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COMMUNIQUE Noida Toastmasters Club’s Newsletter

B2, District 41

INDEX

- Editorial - The outgoing EC - A talk with LGET North DTM Neeraj Gupta - Why do we do what we do! – by TM Divya Rashmi - Managing your Boss! – by TM Saurabh Gupta - Spectacular events of NTMC : Jul-Dec 2014 - Thank You Toastmasters! - NTMC’s Educational Awards champs

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Dear readers, From where should I begin- a girl who had a stage fright like fear of death and who has always dreamt of speaking dynamically in front of huge audience (even though it is a distant dream still), now the same girl (your own Editor of this edition) can speak on stage confidently and also get compliments about clarity of voice, confidence, poise etc. in external occasions of Public Speaking. I cannot stop thanking this wonderful community- Toastmasters. The CEO of Toastmasters International Daniel Rex says- for every Toastmaster, there is a drastic difference between answers to these 2 questions : Why did we join this community and What did we get out of it. And, I am no different! I joined this community to become a confident public speaker and Voila! I achieved many surprising things over and above getting rid of my stage fear. In my journey of 1.5 years, I became more responsible, I can even now accept my short-comings confidently and yes, I am surely a happier human being. Here, I came to know many wonderful people, made many friends and got blessed with the guidance of several mentors. Thank You Toastmasters for everything! This Communique edition of Noida Toastmasters Club covers highlights of major events of NTMC, interview talk with LGET(North) DTM Neeraj Gupta and more! Happy reading! As said, feedback is breakfast of Champions, kindly send your bouquets and brickbats to gupta.neha121@gmail.com.

EDITORIAL

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Neha Gupta

Jul-Dec 2014, The Enthusiastic EC Team

Pallav Verma, President Heart and Soul of NTMC

Avadhesh Kumar, VP-Education The Club loyalist

K Hari Nair, VP-Membership The Grammarian’s Delight

Neha Gupta, VP-Public Relations Miss Congeniality

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Deepti Dabral, Treasurer Most Exuberant toastmaster

Parikshit Ranawat, Secretary The soft-spoken toastmaster

Rohit Ghiya, SAA The funny bone of club

Tarun Tej, Web Master (When he is there)

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A talk with LGET North Neeraj Gupta

DTM Neeraj Gupta is Quality Manager at Adobe Systems Incorporated. He has published more than 10 papers in International/ National conferences (including QAI Testing conference). He has served in various leadership roles i.e. Division Governor for Division–C (2009-10), Nomination Committee Chair (2011-12), District parliamentarian (2011-12), Assistant Lieutenant Governor for Education & Training (2012-13), Division Governor for Division–B (2013-14) in past. Currently he is serving as Lieutenant Governor for Education & Training-North (2014-15).

1. How was your journey in toastmasters so far? I am one of those lucky people who got introduced to Toastmasters at the right time. I joined Toastmasters as

a charter member of Adobe Toastmasters Club. Icing on the cake was the fact our ID DTM Deepak Menon, and DG DTM Reet Arora were mentors of the club. They helped me a lot in grooming. Since the club was new, I got opportunity to play leadership roles. I was an introvert person, always avoided to talk to new people and kept myself focused only on execution part. Toastmasters gave me the opportunity to get transformed from introvert to ambivert.

2. Challenges you faced being LGET(North)?

North is a very big area as it covers Punjab, Haryana, UP, Delhi, Bihar, Rajasthan, Orissa, Kolkata, and many new clubs would be coming to Uttrakhand, Himachal, J&K etc. The ratio of corporate clubs is very high. The biggest challenge is to sustain the clubs. Many times corporate club die once the core team leaves office on account of their change in job, shift to other locations etc. We need to involve a lot of members to ensure the

club keep on growing even if some key people leave company or get transferred to some other location.

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3. One biggest positive change you observe in you after being a Toastmaster.

The biggest positive change is my transformation from introvert to ambivert. 4. How can one take maximum benefit from Toastmasters’ curriculum?

We can take maximum benefit by attending not only our own club meetings, but also meeting of other clubs. This is a win-win situation as the members can learn from the best practices of other clubs and can incorporate in their own clubs.

