Chennai Wordsmiths newsletter December 2014 edition

The Official newsletter of Chennai Wordsmiths Toastmasters Club

All of us dream, a lot of us have explored our

interests, experimented with both the

leadership and communications track and

some have even given up. Some of us believe

that no one can shatter our dreams, except us.

So we continue to follow along. Follow our

dream.

Ever since the dawn of Toastmasters in Tamil

Nadu, we have grown from strength to

strength. We have explored frontiers that have

not just helped us set records but set

examples.

Today when you are reading this article, you

would have been proud to see one such

example that will go down the history of

Toastmasters in India – Aditya Maheshwaran,

a fellow toastmaster from Chennai, who made

us proud by bagging the 2nd Runners up at the

Semi Finals of the World Championship in KL

in August 2014. Today, I want to remind you

that it’s important to choose the dreams we

want to follow and pursue them relentlessly.

Aditya Maheshwaran and I are the proud

pedigree of PSBB, Chennai. We joined

Toastmasters around the same time and we

were both at that time very young but had

different interests. While I wanted to explore

the leadership track, Aditya chose the

Communication track. Despite moving away

from his home club in Chennai and

being a part of another District in India,

his passion and commitment for Public

speaking never stopped him from

reaching out for excellence.

We as a district are proud today that

he is originally from D82, his home

district, he was just an ordinary

member like all of us, but because he

believed he could dream, today he is a

man who made us proud at the

Toastmasters International convention

at KualaLumpur, Malaysia. An

example that will remind us to

remember to follow our dreams no

matter how old, how long or how far

away we go.

‘‘Follow your dreams

Because they know the way’’

Dec 31,2014

Follow your dreams. Because they know the way I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

Lead Every one And Perform

Follow your dreams by DTM 1

Delegate to inspire by DTM 2

Inspiring leaders every week 3

Be the egg broken from inside 4

Leadership has transformed 5

Let us grow and make others 6

Ace in Leadership 7

From the Editor 8

Best Articles 9

Happy memories 10

About TMI 11

By Sastharam Ravendran DTM

EC Members for Jan 2015 - June

2015 : Suresh G - sgt @ arms ,Ramyaa - Secretary ,Kumar - VP PR, Ganeshan - VP

Membership,Paul Baskaran - VP Education,Samuel W - President

Delegate to inspire

Inside Story Headline


By Rajeev Nambiar DTM, Div ison Governor – Div is ion

B

The essence of effective leadership is having a

good followership base and for that a leader

needs to be proactive than reactive to

situations. As I see it leadership gravitates to

the person who can convey or express his

thoughts in a constructive manner without fear

or favour. In today’s world leadership is seen

more of as a position of authority than its real

essence which is constructive action for the

benefit of people at large. On the contrary

what we get to see is individuals who are more

concerned with stamping their authority of

power amongst people. This leadership is

what I call short sighted leadership because

this kind loses steam very quickly as they

seldom provide inspiration for the followers to

do their work or task at hand.

My tryst with the rigors of leadership in

Toastmasters and outside of it has given me

the insight that to become an inspirational

leader you need to use the process of

delegation to its epitome. Well this kind of

leadership is the need of the hour if more

leaders are to be created in our society. I firmly

believe that if an individual needs to graduate

from a mere leader to an inspirational leader

then he or she needs to understand the core

concept of leadership and that is “an effective

Leader is one who tells people where

to look and not what to see”. So fellow

Toastmasters, inspirational leaders are

more concerned with providing

solutions when the going gets tough

rather than playing the role of a victim.

Thus inspirational leaders are those

who possess the ability and

commitment to work beyond the title

they hold and are ready to walk the

extra mile for the benefit of their

followers adopting the process of

delegation and thereby creating new

leaders in the process.

Did you know : All pilots on international flights identify themselves in English regardless of their country of origin.

Education session by DTM Rajeev

Nambiar on 13 DEC 2014 and Meeting

No. 321

“A leader is a dealer in hope.” -Napoleon Bonaparte

Inspiring leaders every week


Inside Story Headline

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.” -John Quincy Adams

I meet these Inspiring leaders every week in

my Toastmasters club, during contest time and

they are the set of people who inspire me to

learn more, do more and become more and

more important to be humble and keep the ego

grounded. Every week they are the first to

come to the club, make seating arrangement,

put banners, greet everyone and guard the

door with one single aim to serve the club

members and give the best experience to each

member, Yes I am talking about Inspiring

leaders who have done the role of Sgt arm.

