Filcomte of the Month - August - Hamad AlNesf

 

"People can't just be tied together. They have to connect. Otherwise, they'll just find themselves bound to hand and foot"- Ai Yazawa

A global ambassador to Filcom with a passion for Kendo, football and connecting with individuals from different cultures. He has come a long way and continues to fly around the world by carrying the legacy of Filcom!

Presenting you with the Filcomite of the Month of August ~ TM Hamad AlNesf

384th Meeting: Good Vibes

 

Filcom International TMC

384th Meeting- Good Vibes

Minutes of Meeting - 22.08.2020.

Word of the Day - Affinity

1. Members with meeting roles were introduced: Yes

• Toastmaster of the Day: Toastmaster Michelle Macaraig

• Table Topics-master: Toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman

• General Evaluator: Mohammad Farooq, DTM.

• Evaluators: Hieu Huynh, DTM, Toastmaster Rinku Saha.

• Grammarian: Toastmaster Dennis Mujana

• Ah-Counter: Roberto Fuerte, DTM

• Timer: Toastmaster Philip Cherian.

• Moment of Truth : Kit Barritt, DTM.

2. Prepared speeches session:

• Distinguished Toastmaster Grace Moran – “Teams that play together, stay together ”. Motivational Strategies #4-1- Motivate Others.

• Toastmaster Diana May Tangente “Strong and powerful ”. Visionary Communication #1-2- Evaluation and Feedback-1.

4. Table Topics® questions were presented by Toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman :

• 1st Topic - “What gets you excited about life”. Roberto Fuerte, DTM.

• 2nd Topic - “What makes you smile”. Toastmaster Antonia .

• 3rd Topic - “What are you most grateful for”.Rajesh VC, DTM.

• 4th Topic - “What do love the most about yourself “..Joseph Amande, DTM.

• 5th Topic - “What makes you proud ”,Toastmaster Dave.

5. Evaluation was presented:

• Evaluated the speech from Distinguished Toastmaster Grace Moran and Toastmaster Diana May Tangente by evaluators Distinguished toastmaster Hieu Huynh and Toastmaster Rinku Saha

respectively.

• Table topic was evaluated by toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman.

6. Reports from members with meeting roles were provided:

• Timer: Meeting started on time and no disqualification in terms of prepared and impromptu speeches.

• Ah-counter: A detailed report received .

• Grammarian: A great usage of Word of the day by members and guests.

• General Evaluator: Educational and entertaining meeting.

Best speaker: Toastmaster Diana May Tangente.

Best Evaluator: Toastmaster Rinku Saha.

Best Table Topic speaker: Joseph Amande, DTM.

Best Segment hosts: Toastmaster Michelle Macaraig and Toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman.

Filcomite of the Month - July - Manij Lakhey

An introvert and a finance professional who joined Toastmasters to improve his public speaking skills. Today, he has transformed himself into confident person with great amount of spontaneity and a knack for humour!

Presenting you with the Filcomite of the Month of July ~ TM Manij Lakhey

383rd Meeting: VITAL FRIENDS

 

Filcom International TMC

383rd Meeting- Vital Friends

Minutes of Meeting - 08.08.2020.

Word of the Day - Paramount

1. Members with meeting roles were introduced: Yes

• Toastmaster of the Day: Toastmaster Deepti Potnis

• Table Topics-master: Toastmaster Dennis Mujana.

• General Evaluator: Joseph Amande, DTM.

• Evaluators: Toastmasters- Shyam Sundar, Nadim Bitar and Rinku Saha.

• Grammarian: Leo Ortega, DTM

• Ah-Counter: Toastmaster Diana May.

• Timer: Toastmaster Michelle Macaraig.

• Keynote speaker : David A Hughes, DTM - keynote speech “ 3 Cs in a Nutshell.

C - Be confident

C - Learn to communicate.

C - Celebrate.

3. Prepared speeches was presented:

• Toastmaster CJ Rojas – “Flaw some”. Visionary Communication #1-3 - Evaluation and Feedback-2.

• Toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman - “The oldest Trick in The Book”. Presentation Mastery #3-1-Persuasive Speaking.

4. Table Topics® questions were presented by Toastmaster Dennis Mujana:

• 1st Topic - “Would you rather walk with a friend in the dark or work alone in the light”. Toastmaster Charlie.

• 2nd Topic - “It’s the friends you can call up at 4am that matters”. Distinguished Toastmaster Grace Moran.

