C l u b 2 9 1 6 , A r e a 3 , D i v i s i o n C , D i s t r i c t 2 0

October. November. December 2015

Tips on presentation’s preparation By Avneesh Mishra

How other clubs do it By Biljana Davceva..

Veteran's Spotlight On

TM Sheela Pai

In this issue

Editor’s Note

President’s Desk

Area 3 Director’s message

The three most important questions to ask

yourself before preparing a presentation

Meet the New Member

15 words or less

How Other Clubs Do It

Colors in Art

Call Your Family Project

Veteran's Spotlight

My unforgettable holiday

3

4

5

9

11

14

15

18

21

23

26

My fellow MTM Members, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you!!! May you have a wonderful year ahead full of new horizons, great accomplishments and joyful moments to share with your loved ones!

Editor’s Note

As my term is coming to an end, I am reflecting on my challenging, often agonizing, yet always amusing and highly rewarding journey as a VPPR. It had taught me many things - juggling priorities, making tough decisions, compromising, negotiating, motivating and so much more. Still, the most important lesson this role taught me was none of the above. What I know for sure now is that whatever happens, there are people in our club, who are simply always there to catch you when you fall. I am eternally grateful to my dedicated PR team without whom none of the PR activities would have been taking place: TM Rashid Maymoon, TM Biljana Davceva, TM Mohammed Suleiman, TM Chris Noronha, TM Prashant Renghe, TM Khaled Amin and TM Tosin Arowojolu. Thank you all for all your hard work, commitment and a meaningful contribution to promoting our club in Bahrain.

I welcome you all to the final Horizon issue for this year – please read and enjoy the articles by our multi-talented members: TM Jeena Lyju Varghese, TM Azza Bakai, TM Avneesh Mishra and TM Biljana Davceva. I am also thankful to our new rubrics’ contributors: TM Sheela Pai for the Veteran’s spotlight and Mohamed Sohail for a Meet New member section. I would like to congratulate TM Ameena Nathani on her new appointment as VPPR for next term and wishing her the most enjoyable journey.

Warmly, Victoria Cox VPPR (July –December 2015)

President’s desk

TM Laxman Rathore Coming together is the beginning, Keeping together is progress… Working together is success ~Henry Ford This quote perfectly suits the Toastmasters’ movement and especially the Manama Toastmasters Club.

On 27th November, MTM team participated in a marathon relay under the leadership of TM Hannah. This requires lot of work, coordination and efforts and it is an excellent example of team work by all members. When we talk about team work, why do some teams complete goals successfully while others fail? Recently, I came across an article in a magazine regarding components (highlighted word) of an effective team and that exactly matches with the Manama Toastmasters Club and the MTM runners’ team. Active Team Members is the life blood of any team. A team will work effectively if team members are proactive and understand their own parts in the larger process. The MTM club is blessed with active and enthusiastic team members. Some are proactive members like TM Tanaji, our very own superhero TM Rashid and many more. The second part is integrity; each member plays their part with full integrity to make each Toastmasters meeting successful. We saw goal-oriented thinking during the marathon relay race where each member had set their own goals. Not only did they set goals, but they all achieved much more than their set goals. At MTM meetings, we can see members take intellectual decisions for the future growth of the MTM club.

We have enthusiastic members who maintain realistic perspective while tackling problems with enthusiasm and positive attitude. The ability to connect, the ability to work well with others is an asset of the Manama Toastmasters team. In this way, we maintain a positive relationship which ensures the success of our team. This article clearly mentions that talent is not enough; teamwork matters and all members at the Manama Toastmasters exhibit this. As rightly said by Cristiano Ronaldo: ‘’Scoring goals is a great feeling, but the most important thing to me is that the team is successful. It doesn’t matter who scores the goals as long as we are winning.” This inspirational quote from the world’s most prolific soccer player reflects the true essence of team work in every aspect of life, let it be sports, business or career. As a team, we did a great job during this term by conducting many creative and innovative meetings. This could have only been possible with the support of each and every member of our club and I would like to thank you all for your excellent support for our Excom team. Now the time has come for the current Excom to say goodbye and handover the baton to the upcoming Excom team. We wish them all the best and a great success during their term at the Manama Toastmasters Club.

