icc eves newsletter apr 2016

SYNERGY

CLUB # 01334658, AREA 68, DIVISION Q, DISTRICT 20

VOLUME 7 | ISSUE 3| APRIL 15 2016

THE QUEST

INSIDE THIS ISSUE

PAGE

Editor’s note 2

President’s corner 4

Cover Story- Synergy 5

Childhood Memories 7

Introducing a speaker 8

Meeting Theme-Incredible India 10

Interview with a champion 11

World champions visit Qatar 13

Pointers for humour speech 14

Eves @ COT 15

I ,Me, Myself 16

Art of writing 17

Club contest 18

Gavels Corner 19

Know the new Eves 21

Area 68 contest 22

Travelogue 23

Quick dinner recipe 25

Table of Contents

2

Toastmaster,

It is with immense delight that we the editorial team

release our third newsletter. I’m certain it will keep you

glued till the last page.

The cover story ,Synergy or team work is synonymous

with Eves. The success of our club lies in the ability of

our leaders to spot the strength in each member and

give them opportunities to flourish .

East or west eve’s are the best. The events that unfolded

in the last couple of months just proved it. The eves wel-

comed 2016 with the annual club contest. This was soon

followed by the area contest. The area contest saw the

eves walk away with 7 prizes. The contest showcased

the dedication, determination and devotion of our club

members towards public speaking and dynamic leader-

ship . We wish our champions the very best for the up-

coming division contest.

The highlight of this edition are ,article by our founder

president DTM Vijaya Monteiro, interview with champi-

on speaker Nisha Shivaram , interesting travelogue and

much more.

Editor’s Note

Our Editorial Team

TM Sunita Saini President TM Girija Chari Secretary TM Lesiley Mathew Webmaster

TM Prathibha Ramesh

Editor

3

TM Prathiba Ramesh is the current VPPR of ICC

Eves Club and she can be reached for comments

at [email protected]

President’ s Corner

After witnessing the ceremony when we got back home, and I researched about it. I realized

it had taken more than 60 years for women to move from the kitchen to the parade ground.

I wondered why it took so long for these women to come out and prove themselves. What

would have happened in their home when they raised their voice for the first time? Did any-

one here them or did the voice fall on deaf ears? Women inspite of being educated and capa-

ble , took so long to come out of their limitations. These women's only represent 10 percent of

the society. What about the rest?

My heart breaks when I hear or see women who can’t even say no. They have a voice but

they can’t speak up. When I joined Toastmasters it gave me confidence and brought the

change in me to speak up my heart. I wish all the women in our society get their confidence

back and speak for themselves without fear and make those deaf ears hear their voices.

So it’s time to support them and speak for yourself and for them, so don’t sit “Speak Up”

TM Sunita Saini is the current President of ICC Eves Club and she can be

reached for comments at [email protected]

TM Sunita Saini

4

“Speak UP”

Recently I went to India for a short break and I visited the

famous Wagah border, where the lowering of the flags

and the Beating Retreat ceremony takes place every even-

ing before sunset.

As the ceremony started something caught my eye, I saw

that on the Indian side two BSF women personal started

the march. It gave me a shock as I wasn’t prepared for it

and then I felt very proud to be a woman.

I can do things you cannot, You can do things I cannot, To-

gether, we can do great things … Mother Teresa

What is synergy? In mathematics, 1+1 is 2. But in life, often

1+1 is 3 or even 4. If one piece of wood can take a maximum

weight of 5 kg and another piece of wood can bear a maxi-

mum weight of 3kg, then the two pieces of wood when joined

together will be expected to carry a total weight of 8kg. But

often, this is not so. The two pieces of wood when stuck to-

gether will be able to carry weight much more than the sum of

their individual capabilities, much more than 8Kg. This is syn-

ergy – working together, creation of a whole that is greater

than the sum of its part.

