Friday, June 5, 2009

How to save a Toastmasters club?

On 6/3/09, Star Search Club had new officers (2009-10 term) induction. Club's honaray lifetime member and past president Ed Stoermer-DTM was kind enough not only to attend but also perform the induction. Even at his age, Ed was so elegant, gracious and humourous. He gave a brief speech about 'how he saved club' in the 80s. He joked that he not only saved the club but also walked on water. He went on to say that saving a club is not just one time event but it should happen in every meeting. Club is saved when (1) meeting starts in time, (2) guests are welcomed warmly, (3) members come well prepared to the meeting (4) when there is ice-breaker speech and (5) evaluation is done to motivate the speaker...etc. It was a great speech and his induction style was so much with fun and motivation. 

Thank you Ed!

Shashi.
Outgoing President (2008-09)

Check out Ed's article on Star Search website here

Thursday, April 23, 2009

Persuasive Speaking Series

It is by far the toughest manual I have come across. The most difficult project is (4). It is challenging to come up with a topic that you can present in front of TM audience. In my speech I challenged the Toastmasters educational framework, organizational structure and how TI advertises. But many people thought it was not controversial enough. Role play in project 1) and 2) are also challenging. 

My speeches for this manual:

1. The Effective Salesperson - Bank of the US - Safety matters! - 07/23/08

2. Conquering the "Cold Call" - Win Win Sponsorship - 11/26/08

3. The Winning Proposal - Star Search Club Success Plan - 2008-09 - 07/30/08 

4. Addressing the Opposition - Shake up TI! (Toastmasters International) - 03/13/09

5. The Persuasive Leader - New Millennium Skills  -10/29/08

Regards,
Shashi.

Speaking to Inform Series

For me, Speaking to Inform Series was one of the best advanced manual to complete in Toastmasters. The most challenging project was to come up with a topic for the demonstration talk (3). Finally, I used the game of Basketball in that speech.

My projects from the manual 'Speaking to Inform':

1) Speech to Inform - All about DOW Jones - 08/15/07

2) Resources for Informing - Lessons from the Rosetta Stone - 12/17/08

3) The Demonstration Talk - Dribble for Life - 09/17/08

4) A Fact-Finding Report - 'Cap and Trade' to prosperity? - 04/22/09.  See more details

5) The Abstract Concept - Efficient Market Hypothesis - 05/21/08 

Shashi.

Fact Finding Report - Cap and Trade to prosperity?

Yesterday, I completed my Project #4, Fact Finding Report, from 'Speaking to Inform Series' manual. Title of the speech was - 'Cap and Trade' to prosperity? 

Here is the powerpoint used during the speech.



Some of the feedback received after the speech:

1) Should have explained 'Cap' means 'limit'
2) Conclusion should have been strong
3) Opening was strong but the tone faded towards the end
4) Rushed while explaining various factors

Two great questions came up during Q and A:

1) Who will determine the limit and how are they set?
2) What is the motivation for companies to earn credits or go lower than their cap?

Thanks to all for great inputs!

I also completed my AC-B today! Another milestone in TM!

Other speeches in the meeting were how and why to use of LinkidIn from George Marshall and an inspiring speech from Dr. Margaret Chan on why we should go "extra" mile to achieve goals we care so much by giving it "extra priority", doing "extra planning" with "extra passion". It is really great experience to be a part of Star Search club and listen to these type of speeches from Dr. Chan.

Shashi.

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Good Toastmaster International articles

I came across a  good article on TM website. I will keep a collection of these in this post:

  1. The art of Mingling and Networking: This is critical especially for those who hesitate to take the  initiative to talk to strangers in a meeting. Click here for the TI link



Best,
Shashi.

Friday, April 10, 2009

Network, network, network - TM and PMI

I could not make it to April 8, 2009 Star Search meeting. Instead, I attended Volunteer Appreciation Dinner from PMI Silicon Valley Chapter. It was a nice get together with good folks I came to network with in the last couple of years. I met Tom Kendrick who is the President-Elect for the chapter and also the author of 'Results without Authority', a Project Management book that is part of Personal MBA program. I asked him how he feels about his book being part of the curriculum. He was surprised that they have his book in the list and was happy, of course.

