319th Meeting: The Art of Leadership

Epic was not just the Word of the Day encouraged to use by the Grammarian, Anahi, but it also perfectly describes the 319^th meeting, The Art of Leadership.  TMOD, Fouad Al Fares, opened the meeting with a note on the theme: “Every toastmaster is an artist. When we communicate, we lead and when we lead, we create a compelling connection. This ability to connect is a conglomeration of skills, mastery & passion that can inspire change, creativity and continuous development.”

Coming to the 1^st session, Prepared Speeches, all three speakers delivered advanced speech projects. Nadim inspired us to face our fears. Leo entertained us with his “Benchmark of Success” and Kit equipped us with his technical talk on the Web Resources for Toastmasters. Nadim won as the Best Speaker.

For Table Topics, Philip gave the questions to 5 confident volunteers namely Jessie, Ganesh, Kavitha, Jan & Luis.  Ganesh won the audience with his impeccable answer.

Finally, Viji led the Evaluation Session. For the evaluation of the prepared speeches, Dennis, Luis and Joseph gave valid points on the strengths and areas for improvement of the speakers and offered specific recommendations on how to improve. Joseph was awarded as the Best Evaluator. This was followed by the reports of the Table Topics Evaluator (Farooq), Timer (Jessie), Ah Counter (Jan) & Grammarian. Viji concluded it by commending the club with another fun and epic meeting!

Next meeting is on December 9, 2017. See you!

319th Meeting: The Art Of Leadership

318th Meeting: Filcom Goes Broadway

Have you ever attended a Toastmasters meeting where the TMOD was singing instead of speaking? I bet, never! Last November 11, Filcom went musical and Arjay, the TMOD, did not only lead the meeting well, but boy did he also entertain us with his captivating voice!
 

Arjay opened the meeting by singing Seasons of Love from the Broadway musical, Rent. It caught our attention and made us feel excited about the meeting. Even the role players got carried away and tried singing what their roles meant. It was hilarious!
 

For the Part 1 of the meeting, Prepared Speeches, Viji delivered an inspirational speech for her Speech Project 5 entitled, When Life Gives You Lemons. Leo’s speech on the other hand was technical as he spoke about Geospatial Revolution. And lastly, Joseph’s The Great Vibration of Life was rather dramatic. The inspirational speech won!
 

The Table Topics Session, 2nd segment, was led by our resident Life Coach, Tag. Her challenging questions did not deter the volunteers though. Guest, Joyffin, said she has fear in Public Speaking only to end up being the winner!
 

Lastly, the Evaluation Session was led by Philip and it was filled with new insights from the evaluators Nadim, Luis & Kit. Luis’ evaluation of Viji’s speech garnered the most number of votes for Best Evaluation.
 

Overall, the meeting was fun and surely a memorable one. The next question is, what else can Filcomites do? Dance? Who knows?

317th Meeting: Learning By Doing

 

 

Just like every other meeting, Filcom’s 317th was a success! Jan, the stand-in Sergeant at Arms and a first time for the role welcomed the members and guest reminding them of the meeting protocols as he called the meeting to order by 7pm, on the dot!

 

The indefatigable VP-Education cum Toastmaster of the Day, Leo started the session introducing the theme through a challenging hands-on activity which was learning the art of paper folding (origami). Members learned to make a fox and a puppy out of the square papers. They were able to follow through the idea as he continued to give learning techniques (experiential and kinesthetic) and examples and applications of the theme in Toastmasters.

 

An educational session about Writing Speeches was delivered by no less than the Club President himself, Kit, which gave pointers on how to effectively write stupendous speeches giving emphasis to the structure and content that proved beneficial to the members especially to the new joiners.

 

During the prepared speeches session, Dennis delivered a stupendous Project No. 8 introducing his new concept De-Mu theory on wealth which is pending patent registration. After that, Joseph did a press-conference regarding the 2018 District 20 Toastmasters Annual Conference (D20TAC). His fourth project under the Advanced Manual-Communicating on Video.
 

Table Topics Session was moderated by DTM Luis who effortlessly unraveled “Today in History” with reference to the Spanish and Portuguese colonization. Kit, Jessie and Tag battled it out and gave in their insights about committing mistakes leading to new realizations, challenges leading to either failure or success and making decisions that will immortalize or destroy a leader, respectively. A short break followed suit with a selection of healthy snacks and drinks shared by everyone while catching up.
 

