you can extrapolate the topics and say that ‘the policy matures only after death’. Search for opportunities to find such unique extensions to statements to spice up your answers.

Try Not To State The Topic Or Your Viewpoint Initially: Start with an anecdote or a quote or something nice. Build the content and finally connect to the topics. Hold the suspense of connection for the first minute. Then when you make the connect, you make the answer interesting. The most important tip, which is not a whacky tip, is to try these things with your table topics or others table topics during club meetings. When it comes to Contest Topics, try to go ONLY your natural way. The idea is to become so creative, spicy, interesting and unique by practicing these in your club meetings that you are naturally Unique and interesting at the contests. Happy thinking out of the box -TOASTMASTER CHANDRAMOULI

Reverberation 2014 is the first semi-annual conference of the new District 82, now comprising of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. This is one of the biggest events in District 82 and will consist of series of world class contests and events. What is up for grabs at Reverberation 2014? • Improved Networking: You get to meet Toastmasters from India as well as Sri Lanka, in

one place and in few hours. Benefiting you in toastmasters as well as professionally • Witness the Best: District Conference is the clash of titans, Best of the Best from each

division contest each other, Witness the Best of Humorous Speeches and Evaluations • Education Sessions: Get tips about speaking and leadership from the accomplished

speakers in their respective domain with the amazing education sessions • Visibility: Toastmasters conferences are the perfect place to increase the visibility of your

club in the district and portraying the strengths of your club. Maximum Participation will ensure maximum learning for your members as well as visibility.

• Fun Element: In District Conference, you can party with toastmasters on the fun night and have a lot of fun with your toastmasters friends

Why reverberate with us? It’s not a question to answer but to feel the reverberation and true potential of District 82. It’s something that has made your tunes reverberate more across different facets of life and you see the mark of Toastmastering manifest into different qualities! It’s something that you are very much a part of and your presence and involvement will add more to the energy of Toastmasters reverberating across the world!! Come’s let’s together reverberate with Toastmasters!!

POPULAR MEDLEYAN

• Exactly 1 month back, we had an online poll to estimate who are the most popular of the Medleyans of the lot. And the results come as no surprise to any of us. The winners of the this term’s popular Medleyan contest are Sateesh Kumar and Jayanthi Sundar!

• Let us see what their Mentees have to say about them:

• “The first thing that I liked about her was her constructive suggestions to other Toastmasters. It was very motivating to a new Toastmaster like me. She fascinated me with her inordinate speech when I attended Medley as a guest! She definitely deserves the title.”

-TOASTMASTER SUBRAJA • “During my first Toastmaster meeting, Toastmaster Jayanthi was the

presiding officer and I was taken aback by the ease with which she handled herself on stage. After the meeting, I had a chat with her and told me that speaking on stage was not that big a deal and she made me believe that with enough practice, anyone can become as good as her. Toastmaster Jayanthi’s role in my Toastmaster journey has been phenomenal. After three speeches, I can already see the improvements in me and all credit goes to my mentor.”

-TOASTMASTER PRIYANKA BHAT

JAYANTHI SUNDARARAMAN

"Toastmaster Sateesh definitely deserves the title of 'Popular Medleyan'. The first time I saw him at the meeting, I was very impressed because though he was already an experienced Toastmaster, he was working very hard and managing everything in the meeting" -TOASTMASTER MADHAN RAM “What I admire about Toastmaster Sateesh: His attire: He is always in Full Formals. The way he presides the meeting and is involved in most of the club activities. The fact that he gives hints about the micro details of different roles. He seems to be finding a lot of happiness and learning by contributing to the club in every way possible. This can be easily felt in his talks. I really wonder about his memory... Recently, while recognizing the achievements of the various dignitaries, he could easily remember the names, project status and accomplishments of at least 15 people!” -TOASTMASTER KRISHNA PRATHAP “The first thing that I noticed and admired about TM Sateesh is his work ethic. His GO GET IT attitude motivates people to do their best too. He has helped me a lot in my Toastmaster journey. He regularly involves me in projects on both communication and leader track, reviews my scripts and gives suggestions to improve them. I have no worries about progress here as I feel like he is taking care of me. He definitely deserves the title because he is the symbol of energy and enthusiasm in the room every week” -TOASTMASTER VISWAKUMAR

