1. Images APRIL 2010
Newsletter of the JPKU Toastmasters Club, New Delhi
Vol. 3, Issue 2; April 2010
Club No. 858173
Division C, District 82
The Editor’s Note
So, the long wait is finally over!
Mission of
Yes, this issue of Images did spend three months in the making and the result is still not a thousand
Toastmasters
page epic on the heroics of Sachin Tendulkar.
To provide a mutually
supportive and positive
A lot of important events occurred in these three months, and the most important one of those was defi- learning environment
nitely the double ton scored in an one day international cricket match by a little man known as Sachin in which every individ-
Ramesh Tendulkar. Other notable achievements during the course of the three months included the NSE ual
rising above the 5,000 mark and both Ritu Arora and Nikhil Sheth making it to both the District level member has the
International Speech and Table Topics contests. The bottom line is that if you had invested into the right opportunity
to develop oral
stocks you could have made a fortune and if JPKU Toastmasters was listed on the stock exchange, it
communication
would have ―Buy‖ written all over it!
and leadership skills,
which in turn foster
The issue includes, besides other things, an overview of the relevant area level and division level con- self-confidence
tests, introductions of two members, an IITian‘s ramblings about his skepticism, and the opinion of
members on how to make the meetings more interesting.
So sit back, relax and enjoy the experience. Happy reading!

2. 2 CONTENTS April 2010
Opening Note Page 3
The president speaks about the months that passed by.
—Manoj Kumar
Know Thy Toastmaster Page 7
Let’s get up close and personal with our very own Vanshul
Area C1 contest Page 4
Time to test whatever the club has taught its members. Read
about how the glory was upheld. —Nikhil Sheth Know Thy Toastmaster Page 8
Let’s try to get up close and personal with our District Best of the months Page 10
Governor. Find out our star performers week by week
Division C & Division I Contests Page 5
Find out why JPKU totally rocks! -Nikhil Sheth Club Contact Details Page 11
Hyde Park Page 9
A glimpse at what our toastmasters would tweak
about our meetings structure
- Nikhil Sheth, Ritu Arora, Acknowledgments Page 12
Sangeeta Malik & Tejesh Kinariwala
My experiments with skepticism Page 6
A skeptical IITian realizes the importance of the Toastmasters
Club — Nishant Ranka

3. 3 OPENING NOTE April 2010
The President Speaks
Fabulous February, Marvelous March and Amazing April – these three months provided us with an open
storyboard and our enthusiastic members didn‘t leave any stone unturned to write some unforgettable sto-
ries.
Gearing-up for the International Speech and Table-Topics Contest, the month of February witnessed some
magnificent speeches from fellow Toastmasters. Crowning Ritu, Devesh and Aniket, the Club-contest
paved way for yet another exciting event – the Area Contest.
Held at Vivekananda Vihar on 21st March and hosted by JPKU Toastmasters Club, the Area contest saw
best of Area C1 Toastmasters marching towards excellence. The fully occupied hall was perhaps the best
place to be in Delhi. Thrilling performances raised the temperature further and as expected, our Champion
Toastmaster – Ritu Arora came out with flying colors securing her place at the Division Contest. Besides
this, our club received accolades from all the guests/Toastmasters and an appreciation note from the Area
Governor for hosting such a wonderful event. A big ‗Thank You‘ to all of you for making the Area Contest
a great hit!
Carrying on with the success at Area Contest, Ritu conquered the Division Contest and made JPKU Toast-
masters proud once again! On the other hand, our VP Membership – Nikhil Sheth followed the path and
won the Division I Contest! Wish both of you every success at Ovation 2010!
Bidding adieu to the last quarter, let‘s welcome the mighty May and write some unforgettable stories that
we all cherish forever! The best part – Storyboard at Toastmasters is always open and welcoming!!
Regards,
Manoj

