The Beacon

3

At the outset we thank every Toastmaster, every friend and every colleague

who helped us in getting this newsletter published. The effort of the team has

been great. The effort peaked really high the last one week. As the targeted

publication date approached distinction between day and night started fading

and every work other than getting this newsletter published took a back seat.

We are glad now that the hard work has paid off. We now present you a book-

let of experiences of our toastmasters “The Beacon”. „Toastmasters‟ has always

acted like a beacon leading to success. This time it has led us to “The Beacon”.

We at the Logica Chennai Toastmasters Club (LCTC) have had a really gratify-

ing journey. It has been an amazing learning experience. Our club is renowned

as one of the most energetic club in division. In fact, the vibrant energy in

each of the club member has synergized with the motto of the toastmasters

bringing forth the latent leader in each individual. “President Distinguished

Club” status in the very first year of its membership says it all. The credit goes

the unwavering dedication of its members. “The Beacon” adds one more exam-

ple to dedication saga of the members.

Our special thanks to the leaders and management from Logica who have been

incredibly supportive and encouraging. We also express our deepest gratitude

to Vijay R Kumar, our chief sponsor, Ranganath Raghavan and Shyamala

Nagasundaram who are our chief mentors. Our sincere thanks to the leaders

from Division G who have been very supportive. The club could not have taken

a step forward if not for all the magnanimous support and motivation that we

have received from each one of you. We dedicate this newsletter to every sin-

gle person who helped build this club from the very beginning. We are sure

with all of your continued support we will thrive and stride ahead in our jour-

ney in getting better of ourselves.

We hope you enjoy reading this newsletter as

much as we did creating it or maybe even

more. Thanks once again and good

luck!

Editor’s Desk

President’s Desk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Leaders’ Take . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

From the Club . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Serendipity .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

140 Heartbeat without treadmills . . . . . . . . 12

Spotlight . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

A Toast to LCTC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Never Ending Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Not just a Meeting... An Experience . . . . . 19

Table of Contents

Explore Yourself …

I am extremely happy and excited about the first newsletter from Logica

Chennai Toastmasters Club. This is an interesting and exciting journey we

are on. While I was thinking of this journey, what struck me was the famous

quote by Napoleon Hill.

“It is literally true that you can succeed best and quickest by

helping others to succeed.”

This is so true about the supportive and encouraging environment in Toastmas-

ters that transforms us to better communicators and leaders by helping each

other. Every club meeting or event adds some element to our total personality

refining us further into a better personality.

I greatly enjoy and appreciate the value of Toastmasters and invite you all to

this interesting journey too.

Here we present few snippets from fellow toastmasters who would like to share

their Toastmaster experiences. I hope you will find this newsletter interesting

and exciting!!

Enjoy reading and exploring yourself in

Toastmasters !!!

I also take this opportunity to thank the support

from management and the division which enabled

us to scale greater and greater heights together

with founder president and initial members who

paved the way to chartering process in June 2011

with Toastmasters International.

President’s Desk Radhika K

5

Leaders’ Take

“ Toastmasters is an intellectual club

that stimulates the thinking power of

people. It encourages employees to ex-

press their views on wide ranging topics

and also helps them to shed their inhibi-

tions. This club definitely helps individu-

als build their confidence and expand

their horizon. Well done on approaching

the 100 landmark. More than the num-

ber, I feel proud of the knowledge this

club has generated. Well done folks and

keep going.”

Srinivasa Raghavan , Chief Finance Officer

“ I have seen the Logica Chennai Toast-

masters Club blossom and develop into

one amongst the President Distinguished

Clubs. The club has accelerated the lead-

ership development of its members and

has instilled a great sense of commit-

ment. I am especially appreciative of the

fact of its time & agenda driven meeting

structures which are worthy of replicat-

ing in our professions as well”

Vijay R Kumar, Global Operations Competency Director & Chennai Center Head

6

Leaders’ Take

“ Logica Chennai Toastmasters club is

incredible in every manner. In its very

first year of membership the club has

achieved the status of President Distin-

guished club. A Feat as this that seems

a distant dream to many, is today a re-

ality to Logica. Splendid team effort

that has bestowed LCTC with such a

sense of accomplishment and status.

