Toastmasters club of Dwarka, New Delhi, India

Dear Toastmasters and friends.

"The Times of India" covers "Toastmasters", May 21st, Page 2 .

Link to the article: (copy-paste)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Cities/A_toast_to_oratory_skills/articleshow/2063334.cms
or Log on to : http://www.timesofindia.com


"Toastmasters Club of Dwarka next scheduled meeting is on May 27th 2007.
June 3rd & June 17th.
(We meet 1st, 3rd and 5th Sunday-every month)


Meeting Time: 4.45 pm,

Venue: Liberty Institute C-2/13, Sahyadri Apts, Plot-5, Sec-12, Dwarka, New Delhi, India, 110078,
Cell: 99100 33207, membership@dwarka.freetoasthost.org
http://dwarka.freetoasthost.org

For more details, Pl contact: Toastmasters club of DWARKA -

Toastmaster International website: www.toastmasters.org.

The news text is as under:


The times of India 21st May 2007.

A toast to oratory skills21 May, 2007 l 0203 hrs IST l Heena Grover/TIMES NEWS NETWORK
NEW DELHI: Remember that stage fright during good old school days when the mere sight of an audience was enough to make the words go deeper down the throat. And now in professional life too when you see your communication channels choked, you can't help but curse the fact that public speaking is not your forte. It's this fear and lack of confidence to properly convey their message that has brought people from all walks of life to the Toastmasters' Club. A platform to learn fundamental communication skills, this international club — it was started in California in 1924 (see box) — offers an informal yet structured technique to fight the fear associated with public speaking. Weekly or fortnightly meetings are held depending on the need of the respective communities. For example, at Punjabi Bhawan, one of the eight branches in the city, the meeting is held every Tuesday to suit the needs of the 16 members. There is no formal head of the community but every meeting one member volunteers to become the Toastmaster of the day for conducting ‘toast' ceremonies, which basically means steering the meeting. They have a grammarian of the day as well. The members have to undergo three sessions during the meeting. Prepared speeches session which includes word of the day, joke of the day and manual speeches having objectives such as speech organisation, body language and vocal variety, is followed by an impromptu session in which members are given topics to speak on the spot. In the evaluation session, the speeches are evaluated against their stated objectives, their timing, grammar, use of filler words and pauses and parliamentary behaviour. They also keep a watch on how many times the speaker has dealt with sensitive issues such as community, religion and women-oriented topics. In the end, certificates are also given to the best speaker, evaluator and the best impromptu. The USP of the club is its informal but effective style that reflects in the name itself. And it's this mutually supportive and non-classroom environment which helps members to learn without being overtly conscious. For Deepak Gupta, owner a publishing house, it was the fun element that drew him to the Club. "I joined this club about four years back as I wanted to brush up my speaking skills but I didn't want to join any formal coaching class. At Toastmasters, developing communication skill is not an arduous task," he says. Gaurav Arora, who works in a private organisation, says: "For people, who want to overcome the fear of public speaking, the method offered by the Toastmasters Club comes as a great help. So I'm looking forward to stick to this club for good." At Toastmasters' Club, you don't only hone your communication skills but also explore your leadership potential. Divya Goel, a research analyst, found it out after joining the club: "I was doing my post graduation and I needed to make regular presentations in the college. My confidence level was not up to the mark and I desperately needed guidance. The Toastmasters has helped me achieve a lot and I also managed to get leadership opportunities. I am the secretary of my community now."

Indian Express May 21st 2007.


Ovation 2007: Where professionals enhance communication skills
Rashmi Kumar
New Delhi, May 18: THE right communication makes all the difference. And Nidhi Dani, 25, from Chandigarh, who works as a business consultant with RMSI Pvt. Ltd. in Delhi since the last two years, is fully convinced about it. The need to undergo a makeover was so pressing both personally and professionally that she opted for the Toastmasters club — a corporate training centre with corporate clubs in Safdarjung Development Area, Dwarka, Kalkaji and Indrapastha Estate.
And, many others like Dani who are now volunteers of the club will get an opportunity to participate in Ovation 2007, a three-day annual conference being held at India Habitat Centre till May 20. The conference commenced on Friday began with international motivational speaker Mark Brown’s speech where he incorporated everyday things of life into his powerful presentations. “Professionals, be it any age, need to explore their untapped potential by answering three key questions: What can I learn? What can I change? And how can I grow?” he says.
During Ovation 2007 members will also get a chance to analyse, compete and entertain using communication and leadership skills. Explains Manu Maudgal, chairperson sponsorship Ovation 2007, “We want to promote and popularise leadership and make international speakers out of the members of the club,” he says.
Each year, the conference is hosted at different locations within South Asia. Last year Ovation was held at Colombo. This year, with over 400 participants, the members include professionals who are engineers, MBAs, entrepreneurs, CAs, doctors, advertising, consulting, bankers and teachers. Organised by Toastmasters club, various seminars have been held in the past in corporate houses like Cisco, Mecon, TCS, Infosys and Genpact.
Dr Punita Singh, president, Toastmasters club, explains other activities that will be a part of the three-day conference, “We will have competitions such as speech contest, table topic contest and humorous speech contest. Through these competitions we want to ensure a healthy participation of the members who would also learn ways to build teams, develop persuasion power and be able to think on the feet without falling.”
Various modules especially designed by the trainers, who are members of Toastmasters will entail presentations on the use of speech and voice during public speaking other than ways to overcome stage fright and speak grammatically correct English during group discussions and seminars.
Dani, who has been a member of the club for the last two years sums up, “I worked hard on my communication and feel much confident about myself. After all having the right kind of words makes all the difference.
Circulated By: Ashok Menghaniashokmenghani@yahoo.comToastmasters Club of Dwarka.