Synergy – Together is better

This synergy occurs all over nature. Often different species of animals and plants work

together and perform "services" for each other that they can't carry out alone. For exam-

ple, a bee gets its food from a flower and the flower gets fertilized by the pollen carried

by the bee. Bacteria present in our intestine eats a part of our food and at the same time

helps to break down our food and aids digestion. Emperor penguins survive harsh win-

ters in Antarctica only because they huddle together to conserve body heat. In the Afri-

can savannahs, the oxpecker bird is always seen riding on the back of a rhinoceroses. It

eats the parasites on the rhino skin and the Rhino gets a free clean up. This is synergy at

its best.

Just like nature survives in synergy, we too can go far in life by teaming up with each

other and working together. We all have unique talents. But then, each of us also has se-

rious limitations. It is very difficult to conquer our weaknesses. It is much easier to just

team up with people who are different from us, who are strong in the areas where we

are weak. If we nurture each other’s strengths, if we compensate each other’s weakness-

es, we could collectively achieve much more than the sum of our individual achieve-

ments. This is synergy.

TM Susan Mathew Past President

5

History proves that truly successful people often worked in synergistic environments.

They happily contributed to healthy give and take relationships. One of the major rea-

sons for their success was their association with the right people who complimented

their strengths and compensated their weaknesses. They valued differences because dif-

ferences added to their knowledge. We too can strive for synergy in our lives. If we can

unite with talented people and share creativity with other human beings, there is no end

to what we can achieve. Alone we are smart but together we can be brilliant.

We too can strive for synergy in our lives. If we can unite with talented people and share

creativity with other human beings, there is no end to what we can we can achieve.

Alone we are smart but together we can be brilliant.

6

TM Susan George is the past President of ICC Eves Club and she

can be reached for comments at [email protected]

Childhood Memories

7

The important aspect of public speaking is introducing the

speaker. The introductory remark made by the presenter es-

tablishes a speaker at that moment with the audience. Its be-

cause the introduction made is important for the speaker as

well as the audience.

First what is the need for the Introduction?

1. It separates the speaker from the others. It helps in trans-

forming one from general to special.

2. An introduction will orient the mindset of the audience to

listen to the speaker and the objective of his speech.

Introducing a speaker

3. A good introduction highlights the expertise, knowledge and authority of the speak-

er with regard to the relevance.

4. It kind of develops a flow of thoughts in the audience, which actually is in the

words of the speaker. (e.g. We have been discussing the importance of sports now let

us hear from the sports man himself). We now have Kapil Dev to talk on bowling .

Any assignment taken should be met with the optimism that you have to perform well

and hence you need to seriously work on the project.

Now this actually becomes some of the job of the presenter, but is it all that is required

for an Introduction.

No, even the speaker has some duty to appraise the presenter about himself .If the pre-

senter does not have any information regarding the speaker you can imagine how the

introduction would be. Failing to give information about yourself will only hamper

your image.

DTM Vijaya Monteiro Founder President

8

What are some of the information that a speaker need to inform the presenter

about:

1. The name and the correct pronunciation.

2. Educational and professional background.

3. Field of expertise and some extra information regarding special interest.

4. The title of the speech and your expertise in the chosen subject.

It is imperative that the speaker provide all the information that the introducer

seeks from us.

One important aspect that all speakers must remember to do is , to carry a written

introduction of themselves as there are possibilities that the presenter might habe

replaced at the last minute.

Once the presenter have all the required materials to introduce a speaker, he must

be innovative and graceful while introducing the speaker.

Guidelines for the presenter:

1. Should have an opening that would generate some interest about the speaker

and the chosen topic.

2. The presenter should use a minute or two to introduce the speaker and not elab-

orate about the speech.

3. The presenter should inform the audience about the knowledge and expertise of

the speaker on the subject.

Finally remember to wait at the lectern to welcome the speaker with applause and

a warm and firm handshake. Hand over the lectern and return to your seat.