During the Contest time they are the people

who miss all the fun of the contest and help the

others to enjoy the contest. They are servant

leaders who keep others interest first and

serve members.

In the Last one Year we had two Inspiring

Leaders who have done the hat of Sgt Arm,

TM Thanigaivel and Tm Vijay Kumar and both

of them have inspired me with their

commitment to serve the club and its

members and they are true Servant

Leaders. I want to mention about TM

Prabhu who had happily done this

role whenever he got an opportunity.

I bow to these Inspiring Leaders.

By Yuva Raju, CC,ALB, Area Governor –Area B3

Our Area Governor Yuva

Raju @ Reverberations '14

WORD PUZZLE

1) To feel or show honor or esteem for; to care or show consideration for (verb)

Root SPECT = look

S P E C T

2) Deserving of confidence or reliance on the integrity, strength or ability of a person;

reliable (adjective) Root TROST = comfort, consolation

T R U S T

3) Identification with or vicarious experiencing of the feelings, thoughts etc. of

someone; sympathy (noun) Root PATH = feel, suffer

P A T H


“Try not to become a man of success. Rather become a man of value” - Albert Einstein

Be the egg broken from inside

By Gopi Ramal ingam CC,ACB,Pres ident

Have you ever wondered volunteers do a fair

and good job than employees? This is

applicable in all sorts of life. Be it in your

workplace or be it in your home or be it in

toastmasters, this is the same. Think about this

situation where a new promotion for the Team

Leader is open at your work place. The manager

has asked his favorite employee to apply for this

position and a few employees volunteered to

take up that challenging role, where one of the

employees who has volunteered for this role and

the one who is the favorite employee of the

Manger was selected for the position of Team

Lead, whom do you think will do the job best?

Obviously the guy who has

volunteered for the position will. He

will put his heart and soul to strive

hard and excel in that position. If

you take Toastmasters as an

example, during my experience with

toastmasters, I have observed that

people who volunteer for the role

would do a better job than the

people who have been assigned to

do a role. Be it a small role play in

the club like TAG roles or club

officer roles or any big roles during

the division or district conference, it

is evident that volunteers have

delivered an exceptional job.

Always remember the egg broken

from outside becomes an omelet

and the egg broken from inside

takes a life form. Always try to be an

egg broken from inside rather than

broken from outside, to be a great

leader.

WORD PUZZLE

4) Uncompromising adherence to right moral and ethical conduct or principles;

honesty (noun)

Root TANG = touch

T E G

5) Confident or trustful dependence; something or someone on which one has

confidence(noun) Roots: RE (prefix) = back; LIGA = tie, bind

R E


“Leadership is influence.” - John C. Maxwell

Leadership has transformed

By Samuel W hitef ie ld CC,ALB,VP-Educat ion

Leadership has transformed! Leaders today

need to believe in engaging and empowering

people around them and not just guard their

position with fierce authority. In order to

succeed, now leaders need to fully

understand the dynamics of effective

communication and interpersonal skills.

Leadership in the present times transcends

task and job orientation, it is about

developing the ability to create an inspired

culture through the skill of agility and

adaptability. Leadership is evolving into a

partnering relationship that echoes the

elements of continuous learning and

transferring of knowledge that just does

not permeate through hierarchy but

seeks genuine talent and skills. Leaders

are now termed as coaches, who have

the vision and strength to lead varied

array of people through customized

leadership styles and are able to

achieve more and more with less.

Leadership is beyond a concept, it is

about living the qualities of a leader on a

day on day basis…

Chennai Wordsmiths Toastmasters Club meeting @ Pondicherry

Did you know : the longest one syllable word in the English language is 'screeched'.

Let us grow and make others grow


“I must follow the people. Am I not their leader?- Benjamin Disraeli

Fellow Toastmasters,

Do you want to:

• Be comfortable in your own skin

• Develop your communication skills

• Spend quality time crafting your

speeches

• Practice, practice and practice in

anything for that matter

• Deliver with passion

• Connect with the external source

• Stick to the change we need

• Get far with a great team

• Learn more by listening

• Know that yesterday’s competitor is

today’s collaborator

• Know that lead is nothing but to deal in

hope, as said by Napoleon

• Narrate your own story

• Influence the surrounding

• Use the CHANGE to reach our

supporters

• Empower others and release

followers to make impact

• Be able to stay calm under

pressure leading to great quality

Leadership is the only answer for

above............. Isn’t it a good time to

take leadership..................................

