Table Tactics – Table Topics Guide

Excerpts from Table Tactics – A table topics workshop conducted by TM Lalitha Giridhar Asst Gov Education and Training Div G and TM Ananthraj Dharmsthala Asst Gov Marketing Area G2 in wordsmiths toastmasters club on Oct 31 2009.

What are Table Topics?

In toastmasters there is an impromptu speaking session conducted by a designated table topics master. The table topics masters gives a topic and calls a person in random from the audience to speak about it for a minimum of one minute and a maximum of two minutes.

Why do we have table topics?

Table topics improves ones thought process and the ability to cope up with unanticipated situations in life. Table topics can be a good net practice to tackle questions from your clients in business or to ratiocinate why you were late after a late night party to your wife.

In this workshop we will first look at few essentials for any kind of speeches. Then we will look at how to improve your table topics at three levels.
1.The basic – those who still hide their heads under desks during table topics session.

2.Intermediate – Those who volunteer to speak but still on road to create that wow experience.

3.The advanced – The cake walker who wins ribbon every time.
Now imagine yourself to be a table topics speaker. Here are few do’s and donts .

Basic Speaking Etiquette:
1.Breathe easily. Sport a smile as you walk towards the lectern and relax yourself before you utter that first word. Dont rush with the first word in the mouth.
2.Start off with the first idea which sparks in your mind without evaluating it. We don’t have time for selecting but once you start you will be able to justify your initial words.

3.Dont get nervous and even if you are dont express it.

4.Never ask for a change in topic. Even if it sounds like an alien to you we have techniques to combat. The next topic can be even more abstruse than the current one.

5.When you are in the dias , look at encouraging and friendly eyes before you. This will work a magic by bolstering your confidence.

6.Never ever worry about the time limits unless its a contest. Focus on the content and quality rather than the quantity.

7.Be honest and try to bring in personal incidents if the topic permits it.

Now lets get forward to some intermediate level techniques to attack table topics.

1.Define Describe and Illustrate:

When you are point blank about a given sentence, dissect it for a moment and start defining the words present in it. This suits well for facts and proverbs. Ex:Make hay while sun shines.

2Take a stand:

When you are given with a contentious topic you can either agree or disagree or even take a neutral stand on it. Ex: Mobile phones are boon or bane. You can use the PREP method to combat such topics. State a point – reason it out – Explain further and drive the point with a strong conclusion.

3.Before and after:

This works well for “eventful” topics such as the indian independence, 9/11. You can describe the object in the topic before the event and after the event.

4.Cause and Effect:
When you are asked to describe some process like your bus journey or a holiday you can use this technique. Example when given “ Economic Recession “ you neednt hold a doctorate in economics to find the cause between layoffs and the increased working hours in your office. You can line up several causes and effects to form a coherent speech.

5.Advantages and disadvantages:

Taking this approach gives you more room to think on two sides of the topic . Also at the end you can voice your verdict towards a side.

6.Past Present and future.

Another tactic which enhances scope for your speech. If you are asked to describe about mobile phones you can describe the phones of the past, models of the present and set off your imagination about the future.

Now lets move on to few advanced techniques.

1.AIDA:
Example: Make hay while sun shines
Garner the Attention – Either using a though provoking opening or just by repeating the topic with appropriate modulation and gestures.
Seek interest – Tell something which every one out there could relate to
Earn the desire – Give them a reason why they need to adhere to the proverb
And make the Act – Finish off with a punch.

2.Story Message and Moral.

The same hay business can be narrated with a story and then describing what the characters did or didn’t do according the proverb in hand. When you use a very common story like hare and tortoise you can be little crisp on your narration part and elaborate more on your analysis of what the tortoise did well and hare missed out.

3.Micro Macro, Macro Micro

Works like a charm for universal issues which applies to both the individual and the ensemble of individuals. Ex. Global warming. You can start at macro level how the ice cubes are melting at Antarctica which increases your sea line and connect it to your troubles on the beach.

