Happenings in the world of City Speech Toastmasters Volume 3, Number 3 — March 2021 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Meetings: Tuesdays @ 7:00pm. Virtual, Fremont Contact: info@CitySpeechToastmasters.org — 510-270-5517
2020 CLUB OFFICERS President Luz Flores, PM3 VP Education Tony Zhang, DL1 VP Membership Shue Xiong, PM1 VP Public Relations Abhishek Chaturvedi, CC, CL, PM4 Secretary Michael Gwinner, PI4 Treasurer: Venkat Raman, DTM Sergeant at Arms Praveena Raman, EC4, SR1
APPOINTED CLUB OFFICERS VP Pathways Praveena Raman, EC4, SR1 Mentorship Chair Michael Gwinner, PI4 Newsletter Editor Praveena Raman, EC4, SR1
EDITOR'S NOTE
It has been a year since the COVID-19 pandemic hit us and we went into lockdown. This was the month when everything as we knew changed! We took it in our stride and changed with it. We, at City Speech, have grown, thrived and flourished this past year. Our virtual environment has become the norm for us and personally I am enjoying it. We have built lasting relationships and are building new ones as we welcome new members frequently. Albert Einstein said "Time Flies When We Are Having Fun" and I am sure we all agree with him.
March 8 was International Women's Day. Last year when we celebrated this day we never suspected how our lives would change in a couple of weeks. This year we are still living our lives virtually.
A few weeks back I was reading the article Celebrating International Women's Day: Members reveal which female speakers bring them inspiration (Toastmaster. March 2020), when my attention was drawn to two women who were featured there, Indira Gandhi and Maya Angelou. Both these women are special for me as I have been inspired by them. I grew up listening to Indira Gandhi's speeches live and it always captured my attention and thrilled me. She was powerful whether speaking in English or Hindi. Listen to this speech at the UN and you will see what I mean. Maya Angelou spoke at my commencement when I graduated from Simmons College in 1987 with my second Masters Degree. It was so thrilling to hear her speech and I was inspired by her words. It was even more exciting to find that very speech published in ONWARD! a collection of America's best commencement speeches. I bow in reverence to these two women who were so inspirational, if we can inspire others even a little bit wont it be wonderful?.
Speaking of inspiring women, our president Luz Flores is one such woman. Having moved from Mexico about a year back she joined our club in October, 2020. She has been so involved since day 1. She has shared with us her experience in a Toastmasters club in Mexico, stepped in as President when Mary Perez had to step down, has written articles in this newsletter and conducted a very informative panel session last Tuesday where we had experienced Toastmasters, our Area Director and a Toastmaster from her previous club in Mexico. We learned so much that day and it was so much fun. On March 8 2021 Luz participated on an International Women's Day panel and has written about her experience in this newsletter. Read it and see how she feels the Toastmasters program helped her as a panelist.
The newsletter is packed with tips for writing, crafting and editing speeches, stories and history. Enjoy yourself!
It has been a little over a month since I became the President of City Speech TM. I am very proud of all the achievements of our members. We have had meetings with full agendas, guests who have enjoyed their experience, new members taking on various roles and organizing unusual Table Topics and many of our members making great progress at the various levels on their paths. With this I would like to ask if anyone is working towards their Triple Crown this year. How about OATM?
We have also had the District 57 Division I contest this past month. City speech was well represented, with Abhishek being a contestant, City Speech members volunteering and attending to support all the contestants. Thank you! What a special event!! Congratulations Abhishek for placing third out of eight contestants in the Evaluation contest!!!
I would also like to thank Amit and Narendra for volunteering to lead the Open House events planned for April 13th and 27th. Please invite your family, friends and coworkers to the Open House and let's make it exceptional!
As mentioned at our last meeting we are seeking members interested in being an Officer of the Club for 2021-2022 Toastmaster (TM) year. Interested members can contact Venkat Raman, Past President and nominations committee chair, through WhatsApp or email if you would like to get more information and discuss your interest.
