1| Where Leaders are made

EDITORIAL

Editorial Message

This second edition of District 97P quarterly

newsletter is published to provide helpful information

and updates, and resources to members within

District 97P. Copy of same will be posted to the

District web site and Facebook and can be

downloaded to have as a hardcopy to share.

If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to become

the person you want to be, why not make this time to

start committing your resolution or goal to writing?

Garnering emotional support from loved ones and

Toastmasters “family” in making your resolve and

celebrating with you when you have reached your goal

is one way to make your resolution stick.

I would like to extend a very heartfelt thanks to the

Toastmasters members for their contribution toward

the success of this edition.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas and a happy New

Year 2018.

Nuchanath Aumpradithpun PR Manager, District 97P

The Newsletter

Publishing Team Nuchanath Aumpradithpun, ACS, CL – Public

Relations Manager

Paisal Sae Lor, DTM – District 97P Honorary Advisor’

In this Issue From the Director’s Desk ............................................. 2

Message from District Director................................ 2

Events this Month ........................................................ 3

Evaluation Contest Winners .................................... 3

Humorous Contest Winners .................................... 4

Bangkok Toastmasters Club's 62nd Anniversary and

Christmas & New Year Celebration ......................... 5

Get into the Christmas/New Year spirit ................... 6

Messages from Leaders ............................................... 7

Message from Club Growth Director ....................... 7

Message from PQD – Your Better-Self 2018............ 8

Activate your New Year’s Resolution ....................... 9

Do you want to be a LEADER? ............................... 10

Pathways – A New Year Resolutions ..................... 11

My Inner Tortoise .................................................. 13

Toastmasters and Christmas.................................. 15

Member Moment ...................................................... 16

My Toastmasters Journey ...................................... 16

Tips on delivering your humorous speech ............. 17

Who is evaluated? ................................................. 18

Information ................................................................ 19

Facts Worth Knowing ............................................. 19

Important Dates ..................................................... 19

January 2018 | 2

FROM THE DIRECTOR’S DESK

Message from District Director Thawesak Thadajariyawong, ACB/ALB D97P District Director

“I will receive my Distinguished Toastmasters (DTM) award within 2018”. Having served in many leadership roles and enjoyed the experience of professional toastmastering for quite a while, I resolved to become DTM – the highest level of educational achievement in Toastmasters. I have shared with you my New Year’s resolutions for 2018 and challenge you to hold me accountable for my goal. What about you? Are you ready with your 2018 New Year’s resolutions?

It is time to set your own toastmasters

educational goal!!!

If you were enrolled in Toastmasters before August 2017, you can enjoy learning from both the Competent/Leadership Program and the Pathways Program; or either one. Simply use the Competent Communication/Competent Leadership (CC/CL) Manual), if you desire to pursue your professional and personal development along the traditional educational tracks and/or the current individual Pathways (follow your Pathways Base Camp by clicking this link www.toastmasters.org).

For new member who joined Toastmasters from August 2017 onwards, you are eligible to follow only the new educational program, i.e., Pathways.

My wish for you this Christmas and New Year is that you achieve what you truly desire, especially your New Year’s resolutions. You are the one who can make them truly happen.

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

3| Where Leaders are made

EVENTS THIS MONTH

Evaluation Contest Winners

1 | Pachongsak Jugo Padamasankh

2 | Daniel Tran

3 | Hoa Thieu Ngoc

Lan Anh

January 2018 | 4

Humorous Contest Winners

1 | Prapha Silalai

2 | Chua Wei Jie

3 | Rommuel Evangelista

5| Where Leaders are made

Bangkok Toastmasters Club's 62nd Anniversary and

Christmas & New Year Celebration

DTM Siri Payakapan from a Toastmasters Club in the USA graced our club’s anniversary with her presence.

January 2018 | 6

Get into the Christmas/New Year spirit

7| Where Leaders are made

MESSAGES FROM LEADERS

Message from Club Growth Director Pipat Puangmongkolchaikit, ACS/ALB

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

This is the time of joy and fun. People enjoy their time with friends, celebrate on special holidays

with families, or perhaps travel around the world. But as a Toastmaster you can celebrate at your

club too.