Congratulations is too small a word !

With all the might that the field was

ploughed, the tree bears its sweet fruits now ! Let the spirits soar…fly high.

Logica stands proud of LCTC.”

Ranganath Raghavan , Global IM Business Manager ,VP PR

LCTC

I have seen the club from its inception to

where it is today ,I feel proud to be part

of it. The best part of the club is that each

and every one in the core team put things

together in a very creative and methodi-

cal way and that is the secret of the suc-

cess .It is a commendable fact that the

members are filled with passion towards

improving their communication and

leadership skills. the effervescence in the

club is contagious.”

Shyamala Nagasundaram, Head HR - Operations & Delivery Chennai, VP Education LCTC

7

Leaders’ Take

8

"Logica Toastmasters Club is one of our role model corporate clubs in Division G. In such a short period, Logica toastmasters have demon-strated leadership not only within the club, but also in the entire division. The club has be-come a President Distinguished Club in less than 1 year of chartering.

In a society where everyone ask "What can I get?", Logica toastmasters ask "How can I help?". Club members of Logica have spared their weekend time for Gavels Toastmasters Clubs, conducting demo meetings, organizing

contests, educational conferences and in mentoring other clubs in Division G, Tamil Nadu. Logica Toastmasters are standing examples for team work, planning, organization, co-ordination, attention to details, and effective time management. I'm quite impressed by the performance of Logica Toast-masters Club and I wish them all the best. Continue to rock, Logica !!”

Saro Velrajan , Division Governor –Division G

“Logica Chennai Toastmasters Club has been a club with a difference -very focused, very committed to their goals, with a clear under-standing of building up self-confidence in a mutually supportive environment. LCTC has always gone out of its way to support the Toastmasters movement, with members tak-ing up roles and responsibilities outside their own club, and growing in leaps and bounds. A committed management, a hugely suppor-tive set of office-bearers, all have made Logica Toastmasters one of the best corporate clubs in Division G . Wishing you all the best!”

Nina John DTM, LGET, District 82

Leaders’ Take

9

“I had attended very few sessions and I share an awesome and memorable

experience! I had always thought, I am a

good presenter and I can capture audience

interest and tune my speech accordingly,

but never realized the mistakes I make

while posing questions to the audience or

the kind of repeated words I use in my lan-

guage or the body language I display while

conversing. This Club had facilitated my

presentation skills in a multi-dimensional

way and I owe a BIG thanks to all the

members of this club for encouraging such an initiative. The corrections I

had brought in personally to myself will remain a life-time experience!!! “

Pramila Hari , Centre Head OS - AMES Chennai India

“Toastmasters is perhaps the most vibrant and

addictive of our clubs. Whenever I get an oppor-

tunity to attend the Toastmasters, I grab it and

always come back rejuvenated. Logica is a better

place to work with the Toastmasters. What is im-

portant is for the members of the club to go

around, promote it and get more and more to

participate. 100 is a huge number to be proud of

and it takes a lot of commitment to reach this

milestone in such a short time span without a

break. Wish great success to the Club and people

who are the movers and shakers behind it.”

Valluvan Marian ,Head Enterprise Application Services-PS

Serendipity

It was June of 2010 when I first heard

from our HR department about a club

called “The Toastmasters Club”. There

was a mail circulated about the Toast-

masters Club. At first glance itself I as-

sumed it to be a club for people with

culinary interest especially in preparing

toast. However, surprisingly it men-

tioned about improving leadership and

communication skills. I wondered how

this group was going to help with com-

munication and leadership. With a

tinge of mockery I closed the mail. We subsequently received few other mails

about the club.

However, since the subject always mentioned Toastmasters it was very easy

for me to ignore the mails. Coincidentally, my cubicle neighbor happened to be

the selected President of the club in Logica Chennai. One day we were casually

talking, and happened to talk about the club. Then he explained to me briefly

about the club. He even insisted that I attend the first meeting of the club.

Honestly, till then I still did not believe that the club could be a serious club.