Let's keep doing our best and finish this TM year really strong!!!
Luz Flores, PM3 President
CLUB NEWS
Division I Contest Congratulations to Abhishek and Thank You to Venkat and Amit.
Hearty congratulations to Abhishek Chaturvedi for placing third out of eight contestants in the Division I Evaluation contest.
Thank you to Venkat Raman and Amit Kamble for volunteering as Ballot Counter and Timer for the Division contest
A huge shout out to our members who attended the contest and supported the contestants. I hope you had as much fun as I had.
Member Spotlight by Janice Francisco and Praveena Raman Shout Out to Amit Kamble I want to give a BIG shout out to AMIT! I think most of my fellow toastmasters would agree that we have seen a tremendous improvement on his leadership and speaking skills. Amit has shown so much confidence and comfort in taking on roles during our club meetings. Amit, you have noticeably stepped up your game! Keep it up! -Janice
Kudos to Janice Francisco for organizing an unusual Table Topics session on March 9. Using the theme, Breaking News!! Report your life story, Janice provided the structure with a template for the opening and closing statements. Some participants missed using the structure while others felt that they could have done better. Area Director, Jeff Young, has penned his experience with some tips for the future. Read his article in the Food for Thought section.
Bravo! Luz Flores for particpating as a panelist in the International Women's Day event on March 8, 2021. The virtual event was organized by the Mexican organization SUMA Inmobilarias Association. Read her experience in the Food for Thought section.
TIP: If you would like to spotlight any new or veteran City Speech TM member, please send a few lines to a short paragraph containing the member's name and what they are commended for to City Speech News Editor at news@cityspeechtoastmasters.orgby April 15, 2021.
Welcome to City Speech TM Family By Amit Kamble
Recently all City Speech TM members were sent a link to a form with the following 4 questions to enable us to get to know our family members better: What's your favorite cuisine and a restaurant you want to recommend? What is your favorite pastime during the stay-at-home situation? What was your favorite pastime before the pandemic started? What holiday destination do you want to visit when the travel restrictions are removed?
Please find below the answers that our recent family members provided. Thank you for for sharing your interests with us.
Surendra Yeluri: I love Indian Food and I'm fan of Hyderabad Biryani which is slow cooked rice with Veg or Non-Veg. Hyderabad Biryani is well known for its Non-Veg version. During pandemic I spent most of the time with family. Even before the pandemic, I enjoyed spending time with my kids and family events like anniversary functions, birthdays. Once the travel restrictions are lifted, I would like to visit London and Singapore.
TIP:All membersshould have received a link to this form by email (Please check your spam folders). Please fill in the information as we can then showcase members during their birth month, have some fun and strengthen our relationship.
Division and Area News
Area I33 Clubs Realignment:
Every year a Realignment Committee is formed to review the alignment of clubs in Areas and Divisions to ensure that the distribution is equitable. This year the Realignment Committee under the leadership of Diane Pleuss, DTM has been reviewing Divisions B, G and I. We are under Division I. The committee is recommending the elimination of Area I-33 (City Speech TM is in Area I-33) and moving clubs under this Area to either I-13, I-29 and I-35. The net result will be that the three areas will then have 5 clubs each.
If you are interested and would like to learn more about this realignment there is a Townhall on Tuesday April 13 7-8 pm. The final decision will be announced on May 1 at the D57 conference business meeting.
District News
Did you read your D57 Newsletter that was delivered to your inbox on Monday March 22, 2021, with the subject line Conference news: Keynote speaker announced.?
Apart from the District conference there are various valuable tidbits. I have given the the realignment news that is pertinent to our club in the Division and Area news and the Pathways program under Pathways section of this Newsletter.
