349th Meeting: Water World

Filcom International TMC
349th Meeting Summary

by Vidal Bagas

24th February 2019

Water World

Filcom's 349th meeting showcased the beauty of the ocean. Filcomites and guests held on to their hats as TMOD Vidal led the deep dive into the ocean, revealing how it affects our daily lives and what we can do to protect this vast body of water before it's too late. SAA Tenny shared the club mission and oriented everyone with the meeting protocol, before calling on President Leo who formally opened the meeting and welcomed the guests.

TMOD Vidal then advised everyone to buckle up to explore the " Water World" and used Filcom's submersible craft to travel into the abyss of the ocean. He also called upon the role players for the night, Jessie as Grammarian, Joseph as Ah Counter, and Satish as Timer.

🌊 From the depths of the ocean, 5 speakers emerged.

The first leg of the meeting was the Prepared Speeches which was made possible by five great brave divers. Michelle delivered her icebreaker "Pursuing Passion And Overcoming Anxiety" and amused everyone with stories about herself, her family, her passion and the things she had been through to succeed in life. Ayman, gave his fourth Pathways speech, "Why Travel Agency" which highlighted his research and presentation skills. Rechell on the other hand delivered a post-Valentines speech "Rose Says". Diana on her "The Dream Office" report completed her planning and implementing project, and CJ presented a proposal in his speech "Filcom Thinks Green Project". These Toastmasters, in their unique speeches, shared a glimpse of their lives and the kind of "divers' that they are.

🌊 Brave Divers

Table Topics Master Manij spearheaded the second part of the meeting. He prepared simple, yet thought-provoking questions which are in line with the meeting theme, Water World. Sahar, Tag, Roy,and Mohamad were the bold ones who volunteered themselves to be dared, and gave their interesting perspectives on the questions asked.

🌊 Lifeguards and Light Houses

Afajal led the third part of the meeting, being the General Evaluator. He introduced the evaluators – Shyam, Nadim, Kynah, Dennis, and Rashed, who gave their valuable feedback and recommendations on the corresponding speeches assigned to them. Mehdi also evaluated the Table Topics, and the role players delivered their respective reports, before Afajal conveyed his general evaluation. The evaluators served as our speakers' lifeguards as they offered motivating feedback to better navigate the Toastmasters waters.

Towards the end of the meeting, the guests also gave their feedback and were happy to be part of it. It was indeed a night of acquiring knowledge of the water world and realizing how the ocean is mesmerizing with its amazing sceneries and creatures. The meeting culminated with laughter as everyone had their diving poses for the picture-taking! 🏊‍♀️📸

This is the only planet that we live on and it’s definitely beautiful. We need to protect the Ocean. No oceans, no planet!” 🌊🌏 –TM Vidal Bagas, Toastmaster of the Day

Best Speaker - Rechell
Best Table Topics Speaker - Tag
Best Evaluator – Shyam
Best Segment Host- Vidal

Filcom Conquers 2019 Area 12 Speech Contests

Congratulations to our amazing Filcomites who conquered the Area 12 Annual Speech Contests! 🏆 We wish you all the best for the Division level!

We're proud of you! 💯🎉

348TH MEETING: DREAMS

Filcom International TMC
348th Meeting Summary
9th February 2019
Dreams


The first regular meeting of the year reminded Filcomites to be childlike once again and dream! SAA Sahar shared the club mission and oriented everyone with the meeting protocol, before calling on Joseph, acting President, who formally opened the meeting and welcomed the guests. TMOD Obaid then brought us to our childhood and introduced "Dreams" as the meeting theme. He also called upon the role players for the night, Dale as Grammarian, Mehdi as Ah Counter, and Fouad as Timer.


