Session 144

144.

A mathematician would have been happy with that number, being a perfect square. But being a casual weekend club, we are definitely not squares, right?

The session was kicked off 1 minute before time by our acting SAA TM Chaitanya.

President TM Rajat this time spoke of inspirations available in our daily events, in yesterday's Skit Competition, for example. MTM Panna's hard work had been inspirational, as had been Ruwi club's dedication and commitment to rehearsing repeatedly till they got their act just right. Ultimately, the team had won third place while TM G Kumar had been awarded best actor. Kudos to Kumar.

TMOD role was played by TM Ramalingam, who had taken up as subject "Public Relations", taking us through the principles of brand management in the eyes of TMI as well as the aspects TMI expects every PR officer to maintain. It was an exhaustive exposition and well worth going through at leisure later on.

Timer role was played by MTM Rita, who explained the timing rules correctly to the audience.

Wordmaster TM Sumesh introduces the word ABUNDANT to the audience. Being a word easily understood the audience did fair justice to the round robin, including the sentence "The word abundant was abundantly used in the round robin." Nice.

Jokemaster TM Mehta delivered some very funny jokes based on obesity. I personally think theme-based jokes are a good idea. They are easier to compile and they keep the audience tuned to a particular frequency.

There were two speeches scheduled. Evaluation criteria for the first speech, which was a Pathways Icebreaker speech, was described by the evaluator TM Saleem.

TM Shanavas delivered his Icebreaker speech titled "Humiliation Acted as Motivation", taking us through his early years and career and talking about his future plans. Splashes of humour livened up his speech. Good job there TM Shanavas.

The second scheduled speech was a P-10 as per CC manual and the evaluation criteria of this inspirational speech were described by MTM Panna.

P-10 speech titled "Triumph over Adversity" was delivered by TM Pradeep Poojary from Oman Cables Club. Delivered with good body language and personal examples of overcoming adversity, the speech was received well. He also received a standing ovation at having completed his CC manual.

Table topics were handled today by MTM Vaishali, who produced pithy short sayings today, that were ideal for TT. The speakers also did fair justice to them. Nice topics, MTM Vaishali.

Evaluation for the Icebreaker speech was delivered by TM Saleem, who praised the speaker's topic coverage and delivery.

Evaluation of the P-10 speech was delivered by MTM Panna. While praising the speech's title, use of props and personal stories, she suggested a more powerful ending and the use of more pauses to punctuate his paragraphs. 

Ah Counter and Grammarian feedback was given by TM Rajat, who pointed out the number of filler words used by each speaker as well as their good use of the word ABUNDANT by the role-players, which actually was not abundant. He also pointed out wrong usages of English, as well as good usage and nice turns of phrase.

GE MTM Niral gave a short and positive role evaluation while pointing out that the sound system malfunction needs to be taken care before the start of session and the TMOD's role introductions needed to be more personalised.

In the Business Session, TM Chaitanya tentatively signed on MTM Rita as TMOD for the next session, with speeches from MTM Vaishali, MTM Panna and TM Kumar.

President closed the session with the announcing of awards.

• Best Speaker:        TM Shanavas
• Best Evaluator:     MTM Panna
• Best Table topic:   TM Venkat
• Best Role player:   TM Mehta (Jokemaster)

See you all again on 3.11.18.

Session 143

Good news for the day...

We added two more members to our club - TM Srinivas and TM Lawrence. Welcome. May all your goals be fulfilled.

SAA MTM Rita (stand-in for Viswa) kicked off the session on the dot at 3.15 pm.

TM Chaitanya gave the welcome address, relating the story of a lady who embarked on a share-maximization drive on a box of cookies against a stranger, thinking that it was her box whereas actually it was the stranger's. Think before you jump to conclusions is the takeaway message. Good story, acting President.

TMOD role was played by TM Rajat, who had chosen the theme of "Habits". He introduced every role-player, asking them what habit they wanted to stop, to start and to continue, which made for lively interviews.

Timer role was played by TM Shanavas, who explained the time criteria to all.