Now we have enough ammunition to attack a topic and lets see what can take us to the advanced levels.

You cannot prepare on a topic but you can be prepared on how to deliver it. That’s what distinguishes the ordinary from the extra ordinary.

1.Maintain a journal/blog/tweet and record the happenings then and there in your life. Will serve handy not only for table topics but even for your speeches. As Humor King TM Chendil says “ A short pencil is better than a long memory”.

2.Be familiar with the quotes and fit it well in to your speech. You can even twist the quote like “Where there is a will I want to be in it” .

3.Use gestures to create vivid images about the topic.

4.Be unconventional to be memorable . For example when asked to speak about Light years, TM Lalitha spoke about her lighter years when she weighed less and roamed in the college campus.

The sure way to excel is to practice. Veteran TM Ravi Baskran pointed out that after a toastmasters meeting he goes home and practices on all the topics given in the day. Have a compendium of topics in your hand and practice them during your travel towards office or a leisurely walk.

Improving your table topics skills not only shows you in better light in your toastmasters session but increases your thinking acumen and it will show up in your personality.

PS: The views expressed here are author’s interpretation of the workshop which may be slightly different from those expressed at the workshop.

Fear of fear

I am afraid of fear for the sole agitation it causes in you. Our culture strives and thrives on the fear factor right from warning the kid not to do anything offensive threatening with the invisible gods.Discipline is instilled by installing the fear within ones soul. Children perform well in exams only to get rid of the whips from the teacher and chaff from the parent.Unsuccessful marriages continue in “fear of society”. And most of the decision we take have the “fear of society” as an integral component. Much to our displeasure the martinet teacher takes all the pride for the end result of the student. So the “fear factor” is tagged as successful and it continues to dominate.But this fear factor has made us selfless and incapable of experiencing pleasure in its truest sense.

Some months ago I realized this fear factor is a big hindrance to happiness and decided to shed it. I had a good boss who never spoke a hard word but got more work done by me. He conveyed through his actions that actions are possible without the “fear factor”.I cared less about others when my actions doesn’t have any impact on them. I also made a point not to install fear on others selves on my behalf.

The biggest downside of fear is that it makes us selfless.We are made incapable of self-analysis and makes us look up to the words of others to determine who we are. My friend used to say “The guilt factor” is the secret behind the success of many corporate managers. Also we tend to compare ourselves with others constantly. So just a word “You are taking too much time. Or look at some x or y he is better than you” is enough to create a guilt and make the sub-ordinate do more work than what he is paid for! I have been in and now out of those cycles.

But recently I fear of fear for its so ubiquitous. I am afraid whether I will turn to fear-loving person to get tasks done.Be it home or office I see people doing things in fear. Its becoming difficult to co-exist with those people in a fear-ridden environment. I thought too much about this, which led to a depression this week end.So thought of draining those thoughts out there to get a fresh mind for the week ahead.

Peerless is also fearless! Fear Mongers be afraid of me!

Toastmasters:Project 10 “Talent is overrated”

Project 10: INSPIRE YOUR AUDIENCE
Objectives:
* To inspire the audience by appealing to noble motives and challenging the audience to achieve a higher level of beliefs or achievement.
* Appeal to the audience’s needs and emotions, using stories, anecdotes and quotes to add drama.
* Avoid using notes.
* TIME: Eight to ten minutes.

Neil Armstrong lands on the moon.
Hillary and tenzing climbs mount everest.
Sachin tendulkar scores his 100th century.
Viswanath Anand wins yet another world chess championship.
ARRahman wins two oscars.
And my friend and colleauge next door gets promotion hike and a beautiful girl.

Respected president, TM of the day fellow and future toastmasters Good evening. These are some good news about great people.- Super achievers. When I hear such news I feel happy for a second , jealous for a moment, ambitious for a while and then run for lame excuses on why Its fine for me to not attempt any such things. I always draw a line of demarcation between me the common man and they the super achievers. Even if have dream or desire to step in to moon inherently there is a voice saying to myself “No Deepak .. You cannot..You aren’t born to a astronaut.!” You dont have the magical talent to compose Jai Ho!