“Let us grow and make others grow”

both of them have inspired me with

their commitment to serve the club

and its members and they are true

Servant Leaders. I want to mention

about TM Prabhu who had happily

done this role whenever he got an

opportunity. I bow to these Inspiring

Leaders.

By P.Baskaran, Vice Pres ident (Educat ion) e lect .

Did you know : 'Bookkeeper' and 'bookkeeping' are the only 2 words in the English language with three consecutive double letters.


“Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.” - John F. Kennedy

Ace in Leadership

By Pr imrose Jasmin CC,ACB

There are three A’s which brought about a

tremendous change in this world. The first ‘A’ is

Adam’s apple, the second ‘A’ is Steve Job’s

Apple iPhone and the third ‘A’ is the great

leader “Abraham Lincoln”.

What is it that makes Lincoln a seminal figure in

history? How did this man, born in the

backwoods of Kentucky - with little formal

education had so much to offer to the society?

His rise from poverty, self-study, his capacity to

overcome personal loss and remain determined

in the face of repeated defeat, in all of this is

seen a fundamental character “The belief that

we can constantly remake ourselves, to fit our

larger dreams”.

With the axe in hand and the frontier of hope

and possibility, here’s what separated Lincoln

from the other great men in history, he was not

a perfect man. Lincoln suffered from color

blindness, malaria, depression and small pox.

Irrespective of all the odds, he stood tall and

made history. “A man is great by deed, not by

birth”.

Friends, “Your life is your

responsibility. God is not the sole

author of your destiny. You are the

co-author of your destiny”. My

fellow co-authors, birth was never

your choice and neither will death

be your choice, but the way you

live your life between these two

terminals will be absolutely your

choice. Come, let’s make history

together

Candle light meeting @ WORDSMITH - 6 Sep 2014

From the Editor


We have heard many people say that they

are inspired by famous personalities, I do

agree with them and I would like to share

my thoughts about the leaders who

inspired me as well. In our day today life

we meet many people but only few of

them leave their footprints in our heart. My Dad is one such person. There

is no Wikipedia link about him which I can share with you all. I like his

leadership in many ways. He cares to listen to me though the answer was

No to most of my requests, but listening is an important quality for

leadership. I have always admired the way he spoke to his friends and

colleagues as it always aimed at a win win situation. What I understood

from this was that, “A leader never asks others to follow instead will make

the others to follow them with their actions”.

Every leader may have some positive and negative qualities; my father was

no exception to it. His negative trait was anger. He always tells me when

you get angry you lose something. He tries his best to keep a friendly

environment which leads to positive thinking. Positive thinking leads to a

happy and successful life. There are many inspiring leaders who come in

our life but my Dad will always remain as a unique leader in my heart

forever and forever..

By Kumara Muniasamy, TM

Dear Readers,

I am privileged in serving as the editor of the

December edition of Wordsmiths newsletter- Lead

Every one And Perform. I am happy that this

newsletter is going to be released during the 325th

meeting of Wordsmiths. Also this will be the

Second edition for the year-2014. The theme of the

newsletter is “Your Inspiring Leader”.

I would also like to mention, that this newsletter has

taken its shape not just by my efforts but also by the

efforts of our editorial team, by the Toastmasters

who contributed the articles and most of all the

efforts of you- the reader.

I hope you will have a wonderful time reading this

newsletter!

Editorial Team >>

TM Kumar

TM Jasmine

TM Ramya


PagePage 3

3

3 Everyone, given an opportunity, would like to lead others. But not everyone is capable of holding the baton of leadership. Some leaders are born and some are made – depending on their individual circumstances. Just by having the tag ‘Leader’ does not necessarily make one a leader; rather, it’s the inherent or visible qualities and character that make one.

Leaders are to be exemplary characters. The world has seen many great leaders; and oft times the greatest or the most inspiring ones are not those who have become prominent or famous. Dr. A P J Abdul Kalam, the former President and also known as the missile man of India, may have got inspired by a particular teacher in his younger days or maybe his father to pursue his dreams. Likewise, there would be many personalities who would have played a role in the life of those who would have later become leaders.

