Monday, May 07, 2007
Inspirational Speech - Speech 10
I remember quite well, the day I signed up for toastmasters. I was tense and nervous, wondering if I did the right thing by joining. I wasn’t sure if I could complete a single speech, let alone 10. But I knew that I wanted to complete the 10 speeches to improve my communication skills, to better articulate my ideas and to be a confidant speaker and a leader.
With these goals in mind, I started to prepare my first speech, the ice breaker. It was a speech which would introduce me to the audience, a speech that would give an idea of who I am to the listener. What better way to do this than to explain a race that I took part in while in college. I chose this topic because it gave a good insight into the kind of challenges that I like and the extent to which I would pursue a challenge to make sure I win.
The second thru the sixth speech got me to work on various skills that would help he achieve my goals of being a better communicator. Despite nagging time sinks and sticky work schedules, I stuck to the task of working on the speech. Researching the topic, practicing before a mirror, organizing and trying to achieve vocal variety were the tasks I had to work on to successfully get thru those speeches. Be it researching about Chandragiri, a fortress in India, for my second speech or getting my body to speak, for the fifth, I practiced hard. I needed the right amount of constructive feedback that toastmasters give to get over my nervousness. These speeches helped me better present my ideas and gave me confidence.
The final tasks got me to mix the skills that I had learnt over the earlier speeches and work on building informative speeches that helped me to persuade the audience. By doing these speeches, I got an opportunity to improve my leadership skills and be more creative. Now, on the verge of completing the 10th speech required for the CTM, I find that sticking to the task and working on the speeches despite various constraints has paid rich dividends. This reassures my belief that working towards my goal, no matter what the obstacles, is worth the effort and sacrifices involved.
In conclusion, I would urge each one of you to chase your goal, whatever that might be, with determination and drive to see you complete the task, despite the hardship that you face. I would like to quote the following as a parting shot: “Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments.”
With these goals in mind, I started to prepare my first speech, the ice breaker. It was a speech which would introduce me to the audience, a speech that would give an idea of who I am to the listener. What better way to do this than to explain a race that I took part in while in college. I chose this topic because it gave a good insight into the kind of challenges that I like and the extent to which I would pursue a challenge to make sure I win.
The second thru the sixth speech got me to work on various skills that would help he achieve my goals of being a better communicator. Despite nagging time sinks and sticky work schedules, I stuck to the task of working on the speech. Researching the topic, practicing before a mirror, organizing and trying to achieve vocal variety were the tasks I had to work on to successfully get thru those speeches. Be it researching about Chandragiri, a fortress in India, for my second speech or getting my body to speak, for the fifth, I practiced hard. I needed the right amount of constructive feedback that toastmasters give to get over my nervousness. These speeches helped me better present my ideas and gave me confidence.
The final tasks got me to mix the skills that I had learnt over the earlier speeches and work on building informative speeches that helped me to persuade the audience. By doing these speeches, I got an opportunity to improve my leadership skills and be more creative. Now, on the verge of completing the 10th speech required for the CTM, I find that sticking to the task and working on the speeches despite various constraints has paid rich dividends. This reassures my belief that working towards my goal, no matter what the obstacles, is worth the effort and sacrifices involved.
In conclusion, I would urge each one of you to chase your goal, whatever that might be, with determination and drive to see you complete the task, despite the hardship that you face. I would like to quote the following as a parting shot: “Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments.”
Labels: inspiration, toastmasters
Friday, October 27, 2006
How to fix a stalled car - Speech 6
Have you ever been cruising down the road and all of a sudden you hear kkkeeeechh noise from the engine or a dub..dub of a flat tire? What would your reaction be?
If it’s a flat, you can consider your self lucky. At least if you are mechanically inclined to the extent of using the jack. But what if it’s not a flat? Here a quick run thru of some tings that you could do:
The stall is likely caused by either a problem in the electrical system or in the fuel system. Your engine stops running because it is not igniting gas in the cylinders, this occurs either because there isn't gas to ignite, or because it lacks the electrical charge to ignite it. Such scenarios will be common when you head to the mechanic where you would more or less have this kind of conversation:
Mechanic: what do we have here? To which you say: It just made this funny noise and stopped running.
