Hidden word of the day and Free Association

The last Toastmaster meeting was a very peculiar one. To start with most of the members were stuck in an expected but unexpected traffic block in front of the army head quarters. In fact the member had decided to have the meeting while they were waiting for the important VIP to make his entry or exit from the HQ. This gave a good reason for the meeting to start late. Even I was behind schedule but the events mentioned above perfectly suited me.

The meeting started and the president in consultation with the senior members decided to give the round robin session a cold shoulder and moved to the prepared speeches directly. While Janaka was basking with pleasure with the company of a fairer sex, Alexander was at it in educating the members about Reiki. For those who missed out the speech Reiki is a technique for stress reduction and relaxation that also promotes healing. The next was an inspiring icebreaker by TM Royston Joseph. He made us realize how important it is to relax and take a laid back approach in certain aspects of life.

Balraj took the entire membership by storm. He introduced to us the term called Free Association. Most members thoughts started wondering to all parts of the world about there associations with what ever! He enlightened the membership as to how to make impromptu speeches. Free Association is a psychoanalytic therapy, spontaneous, uncensored verbalization by the patient of whatever comes to mind. He made sure that all the members are fully relaxed and also educated most of us as to how to breathe in life. Surprisingly, the two members who volunteered to demonstrate the breathing technique actually ended up increasing there carbon dioxide intake rather than oxygen. He also made sure that the membership caught up with the round robin and table topics. Well done Balraj we need people like you to make sure the club breaths!

The word of the day was dexterous. The grammarian showed is dexterity by inserting the word of the day in such a way in the agenda that no one noticed. However I have nothing to regret as in this whole exercise the grammarian report was also given a cold shoulder. Sorry K!

Message by Ralph TM mentor

Dear Ralph Members

I just wrote my message to the Raplh souvenir. I wrote some thing and cut it off since I did not want our guest and the public to read.

I thought I will share that with our group only. The words go like this,

Chandana’s dedicated leadership in the first year especially calling every member and following up on them makes our members realize how much they miss. More importantly he makes members who don’t attend meetings to feel guilty of them selves although
They have paid their subs to be a member.

I know some of my friends who was brought to the club by me will enjoy this.

Mistakes in Toastmasters

I was at the Toastmasters meeting last Wednesday, and since we had more guests than members that evening (I know members of other clubs are jealous), the guests did a round of introductions. I remember the first time I had to introduce myself and at that time what went in my mind was to become a good speaker and to complete the communications manual. I did not want to stop coming to Toastmasters as I continuously use the meetings to test material and delivery. This is because making mistakes in Toastmasters is all part of it.

I find many guests and even members still having the stigma that making a mistake in Toastmasters during a speech or round robbin session is an embarrassment. I find Toastmasters to be a great environment for making mistakes and taking risks. I’ve done purely management and technology related, and for once gave a speech on adultery. The supportive atmosphere of Toastmasters allows me to experiment well beyond the edges of what I’ve had the opportunity to do in front of other audiences. And I find that Toastmaster audiences appreciate a bit of wackiness and creativity, since they’ve already seen standard prepared speeches loads of times before.

This experimentation has greatly broadened my range as a speaker. I’d never given a humorous speech or used props or tried unusual delivery methods before joining Toastmasters. But now I’m convinced it’s actually less risky to take risks. As a speaker I find I have a better chance of success if I stray a bit off the “safe” path. If I give a speech just like anyone else would, even if my content and delivery are excellent, the reception will usually be lukewarm. I’m not providing enough value to the audience. But if I do something a bit odd or unusual, it keeps the audience awake and attentive.

What Toastmasters has shown me is just how important it is to keep the audience entertained while you attempt to educate them.

Make this better before the Installation

I know that each and every person of you is busy. However, it would not take much of time to suggest vital facts with respect to this site. The long term plan is infact to have a backup online from Agenda's to minutes of all important meetings. Even the Grammarian role would be easier with the Grammarians slips out before the meeting is on and out to check.

The spell check is also linked so that you dont have to check the online dictionary.

If you need a new house, Ive popped a link for you to get in touch with. Easy payment options available for all, esp toastmasters, better ones for ladies...lol.