💭 Dreaming

The first leg of the meeting was the prepared speeches which was made possible by five great dreamers. Charbel delivered his icebreaker "Self Introduction" and amused everyone with stories about himself, his family, and life. Satish, gave his second Pathways speech, "Guide" which highlighted his storytelling skills. Elmar on the other hand delivered a moving piece with his "Be Grateful Of What You Have", while Kush gave an honest, eye-opening speech in "Breaking Barriers", and Manij gave an informative speech about the Northern Lights being "Blessings In Disguise". These Toastmasters, in their unique speeches, shared a glimpse of their lives and the kind of dreamer that they are.

💭+🔨 Daring the Dream

Table Topics Master Dennis spearheaded the second part of the meeting. He prepared simple, yet thought-provoking questions which are in line with the meeting theme, Dreams. Lotfy, Sahar, DTM Dr. Farooq, and Guest Majid, were the bold ones who volunteered themselves to be dared, and gave their interesting perspectives on the questions asked.


💭+💃Doing the Dream

DTM Dr. Farooq led the third part of the meeting, being the General Evaluator. He introduced the evaluators - Lotfy, Afajal, Viji, Diana, and Jessie, who gave their valuable feedback and recommendations on the corresponding speeches assigned to them. Joseph also evaluated the Table Topics, and the role players delivered their respective reports, before Dr. Farooq conveyed his general evaluation - helping Filcomite-dreamers take action in making their Toastmaster dreams come alive.


Towards the end of the meeting, the guests also gave their feedback and were happy to be part of it. It was indeed a night of remembering our forgotten dreams, and resurrecting our desires and will to pursue them.

Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.- APJ Abdul Kalam

Best Speaker - Kush
Best Table Topics Speaker - Lotfy
Best Evaluator - Diana

BRAVE Winners!

347th Meeting: Brave Part 2 (Club Contest)

BRAVE (Being the Real Authentic Version of yourself is Empowering) Part 2 took place last January 26, 2019 showcasing the last 2 categories of this year’s club contest: the ever nerve-wracking Table Topics & laugh-provoking Humorous Speech contests.

The meeting was called to order by the SAA, Elmar Recablanca, who briefed the audience with the protocols and reminded everyone of the club mission. He went on to introduce the Club President, Leo Ortega who declared the contests officially open, addressed and welcomed the members and guests.

Before calling the contest Toastmaster of the Day/MC onstage, Leo lead the launching of the official Filcom logo. ‘The Filcomites’ logo designed by the current Club VPPR, Diana, went on a detailed review by Toastmasters International Branding Committee and was approved.

TMOD/MC Jessie set things in motion as she introduced the theme and effortlessly connected with the audience with her vibe and enthusiasm.

The first contest was the Table Topics. DTM Luis Caetano served as the Contest Chair with an interesting topic: “Forget the mistake; Remember the lesson”. Seven brave souls battled on stage one by one and gave their personal interpretation and take on the topic. They were Jann Carlos, Diana, Leo, Joseph, Nadim, Satish, and Arjay. Afterwhich, all were awarded with Certificates of Participation acknowledging everyone’s effort in gearing up for the impromptu speaking challenge.

After a short break, Humorous Speech Contest took place. Ganesh Rajamoorthy, serving as Contest Chair put the audience in an exciting mood as he introduced 3 comedic Toastmasters to compete and be this year’s ‘Best Humorous Speaker’. The first contender was Manij with the speech entitled “I Do Not Know” to which he gave a detailed account on how he prepared for the contest. Next was Dennis with “Bam! I’m The Man” with his anecdotes about his friend who has a deep attention to details and loves discount shopping. Finally, Mehdi with his “Marriage Mirage” shared his lessons learned from his friend and father on the idea of being happy through marriage. Certificates of Participation were also awarded by the Contest Chair.