Six months into the role of the Area Director, and I’m still

as excited as I was when I first took up the role. It has been an absolute pleasure in serving the clubs of Area 3 and especially Manama Toastmasters. Manama Toastmasters, as we are well aware, is the oldest thriving club in the GCC region. That is something to be very proud of, indeed. But what is even more a reason to be proud of, is the continuous development and high quality maintenance throughout these enormous number of years.

Area 3 Director

Message TM Khurram Salman

Manama Toastmasters has not only produced many great leaders and communicators, but has been a continuous benchmark for other TM clubs in Bahrain and the region. I am very proud and I congratulate Manama Toastmasters for becoming a Selected Distinguished Club with half a year left to spare. The wonderful executive committee headed by TM Laxman Singh has been a delight to work with. They have done an astounding job so far and I’m sure they will leave their offices on an even higher note.

Always remember, ‘Individually, we can achieve something but together, we can achieve everything’. So let us continue to Learn, Grow and Thrive together.

TM Bilkais Khan

TM Athavan Palaniyandi TM Mohammed Salem

TM Biljana Davcheva

If you were to present, you would have experienced different kind of miseries. Pre-presentation nervousness is very common, but if you are presenting for the first time, you would have butterflies of the size of crabs crawling in your stomach. While preparing the power point presentation, you would have searched through the net, read every article on how to give a good presentation, how to enthrall your audience and come out like a shining star with everyone applauding, including your worst critics. And yet, at the end of it, you produced something that you yourself were not happy with. Most quick fixes available focus on the form and style. These will tell you how to catch the attention and keep it by not crowding the slides, keeping only one idea per slide, having more pictures because a picture says what a thousand words can’t. They tell you to use story telling techniques, face the audience, make eye contact, smile, don’t fidget, keep your hands in control, not to read the slides, etc., etc.

The list can go on and on. I am sure all of you would have come across such lists of dos and don’ts while preparing for a presentation. These are indeed relevant, but only contextually. The most important thing to do before we make a presentation is to answer the following three questions. Why: "Why am I presenting?" It is an important question to answer first because this defines the purpose or objective. Is it to motivate or inspire a set of people? It is to solicit opinions? Is it to develop consensus around a subject? Or, is it just an FYI presentation? Or, is it expected to help people arrive at some decisions? What: "What is it that I am presenting?" This question deals with the subject. Am I communicating an idea? Am I discussing the details of a report? Am I presenting the analysis of my research work? Am I discussing a sales or company performance over the last quarter/year? Am I presenting a project plan? Or, is it a corporate branding or advertising strategy?

3 most important questions to ask

yourself before preparing a presentation

As corporate executives, we all either make presentations or attend them. There is simply no escape. I am sure you can easily recall sitting through several presentations where all you could focus on was your watch and in all probability your Blackberry or smart phone too. You felt relieved if you could sneak away or felt frustrated if you had to stay back to exchange pleasantries at the end.

TM Avneesh Mishra

Who: "Who am I presenting to?" It is important to know your audience before you decide what goes into your slides. Is the audience a group of individuals who need inspiration? Are people you are presenting to a group of corporate executives? Or, are these consultants who have come to listen to your corporate woes so that they can submit their proposals to get you out of it? The answer to these questions will help you decide what and how much content you should have in the presentation and how much in each slide, how much emotion and passion needs to go into it in order to make it effective. To understand it more simply, look at this picture. If the woman in the balancing act were to ask the same questions to herself, this is how it would go. Why am I presenting this act? The answer is – “to earn my livelihood”. What am I presenting? The answer would be – “My ability to balance on a rope. And, now the third question – “Who is my audience?” The answer is – “the people in the streets”. Therefore, the lady in the picture adds some complications to the balancing act, just to inspire enough awe among the audience to prompt them to pay her money for her survival.