Adding fun special events to the club meetings is like seasoning spices, the short term attraction,

while the quality of the meeting is like the nutrition, the long term benefit. Your club needs to have

both aspects. And if your club has not done any fun events for a while, this might be a proper time to organize one

for your members and guests.

What you can organize is completely up to you and your club officers. Here are some examples that you can do at

your club.

Have your club meeting at an open restaurant near your regular meeting place and distribute some brochures

Do some charity work outside and give a project speech there

Honor your outstanding members who contribute to your club’s success

Have an occasional social meeting to recognize the family and co-workers of your club members

Celebrate your charter date annually

Have a secret pal program within your club. Outside of the meeting times, the secret pal will send encouraging notes, ideas, evaluations, etc. to the person who is their secret pal. Secret pal to be revealed after six months. Keeps people coming to meetings as they try to figure out who is their secret pal

Have Christmas or New Year party at your club (your club can try Valentine’s, Chinese New Year, Songkran,

or any special holidays that you have in your country.)

And last but not least, if your club can have 5 more new, dual, or reinstated members from 1 December 2017 – 15

January 2018, your club will be awarded as HOT CLUB and the award will be presented to you by Toastmasters

International President Balraj Arunasalam during the 2018 District 97P Annual Conference in May 2018.

Should you have any question about Hot Club Award, chartering new clubs, or membership program, please contact

me at pipatpueng@gmail.com.

Enjoy your Toastmasters journey!

January 2018 | 8

Message from PQD – Your Better-Self 2018 Nassara Suwansaraporn, DTM

2018 is around the corner

Do you think you are the best version of yourself?

If not, you need to design your life to become your better self in 2018. If you don’t design your own 2018 plan now, the chances are you would react to life based on the outside circumstances and people around you. I would like to introduce you to “3S approach,” which is a simple assessment tool designed to help you discover

yourself. These 3S’s are: STAY START STOP.

STAY If any activities, behaviours and habits that have proven to be working and helping you to become a better you, you

should continue to do more of them.

START Start doing something new that would support you to grow more, both professionally and personally.

STOP

Stop doing anything that are no longer useful or do not help you. If you design your life, using the 3S assessment tool, you will discover who you should become and what you should do. It’s never too late to become the best version of yourself. If you’re looking for a happiness and have not yet find it… look for a new beginning instead. Though no one could turn back time, you can make a brand new start. Let this New Year be the new beginning for you. I hope your New Year is filled with success, good health, prosperity and happiness. Happy New Year!

9| Where Leaders are made

Activate your New Year’s Resolution Paisal Sae Lor, DTM

At the completion of a Year… we are all ONE YEAR OLDER in Age!

And… SO WHAT?

What have we done for the passing 2017?

What have we done to uplift our moral values?

What little greatness have we contributed to others?

This festive Month of December is the best time to make a great resolution for the 2018 Year! Many people

dreamed and have turned it into reality while some might have just forgotten their year-end wishing and/or simply

left it to destiny. Of course, it is individual rights, who cares?

If you are the one like me who loves dreaming of achieving something in the coming year, I would like to share with

you on how to awaken our dreams into reality. Many of our dreams drift into the middle of nowhere if we don’t

concentrate our efforts on achieving the set goals.

New Year’s Resolution can work wonders if we first concentrate our attention on the purpose (P) for the coming

year by synthesizing the ideas with intent. The next step is to jump-start initiation (I) for the ideal plan—working

with endurance (E) towards accomplishment. In time of crisis, we must be physically and mentally tough, working

smart with resilience (R)—springing back to resume work soon after every failure. Self-awareness (S) is the most

important factor of the SUCCESS CYCLE. A number of leaders had met their doom when they were not aware of their

thoughts, speeches and actions.

It does not matter how short or long we live, what matters is how we live a meaningful personal life for the

common good. Imagination is the root to reality, yet without actions, it will remain a windy hallucination as a

proverb saying goes “The road to hell is paved with good intentions”. I encourage everyone to benefit from the

PIERS in making every resolution lasting with happiness and success.

