Let’s Speak

Theme—Aspire to Inspire

Medley Toastmasters Club’s Newsletter

What U are viewing is the product of sustained efforts put in by the Editorial

team of Medley Toastmaster‟s Club. It is a daylight fact that TM movement is all

about Effective Communication and Competent Leadership. Effective communication

economizes words, motivates positively and productively while Competent Leadership

promotes self-confidence, courage and sustainability.

Toastmaster Clubs are centres which offer a friendly and supportive environment for the development of

these arts. Is there any classic example by which any individual has been benefited? You may ask “Can

U vouchsafe for it?” Yes.

If I were allowed to go down memory lane when I was a member of Royapettah TM Club a young boy

walked in during the meeting. We saw diffidence and frustration written on his face. When his turn

came to speak he literally broke down as he was a stammering. He had come out with flying colors in

Civil Services Examination with enviable credits but missed the ultimate as he fumbled and mumbled in

the viva voce. Stammering stood as a dark devil on his way to achieve his desired goal. The whole club

took a sympathetic attitude. After discussions, a veteran TM was appointed as Mentor and he advised

his mentee to practise certain techniques which he had learnt while in Army. Mr.Reddy practised

rigorously and to a great extent he was able to exorcise the devil of stammering. The day was not far

off when he reappeared for the civil

services examination and

triumphed dazzlingly with a

feather in his cap. Soon he was appointed as Asst.

Commissioner of Income Tax, in Ahmedabad.

This story should inspire any Tom, Dick and Harry, not to

speak of a TM in Medley. I sincerely aspire Medley should

churn out a plethora of such potential leaders.

I search for words to praise the Editorial team. Flattery is an

alien word in my lexicon. In a nutshell editorial team is a

symbol of three ―Ds‖, namely Dedication, Duty and Devotion.

Adieu. Over to Editor!

President — TM T R Thiyagarajan

Between “U” ………...and “ME”

Don't Be Afraid

Don't be afraid to lift your wings

And soar through life each day Find joy and love and happiness

As you go along your way.

Life is steeped with ups and downs

And troubles not so fun Chin up high and shoulders back

We meet them one by one.

Don't be afraid when sorrow comes

The answer is quite clear Get down upon your knees and pray

For God is always near.

- by TM Vidhi Sharma

What a Cajoling Article !!

Toaster

Toaster’s Punch Line—

To improve is to change; to be perfect is to

change often—Winston Churchill

Difference between Aspire & Inspire —Aspire means to hope, dream and pursue ! Inspire means to stimulate and encourage !!

How many of us do our duty to the minimum we can, and how many do it

beyond the best we can? Do we ever aspire to inspire others through our work, our

principles, our lives?

It was Martin Luther King who said "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he

should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare

wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say,

„Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.‟

I found this to be true of the lady sweeper on the road next to our house. I take the dog for a walk

and I can see the difference between the quality of the roads swept by her and any of the others – her

stretch is spotless, all the leaves and garbage gathered into tiny neat, mounds, not a mote of dust

settling anywhere on her turf. The lady who sweeps the outside of our apartment, on the other hand, is

the other extreme: she will gingerly sweep around the leaves, always missing more than she can

gather, insisting that the area outside is for the municipal sweepers, and she is a private one.

Whenever I see the other lady I make it a point of appreciating her work because we take these things

so much for granted.

And I often wonder –are such perfectionists born or are they made? Do

they truly find their own

reward in the work itself, or

does the work pay off in the

long run?

Harvay Mackay, prize-winning management author talks

about the time he got into a cab at an airport.

The driver was dressed as neatly as his cab was shining.

He invited the customer to sit in the cab while he loaded his bags and meanwhile offered him a mission

statement : ‗to get my customers to their destination in the quickest, safest and cheapest way possible

in a friendly environment.‘ That cab driver found that defining his mission statement-and carrying it out

-elevated him to a level far above his co-drivers, and made him a role model.

When we do receive such service, do we appreciate it or return the favor? A recent news article spoke

about an industrialist from Pune whose chauffeur died after 30 years of service. The industrialist rushed

down from Mumbai when he got the news, cancelled all his meetings, and requested the driver's family

to await him for the cremation and came back immediately by a helicopter. On reaching Pune he asked

the limo to be decorated with flowers as he wished the driver should be taken in the same car which

he himself had driven since the beginning. When the family agreed to his wishes, the industrialist

himself drove from his home up to the ghat on his last journey, ‗a small return for all the years of

exemplary service he had rendered.‖ Each of us, then, has a choice: to live life on our own terms, to

benchmark our actions as we see fit, or to be judged by our peers and bosses and live only up to their

expectations. If you aspire to inspire, set your sights high and raise the bar every time. Over to

Editor!