• 3rd Topic - “A true friend never gets in your way unless”... Toastmaster Soubhik.

• 4th Topic - “A friend in need “..... Distinguished Toastmaster Farooq.

• 5th Topic - “The friend who left the biggest foot print in your heart”, Distinguished Toastmaster

Pharaoh.

5. Evaluation was presented:

• Evaluated the speech from Toastmaster CJ Rojas and Toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman by evaluator toastmaster Shyam Sundar and toastmaster Nadim Bitar respectively.

• Table topic was evaluated by TM Rinku Saha

6. Reports from members with meeting roles were provided:

• Timer: Meeting started on time and no disqualification in terms of prepared and impromptu

speeches .

• Ah-counter: A detailed report received .

• Grammarian: A great usage of Word of the day by members and guests.

• General Evaluator: Educational and entertaining meeting.

Best speaker: Toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman.

Best Table Topics Speaker: TM Charlie (guest)

Best Evaluator: Toastmaster Nadim Bitar.

Best Segment Host: Joseph Amande, DTM.

382nd Meeting: Game of Chess - OPEN HOUSE

Filcom International TMC

382nd Meeting- Game of Chess - Open House

Minutes of Meeting - 25.07.2020.

Word of the Day - Contrive

Sergeant-At-Arms Fouad started Filcom’s 382 meeting at 1900hrs by reading out the club mission followed by online meeting protocol and handed over the floor to the president Diana May. She formally opened the meeting and greeted guests from all over the globe. An open house meeting commenced with the theme of “Game of Chess”. She also briefed every sequence of this special meeting. There were 15 members, district 116 dignitaries, Region 11 advisor and 39 guests from Canada, USA, England, Mexico, Philippines, India and home based Qatar too. To proceed further, the president opened the chessboard for TMOD Grace Moran to play “life as a game of chess” .

TMOD Grace Moran, DTM introduced thought for the day. According to her, the first move is very important in life. We all need to set, prioritise and strategize our goal just like how we play chess to achieve success. The toastmaster journey can be set as our own space as long as we have a concrete goal . Game of Chess can be fascinating when we set the ground by making bold moves. The power of belief can make a big difference. We gain more when we lose as losing gives us more insights and allows us to be the best. She took us through her roller coaster and successful toastmaster journey till date. Without further ado, She introduced all the role players as below to start the first segment:

Timer : Toastmaster Dennis Mujana

Grammarian : Joseph Armande, DTM.

Ah Counter : Toastmaster Michelle Macaraig

Meeting kicked off with a Round robin session to warm up every participant followed by a prepared speech session.

There were 2 prepared speeches.

Speech 1: Toastmaster Diana May .

Speech title: Embracing my Greatness.

Speech 2: Toastmaster Rinku.

Speech title: Communication style matters

Table topic Session conducted by Filcom impromptu queen Toastmaster Stella and she chose all topics as per the theme.

1st Topic - Every plan has an escape route.

2nd Topic- Not all moves will work for you.

3rd Topic- How you start the game determines how you are going to finish.

4th Topic- keep calm and move slowly.

5th Topic - Losing is not the end of the plan

Keynote speaker Deepak Justin (DJ),DTM rocked the floor with his charming and inspiring speech about life. His speech lifted us with powerful tools and opportunity to excel in life. He graced Filcom open house meeting with a deep well of knowledge and wisdom.

Educational open house session “ Break The Ice” was conducted by Kit Barritt, DTM and Leo Ortega, DTM using Kahoot app. This session was all about to highlight and enhance toastmasters International knowledge. A key message was delivered, how to stand tall with your passion and abilities by Joseph Armande, DTM.

Evaluation Section:

Speech 1: Evaluator – Toastmaster Nadim.

Speech 2: Evaluator – Toastmaster CJ Rojas

Table topic session was evaluated by Toastmaster Swetha.

General Educational session

The general evaluation session was conducted by Filcom club mentor Philip, an experienced toastmaster who acknowledged our keynote Speaker Deepak Justin and provided the entire meeting with an insightful evaluation in all aspects including prepared speeches, table topics and evaluation. He also collected all the role players reports and rendered his final report. After the conclusion of the Evaluation session, TMOD Grace Moran made her closing remark by encouraging us to build a best version of ourselves and handed over the floor to the president Diana May.

At the end of the meeting the efforts were recognized with price distribution of certificate for Best Speaker, Table topic and Best Segment Host. Esteemed guests from various walks of life shared positive feedback and appreciated the energy present in Filcom Club’s meeting.