If she needed to present this act to win a competition, she would have had to make it much more complicated. And, if she was doing it to create a world record, the level of complication in the act would need to be far higher. Because then, the answers to "why" and "who" change and therefore, "what" changes too. It is for this reason that an inspirational speaker can speak for an hour with just a few slides or even no slide at all, whereas a CFO presenting the annual performance of the company to the business heads with an objective to create budgets and forecasts for next year will probably need to have more slides and maybe even crowded slides. While the former will need to also focus on the body language and passion to make his presentation attractive, for the latter, the presentation will be only as attractive as the figures in it. Always remember these three most important questions that you need to ask yourself when you make your next presentation.

How did you find out about Toastmasters? I work in BDF. I have a routine job and I want to add other activities. One of my friends is a member of a Toastmasters club. He introduced me to the Toastmasters activities. I attended some Toastmasters events and I liked them. What drew you to join MTM? I am fond of learning and listening in a good atmosphere and I am also a reserved man. When I attended Toastmasters events, I liked them and I observed that there is no need of introduction. You will come, attend the meeting or program, enjoy, learn and leave. What challenges do you want to overcome? I am fond of learning and listening. Whenever I hear a good thing and good ideas, I pick them up and try to implement them in my practical life.

How will the skills you gain in MTM help you with your career? My dream is not only to become an inspirational speaker, but I also want to be a good human being. What was the best feedback you have received so far in MTM? I have not done my icebreaker speech yet... In-sha-Allah, in future, there will be. What is that one thing that you are most looking forward to in your Toastmasters' journey? I think all members here are nice and educated people. I want to learn from them as much as I can In-sha-Allah.

Meet the New Member

TM Mohamed Suhail

TM Khalid Amin

In 15 words or less, tell us: If you had the opportunity to live your life in reverse, what will be that one thing that you would like to be different about you or, do differently

Name Comment/ Response Remarks

Biljana I would be 50 pounds lighter, three times wiser and 5 times funnier! Winner

Maisa I would change my gender and that too a bachelor, male. Imagine…..

Ahem, ahem 2nd place

Rashid I wish I would have approved adopting a child with Angelina Jolie 3rd place

Ameena Nathani

One thing I would love to change would have been finding the gregarious organisation a little earlier in my life. Otherwise I am very

happy with whatever I have an have got. God has been very kind

Disqualified (37 words)

Guraz The accident is not my fault. I should never have been given a license

Avneesh I would like to be born as a girl child to wealthy parents

Laxman

I would like to go back and become DON to live super extra adventurous life

Barry I would study forensic science and apply my attention to detail to that

field

Tanaji I will be the naughty kid I was. I will just do it in style

Claire Bolder and braver travelling to foreign lands before fast food and jean

culture got there

Azza

I wish I had learned swimming in young age. I could have saved my friend life

Jeena

2005 principal addressed me 'Super Human Being'. I will reply 'Same to you' for mentoring me

Disqualified (16 words)

Jonathan I would try to get back on the fast track and start running more

Mohd. Suleiman

If I could go back in time, I would marry my childhood crush

When I won the first prize in the Reverse Meeting competition at Manama Toastmasters Club which included an all expenses paid trip to visit any Toastmasters Club in District 20 and bring a novel idea back to our club, the first question on my mind was: ’Which country shall I go to? Which club shall I visit?’

How Other Clubs Do It

Lorraine Taylor, the Area Director of Area 7 in Dubai, said to me: 'You should visit the Digerati Toastmasters Club. They are a very vibrant club. You are going to love them.’ That’s all she said, so I started making plans for my trip, because after all, spending a weekend in Dubai, sounded like a good plan. The Digerati Club members meet every second Friday from 7 to 9 p.m. From the moment you step inside the room where they hold their meetings, you feel as if you have entered a big family gathering where everyone is happy to see each other. There are hugs, smiles, laughter and a very relaxed atmosphere. I was quite fortunate that the theme for that evening was ‘Cultural Diversity’. Many members came dressed up

wearing the national costumes of countries around the world. There were ladies wearing Mexican dresses, Indian saris and Arabic abaya, and dashing gentlemen dressed up as Spanish toreadors and Chinese royal court officials. Everyone was taking photos even before the meeting had started. They were all pleasantly surprised that from the whole district I had chosen to attend their club’s meeting.