Before, I delve too much into the dinner time discussions, let me share my views on volunteering. In the last couple of years I came to appreciate a lot the value of volunteering. With PMI, it has helped me keep in tune with the industry trends, learn different leadership/communication styles and just feel great to be part of nice people. There is so much to learn from different people. TM volunteering also helped me learn many things whether it is the role of Treasurer. assisting VP Membership or taking the role of President, you get out of the comfort zone and learn some new things.  

Getting back to the dinner time, Past President Srinivas Ramkuri asked us what goal we had when we grew up. It is like Table Topics in TM. I was surprised how comfortable I was when my turn came to speak. I was using eye contact, hand gestures and voice variety that I could not believe myself. Hats off to TM! 

I was sitting next to my friend Mahmood Khan, Director of Professional Dev for the Chapter. He is another amazing guy who does so much to the chapter all the time. He is a great mentor to many people. He told me that by taking a career workshop conducted by professionals he recommends and then using his framework, one can land a job in 30 days! Sounds unbelievable! But as I listened to his approach, it made sense to me. His approach to job search is more holistic than posting resumes and chasing websites. Here is how I could summarize some parts of his approach:

1) Develop a good network (takes time but it is never too late) and try to find job postings or positions through the network and find out the needs of the hiring manager. Customize your application (or cover letter) so that it addresses the needs of the hiring manger. This sounds tough but when you think about it, it makes perfect sense. As hiring manager myself, I struggled with bunch of resumes. I would like to have some one approach with a proposal on how he/she can solve my issues and would be best fit to my open position.

2) Talk to the recruiters and find out what the hiring manager is looking for. Ask them to find out more. Email and websites are not sufficient by themselves. Human touch (i.e. phone call) is very important.

3) Positioning your profile/skills right for the job. You can not be everything to everybody.  The more you know about yourself the more confident you feel.

I am going to try and see what happens.

There is always something to learn from the network and the best way to build network is by volunteering.

There is a saying along the lines - "what you give others you get it back, what you get from others you lose". 

I think we get more by giving some time in volunteering.

Regards,
Shashi.

Friday, April 3, 2009

Star Search Elections for 2009-10

Dear members,

Subsequent to announcement of election date last week, here are some more details:

1) Elections will be conducted on 6th May, 2009. This is to give four weeks time for the new officers before TLI training (Toastmasters Leadership Institute). As an FYI - TLI is tentatively scheduled Saturday, June 6, 2009, 8:30 a.m. – 12 noon. There will also be make-up sessions for those who miss the first training.

2) Every member can do self nomination and/or nominate others. All you need to do is send email to our Past President and Chair of the Election Committee, Albert Mo (albertmo1@yahoo.com). Albert will be publishing the list of nominees at a regular frequency.

3) One can nominate for more than one position and/or can nominate others also for more than one position. Please note, nomination can be done from the floor on the day of election also.

4) If you are wondering what the role of each position is, please check here to get more details. You can also talk to our club officers to learn specifically what is done at Star Search (and why we are so successful). Here is the list of current officers

  1. VP of Education: Sharad Nair
  2. VP of Membership: Vedant Bhangale
  3. VP of Public Relations: Diana Wilkotz
  4. Secretary: SubbaRao Vadrevu
  5. Treasurer: Manoj Bansal
  6. Seargent-at-arms: Payal Tiku
  7. President: Shashi Matha
  8. Past President: Albert Mo

Q/A: Frequently asked questions - with my own answers/viewpoints :-)

1) Q: Should I nominate myself or wait till others nominate me? 

A: Running for a position is really for yourself. If you really want to try a position and learn, please nominate yourself.

2a) Q: I see that another person is running. Is it good if I also run? 