4. 4 Area C1 Contests April 2010
By Nikhil Sheth
On a sunny Sunday afternoon on the 21st day of March in the year 2010,
Toastmasters from all across Area C-1, comprising nearly all the Toast-
masters clubs in New Delhi, congregated at the JPKU Toastmasters
Club‘s venue for what was sure to be one impressive contest, with the
best speakers from all clubs vying for the ultimate prize!
Representing our club in the International Speech contest were Devesh
Trivedi and Aniket Bose and in the Table Topics contest, Ritu Arora and
Aniket Bose.
A lot of preparation went in for the day and the Contest master - Vinay
Jain, Chief Judge - Paul Homes, and the hosts from JPKU including
Manoj, Malkiat, Nikhil and other members of the club, as well as mem-
bers of other clubs ensured a flawless event. The audience of over 40
Toastmasters from across the National Capital Region was treated to spell
-binding speeches and great, imaginative table topics by the contestants.
The Judges surely must have had a hard time discerning the best out of
the best! Table Topics Contest:
Winner: Ritu Arora (JPKU Toastmasters)
In the end, the winners were declared to jubilations and applause. First Runner-up: Abhinav Dutt (South Delhi Toastmasters)
Second Runner-up: Aniket Bose (JPKU Toastmasters)
The results were as follows:
International Speech Contest: Congratulations to all the contestants for an amazing perform-
Winner: Ritu Arora (New Delhi Toastmasters) ance! The first and second place winners go on to represent
First Runner-up: Ashok Ashta (New Delhi Toastmasters) Area C1 in the division C competition on Sat 3rd April 2010.
Second Runner-up: Sugandha Tiwari (GenOrators)

5. 5 Division C & Division I Contests April 2010
By Nikhil Sheth
Division C Contest Division I Contest
Toastmasters International‘s District 82 Division C comprises over 30 Right after the Div C contest, the Division I contest was held on Sunday,
clubs located in New Delhi, NOIDA, Punjab and adjoining areas. On Sat- April 4th, 2010 hosted by TCS Maitree Gurgaon Toastmasters club. Even
urday, April 3rd, 2010, representatives from almost all Division C clubs in this contest, JPKU had a foot-print: our VP Membership, Nikhil Sheth,
gathered at the auditorium of APIM in New Delhi and where the best was representing the TCS Maitree club in both the International Speech
speakers from not just across Division C, but also the best in the District and Table Topics contests. Even this contest was a delectable feast of
were contesting, amongst whom was JPKU's own Ritu Arora, participat- speeches which was followed by delectable food as well. After a harrow-
ing in both the International Speech and the Table Topics contests. ing (for contestants) as well as entertaining (for the audience) wait, the re-
sults were announced and they were as follows:
It was a fabulous event, with the hosts putting up a grand stage for the
contests. The attendees were treated to great speeches during the day, International Speech Contest
which was topped up with the opportunity to network with toastmasters Winner: Nikhil Seth (TCS Maitree Gurgaon , Area I-1)
from other clubs and make new friends. 1st Runners up: Amanpreet Singh Marwaha (Fluorators , Area I-1)
2nd Runners up: Saborna Kumar De (Toastmasters Commune Burdwan
After the contests and ceremonies came the much-awaited results, and Club, Area I-5)
there were no surprises when Dr. Ritu Arora won both the contests! Dr.
Ritu will now represent Division C at the District 82 International Speech Table Topics Contest
and Table Topics contest scheduled to be held at Chennai on May 23rd, Winner: Mandeep Bagchi (SKIT, Jaipur, Area I-3)
2010. Here's wishing her all the best! 1st Runners up: Nikhil Seth (TCS Maitree Gurgaon , Area I-1)
2nd Runners up: Danish Banerjee (BE@T, Area I -2)
Good news for JPKU again! Nikhil won the International Speech Contest
and was adjudged runners-up in the Table Topics one.
So it will not just be Ritu from the JPKU Toastmasters club contesting at
the District 82 International Speech and Table Topics on May 23rd in
Chennai, Nikhil will also be there representing Division I.