SATEESH KUMAR

TOASTMASTER GURUPRASAD: Q. What was the motivational factor or reason behind joining Toastmasters club? A. When I first visited Medley as a guest, I was captivated by the organization of the program and participation by members. I also felt happy when called for the table topics. Two more meetings, I joined the frequency and the club. Q. What were your expectation from toastmasters platform ? A. To transform me into a more organized person; both in terms of public speaking as well as organizing capabilities. I join Toastmasters to limit my specking abilities and not to grow. Q. There is a perception that toastmasters is meant for professionals only, do you feel it is true or does this platform help its members in sculpting their whole personality, be it personal or professional ? A. Toastmasters is for the populace. It is not restricted. Everybody gets something out of TMI if they seek and it need not be the same for all. The trick lies in identifying that aspect which you aspire for and improve using toastmasters practices. Later, you slowly start adapting all others that TMI has to offer leading to becoming a complete personality.

Q. What changes do you see in you that you feel has positively affected your life after joining toastmasters club ? A. I am organized both in communication and activities. Much of chaos I used to have around me has considerably reduced. I have started listening more. Those who consider me as a totally dis-organized person now, lucky you missed my past! Q. Could you please take us through your journey in toastmasters, some skills that you lacked before joining but gained them after joining the club ? A. I never knew I had humor as a skill. It is through Toastmasters that I identified this fact and now I am, beyond my efforts, being recognized by most of the friends as a humorous person. This has drawn more people close to me. Q. Toastmasters is all about helping each other, what sort of support you got from fellow toastmasters throughout your journey ? A. Immense. Whenever, I need support, help or guidance, just one word – people surround me with their support. All that I have achieved so far in TM is predominantly due to this support. TM is after all, a participative learning environment. Supporting your fellow toastmasters is the lifeline of this movement. After becoming Area Governor, it is the combined support of all the clubs and district officers I was able to move ahead through out my term. People joyously come together and help each other. This is, I would say, very unique to Toastmasters.

Q. You have come a long way, it wouldn't have been a cakewalk, there would have been ups and downs. Could you please share some of your bad experiences and how you overcame them ? A. My attitude towards the TM journey was very sluggish in the initial years. Last minute excuses, dropouts, lack of commitment all existed in me . Slowly I realized by seeing the tireless efforts of officers in running the club and making meetings happen. Then I was given officer role and things changed. Q. Any 3 things that you feel are the reasons behind your success as a toastmaster? A. The TMI program as such Mentors and fellow members My win at the district contest and the path towards it. Q. Some say there is no end to learning and on the other hand some join such clubs only for a limited time. What is your take on this, where do you feel a journey of a toastmaster ends ? A. Well, Individual perceptions vary. It is what you aspire that you take. To me there is no end to TM journey as long as a person's enthusiasm in communicating and networking with the world exists. Q. There are many young people joining toastmasters, some of them are still in their college. What message would you like to give them, that can make their toastmasters journey smooth and successful ? A. Sincerely follow the program. Be connected to your mentors. Apply all the lessons that you learnt in TM in your real life. Don't forget to have fun and enjoy!

TOASTMASTER CHANDRAMOULI: Q. What was the motivational factor or reason behind joining Toastmasters club? A. I was an introvert and my goal was to be a conversationalist. That is the reason why I joined Toastmasters Q. What were your expectation from toastmasters platform ? A. Improvement in confidence and ability to converse where my expectations when I joined. Q. There is a perception that toastmasters is meant for professionals only, do you feel it is true or does this platform help its members in sculpting their whole personality, be it personal or professional ? A. I have seen more benefits in my personal life. I have more friends, considered to be a warm conversationalist. 11 years ago, before Toastmasters, I would have been considered to be a nerd. In effect, it does make a difference in both personal and professional life. Q. What changes do you see in you that you feel has positively affected your life after joining toastmasters club ? A. Confidence, ability to clearly convey my idea, conversational skills, positive evaluation, mentoring people, more friends.. There are too many to mention.