A: Club positions offer tremendous learning opportunity. If you are convinced that it offers benefits to you, you should run for the position irrespective of who else is nominated. 

2b) Q: I see that there is a very ABLE person in the nominee list. I should not really run.

A: Club positions offer tremendous learning opportunity. If you are convinced that it offers benefits to you, you should run for the position irrespective of who else is nominated. 

Additionally, as Albert quoted last year, it is not just being ABLE but the person should be AVAILABLE to perform officer duties. So, willingness to learn and having one self available to offer time and energy to the position is far more important than whether you have the experience and the ability. 

2c) Q: If he or she is not running, then I will run.

A: Club positions offer tremendous learning opportunity. If you are convinced that it offers benefits to you, you should run for the position irrespective of who else is nominated. 

Additionally, the nominee list keeps changing till last minute, so you are not sure who will finally end up in the nominee list. You should nominate self if interested irrespective of who else is nominated.

2d) Q: I will wait to see who is nominated.

A: Again, it is learning experience for yourself and not for others. Names appear and disappear from the list, so the list itself is not complete until the final day.

3) Q: I am interested in running but not sure if I can dedicate time. What should I do?

A: Willingness to serve, learn and being AVAILABLE is more important than just being "interested". As a club officer, once elected, you are expected to provide some time to the club. If there are uncertain situations here and there, usually club officers support each other. 
If there are situations when you can not provide time at all, you can step down so that others can serve and learn. This is fine and happens once in a while.

4) Q: I am a new member. May be I should wait for another year.

A: There is no requirement that you should be experienced member. New members are encouraged to run and learn everything Toastmasters offers in a short period rather than waiting. Remember, willingness to learn, serve and being AVAILABLE is far more important than any thing else. 

Here is Albert's another famous quote: "NO experience is required; ONLY enthusiasm is required"

5) Q: I am only interested in this position but not the other ones.

A: It is up to you. But please review what is expected for each role. All roles provide different learning experience and there is not good or bad role. But certain roles like SAA and VPE requires more involvement and time commitment compared to other roles.

6) Q: Is a club officer position more for service and self learning is a distant second?

A: Personally I feel it is more learning for the self first and service to the club second. 

Best Wishes,
Shashi.

Thursday, April 2, 2009

Special Occasion Series

I started this manual because it offered variety of practical speeches that can be used in real life. Speeches in this manual are 
(1) Raising a toast. See my speech details
(2) The Roast
(3) Speaking in Praise 
(4) Presenting an award. See my speech details 
(5) Receiving an award.


Toast to Star Search achievers

I had the great honour of raising 'toast' to finest of the finest Star Searchers today. This was also a speech from 'Special Occasion Series' manual. Speech was about honoring Sharad Nair, Subba Rao, Jim Thomas and George Marshall for their achievement of CC awards and CL award for this year. Outline of my speech was:
------------------
We all heard about a speech on 'Why are we here' from Fred Rivera but the question now is 'why am "I" here'? (It was a surprise part of the meeting where no body knew I was going to speak) I promise you one thing, I wont be mischievous ('mischief' was the word of the day - as it was April 1st).

How many of you know that the tradition of 'toast' goes all the way back to Greeks and Romans. They used to raise 'toast' as way to honour their gods. So, who are the 'gods' that I am raising my toast to? These are the individuals who achieved an award during the year and lead the way. 

Let me start with Sharad. Sharad completed his CC award within one year and within months of joining jumped to take an officer role, that too, VPE. He is one of the best VPE the club ever had. Not only that, he competed in contests last Spring and won all the way to Division to participate in District contest. Sharad, we thank you for your inspiration and your service as our officer.

Our next awardee is Subba Rao. He also completed his CC manual quickly and also took officer roles without second thoughts. His style of speaking may be 'soft spoken' but his message is always very powerful. Subba Rao, thank you for your speeches, inspiration and service as officer.

Our third awardee is Jim Thomas, who also completed his CC manual third time and is on his way to complete DTM this year. He is also our Division Governor and hosts club web server for free and has provided countless creative tools to make our website fresh and informative. Jim, thank you for your lead and service to the club.