5. Why should someone join Toastmasters?

Toastmasters is the best cost effective way of improving leadership and communication skills. I have learnt a lot. We have seen people grown, both in communication and leadership track. This also provides platform to connect with like-minded people. There are lot of opportunities to work on different projects (conferences, events, trainings etc.)

6. As LGET of District 41- North (2014-15), what is your vision? I would like members to extend support to other members, not only of their clubs, but also of other clubs.

Let us visit other clubs, learn from them and share best practices of our own clubs. With collaboration, we can achieve a lot.

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Why do we do What we do!! I was attending my Club's meeting as I do every Saturday, but last Saturday was different as it took me to an experience that I am going to share here: Club's President asked a very simple but thought provoking question to all the members "Why are you all attending the meeting", having one of those forty pair of ears even I started thinking. Being curious by nature and having the characteristics of digging hard to find answers, I started thinking "Really!! It is so hot here with 46 degrees temperature and we are sweating like hell, still we are actively taking part in the club's meeting. Is there any penchant or it is just like that? I started surfing internet and I read a very famous quote by Martin Luther King "Everything that is done in the world is done by hope". I was amazed, does this simple four letters word drives us all the way and puts us wherever it wishes! I ended up reading many articles and gathered information from popular sources on internet and got to know that "HOPE" plays key role in almost all areas whether it be religion, mythology, psychology, leadership, literature and many more. I was taken to another level of understanding and started getting the feel of the strength of this word. "Hope springs eternal" taken from Alexander Pope's Essay on Man “Hope” in the Holy Bible means “a strong and confident expectation” of future reward Hope, in the structure of beliefs and motivations, is a long-term karmic concept, in Bhagavad Gita. My penchant for this word was increasing exponentially. I realized that in our lives we come across hope in different situations which can be broadly categorised into three spaces. First, when we expect a future reward in positive attitude, as mentioned in different religion stated above. It strongly implies that whenever we have a strong and confident expectation of future reward, hope comes into existence.

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Second, When crisis looms. Dr. Barbara L. Fredrickson also says, hope opens us to new creative possibilities. Here I will tell you real life story where a boy was suffering from cancer and his family was financially weak, so they were helpless and were not able to afford their son's brain surgery. Now his eight year old sister took her piggy bank and went to a pharmacist. Now what others did not see is that she was not only carrying piggy bank in her hand but also carrying hope in her eyes, which was seen by a neurologist, which resulted in free treatment of her brother and they witnessed a real life miracle!!! Here we learned that Hope can create wonders too but also learned that sometimes in the process of growing up and becoming more responsible we forget the natural concepts that God has created for us as tools, this girl was small and had that tool unpolluted and undamaged!!!! Third and the last category is you who is reading this article with Hope, hoping that you will get something out of it, or you may get some information out of it, or may be any other reason, but it's the Hope that keeps you doing what you do. It's the Hope that lightens the flame of desire and that gets cooked with motivation and faith which results into wonder, miracle, or sometime failure. Whatever be the result, success or failure, it is temporary because Hoping is the permanent thing and until it keeps lightening our desires, no evil can ever stop us. The result could be delayed but as long as we keep cooking, it has to come with the wonderful preparation and amazing result someday or the other!! Learning and loving this word, I now see this as four powerful lettered words which has the driving force to make us do what we do ! And I have abbreviated the word which even concludes its meaning- H- Heaven's Concept O- Optimistic Attitude P- Powerful Desire

E- Expect with confidence

DivyaRashmi Divya, an IT professional has penchant for Public Speaking and loves speaking her heart out.