Q. Could you please take us through your journey in toastmasters, some skills that you lacked before joining but gained them after joining the club ? A. I would say the biggest difference has been in my conversational skills. I was very bad at it when I joined Toastmasters. Now, I consider it to be one of my biggest strengths. Q. Toastmasters is all about helping each other, what sort of support you got from fellow toastmasters throughout your journey ? A. Too many to mention. The fact is that Toastmasters get good mentors, great evaluations, amazing opportunities. I was also lucky. Q. You have come a long way, it wouldn't have been a cakewalk, there would have been ups and downs. Could you please share some of your bad experiences and how you overcame them ? A. In my opinion, no experience is a bad experience. I have had difficult times in preparing speeches and the difficulties paved way for scripting being a strong point of my speeches. Q. Any 3 things that you feel are the reasons behind your success as a toastmaster? A. 1. Great mentors 2. Learning from mentoring others. 3. Visiting as many clubs as possible. Q. Some say there is no end to learning and on the other hand some join such clubs only for a limited time. What is your take on this, where do you feel a journey of a toastmaster ends ? A. To me Toastmastering is a way of life. There is no end to it.

Q. There are many young people joining toastmasters, some of them are still in their college. What message would you like to give them, that can make their toastmasters journey smooth and successful ? A. 1. Visit a lot of Clubs. 2. Read the manuals and respect the objectives, if you feel you have not learnt the objectives properly, redo projects. 3. Use your mentors wisely.

TOASTMASTER RAMALINGAM: Q. What was the motivational factor or reason behind joining Toastmasters club? A. To improvise my public speaking. When I joined I didn’t expect that TM will help me improvise my leadership skills as well. Q. What were your expectation from toastmasters platform ? A. My expectation was to become comfortable on stage. Q. There is a perception that toastmasters is meant for professionals only, do you feel it is true or does this platform help its members in sculpting their whole personality, be it personal or professional ? A. Yes it helps a lot in your personal life as well. How to give feedback to your spouse :) Q. What changes do you see in you that you feel has positively affected your life after joining toastmasters club ? A. More confident. Comfortable in giving feedback; delegating and getting things done…… Q. Could you please take us through your journey in toastmasters, some skills that you lacked before joining but gained them after joining the club ? A. My earlier presentations were very dry. TMs helped me learn, how to engage the audience with questions; stories; visual aids, wow factors….

Q. Toastmasters is all about helping each other, what sort of support you got from fellow toastmasters throughout your journey ? A. My mentor helps me with my speech scripts. Senior toastmasters gave me feedback on each project speech and on each role play I did, this helped me become a better person on stage. Q. Any 3 things that you feel are the reasons behind your success as a toastmaster? A. Regularity; support from the mentor; getting feedback from all senior TMs Q. Some say there is no end to learning and on the other hand some join such clubs only for a limited time. What is your take on this, where do you feel a journey of a toastmaster ends ? A. It is a never ending journey. As long as you want to learn and maintain the momentum in you, you need to continue the journey. Q. There are many young people joining toastmasters, some of them are still in their college. What message would you like to give them, that can make their toastmasters journey smooth and successful ? A. In addition to CC speeches, also focus on 1) other roles like TAG team , TT master, GE, TMOD 2) on the non-meeting roles like membership chair, PR chair, newsletter editor 3) After doing the above 2 plan to join in ex-com of the club

TOASTMASTER MOHAN SUBRAMANIAN: Q. What was the motivational factor or reason behind joining Toastmasters club? A. To Develop my Public Speaking Skills and Stage Presence. Q. What were your expectation from toastmasters platform ? A. Provide a collaborative learning platform. Q. What changes do you see in you that you feel has positively affected your life after joining toastmasters club ? A. Better interaction skills - One on one or with a group. Better listening skills. Q. There is a perception that toastmasters is meant for professionals only, do you feel it is true or does this platform help its members in sculpting their whole personality, be it personal or professional ? A. Communication and leadership skills are needed at work, home and virtually in every situation you are in. Toastmasters platform helps a person develop his/her whole personality and useful in every situation in life. Q. Could you please take us through your journey in toastmasters, some skills that you lacked before joining but gained them after joining the club ? A. I always had some level of stage fear and also wanted to develop my impromptu speaking skills. After a year in toastmasters, I (almost) have no stage fear, very comfortable delivering a speech and also have developed to some extent in impromptu speaking.