Our final awardee is none other than our newest DTM George Marshall who was recently awarded Triple Crown Award. He completed his CL manual recently for this second DTM and is on his way to complete his AC award this year. What a great inspiration! Thank you George.

May I request everybody to raise their glasses and here is 'toast' to our awardees! Cheers!
--------------------

I requested Manoj to provide written evaluation. Payal followed the surprise toast with a surprise cake!

Regards!
Shashi.

P.S: Click here for Toasting tips from TI website

Sunday, March 29, 2009

Star Search updates - we need you!!!

Fellow Star Search members,

I have following updates to share with you:

1) Club fees
2) DCP status
3) Membership renewal update
4) 4 speech meetings and Speech-a-thons
5) Club Officer elections - Need your participation

Taking cue from our Vice President of Education, Sharad Nair, I am using my new blog http://mytmjournal.blogspot.com/ to communicate this update. I am hoping to achieve two things from this new approach - (1) Responses/Replies can be on the blog instead of copying all members - cut down on number of emails and (2) Blog can be a good placeholder to save important communications. Please let me know your thoughts by posting comments at the bottom of this link.

Fees: (modest increase)

Our fee structure consists of two components - Toastmasters International (TI) fees and Star Search Club's fees. When a new member joins the club, we have a one time fees of $4. There is no one time TI fees other than new member kit. On an on-going basis, TI charges $4.5 per month for all members and club charges $1.5 per month. So we all pay a total of $6/- per month to keep membership. Club fees have been unchanged for years now but we are experiencing more expenses when we buy stationary like ribbons and manuals or conduct a pizza party for members. To accommodate these expenses, officers have voted a modest increase of $2 for new member one time club fees (from $4 to $6) and 50 cents per month increase in on-going monthly club fees (from $1.5 to $2).  The change will be effective from April 8, 2009 for new members. For all current members the increase will only impact starting from October 2009.

DCP goals: (7/10)

Club is doing extremely well in DCP goals (see link for more details on what DCP is). We have achieved 7 of the 10 goals and in the next 3 months we hope to complete all 10 goals.

Membership renewal update: (33+)

We are currently in the process of renewing membership for all current members for the period of April'09-September'09. Our Treasurer Manoj Bansal has reported that we will have around 33 members starting from April. Some members are not renewing due to changes in their life situation. But we still have around 10 members who have not renewed and not expressed whether they would like to continue. If you still have to renew, please use our online payment option to renew and let Manoj know so that we can extend in time. I would like to thank all the members who renewed in time. This really helps our volunteer officers to avoid too much paperwork.

Club meetings: (what is speech-a-thon?)

As you may have noticed, there is a great interest among members to complete their speech goals. In addition we have good number of guests joining meeting these days. This is posing some challenge in terms of accommodating more speeches within 2 hours. We explored increasing to 5-speech meetings but found it not viable since it greatly impacts Table Topics time. So for now we will continue 4-speech meetings but planning to arrange a 'Speech-a-thon' once a month. These special meetings accommodate around 5 speeches on a day other than regular Wednesday. Hopefully this will give ample opportunity for everyone to achieve their goals.

Club Officer Elections:  *** NEED YOUR PARTICIPATION ***

Toastmasters year start from July and ends in June of next year. So our current term ends in June'09. Every year we elect new officers. This is a great opportunity for members to try  leadership roles. If you are already a leader in your current profession, this opportunity offers leadership role in a 'non-profit' setting. I urge members to make full use of what TM offers by standing for election and serving as a voluntary officer. We are planning to conduct election on May 6, 2009. I want to thank our Past President, Albert Mo, for accepting to be the Chair of the Election Committee. You will see more details from Albert soon. Please feel free to contact Albert or any of the officers on any question related to elections.

Sincerely,
Shashi.