Lt. Gov. Education & Training at District 82 —DTM Nina John

Great Service is a Choice !!

Oh my God!! My name might

be changed to Sweeper !!

Toaster

True to Alfred Lord Tennyson's words, "For men may come and men

may go, But I go on forever"... Medleys Toastmasters Club is standing tall and

strong in our Division G.

It gives me great pleasure to write an article for the first newsletter of Medleys

Toastmasters Club.

How many of you have written pages & pages of essays during your school or college tests? How many

of you take time to organize the essay under proper sub headings & underline the important points?

Well, it took a while for me to understand these simple things. I spent hours and hours writing essays

during the tests but didn't spend another 5 or 10 minutes to underline the important points. The result

is - I didn't get the grade that I deserved.

A teacher or professor evaluates 100s of papers a day. Most of the teachers don't have time to read

each and every line from the essays. All they look for is perfect presentation. It just takes an

additional 5 or 10 minutes to provide a good presentation. When I mastered this art, I became the

class topper.

Since then, I started to strongly believe "Small things make perfection but perfection is not a

small thing".

Let me give you an example from my work place. I've seen several colleagues spending hours and

hours in the office to complete their deliverables. They even work over the weekends. However, they

won't spend another 5 - 10 minutes in sending their status reports or giving a status update to their

boss. How would the boss know that you had spent extra hours if you hadn't projected it yourself?

Sending a status report is a small thing, but it creates a significant effect on your performance.

How many of you have

experience preparing soups?

You would've added several

ingredients to make your soup delicious. What if you miss

to add a pinch of salt at the end? The soup won't be tasty.

Look at our contest speakers/winners - they pay attention

to the exceptionally small details which differentiate their

performance from others. If you want to be a successful

speaker - find out the small things that prevent you from climbing the ladder of success. It may be

things like repeated use of filler words, staring at the roof, keeping the hands clasped or keeping a

hand in the pocket. Seek feedback from fellow toastmasters and mentors, who‘ll make your journey to

success shorter and faster.

Let us keep this in mind "Small things make perfection but perfection is not a small thing". Let

us try to add "the pinch of salt" that brings perfection to everything we do in our life. Over to Editor!

Toaster’s Punch Line—

You aspire to great things? Begin with little ones—Saint Augustine

Division G Governor — TM Saro Velrajan

Small things make perfection, but perfection

isn't a small thing!!

Perfection is a BIG Thing !

Toaster

A Japanese woman in her late 60's (about 67 years old) had obtained a black

belt in Karate, in 3 styles. The Tigers Style, The Hard and Soft Style and Chen style.

An Indian gentleman, soon after retirement, had a paralytic stroke and from his bed,

started to paint—No previous knowledge of painting. If you take a look at these

paintings, you will call them professional.

Does that sound inspiring?? In the former case, it is a case of single-minded aim, a focus, that belied

age. In the second case, instead of wallowing in self-pity, a sudden decision, makes it look like a

miracle. Imagine a person; handicapped! No previous experience in drawing and painting, suddenly

turning out masterpieces.

These stories -- Nay, real life incidents tell us, what can happen, if only a person takes a decision to act.

These Aspirations become Inspirations for all of us!

Speaking from a very personal stand-point, my becoming a toastmaster is nothing less of a miracle.

The story goes like this. On a particular evening, I happen to be at a departmental store and see a

small notice stuck behind the cash counter, about a certain Medley Toastmasters

Club, and the mobile number of Mr. Sundararaman who was an officer bearer is

right there. I make a note of this and the rest is History. And How?? From a

hesitant but ASPIRING person to one who is totally inspired is what the journey is

all about. What started as a curious enquiry has led me to a field, the possibilities

of which are enormous.

It is a process of self-discovery - No Less!! This place has unfolded a potential,

which I was never aware of - Honest!!

Call it Providence, call it Divine Grace, all I can say is that I Have Surprised Myself. I remember myself

as a five year old in a small gathering of residents in a neighbor's home. The elder children are giving a

performance before the elders enacting plays. skits and children 5 years and below were to recite

nursery rhymes.

My turn came. The first line came with less effort. The second line was a mistake and a

re-actioner ―ILLAI" (Vernacular for NO ) came out of my mouth. What followed was peals of laughter

and tears in my eyes. The lady of the household lifted this hapless child, and took him inside the

kitchen, giving him a biscuit.

THE DAY PASSED, BUT MY STAGE FEAR DID NOT

In school, I would shy away from debating competitions. Though I was Ok in one on one conversations,

despite my early boyhood shyness, my fear of addressing a group persisted.

Vice President Education —TM Rajaram

Fear to Fun !!