January 2018 | 10

Do you want to be a LEADER? Pichai Likhitdechasakdi, DTM

The question that we all ask frequently is “What is the quality of being a good, effective and efficient leader? There seem to be a number of key components to be pinpointed and clarified. In the end we all have the problem of arriving at a final conclusion. From my personal forty-year working experience, I believe the word “LEADER” in itself has provided a very good concept for everybody to stick to and hold in his heart. I even say you can completely follow the word without fail. Let us come to the point:-

LEADER

L (Leading) - stands for leading. If you are a leader, you have to lead the team members. It can either be your leading idea, leading character, leading action or leading concept etc. If you cannot lead, you cannot grow. What are you and where are you here for if you do not know how to lead?

E (Enthusiasm) - stands for enthusiasm. Leader needs to be an enthusiastic presenter. He or she must be active and lively on all occasions. Enthusiasm is contagious. Your team members will comply, follow and possess the same attitude.

A (Action) - Above all, a leader must take action. Goal or vision without action is a dream. A leader must be confident enough to take action. Taking action is shaping one’s future. As the saying goes, action is louder than words. Future is where the action is based on.

D (Decision) - A leader must be decisive. I have never found any leader who is indecisive or undecisive. Making decision is considered to be on the top-list requirement of an efficient leader.

E (Energy) - Energy is part of an executive’s success. An unhealthy executive will never go very far and grow very high. Being energetic and healthy will keep a leader in good shape both physically and mentally.

R (Reason) - A good leader must be reasonable and is also prepared to reason with. Listening to what others think will definitely help us move out of the comfort zone. Reasoning is sharing and sharing is expanding and growing. Be a leader of good reason. When encountering such question, you can now comfortably respond:-

L - Leading E - Enthusiasm A - Action D - Decision E - Energy R – Reason Even if you are not current in a leadership role, you can also benefit from the above qualities. Just adopt and adapt and you will see a better you.

11| Where Leaders are made

Pathways – A New Year Resolutions Panomporn Vajirakachorn, DTM

Toastmasters International (TI) has launched the new educational program in district 97 (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand) since July 27, 2017. It was called “Pathways”. This program allowed members to select the program or path that is well suited for him / herself. There are 10 paths and each path has 5 levels.

January 2018 | 12

Toastmasters International (TI) has appointed Pathways (PW) Guides and Ambassadors to advise and support all club members in every district.

Competent Communicator (CC) Lester, one of the dedicated Pathways guides, was assigned to

raise awareness, build excitement and train us about the benefit of Pathways at my home club,

Thai Airways International Toastmasters Club. From my point of view, Pathways Guide / Lester

was a very capable trainer. He clearly explained and guided us step by step, allowing us to assess

and find out the best path.

After our Pathways guide planted the seed of PW, our President /CC Pitikorn and Vice President Education (VPE)/CC

Manusnunt took turns to serve and educate present and new members after the club meeting.

We have arranged the extra hour to coach and provide guideline for our club members to explore their paths.

Members were very interested and understood more about what to do with their paths what they would gain after

practicing in each path.

As a Pathways Chief Ambassador, I am so proud to see our leaders take turns serving and sharing their experience

together. This will help our district go strong and even become stronger together.

How about you? If “Pathways is one of your NY resolutions”, please let us know.

We are proud to serve YOU

13| Where Leaders are made

My Inner Tortoise Nuchanath Aumpradithpun, ACS, CL

“Everyone shines, given the right lighting” – Susan Cain.

You are probably familiar with the Aesop story of the tortoise and the hare. In a nutshell, a

boastful hare brags about his speed to a slow-moving tortoise. Tired of hearing the hare brag,

the tortoise challenges him to a race. After a predictably quick start, the hare decides to take

a nap midway through the race, since he’s confident he’ll win. However, he awakens to learn

that the tortoise, crawling slowly but steadily, has won the race.

This story has been used to teach at least a couple of important messages. One is about introversion and the power

of quiet persistence.

I have always thought of myself as an introvert tortoise in the Aesop story. Many hares at many times have out

distanced me in securing promotions, in giving me all sorts of advice about how to speak up and become more

outgoing, if I were to survive in this world that has a cultural bias toward extroverts.

