335th Meeting: Black & White -- Beyond Spectrum

The highly anticipated joint meeting between Filcom International and RCS Debaters TMC finally happened! TM Nadim Bitar as the Sergeant-At-Arms, commenced the meeting with a story on his recent cultural trip to the French Coast. Then, TM Leo Ortega and DTM Nirmala Raghuraman, presidents of the host clubs, formally opened the meeting and addressed the 50+ attendees, including dignitaries from various Toastmasters Clubs in the District and guests alike. It was shortly followed by the engaging production performance by TMOD Arjay Diego, singing “One Day” by Matisyahu, introducing the meeting’s theme “Black and White: Beyond The Spectrum” which revolved around diversity and its many facets.

Diversity of Lives

TM Arjay opened the prepared speech segment with a black and white photo of a tunnel, signifying hope for those who dream. It may be a dark (black) path, but at the end is a bright (white) light. Surely, this was vividly conveyed by TM Vidal Bagas in his ice breaker speech for the Dynamic Leadership path, entitled Life Struggle. He looked back on his growing up years when he started to build dreams, and how he conquered various challenges on his way to success.

Diversity of Paradigms

On the screen was shown a photo of a man jumping off a cliff, signifying the courage to take a step to conquer his fear. This was certainly what happened in the second segment of the meeting where TM Anamika Singh as Table Topics Master, challenged the participants to speak up their views and opinions on certain situations. Guest Sharif, TM Prataph and Guest Anya, were the three courageous speakers who shared their equally striking perspectives on diversity.

Black and White: The Contrast

The action-packed segment was introduced by TM Arjay with a photo of black and white sparks, symbolizing the differences of ideas and opinions yet producing logic and valid positions. The debate motion was, Resolved: "That all societies in the world should allow couples to live together before getting married." TM Leo Ortega served as the debate moderator, with DTM Kit Barrit and TM CJ Rojas of Filcom International as affirmative speakers, whilst TM Bhavyata Bendre and TM Anupama Kasibhatia of RCS Debaters as negative speakers. The heat inside Tafawook Hall undeniably built up with each speaker’s constructive speeches, grilling cross examinations and rebuttals. The 45-minute debate session concluded with each team’s refutations and summary.

After the socials where everyone mingled and connected, the evaluation segment began headed by DTM Surya Narayanan as the General Evaluator. TM Pradip Pandurang Sadiye evaluated his target speaker, Vidal, while the table topics was evaluated by TM Sunny C Iype. For the debate, TM Karthik Jebamony served as the Affirmative Team Evaluator. On the other hand, TM Joseph Amande evaluated the Negative Team. DTM Surya then called upon the role players for their reports; TM Diana Tangente as the Grammarian, TM Jessie Botero as Ah-Counter, and TM Yoosuf Ameen as Timer.

The Beauty in the Spectrum

Arjay recapitulated the happenings of the evening and emphasized that in spite of the many differences amongst us, it is the mutual respect and kindness for one another that truly connect us. At this point, he urged the audience to go around and greet anyone who is of different nationality as themselves. The room was suddenly filled by warm exchanges of smiles, hand shakes and embraces, before it erupted to a heartwarming chorus of the song “Heal The World” by Michael Jackson. 

TM Leo and DTM Nirmala proceeded with the awarding of winners; Guest Anya as Best Table Topics Speaker, TM Joseph Amande as Best Evaluator, and TM Vidal as Best Speaker. DTM Rajeshwar Sundaresan, District 116-P Director, and DTM Surya Narayanan joined the club presidents in announcing the debate winner, the Negative Team. It was then followed by the respective announcements for the clubs, and remarks from the guests, before the meeting was officially adjourned.

The joint meeting was indeed a very special concoction of fantastic differences: languages, religious beliefs, skin color, culture. In the end, everyone went home with a feeling that it is not so much of our differences that matter, but that our similarities, as human beings with the capacity to love, give, and nurture, are what make the world a better place.

Heal the world
Make it a better place
For you and for me
And the entire human race
There are people dying
If you care enough for the living
Make a better place for you and for me

(Excerpt from Michael Jackson's Heal The World)

334th Meeting: To Travel Is To Live

The 334th meeting brought everyone to different heights! Sgt. At Arms Ganesh officially opened the terminal to the promising adventure of the night. Captain TMOD Joseph piloted the multi-city trip, bringing the passengers to various destinations around the globe, allowing everyone to experience how travel is an ultimate connector.

Travel connects us with people.