TM Muthu was the Wordmaster, introducing the word IMPECCABLE to the audience. Round robin was an easy challenge as the audience had had two days to prepare a sentence. A friendly word, easily applied in a variety of situations.

MTM Rita embarked again as Jokemaster, regaling us with a series of amusing situations.

MTM Swati who was the evaluator for the upcoming Icebreaker speech, explained her expectations to the audience.

TM Sumesh delivered his Icebreaker speech titled "Ëxplore, Dream, Discover", following the Pathways manual. He talked about his growing up through childhood and adult life, his challenges and victories. He talked about his hobbies and dreams, ending with a quote from Marco Polo. A lovely speech TM Sumesh, and may you go from strength to strength.

Table topics were conducted by TM Chaitanya, who gave topics related to the theme, as if the speakers were trying to deal with a habit. An imaginative approach, which made for interesting speeches.

MTM Swati gave a feedback on TM Sumesh's speech, praising his ease on stage and sharing of life details, while suggesting that he could have related small personal stories as well and used the stage a little more.

For the first time in the club, we attempted a feedback session for the Table Topic speakers. Veteran TM G Kumar had been roped in for the purpose and he gave tips on how to make TT more memorable. He also gave individual feedback to the speakers on their efforts. Good job TM Kumar.

Grammarian MTM Panna gave a knowledge-rich feedback on Ah-counts as well as the usage of English - both good and bad.

TM Chaitanya conducted the Business Session, tying up the main roles for the next session - TM Ram as TMOD and TM Shanavas as speaker. We hope to get another speaker too.

We had as guest a leadership coach and motivational speaker Mr Hiten Bhatt, CEO of BE GREAT training centre based in the UK. He is in Muscat to promote a couple of training programs. It was interesting listening to him, since he was a very good speaker as well.

President TM Rajat closed the session with the announcement of awards.

• Best Speaker:          TM Sumesh (default)
• Best Evaluator:        MTM Swati (default)
• Best Table Topic:     MTM Amarvani (guest)
• Best Supporting:      MTM Panna

Next session is on 27th Oct, Abeer.

Session 142

A great session once again, guys. Attendance was slightly on the lower side as the seasonal celebrations enticed the members to stay at home and prepare food. Really, those who are missing out...are missing out. Period.

SAA Viswanath started the session with a beautiful quote on challenges AND he started bang on time. That itself is often a challenge.

President Rajat, as usual, told a joke and continued with the homily that leaders, like car drivers, cannot afford to sleep

TMOD Panna had planned her session with the theme "Challenges". To her, every challenge is an opportunity. She introduced all role players by relating their answers to questioned she had posed, related to challenges in their roles. A good way to go about the business of TMOD-ing.

Timer TM Saleem, visiting after a long time, laid down the timing rules with panache.

Wordmaster TM Mehta, taking up a role for the first time, introduced the word BONANZA to the audience. Since the word had been published two days earlier, people came up with good usage during the round robin.

Jokemaster MTM Sandhya, also taking up a role for the first time, related some really freshly caught saltwater jokes, that had the audience in delighted laughter.

Evaluator TM Viswanath laid down the criteria for the upcoming Icebreaker speech.

TM Sethuraman delivered his Pathways Icebreaker titled "Myself - VSN". In a free-flowing and humorous speech, VSN took us through a quick bio and ended with the interests in his life. Could you imagine he had taken dance lessons from Shamak Davar? We are impressed VSN.

Evaluator TM Kumar described the criteria for the upcoming Level 1 speech on Research and Planning, which is supposed to be a speech that had been researched on a topic unfamiliar to the speaker.

TM Rajat delivered his Pathways Level 1 Research-based speech titled "Black". Talking about blindness, their types, their extent and their cures, he enlightened the audience on a subject not often talked about.

Table topics were conducted by MTM Usha, who we were happy to see after a gap. The topics related to the theme and brought out both brain and heart in the speakers. A good round of speeches indeed.

TM Viswa delivered his evaluation of TM Sethuraman's Icebreaker speech, praising in particular his ease on stage, something we had all seen in all the roles that he had played.

TM Kumar evaluated the speech of TM Rajat, appreciating in particular his smooth integration of powerpoint with his words. 