After the two exciting, thought-provoking and hilarious competitions, the panel of judges led by Chief Judge Shyam Sundar released the results of the winners as follows:

Table Topics Speech Contest

First Place - Joseph Amande

Second Place - Arjay Diego

Third Place - Nadim Bitar

Humorous Speech Contest

First Place - Mehdi Ben Maaouia

Second Place - Dennis Mujana

Third Place - Manij Lakhey

During the Business Session, the Club President, Leo acknowledged the presence of each and every toastmaster and guests who made time to attend the meeting/contest and thanked them for gracing the occasion. He then handed over Certificates of Appreciation to all the men and women behind the scenes (Contest Committee) who significantly contributed to the flawless and successful staging of this year’s contests. He also announced that the Area 12 Speech Contest will be held on Feb 15, 2019 at Holiday Inn Hotel. Only the first place winner in each category will move forward to the Area Contest. Leo finally declared the contests close followed with a mandatory photo-op. 😎

CONTEST COMMITTEE:

Contest Manager- Rashed Al Nasaa

Chief Judge - Shyam Sundar

Contest Chairs- Luis Caetano & Ganesh Rajamoorthy

TMOD/MC - Jessie Botero

SAA- Elmar Recablanca & Charbel Elia

Timer - Azhar Taslim

Tally Counter- Rechell Mejoc

Congratulations to all the winners. Surely, nobody went home defeated as the experience to participate in a contest is an act of bravery and already a success story.

#WeAreBRAVE

#WeAreFilcom

#theFilcomites

346th Meeting: Brave Part 1 (Club Contest)

Filcom International Toastmasters Club started the year with the most anticipated annual club contest where members challenged themselves to go beyond their comfort zones. This year's theme, BRAVE, best fits the contests in all senses. Being the Real Authentic Version of yourself is Empowering. 🔥

SAA Dennis Mujana set everyone's excitement and introduced President Leo Ortega who declared the contests open, followed by TMOD Viji Ravindran described the flow of the program.

The Evaluation Speech Contest chaired by Rashed Al Nasa'a, called for 5 BRAVE Toastmasters - Leo Ortega, Shyam Sundar, Nadim Bitar, Joseph Amande, and Diana Tangente, who took the challenge to evaluate Sushma Harish's speech entitled “Know Your Cacophony”.

The second competition, the International Speech Contest was chaired by Arjay Diego. Seven courageous speakers showcased their public speaking prowess in their inspirational speeches.Diana May Tangente started off with "Love Strong", followed by Jann Carlo Rojas' piece "Be Here, Not There", Afajal Ahamad's "Set The Prisoner Free", Joseph Amande's "Stand Tall", Jessie Botero's "Solo" and Rechell Mejoc's "Break Open".

With the panel of judges led by Chief Judge Manzoor Moideen, the winners for the two competitions were decided.

🥇Evaluator First Place: Shyam Sundar
🥈Evaluator Second Place: Diana May Tangente
🥉Evaluator Third Place: Leo Ortega

🥇International Speech First Place: Joseph Amande
🥈International Speech Second Place: Afajal Ahamad
🥉International Speech Third Place: Jann Carlo Rojas

It was an empowering night and everyone went home a winner bringing with them inspiration, growth, and wisdom. Congratulations to all the contestants, winners, and role players who did an amazing being BRAVE! 💪

Role Players
SAAs - Dennis Mujana and Elmar Recablanca
Timekeepers - Ganesh Rajamoorthy and Satish Shah
Tally Counters - Manij Lakhey and Sahar Gurab

#WeAreBRAVE
#WeAreFilcom
#WeAreWinners

345th Meeting: Celebrate

It's the most joyous season of the year, and Filcom opted for the merry way to memorialize 2018 - decorating Tafawoq Hall with all things joyful for its 345th meeting and yearend celebration! Surrounded by holiday ornaments, lanterns, and balloons, SAA Hisham set everyone to festive mood before giving the floor to Leo who officially opened the meeting and led the group in singing Qatar's National Anthem in celebration of Qatar National Day. TMOD Diana then introduced the meeting theme, "Celebrate!" with matching confetti poppers! 🎉

🎈 CELEBRATE EXPERIENCES 🎈

At Filcom, we celebrate not just events, but also the many inspiring stories each member shares. Five spectacular speakers celebrated and shared their experiences through prepared speeches. Azhar for his ice breaker speech "Hero Behind Me", delivered a very touching piece giving honor to his father. Satish, with his ice breaker speech "Vantage Point" introduced himself to the club through anecdotes from his childhood and his adventures leading to his life as an IT professional. Lotfy on the other hand, once again led everyone to reconnecting with our roots to start our forgiveness journey, in his speech "Heal The Path". Tag, meanwhile shared her tips on tapping into our real happiness through her speech "Happy New You." Leo, used his technical expertise by using visual aids and the Internet in his speech "Getting into the Technicalities of Pathways".

