Finding a Thursday evening free in our family calendar in Muscat is a
rarity. Since Friday and Saturday are weekending days, there are always events
happening around town on Thursdays.
My friend, Hamsa, is a natural motivator and cheerleader. She claims
her confidence greatly improved after joining the SAB Toastmasters Club. I had
never been to a Toastmasters Meeting and wanted to know more.
When Hamsa sent me the invitation to join her as a guest on 17th
January for a Toastmasters Meeting, I looked forward to going as the rest of
the family had other plans.
On the way to the meeting, Hamsa told me a story that changed my
perception of random encounters in life. I realised how effectively she could
bring the story to life with her words while navigating her way through the Al
Khuwair traffic on a dark weekend evening.
The session started on time with a Call to Order by TM Monica
immediately followed by a warm Welcome Address by DTM Mohammed Salar. The Toastmaster
of the Day, TM Mohammed Balla, then introduced the Theme of the Day - Ancient Greece. He introduced each of the speakers by assigning them names
from Greek Mythology according to the roles they played that evening and the
personality traits he had observed during his interactions with them. By the
end of the evening, he had presented a dazzling array of gods and goddesses - from
Kronos, the God of Time, to Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love.
The Time Keeper, TM Sarmadas gave a two-minute explanation of how he
would be counting the minutes. TM Sara, the Word Master/Grammarian, introduced
the Word of the Day, ‘Relinquish’, and explained its meaning. The intention was
to use this word as many times as possible that evening. So every time anyone used
the word, they were applauded with thumbs-up signs from the audience. And two
thumbs-ups from Hamsa.
TM Tushar who manned the Ah Counter explained his role of keeping track
of the ‘ah, uh, um’ fillers in speeches and also the repetition of words and
phrases.
In the second part the session, Project Speeches, TM Shaji was given
seven minutes to give a speech on his topic ‘The Picture’. He effectively
brought to life his domestic duties of taking his baby daughter to the park. He
showed a picture of an elephant and asked the audience if they could identify
it. Some members in the audience rightly guessed that it was Appu – the mascot of the 1982
Asian Games. TM Shaji displayed his other drawings and talked about his
interest in sketching pictures in his spare time and not only doing engineering
drawing at work.
TM Monica’s topic ‘Problems or Opportunities’ began with her dramatic
body language to tell the story about God’s servant who couldn’t keep silent in
the face of injustice and thus ruined God’s plan. She exuded remarkable
confidence in conveying her ideas.
DTM Mohammed Salar’s speech on ‘Distraction’ captured attention with an
opening question about a small town in USA. He succeeded in making an appeal to
the audience to stay away from using their phones while driving by giving
graphic examples.
Between these three Project Speeches, MTM Kalpana, TM Hamsavardhini,
and TM Pranali gave some information about Evaluation Criteria.
Voting slips for the best speaker were passed around and the Time
Keeper gave the timing of each speech.
In the third section, TM Vineeta presented three Table Topics which
inspired impromptu speakers to speak on topics such as – ‘All is fair in love
and war’. This was the section where non-members and guests could also
participate. Hamsa looked at me
expectantly but at that moment my mind was blank and I couldn’t think of a
thing to say about any of the three topics. The ones who did speak, however,
did such a wonderful job that it was hard to believe that their speeches were
not prepared in advance. Now I know what Hamsa meant by saying how her
confidence in speech has grown considerably after joining this club.
Next, the three speakers from the Project Speeches were briefly
evaluated by TM Hamsavardhini, TM Pranali, and TM Kalpana. They effectively
gave constructive criticism and provided areas for improvement with a great
deal of encouragement.
Again voting slips for the Best Evaluator were passed around. They also
had a three-minute time limit.
In the Reports section, TM Sara gave a count of the exact number of
times the Word of the Day – ‘Relinquish’ was used. The Ah Counter in-charge,TM
Tushar, accurately reported on the repetition of phrases, words, and fillers.
TM Sarmadas reported on how the speakers managed their time. MTM Lakshmi gave a
General Evaluator’s Report and covered all the sections of the evening session beginning
from the very first minute the session started.
The Toastmasters then got down to serious business with MTM Kalpana’s
brief talk on Business Planning.
During the Awards and Closing ceremony, DTM Sabiha joined DTM Mohammed
Salar in handing out the certificates and trophies. In his closing remarks, DTM
Mohammed Salar thanked guests in attendance and talked about the achievements
of the SAB Toastmasters Club. The January 2019 edition of their newsletter, SAB
Vision, was then released.
The Toastmasters International, which has clubs all over the world, provides
an "experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and
leadership skills resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.”
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| Photo courtesy: SAB Toastmasters Club, Muscat, Oman |