9

DTM Vijaya Monteiro is the founder President of ICC Eves Club and she

can be reached for comments at [email protected]

MeetingTheme-Incredible India

10

Nisha Shivaram is a champion speaker and evalua-

tor .She successfully competed at the district level con-

tests three times. A native of kerala brought up in Madh-

yapradesh , she has been living in Doha since the past nine

years. She holds a postgraduate degree in commerce and cur-

rently works as Resource Management executive in DULSCO.

We got an opportunity to interview her and get to know her

better.

Interview with a Champion

1. How long with Tm? Who inspired you to join TM?

I had joined Talking Matters TM club in 2007. But active since 2010. So you can say….6

years active involvement. No one inspired me. I came to know about Toastmasters

when I was in 9th Standard through a magazine called Competition Success review.

As a regular reader of the magazine, I always got to know something or other about

toastmasters. And as an active participant in speech contests and debates, I somewhere

desired to be an orator. I had many opportunities to join a club when I got married and

settled in Mumbai but due to long train journeys, I opted not to join any club. That

dream came true when I reached Qatar. One of my colleagues got an invitation for a

club meeting. As she was not interested, I went and attended Talking Matters TM

Club’s 100th meeting in 2007. And rest is history.

2. What are the club officer roles you held in your club? What are the awards you

won?

I started as a VP Membership and moved on to become , VPPR, Club VPE and presi-

dent. The awards I won was for the Educational Achievements and THE PR award at

DTAC.

TM Nisha Shivaram

11 11

3. What prompted you to participate in speech and evaluation contest and what

keeps you going?

Since the day I joined the club, I wanted to participate in speech contests. I had no

interest in participating in evaluation contests. It was fellow TM, TM Sivapraksh

who motivated me to take part in evaluation. When I gave my name for evalua-

tion contests, I was very doubtful of my evaluating skills. So I decided to drop out.

It was Siva who came to me said. Nisha. we never know…you may win. And I

jumped in. I won second place in Club contest and then first in Area and division

that year and finally the third position at DTAC Bahrain, 2012.

4. Was public speaking a talent you already processed or was it a newly discov-

ered talent?

I have no idea. It was my English teacher in school who gave my name for a story

telling contest, when I was in the 5th Standard. And that is how it all began.

5. What are the goals you have set for yourself as you prepare for the upcoming

division contest?

Like any other contestant, I too dream and aspire to be a world champion of pub-

lic speaking. Nothing less, nothing more.

6. How has public speaking helped you in your personal and professional life?

Public speaking has brought lot of opportunities in the field of training. That has

definitely helped in my professional life.

7. What advice would you give others who aspire to be confident and effective

speakers?

There are only three things that you need to do:

1) Preparation – You have to be well prepared at every occasion. You never know

when you will be asked to speak.

2) Practice – Enough practice will give you enough confidence.

3) Utilise speaking time – whenever you get the “Speaking time” ie…as a TMOD,

Ah counter, listener, Timer, TT Master, Evaluator, module presenter, contest chair,

MC…just grab it.

TM Nisha Shivaram is the current VP Education of her corporate club

and she can be reached for comments at [email protected]

12

World champions visit Qatar

13

Mohammed Qatani

Adhitya Maheshwar

Wondering how to go about writing a humorous speech.

Here are some useful pointers.

1. Searching for a subject- Look down memory lane,

try to recollect all the major issues you’ve faced. Do they

seem very silly now. Bingo!! Your subject is ready. You

could also take a hilarious incident you’ve encountered

and elaborate on it. Eg: Your fear of the dark as a child,

first job interview so on.

Pointers for Humour Speech

TM Prathiba Ramesh

14

2. Exaggerate like crazy- When writing a humorous speech forget about logical ex-

planations. Your only focus is to make your audience roar with laughter. Here is one

place you are free to liberally exaggerate. Eg: My guest loved the gravy, they licked the

plates so well that I didn’t have to wash them after dinner.

3. Humour last- Its always best to keep your punch line towards the end of your sen-

tence. If you don’t , you will be talking while your audience are laughing. Eg- My hus-

band and I were happy for 23 years, then we got married.