By: TM Biljana Davcheva

One thing that struck me was the number of guests they had that evening. There were more than 25 guests who were quite eager to attend and take part in the meeting. Since my task was to attend a meeting and bring back a novel idea, I decided to pay attention to all aspects of the meeting and to see what the Digerati Club does differently from Manama Toastmasters Club. Here are a few things which I liked:

1. The Sergeant At Arms actually warmed up the audience and prepared it for what was to come later. I felt like being a guest on the Oprah Show when the staff prep the audience before Oprah arrives. He explained the rules in a funny way and gave the

audience some ‘food for thought’ about what was to come later.

2. This club has a table topics evaluator. After the commentators answer the selected question, the table topics evaluator comes on stage and gives feedback to the commentators. I felt that this is something that our club might want to implement because I feel that sometimes the table topics session is not given due attention as a result of not having enough time.

3. In this club, there is no business session. From the moment the meeting starts, you feel a very vibrant dynamics and you can see that everyone is eagerly awaiting the education session after the President’s address.

4. There is also one part of the meeting which is like a pop quiz, held at the end.The questions are related to the speakers who spoke during the meeting and some trivia information that was given. This is a wonderful idea because it keeps everyone on their toes since they don’t know what kind of questions they might get asked. I felt that those two hours passed very quickly. I was looking around the room and felt that everyone who was in that room felt satisfied and happy because they have all learned something new. At the end, the Digerati team members took hundreds of photos. You could feel that they did not want to go home because of the fact that they had such a wonderful time.

I said goodbye to these wonderful toastmasters with the promise that next time I am in Dubai, I will definitely stop by and attend another meeting. I do hope that the Manama Toastmasters Club would like to try out some of the ideas I have mentioned above. Perhaps having a table topics commentator or a trivia quiz once in a while might be a good idea to start with. After all, the purpose of having Toastmasters Clubs is to learn, grow and exchange ideas with others. One small change can make a big difference…so why not start at next week’s meeting?

In the very beginning, the ruler of the universe would definitely be thinking “how to sculpt an intelligent human being”. He could have imagined using various resources like rock, wood etc, but finally decided on “SAND” as the best choice.

TM Jeena Ann John

As a brilliant artesan, he molded the man beautifully with a rare blend of shade, a voice to speak, sight to see and air to breathe. If we look around, nature has also been knitted creatively with a wide mix of colors. The iris in the eyes is very reactive to colors and light. It could swing the moods from pleasure to despair. The child in me grumbles to use all vibrant colors to innovate the lively path to transformation. Butterflies are indeed luckier than man, as they have stronger sense of vision to gather nectar. A pigment in the green color is associated with the nature and the living spirit of substance. Munnar, the hill station of South India is highly packed with tea plantations and attracts ‘green tourism’. Gem stones have been blessed with more intense green; it’s known to be emerald.. It’s a lively color believed to bind strong

relations, bring better fortune and help overcome difficulties. On the 14 February, “the celebration of love”, those in love, love red attire and roses. The sky turns red with helium balloons and decorative tails. At times our jaws fall open seeing “no planet more beautiful than Earth”. Green to relax, red to love, yellow to honor; many shades play emotionally and psychologically on our minds. Meanwhile, I imagine borrowing Harry Potter’s broom stick, to fly higher without stopping and slide down the rainbows. The magic of colors that makes someone a skillful artist not only brings matter to life, but also deepens the communication between you and me.