In the Evaluation Session, Tag and Shyam evaluated Dennis’ and Joseph’s speeches, respectively highlighting the strengths and gave insights on how to better improve in the next speeches. More like using the sandwich technique which was very encouraging and at the same time eye-opening. The role players gave outstanding reports at the end further evaluating all the speakers on how well they did with the usage of English language, timeliness and minimizing if not obliterating crutch and filler words with Viji as the Grammarian, Mazhar/Anil as Timer and Dale as Ah Counter. The word of the day was used by almost everyone. What a stupendous kind of meeting! Kit, who wore another hat as the General Evaluator assessed the performance of all the role players and the overall conduct of the meeting highlighting the best practices and some things to grow on.
 

Finally, Leo wrapped up the meeting reiterating that in toastmasters, we always learn by doing. It was reinforced with a quotation from Benjamin Franklin that says: “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn”

316th Meeting: OktoberFest

 

 

Filcom’s 316^th Meeting

 

Filcomites gathered again with the theme Oktoberfest

Because October is the time for celebration and feast

Although there were no beers, pretzels and Bavarian outfit

The night went well with a Toastmaster of the Day to beat

 

First, Sgt-At-Arms, Viji, laid down the protocol

Followed by Dale who took up the Grammarian’s role

Then President Kit formally opened the meeting

But he forgot to ask his wife for her greeting: P

 

Jessie, the TMOD, then introduced the theme

Even the 3 segments & the role players’ game

Without further ado, the Prepared Speeches started

And wow, the 4 speakers did great & uninhibited

 

Rechell spoke about friendship as a Breathtaking Gift

And Tag’s Valuing The Moments gave our spirits a lift

Joseph shared his inspiring Toastmaster’s journey on a talk show

While Kit’s presentation on cyber security was a perfect flow

 

Noor, the Table Topics Master, taught all to walk

By inviting the confident volunteers to talk

Slowly, with their perfect answers, they ran

Impromptu Speaking turned out to be fun

 

Break for 10 minutes seemed necessary

After the 2 segments went above ordinary

Mouth-watering sandwiches and drinks on the table

Filled up our stomach and made us all able

 

After the break, Dr. Farooq took over as the General Evaluator

With speech evaluators who proved one can be a motivator

Timer, Ah Counter and Grammarian followed suit

With Table Topics observations to boot

 

Lastly, the President conducted the Business Session

Informing speaking contests & paying dues as the mission: P

Luckily  Kit didn’t forget to ask his wife for feedback

And Cathy said she enjoyed and wish to come back

 

PS.

After the group photo was taken

Some went to the bar for Heineken

HAPPY OKTOBERFEST!!!

 

 

 

316th Meeting: Oktoberfest

Filcom’s First Social Event Breaks Routine

 

Corniche, Doha Qatar --- Any mention of Toastmasters meetings and it automatically conjures up image of prepared speeches, table topics & evaluations within the 4 corners of a room --- which is precisely the routine Filcom International Toastmasters Club wants to break in their first social event.

 

 

 

 

Yesterday, October 7, 2017, 15 Filcomites boarded a dhow from 7:00 PM till 9:00 PM for their first social event for this term entitled, “Dhow” shall come, & with theme: Breaking the Routine.

 

At exactly 7:00 PM, as the engine of the dhow revved up, the emcees, Rechelle & Dennis, stood in front, grabbed the mic & welcomed everyone: “Welcome to the first social event of Filcom! Do you see that amazing Doha skyline? Can you hear the waves lapping against the boat? Can you feel the cool breeze blowing on your face? Ladies and gentlemen, we are just starting & we promise that you will enjoy the night as we bring you exciting games, some mouth-watering finger foods & more!”

 

 

 

“We hold this kind of social event for one simple reason --- to break the routine: different setting, no role players to look for your grammatical errors, crutches & timing; no Table Topics & Evaluation sessions to worry about, no business session & all that jazz! We are here to have fun!”, said Kit Barritt, Club President of Filcom International Toastmasters Club, in his opening remarks.

 

 

 

As an entertainment, Joseph Amande gave an inspirational speech with a topic, The Key to Happiness is…” “Please don’t mention my key to happiness in your writing as I will use this speech in the Elimination Round of the ICC Public Speaking Contest on October 27, 2017.”, Joseph requested.