4. Use your gestures wisely- Gestures are inevitable in a humorous speech. Use

them naturally and effectively , but never over do them. Facial expressions, body move-

ments and stances can be used to your advantage.

5. Pause ,Pause……… Pause- A pause is the most powerful tool in a humorous

speech. It can be given at three places. You can use a pause before a joke, this draws at-

tention. A pause could also be inserted right before the punch line, it alerts your audi-

ence something good is coming. A final pause at the end, will give the audience to think

about what you said.

TM Prathiba Ramesh is the current VPPR of ICC Eves Club and she can be


15

EVES @ COT

I ,Me ,Myself

Those words, at that moment made me realise that yes I can do it.

I am a big fan of laughs and always am an avid believer that laughter brings people

closer .Life is so much better if you are laughing.

Toastmaster's humorous speech contest are one such platform which gives us the

opportunity to make people forget their worries and take them a journey of laugh-

ter. I just loved that I had an opportunity to make people happy.

So, I decided to give it my best and went on to the stage to just be myself.

It worked, I won the first prize.

St. Catherine of Sienna said "Be who you were created to be and you will set the

world on fire"

TM Anupama

16

It was the day before of my first club level competi-

tion. I was practicing my speech throughout the

day. If I let myself think for a minute the nervous-

ness set in. Will I be able to do it? The question was

disturbing me. My daughter Vallika, being a gavel-

liar herself knew the pressure I was in .

Then , she suddenly walks up to me and says ,

"Mom, its ok you just have to make them l laugh ,

you are a natural ".

TM Anupama is a member of ICC Eves Club and she can be reached

for comments at [email protected]

Art of Writing

After experimenting a lot with my skills in writing speeches I fumbled into a fair deal with

myself on how to write my speech. First think of a theme that you want to convey and pro-

gress from it. Imagine the speech writing like a recipe. It has to be in chronological or-

der .you cannot put all spices first, then add oil or water later cut vegetables..Oh what a

mess it will be, so put points in order .state your first point with a good opening, catchy

phrase is always the best. Now provide two or three evidence from your life to support

your theme. Don’t use boring statistics but provide facts in form of stories and anecdotes.

End with a message ensure it is related to your speech and it should have a take home

message.

A Speech must have 75 percent of originality and 25 percent can be quotes or ideas from

great personality. Structure is vital to a speech so concentrate on that. Remember the three

essential S….Style…Structure ….and Story line.. Read through your speech and edit the un-

wanted words. Use a thesaurus to substitute new words. Count your words as time is of

the essence in your speech .After writing numerous speeches I still feel that I am a beginner

in writing but remember you are giving a form to your thoughts and In the end you will

feel proud of your creation . My advice is try ...Try and keep trying remembering if I can

so can you.

TM Kanthi Ravichandran is the current VP Education of ICC Eves Club and

she can be reached for comments at [email protected]

Wonderful thoughts, beautiful words, metaphors and allitera-

tions all dance in my head before I start writing but once I sit

with my pen and paper they propel like a paper bird and fly

away . I know most of us in toast master are in the same boat. I

always wished that speech writing could be made easy. The

evaluators always speak out on how to improve our speaking

skills .No one tells us how to write or how to pen down our

thoughts. I agree it’s a big struggle but in the end we not only

become speakers in toastmasters but speech writers.

TM KANTHI RAVICHANDRAN VP Education

17

Club Contest

18

ICC Eves Gavel club has successfully entered the second

year of its emergence with a new set of dynamic executive

committee 2016.

PRESIDENT: Dhruv Ramesh

VP EDUCATION: Fida Kabeer

VP MEMBERSHIP: Aman Abdulla

VP PUBLIC RELATIONS: Dhivyashri Ramesh

SECRETARY: Sanskar Malwade & Harini Prabhakar

Gavels Corner

TM Shiney Kabeer

19

It gives me immense pleasure to serve as the counselor of such amazing, enthusiastic and

brilliant gaveliers.Iam supported by a powerful and outstanding team TM Asha Shiju,

TM Pratibha Ramesh and TM Girija Chari.