Ladies and gentleman whats going on in my mind is a Talent crisis. A crisis which has arised because we are not tapping our individual strengths and that we do not yet have enough faith in each person’s ability to punch above his or her weight. We love reading many such news about super achievers. We love being spectators when such super achievements are made but when it comes for us to enter the arena we have doubts on our own ability. We doubt our ability to attain a goal of such heights. We dream big but hardly do believe in them.We are afraid of failures.

People fail more often than they succeed. Hence they say its good to learn from failures. But at the same time we overlook success and read very little from them. Rather misinterpret success and attribute their success to a abstract term called talent.

Now say if I have a dream of being a astronaut, what stops me from entering a ISRO or NASA. I dont have good grades at college. But little did I know that Neil Armstrong the moon man was also an average student while at college. He secured admission into MIT the temple of knowledge. But he happens to be the first graduate from his family and the only engineer whom he know advised him not to go too far for his studies and hence he took up a school near to his place which offered him a scholarship on a condition that he has to serve three years in navy after completing his studies. That made him chose aeronautical engineering and that how he started flying. But he didnt have an iota of ambition to Land on moon. Do you know that the man who stood on Mount Everest was the weakest kid in his class?

They were all in diverse fields spreading across various countries but there was a common denominator which divides successful people from unsuccessful. Practise. Practise Practise. On a average it takes 10 000 hours to make a successful grandmaster.

A good practice is something where you have a well defined goal to aim at, the task should neither be too easy nor be totally out of your reach. And you should have the opportunity to make and correct mistakes. And some kind of feed back mechanism to correct your faulty steps.Above all a desperate need to succeed.

You dont get this inside paid classrooms or in the cosy comfortness of a multi millionaire .SlumDog millionaire AR Rahman started flirting with the keyboards when he was 11. His dad who run the business of renting music instruments died when ARR was young and hence ARR came in to the trade. He was in the crew of illaya raja. There were so many who were so in those days. But what made arr stand apart. It his passion for music and the rigurous practice he put in. In his book “OutLiers” Malcom Gladwell mentions that it takes on an average 10000 hours to make a grandmaster.

Same is the case with super achievers.Their practice would be slow, painstaking and error-focused.Coyle describes a tennis academy in Russia where they enact rallies without a ball. The aim is to focus meticulously on technique. By practicing in this way, performers delay the automatizing process. The mind wants to turn deliberate, newly learned skills into unconscious, automatically performed skills. But the mind is sloppy and will settle for good enough. By practicing slowly, by breaking skills down into tiny parts and repeating, the strenuous student forces the brain to internalize a better pattern of performance.

You hardly can err after having such a practice.With a focussed vision and deliberate practice you are sure to hit the success. Oh 10000 hours to be a grandmaster , typing programs from age 5 and keyboard from age 11 cricket from age 4 .. Does it what takes for a super achivement. I am 24 and I dont have a concrete vision? Is my life doomed because I dont have a vision? Am I going to be a looser till death.

No a vision is an enlightenment. Things remain the same before and after this lightning. But its we who get changed by this sudden enlightenment. There is a famous zen saying “Before enlightment Chop wood carry water” After enlightenment chop wood carry water. No matter what you do do it with perfection and consciousness. Put your heart, mind, intellect and soul even to your smallest acts. This is the secret of success. Success is when preparation meets opportunity. Be ready with the ticket called practice so that you dont miss the opportunity bus which takes you to the destination called success. No matter what you do today , you can take something out of it for your tomorrows work.

There are people who work hard and stay mediocre. Its because they work hard within their comfort zone taking predictable steps. When you have a big dream you must be prepared to bet on certain unpredictables. Victory or Success doesnt happen all the time. But yet its those failures which increases your value for success. Life is a roller coaster ride.Not a merry go round.