🎈 CELEBRATE UNCERTAINTIES 🎈

No matter how organized our plans are, surprises are constant in life. Even in predicaments that may not cause us to be ecstatic, there are always reasons to celebrate life for if we can see the beauty behind these uncertainties. TTM Ginalyn who introduced an interesting twist to the segment grouped the table topics volunteers into two teams, each with three members. Mehdi, Guest Ayman, Dennis, Dr. Farooq, Tag, and Rashed were the ones who braved the exciting uncertainties of the segment.

🎈 CELEBRATE GROWTH 🎈

Our life experiences, no matter what package they come in, successes or failures, joys or pains, positive or negative, are simply opportunities for growth. In Toastmasters, we value growth, and we celebrate it in the Evaluation segment. Obaid led the third part of the meeting and called on Evaluators CJ, Jessie, Shyam, Fouad, and Nadim who gave their salient feedbacks on their respective speech assignments. Rashed as Grammarian, Manij as Ah Counter, and Tenny as Timer, rendered their corresponding reports before Obaid delivered his General Evaluation.

The Business Section was made special by our guests from The Voice of Nepal who performed a soulful song rendition of John Lennon's "Imagine". DTM Dr. Farooq also delighted everyone, announcing the great news worthy of celebration - Filcom achieving the President Distinguished Club status.

Truly, it was a night of celebrating every thing life has offered us in 2018. Filcomites' grateful hearts made it possible to find beauty in every circumstance.

"We don't need to wait for a special event to rejoice. Every day, find something you are grateful for, and celebrate. Celebrate the glories and triumphs, the challenges and struggles, and everything that life is teaching us. Most importantly, and this we often forget. Celebrate YOU." 🤗🎈🎉

-       Diana Tangente, TMOD
345th Meeting, Celebrate

Best Speaker: Lotfy and Tag
Best Table Topic Speaker: DTM Dr. Farooq, Tag, and Rashed
Best Evaluator: Shyam
Best Segment Host: Diana

344th Meeting: “Inside A Speaker's Mind: Tools for Effective Communication”

Filcom International TMC 344th Meeting
Qatar Toastmasters TMC 483rd Meeting
Joint Meeting Summary
“Inside A Speaker's Mind: Tools for Effective Communication”
08 Dec 2018

All attention were focused on the lady onstage, Ginalyn, the stand-in Sergeant-at-Arms as she welcomed everyone diffusing an energetic vibe and called the meeting to order by 7pm, right on the dot. She then briefly narrated her fair share of shyness which later on she overcame little by little as she joined Toastmasters. Meeting and security protocols and standards were made known then she introduced the dynamic Club Presidents Leo Ortega (Filcom) and Azees Mohammed (Qatar TMC) who then officially declared the meeting open and addressed the members and guests present.

“Inside A Speaker's Mind: Tools for Effective Communication” is but a timely theme as contest season kicked-off where Toastmaster of the Day Joseph articulately shared and expounded it with a story of a thirsty crow and how did it manage to drink water from a deep bucket by placing pebbles until the water rose to the point it can reach. This gave in a life lesson: “that regardless of our profession, we need the right tools to do our job or achieve our goals.” As speakers, we use strategies to convey a message and what better way to do this than to unravel what’s inside a speaker’s mind – the tools for effective communication. Throughout the session, he unlocked some of these tools. Afterwhich he introduced the role players which were fulfilled by Shiban as Grammarian, Ganesh as Ah Counter and Tenny as Timer.