M: Is it? (rubbing hands with glee) ha ha.
You: (Sensing that you were about to be fleeced like sheep who have their wool shaved off their backs).Gulp. It doesn’t seem to be something big. Can you look into it?
M: Oh really. I have a lot of things to do now.
You: (Ok I give up) No. Could you please look into it now? I need to be at a meeting soon.
M: Hmmmm.. let me see. Looks like this doesn’t work, and that is worn out (with random movement of the arms). This is going to be heavy on your pocket. Why did you not leave your car for the service here? This would have not happened if you had come here instead of going to him.
You: Please fix this now. I need to go. And I promise I will drop my car here for the next service.
Here are a few things you can do to find out the type of problem before seeking help:
If it’s a flat, you can consider your self lucky. At least if you are mechanically inclined to the extent of using the jack. But what if it’s not a flat? Here a quick run thru of some tings that you could do:
The stall is likely caused by either a problem in the electrical system or in the fuel system. Your engine stops running because it is not igniting gas in the cylinders, this occurs either because there isn't gas to ignite, or because it lacks the electrical charge to ignite it. Such scenarios will be common when you head to the mechanic where you would more or less have this kind of conversation:
Mechanic: what do we have here? To which you say: It just made this funny noise and stopped running.
M: Is it? (rubbing hands with glee) ha ha.
You: (Sensing that you were about to be fleeced like sheep who have their wool shaved off their backs).Gulp. It doesn’t seem to be something big. Can you look into it?
M: Oh really. I have a lot of things to do now.
You: (Ok I give up) No. Could you please look into it now? I need to be at a meeting soon.
M: Hmmmm.. let me see. Looks like this doesn’t work, and that is worn out (with random movement of the arms). This is going to be heavy on your pocket. Why did you not leave your car for the service here? This would have not happened if you had come here instead of going to him.
You: Please fix this now. I need to go. And I promise I will drop my car here for the next service.
Here are a few things you can do to find out the type of problem before seeking help:
- Drive the car up and down steep hills. Does this change the performance of the engine, or cause it to stall? This might indicate a clogged fuel filter. Replacing the fuel filter is relatively cheap and easy once you find out where it's located.
- Does the car idle roughly and stall when at idle? If your car has a distributor, it might need to adjust the timing. With the right tools and know how, this is an easy and free task.
- If you car goes (engine crank noise). If it does, I am pretty sure your battery has lost its steam. Check if the lights are dimmed or not tuning on. Just plug in a new battery and you are good to go.
- This is something that you could do before you hit the road. Get regular check up for cars. A number of times, missing or ill maintained components are the reason.
In conclusion, I would like to summarize the list of points to check when your car stalls all of a sudden:
- Remember that the problem might be with the fuel system or with the electrical system.
- Check to see if it’s a problem with the fuel system, like a clogged fuel filter.
- Check to see if it’s a problem with your distributor which causes your car to idle roughly and stall.
- Check the battery.
- And do regular preventive maintenance.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Cricketing Moments - Speech 5
I am sure that all of us have had moments of glory while playing our game of choice while in school or college. This is the story of one such moment that happened during a game of cricket which we were playing while in school.
To help you better understand cricket, let me draw an analogy between baseball and cricket. Like in baseball, we have a batsman and pitcher, but the pitcher is called a bowler here. There is a circular field with a rectangular strip, called the pitch, in the center. Both ends of the pitch have wickets (which are thin and 3 foot long wooden poles). The players who are on the field and try to catch the ball are called fielders. The equivalent of a home run is a sixer, which is six runs and if the ball rolls over the boundary line, its four runs. The ways to get out in cricket is similar to baseball. You can get out because of a catch or a run out. Other methods include getting bowled and leg before wicket.
This story has to do with how I scored a direct hit and got a run out which changed our fortune in that game of cricket. The stage was a set with our team trying to defend a small total. The opponents had got off to a good start and had posted a good total with their star batsman firing on all cylinders. I was in the deep position next to the boundary line.