”How can a „Toastmasters‟ club improve communication?” I asked myself.

You know, as it is said “First impression lasts long”. But somehow I thought of

attending the meeting. I casually walked into the meeting hall few minutes be-

fore the meeting was to begin, just like I would have for any other meeting. To

my surprise the room was filled with all the top management people from the

company. My first impression shattered there and then. I immediately realized

“Oh! This is some serious stuff.” As the meeting went on, I was amazed

by the way few people carried themselves to stage. I was inspired

and decided that I am going to speak like that one day.

From the Club Niranjan Kadel

10

Serendipity

From then on I attended the meeting on regular basis. In no time Toastmasters

became a part of my weekly schedule. It has been almost two years now and it

is still going on. It has been a journey of immense learning for me.

One peculiar specialty about Toastmasters club is that the importance of the

club may not be much evident in first few meetings. Obviously there is always

something to take away from each meeting though. However, the club has

much more to offer which will be evident after few months of regular atten-

dance. For me, the encounter with Toastmasters was serendipitous and its

grandeur was evident from the very first day. I have experienced the joy of

learning in the club. In fact the joy has been so intense that I have become ad-

dicted to the club. Logica Chennai Toastmasters Club has become a part of my

life. This has created a two way platform for me to learn things as well as

share the knowledge that I have. And trust me there is nothing more satisfying

than the joy of sharing. Embark on your journey to the club and experience the

joy of sharing.

From the Club Niranjan Kadel

11

140 Heartbeats without Treadmill

Toastmasters?? What is in it for me??? I

have a decent vocabulary. I can speak

well too. These were the opinions I had

about myself until I attended the LCTC

club meeting for the first time!!

One smart dressed gentleman started

the meeting and it was completely for-

mal from then on. People were shaking

hands, smiling, exhibiting confidence

and above all delivering some stunning

prepared speeches!!

“It‟s time to taste the real flavor of

Toastmasters” announced a witty smart

fellow who introduced himself to be the Table topics master (TTM) for the day!

(The one and only privileged person who can come completely prepared for an

unprepared session is the TTM). I was sitting calmly in my chair observing eve-

rything and everyone around me until the TTM said, “For the last topic of the

day let me welcome our guest, Vijayalakshmi”. Thunderous applause followed

and I felt the limelight on me!! When I stood on the podium and glanced at the

audience it was like 140 heartbeats without Treadmill.

The topic was carefully chosen for the first timer and I could speak for a min-

ute. The moment I said “Thank you “, everyone cheered for me until I took my

seat. The dutiful Ah-counter for the day announced my name with a double-

digit number of fillers I had used in just a minute of my speech. It made me

feel embarrassed. Soon it was all wiped off when TT evaluator praised my

courage to step on the podium and take up a topic on day one!! People

cheered again. I felt warm.

From the Club Vijayalakshmi S

12

140 Heartbeats without Treadmill

I went home, thought about this club and its people for a long time.. From the

next meeting I was no longer a guest but a regular member of the club..Every

time I am stunned by the quality and amount of mentorship and constructive

feedback I receive for all my projects.

You feel hundreds of butterflies in your stomach every time you stand on the

podium. But that never stops us from attending toastmasters. That‟s addiction

and that‟s LCTC!!!

From the Club Vijayalakshmi S

13

LCTC is a podium for enhancing professionalism and leadership in Logica Chen-

nai. We were chartered in Jun 2011, and within a year we are now a President

Distinguished Club, which is the highest distinction in Toastmasters. With the

unbridled energy and enthusiasm of the members, our club has managed to

surpass many milestones in a short time. We are happy to share a small com-

pilation of a few notable feats.

Our club has had a total of 4 registered Competent Communicators (one

becomes a CC when he/she delivers 10 projects from the Toastmasters‟

manual) so far, in Niranjan Kadel, Shubhi Tyagi, Harish Kumar

Navrathnmal and Saravanan Santhanam. Four more of our toastmasters

namely Himanshu Jain, Vivek Ranjan, Vijayalakshmi Soundararajan and

Digvijay Karasi have completed their 10th projects and the registrations are

on the way.