But no matter whats going around. Apply yourself to what you do fully. Going to bed everynight with a feeling that I am better man than what I was in the morning gives you a healthy sleep. Practice not only makes us perfect but confident. Toastmasters is a testimonial to it. I would like to mention a little about TM Anupam here. Public Speaking is a challenge to all of us. But for this man even speaking was a challenge. People were apprehensive about his speaking skills and raised their eyebrows whenever he took the stage. But he used every opportunity to hone his skills and we raise our eyebrows even now in awe and inspiration.

For those who had been part of your cultural shows you will be aware of the rigorous practise they would have put in before the show. A musician practices his scores over and over again. A dancer goes over and over the steps necessary for fluidity. An actor plays his part till he masters his dialogues. What we see at the end is just the refined final output. We the audience arent aware of the umpteen rehearsals which went beyond the screen.

It is perhaps attitude, not aptitude, that gives us altitude in life. Practice beats skills. Think of the never die attitude of Rocky, Think of the perseverance of Mahatma gandhi, think of the tolerance shown by Mother Thersa. Thats what makes them what we are and that is what it takes for us to be a super achiever. Practice makes 0000you to utilise your potentials to the fullest which can transform your self. People aroud get inspired and emulate you.The next time when you hesitate to take some thing give a thought on how much you have practicer. Talent is overated .Practise is overlooked.. Anything is possible. Nothing is out of the reach of our hands…! No matter where you are the opportunity rests on your shoulders to change your lives and change the world we live in it.

When i am doing nothing

This post is to collect a list of things I can do when I am doing nothing.

1. Practice typing
2. Revise my words
3. Visit Hackers news
4. I can meditate
5. I can solve a puzzle or crosswordhttp://peerlessdeepak.wordpress.com/
6. Check my google reader:!

I will be updating this place and people if you have idea of any funny things which can be done with little efforts in a semi awaken state please let me know.

Many fine mornings!

Never thought that i would write a followup to the evening post.Off late there is a great dearth of reason to celebrate in peerless inc. The idle days in office is being under utilized. When i introspected, i attributed that to my stamina. There are days when I classified myself as hard worker rather than smart. But now when I am smart enough I couldnt push myself hard enough to even accomplish the basic needs. I find myself tired in the evenings and I havent done my morning sessions regularly in the past two-three months.

Given my lanky buildup I have always feared walking in to the gym and loosing the already scanty weight. My recent obsession towards trekking also demanded a demonstration of good stamina. I am a natural early riser and I like meeting people. With the above strengths I decided to take up jogging. Well I am not taking up a marathon run to flaunt to this extent. But i have a plan to build it up slowly and run a marathon one day.

After all today was my second day – actually i have planned only for three days a week but i was lured by the excitement in it and took it up today. Yesterday I was completely jagged even before I started my walk towards park. But for the sake of beginning I tried a run around the paseo. I struggled to complete even a single circle at a stretch, lost my breath in just under 300 mts. But with enough time to get it back again I forced myself for 3 rounds.

And I felt the pain for the whole day; looked weared off and had a doubt whether this isnt going to be fun for me. I got a good dose of sleep early in the evening itself. But vowed not to sleep before 10:30 PM. Some how managed to get a stream of activities and it must be 12 when i closed the eyes. Man! I havent had such a sleep in ages Guess I should have had my REM NREM cycles in perfection- Peaceful without any breaks and woke up at 5:00 with full of energy but with pain in the thighs. Was about to give up jogging today but the early restart pushed me against it and thought of trying a walk alone. But when I started running i felt that i could do it today and completed three circles with small respites in between.

I love it but to make it more efficient I need to get a good pair of sneakers, and a good company (@karthick @laksram anyone interested?). I have always given up physical exercises seeing it eating my time.But now in to it to get my time back. Running is fun. Its one place where you can easily get exhausted and force yourself to run some more and beat yourself. I love beating myself! I do have another secret mission associated with it. I got to get some members for my toastmasters club
I will share more about the art of running as I keep learning.

