We need to communicate well with others
in order to convey our thought. Our action and thoughts are combined to
manifest leadership skills.
Toastmasters international provided the
platform to enrich ourselves with effective and confident public speaking
skills. I realise this when I enrolled myself in the Toastmasters program in
July 2009.
Many among my toastmasters friends
struggle to start with even a word. I do believe the courage to start and
willingness to keep everlasting is the key. Let me ask you, do you actually
need to prepare if you are going to speak about yourself in Ice-Breaker speech?
Toast mastering is journey and not a
destination. There is an ocean of knowledge waiting to be discovered. One of
the readily available skills is leadership track. The are many role plays in
toastmaster which in time will make an individual a good leader. The leadership
program had propelled me into getting the Advance Leadership Bronze in just 2
years. This also requires a lot of volunteering in many events that toastmaster
has to offer. Sometimes, by the virtue of no choice, you will be volunteered
but every day and everything is a learning process, DO YOU AGREE with me?
Positive mindset and determination is
important to balance normal life and toastmasters. ‘Tough times don’t last,
tough people do’, said Dale Carnegie, the motivation writer. Win-win situation
need to be created in order to move forward. Sometimes, a simple token of
appreciation will go a long way like a session of teh-tariks.Being a flight
attendant, getting a fridge magnet from overseas worked wonders for me. Are you
thinking of asking me one?
Why not, do you have speaking slots for me? He he.
I have always been asked, how do I find
the time to do so many things? Simple, just take a piece of paper, write down
what needs to be done, when and then the how to do it will come
automaticly.Remember, he who begun is half done. Dare you to begin and the rest
will follow? List down those people who you think can help you. Approach them;
I am sure there are many souls there ready to give a hand. Trust me on this.
One of the greatness gifts of speech is
humor.Let people remember your speech through humor.It makes you happy and the
listener happy too. While we take lessons from the journey of toastmaster, lets
also give some for other to enrich themself.Fellow Toastmasters who have not
begin a speech, all you have to do is to begin with courage and willing to
learn with open and positive mindset.
LIVE FOR NOTHING OR DIE FOR SOMETHING
THIAGARAJAH NESAN, ACS/ALB
PRESIDENT MAS MELOR TOASTMASTERS CLUB
-2011/212
AREA G4 GOVERNOR- 2011/2012
Sarah Abedi Abdullah ACG, ALB
(Area Gov C5 - 2011-2012) (VPPR Shah
Alam TMC)
Sarah achieved
her 2nd ALB on 25 Aug 2011 and credited the award to the Shah Alam
TMC. She is currently the VPPR of that club. During the previous term
(2010-11), she was the club’s VPE.
Her 1st
ALB which was completed on 23 March 2010, was recorded with INTEC TMC,
a student club. She has been the college-appointed Adviser of that club
since July 1977. To begin with, Sarah became a Toastmaster in April 2008. At that time, INTEC TMC was 2+ years old and
membership was on the decline. The club was barely surviving with 8-9 members
and was even rumored to fold soon.
Strangely, it never dawned on her to be a Toastmaster until INTEC
student members achieved their
CCs and won the Area C5 speech contests back in 2008. This flurry
of goals achieved under such difficult circumstances, sparked off her curiosity
to seek out more information and hitch herself onto the TMs’ bandwagon. The perseverance of the skeletal core group
of INTEC TMC student members
convinced her to help them build the club as a team.
When she visited
the Shah Alam TMC for the first time in January 2009, to present one of her
Advanced manual speeches, little did she realize that she would be persuaded to
join that club. She was much inspired by the dedication, eloquence and passion
shown by Haridas Nambiar, the then Club
President, and Club Ex-Co members like DTM Zaharah, DTM Sharmini, Tengku
Shaifuddin, and Elizabeth Joseph. Each of these Toastmasters has transmitted to
her a great store of know-how and has enriched her in many personal and professional
ways.
While completing
her manual speeches, she is especially thankful to have been evaluated by great
TM stalwarts like DTM Devan, DTM Parames, DTM Shel Ling, Barry Ong (past Div C
Gov), Bruce Chan (past Area Gov), Hong SL (Area Gov C7), Ismail Omar and many
more. Apart from these exemplary
Toastmasters, the one who has made a great impression on her is DTM SK
Ratnam. She will never forget the drastic and dreaded evaluation she received
from him for one of her Table Topics speeches delivered at MIM PJ TMC. He had
given her a wake-up call to address Table Topics with more thought, care and
craft. For that valuable lesson learnt, she will be eternally grateful. In
fact, last year, DTM Ratnam was on her guidance committee to mentor her through
her HPL, together with IP Div C Gov, DTM NK Valli. The success of the Montfort
Boys’ Town project is the beautiful crystallization of dedicated teamwork,
collaborative guidance and the wholehearted participation of INTEC TMC members
and seasoned TMs from Div C.
To everyone who has lent a helping hand, she would
like to say: “Thank
you truly. I would not have made it without you”.
Sarah hopes that
this ALB award will drive her on in her
Toastmastering quest to attain a 2nd DTM in the future, as she
believes everything is sweeter the second time around. Although this involves
the gruesome task of going back to complete another cycle of the Communication
track, as long as time is her friend, nothing should be deemed as impossible. As she glides with grace towards
her goals, she hopes that others in her club, her team, her area and division
will be comforted to know that they are not alone to dare try something new, to
dare to learn and remain relevant and
enthusiastic.
As the current
AGov for C5, Sarah is aware that the 5 clubs in the area (INTEC, UTTC, DiGi,
Summit & SJ Advanced) have certain unique strengths and inherent
weaknesses. It is her fervent hope to
help all 5 clubs finish on a strong, firm footing at the end of her term so that
the next AGov will be proud to have such great clubs under his/her wings. No doubt this diversity of clubs do present
certain challenges but she has full faith in these words of Henry Ford :
“If everyone is
moving forward together, then success takes care of itself”.