General Evaluator TM Bhaskar gave glowing feedback on all the role-players. However, to add on to his comments, it is suggested that the table topic master not hand over the written topic to the speaker, to improve his or her listening skills.

Business session was conducted by MTM Panna on behalf of VP-E and we noted the following plans for 20th Oct - TMOD by TM Viswa, Icebreaker speeches by TMs Shanavas and Sumesh. Mentors, do take note of this and help the speakers prepare.

President delivered the closing address. New member participation had been particularly good this session and that is always energising.

The following were the awards for the day.

• Best speaker:     TM Rajat/Sethuraman (joint)
• Best evaluator:   TM Kumar
• Best table topic:  TM Sumesh
• Best role player:  MTM Sandhya (Jokemaster)

See you all again on 20th October 2018.

Session 141

Today was a lovely day.

Any Saturday is a lovely day because a Toastmasters session happens that day. But today was lovelier than usual. If for nothing else but for the fact that we had 4 guests and they said they had enjoyed their time in the club.

SAA TM Venkat, who had suddenly been conscripted, kicked off the session 2 minutes BEFORE time.

President TM Rajat welcomed all guests and related a story of a battleship captain in a stand-off with another ship in a fog, till he realised that the other ship was actually a lighthouse. So are we lighthouses, fixed on our principles and standing firm on a bedrock of values, or are we battleships, proud of our abilities but with enough sense to change course when we meet an immovable object? We need to be a bit of both, right?

TMOD Niral, playing the role for the first time, had chosen as her theme "Human Revolution". She started the session with a nice audience interaction about our wish for changing a particular aspect in our lives. She expanded on the topic with stories, poems and quotations and introduced every role player with their background and some interesting tit-bits of their lives. Overall an enjoyable and tightly run session from this debutante.

Timer role was played by MTM Kiran who introduced the time parameters for the various speeches.

Wordmaster role was played by MTM Usha who introduced the word RESILIENT to the group. This was an interesting word and the round robin produced some good sentences.

Jokemaster TM Muthu also played his first role today and had all of us in splits with his fresh from the oven jokes. Good job TM Muthu.

TM Bhaskar laid down the evaluation criteria for a Pathways Level 1 Project 2 Speech 1 to be delivered next.

TM Viswa delivered his speech on the theme of corruption, titled "Break the Chain". Having been at the receiving end, he inspired the audience to stand up to corruption and stare it down. Good speech TM.

TM Rajat described the criteria of a Pathways Level 2 Project 1 speech on Understanding Communication Styles. to be delivered next.

MTM Panna delivered the speech titled "Talk, talk, talk & talk"as part of her Path on Presentation Mastery. She identified her style as initiating and described various situations in life where it had stood her in good stead. However, she ended with an apt advice to all to "Stop, think, analyse and then communicate."

Table topics were conducted by MTM Swati, who used the pack of topics gifted by DTM Robin Anand after he returned from the TMI convention in the US. The topics were slightly anglicised, but our speaker made strong attempts to wade through foreign waters. A good round.

Evaluation on TM Viswa's speech was delivered by TM Bhaskar. While appreciating the speaker's choice of subject, he suggested a few specific improvements.

Evaluation of MTM Panna's speech was delivered by TM Rajat. Project requirements had been met adequately. Additionally, he appreciated the speech's opening and ending message and her use of visual aids, he suggested that she could have kept some dialogues to demonstrate the communication styles.

The role of Grammarian was played by TM Chaitanya, who in his inimitable professorial style, appreciated the good usage of English as well as corrected bad usage wherever noticed. It is always a pleasure to listen to your expositions, TM Chaitanya.

General Evaluator role was taken up by MTM Rita, who was at once detailed and meticulous, covering every role thoroughly. She had looked for a little more energy from the SAA.

Business session was conducted by the VP-E.

President closed the session with the following activities:

• He handed over Guest Welcome Kits to the 4 first-timer guests.
• He highlighted the importance of assigning Mentors (done already) and the need for Mentees to take advantage of the same.
• He distributed the evening's awards, which were:
• Best Speaker:      MTM Panna
• Best Evaluator:    TM Rajat
• Best Table Topic:  TM Sethuraman
• Best Role player:  TM Muthu (Jokemaster)

See you all on 13.10.18, same place.