One fine eveninng! Orru malai pozhuthu!

Its raining here after a long stint of hot summer . This rain and climate soothes the heart and my mind thinks of other occassions where i felt alike.I would rate my cycle rides in the college road in the evenings (In karaikudi) as one of the best moments in my life.

A typical day in final year of my college would have some trouble for me since i held some office there.But I dont care a dime for it. When i recollect my final year days I realize that the day mostly begins after sun set for me. Friday evenings are the best of all for any one. When people walk back from classes i would be hovering around in my cycle. A brief skimming of journals and magazines in library. I will head straight to hostels then and get ensconced in a room where no one can disturb me for an hour or two. A nice little nap! When the clock strikes seven people start thronging in to the mess. But I will have different plans.

I take my cycle then and start my ride all alone with mindful of thoughts in that beautiful college road.[Its really hard to play some trick and escape from Gobi-my room mate who always insists on dining with me outside]. Before diving in to the main roads i used to make a circle inside the college campus. Getting on the main road I got to make the choices for the night.On most days my agenda would be an hour of browsing and a gentle dinner either in royal or the new president hotel.
Thoughts galore when i get in to the main road. My used to wander more than my cycle tyres. I will be counting on the things to browse only to forget them as soon as i enter the browsing center. Getting past the gates of CECRI and taking a turn at the university gates one would realize how far we have come from the hostels. The dual lane roads terminate near aryha bhavan. Gosh. If it had been a evening i will make a stop there and eat hot bajji’s in my favourite bajji shop.
Since this being a night i park my bike and get in to sify! I dont exactly recollect what i have been surfing those days. (No porno ..no flirting chats! for i dont know what open source mean in those days) but i spend an hour daily and most of my dads money made their way in to sifys accounts. After an hour of browsing I would head towards the hotel new president. I prefer new president at times when i am alone since i could finish my dinner for Rs25 (A dosa + puttu +idlis).

By now the clock would have already stuck half past nine. The already sparse roads will become deserted. Its me and my cycle to take care of them. I ride as slow as i can and pick some snacks for the night in Nilgiris (Rarely any one in hostel knows where i keep and when i eat my snacks! – I suck at sharing!) Its the return journey which is the moment of joy. I used to have a coffee around ten opposite aryha bhavan. It tastes so sweet that i used to enjoy and sip it for ten minutes. Its this stretch from the subra maniapuram to hostels which makes you feel so good. I used to get solutions for most of my pressing problems at this time. If i dont get a cue , I dont stop cycling until I feel better or get one.
Picking up the snacks and eating it one by one .. I would reach the hostel roads where people would be crowded near marine for their final puffs and huffs. Getting past them parking my cycle, I head to my room get changed and walk back to college to the placement cell where i browse for official reasons. Thats how most evenings were spent while i was at ACCET. I could have done better things but blame my ignorance. Anyways i hanker for those yore where i had a cosy life at a very little cost.

The golden jubilee meet of wordsmiths toastmasters

People are crazy with numbers , especially 25,50 and 100 are very special for public institutions. It was time for 50th meet in our wordsmiths toastmasters club, the club had its part in history for few good and bad reasons. Running in to its second year of operation we had few difficult months running short of the quorum. But in recent months we had  some new additions and the momentum was slowly starting to build up .

The meeting was fairly planned to minute details in advance under Haris leadership. I along with Ananth did some running around to prepare for the meeting which reminded me similar occasions at college.

I was persuading people around me to try toastmasters and many of those people decided to turn up on the same day. I had my moment of fame for ushering in a big crowd. Put together with my people we had 20+ guests and toastmasters from other clubs adding up to 50+.At one point of time we ran out of chairs which emphasises the turnout bet our expectations.

TM Krishna Prasad and our god father Zac received the guests and lead them to the registration desk.