Best Table Topic Speaker - Guest scott.

Best Evaluator Award- Toastmaster Swetha Raghuraman.

Best Segment Host - Grace Moran, DTM.

Best Speaker - Toastmaster Rinku Saha

381st Meeting: Reinventing The Wheel

Filcom International TMC

381st Meeting- Reinventing the Wheel

Minutes of Meeting - 11.07.2020.

Word of the day - Revitalize.

Sergeant-At-Arms Fouad started Filcom’s 381 meeting at 1900hrs by reading out the club mission followed by online meeting protocol and handed over the floor to the President Diana May. She formally opened the meeting and greeted guests from all over the globe. There were 18 members and 10 guests from Canada, USA, India and home based Qatar too. To proceed further, the president opened the floor for TMOD Philip Cherian to reinvent the wheel .

According to TMOD, the biggest discovery in the world was “ Fire” and “ wheel”. He took us back in time to realise the invention of wheels helped us in transportation and so on. Invention of fire helped in warming ourselves, having cooked food and protecting us from the wild animals. He also shared his thought about “ Reinventing the wheel” as to invent ourselves with new challenges. Eventually, he introduced all the role players as below:

Grammarian : TM Swetha Raghuraman.

Ah Counter : DTM Leo Ortega

Timer : TM Michelle Macaraig

There were 3 prepared speeches.

Speech 1: TM CJ Rojas .

Speech title: Imperfections

TM CJ Rojas started his speech on how imperfections become perfect facts in our life. He delivered his speech with great enthusiasm & commitment thus was able to connect with the audience very well throughout his speech journey.

Speech 2: TM Nadim.

Speech title: Connecting with your audience

TM Nadim gave us an overview of a construction process and its connection with clients .The topic was unfamiliar as per his project object. He justified his speech objective by selecting the appropriate outline, to make the message clear with supporting material and appropriate transition.

Speech 3: DTM Grace Moran .

Speech Title : Speak up

“Powerful communicator and speak effortlessly”- as soon as DTM Grace Moran started her speech the topic immediately caught the attention of Audience . She shared the story of her leadership journey in toastmaster field to motivate others. With such conviction that the audience got carried away and remained stunned for a while.

Table topic Session: TM Diana May

Session started with DTM Farooq and his topic was “ Make your mark”, followed by guest Belina Wright and her topic was “ Stop trying so hard” . TM Fouad was given a topic “ The power is simple” and “ Do it now “ topic was given to Guest Hind.

Evaluation Section:

Speech 1: Evaluator – DTM Joseph

Speech 2: Evaluator – TM Dennis

Speech 3: Evaluator – DTM Farooq

Table topic session was evaluated by TM Rinku.

The general evaluation session was conducted by Filcom club mentor Shyam Sundar, an experienced toastmaster who provided the entire meeting with an insightful evaluation on all aspects including prepared speeches, table topics. He also collected all the role players reports and rendered his final report. After the conclusion of the Evaluation session, TMOD Philip Cherian made his closing remark and handed over the floor to the president Diana May.

At the end of the meeting the efforts were recognized with price distribution of certificate for Best Speaker, Table topic and Evaluator. Esteemed guests from various walks of life shared positive feedback and appreciated the energy present in Filcom Club’s meeting.

Best Speaker – TM CJ Rojas

Best Evaluator – TM Dennis and TM Rinku

Best table topics speaker - Guest Belina Wright

Best Segment Host - TM Philip Cherian.

Youth Leadership Program 2020

The 21 YLP participants together with some dignitaries from Toastmasters International & Marthoma College Alumni pose for a group photo after the Grand Finale.

Doha, Qatar -- Filcom International Toastmasters Club in collaboration with Marthoma College Thiruvalla Alumni Association, Doha Chapter conducted an eight-session Youth Leadership Program (YLP) from 9^th January until 6^th February 2020 at the Indian Cultural Center, Qatar.

This Youth Leadership Program is an informal course in the arts of communication and leadership. It’s a course of Toastmasters International, a non-profit organization that helps people develop their communication and leadership skills. By attending this program, the participants will increase their self-confidence in speaking before an audience while having fun and learning as well as making new friends.