Q. Toastmasters is all about helping each other, what sort of support you got from fellow toastmasters throughout your journey ? A. I got terrific support from my mentor (Sundar), Sateesh, Chandramouli, Sarathy and every one in the club. Medley is a very collaborative club - true to Toastmasters Spirit - laying out practices for anyone to experiment and develop their skills Q. You have come a long way, it wouldn’t have been a cakewalk, there would have been ups and downs. Could you please share some of your bad experiences and how you overcame them ? A. I felt some of my speeches didn't go well - especially after my CC5. I dropped off the next meeting to think about it. I realized, I was trying to adopt to the way of some of our good speakers at Medley and the best way will be to use what comes to me naturally and build on it. This realization reduced the pressure I was putting on myself and certainly made speaking a better and enjoyable experience. Q. Any 3 things that you feel are the reasons behind your success as a toastmaster? A. 1. Toastmaster's Platform and the excellent processes 2. Medley's Adoption of the platform in true spirit 3. Excellent and supportive members Q. Some say there is no end to learning and on the other hand some join such clubs only for a limited time. What is your take on this, where do you feel a journey of a toastmaster ends ? A. There is absolutely no end to learning. Toastmasters journey is there to continue always.

Q. There are many young people joining toastmasters, some of them are still in their college. What message would you like to give them, that can make their toastmasters journey smooth and successful ? A. Toastmasters is all about incremental development. You learn something every week. In fact, incremental development is the only way to ensure long term impactful learning and change. You have joined at the right time - Just believe in the Toastmasters Platform and it will help you a great deal in both professional and personal lives.

• Did you know that some of the very famous people around the world were once a member of toastmaster club:

1. Carl Albert – Former speaker of US House of Representatives. 2. Tara Dawn – Miss America 1997. 3. Steve Fraser – 1984 Olympic Gold medalist in Greco-roman wrestling. • Did you know that Lance Miller, world champion of public speaking lost for

12 consecutive years before winning the title in 2005. • There are only 90 employees of toastmasters around the world. Rest all

other work is carried out by volunteers. • The toastmaster international speech contest was started in 1938. • Everything we’ve read so far is about Medley and its members. Now, let us

learn something more about Toastmaster International: • Toastmaster International grew out of a single club founded in October

1924. • The toastmaster international speech contest was started in 1938. • It began admitting women only in 1973. Helen Blanchard, a trailblazing

Toastmaster rose through ranks to become Toastmaster International’s first female president in 1985.

• Today, the ratio of Toastmasters is 52% female and 48% male. • The headquarters of Toastmaster International has been at Rancho Santa

Margarita, California since 1990.

Across 4. Some people are afraid of this but Medley is not 5. Next step after CC in Toastmasters journey 6. Think on your feet 9. Highest level awarded by Toastmasters 10. CC4 11. Symbol of power used twice in a TM meeting 12. Age of the youngest DTM 14. The English Teacher 16. Office bearers of Toastmaster clubs attend this 18. The guiding force for a new Toastmaster 19. Name of this newsletter Down 1. The boss of a Toastmaster club 2. Headquarters of Toastmasters International 3. What are you? 7. Automatic Speech 8. The first step in a long journey 13. Our annual district conference 15. Counts to help us improve 17. The Toastmaster who runs the show in club meetings

Awards for Medley Toastmasters Club

• Golden Gavel Plus

• 3rd place – Best Facebook presence – District 82

• Area N2 – Best VPE – TM Sarathy Srinivas

• Stars of Division N – TM Sateesh Kumar, TM Chandramouli

• Triple crown award – TM Chandramouli, TM Ramalingam, TM Sateesh Kumar & TM Guruprasad

• Super Star of Division N – TM Guruprasad

• 3rd highest education awards - Division N

• Division International Speech Contest – TM Sarathy (2nd Runner up) & TM Ilangathir (Winner)

• Division TableTopics Contest – TM Sarathy (2nd Runner up) & TM Chandramouli (Winner)

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