Session 140

This was the last session in September, with a new 6-month period starting from Oct 1. Renewals were the word of the season flying around all whatsapp groups. VP-Es and VP-Ms were politely reminding all members to loosen there purse strings and hand over the fees.

RTC did well in terms of renewals. Barring 3 members who were having difficulty attending sessions, all others renewed.

We also added 7 new members to the club, ending up with a strength of 30 members. That is the sign of a healthy club and we would be sure to have adequate participation in all the sessions.

The session kicked off almost on time with the energetic roar of the SAA TM Viswanath who did a countdown.

President TM Rajat produced the Select Distinguished Club ribbon for 2017-18 that had just been received and had it pinned to the banner. He then related an amusing story of a cab-driver, who had till the day earlier, been driving a hearse, now causing a major accident because the passenger patted his shoulder. TM Rajat continued, saying all of us were carrying the dead - the dead past - with us and living our life through these memories. We will be more alive only if we keep on trying something new.

TMOD Chaitanya was in his element today (also in T-shirt and shorts) as he took us through a journey of "Recreational flying", that of gliders and parasailing and skydiving and all scary things under the sun. Very professionally presented with small video clips, he introduced each role-player by asking them what geographical area they would like to fly over.

Timer was played by TM Swati with her own confident self.

Wordmaster was played by TM Vaishaly who introduced the word HILARITY. The sentences produced during the round robin also caused much hilarity.

Jokemaster TM Kumar today related only two jokes but, with his usual skill in telling stories in an engrossing manner, he played with everyone's sense of fun.

The criteria for today's P-10 speech were laid out by TM Rajat, today's evaluator.

A P-10 speech titled "Gratitude is Attitude" was delivered by TM Venkat. Focussing on the deterioration in gratitude in our times, he proposed to the audience a number of ways to keep up this sentiment. A good theme TM Venkat and congratulations on completing your CC Manual.

Table topics were conducted by TM Shanavas whose topics were difficult in a simple type of way, if you know what I mean. They were a real challenge to some of the speakers. Yet, RTC speakers are of a never-say-die variety and fought back bravely.

There was a special Education Session today on "Mentoring" conducted bt TM Panna. For the next 20 minutes, we were taken through the importance and benefits of proper mentoring in clubs, ending with an interview with past-masters at the game - PQD DTM Robin Anand and TM G Kumar.

Evaluator's feedback on the P-10 speech was given by TM Rajat who expressed happiness at the choice of topic, praised the speaker's use of stories and his energy level and suggested that he look at the development of the speech so that it is more linear and focussed.

Grammarian role was played by TM Niral who pointed out usage of Ah's as well as instances where English could be improved.

General Evaluator TM Saleem was all praise for most role-players but decried the cross-talk and movements that take place during role-plays. Seriously people, have a heart...

Business session was conducted by TM Chaitanya, who quickly fixed up TMOD for the next session as well as two speakers.

"Toasting the Talent" was a new item on the agenda where a member would display some talent he or she has. Today TM Swati rendered a beautiful Hindi song. Sometimes we should speak tunefully as well.

PQD Robin Anand was invited on stage for his special mission, which included presenting TM Panna with pins for Level 1 completion as well as for having become the Mentor for a club. PQD presented TM Kumar with a pin for having become a Club Coach and thus rendering a special service. TM Chaitanya was presented with a pin for outstanding service to the District in terms of venue arrangements for the major functions.

President TM Rajat closed the session with a President's Report. He announced that with this session, where TM Venkat completed his CC, TM Panna completed her ALB and the club gained at least 4 new members, RTC gained 3 more points to take the tally to 5 and laid claim to being a DISTINGUISHED CLUB. For having added 5 new members in Aug-Sep period, the club was now eligible for the Smedley Award as well. Great going, RTC!

The session closed with snacks and tea.

The day's awards were:

• Best Speaker:       TM Venkat (default)
• Best Table topic:  TM Viswa
• Best Role player:  TM Kumar.

See you all again on 6th October.