Shyam Sundar, a proud leader of Filcom International Toastmasters Club, spearheaded the Youth Leadership Program. In fact, it was the 3^rd time that he organized the said program with the Marthoma College Alumni Association office-bearer Shri Baby Kurien. Taking this year’s baton as YLP Coordinators were Diana May Tangente and Joseph Amande. They were assisted by their fellow Filcomites Leo Ortega, CJ Rojas, Deepti Potnis, Nadim Bitar, Philip Cherian & Dennis Mujana in presenting various educational modules such as Chairmanship, Public Speaking, Impromptu Speaking, Listening, Gestures and Voice and Vocabulary.

“Saying yes to being the Chief Coordinator of the Youth Leadership Program was a leap into the unknown and the same time an unearthing of oh-so-many wonderful growth adventures.”, replied by Diana May when asked to share her experience.

21 students attended and are now equipped with the tools to become the leaders of tomorrow. “Thank you Filcom and Marthoma College Alumni for organizing this amazing YLP! I enjoyed every session and I’ll be forever grateful for your selfless service to us and to the community.”, concluded by Nanma Ann Varghese, YLP President, in her closing remarks during the Grand Finale.The Grand Finale which was held at The Garden Village Restaurant on February 6, 2020, was inaugurated by Sonny Varghese, former Brand Ambassador of Toastmasters International, and Ram Mohan, former District Governor of Toastmasters International.  Sonny Varghese addressed the gathering with a beautiful call for action: “My dear YLP participants, you have now been planted with seeds of communication and leadership within you. I urge you to cultivate it, turn it into a garden, and spread the works of love.”
 

373rd Meeting: BeYouTiful!

Filcom International TMC373rd Meeting Summary29th February 2020“BeYouTiful"

Filcom's 373rd meeting was held on 29th February which will only reappear after four years, to make it more special, Filcomites arranged an open house for all of its esteemed guests.

Sergeant-At-Arms Fouad started Filcom’s 373rd meeting by reading out the club mission and meeting protocol. Right after, President Dennis formally opened the meeting and warmly greeted the guests. Then the floor was handed over to the BeYouTiful Stella who served as the Toastmaster of the day. Stella introduced the theme "BeYouTiful” and encouraged everyone to recollect what makes them beautiful. Stella introduced the role players for the night: Manij as the Timer, Swetha as the Ah-Counter, and Dennis as the Grammarian.

💼PREPARED SPEECHES

Three Filcomites took over the reins of this segment. Diana moved everyone with her touching and thoughtful Christmas event conducted for the abandoned people beyond the bars. Leo Uplifted the spirit by elaborating on the hardships of his childhood and the resilience that his parents inculcated in him and his sibling. It was indeed a lesson, how to aim high and hit the mark. Joseph the Alchemist in his natural style left the batons and rose to a crescendo to inspire one and all by the strength of his character and unveiled the truth.

💼 TABLE TOPICS

CJ took the baton of Table Topics Session. Five people proactively took up the challenge of this impromptu speaking session including three guests.

💼  EVALUATION

Dr. Farooq as General Evaluator introduced and called the evaluators, Deepti, Nadim and Shyam who gave their evaluations on their assigned speeches. Michelle gave a rapid evaluation of Table Topics. Thereafter, the role players delivered their reports and Dr. Farooq rendered his GE Report.

🏆Best Speaker – Joseph
🏆Best Evaluator – Shyam
🏆Best table topics speaker - Dilip (guest)

372nd Meeting: Remontada!

Filcom International TMC

372nd Meeting Summary

15th February 2020

“Remontada”

The Sergeant at Arms, TM Fouad Al-Fares, came to the venue early to set up the meeting room together with the Ex-com.

Four (4) valued guests did register for tonight’s meeting. However, the decline in member’s attendance is indeed noticeable, where only 15 had attended. Other members were noted to have served as role players in the Area Contest.

MEETING PROPER

The meeting has started on time and then kicked off by TM Fouad Al-Fares, Sergeant of Arms, by reading the mission statement and stating the safety guidelines before handing over the stage to the President who has officially opened the 372nd Meeting. He has then requested the guests to introduce their selves individually before handing over the lectern to the TMOD, Nasser.

Nasser, the TMOD, has brilliantly started his segment by explaining the theme, “REMONTADA” which means “coming back” and played a video of a football team who have not given up and kept coming back until they succeeded. It was indeed engaging and inspiring.

The TMOD then introduced the role players by stating their ‘Remontadas’ before commencing with the prepared speeches.