Star Search 2008-09 DCP status


The main purpose of a TM club is to help its members become better speakers and leaders. How to measure if a club is doing really well? Distinguished Club Program (DCP) is an annual program from Toastmasters International to measure success of a club.

Star Search Club has the distinction of winning Presidential Distinguished Club Award 8 times in a row as of 2007-08. For the year 2008-09, it seems certain to repeat the feat. As of March 2009, we have completed 7 goals and for the remaining 3 goals (highlighted), we are only a few speeches away.

See more details of the Star Search club's 2008-09 progress using the online Star Search 2008-09 tracker

Learn more about Toastmasters DPC program using this link.

Best regards,
Shashi.

------------------------------------------------------

04/29/09 Update:

What a momentous day for Star Search! The club completed 9 of the 10 goals to become President's Distinguished Club 9th time in a row!!!!

Congratulations to all the officers and really passionate members!!!

How we got there? Check here

More to come as we have two more months to go for the toastmaster year....

Shashi.

----------------------------------------------------------

Wednesday, March 25, 2009

Triple Crown Award to George Marshall

I had the pleasure of presenting Triple Crown Award to George Marshall. Here is the outline of the speech

===========Outline begins ================
The Triple Crown Award is awarded to any Toastmaster who completes a combination
of three educational and/or leadership awards between 1 July 2008 - 30 June 2009.
 
The Triple Crown Winners will be recognized at the Awards Ceremony at the Spring Conference.
 
This year District has 6 winners so far. One of them is among us.

He completed DTM, ALS and CL awards to qualify for this award. That's it? End of the store? No, like we say, journey is more important than the destination. Here is the journey he went through...

  
1) Member for five years, 
2) DTM, 
3) past A2 Area Governor 
4) club sponsor, club mentor, 
5) Past club President, VPE and VPPR in Star Search 
6) Served at the district level, competed twice at district-level contests
7) Co-Producer & Technical Director for Toastmaster Time TV.
8) AC-Bronze (working towards DTM #2)
9) serving on the Region 1 2009 Conference committee.

In addition to all this, he is a mentor to many members and club Webmaster, active participant in officer meetings, takes many initiatives himself one such was first ever speech-a-thon we had last week at his residence.

He is a true inspiration to all. He is really Giant among Giants (he really is tall!)...

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is my honour and great pleasure to present the Triple Crown Award on behalf of the club to one and only George Marshall.

===========Outline ends ================

Dr. Margaret Chan evaluated my speech. Three suggestions I received were:

1) I should avoid speaking myself (I alluded how I took 4 years to complete two awards) and just focus on the awardee

2) When quoting number of awardees in the district, may be I should give an idea of how many members are in the district

Thanks to Margaret and others who gave written evaluation...

Shashi.

 

Monday, March 23, 2009

My TM blog


Welcome to my Toastmasters blog!


The journey in Toastmasters is interesting and valuable for any member. I have created this blog to keep track of my activity in TM and hopefully provide some useful links and tools for any one interested in TM.


The basic concept in Toastmasters is that you can improve any skill by practicing and the program provides a good framework to work with. There is no other false promise but simple fact that 'practice, practice and practice' is the mantra of TM.
If you are searching for a club, you should look for the following:
  • Of course, convenience like location, time and duration of the meetings
  • Size of the club - a good size of attendance is needed to really practice public speaking
  • Atmosphere - How friendly are members and officers. Do they run it like a business?
Star Search Toastmasters club is one of the best clubs in the Fremont, CA. area. As of 2009, it has won Presidential Distinguished Club Award 8 times in a row. In the first visit itself I was completely attracted by the friendliness of the people and positive energy among members. After joining in Oct 2005, I have served as the Treasurer in 2007-08 and became the President of the club for the term 2008-09. I chose to serve in this role as I thought this would give me the maximum opportunity in a short time to enhance my public speaking skills as well as it gives me an opportunity to take a leadership role in a non-profit organization. I am glad that I had all these opportunities and have been enjoying all roles and especially the company of fine people.



Best regards,
Shashi