As I was wondering what I would do that evening, while gazing at the horizon, I heard a CRACK! This the kind of crack that would make your head turn. The batsman came forward and swept the ball with a powerful drive. Now the ball was heading towards me with full force, rolling like a truck with out brakes, on a smooth grass surface. On seeing this, I jumped into action and without wasting anytime, headed towards the ball, scooped it up with my left hand. I had to shift the ball from my left arm to my throwing arm, which is the right, in a smooth and well orchestrated move. I did this fast so that I don’t loose any precious time. I aimed the ball at the wickets on the bowler’s end of the pitch and threw the ball with all of my strength.
The ball went sailing on air, while the batsman was nearing the crease, which marks the safe spot. He put his bat down so that he can slide in and score another run. But with just inches remaining for him to touch the line, everyone heard the noise of wickets crashing. This is it…I scored a direct hit from over 100 feet. The ball hit the center wicket sending them crumbling like a pack of cards. The batsman was caught napping. And we had pulled off a good one. This was a turning point in the game.
And what a turning point it was. Phew.
To help you better understand cricket, let me draw an analogy between baseball and cricket. Like in baseball, we have a batsman and pitcher, but the pitcher is called a bowler here. There is a circular field with a rectangular strip, called the pitch, in the center. Both ends of the pitch have wickets (which are thin and 3 foot long wooden poles). The players who are on the field and try to catch the ball are called fielders. The equivalent of a home run is a sixer, which is six runs and if the ball rolls over the boundary line, its four runs. The ways to get out in cricket is similar to baseball. You can get out because of a catch or a run out. Other methods include getting bowled and leg before wicket.
This story has to do with how I scored a direct hit and got a run out which changed our fortune in that game of cricket. The stage was a set with our team trying to defend a small total. The opponents had got off to a good start and had posted a good total with their star batsman firing on all cylinders. I was in the deep position next to the boundary line.
As I was wondering what I would do that evening, while gazing at the horizon, I heard a CRACK! This the kind of crack that would make your head turn. The batsman came forward and swept the ball with a powerful drive. Now the ball was heading towards me with full force, rolling like a truck with out brakes, on a smooth grass surface. On seeing this, I jumped into action and without wasting anytime, headed towards the ball, scooped it up with my left hand. I had to shift the ball from my left arm to my throwing arm, which is the right, in a smooth and well orchestrated move. I did this fast so that I don’t loose any precious time. I aimed the ball at the wickets on the bowler’s end of the pitch and threw the ball with all of my strength.
The ball went sailing on air, while the batsman was nearing the crease, which marks the safe spot. He put his bat down so that he can slide in and score another run. But with just inches remaining for him to touch the line, everyone heard the noise of wickets crashing. This is it…I scored a direct hit from over 100 feet. The ball hit the center wicket sending them crumbling like a pack of cards. The batsman was caught napping. And we had pulled off a good one. This was a turning point in the game.
And what a turning point it was. Phew.
Speech 4 for Toastmasters
Journey into the heartland:
How would you feel if you were to journey back in time to witness the making of this nation? Coming from the country with the largest democracy, I was looking forward to see a part of the making of the oldest democracy.
I invited my parents to visit me in the US and offered to show them around this vast and beautiful country with very hospitable people. They agreed and gave me another reason to plan my trip to Washington, DC.
With the right attire and a good pair of shoes, we arrived at Washington, DC by mid June. We were part of the tour conducted by Greyhound and were very lucky to have a very informative guide. We started out by 7AM, in the crisp morning sun. This set the ball rolling for a wonderful day ahead.
Our first stop was Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, gardens and farm. The view from the front of the home was breathtaking and scenic. The lush and green lawn stretched out for about 100 yards from the door and was a good introduction for things to come. We were guided thru all the parts with knowledgeable caretakers letting us all that we wanted to know. It was amazing to know that Washington had around 1000 visitors from all over the world, every year since he finished his term as president. We were shown the various gifts presented to him, like a key from France. After the house, we headed to his farms and saw people working like they did during his time.
Our next stop was the Lincoln memorial. This memorial is a true tribute to Lincoln for his efforts towards abolishing slavery. We then headed to the Vietnam and Korean War memorials and the Arlington cemetery. These are fitting tributes to the men and women who lost their lives in war. The drive through the old part of Washington was interesting. We got to see strange houses and places of historical interest in the Old Town Alexandria.
