An advantage of joining ToastMasters club (I'm sorry for too much posts on Toastmasters these days, but I'm getting so much involved that I can't resist talking about it :) ) is that there are people who would evaluate you and give constructive feedback. One of the feedbacks that one receives is the number of times speaker utter filler words such as 'Umm, Aah, annnddddd ...'. During my prepared speech, I didn't utter a single filler word. This probably happened because I was prepared and didnt forget anything during the speech. However, during all my impromptu speeches, I got a feedback that I say these words close to 4-5 times. Impromptu speeches last for only 1-2 minutes and so much usage of filler words would definitely wont categorize someone as a good speaker.
Nowadays, I take a lot of care while speaking English with my teammates during meetings or conference calls. But then one day, while talking to my family on phone, I realized that I falter as well as stumble while speaking in Hindi as well. This is a good realization as I now believe that without getting this corrected first, it will take a lot of time for me to gain expertize in English. I believe that the path would be much more easier and glib this way rather than jumping into the English territory first.
So, I'm gonna try this first and get my basics right.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Saturday, July 12, 2008
Overdose of MC
People who have graduated from college and are now working in multinationals still feel that they are living student's life. I met one such fellow few days back. I must have spend good 5-6 hours with him and found that he spoke MC (Indianised version of Mother F***er) umpteen number of times. In fact, no sentence was completed without this word. I don't know what was he trying to prove, but, I felt only sorry for his senseless humor.
I agree that I too utter these words, but I do that cautiously. Every such word in a sentence has a purpose and we should pay respect to it. Using them without any need just makes me feel sorry for the speaker and nothing else. I've a friend at my workplace who I've seen speaking MC only once during my entire interaction with him for over a period of 4 years now. And I felt the impact when he said that. It just got better with the word. Bingo! thats how one should use these words. These are magical words, when used correctly sets the entire tone of the conversation.
I sincerely ask people to watch and learn from 'Pulp Fiction'. Contrary to what I've said above, MF is used in probably every dialogue of the movie. However, the word fits so perfectly in there that I cannot imagine Pulp Fiction to be a big hit without these dialogues. If you can do justice to these magical words, fine, use them else misbehaving with them only lowers your standard.
I agree that I too utter these words, but I do that cautiously. Every such word in a sentence has a purpose and we should pay respect to it. Using them without any need just makes me feel sorry for the speaker and nothing else. I've a friend at my workplace who I've seen speaking MC only once during my entire interaction with him for over a period of 4 years now. And I felt the impact when he said that. It just got better with the word. Bingo! thats how one should use these words. These are magical words, when used correctly sets the entire tone of the conversation.
I sincerely ask people to watch and learn from 'Pulp Fiction'. Contrary to what I've said above, MF is used in probably every dialogue of the movie. However, the word fits so perfectly in there that I cannot imagine Pulp Fiction to be a big hit without these dialogues. If you can do justice to these magical words, fine, use them else misbehaving with them only lowers your standard.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Practikke mackke mmannnn perppect
Can you read the title clearly?
You, probably, will speak in a similar fashion when you deliver your first speech in front of your audience. No matter how much prepared you are, you will definitely infuse a sentence that sounds similar to the title. Murphy's law/adage holds true in public speaking as well. For those who don't know about Murphy's law, it goes like this: 'If there is a small chance of going something wrong/unexpected in your activity (be it demonstration, presentation, public speech etc.), then it will go wrong during the activity'.