The first leg of the trip, the prepared speeches, enabled the audience to connect with people. Three adventuresome souls bridged everyone to different seasons of their lives. Anamika's speech made everyone ponder on being judgmental or opinionated while Diana spoke about her voyage from being uncertain to surprising herself, and CJ moved everyone with his research topic on depression.

Travel connects us with culture.

Afajal steered the wheel for the second leg of the trip, which is the Table Topics session. Six brave travellers, DTM Rajesh VC, Rashed, Guest Biju, Guest Laith, Dr. Farooq, TM Sivakumar, and DTM Surya, offered entertaining and amusing cross-cultural stories in answering the table topics questions.

Travel connects with nature.

The natural inclination of people to help others grow by giving valuable Evaluation was the third leg of the trip, and was led by Fouad. DTM Luis, Nadim, and Leo, connected to their corresponding target speakers with their noteworthy feedbacks and suggestions. DTM Kit gave a comical review of the Table Topics which gave everyone a hearty laugh, and TM Fouad delivered his General Evaluation of the meeting.

At the end of Filcom's odyssey for the night, the role players, Arjay as Grammrian, Rechell as Ah-Counter, and Jessie as Timer, rendered their reports. The outstanding travellers were also recognized: CJ on Prepared Speech, Rashed on Table Topics, and Leo on Evaluation.

The night certainly did inspire everyone to plan their next adventure as they relate to TMOD Joseph's favorite travel quote by Hans Christian Anderson.

To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,

To gain all while you give,

To roam the roads of lands remote,

TO TRAVEL IS TO LIVE. 

333rd Meeting: Football Phenomenon

Very timely for the ongoing World Cup, DTM Luis chose a theme that is fitting to the season: “The Football Phenomenon.” Thus, TM Leo, the Sgt At Arms for the night, opened the meeting with stirring questions of who they think would win the world cup this year. This was followed by DTM Luis giving information about Football, its history and significance.

Four brave Toastmasters kept the audience entertained with their Prepared Speeches. TM Afajal in his speech “The idiots inside the box”, talked about the dangers the technology is imposing, and inspired us to devote more time being productive, away from the TV. TM Diana, delivered an interesting speech entitled “I Don’t Know”, where she shared in bullet points, some wisdom in not knowing. TM Jessie with her speech “Today’s Generation”, discussed about the evolution of the generations and how amidst our differences, we can unite together. TM Rechell in her speech “May 14th 2008”, brought everyone to time travel back to when she took a big risk which became an astounding turning point in her life.

The Second segment was led by TM Anamika who admirably prepared simple yet interesting questions about life and, of course, football. The five impromptu speakers, guest Shareef, DTM Kit, DTM Luis, TM Ganesh and TM Leo took the leap of faith and amused everyone with their answers.

Finally, the evaluation session was conducted by General Evaluator TM Ganesh. TM Fouad, TM CJ, DTM Kit, TM Nadim evaluated the respective prepared speeches, and TM Arjay on the Table Topics. The role players, TM Leo as Ah-Counter, TM Vidal as Grammarian, and TM Khalid as timer, gave their reports.

For the Business Section, the ExCom delivered their report for the year 2017-2018, highlighting their contributions to the club. It was also followed by the awarding, TM Rechell bagging the Best Speaker award, Shareef on the Table Topics, and TM Nadim declared the Best Evaluator.

In general, the 333rd meeting was a success, a standard of a phenomenon known as Filcom International.

332nd Meeting: Everyday Fitness

In celebration of the Global Wellness Day, Viji, the Toastmaster of the Day, aptly chose the theme, Everyday Fitness, for the 332^nd meeting. She started it with a namaste hand gesture or “mudra”. “When we join our hands together in mudra position, our left and right brains connect which is crucial for our well-being, Viji explained. Then she went on to share some yoga poses and tips to healthy living throughout the meeting.

In the first segment, Prepared Speeches, Diana, CJ and Joseph delivered 3 compelling speeches. Diana delivered her first-ever speech project, the Icebreaker, entitled, My Ice Cream Story. She talked about how she used to believe that her achievements would make her happy until one day she saw two rugged boys on the street that changed her views in life forever. After seeing how the faces of the boys lit up with the ice cream she gave them, Diana realized that true happiness is found not only through our achievements, but more importantly by sharing and caring for other people.  It was followed by CJ who delivered his 3^rd speech (repeat of the 2^nd speech but incorporating the points from his previous evaluation). Entitled “Center Stage; Let Your Shine Through”, CJ did not only showcase his talent in ballet, he moved the audience from needing validation from other people to being enough. He concluded saying that we all are shining regardless of our position on the stage as we are all but parts of a whole. Lastly, Joseph delivered a keynote speech, an advanced project from the Professional Speaker manual. He shared 3 Steps to Accent Globalization anchored on his own personal story of a boy who grew up in a province with a distinct regional accent and how he conquered the city of Manila as a third grader who was laughed at and ridiculed in school to being the Oratorical Contest champion. These speeches were nothing short of inspiration!