6. 6 My experiments with skepticism April 2010
By Nishant Ranka
The sudden insurgence of IITians (read ‘geeks’) from across the street into JPKU TMC has had a very noticeable change in
the environment of the club. But surprisingly not all of them like to only talk about technology and its impact on human
loneliness. This future consultant, despite being the skeptic he claims to be, decided to attend one Toastmasters meeting
and became a member for life. Here’s his story...
I am one of those skeptical guys who do not believe in anything at the first sight. It was Once I got to know about Toastmasters, it felt like everyone I
probably in August of 2009 when Ayush, my hostel-mate, told me about the Toastmasters talked to knew about it. My sister who is living in Singapore
Club and my first reaction went something like ―not for me‖. At that time I had already called me up to ask if she should join Toastmasters there; my
spoken a few times in front of a large audience during seminars and I felt that it had given friend living in Pune said that his institute has recommended
him to join the Toastmasters and so on. Infact, after I published
me sufficient public speaking experience. A couple of months later, two more friends:
some of my speeches in a blog several people became curious
Aniket and Tejesh joined the club, but I still refused to budge from my opinion about the
about Toastmasters. I am currently heading an organization in my institute and I really felt that Toast-
club.
masters is necessary for people who will lead the organization once I have graduated, and hence I am
The year 2009 was quite hectic due to job placements and the rest, but after I got placed in planning to bring them as guests. Hopefully they too will enjoy the experience and become members.
a consulting firm and the time-crunch reduced, I thought of giving the Toastmasters club a
JPKU Toastmasters club has completely changed the world for me. It has given me a space of my
try. Finally, after much persuasion by Tejesh and Aniket I went to my first Toastmasters
own and further it has given me the opportunity to step outside my comfort zone, my institute and
meeting as a guest. I don‘t know whether it was JPKU Toastmasters Club‘s charisma in
meet new people and listen to their stories. In its own special way, the JPKU Toastmasters club has
particular or whether it is common across all Toastmasters Club, but my first meeting just
made the world a touch brighter for me.
blew me away. I immediately realized that this was indeed the place for me.
The experience so far has been no less than amazing! If there is something which I like
about the club most, apart from the positive environment it provides, is feedback! Evalua-
tions by an assigned evaluator as well as the little chits which go around in the meetings
are the best way of judging how well did one speak and the aspects one needs to improve
upon.
Initially I did not take the specifications given in the module too seriously, but right after
my first two speeches I realized that it was very difficult for me to focus on all parts of
public speaking at once. The CC manual provided me the framework to plan my speech
and as a result I started focusing on one thing at a time, starting from the structure of my
speech to giving examples to using gestures to modulating my voice. Even today when I
focus on modulating my voice my movement on stage becomes random but it has im-
proved since the time when I used to pace up and down the stage 50 times during my
You can read more about Nishant on his blog - www.nishantranka.blogspot.com
speech!

7. 7 KNOW THY TOASTMASTER April 2010
This newest member of the JPKU Toastmasters club blew everyone away with his very first prepared speech, aptly titled “The
ice-breaker”. When he narrated his childhood experiences in third person, everyone listening became sure that they had just
witnessed the birth of an extraordinary public speaker. A few speeches down the line, the view of the audience is still the
same, but they barely know this Toastmaster up close. Here’s our attempt to break the ice on that front...
We know very little about this new member. We know what he used to What is the role and significance of Toast-
do as a kid from his Ice-breaker, but what is Vanshul up to these days? masters in your life?
Currently I am interning as an engineer trainee at an MNC as part of my I have an expressive personality and often like
college curriculum. I am majoring in the electronics and telecom discipline to share my ideas and philosophies with others.
which aims to develop pragmatic applications for various equipments rang- Toastmasters will really help me in building the
ing from complex RADAR and networking devices to simple everyday ap- confidence to face a larger audience and also in
pliances such as a microwave-oven. developing key skills that one needs to capture
the attention of the listeners. Moreover, it is a
What or who led you to the JPKU Toastmasters club? What impres- great place to meet an assortment of people
sion, if any, did you have of the club before you attended your first
meeting? Has it changed over time? Where do you see yourself one year from now - professionally and as a Toastmaster
(although both might be highly correlated)?
I once used to attend gavel club meetings back in school and was really pet-
rified by public speaking. I eventually stopped attending the meetings after The future is always unpredictable but nevertheless I see myself competing in various
Toastmaster competitions. It will be a great opportunity to learn from the great masters
giving my ice-breaker. After my third year in college, I heard about Toast- like Peter Coors of Coors Brewing Company or even Tom Peters, management expert and
masters and realized that life does not always give you second chances, so I author. Their speeches have always been the cynosure of various international competi-
pounced on the opportunity and here I am! tions.
The philosophy of Toastmasters really stimulates me. It‘s not every day that
you come across a platform where one can freely coin their thoughts and Do you think that public speaking training should be made compulsory in all schools
express them in their own indigenous way. This philosophy is the soul of and colleges?
the Toastmasters program and it will always be, which will help people be-
Yes absolutely! Students should be given a platform to develop them-
come more competent and comfortable in front of an audience. selves irrespective of the costs involved. This is as important as studies
or sports or even both combined. Public speaking will help greatly in
their career. They will be able to tackle all opposition and ride their way
to success!