There is a message from the Open House chair and I think everyone should read the Member Perspective section from where you can access Nancy Moscardini's tips to create a great member perspective and the following unforgettable quote by Maya Angelou, reproduced by Editor Venkat Raman in his summary: "I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel" —Maya Angelou
Toastmaster: March 2021. Hope all of you are keeping up with your reading. This is as important as preparing for a speech or other projects as you advance on your path.
All of you should have received your March 2021 issue in your inbox on March 1. There are some valuable articles. The article titled Zoom Fatigue, Be Gone! is very timely and interesting. For all those who are planning to be Table Topics Master in the upcoming meetings there is a side bar on this article with some unusual Online Table Topics suggestions.
Enjoy!
Pathways
Confidence is unique because it cannot be taught but is gained in every path.
Pathways Training and Path Spotlight. By Praveena Raman, VP Pathways
Many of you are reaching level 5 in your path and choosing the elective "Moderate a panel discussion". Here are two articles that I hope you read as you prepare for a successfull execution of this project: 1) Arnold, K. How to moderate a panel discussion. Toastmaster. April 2015. Page 16. 2) Arnold K. How to Moderate a Panel Discussion—Virtually: Start strong and show the audience they are in good hands. Toastmaster. June 2020.
Training: As a reminder, in this Toastmaster year the following three presentations were presented at our club. All these presentations (video and slides) can be accessed on City Speech TM website under Member Resources (log in required).
Pathways to your Goal: an introduction to the Pathways program (article). Presented on October 27, 2020.
Pathways: Ready! Set! Go! (Pathways Lightning Talk series): builds on the introduction and covered logging into Base Camp and selecting a path
Pathways: Beginning the Climb! (Pathways Lightning Talk series): covered the levels of a path, the projects from start to finish and tips for the climb towards your goal.
For those members who are finishing level 5 of their path, I invite you to present your Reflections of your journey on your path as part of our club's Pathways Lightning Talk series Your experience and lessons learned would be very beneficial to those who are still on their journey through the different levels.
There is an upcoming D57 Pathways webinar on Thursday April 1. For more information please click here.
TIP: If you have questions about your Path or the Pathways program please schedule a half hour 1:1 with me by sending me an emailatvpp@cityspeechtoastmasters.org.
Vocabulary Builder:
Words for Ever: by Amit Kamble
Have you ever stopped to consider the life span of a Word of the Day? Does it last until the end of your meeting before it is forgotten? Does it last until the end of Table Topics®? Or does it last only as long as it takes to announce what it is? Shouldn't it have a life after the meeting ends?
Read the interesting article on this topic in the March issue of the Toastmaster magazine.
Excite: (verb) Cause strong feeling of enthusiasm and eagerness in (someone)
Resonate: (verb) to have a particular meaning or importance for someone to affect or appeal to someone in a personal or emotional way
Jubilant: (adj) Having or expressing feelings of joy or triumph
TIP: In the Food for Thought section Jeff Young has written about his experience at the Table Topics session during his visit on March 9. He has used the March 9 WOD resonate as the theme of his article. You can do it too!
In this article, Toastmaster Mitch Mirkin gives his readers a one-stop-shop, covering the fundamentals of effective speech writing. He interviewed an expert panel and has written their responses in the Question and Answer format giving valuable tips to both novice and experts alike.
Some of the questions covered in this article are:
Should beginning speakers write out their speech word for word, or use an outline?
Can you write a conclusion first and work backward?
How can a speaker assess how formal or informal a tone to use?
When it comes to choosing the right words, is simpler better?
Audiences love to laugh, but is humor always helpful?
What about stories? Should every speech have at least one or two?
What makes for an effective opening?
How can speakers transition from one idea to the next?
Should a conclusion always offer a summary of the speech and restate its main points?
The article also includes the 7 virtues of Speechwriting by professional speech writer, Pete Weissman. A must read for all of us!
Speechcraft 202: Turning Resonate into Reso-Neat by Jeffrey Young, ACB, ALB, Area I-33 Director
Disclaimer: I do not ever think I'm a perfect speaker. But... We always have room to grow as speakers no matter if we've been doing it for one day or one thousand days.