 “FEAR BUSTER”

Prior to the prepared speeches session, Joseph shared Tool No. 1: Fear Buster. He explained further that we can’t get away from fear but we can manage it by viewing a speech as a conversation than a performance, being in the present, and being honest of who we are. In the session proper, four prepared speeches from Pathways were delivered. With his speech entitled “How Are You”, Anas highlighted the most common question we ask yet we do not really pay attention to which he realized when his son answered him truthfully which most of us adults would just shy away with the expected standard phrases: “I’m good”, “All is well”, “Fine”. Speaker No. 2 was Afajal, who researched on the “educational system” which would be the best option for everyone. The highlight includes having less stress and more time for personal development which was suggested through a scrutiny of the Finnish educational system. Another research topic on “Sugar vs Cigarette” was presented by Nevine who did not only rely on secondary research materials but also conducted an actual survey on which is more harmful: smoking cigarettes or consuming more chocolates (sugar). Finally, the session was capped with Diana’s “Be That Mentor” with her sharing her experiences being mentored at work by her colleague - Heidi and in toastmasters by his assigned mentor – Josh. She highlighted the benefits of mentoring and how she would love to share the same dedication to other people regardless of a free coffee.

“STRUCTURE”

Tool No. 2 is Structure which is very apt in impromptu speaking. Structure formats like Point Reason Example Point, Cause and Effect, and the Story-Message-Gain were some of the techniques shared which increase fluency by 40% and helps message retention among the audience. Topicsmaster Hafeez took the lead on the session starting with having the audience aware of the rules of the game. Several questions related to the theme were courageously hurdled and given justice by four bravehearts. Sahar expounded on the use of effective communication for personal and professional growth; Obaid challenged the question on what are the challenges to effective communication; Dr. Farooq not only spoke on the importance of communication at the workplace but also in different facets like family and relationships among others; Saad shared his definition of FEAR (false expectation appearing real) which is one major setback to communication.

“GIFT”

Halftime break ensued for ten minutes afterwhich the Evaluation Session romped up as another tool was unleashed: speaking to give a gift that is useful and helpful to the recipient. The ever enthusiastic and always ready Division D Director, Rajesh VC, DTM spearheaded the session. During this time, DTM Rajesh introduced the audience to the benefits of giving a responsible feedback to each and every speaker which is the soul of toastmasters. Instant feedbacks which in turn motivates the person to go further. The speech evaluating team who looked into the knitty-gritty of all the prepared speeches and table topics was composed of five dashing evaluators: Lotfy, Shareef, Rashed, Tamer and Leo. They all highlighted the strengths of the speakers and opened their minds into some things to ponder in their next speeches whether a 5-7 minutes prepared speech or a 1-2 minutes impromptu. Towards the end of the session, the technical evaluating team (Grammarian Shiban, Ah Counter Ganesh, Timer Teny) delivered their reports on the good usage and some mistakes we commit in grammar, the crutch words and unnecessary filler sounds which we are mostly unaware of and how we managed the time wisely with respect to standard allotments which are all connotations of effective and good listening prowess.

During the Business Session, Presidents from both clubs extended their gratitude to each and everyone of the members and guests for making the joint meeting a success. In the end, awards for the best of the bests were given to the following:

Best Speakers – Diana May Tangente and Anas Zyoud

Best Evaluator – Rashed Al Nasa’a

Best Table Topics Speaker – Saad Ghosn

Best Segment Host – Joseph Amande

The joint meeting opened new doors to explore in the realm of public speaking and we unraveled some tools which we might already have but are not be aware of. At the end of the day, “we shape tools and afterwards, the tools shape us.” ⚙😊🗣

343rd Meetting: And The Winner Is..

Setting the aura in a high and winning spirit, SAA Diana called the meeting to order at exactly 7:00pm. She then set the floor and introduced the always-ready-to-serve President Leo who warmly welcomed the guests and opened the meeting. TMOD Jessie then presented the meeting theme “And the winner is...”, and introduced the role players.