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Managing Your BOSS How many of you have ever quit your job because of your boss? A recent survey done by human resource software company Gallup revealed 80% of employees quit their job because of their relationship with their Boss. To generalize - People quit their bosses, not their job. If you think that the success of your career depends on your basic competence at doing your job --- then my friends, think again!! Because you are looking only at half of the picture. In addition to performing well, you have to make sure that your boss knows about all the things you're doing right, while also building personal rapport so that he or she will keep your best interests in mind. Raises, promotions, and other perks depend directly on how well you can manage your boss. If he or she doesn't warm up to you— or worse, doesn't remember that you exist — you'll never get rewarded to your capabilities. My brother came to Dubai 13 years back and started with sales executive profile in an ICT company. Today he is leading 3 gulf countries for a fortune 500 company. Based on his experience of more than a decade - I am going to share 3 point formula which has worked for him in climbing the ladders of success in his professional life. And I am sure you will be able to relate with his story and implementing them will definitely give a boost to paychecks and happiness. 1. Understand and address boss’ expectations : Try to see things from his point of view. Learn what his targets are and what he wants to deliver. Communicate with him to get an idea of what are the things in his priority list and be a helping

hand for him to achieve those goals.

Basically your boss expects credibility, knowledge and most importantly – the go getter attitude. Credibility -- To do your work to best of your capabilities. Knowledge -- of a specific area which your boss values in the subject matter or in personal space. Attitude – that even If you don’t know how to achieve what you have been asked, yet you will put all your efforts to acquire the knowledge and tools to build the competency and get that done. Let me share with you an example, When my brother was heading a real estate firm in Dubai, his investor (chairman of group) started getting interest in Thailand’s real estate market. Though it was not a part of his role but he spent considerable time to research the market, prepared a market entry strategy and shared with his boss in a not-so-formal communication, the boss was impressed with his research given the fact that my brother caught the clue that he had this in his wish-list. Try to match with the boss’ frequency of thoughts and when you two are in tune, that’s the time when most achievements happen for both the individuals as well as for the organization.

2. Create a "core message"—a brief summary of exactly what you're doing and how it's vital to his success. One of the smart moves one can make is to walk into the boss's office fully prepared. Since you don't know in advance what questions your boss might ask, be prepared for every contingency. Have a core message news for your every interaction with him. Each time when you are sharing 2 development news which he wants to hear, you are moving 2 steps ahead in your success ladder.

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For example; yesterday my brother went to my boss’s cabin to extend invitation to the banking summit taking place in Dubai and how he can help him to get slot as key note speaker. His boss was quite impressed. Similarly, few days back when he met his boss, his core message was how seriously he is working on an Islamic money transfer product to have a game changing ideas in competitive landscape. His boss was amazed. Make yourself worth noting not among your peers but his peers as well. Make those 2 points for the people who fall under the circle of influence of your boss as well. Create a list of everyone who carries weight with your boss. Include their job title and whatever you know about their background and role inside your firm. Now craft a variation of your core message that positions what you're doing as helpful to each person. Their comments and gossip will inevitably affect your boss‘ opinion of you and your work, so you want to be certain that, if they're not actively singing your praises, at least they're reading the message you want to deliver. 3. Be genuinely interested and learn about his career, experiences and interests. Now when you've convinced your boss that you're competent then it's time to further go a step ahead. To do this, you deliver what the boss wants—even before he knows he wants it. Show interest and be curious to know more about your boss. Ask him about his achievements and learnings - e.g. my brother told his boss, • "I was on the web, learning more about our industry and I noticed that you delivered a speech at the money transfer conference. What kind of response did you get?"

• "Your LinkedIn profile shows you used to work for HSBC before. What was the most valuable thing you learned from that experience?“ • "I hear you used to work in the airline industry. What is the main difference between the way that industry runs and the way this one runs?" And if you want a more expansive and resilient relationship with the boss, cultivate an interest in something that also interests the boss. Ideally, this should be an interest or activity that makes transition nicely into the work experience. For example, if your boss likes to talk business while playing golf, learning to play—and enjoy the game— this will bring you closer. "To really understand your boss, you need to see him or her as a person, not just as a business contact," Managers make the difference. They can either damage the morale and efficiency of workplace or maintain the harmony and productivity. I would like to put this in words as – “The golden rule for work is that boss’ jokes are always funny.”