 

 

Dennis conducted the first game wherein the group was divided into two. Each person was given a piece of paper with a question written on it. Then, each person in Group A asked their questions to be answered by Group B & vice-versa. After the first question, the first person in Group A moved to the back so the second person became the first, the third became the second & so on, all the while Group B remained stationery. “It was a smart game. At the end of it, I got to talk to everybody!”, explained Shyam.

 

 

 

Pizza, grilled chicken wings, spring rolls, samosa & brownies were served on the table for everyone to partake after an hour, while Despacito was played on the background. Some people danced, while others took photos and chatted.

 

 

 

After a 30-minute break, Tag Saab, a Life Coach, was interviewed by Joseph. “Life Coaching is helping people to empower them by asking the right questions to find the answers that are already within themselves.”, defined Tag. Then, she shared some success stories and tips to become a Life Coach.

 

It was followed by 2 games conducted by Leo. The first game involved counting & clapping when numbers 3,6 & 9 are present; whereas the second game involved words or phrases about Toastmasters. A word was placed on the forehead of the person asking questions to figure it out in a limited period of time. In the end, the group of Philip won!

 

 

 

Finally, each person was given the chance to talk and share how they found the event. “This is a wonderful idea! Breaking the routine is what we need sometimes. There is nothing in nature that blooms all year long so we should not expect it from ourselves either. We need to find time to unwind and relax. This way, we’ll become more creative and productive!”, concluded by Dennis and Rechell.

315th Meeting: Unlimited Connections

 

 

The 315^th meeting of Filcom is such where the theme was overshadowed by a mark of a true Filcomite. The theme, “Unlimited Connections”, seemed to be “Unlimited Dedication.” To the man behind the theme, Leo, hear me out.

Leo, VP-Education-slash-Toastmaster of the Evening-slash-Educational Module Presenter, did show an unlimited dedication. You see what I did there?  His Plan B, presenting educational modules, after 2 speakers cancelled due to an emergency, proved to be of great help, not only for the newly joined members Dale, Jan & Sarah, but also for the existing members. Leo presented “Meeting Roles and Responsibilities”, while Kit, the impromptu educational presenter & Club President, conducted an interactive session on “Moments of Truth” & the refresher on Easy Speak.

In the Prepared Speech, I, the only speaker, came with a TV set (talk about dedication) for my 1^st Speech Project (Straight Talk) for Communicating on Video. I defended why cancelling Maria Sofia Love’s Passport is a drastic move. Special thanks goes to Rechelle and TM Marium who couldn’t come to deliver their speeches. I automatically won the Best Speaker Award. :P

What I liked about the Table Topics Master, Dennis, was how he introduced this 2^nd session, Table Topics. Dennis gave vivid examples of situations where a great impromptu speaking skill is truly essential. When you’re in the elevator with your CEO, on-the-spot giving of message in a party you gate-crashed, among others. Because of such motivating intro, participants Nadim, Arjay, Noor, Hamad, Philip & Sarah gave substantial answers. But it was Hamad who was motivated the most and thus received the Best Table Topics Award.

Philip, the King of Comedy, didn’t fail to insert humor in his Evaluation Session. Here, Arjay (Ah Counter), Jessie (Timer), Anil (Grammarian) & Shyam (Table Topics Evaluator) gave their respective reports. And Noor, although the only speech evaluator, deservingly clinched the Best Evaluator Award with her analytical view on Joseph’s presentation.

“Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success.” That’s how Leo ended the 315^th meeting Unlimited Connections which also reflects “Unlimited Dedication.”

 

315th Meeting: Unlimited Connections

314th Meeting: Winter is coming...

To the avid followers of Game of Thrones, I’m sure the theme gives them delight and the urge to say it outloud, “Winter is coming”, at least 2 or 3 times; whereas others, after walking for only 2 or 3 minutes on the sauna-like streets of Qatar that day, are protesting, “Winter is not coming” anytime soon! I swear I could hear the voices in their heads! But before psychological war ensued, TMOD Dennis Mujana, the culprit, went to the podium and convinced everyone that the theme goes deeper than just about the weather.