As an introvert tortoise, I have heard messages about all the things that are wrong with me. I am too shy, too

intense, too solitary, and not fun enough. People find it difficult to get to know me. And so, I have spent a

considerable chunk of my life trying to rationalize it, assuring myself that the reason I tend to gravitate towards my

comfort zones – my tortoise shell – is because they are places where everything is in order and predictable, where

success can continue to be achieved, while conflict and anxiety can be minimized. I prefer a company of close

friends. My idea of a good time is a quiet afternoon by myself to enjoy my hobbies and interests.

It was only 2 years ago in 2015 when I began to let go of this internal rationalization dialogue. A mentor encouraged

me to think beyond my human resources and organizational development career paths. Somehow, he saw

something in me I did not, and suggested I explore a broader set of career opportunities. I followed his advice and

moved beyond my comfort zones, thrusting myself into unfamiliar situations. I decided to join Toastmasters in June

2015. It turned out to be perfectly aligned with my analytical thinking, observational, and empathy skills more

importantly, my quiet persistence -“soft power” - personality trait. I have beaten a few of those hares at work. That

was the “something” my mentor saw. And, what did this teach me?

Be willing to take a different path in your personal and professional development journey. When someone believes

in you and presents you with great opportunities… just say “yes”.

And yes, I did! Here’s how I have benefited from Toastmasters. Toastmasters International affords me the

confidence to speak to large crowds. Since then, I attended various Toastmasters meetings held by member clubs

throughout Thailand, where I learn the art of speaking, listening and thinking – vital skills that promote self-

actualization, enhance leadership potential, and foster human understanding. Its main mission is to empower

members to contribute to the betterment of mankind.

January 2018 | 14

My Journey with Toastmasters

My first club is Holy Redeemer Toastmasters Club. They meet on the first through the third Saturday of each month.

The members are very helpful and supportive. They got me started on a fast track. I completed my first certification

course and became Competent Communicator (CC) as a Toastmaster there. Later, I decided to join another

awesome group of people at Bangkok Toastmasters Club near my office. There, I finished my Advance

Communicator Bronze (ACB). It has been a tremendous experience being with this group. We meet every Monday

evening and I enjoy to be there every time.

Recently, I have joined another club: Fun For Friday Toastmasters Club, which meets every 2nd and 4th Friday of

each month. This is another group of dynamic leaders and communicators who aspire to develop themselves and

others in their communication and leadership journey.

Speaking of my journey, I was not comfortable at “speaking in front of people” – that is, moving out of my tortoise

comfort zone shell – to begin with. However, the Toastmasters atmospheres encouraged me to take my chances and

gradually, slowly but surely, I picked up the pace.

As I continued, I started to win a few ribbons as the best speaker, the best table topics respondent and the best

evaluator of the day at times. I must tell you, those were very encouraging and exciting moments for me.

Since then, I have never looked back, I took every opportunity to speak, and every opportunity to put myself in the

spotlight. Toastmasters has given me opportunity to network with leaders from various industries that in turn has

been very helpful to my career.

Now, as I work as Human Resource Generalist at a software development company and continue my passion as an

independent organizational development consultant, my job role and business require me to speak in front of

people and sometimes in front of hundreds of people. My Toastmasters experience has helped me to know the

fundamentals of public speaking. It has indeed helps me immensely in becoming effective communicators and

leaders in front of my audience.

Bringing It All Together

Fellow introvert tortoises of the world, we can surprise our extrovert hares by demonstrating our courage to step

out of our comfort zones and leverage our quiet persistence, which are the paths to success, not just in Toastmasters

settings, but in our personal and professional life. We have proven that our persistence and confidence to pursue

our dreams in the face of opposition and discouragement, eventually win.

The feeling of guilt and humiliation that there is something wrong with you because you would rather not speak up

in front of a crowd or would rather read a book than go to a party would soon be diminished. You would learn to

awaken your internal strengths and drive yourself or organization to new heights.

As we are celebrating Christmas and ushering in the New Year 2018, I think it is only fitting to re-cite Susan’s quote:

“everyone shines, giving the right lighting.” Toastmasters is the right lighting for me, and I hope you would feel the

same way.