-Saurabh Gupta

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Congratulations & Kudos to all of you!!! "AWESOME" is a word to sum up the entire experience of 200th meeting of our club. I can say this was most enthralling, refreshing and overwhelming event of the Noida TMC till date.....Full of pleasant surprises, loads of laughter and fun, that's a meaning of a real club. The credit goes to all the members of organizing committee and club members. All of them were so good in their domains that together it was a perfect team or you may say a melodious orchestra. I am so impressed with the creativity and spontaneity of the organizers, Indeed, it proves to be a high performance team! This gives me a sigh of relief, that Noida TMC (which is now a full grown tree ) is in expert hands and can sustain for many more 100s of meetings like this. Best wishes and lots of success for future meetings too! - DTM Poonam Jain (Founder President Noida TMC)

It was a pleasure to be there and be a witness to a

vibrant and energizing meeting. All the events were

conducted very well and there was never a dull

moment and time just flew by.

I wish Noida Toastmasters a great innings ahead

and look forward to be with you for your Triple

Century!!

-Riyaz Khan (Toastmasters Club of New Delhi )

Founded in 2007, NTMC celebrated its

200th milestone meeting – with

fun and furore! TMs from various clubs of NCR brought

colors to the celebrations!!

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EC Installation ceremony July 2014 at Hotel Mosaic

I was a two week old visitor of Noida Toastmasters club and was not even a member when I got to know about the club party. Now any party rings a bell in my head, but this was the EC Installation ceremony party and that too at a 5 star hotel “Mosaic”. Not willing to miss this party either, I promptly agreed to be a member of the club and avail discounted rates for ceremony entry. All excited I turned up to the party to witness this classy event. The venue was elite, everyone was impeccably dressed, passionate Toastmasters greeted each other with a broad smile and the gentry flowed perfectly. It invariably gave a feeling as if I was a part of some Royal Dutch club or some English Cricket Club where the formality & elegance sweeps you. I jumped right in and engaged in small talk with fellow members when the meeting formally started. The Immediate Past President of the club Abhishek Sharma gave an inspiring speech to start with and floored away the audience. He then introduced the new President who inspired even more with his goals for the club & its members and lifted the spirit of the meeting. In between, some senior members & dignitaries were recognized and called upon to give speeches and tell their stories of adventure & success during their stint at Noida Toastmasters Club. There was then an educative session conducted by District Governor DTM Ritu “Reet” Arora who dramatically got on her imaginative motor bike every time it came into the story line and kept the audience engaged at all times which sparked a brilliant learning idea for the members that Fear is not good for great, and one has to dive in someday or the other to learn to be a better person (this was the gist of her story). Then came the crux of the meet, the EC Installation ceremony. Some chosen bright EC members were explained their roles & responsibilities by DTM Ritu “Reet” Arora. This part was interesting as the EC members were asked to hold a Gavel and take an oath to

fulfill their roles to perfection. Though the formality flowed with ease at the ceremony, there were also moments that lightened the mood and also a stand up comedy act by TM Rohit Ghiya which showcased how versatile & talented the members of a club of Toastmasters can be. To add the icing on the cake there was another aspect of the ceremony – “The Gala Time”– the formality broke and it was time for refreshments and dinner. Members engaged in socializing, cracking jokes, enjoying in the dinner which was sumptuous & appealing. It was this time when I engaged in some valuable conversation with senior members like DTM Poonam Jain, who motivated me and then I broke loose as if this is a gold mine where a lot can be gained from and interacted with everyone present in the party. It `showed me how one can progress and lead. I further engaged in a long conversation with CV Ram sir who then asked illustrated some critical aspects. It really goes out to show how a small idea of going to a party, can get you close to a club where everyone is open, humble and downright intellectual. Looking forward for more to come!!

- Rajdeep Singh Chauhan

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Joint meetings of Noida Toastmasters Club

Joint meeting with New Delhi Gavel’s club

Wonderful meeting

with Gaveliers; they stole the show indeed.

A lot to

learn from these young bundles full of talent…

Joint meeting with Barco Toastmasters club

This is always a great learning experience to participate and conduct joint meetings. And this meeting was no exception. Noida TMC rocked, and

bagged 4 out of 5 awards.

Team Noida TMC

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Learning with Fun at Noida Toastmasters Club

Meeting at NTMC are high on learning and are never dull, Here you can decipher the public speaking puzzle. Many Esteemed Toastmasters graced NTMC and conducted Educational Modules, Thankful we are that they came despite of their busy schedules. DG DTM Reet Arora educated us on how to weave a story, TM Shailaja Ranjan taught us to create humor in speech, rather than being sorry. It was also TM Shailaja who conducted a wonderful Evaluation session, TM Riyaz Khan demonstrated Vocal Variety with passion.