 

“Winter is coming…is not just about the drop of temperature, furry coats and boots & barbeque parties but it is a reminder for us to appreciate Summer while it is here, appreciate the things, the people & everything while we have them.”, said Dennis for an introduction. After that sermon, the meeting became nothing short of fun! Which is usual for a Filcom meeting.

 

The first part was the Prepared Speeches. TM Jessie definitely painted some mental pictures of giving birth for her Speech Project 4 (How To Say It) entitled “Wonder Woman” followed by TM Fouad’s dexterous use of props including a “microwave” and a jar of water for his Speech Project 8 (Get Comfortable with Visual Aids) entitled “How To Sell Yourself”. The “microwave” had a short circuit with Wonder Woman’s magical rope which was chosen as the best speech for the night.

 

“What if Winter never comes?”, was one of the questions in the Table Topics Session, 2nd part of the meeting, led by the brilliant Table Topics Master, Nadim. TM Farooq bravely answered the question, but it was TM Tag’s philosophical answer to “Winter is only standing still” that deserved the much coveted ribbon for Best Table Topics Speaker. Other TT speakers that night were TM Omar, TM Fouad and DTM Luis who also gave intelligent answers to their respective queries. This was followed by an Educational Session on Mentoring by TM Joseph Amande.

 

Finally, down to the last session, Evaluation, the Division Q Program Quality Director, TM Manzoor, served as the General Evaluator. After asking the evaluators’ and role payers’ reports, he went on to say that he was impressed by how the meeting was conducted in a friendly and fun environment quoting Dr. Ralph Smedley, Founder of Toastmasters International, “we learn best in moments of enjoyment.” For this session, DTM Luis was awarded Best Evaluator.

 

314th Meetting: Winter is coming...

313th Meeting: Road Trip To A Happy Life

Filcom had yet another meaningful and interactive meeting (313^th) led by the Toastmaster of the Evening, Joseph. With the theme, Road Trip To A Happy Life, the TMOE came prepared with a powerpoint presentation that showed the roadmap and cleverly related the 3 parts of the meeting to his 3 stops: Mind, Body & Soul. His Tour Guides were Grammarian Jessie, Timer Arun Paul & Ah Counter Philip.

Coming to the first stop, Mind, Joseph presented a house that has 3 rooms that must be unlocked to be happy: Who are You? What are your guiding principles in life? What are your holistic daily things to do? And what was amazing was Joseph, after every prepared speech, would reinforce the 3 rooms based on the speech topics that were as if formulated based on the theme. The first speaker, Anil, did his Ice Breaker Speech entitled Adaptability which is a guiding principle and the 2 advance speakers, Nadim and Kit, talked about Life Purpose and Mind Mapping respectively. Kit was awarded as the Best Speaker.

The second stop, Body, was the most fun part because here Joseph presented Transcendental Yoga, Eating Mindfully and Exercise for Feeling. Joseph even asked everybody to sit on the floor to try the transcendental yoga which was well-received and complimented to be effective in “mind/body cleansing”. The effect of it was evident when the Table Topics led by Farooq was, without a doubt, aced by the volunteers. Philip got the award for Table Topics after he wowed everybody with his on-point quip to the question, “What is happiness?”, where he even incorporated other volunteers’ answers to support his idea on contentment. Now only pros do that!

The 3^rd and final stop was Soul. Joseph explained why people die even if they are still physically alive when you don’t manifest what your soul wants to do. And how would you manifest your soul? Joseph shared 3 ways: travelling, doing your passion and love. And the General Evaluator, Dennis, seemed to agree! In his evaluation of the overall flow of the meeting, he zeroed on in living our passion as public speakers by capitalizing on the feedback/evaluations. And the Best Evaluator, Noor, certainly did that!

In conclusion, Joseph highlighted that happiness is a way of travel, not destination! Sweet!

 

 

313th Meeting: Road Trip To A Happy Life

312th Meeting: Speaking Towards Self-Branding

In today’s world where technology has become a vital component in our daily lives, from home to work, it is evident more than ever that we (in some sort) consciously or subconsciously promote ourselves online and even offline. And we do that through our posts (written or verbal communication) on our social networking sites, blogs & face-to-face meetings. Thus, it is crucial that we have that working knowledge on how we can effectively speak towards self-branding. Self-Branding is something that we all can benefit from as it leads to self-discovery and living life to its full potential.