Toaster’s Punch Line—

You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream—Les Brown.

Toastmaster sessions took all that away to uncover an articulate person --ALL IN FLAT SIX MONTHS.

To my credit, I would say, that I made it a point to be

regular as a good student and

was encouraged by the office

bearers and other members. Today, my only aspiration is to

inspire people, who are, as I had been and tell them, that

public speaking is only a decision away. Fear and Phobia turn

to Fun and Joy and everything is so easy, that it is

unbelievable. Importantly, there can be no other place doing

a better job, than a Toastmasters Club.

Foot prints of Medley Toastmasters’ Club..!!

Membership Building Programs

Beat the Clock—the club added five new, dual or reinstated members during

May & June—2010-2011

Smedley Award—August & September—2009-10

Talk up Toastmasters —Feb & March—2010-11

Distinguished Club Programs

President‟s Distinguished Club—the highest level of recognition available —

2009-10, 2010-11 & 2011-12

Select Distinguished Club —2008-09

Received Best Club Award among District 82 — 2010-11

What a Change Over !!

Toaster

A Default Winner !!

Some people may feel proud for being in Medley Toastmasters Club, while

Medley Toastmasters Club feels proud for One Lady, she is none other than

the TM Sandhiya Rajaram. She was the Table Topic Contest Winner in

the District 82 Finals, in 2011.

Just like ―Where there is a Will, there is a Way!‖ ―Where there is a

Contest, she wins the Contest!! An epitome for ―Aspire to Inspire” !!

Listening is an important aspect and a prime activity in Toastmaster

meetings. Without proper listening one can neither become a good speaker nor can

one justify his/her role as an Evaluator. So at first, one should be a good listener.

There are three ways by which we can acquire our knowledge. They are: by seeing,

listening and reading. Seeing and reading can be done by ourselves at our own convenience. But that

is the not the case with listening. If we miss a point while listening, it is not possible to get it back,

because the input for our listening has to come from an external source ie. the speaker. So, one

should understand the importance of listening in Toastmaster meetings and the need for availing the

same when it is delivered. That‘s why the great Tamil scholar and saint Thiruvalluvar has glorified

listening by saying that ―when nothing is available to feed your ears, then feed something to your

stomach.‖

God has given us three important body parts – eyes, ears and mouth - for seeing, listening and

speaking respectively. Except the ears, God has provided us with inbuilt auto shutting mechanism.

The ears can be closed by availing external help ie. with the help of one‘s hands. God thought

listening is the most important activity and hence did not provide any auto shutting facility for ears.

Listening is a 24/7 activity to be pursued.

Listening should be a quality listening. If we don‘t apply our mind while listening then it will become

only a hearing. By hearing we don‘t gain any knowledge. Proper listening needs total attention,

concentration and focus so that one can understand, interpret, and evaluate what they hear. Good

listening needs perfect silence without distraction. That's why in Toastmaster meetings people are

asked to switch off their mobile phones, maintain silence and not to move around. Conversing with

the next person sitting along also should be strictly avoided during the meetings.

In Toastmaster meetings everything depends on good listening. One has to learn to listen properly.

According to me, listening is a skill and it

varies from person to person. Those

listeners who do not have good hearing

capability should get seated as close as possible to the

speaker. And the speakers should ensure that their

speech is audible enough to reach the people sitting at

the farthest place in the meeting hall.

In order to become a good speaker be a good listener.

Enjoy the Toastmaster meetings by honing your listening skills. Apply your listening skill in totality so

as to provide a mutually supportive and positive learning environment in toast master meetings. If

you are a good listener you can become a good speaker very easily and can achieve your goals. By

giving priority to listening, everything else will automatically fall in place. March ahead taking others

also along with you. Remember that “Good listening” is an important aspect in Toastmaster

meetings and be a good listener. Over to Editor!

Secretary — TM Varadarajan R

Listening…!!

I’m Listening !!

Toaster

Funny Corner — Toaster : After buying this new hearing aid, I am able to hear something two blocks away. ToastMaster : Cool, how much did it cost? Toaster : The time is three past ten.

Dear readers it is the time to know who is DTM K T V P. By the time

you read this article, I could hear your inner voice ―Who is DTM K T V P ?!‖ A mixed

voice of doubt and astonishment. It is none other me, my name in acronym.

Becoming DTM is one of my dreams in my Life. Do you know what do I get ? if I

become a Distinguished Toast Masters !! I swear !! I don‘t know the answer for it. If I sit near the

sea shore and flash back my path, ―What have I achieved?‖, I found only sand !! Let me swim against

the shocking tides and soaking waves until I reach the horizon. It‘s better to swim against the water

currents, instead of being swept away at the shores like a dead fish. If not ready to swim, let us sail

thru the ship. Don‘t be feared of Cape of Storms, let us have fire to see the Cape of Good Hope. Let us

embark into the ship with a thought ―Something is better than nothing‖. Let that something be an

aspiration to inspire as a DTM.