The Toastmasters site is also linked for quick references along with a few other links for professional development.

However, It is open for suggestions. Please make it an option to login whenever you can to suggest your valuable details.

In the meanwhile, i have been on the lookout for a good Toasmaster's Logo. It is not available online or I cannot find the necessary link. Please send me the link if you have it.

Lets meet soon before the installation.

awesome...!
K!

Humour and Evaluator's contest

The Humour contest for which our super weights Siva, Premelal and Chanaka are planning to take part, is to be held on 15th September 2007 at Kurunagela. For those who would like to take part and encouraging our participants, please communicate matters to me in order to avail transport procedures and suggest the financial pie, if any.

However, our area governor did mention that a suggestion to postpone the same to the 22nd Sep is sought after. Lets all hope for the best.

There is also an evaluations contest cum workshop, for which further details shall be posted in the days to come....!

K!

Members List

Dear Ralph Toastmasters,

I am pleased to inform that the members names have been added along with the next project they are planning to perform soon. Please check and offer your suggestions. If you need to make a change, please mail me at kar79j@hotmail.com or comment on this blog. We need this sorted out to prepare the roster for a planned movement upwards the ladder.

Looking forward to your immediate action.

K!

Cracking start

It has been only few weeks of the Toastmaster year and the club is already making a good showing. President CC Premelal Brahmanage even though is yet to be formerly installed has had a cracking start (at least the post meeting water sessions!). With his dedication towards the Toastmasters cause, all can be assured of the fact that this year, like the previous year is going to be filled with action. VP Ed. CC Karthik Ramachandran has already got into action in two fronts. On one side he has initiated the blog (and we must all appreciate this fact) and on the other side he is breaking hearts at Standard Charted Bank as if it is anybodies business.

I think the key for us to start in this manner is the unimaginable effort put in by CC Chandana Weerasekera. I still remember him calling every Wednesday (I thank the current president for replacing the miserable call with a beautiful ladies voice). That reminds of the fact that I have not heard Nithila’s beautiful voice for quite some time.

The moment that got me very excited had nothing to do with official achievements. The excitement came of the fact that Last meeting was shocking (I am still recovering) as there were more guests than members! TM Janaka De Silva was at his best and I can assure you that this Toastmaster year, he will have cent percent attendance. My recommendation to the President is that we must focus Janaka’s energy to complete all the ten speeches within this year.

Finally for us to make sure that this cracking start makes it thorough, all members must pay there dues on time. I haven’t seen TM Ivan Kevitiyagala (treasurer) around for sometime. I think he is mentally preparing himself to receive the large sum of money as subscription.

Blogging from Email

This is a check blog where it is being composed from my inbox instead of
the routine web based composition.

Rgds
Karthik

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Installation of 2nd President

29th September, happens to be the mos important day for us this year when the incoming President CC Premelal Brahmanage shall be installed as President. The event is being lined up and shall be informed within a week. Therefore, we request all of you to keep this date free in your calendars, as its a once in a year, innovative, and Ralph-type event.

Await details.

Rgds
Karthik
VP Ed

Whats 'Toastmasters' ?

The first question that comes to mind is.....do we get to taste wine or liquor?
Sorry, but the answer is NO!

Secondly, Is it about giving Toasts'?.....Somewhere close, but still NO!

So, What are we?

The Toastmasters club is an organization started by Mr. Ralph C Smedley, for creating a pathway for good energetic and fluent speakers. The meetings are dedicated to making you better communicators as well as Leaders. The Toastmasters is also looked at as a professional degree, where for every speech/ evaluation made, you shall be evaluated and given the pro's and con's to make you better every time.

For further questions, please feel free to login to http://www.toastmasters.org and re-discover a whole new world.

Warm Regards
Karthik

Who are we?

We are the members of the Ralph toastmasters club, who have a different attitude with the exotic Sri Lankan tradition and Spice. What we follow is the norms of the regular Toastmasters International and implement the same in our own way to maximize the benefits of the same.

If you would like to experience us, feel free to drop in to our meeting place any time and feel at home.

Warm rgds
Karthik Ramachandran
VP Education