TM Claire Cosgrove

Call Your Family Project

You have been a Toastmaster for (please insert No) of years. 15 long years How did you first become involved in Toastmasters? My husband was a member way before I met him. Every Saturday, he would disappear to Toastmaster meetings, leaving me alone at home in a new country, returning much later than the scheduled closing time (it used to be 9.30 p.m. then). It got me wondering , as a new bride, if there was something more than Toastmasters going on there. So I began visiting the club as a guest & then I thought to myself 'If you can’t beat him, join him'. And the journey began…

What have been your highlights so far? Toastmasters changed me in more ways than one. Highlights? I was on the team that put up the most successful 'Gulf Toastmasters Annual Convention 2001' (now known as DTAC) when for the very first time a 'World Champion of Public Speaking' Mark Brown (1995 ) was flown in as keynote speaker. Since then, it has become a regular feature but trust me that speech left a ‘Mark’ on many of us. I am also proud to mention that I conducted many 'Youth Leadership Programs' that changed the lives of students. Recently, I was at a mall, and a gentleman with a young girl in tow, was staring at me. I was a bit unnerved at first, but then looked him in the eye. He smiled and asked me 'Are you a toastmaster'? I replied in the affirmative. He then told me I

had conducted a YLP for his son Mohammed a few years ago that really changed the young boy's life. He wanted to know if I could organize one more for his daughter to participate now as she was eligible in age. I immediately got him in touch with a club leader who does this on a regular basis. The message of thanks I got from young Hala, is something I will always treasure. Also being a part of the club’s Golden Jubilee Committee & putting up twovery successful events (curtain raiser: Short story contest & the curtain fall: Old Goes Gold, Gala dinner) that garnered the club much good will, is something I will always cherish.

Veteran’s spotlight

What was your most embarrassing moment in your public speaking and what did you learn from it? Ah! There’ve been a few, but the one I remember the most which happened in my early days, was when I did not understand a 'Table Topic' and just meandered till I noticed strange looks on the audience's faces. It was a signal I had goofed & immediately closed with a sigh. I learnt to be more attentive & also take time to stay tuned to current events even on a busy work day’ especially if you have a Toastmasters meeting to attend.

What is the public speaking achievement that you are most proud of? Every opportunity to speak is a proud moment How far are you from becoming a DTM? Long, long way to go. Insha'Allah, I will get there someday. I am in no hurry to reach the destination, not yet :) As Confucius said ‘ It does not matter how slowly you go, as long as you do not stop.’

What in your opinion Manama Toastmasters could do to produce more champions? Members, who have it in them, should consider taking on more mentors than one. They could even consult past Champions of Public speaking who are only too happy to assist, international speakers, etc. We need to give constructive feedback to potential champions, create an environment of hope for all with encouragement & hone the skills of our good speakers. Manama Toastmasters is fortunate to have many eloquent young speakers now & everybody should be encouraged to participate. Finally, it boils down to the contestants’ motivation to go the extra mile & as we keep hearing from past champions: Practice, practice & more practice is the key to success.

What advice could you give to those who are just embarking on their public speaking journey? Participate at all levels. Take on any role you are assigned or volunteer to take on roles. Not just at club level, but beyond. Community workshops, leadership programs, etc. are a great way to learn & grow as a speaker /leader. There's a lot more to gain from our Toastmasters' experience than just learning how to speak.

My unforgettable holiday

I had the opportunity of travelling to Oman, a country that I spent the most of my memorable days of my childhood in. It all started when I finished my training in a company and at the same time started to think of starting my Master’s degree. So, I started my day day dreaming and how life is so easy…I WAS WRONG. I remember that day my father came home early and told me: “Azza, your visa expired and you need to travel abroad for just two weeks, so they can renew your visa”. I said ‘ no problem’ I can go to any country and spend two weeks as a vacation and change, although I was preparing to take my SAT test and to have an interview along with a test of English. My parents suggested that I finish all the university procedures and then travel on this unexpected vacation. I agreed with them so I stayed and completed all the this I had to do. It was Thursday and I was travelling the following day. Until that moment, I had not prepared my bag, so I prepared as fast as I could. Luckily I managed to prepare my things for the travel. My