District G2 conference was scheduled for the next day as a result of which we had some senior members from district team  in the city. TM Rajeev Nambiar was the sergeant at arms for the day. This was the first time I saw in action and the man with his physique and authoritative language makes the best fit for the role. President welcomed the guests and asked them to introduce themselves.There happened my moment to glory when everyone was refering to me for the reason to be there. We had a plenty of guests from various age groups, which took little more time for the introductions .

TM Sampath Sourirajan was the general evaluator for the day, he comes from the Medley toastmasters club and takes pride in  attending 23 toastmasters club so far.ToastMaster Ananth (He has grown equalling his height) was the toastmaster of the day – (the role which i love to do but havent done in ages). Revelry was the word of the day which was an apt selection. TM George was doing his second project but as the TM introduced him he spoke like a person who has completed his CC manual. His talk and Time and Space exhibited his command over language and confidence. But as his evaluator pointed out he fell short of communicating the content to his audience. I am sure as he goes through the CC projects this dude is going to nurture his skills and become an amazing speaker.

Zac was the TT master; Since we were already far beyond scheduled we didnt have as many topics as we wished to have.TM Deepak Justin gave his speech exactly for two minutes which had all the ingredients of a prepared speech. Then it was time for felicitation. TM Nina John – the first DTM from chennai received her DTM batch. TM Vivek,VP Membership and TM Ram Prasad were honoured for their roles. Then its party time for the birthday baby. District Gov. TM Balraj spoke on why toastmasters and what toastmasters can do to an individual.

We had the cakes served and a dinner together after the meeting. If atleast half the guests in the day turn up again and become part of the club our president promised to convert our meetings in to weekly affairs.

For many toastmasters , toastmasters has become a way of life. Though I had been part of it I feel as if i am starting it afresh after  a break  and the recent toastmasters meets have bolstered my quest of becoming a better person.

PS: This recording is done after  7 days from the meet and hence i couldnt recollect all the fairy tales in the meeting.

Days with David-2

The Micabers enter the life of Master David and today the Micabers were leaving him to Plymouth. David seems to lead a happy life with Micabers(amidst his remonstration I infer this from his narration). The advice to Davy was “Never do something tomorrow which you can do today”.This novel is very intrguing and poignant once you put yourself in the shoes of Master David -  quite natural since the novel is designed to be so.

Davids workplace had a wharf which touched water when the tide was high and sands when the tide was low.Davids work was  a drudgery. Since David didnt have much pregrination in to the streets of London the sanguine nature of Mr. M picked him up from work.David took pudding from a shop which made them using currants.Micabers house had an empty larder.Captain Hopkins had a sonorous voice.Though the narration seems to an indication of poignant its a luscious when its vicarious.Mrs. M swooned on the occasion of Mr M s release.

Days with David -0

Davids plan was efficacious. Mr.Barkis was gruff.  Clara remonstrated when Miss Murderstone called her a fool. Miss Murderstone showed a violent consternation at Davids stay. Davids life at hostel was a strife. Hindu is never known for its levity. People expressed their indictment as the perpetrator went scot free. Development is always going to be elusive. MrMurdstone growled at Davy.

Days with David -1

I am currently re-reading David Copperfield and would like to post some cues here now and then for revisiting this wonderful story. I have a desire to remember all that i read without any deficiet and I am working on it. Towards this purport, I have reduced my intake and the current focus is on retention. I have figured out its easy to recognise a character than to remember some set of information. So after my session with Davy I will be posting some no sense post which as a reader you can ignore(DO i have any reader???)

Today Davy had  a rimmy clammy hair.David also had a sputtering candle in his hand.

I still dont know why the funeral man picked up Davy. For Davy time was trodding:) Miss Murdstone with her diabolical catalogue of unamiable qualities. Mr Barkis had a leer in his countenance when he looked at Peggotty.

Mrs.Gummidge had rumpled her hair around her face.Little Emily was sly and shy. Davy was accused of moping and droning. Peggotty should be remembered for the way she condoled with Davy at Clara’s loss.