Hence, it is not necessary to hold the mantle of leadership to be a leader. As we pursue our daily routines and given tasks, however small or large, with a morally conscious mind, we are building a stronger society; which is the responsibility of any great leader.

Best articles from the contest

TM Jacob Cherian Ooramvelil

To become an inspiring personality, one has to look inside oneself. It is a process of

evolution and takes years and years of dedication, courage of conviction and most

important of all, an ability to win over the hearts of the people. The question arises as to

WHAT IS INSPIRING LEADERSHIP? The answer is when multitude of people want to

emulate and follow the leader in a natural way without any force or persuasion.In our

country, a true leader like Mahatma Gandhi had innate qualities based on trust, affection

and pure love. Despite his frail personality, he was still able to win over lakhs of people,

leading the country to freedom. At the same time, dictators like Adolf Hitler, Mussolini

were authoritative but not inspiring. One has come to a natural conclusion that lasting

leadership is possible only when the leader accepts and upholds the philosophy of

Dharma. As the popular adage in Sanskrit goes, Dharmo Rakshathithi Rakshathiha. It

emphasizes the basic fact that if one upholds Dharma, Dharma will protect him forever

.Therefore, for an inspiring leader upholding the principles of righteousness is not a

prerequisite but a sheer necessity.

TM Preethi Kameswaran

TM Subramaniyan

When human race evolved, man had a nomadic life. There was no specific way to live life

and people lived their lives in their own ways. There was one wise man who could envisage

the dangerous future of human race if there were no changes in the system. The predictive

analysis of that one man resulted in families, groups and society. The group accepted him as

the head and various such heads were created. As the heads lead the group, show the right

path for the people to walk through, they were called the leaders. As the human race

progressed good leaders were chosen to be the kings who ruled the kingdom. We had

leaders who protected our country from the rule of the East India Company. We had leaders

who formed the Government to rule the State and the Center. There are few leaders who

rise to heights and always stay in the hearts of people due to their leadership style. The

basic quality which is required for a person to be a good leader is the care for fellow human

beings, a pragmatic and analytical mind which can foresee future. Do you have these innate

qualities with you?

TM Subramaniyan

Happy Memories


Correct Answers for Word Puzzle:

1.RESPECT 2.TRUSTWORTHY 3.EMPATHY 4.INTEGRITY 5.RELIANCE

TM Abraham Zacharia

delivered his DTM Speech.

Meeting No.231

District 82

Evaluation

Contest Winner

TM Sridhar

Ranganathan

EC Members for

July,1st to Dec 31,2014

: President- Gopi

Ramalingam,VP

Education- Samuel

Whitefield,VP

Membership- Mythili

Srinivas,VP PR-

Shyam,Secretary-

Ganesan T,Treasurer-

Thanigaivel,Sgt at Arm-

Vijay Kumar.

Chennai Wordsmiths Toastmasters Club Towers Club W Block, 3rd Main Rd Anna Nagar, Chennai. 600040

About Wordsmiths

Phone +91-7299-997386 Mail:[email protected]

Every Saturday: 4PM TO 6PM

Toastmasters International, registered in 1930, is a US-

based nonprofit organization that helps members

worldwide achieves improvement in public speaking and

leadership. Toastmasters International operates through its

member clubs situated across 116 countries. There are

more than 13,500 clubs operating under the Toastmaster

International, which has a membership of about 280,000.

The International Headquarters in situated at California.

Chennai Wordsmiths Toastmasters Club is a part of

Toastmasters International and was started in 2007,

Chennai. In our club we always treat you as our friend and

we guarantee you will feel that you are “speaking among

friends”. Our club meets every Saturday at Towers club,

Anna Nagar between 4PM & 6 PM.

For Membership:

Guests are welcome to attend the meeting at Wordsmiths

and interested guest s may become members. For more

information about membership and other details contact:

TM ,Ganesan, VP Membership

Email: [email protected]

Phone: +91-7299-997386

We’re on the Web!

www.chennaiwordsmiths.org


“Ours is the only

organization I know

dedicated to the

individual, we work

together to bring out the

best in each of us and then

we apply these skills to

help others.”

Dr. Ralph C Smedley

Founder of Toastmasters

International

Chennai Wordsmiths newsletter December 2014 edition

Presentations & Public Speaking

Transcript of Chennai Wordsmiths newsletter December 2014 edition