In conclusion, I would like to say that this trip to the heartland helped me to get a feel of how things were at that time. The challenges both countries faced looked big and despite all odds were overcome. Washington became the icon for America just like Gandhi would, for India.
How would you feel if you were to journey back in time to witness the making of this nation? Coming from the country with the largest democracy, I was looking forward to see a part of the making of the oldest democracy.
I invited my parents to visit me in the US and offered to show them around this vast and beautiful country with very hospitable people. They agreed and gave me another reason to plan my trip to Washington, DC.
With the right attire and a good pair of shoes, we arrived at Washington, DC by mid June. We were part of the tour conducted by Greyhound and were very lucky to have a very informative guide. We started out by 7AM, in the crisp morning sun. This set the ball rolling for a wonderful day ahead.
Our first stop was Mount Vernon, George Washington's home, gardens and farm. The view from the front of the home was breathtaking and scenic. The lush and green lawn stretched out for about 100 yards from the door and was a good introduction for things to come. We were guided thru all the parts with knowledgeable caretakers letting us all that we wanted to know. It was amazing to know that Washington had around 1000 visitors from all over the world, every year since he finished his term as president. We were shown the various gifts presented to him, like a key from France. After the house, we headed to his farms and saw people working like they did during his time.
Our next stop was the Lincoln memorial. This memorial is a true tribute to Lincoln for his efforts towards abolishing slavery. We then headed to the Vietnam and Korean War memorials and the Arlington cemetery. These are fitting tributes to the men and women who lost their lives in war. The drive through the old part of Washington was interesting. We got to see strange houses and places of historical interest in the Old Town Alexandria.
In conclusion, I would like to say that this trip to the heartland helped me to get a feel of how things were at that time. The challenges both countries faced looked big and despite all odds were overcome. Washington became the icon for America just like Gandhi would, for India.
My First Speech
How would you feel when you are forced to give a speech?
Speechless would be a nice way to describe the resulting feeling of chaos and confusion in you mind.
But wait...what if you brought this on yourself?
"Where's my semi-automatic?"
That would have been my reaction.
This was how I felt 2 minutes after I signed up to give my first speech at the toastmasters club at my workplace. The background celebration and praise for my heroics all faded in those 2 minutes and the truth dawned upon me.
With palpitations, I looked for the objectives of my speech. The first was a little bit obvious. It asked to begin speaking before an audience. The second said that the speech would help in pointing my areas improvement. And the third was to introduce my self to the club.
My reaction to these objectives were as follows: Rather then speaking, I would make an ass of myself before the audience. Time for pointing those areas of improvement would not be enough. No one will want to talk to me after that.
But it had to be done at what ever cost. Just like you cleaning up after a bird used your head for target practice for the upcoming Olympic event. So I started out by trying to pick a topic. Hmmm..I thought, what would keep the guys at the club on their seats for at least 5 minutes without them running for the door? Interesting question, but unfortunately I had to come up with an answer. And I did.
I would speak about a bike race that I participated in college. Would tell people about all the near skull breaking incidents that I had. Hoping that this would give them a fair idea about me and the sort of stuff I consider normal.
Here is the draft I used for the speech:
Hi,
I'm Kiran Kadambi.
Am from.. I did my ...
let me tell u a story from my college days, which would hopefully be a good introduction to me.
bms is famous for utsav..Annual event...Treasure hunt..with high stakes..and on a bike..speeding thru city traffic.... as always, my knee jerk reaction was...i'm in..the thought of the dangers that were ahead of us, somehow eluded me
my brother had a powerful bike which i decided to borrow.
with the single goal of participating in the race, i headed off to the mechanic and got the required tuning done.
the excitement was upped a notch further when the prizes up for grabs was announced...which was a years membership to the most hip club in town.
on race day...after a start filled with fan fare...things started to build up..Adrenalin pumping...trying to out do myself, which i generally try to do with any task, however trivial that might be.
here is the interesting part...as we are heading to the final leg of the circuit... i hit a bump on the road at high speed and this caused the chain guard to buckle and jam the chain. so...you can imagine what my reaction would have been when i heard that keeechh at 80 to 90 km/h. People would normally stop at this time..but the last thing on my mind was that..all that i wanted to do now was to get to the finish line..no matter at what cost.
but i find that i did not have the required spanner to get the job done...so what do i do..i flag down a passing taxi, rikshaw actually, and request the driver for the spanner...remove the guard and hand it to the navigator and we were back in business.