It is worth mentioning few lines by MINE!. A remix of Robert Frost‘s poem “Stopping by Woods on

a Snowy Evening” as “Stopping by Seashore on a Sunny Evening”.

The seashore is lovely, splendid and placid,

But I have promises to keep,

And knots to sail before I sleep,

And knots to sail before I sleep…

Though the dream of

becoming an International Cricket

Player was wiped out, let the dream of

becoming a DTM come true thru our unaltered

determination and unconditional commitment. Let this be

one of the mile stones in our journey towards perfection.

One day when some one walks thru the DTM KTVP

Avenue, he gets inspired by me and of course by you in your own avenues!!. Over to Editor!

Vice President Public Relations —TM Vijay Prasaad K T

Where is DTM KTVP Avenue?!

Wiped out by cloth !

Toaster

Toaster’s Punch Lines —

You must have an aim, a vision, a goal. For the man sailing through life with no

destination or "port-of-call," every wind is the wrong wind—Tracy Brinkmann

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit—

Aristotle.

A French writer and the Nobel Prize winner Anatole France once said,

"To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream; not only

plan, but also believe." We all have someone as our role model – Anna Hazare,

Sachin Tendulkar, A.R.Rahman. The list is just endless! History is full of such great

personalities who didn‘t get on to the top overnight. Most of them faced numerous hitches that forced

them to work harder and show more determination than others. It is their ―higher aspiration, enduring

determination and realization of their dreams‖ that makes them stand apart from the rest of the crowd!

“I will not say I failed 1000 times, I will say that I discovered 1000 ways that can

cause failure”. Those were the golden words of one of the greatest inventors of all time, Thomas

Alva Edison. He dreamt of a lamp that could be operated by electricity. He stood to put his dream into

action, and despite more than a thousand failures, he stood by that dream until he made it a physical

reality.

Moving to the renowned writers of recent times, the author of the highly successful Harry

Potter series, also well known for her rags-to-riches story, J.K.Rowling, was nearly penniless, severely

depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel.

Despite failing on such an epic scale, her hard-work, determination and aspiration propelled her to suc-

cess.

How many of us know that the mastermind behind

the Apple empire, Steve

Jobs, was given up for adoption,

quit college because his college fees were slurping up his

parents‘ savings, and was fired from the very company he

founded? But all these never stopped this gentleman

from setting up the gigantic empire of products that

revolutionized computing, telephony and the music industry. In his most famous and inspiring

graduation speech he says, ―Don‘t let the noise of others‘ opinions drown out your own inner voice.

And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already

know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.‖

The mention of the word ―dream‖ will remind us of this young boy, who sold newspapers to

enhance his family‘s income, and finally become the President of the world‘s largest democracy, India!

Yes, it is our ex-President Dr. A.P.J.Abdul Kalam.

TM Monisha

Chase your dreams!

Let me Dream in the office!

Toaster

Toaster’s Punch Line— Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul; the blueprints of

your ultimate achievements - Napoleon Hill.

Some people just dream, and some others just do. But the world needs dreamers who do.

Wright Brothers, Mother Teresa, Bill Gates, Dhirubhai Ambani they all dreamt big and pursued them. I

would like to conclude with the words of James Allen, from his work “As A Man Thinketh” - ―Dream

lofty dreams, and as you dream, so shall you become. Your vision is the promise of what

you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.” So go

ahead and chase your dreams!

Dedicated to Those aspiring minds Who inspired me. Over to Editor!

Few Snaps of Medley Toastmasters Club’s Yesterdays!!

Where am I Running in DTM Race ?

12

Signing Off !!

Medley Toastmasters Club’s Newsletter Editor Team

TM Vijay Prasaad K T, Medley TMC’s VPPR. TM Vidhi Sharma. Proof Readers

TM Monisha. TM Sai Prashanthi Ramesh. Advisor

TM Sandhiya Rajaram.

Gratitude Corner!! TM Thiyagarajan, Medley TMC’s President. TM Sundararaman, Medley TMC’s IPP. TM Suganthi Periasamy, TCS TMC’s President. TM Arumugam M Ramani, Chennai TMC’s Secretary.

Meeting Venue—

ISTE Professional Centre

25, Gandhi Mandapam Road,

Opposite to Anna Centenary Library,

Adjacent to J4 Police Station,

Kotturpuram, Chennai 600 025.