The club contest was held successfully on 6th Feb 2016 at Shalimar Palace Hotel. The won-

derful performance of the contestants, role players and skilful judging of the judges made it

a huge success. Hats off to the whole team of gaveliers and toastmasters who contributed

towards it. Congratulations to the winners and kudos to all the participants!

Humorous Speech Contest

1st place: Helmin Jinoz

2nd place: Divyasree Ramesh

3rd place: Tanya Pinheiro

Evaluation Speech Contest

1st place: Dhruv Ramesh

2nd place: Sukriti Bharadwaj

3rd place: Arun Magesh

The first place winners will represent our club for the Division Gavel Contest on 8th April

at Olive International School. Best wishes!!!

The will to win, the desire to succeed, the urge to reach your full potential…

these are the keys that will unlock the door to personal excellence.

TM Shiny Kabeer is the past president of ICC Eves Club and she can be


20

International Speech Contest

1st place: Aashiya Shaji

2nd place: Leah Susan Mathew

3rd place: Fida Kabeer

TT speech contest

1st place: Divyasree Ramesh

2nd place: Sukriti Bharadwaj

3rd place: Aaditya R Nair

Know the New Eves

21

TM Kshipra hails from Thane in Maharashtra and living in Doha for a

decade.TM Susan introduce her to ICC Eves. She worked with the fi-

nancial department in India and now a home maker. She loves read-

ing , listening to music and travelling. Places close to nature like the

mountains and beaches are her favourite. Joining an NGO and work-

ing for girls’ education in rural Maharashtra is her dream for the fu-

ture. She likes ICC Eves for the cordial ambience of the meetings .

TM Aarti hails from Kota in Rajasthan. She is a teacher at the MES In-

dian School and is living in Doha for the last 14 years. TM Asha intro-

duced her to Toastmasters and is her mentor too. Her interests are gar-

dening, , home decoration, arts and crafts.Aarti has joined the Eves for

achieving her dream – Public speaking. She likes the grace with which

Eves take up the stage during the meetings.

TM Sneha Kulkarni is a native of Nasik in Maharashtra. A homemaker

who is in Doha for the past 9 years, She was introduced by TM Susan

to Toastmasters. Her hobbies are drawing, dancing and writing poems.

She likes ICC Eves for the encouragement she receives and the hum-

bleness of its members.

TM KSHIPRA GORE

TM AARTI GAUTAM

TM SNEHA

TM Girija Chari

TM Girija Chari is the current Secretary of ICC Eves Club and

she can be reached for comments at [email protected]

Area 68 Contest

22

Eves Rocks the Area Contest

Humorous Speech Winners

Summer in Seattle

Taking a 14 hr flight over the

seven seas with 3 hyper active

kids was not my idea of a relax-

ing summer holiday. But I tried

to look as excited as possible

when my husband surprised

me with air tickets to Seattle.

A huge sign which read “ Wel-

come to Seattle the Evergreen

state “ greeted us as we entered

the airport . Coming from over-

ly green God’s own country

Kerala, the sign didn’t impress

me at all. But I must admit I

had to swallow my words as I

stepped into the great outdoors

of Seattle. The sheer natural

beauty of the place could even

mesmarise a hardcore Keralite

like me .”” The State where na-

ture lost her paint box would

have been the most appropriate

phrase to describe Seattle.

”Where else in the world

would you find purple, yellow

orange and maroon coloured

trees.” Seattle is a perfect blend

of Urban attraction and natural

beauty in the State of Washing-

ton. The best time of the year to

visit Seattle is during the sum-

mer, between June to Aug

when nature is at her best.

Much of Seattle is covered by

deep green pine and fir trees,

hence the name evergreen state.

I was spellbound by the great

waterfront locations, the diver-

sity of neighbourhood and

great out doors. It’s also home

to Microsoft. No wonder Seattle

is ranked the 2nd best city to

live in America. In addition to

enjoying the impressive nature,

we did some interesting sight-

seeing as well.