It's not often I completely flub a Table Topic, but it still happens – like at the meeting on March 9 ... Not my finest moment, for sure. I wanted something that would resonate with the audience, and instead I wound up with reso-naughts. So naturally, I'm going to write about it.
Writing a resonating speech is all about relating to the audience in a way that they relive an experience with you.
Following the Rule of Threes ('put up three ideas' for your article or speech), I'm going to relate the Three Requirements of Resonating Recollection:...Curious? Continue reading and discover the story and tips. It will be well worth it!
International Women's Day Panel: Successful Women sharing their stories by Luz Flores, PM3, President
International Women's Day (March 8) is celebrated globally to recognize the social, economic, cultural, and political achievements of women. On Monday, March 8 this year, I had the privilege of taking part in these celebrations.
A week earlier, I got a call from a high school friend of mine, inviting me to participate in a virtual event organized for this occasion by the SUMA Inmobilarias Association in Mexico. I was to be on a panel of women. The panel discussion would be in Spanish and would be shared live on Facebook and YouTube.
I was really nervous to participate, but said yes ...
TIP: Read Jeff's article and discover the 3 tips he has given using the Rule of Three. Then search the blog for other articles for tips using the Rule of Three. Make a list of these tips by category. Research on Rule of Three and prepare a speech on the Rule of Three. Write up your speech and submit to news@cityspeechtoastmasters.org
There are few situations in life in which being ruthless is a virtue. Editing your own speeches is one of them. - Mitch Mirkin, CTM
Old is Gold By Praveena Raman
The past few months we have been in the midst of the International Speech Competition. We have heard experts delivering impactful speeches in the allotted 5-7 minute duration; there is no flexibility in the time as contestants are disqualified for going over their time limit. In the real world we can often request additional time but it makes a much better impression if we keep to the alloted time. To do this we have to be impactful with less words.
In How to be a Ruthless Editor (Toastmaster. December 2015:p26) author Mitch Mirkin tells his readers that just as we prune plants to shape them and help them grow, so also we need to prune our speeches to make it "come alive and blossom". To help us cut and shape our speeches, Mirkin shares with us five problematic types of content that we can look for while editing our speeches : Platitudes, Redundancy, Unnecessary words, Needless complication, Excursions (PRUNE).
Join me in using the PRUNE method to tighten our speeches and deliver it with a punch! For details read the article.
TIP:Toastmasters International has archived Magazines/Journals from 1930 onwards available to the public. There is a plethora of information to use as we improve our communication and leadership skills.
DID YOU KNOW?
In the article An Old Roman Speaks (The Toastmaster. December 1939; v5(11):p13) Dr. Smedley mentions that ancient Roman educator Quintilian laid down the foundations for speech and evaluation in the "Institutes of Oratory". At present we still use those fundamentals for improving our speaking and evaluation skills. For a good and convincing speech, Quintilian wrote that the narration should be clear, brief and credible. He points out that Quintilian had noted "that all speech consists of matter and words; that as to matter we must study invention, as to words, elocution and as to both arrangement."
If this has piqued your curiosity I would encourage you to read An Old Roman Speaks as well as Speech is a Means not an End(Smedley, RC. The Toastmaster. February 1955;v21(n2):p21) and Read A Speech (The Toastmaster. February 1955;v21(n2):p27).
Call For Articles
We seek articles from members touching upon various issues and tips that would benefit our fellow Toastmasters. These timeless messages will find a home on our website for durable use. You will have a published article with your byline and that can earn you points towards your OATM award.
You can be proud of making a difference in many lives.
Please email your article ideas to Editor at news@cityspeechtoastmasters.org. After defining the scope, you will be able to write and submit them.
I look forward to your ideas to strengthen our website and newsletter with relevant content.
If you are submitting for inclusion in the next issue of City Speech News, final articles should be sent to me by April 15, 2021.
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