The fear of public speaking is always there in me. To take out this fear, I joined ToastMaster club in my office and delivered my first speech today. First speech is popularly known as the 'Ice Breaker' Speech where the speaker introduces himself to the club members. The speech should be about 4-6 minutes long. I prepared my speech well in advanced and keep on practicing again and again in my room and office's empty conference room. I was confident that I would be able to deliver a flawless speech. 3 of us were giving the speeches today (one was giving his P2 and other P4). I was the first one to speak. When I was invited by the toastmaster, my heartbeat gained a phenomenal speed and sound. Though no one told me, however, I felt that my heartbeat was much louder than my voice during the start. I was well prepared but suddenly started to lose words when I started speaking. I had to look into the eyes of the people sitting there while speaking (I used to prepare in an empty room) and Murphy bhaisaheb (brother) was just waiting for this moment. This was the unknown factor that I didn't deal with while practising earlier and started to lose concentration. I probably would have muttered something similar to Practikke mackke mmannnn perppect. However, I held back my conscious and ended well.
I got the award for Best Prepared Speaker of the session. Since I was competing with guys who were delivering their P2 and P4, I felt good in the end. My continuous practice saved me from the embarrassment I would have had if I was not well prepared. Indeed, Practice makes a man Perfect.
You, probably, will speak in a similar fashion when you deliver your first speech in front of your audience. No matter how much prepared you are, you will definitely infuse a sentence that sounds similar to the title. Murphy's law/adage holds true in public speaking as well. For those who don't know about Murphy's law, it goes like this: 'If there is a small chance of going something wrong/unexpected in your activity (be it demonstration, presentation, public speech etc.), then it will go wrong during the activity'.
The fear of public speaking is always there in me. To take out this fear, I joined ToastMaster club in my office and delivered my first speech today. First speech is popularly known as the 'Ice Breaker' Speech where the speaker introduces himself to the club members. The speech should be about 4-6 minutes long. I prepared my speech well in advanced and keep on practicing again and again in my room and office's empty conference room. I was confident that I would be able to deliver a flawless speech. 3 of us were giving the speeches today (one was giving his P2 and other P4). I was the first one to speak. When I was invited by the toastmaster, my heartbeat gained a phenomenal speed and sound. Though no one told me, however, I felt that my heartbeat was much louder than my voice during the start. I was well prepared but suddenly started to lose words when I started speaking. I had to look into the eyes of the people sitting there while speaking (I used to prepare in an empty room) and Murphy bhaisaheb (brother) was just waiting for this moment. This was the unknown factor that I didn't deal with while practising earlier and started to lose concentration. I probably would have muttered something similar to Practikke mackke mmannnn perppect. However, I held back my conscious and ended well.
I got the award for Best Prepared Speaker of the session. Since I was competing with guys who were delivering their P2 and P4, I felt good in the end. My continuous practice saved me from the embarrassment I would have had if I was not well prepared. Indeed, Practice makes a man Perfect.
Friday, May 30, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, May 16, 2008
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
No Smoking
Recently, my friend quit smoking. He is in early thirties and smoking since his college time. He used to smoke at least 4 cigarettes a day: morning, afternoon, evening and after dinner. And seeing him just quitting smoking like that was a shock to me. The shock was not that he did that all at once, but, the manner in which he quit.
A magical truth: no one wants any other person to smoke. It does not matter whether the person smokes or not. None of my friend's family member smokes and his family knows that he smokes. His family member, particularly mother, must have told him thousands of time to quit or at least bring down the frequency. He didn't give any heed to that. I must have told him numerous times to do the same. He agreed sometimes and didn't smoke for 3-4 days. But then he started again. He justified the wise saying "Quiting smoking is very easy. I've done that thousands of time.".
Recently, he got engaged and made a visit to the fiancee's town. One meeting and thats all it took for him to quit smoking. When asked about it why did you do that, he said it is the "Fear of Losing" someone that made him quit smoking. That, inherently, means 2 things: Family and friends can be taken for granted and he is going to start smoking once he is married. He agreed to the first one and denied the second. He wanted me to bet on second, however, I refused because I don't bet. I've no other choice but to wait and watch. My feeling is that he would start again sometime.
Anyways, thats the start of his commitments/compromise list and I don't know how many more he would have to do, but the first one have been the best one (only if he maintains).