San Juan Islands is a group of

islands which are ranked as one

of the best holiday destinations

in the world, it’s just a ferry

ride away from Seattle. Here

we visited the lavender farms

where we got to see acres n

acres of beautiful and lavender

flowers which looked like a vel-

vet carpet of violet its subtle

fragrance filled the air. Seattle

is home to the Boeing Everett

factory. We felt truly privileged

to witness the making of the

latest dream liner boeing 787

for Qatar airways, and the

thought that one day we might

travel in this very plane

brought goose bumps.

TM Prathibha Ramesh

23

Beautiful Lavender fields

Downtown Seattle has many wonderful sights to offer, Pikes place, Chahuly’s glass muse-

um, space needle and a giant wheel. Pikes place is the public market where u can find

wide range of homemade and home grown goodies. For lovers of glass handicrafts like

me, Chahuly’s glass house is a must see spot. And the space needle which is the landmark

of Seattle reminded me of a miniature torch tower.

A visit to the Microsoft visitors center was a treat to my kids as they got , a chance to ex-

plore some of the companies exciting new products and technology hands on.The icing on

the cake was our visit to Mt Reiner . We were smitten by the majestic snow capped moun-

tain in a background of clear blue sky.

Words can’t describe the peace and bliss I experienced there 17,000 feet above sea leavel.

For a person like me who has lived most of her life in a small desert country like Doha, the

ambience of mt Reineir was Divine. I promised myself a trip to the Himalayas as soon as I

got back to India. I was amazed to learn that the melting snow from mt Reiner was the

source of water that quenched the thirst of the entire Seattle.

As we bade good bye to Seattle after our relaxing 3 week stay,I realized that the 14 hr

flight, over the seven seas with my 3 hyper active kids was worth all the trouble and I

whole heartedly thank my husband for that nostalgic summer in Seattle.

24

Mt: Reineir

Tomato Soup

.Heat the butter and olive oil in the bottom of the pressure cooker until it is melted and just

starting to bubble. Add the chopped onion and cook until translucent – about 5

minutes . Add in the remaining ingredients: tomatoes (with any juice), salt, pepper, thyme,

and stock. Mix well. Bring to pressure on high heat, and then reduce the temperature to the

lowest possible setting to maintain pressure. Cook for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, remove the pressure cooker from the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes. If

the pressure hasn’t dropped after this time then finish with the quick release method to

open the lid. Now comes the hardest part: blending the soup. We happened to have an im-

mersion blender that we got as a gift many years back, and this was the first time we used

it. The immersion blender worked really well, but if you don’t have one then you could la-

dle the soup into a regular blender or food processor and mix it up that way. Just be sure to

do smaller batches to minimize the risk of splashing.

Source: Recipe from http://www.pressurecookerdiaries.com

Ingredients Butter - 1 tablespoon Dried thyme– 2 tablespoon

Onion - ½ of small

Olive oil-1 tablespoon

Tomatoes - 4 medium chopped Butter - ½ tablespoon

Red chili powder - ¼ teaspoon hilled

Cold Milk - ¼ cup

Salt – As per taste

Pepper - ¼ teaspoon

Tomato soup

25

With a family to feed, cooking before a

meeting can be a challenge for madam

toastmasters. So here’s a quick 30minute

dinner recipe!

Mission

The mission of a Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually supportive and positive learn-ing environment in which eve-ry individual member has the opportunity to develop oral communication and leadership skills, which in turn foster self-confidence and personal growth.

Vision

Toastmasters International em-powers people to achieve their full potential and realize their dreams. Through our member clubs, people throughout the world can improve their com-munication and leadership skills, and find the courage to change.

Meeting every First and Third Tuesday

Time:

6:30 to 8:30 p.m.

Venue:

Mazza Restaurant, Doha, Qatar

For more details:

(+974)55998461 /66706996

[email protected]

Website

www.IccEvesToastmasters.club

26

icc eves newsletter apr 2016

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