I would like to pass this gift of “right lighting” onto to you, who are willing to learn and try new things, whether in

your career or personal setting, and invite you to join me at Toastmasters, where you would find yourself in fairly

interesting, and very gratifying new territories.

Please share this “right lighting” with your loved ones and friends this Christmas and New Year. Together, we shine.

15| Where Leaders are made

Toastmasters and Christmas Quan Do, Toastmasters

Christmas has come to me with a happiness of fellowship and teamwork.

On 23rd of December 2017, Toastmasters clubs in the South of Vietnam will be having a

joint meeting for Toastmasters to come together and enjoy the Christmas, as a bonding

event of a “family”.

An organizing team has come together to make the event happen, including UEH-ISB

Toastmasters members, organizing chair – Thu, and Program Quality Division V – Phuoc.

Among the things to prepare, finding a venue is still a top priority for us, as we expect to have 50 to 70 attendants.

Fortunately, after a long and careful search, we have got an offer for venue sponsorship from Broward College.

However, there was a confusion in the scope of involvement, benefits and responsibilities of both sides.

Although having a full time job, Phuoc and Thu decided to have an online call, at 9pm, with the venue sponsor’s

representative to discuss. I was also involved as a Toastmasters representative. The discussion went pretty well

when both sides had understood the programme and purpose of the event which was purely a Toastmasters event.

But when it came to a question from Broward: “What are our benefits if we don’t involve in the meeting content and

meeting organization?”; there was a silence from Toastmastes team as we hadn’t prepared for that yet. So we went

to another group chat to discuss internally. I also suggested some ways to promote the Broward College as the

venue sponsor in logo design or the event album.

I thought those were good ideas, yet, everyone still kept silent. We didn’t know when would it be finalized and who

would inform Broward. The representative from Broward must be getting impatient with us!

Then, what surprised me was that, Thu – organizing chair took my message and crafted it with a very well response

and sent to the venue sponsor’s representative. As a result, they liked the offer and said they would propose to the

school. Later on, we got the sponsorship confirmation from them.

If Thu didn’t do what needed to be done promptly, we would not have received the offer so quickly.

After this event, I learn a lesson of teamwork that if we trust each other, know each other scope of work and take

ownership of that work, we can coordinate with each other to make decision quickly and seize the opportunity.

Christmas is always a happy time for me, as team works together to build each other up and walk hand in hand in

our meaningful leadership journey.

January 2018 | 16

MEMBER MOMENT

My Toastmasters Journey Jamal Younis, CC

Almost two years ago, on a Thursday evening at 6pm, I was standing at the cross road,

making difficult, possibly life changing decision, which direction to go. Should I go back

home, rest and relax from a tired day at work. Or go back to the Siam Toastmasters

meeting and join the Club. I was aware of the success people have after joining

Toastmasters and following its educational program. But I also felt weird to join. It felt

like going back to school. Back to an old-fashioned school way before my school time.

As you know, I came back, joined the club and delivered my first Ice Breaker soon after.

Immediately after joining the club I realized the benefits. During my work as a Fitness-

and Health Professional I am coaching clients on a daily basis. It felt easier to properly

communicate to people and persuade them with ideas, which I believe, are beneficial to

them. I also started to feel more confident in selling my fitness instructor service.

But my main goal in joining Toastmasters was to be able to conduct workshops, lectures and talks on stage

professionally and with confidence. This way, I can inspire people on a broader scale.

2016, my first year as a Toastmaster, I focused on completing the Competent Communicator Manual, participating in

as many meetings as I could, and volunteered to take on all the officer roles. In 2017, it was time to step it up. During

this year, I already had the opportunity to run four lectures at a local University about the topics of physical activity

and nutrition. Three Corporate Health Workshops in a company where one of our Toastmasters Members works.

Was on stage with another Siam Toastmaster Member at an Asia Pacific Business Summit to talk about how Thai

boxing changed our lives. I delivered an inspiring story on stage at PechaKucha Bangkok. And last but not least I was

on stage at the Fit Camp Expo and the Asia Fitness Conference. The Latter is one of the most important Fitness

Industry events in all of Asia.