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The 200th meeting celebration was grand and one of its kind, Fun awards to each club member + performances to un wind, Then power packed Table Topics which stimulated people’s mind. The club contest of Sep was different than the lot, Where both trophies (Evaluation & Humorous speech) ‘The new kid on the Block’ Rajdeep got, Then again in Area contest, secured 1st runners up in both and gave his best shot. Members in NTMC are incredibly full of talent, They can turn any meeting into a gala event. Come and Join us on this joyride of infinite learning, Evolve, Explore and see your whole world turning.

- Neha Gupta

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Noida TMC at Resonance 2014

LEARNING EXPERIENCES FROM RESONANCE DELHI , 2014

Attending any Conference gives us some learning experiences. Here is what I learnt from Resonance Delhi 2014:- Lance Miller, world champion of Public Speaking, 2005 gave several inspirational modules. What attracted me most was his views on developing Club Loyalty. He asked the provocative questions: what will you give back to your Club? Will you help other Club members to grow? I got the opportunity to listen to many accomplished speakers from various parts of India. It was an active Speaking shop floor. Such an experience spurs many ideas in any participant for his/ her own evolution as a Public Speaker . And it certainly did for me. I could meet some interesting people. This is always an additional bonus. How do you know where such an interaction can lead? Maybe a lasting friendship and collaboration? –

Alexander Daniel.

Toastmasters Conferences are always an exciting mix of talent, fun and learning- listening to the best of the best speeches, visiting a new place, meeting numerous enthusiastic toastmasters, making friends and witnessing that ‘Toastmasters is actaully a place where learning is fun’. From NTMC, 6 people attended Resonance’14 held in New Delhi– President Pallav Verma, VP-Ed Avadhesh Srivastava, Area Governor B2 Nikhil Kumar, Alexander Daniel, Jasbir Dhalliwal and yours truly, Neha Gupta. NTMC made its mark in Resonance’14. Club President and District Treasurer Pallav Verma was the emcee of Humorous speech contest. He made all of us proud by his impeccable performance. I, Neha Gupta, was the target speaker in Evaluation contest. Speaking in front of 400 fantastic speakers from all across the world was indeed a dream come true. Thank you Toastmasters for giving me the courage. -Neha Gupta

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Thank you Toastmasters for the re-birth. Toastmasters gave me an identity & helped me discover the potential that lied within me. It gave me a new family where I could help others discover the potential which lied within them. - Pallav Verma

Improvement in self confidence, communication and interpersonal skills, leadership and life skills are just a few qualities I gained in Toastmasters. The amazing energy and warm family like environment are the qualities that make Toastmasters special to me. For giving me life time friends, thank you Toastmasters! - Dhiraj Saini

Going to Noida Toastmasters club is my lifeline. Along with immense learning from colleagues with diverse professional backgrounds, Noida Toastmasters Club is a temple of warmth, support and sea of love all around. In my life's dictionary, joining NTMC is one of the best decisions. Thank You Toastmasters. – Rohit Ghiya

Toastmasters helped me: 1. To face the crowd with a positive attitude and speak out my heart. 2. To manage time and handling multiple tasks in a day. 3. To make new friends and meet people of diverse backgrounds. Thank you Toastmasters. – Tarun Tej

Being good at written communication, I was very much comfortable while communicating through email but addressing a group was like a nightmare for me. After joining NTMC just because of supportive members, today I can easily express my feelings to a group. I am really thankful to all of you, specially Pallav, Abhishek, Prashant, Nityam and Neha. Thank you Toastmasters! - Aparajita Banerjee

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We, Noida Toastmasters Club cordially invites you all to dive into the world of Public Speaking

and Leadership.

Have you joined our Facebook page yet? Join us - https://www.facebook.com/groups/noidatoastmastersclub/

Explore our website for articles and news updates – www.NoidaTMC.com

Meeting time: 4-6 pm (Every Saturday) Venue: Jalvayu Vihar Community Center, Sec-21, Noida

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