PREPARED SPEECHES SESSION

Four unwavering toastmasters delivered their prepared speeches. With an ice breaker speech entitled “Beginning of an Unlikely Journey”, Abigail proved that in spite of her shyness she has something to offer. Another ice breaker speech conveyed by Manij, “Bizarre and My curiosity” talked about his interesting passions such as studying astrology. The third speaker Lotfy, with his inspiring speech “Heal the Path” put us in serenity and mindfulness. Further, Leo delivered a very informative technical presentation speech project four (Presenting a Technical Paper) that showed us about the diving spots in the Philippines entitled “The SISID Project”

TABLE TOPICS SESSION

Fouad led the table topics session starting off with questions that tested our courageous 4 toastmasters who accepted the challenge namely Lotfy, Brimesh, Afajal and Josh who proved that sharing insights is not that scary, but actually quite fun.

After the meeting we had an interesting game led by our toastmaster of the day Jessie to check how strong toastmasters’ teamwork is; how they effectively communicate and understand each other without saying a word. After all non-verbal language is also a powerful way conveying a message.

EVALUATION SESSION

Here comes the heart of a toastmaster’s journey, the feedback time where 5 of our distinguished evaluators: Afajal, Rechell, Rashed, Dennis and Arjay had given their constructive evaluations on their respective speakers led by the general evaluator Philip.

Role players Ginalyn (Timer), Joseph (Grammarian), Tenny (Ah Counter), delivered their reports towards the end of the session while Philip had his share of the overall evaluation of the meeting.

And the winners are:

Best Speaker: Lotfy
Best Table Topic Speaker: Josh
Best Evaluator: Rashed
Best Segment Hosts: Jessie & Philip

“All of us are winners, however, winning isn’t about the reward. It is about the journey we go through to get to where we want to be. The stumbling blocks that we faced no matter what the results are, to keep fighting is what matters; that alone made us winners.”

342nd Meeting: Sharing Is Caring

Share your life with others. You will have a joyful life.

- Lailah Gifty Akita

Filcom's 342nd meeting was indeed a night full of sharing - of wisdom, experiences, and fun. Sgt-At-Arms Elamar gathered everyone and handed over the floor to President Leo who officially opened the meeting and welcomed the guests. Dennis who served as the Toastmaster of the Day shared some anecdotes and presented the meeting's theme, before he introduced the role players: Jessie as Grammarian, Azhar as Ah-Counter, and Abigail as Timer.

💕 SHARING OF STORIES

Three story-sharers adorned the meeting with their prepared speeches. Rechelle on her second rendition of her speech "Dead Air" did not fail to move the audience with her heartwarming speech. Diana, fulfilling her second project for Level 2 with her speech "The Happiness Advantage", gave a refreshing take on the relationship of happiness and success. CJ, soared high like an eagle on his speech entitled "Fly High, Land Low", capping off his Level 2 in Pathways.

💕 SHARING OF PERSPECTIVES

Table Topics Master Lotfy brought with him some colored index cards and asked questions with reference to the psychology of colors. The challenge-takers who shared their wisdom on different subjects were Arjay, Diana, and Tag.

💕 SHARING OF WISDOM

The heart of every Toastmaster meeting - the evaluation segment, was led by Philip. Evaluators Joseph, Nadim, and Fouad shared their feedback and recommendations on the respective speeches assigned to them. Shyam also gave his valuable thoughts on the Table Topics session and speeches, before Philip delivered his General Evaluation.

With 4 new members inducted, Lotfy, Azhar, Manij and Abigail, there is certainly more to share and be shared in Filcom. The meeting ended well with everyone sharing a part or two of themselves in any way possible, time, talent, and piece of their lives.

"Why are you in Toastmasters? Perhaps you don't know this, but you are here TO SHARE." 💕

-       TM Dennis Mujana

TMOD, Sharing is Caring

BEST EVALUATOR: Shyam
BEST TABLE TOPICS SPEAKER: Josh
BEST SEGMENT HOST: Lotfy
BEST PREPARED SPEECH: CJ