8. 8 KNOW THY TOASTMASTER April 2010
Dr. Dadabhai Naoroji was fondly referred to as the Grand Old Man of India. We never got a chance to interview or meet him,
but nevertheless we shall be compensating for it by (re?) introducing the Grand, but not so Old man of JPKU Toastmasters
Club. Mr. Deepak Menon is the District Governor of District 82 and is one of the founders of the JPKU Toastmasters club. Let’s
get to know him better.
We all know Deepak Menon, the Toastmaster and the Chartered Ac- Every organization should evolve over time.
countant. What else are you passionate about? What keeps you busy in Continuous improvement is essential for the
the time you get, if any, after playing these two roles? survival of any entity. How has Toastmasters
evolved over the duration of your allegiance?
Toastmasters does take up a lot of my time and its rare that I am able to find Where do you see the maximum scope of im-
time for anything else! What I really enjoy is reading. I read anything and provement in the organization?
everything, though I have a strong preference for fiction (and that is no fic-
tion!). Toastmasters International has evolved signifi-
cantly in the last eight years since I have been a
You've been a Toastmaster for a long time. Do you still remember your member. The best thing that happened is
first speech? What was it about? being implemented from 1 July 2010 when the entire Toastmasters world is being divided
into regions giving Toastmasters across the globe an equal representation on the Board of
The first speech as a Toastmaster is always the Ice-breaker speech and I cer- TI. That has made Toastmasters truly international! While TI recognizes and accepts that
Asia is the fastest growing market for the movement, we do need to have better and less
tainly remember that speech as if I delivered it yesterday! It was my life
expensive access to the manuals and materials that we need to purchase from TI.
story narrated as a regular Bollywood potboiler! And I am not going to re-
veal any more of it! What would be the one tip you will give every Toastmaster to help them get the best
out of this experience?
When you look back and remember yourself before joining Toastmas-
ters and compare that Deepak Menon to the Deepak Menon today, In the words of DTM Helen Blanchard, the first woman President of Toastmasters Inter-
what do you think has changed the most? national, "If you get out of Toastmasters everything that you can get out of Toastmas-
ters, you will never get out of Toastmasters." The best way to gain from the Toastmasters
experience is to be ready and willing to attend every meeting and ac-
I think I have become more confident and assertive compared to what I was. tively participate in every role that the club offers. Toastmasters is a life-
But there are many more things that have changed about me. I am a whole changing experience provide you are willing to change!
new person thanks to Toastmasters and some special mentors and friends
who helped in that transition!