And in the end, we completed the race. But we were quite a site...2 guys with dusty clothes and grease smeared hands, face and bike with a chain guard in hand..now thats really out of the ordinary.
and the result...we didn't win...but it was real fun.
:
The result of the speech was good, considering that not many moronic stories like these come by every day. Another factor that made me hope that the speech got over fast was the attendance to the club that week. Just my luck to find that it was at the maximum.
Phew...now that its done, I thought i could rest easy. But I didn't see the second one coming along. Now I need to start the whole process again, but with different objectives.
lets see how that goes.
Speechless would be a nice way to describe the resulting feeling of chaos and confusion in you mind.
But wait...what if you brought this on yourself?
"Where's my semi-automatic?"
That would have been my reaction.
This was how I felt 2 minutes after I signed up to give my first speech at the toastmasters club at my workplace. The background celebration and praise for my heroics all faded in those 2 minutes and the truth dawned upon me.
With palpitations, I looked for the objectives of my speech. The first was a little bit obvious. It asked to begin speaking before an audience. The second said that the speech would help in pointing my areas improvement. And the third was to introduce my self to the club.
My reaction to these objectives were as follows: Rather then speaking, I would make an ass of myself before the audience. Time for pointing those areas of improvement would not be enough. No one will want to talk to me after that.
But it had to be done at what ever cost. Just like you cleaning up after a bird used your head for target practice for the upcoming Olympic event. So I started out by trying to pick a topic. Hmmm..I thought, what would keep the guys at the club on their seats for at least 5 minutes without them running for the door? Interesting question, but unfortunately I had to come up with an answer. And I did.
I would speak about a bike race that I participated in college. Would tell people about all the near skull breaking incidents that I had. Hoping that this would give them a fair idea about me and the sort of stuff I consider normal.
Here is the draft I used for the speech:
Hi,
I'm Kiran Kadambi.
Am from.. I did my ...
let me tell u a story from my college days, which would hopefully be a good introduction to me.
bms is famous for utsav..Annual event...Treasure hunt..with high stakes..and on a bike..speeding thru city traffic.... as always, my knee jerk reaction was...i'm in..the thought of the dangers that were ahead of us, somehow eluded me
my brother had a powerful bike which i decided to borrow.
with the single goal of participating in the race, i headed off to the mechanic and got the required tuning done.
the excitement was upped a notch further when the prizes up for grabs was announced...which was a years membership to the most hip club in town.
on race day...after a start filled with fan fare...things started to build up..Adrenalin pumping...trying to out do myself, which i generally try to do with any task, however trivial that might be.
here is the interesting part...as we are heading to the final leg of the circuit... i hit a bump on the road at high speed and this caused the chain guard to buckle and jam the chain. so...you can imagine what my reaction would have been when i heard that keeechh at 80 to 90 km/h. People would normally stop at this time..but the last thing on my mind was that..all that i wanted to do now was to get to the finish line..no matter at what cost.
but i find that i did not have the required spanner to get the job done...so what do i do..i flag down a passing taxi, rikshaw actually, and request the driver for the spanner...remove the guard and hand it to the navigator and we were back in business.
And in the end, we completed the race. But we were quite a site...2 guys with dusty clothes and grease smeared hands, face and bike with a chain guard in hand..now thats really out of the ordinary.
and the result...we didn't win...but it was real fun.
:
The result of the speech was good, considering that not many moronic stories like these come by every day. Another factor that made me hope that the speech got over fast was the attendance to the club that week. Just my luck to find that it was at the maximum.
Phew...now that its done, I thought i could rest easy. But I didn't see the second one coming along. Now I need to start the whole process again, but with different objectives.
lets see how that goes.