mother bought so much chocolate along with gifts for the children. All the way to the airport my mother was just repeatedly telling me to take care of the children and to be patient with them since their mother travelled to Sudan and left them with their father in Oman. The travel took one hour to reach Oman. When the plane landed I was one of the firsts to go out. I was so excited and at the same time energetic to see my cousins. There it was; my first time to do all the procedure needed to get out of the airport. One of the moments that I will not forget is when I saw my uncle from far away even though he was hidden by the crowd. I saw him, but I did not notice two eyes that were looking with a big surprise at me. I just noticed two children like twins only one covered with chocolate the other with Vanilla. They were very cute and adorable with their shyness and hiding behind my uncle’s legs.

Ever thought about traveling alone without your family?… Well, I thought.

When I reached their home the little angles started to open a little to me by introducing themselves. The chocolate one’s name is Yousif. He is in the KG-2. The other one’s name is Khalid. He is the youngest of his brothers. He is in KG-1. And both of them love chocolate. After I rested a little, the little angles started to tell me about their adventure in school. At that time, their elder brother came home and introduced himself as this:’ My name is Ahmed in grade-8 hate Math love English.’ That is what I got from this first introduction.. I felt as if I was Super Nanny from the popular TV show that I love to watch before whenever I had a chance. The star of the family will come home tomorrow morning. He is participating with the football team to represent their school in a football match in Dubai, UAE.. I thought he is the quiet one and similar to a photo I found just like another angel. When the morning came, I woke up with the sound of a football hitting the wall. It was so loud that it woke me up. I thought ‘ I was totally wrong, the nuttiest one is him, Mahmoud, he is like a devil not an angel.. The next day was a school day. They hate school. I could hear the crying of the little angels, while the others love it not because of the studying experience but because of playing and enjoying their time. When they come home from school they just spend their time playing and totally forget to study and memorize since both their parents come home late

and they are raised with the house maid. Well that was about to change. I started to advise them to rest a little then go to their studies; also that I will help anyone who has any difficulty in any subject. Here they started to test me out by asking me about different subjects such as Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology and more. I did not have a lot of difficulties in teaching them since they are only grade 6 and grade 8. All their subjects were in English. I even helped them to complete some projects. We had fun completing the water cycle diagram and other diagrams. Thanks to this trip I was able to spend time with my cousins and I got to know them more and helped them to love studying and get excellent grades that they never thought of achieving along with getting good grades on the IELTS test that helped me to start my education without the intermediate course …Now they started to ask me when will you come to us to teach us. I told them I hope in the near future after I graduate. This small trip helped me to understand that I have more potentials than I ever thought and that I love to help others and that teaching others is in my blood. I just never thought of it. Also I am ready for all the obstacles in my way since I will overcome them with the unlimited support of my family, friends and all of you fellow toastmasters.

TM Khalid Amin

Victoria Cox VP Public Relations

Laxman Singh Rathore President

Amina AlHajiri VP Membership

Tanaji Ahmed VP Education

Barry Dunne Secretary

Somaya Al Jowder Treasurer

Anup Sudhakaran Sgt@arms

VP Education Subcommittee: Khalid AlQoud, Guraz Wankadia, Kishore Babu, Hannah Karanja

VP Membership Subcommittee: Prashanth Gudibande, Fatima Saleh, Claire Cosgrove

VP Public Relations Subcommittee: Khalid Amin, Biljana Davcheva, Mohammed Sulieman, Prashanth Renghe, Chris Noronha, Rashid Maymoon

Secretary Subcommittee: Chris Noronha

Treasurer Subcommittee: Shubhashree Srinivasan

Sgt@ arms Subcommittee: Rashid Maymoon, Prashanth Gudibande

for more information:

Meetings: When? Every Saturday

What time? 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm Where? At the Crowne Plaza

Hotel, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain

facebook.com/manama.toastmasters

@MToastmasters50

www.manamatoastmasters.org