I can say, after less than two years I achieved my main goal of joining Toastmasters already. If I had gone home two

years ago, I would have missed on the opportunity for personal and professional growth, getting to know new

friends and being on stage for all the amazing events.

17| Where Leaders are made

Tips on delivering your humorous speech Prapha Silalai, CC

First of all, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to all the judges and team who

organized the 2017 Evaluation and Humorous speech contest and all contestants who

allowed me to learn from all of them. This is my first speech contest in my adult life, I am

incredibly thankful having won the 2017 Humorous speech contest of District 97P, which

consists of all the clubs from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. I have a

feeling that when you are a winner of a speech contest, people expect that you to be a

good speaker. I am, in fact, still far from being a good speaker. There are so many things

for me to learn. I think winning the contest means I have worked hard on preparing and

delivering one project. The most important thing behind this success is consistency. I truly

admire those long-standing toastmasters members. it is not easy dealing with busy work,

family life and still taking the time to improve themselves, professionally and personally.

These people are the real WINNERS to me.

I’m glad to know people enjoy laughing at my joke. I would like to share few tips on delivering an effective humorous

speech, based on my own experienced:

Use your own story – When you delivery the speech on stage in front of a large crowd, you would tend to get

nervous. By using your own story, you memorize it by heart so it easier for you to remember the whole speech.

Add humor in an opening, body and conclusion. Making people laugh from the very beginning of your speech is a

great hook, it makes the audiences curious what would come next.

Highlight moral of the story make it relevant to the audiences and link it to the speech title. It is very important to

deliver good message to everyone and make it obvious that your message is linked to the title.

I have never study English language abroad. However, I hope I have inspired the audiences, especially women who

dare to speak out and have a great sense of humor. These are the skills you can develop at toastmasters club in a

safe and friendly environment. We have no idea what each and everyone has been through each day, simply making

them laugh or smile could make their day and that’s what matters!!

January 2018 | 18

Who is evaluated? Pachongsak Jugo Padamasankh, DTM

The last District Evaluation Contest was one of the most challenging contests I have ever

attended. Here, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my deepest appreciation to

everyone involved, especially all contestants at every level.

At each contest, the audience may view all contestants as competitors to one another,

but to me, contestants each year are my benchmark on where I stand and how much I

have developed because every contestant constantly increase in their capability and are

truly my reflection to see where I position and whether or not I have improved.

Toastmasters is a journey of continuous self-development and contests are floors to echo

the image of such improvement. With this having said, I guess you can assume that evaluation contestants may

seem to be the ones evaluating the test speaker but actually are the ones really being evaluated (like in real life) in 3

ways:

1. Evaluated by judges – We meet people each day and try to persuade them to buy our ideas or agree with

our way. Judges are simply representatives of the society to see and score on how well we can communicate

to others … every contestant is a winner but the ones to receive the prize are simply the ones who can make

others understand us better and appreciate us more.

2. Evaluated by performance – We cannot deny that life is filled with competition and the ones standing are

the ones who can better link with others. Because we do not live alone, our target is to try to communicate

our intention for others to understand and accept what we do (or even possibly walk our way). As life’s

competition gets more and more intense, our performance echo how we have improved and if we have

increased our chances to grab new opportunities that may arise and gain more support towards what we do

or intend to progress.

3. Evaluated by oneself – At the end of the day everything is just us. We all try to improve to be better. If we

have done to the fullest of our ability then there should be no room for regrets…the questions that echoes

constantly in our conscious is whether or not we have done our best?

19| Where Leaders are made

INFORMATION

Facts Worth Knowing

Important Dates 1 Dec 2017 - 15 Jan 2018

Hot Club Award

17 Dec 2017 Annual Conference 2018 Working Committee meeting 9:00 am – 11:00 am

17 Dec 2017 Learn How to Become DTM Training 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm

11 Jan 2018 Joint meeting between Rajavithi Hospital Toastmasters Club and UTCC 5:00 pm – 6:30 pm

19 - 20 May 2018

Annual Conference “A Better You, A Better Me”