Grammarian – TM Diana May Tangente

Timer – TM Raffy Gimeno

Ah Counter – TM Manij Lakhey

💼 PREPARED SPEECHES

The first speech entitled, Make Your Holiday a Discovery, was delivered by TM Khadar Abdi Hanan, where he has shared to us his travel adventures in New Zealand and told us his thrilling experience of being bombarded by questions from the immigration officer in which he has answered calmly that let him successfully passed the checkpoint.

The first speech was evaluated by TM Satish Shah.

The second speech entitled, a Eulogy in honor for a Great Man, was delivered by TM Nadim Bitar, where he had opened his heart that is full of compassion and love to his late friend/colleague who just passed away a few days back. His speech indeed was so moving as it was genuine and with pure love.

The second speech was evaluated by TM Diana May Tangente.

The third speech, an in-situ speech, was delivered by TM Joseph Amande. And once again, have proven how seasoned speaker he was. Part of his project is to let the audience ask a question and he will deliver his impromptu speech where he has easily and creatively responded by a well-structured speech and carefully selected wordings. He has then successfully completed his project with flying colors.

The third speech was evaluated by TM Shyam Sundar.

The TMOD has concluded the Prepared Speeches and handed over the lectern to the Table Topics Master.

💼 TABLE TOPICS

TM Michelle Macaraig has chaired the Table Topic Segment where she first explains the mechanics for the benefit of the guests.

Table Topics was hidden in each number where the volunteers have to choose from and answer accordingly.

Five (5) Volunteers have willingly taken the stage including 2 of the guests and spontaneously answered the chosen questions and it was indeed fun.

TM Joseph Amande evaluated the Table Topics segment.

The TTM has then concluded the segment and handed back the lectern over to the TMOD.

💼 EVALUATION

The Evaluation Segment has then commenced after a 10-minute break where the General Evaluator, TM Mohammad Farooq, then called his evaluators and role players to report their observations on the meeting.

The audience was then called to vote for the best evaluator and best segment host of the evening.

AWARDING

The Winners for tonight’s meeting was then announced and awarded with certificates as follows:

🏆 Best Speaker Award – TM Nadim Bitar
🏆 Best Table Topics Award – TM Mohammad Farooq
🏆 Best Evaluator Award – TM Shyam Sundar
🏆 Best Segment Host – TM Mohamed Naser

369th Meeting: Unstoppable

Filcom International TMC
369th Meeting Summary
14th Dec 2019
“Unstoppable”

Filcom International Toastmasters Club's 369th meeting echoed the precept "Show must go on". It was the last meeting of 2019. The onset of Christmas Vacation enthusiastic Filcomites made meeting a great success. Sergeant-At-Arms Fouad started Filcom's 369th meeting by reading out the club mission and meeting protocol. Right after, President Dennis formally opened the meeting and warmly greeted the guests. Then the floor was handed over to Diana, Toastmaster of the day. Diana introduced the theme "Unstoppable” and encouraged everyone to offload all the things that are stopping them to move ahead before flying into 2020. Diana introduced the role players for the night: Manij as the Timer, Khader as the Ah-Counter, and Swetha as the Grammarian.

💼PREPARED SPEECHES

Two Filcomites took over the reins of this segment, Stella showcased a powerful body language while presenting her speech "What if?" Deepti presented her last project speech from the path Persuasive Influence and shared her experience by reflecting on her path.

💼TABLE TOPICS

Abbie took the baton of Table Topic Session. Six people proactively took up the challenge of this impromptu speaking session including 2 guests.

💼EVALUATION

Philip as the General Evaluator introduced and called the evaluators, Joseph and Nadim who gave their evaluations on their assigned speeches. Alaa gave a rapid evaluation of Table Topics. Thereafter, the role players delivered their reports and Philip rendered his GE Report.

🏆Best Speaker – Stella
🏆Best Evaluator – Alaa
🏆Best table topics speaker - Sukash (guest)

368th Meeting: Face It!

Filcom International TMC

368th Meeting Summary

07th December 2019

“Face it!”

Filcom International Toastmasters Club 368th Meeting with a theme; Face it!, was hosted by Swetha Raghuraman who encouraged everyone to face their fears. 💪🥰🎁🎄

Deviating from the usual set-up, Filcom held the meeting in the lovely and warm residence of Nadim Bitar who opened his doors to every Filcomite with an accommodating welcome.

Filcomites never run out of reasons to celebrate! 🎄🎁🎉

Filcomites Year-end Celebration was a blast! An array of delectable food, a smorgasbord of drinks, great ambiance and music, and most of all fun and family-like company made every Filcomite enjoyed the night.

"We are not just a club, we are a family!"