Guest Adriana, Jessie, Anamika, CJ and Leo battled it out in the 2^nd segment, the Table Topics, conducted by the Table Topics Master, Dennis. All 5 speakers did answer their on-the-spot topics. They were all good that 2 speakers had to be proclaimed winners after getting same number of votes (a tie). (See winners below). These 2 winners did an amazing job in delivering their answers in a well-structured manner and with great delivery, almost like prepared speeches.

The last segment, Evaluation Session, was conducted by a veteran Toastmaster, Shyam. He first called in the 3 evaluators (Joseph, Luis and Leo) who gave analytical but motivational feedback.  Anamika (Ah Counter), Arjay (Grammarian) and Dale (Timer) followed with their respective reports. Shyam concluded his general evaluation by congratulating the team for yet another successful meeting.

Bravo!

Winners:

Best Speaker: Diana

Best TT: Leo and CJ

Best Evaluator: Luis

331st Meeting: Breaking Boundaries

 

 

Still hung up about the D20TAC 2018 mania in Kuwait, Arjay, the Toastmaster of the Evening, decided to connect the theme with that of the district’s Rise Beyond Boundaries and called it “Breaking Boundaries”. With captured lines from the event, Arjay laced them into the meeting sessions allowing those members who did not make it to Kuwait relived the experience.
 

In the Prepared Speeches, Arjay quoted a line from the keynote speech of the 2013 World Champion Speaker, Pres, “Surround yourselves with people who share the same passion.” What a perfect line to introduce the speakers who undoubtedly share same passion as they delivered beautifully written and compelling speeches. Center Stage was the title of CJ’s 2nd speech for his Innovative Pathway. CJ used the stage as a metaphor of life and concluded his speech saying that you may not be in the center stage, you could be elsewhere (downstage, upstage, backstage) but know that you are still shining! Rashed, the 2nd speaker, delivered his 10th speech from the CC manual entitled, The Boy who Harnessed the Wind, which left everyone in awe of how he presented William Kamkwamba who built the famous windmill in Malawi and the lessons he learned from him. And finally, capping off the session, Joseph sashayed in a pair of red stilettos to deliver a tear-jerking storytelling project entitled, Lifted Up By Red Stilettos, which was about self-acceptance. Those 3 speeches certainly broke the boundaries of club-level speeches!
 

Moving along, Arjay quoted Nisha’s, “We all have a hero in our own homes – and that hero lies within ourselves” to transport everybody to a war zone, the Table Topics (TT), where some brave toastmasters and guests (the heroes) stood up to break the boundaries of Leo’s “Photo Interpretation” challenge. Dr. Farooq, Ganesh, Shyam, Ziad (guest), Lexen (guest) and Mikki (guest), carrying no weapon but only their wits and courage, took us through different journeys with their creative responses about the photos.
 

“Keep throwing the darts until you hit the target” was the line Arjay aptly associated the Evaluation Session with. Jessie, the General Evaluator, facilitated the session. She put an invisible dartboard in the room and the evaluators and role players used their feedback as darts. Nadim, Luis and Kit hit the bullseye with their spot-on evaluation for the prepared speeches and so did the role players (Diana, Anamika and Viji). In the end, Jessie was left with no space on the bullseye that she just commended everyone for another meaningful meeting!
 

Winners:

Best Speaker: CJ Rojas

Best TT Speaker: Mikki Espinosa

Best Evaluator: Luis Caetano

330th Meeting: Let's Get Connected

TMOD Dennis led the meeting with a theme “Let’s get connected”. Aptly chosen, the word of the day, rapport, gets us well-connected with our family, friends and the people around us.

The meeting began with the Prepared Speeches. The first speaker was Khalid who delivered his Ice Breaker speech entitled “Life Begins At 40”. Anahi followed with her second speech under Leadership Development pathway, “Please don’t call me mom.” The last speaker, Kit, delivered “My HPL”, a presentation on his leadership role at the Division Q Speech contests. In the end, the inspiring journey of a mom won as the best speech.