A magical truth: no one wants any other person to smoke. It does not matter whether the person smokes or not. None of my friend's family member smokes and his family knows that he smokes. His family member, particularly mother, must have told him thousands of time to quit or at least bring down the frequency. He didn't give any heed to that. I must have told him numerous times to do the same. He agreed sometimes and didn't smoke for 3-4 days. But then he started again. He justified the wise saying "Quiting smoking is very easy. I've done that thousands of time.".
Recently, he got engaged and made a visit to the fiancee's town. One meeting and thats all it took for him to quit smoking. When asked about it why did you do that, he said it is the "Fear of Losing" someone that made him quit smoking. That, inherently, means 2 things: Family and friends can be taken for granted and he is going to start smoking once he is married. He agreed to the first one and denied the second. He wanted me to bet on second, however, I refused because I don't bet. I've no other choice but to wait and watch. My feeling is that he would start again sometime.
Anyways, thats the start of his commitments/compromise list and I don't know how many more he would have to do, but the first one have been the best one (only if he maintains).
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Hello ... April Fool
Some days back, I encountered my best April Fool prank. It was performed on me and I would not say I didnt enjoy it.
I wanted to talk to a friend after a long time, so dialed his number. I heard "tring-tring". Ok sounds fine. To my surprise, some lady (with beautiful voice) picked up the phone and said "Hello". I disconnected the phone without saying anything. Lets try again. Redial. Again the same lady picked up the phone. I thought let me talk to her this time and ask for my friend. Here is the conversation:
Lady: Hello
Me: Hello, may I speak to ...
Lady (interrupted me) Hello ...
Me: Hello
Lady: Hello, Hello
Me: Hello, may I speak to ... (in my mind... what the hell .. is she deaf?)
Lady: Hello ... ab kuch bolo bhi ... kaun hai?
I disconnected the phone again. Looks like communication problem. Redial.
Lady: Hello
Me: Hi .. this is Kapil here... May I speak to ..
Lady: Hello ...
I was mum now ... looks like same communication problem again
Lady: Hello, Hello
Lady: Hello ... ab kuch bolo bhi ... kaun hai?
Me (in my mind) : what .. why is repeating the same thing?
Lady: bolte kyun nahi ...
Me (in my mind): ok something new
then suddenly I heard this voice:
"April fool ... and then Hutch's theme song .... You and I, in this beautiful world...."
As I was hearing this song, my friend picked up the phone. He already knew that I was struggling with the lady. He told me that every other person calling on his mobile was facing the unusual talk and thats why he was taking time to pick up the phone.
Lovely prank !!! I enjoyed it.
I wanted to talk to a friend after a long time, so dialed his number. I heard "tring-tring". Ok sounds fine. To my surprise, some lady (with beautiful voice) picked up the phone and said "Hello". I disconnected the phone without saying anything. Lets try again. Redial. Again the same lady picked up the phone. I thought let me talk to her this time and ask for my friend. Here is the conversation:
Lady: Hello
Me: Hello, may I speak to ...
Lady (interrupted me) Hello ...
Me: Hello
Lady: Hello, Hello
Me: Hello, may I speak to ... (in my mind... what the hell .. is she deaf?)
Lady: Hello ... ab kuch bolo bhi ... kaun hai?
I disconnected the phone again. Looks like communication problem. Redial.
Lady: Hello
Me: Hi .. this is Kapil here... May I speak to ..
Lady: Hello ...
I was mum now ... looks like same communication problem again
Lady: Hello, Hello
Lady: Hello ... ab kuch bolo bhi ... kaun hai?
Me (in my mind) : what .. why is repeating the same thing?
Lady: bolte kyun nahi ...
Me (in my mind): ok something new
then suddenly I heard this voice:
"April fool ... and then Hutch's theme song .... You and I, in this beautiful world...."
As I was hearing this song, my friend picked up the phone. He already knew that I was struggling with the lady. He told me that every other person calling on his mobile was facing the unusual talk and thats why he was taking time to pick up the phone.
Lovely prank !!! I enjoyed it.
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