Speaking Towards Self-Branding was the theme for the 312^th meeting of Filcom International Toastmasters Club last night, August 12, led by a very energetic and smart Toastmaster of the Evening, Leo, who taught us the 3 main principles in self-branding: build trust, establish your expert status and gather feedback. He cleverly discussed each principle at each part of the meeting.

The first part was the Prepared Speeches wherein TM Malek from Joeng TMC was the first speaker. He is a natural comedian with his speech entitled Up In The Air, followed by a very motivational topic on how to live an authentic life by TM Rachell and capping off his 40^th speech project to be a Distinguished Toastmaster, TM Farooq showed us how to handle crisis management with “Embargo”. In the end, TM Rachell was awarded as the Best Speaker.

In the Table Topics Session, the second part of the meeting, TM Joseph (also the VP-PR) did something for the first time in a club meeting, that was to go LIVE on Facebook. Six, brave volunteers took up the challenge and confidently answered some mind-boggling questions related to the theme (eg. Who are you? No, really) TM Arjay and TM Nadim seemed to have equally convinced the audience and both of them got the award for Best Table Topic Speakers.

Lastly, the third part of the meeting was the Evaluation Session led by TM Arjay. Here, all the speakers were given instantaneous feedback on their speeches by the assigned evaluators, the role players gave their reports and TM Arjay, as the General Evaluator, gave his overall assessment as to how the meeting was conducted and as always, Filcom did not disappoint especially our 5 guests. For this part, the Best Evaluator Award went to TM Viji who evaluated TM Rachell.

End.

Our next meeting is on August 26, 217 in Tafawok Hall at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Doha Qatar from 6:45 – 9:00 PM.

 

312th Meeting Flyer

If the theme doesn't excite you, I don't know what will.

Excom Meeting 1

First Excom Meeting

311th Meeting: Where Leaders Are Made

 

"Where Leaders Are Made.”

 

So goes the tagline of Toastmasters International and thanks to DTM Luis Caetano, the Toastmaster of the Evening, who decided to use it as the theme for the 311th meeting of Filcom, this tagline is no longer a mere string of words, but a catchphrase that cuts deep into our hearts as aspiring leaders who aim to “influence” (word of the day) others positively. He highlighted that leadership is the ultimate reason why we develop our communication skills. When we communicate effectively, we can inspire, influence and lead others. Speaking of leading others, last night was a special joint meeting with Jordanian Engineers Toastmasters Club who gladly & readily took up the roles of Timer (TM Malek), Grammarian (TM Amjad) & Speech Evaluator (TM Saif).
 

In the first part of the meeting, Prepared Speeches, we listened to 3 amazing speakers. TM Qasim delivered his first-ever speech, Ice Breaker, and it was impressive! No use of notes, no hint of nervousness and he delivered a well-structured speech about his inspiring life story. TM Theresa, on the other hand, had us giggled with her entertaining speech entitled Let Your Hair Down. And lastly, TM Farooq delivered an advanced speech, Speaking Under Fire, where he acted as a CEO of two merging companies. The audience who served as employees asked provocative questions in the end, but TM Farooq could not be intimidated. He answered all the questions succinctly and on time. In the end, Theresa was adjudged the Best Speaker.
 

The Table Topics was the second part of the meeting conducted by TM Jessie who adapted the contest format with a common question to be answered by 5 brave volunteers. The topic was “Are leaders born or made? Why?” All of them chose “made” but it was TM Rashed’s answer that stood out.
 

Then, after a 15-minute break, the meeting reconvened with the Evaluation Session. But this time, the Toastmaster of the Evening, DTM Luis, (instead of the General Evaluator) facilitated the giving of reports of the role players and speech evaluators so TM Nadim (GE) could have the time to take note of their reports and evaluations. DTM Luis proved to be right in his strategy because when TM Nadim came to give his general evaluation, it was nothing short of impeccable. For this session, TM Joseph bagged the Best Evaluator award.

 

Finally, in the Business Session, TM Joseph was elected and inducted as the Vice President for Public Relations, followed by a group photo.

 

 

 

By Joseph Amande

VP - PR

 

 

Joint Meeting of Filcom and Joeng

July 22, 2017

Crowne Plaza Hotel, Qatar

Tafawook Hall

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