The second session was the Table Topics led by Ganesh. 4 brave Toastmasters (Joseph, Kit, Rashed, and Anahi) and 2 guests (Nadia and Sanjeev) accepted the challenge. Anahi proved she is also good at impromptu speaking as she clinched the Best TT speaker award.

 

Lastly, the Evaluation session was conducted by the General Evaluator, Philip, who also evaluated the Table Topics speakers. The 3 evaluators were Jessie, Leo and Rashed. Rashed gave the best evaluation of the night. All in all, Philip commended the club for another quality meeting. It ended with an obligatory group photo

329th Meeting: Every Ending Is A New Beginning

VP-education Leo led the meeting with the theme: “Every Ending Is A New Beginning”. Whether the ending is good or bad, it will always lead to a fresh start. TMOD Leo inspired everyone to approach endings as opportunities.

The meeting began with the Prepared Speeches. The first two speakers delivered their “debut” (word of the day) speeches, the Ice Breaker. They were Jann Carlo and Afajal. Jann Carlo’s speech entitled “Dream Weaver” was about the Tnalak tribe (weavers) & how they inspired him to weave his own dreams with passion and determination. Afajal, on the other hand, presented his first speech in Presentation Mastery with an amusing story entitled “Happy Questioning”. The other 2 speakers were Anamika and Rashed. Anamika delivered her 2nd speech in Presentation Mastery “Because They Say So” which talked about some superstitious beliefs and how she debunked them to live in the reality. The last speaker TM Rashed took us on a journey to Jordan as he presented his Speech Project 8 in CC manual entitled, “Once Upon A Spring”, which talked about water scarcity.

The second session was the Table Topics session. TM Fouad served as the TT master. He called 5 brave Toastmasters namely Kit, Saif, Rashed,Philip, and Joseph who answered the questions with enthusiasm.

Lastly, the Evaluation session was conducted by TM Saif from JOENG Toastmasters Club. The 4 evaluators (Joseph, Rechell, Philip,and Kit) provided their well-thought-out evaluation for their target speakers. Here, the meeting role players (Grammarian, Timer and Ah Counter) also gave their reports. Overall, the 329th meeting was a success and ended with the traditional, wacky group photo.

Winners:

Best Speaker: JANN CARLO

Best Table Topics Speaker: RASHEED

Best Evaluator: PHILIP

328th Meeting: Living In The Moment

 

 

Rechell, the TMOD, led us to “live in the moment” during the 328th meeting of Filcom. When we allowed ourselves to be consciously present in that 2-hour meeting, we forgot about the regrets of the past and the anxieties of the future. As a result, the speakers spoke confidently and everyone enjoyed the meeting. Is Living in the Moment the key to effective public speaking & enjoyment? Well, now we know that it certainly is!

 

The 3 speakers (Kush, Nadim and Rukhsana) inspired and entertained us with their well-written and powerfully-delivered speeches. Kush & Nadim delivered the 1st speech in the Motivational Strategies, the Ice Breaker. Kush inspired us with his “Chasing Utopia”, while Nadim with his deep-thinking, spiritual nature amused us as he recalled his experiences from his first retreat in Findhorm, Scotland. From the tranquility and heart-warming ice breaker speeches, Rukhsana’s La La Lulu Land suddenly made us burst out in a volley of tittering. And it felt good. The 1st session, Prepared Speeches, was a rollercoaster of emotions.

 

Serving as the Table Topics Master, Arjay introduced the 2nd session with a twist! He projected a roulette on the screen and each volunteer answered the hashtag it randomly picked (ie. #youonlyliveonce). In this session, 4 volunteers took the challenging spin. They were CJ, Alaa, Dr.Farooq and Afajal who did not only answer the questions, but did so with eloquence and confidence.

 

And finally, the Evaluation Session was conducted by a champion evaluator, Rashed, who pointed out new ideas that made the meeting successful (ie. Joseph’s personalized introduction of the Ah-Counter role highlighting the benefit of it to improve his listening skill). The evaluators (Anahi, Shyam and Philip) provided their spot-on feedback on the prepared speeches, followed by the role player’s reports. In general, the 328th meeting was well-conducted and well-lived. Kudos to the TMOD and every member and guest who made it all to be yet another special meeting.

 

Winners:
 

- Best Speaker: Kush

- Best Table Topic Speaker: CJ

- Best Evaluator: Shyam