9. 9 THE HYDE PARK April 2010
The Hyde Park in London is famous for its Speakers’ Corner, which allows anyone and everyone to speak on a topic
Introduce a new supplementary evaluator named "trait
for as long as they can unless the police finds it offensive, and the Hyde Park police has had a history of being of-
watcher". S/he would be responsible for observing a par-
fended very very rarely even on sensitive issues. As a salutation to the freedom of expression, we bring Hyde Park
from London to our newsletter, and invite everyone to publish their comments on a certain topic, which for this ticular trait throughout the meeting, as decided by her/him
month is: “How would you tweak the Toastmasters meeting structure to make it more interesting?” and revealed to the members during the role introduction,
much like the Ah-counter keeps track of the various ahs,
fillers and pauses during the meeting. Some examples of
traits could be high points of various speeches, stage us-
Include an idiom, a proverb or a moti- ages, number of times people clapped in a meeting, etc.
vational quote in every meeting. Over
time this will enrich the language of all
members.
TEJESH KINARIWALA
SANGEETA MALIK
1. Record a speech and play it back during the meeting, to let
the speaker himself/herself evaluate it.
Nikhil sheth 2. Introduce instant evaluations for table topics - As soon as
the TT speaker finishes, get a member to evaluate him/her.
1. Introduce a new role: Fact Master to present the This will enable members to give feedback on the go.
news or fact of the week 3. Play TED talks and other inspiring speeches at regular club
2. Celebrate the birthday of members who had theirs in meetings.
the preceding week 4. Organize theme meetings where people are encouraged to
dress up according to the theme of the day.
Ritu arora

10. 10 BEST OF THE MONTHS April 2010
Here come
the
results!!!
6th Feb: Aniket Bose
20th Feb: Aniket Bose
27th Feb: Nikhil Sheth
6th Mar: Ritu Arora
27th Mar: Nishant Ranka
10th Apr: Aneesh Jain
17th Apr: Nishant Ranka
24th Apr: Vanshul Arora 6th Feb: Ritu Arora
20th Feb: Ritu Arora
27th Feb: Nikhil Sheth
6th Feb: Deepak Menon 6th Mar: Ritu Arora & Manoj
20th Feb: Ritu Arora & Aniket Bose 27th Mar: Paul Holmes
27th Feb: Ritu Arora 10th Apr: Tejesh Kinariwala
6th Mar: Ritu Arora & Manoj 17th Apr: Ritu Arora
27th Mar: Ritu Arora 24th Apr: Ritu Arora
10th Apr: Neeraj
17th Apr: Ritu Arora
24th Apr: Ritu Arora

11. 11 CLUB CONTACT DETAILS April 2010
Our Executive Committee Venue of Meetings
 Manoj Kumar: President Vivekananda Vihar, Opposite J.P., Kapur & Uberai, Chartered
manoj.k8@gmail.com Accountants, LGF C-4/5 Safdarjung Development Area,
 Malkiat Bindra: Vice President, Education New Delhi—110016.
malkiat07@gmail.com
 Nikhil Sheth: Vice President, Membership
nikhil.js@gmail.com Time of Meetings
 Aniket Bose: Vice President, Public Relations
Every Saturday, 12:30 p.m.
aniket.bose@gmail.com
 Chandni Kapur: Secretary
chandni20002000@gmail.com Whom to Contact
 Neha Kapoor: Treasurer
nh_kapoor882000@yahoo.com For all membership and PR queries, please contact:
 Aneesh Jain: Sergeant-at-arms Nikhil Sheth (VP, Membership): +91-991-147-9900; nikhil.js@gmail.com
aneeshjain@gmail.com Aneesh Jain (Sergeant-at-arms): +91-997-111-9361 ; aneeshjain@gmail.com

12. 12 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS April 2010
Always Ahead…!
I would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to everyone who
contributed to the newsletter, especially for the overwhelming
response to ―The Hyde Park‖, making the section a grand suc-
cess. Thanks also to Malkiat and Manoj for their unending sup-
port and constant nagging and to Aniket for so painstakingly de-
signing the template which I have so conveniently used here :)
No trees were cut during the publishing of this newsletter, but if
any emotions have been hurt, my sincerest apologies for the
same!
Images is published on the last day of the month. All contribu-
tors are requested to send in their entries to aneesh-
jain@gmail.com by the 25th of the month.
Club No. 858173
Division C, District 82 No part of this newsletter maybe printed or reproduced
without intimating the JPKU Toastmasters Club. All enquiries
Important Links: and requests should be directed to the club‘s public relations
committee at jpkunews@gmail.com.
JPKU Toastmasters: http://jpkutoastmasters.bravehost.com
Division C members: d82Cmembers@googlegroups.com
District 82: http://www.t82.org/
Copyright JPKU Toastmasters Club, 2010