First ToastMaster Meeting

How well can you think on your feet? Can you go on stage and speak on a subject/scenario without preparation? or lets make life simple: How well can you deliver a prepared speech?

I cannot. Thats why I joined my company's ToastMaster Club. I heard about this club around 1 year back and immediately concluded that it is a cool platform to improve upon public speaking skills. Unfortunately, i was so messed up with my application and office work that I didnt attend any meeting. Number 1 mistake !!! Anyways, after recent happenings at office, with lots of boredom and free time, I thought about attending the meeting and did that last week.

The format of these meetings is pretty simple. There will be 2-3 prepared speeches of about 4-5 minutes each and 5-6 impromptu speech lasting about 1-2 minutes each. I loved the impromptu part the most. It actually tests how far your imagination can go in just 5-10 seconds.

When I last attended the meeting, I didnt speak on any topic. There was a slight change in the impromptu speeches this time. Usually only one speaker speaks on the given issue. The host gave us a situation where there is a discussion going on between a vendor and a buyer. Buyer faces a problem and comes to the shop to discuss it with the vendor. The host then asked 2 of us to take up any role. It is up to the buyer to choose any type of problem. The host asked me if I want to take up the vendor role. I said yes, though reluctantly. I didnt have any clue of what I would be saying/asking on the stage. The other guy was smart. He described the situation as: I bought a shoe from your shop sometime back and after sometime the shoe has started biting me. What do I do now?

The room burst into laughter. On the other side, I was blank. I had never been in such a situation before and not even a single thing was clicking in my mind. The other guy was well prepared and was throwing one problem after another because he had faced this problem sometime back. I said something that I dont remember to continue the conversation, but I was sure it wasnt up to the mark the audiences were expecting. Eventually it finished.

Though I couldnt say much, I got to know about my weakness. It always seemed trivial to me after hearing other's speeches, but I couldnt say a meaningful sentence at all. I'm happy to learn about my weakness and I see an opportunity to work on that as well.

Khali Mania

The new superhero/sensation has arrived in India few days back. I happened to be at my native place during that time, so witnessed complete coverage. The amount of coverage media has given to him, I doubt if he does not get a Padma Shri this year even though I don't know about his WWE achievements.

Here are some facts I can recollect after watching the Khali episode again and again (and on almost every news channel)

1. Khali keval 'Parmatma' se darta hai.

2. Khali ko aaj sabse jyada ek bacche ki chah hai.

3. Khali ka ek mukka 100 kilo ka hai.

4. Khali ko abhi sabse jyada apni maa se milna ka intezaar hai.

5. Khali WWE champion isliye nahi ban paaya kyunki use 'dhoke' :) se haraya gaya tha.

and many more...

Khali might have impressed biggies such as Sachin, Sharukh etc however, watching him repeatedly on news channel and posed with absurd questions from the media have turned off many people, including my parents.

An interesting conversation with my mother one evening while I was browsing channels. I turned to a channel epitomizing Khali's adventure.

I: Mummy, dekho Khali...
Mummy: arre maar goli Khali ko .. sab pagal ho rahe hain Khali ke liye
I: arre dekho to sahi
Mummy: tu Khali chorr, Saloni (Zee's Saat Phere drama) laga ..

I dont know if he is a real superstar or a media-hyped sensational figure. But, at the moment, media is going gaga over Khali Mania.