There are 2 registered Competent Leaders (to become a CL one needs to

have played various roles in the toastmasters meetings as prescribed by

the CL manual) in Niranjan Kadel and Shubhi Tyagi. Harish Kumar

Navrathnmal and Saravanan Santhanam have also completed the requisites

to become a CL and will receive their certificates shortly.

When a toastmaster completes 20 speeches as prescribed in a specific set

of manuals a toastmaster gets the much prized certificate of ACB

(Advanced Communicator Bronze). LCTC has in its ranks Niranjan Kadel

who has met the conditions to become an ACB and is truly an inspiration

and role model to every member in the club.

Our club has managed to conduct 93 consecutive meetings till date (as on

21/5/2012) and is all set to reach the 100 mark very shortly. This was pos-

sible because of the tremendous commitment, effort and passion from all

the members towards the club.

We started out as a mentee club and now we are a mentor club with a few

of our toastmasters now being mentors for other corporate clubs

as well.

Members from the club have actively participated in

both area and division level contests as role

players ,contestants and organizers.

Spotlight

13

A TOAST TO LCTC

Any anthropologist who can tell be-

tween the authentic Neolithic arrow-

head and a fake will also be able to tell

between the passion of the English and

the obsession of an Indian towards the

language that has come to define our

social being. Many of us feel intimidated

and dwarfed by those who are masters

of the language. To most in the world

English is just a language that helps in

communicating with the world, but for

many Indians English is a potent weapon that could possibly win battles and

differentiate between the mundane and breathtakingly celestial. The impetus to

learn, command and master the language and the art of communicating in

English is therefore almost an obsession for many.

Yours truly faced many an embarrassing moment earlier, while still grappling

with the subtleties of the language; moments that provided the nudge to gain

proficiency in the language. It is said that the journey is more important and

tasteful than the destiny, but I guess the people who said it did not really

reach the destiny at its apotheosis. As for me, I found the LCTC (Logica Chen-

nai toastmasters club) and here I found salvation. LCTC is a place worthy of

worship for many of us. We find bewitching sorcery, that turns the sand into

silver and sometimes the mundane into breathtakingly celestial.

When I joined LCTC it was 1 session old and yet I call it as being at its model

best! One might wonder what adjective I would use now when the club is 90

weeks old and has become an integral part of the lives of many, well all I

would say is, its difficult to change something that was already per-

fect!

Raghavan S From the Club

15

The essence of LCTC is its unchanging, unwavering commitment towards pro-

ducing better speakers, better communicators and better practitioners of the

English language. It is said that the Toastmasters club gives you a platform to

fail, yet get cheered, how unmatched in spirit! The potential of a cheer in moti-

vating you cannot be underestimated and truly LCTC has stayed true to the

spirit of the Toastmasters and provided its members with unflinching support

and encouragement.

I have been around since the inception of LCTC and today I puff out my chest

and say I am a part of LCTC. The difference in me when it comes to effective

communication over the last year and a half is almost palpable and it is due to

LCTC alone. Every week we meet, learn, perform, applaud and encourage each

other TOGETHER and that is perhaps the most important aspect of the Toast-

masters. Much of what the LCTC has done, to many of us members, is too

priceless. It has armed us with the most important virtue needed to be suc-

cessful - “Courage”. And armed with this secret ingredient the Toastmasters

from LCTC will conquer this world and others too!

I am sure in the pages that follow/precede you will read more about the LCTC

but when my article ends here, it sends with a request, a friendly nudge, come

be a part of LCTC and stand tall among equals!

A TOAST TO LCTC

16

Raghavan S From the Club

Never Ending Journey

It is said that the Fear of

Death is the foremost Fear in

the world. Public Speaking

Comes Next! As a Fellow

Toastmaster puts it, it is not

the fear of speaking, but the

fear of public embarrassment

that makes us most scared of

public speaking. Shivering

hands, parched throats, twirl-

ing tongues, are all symptoms

of the disease “Stage fear”. To

cure this disease there is a renowned clinic that people visit and it is called the

Toastmaster Club!

But what about people who don‟t have all these symptoms! Who don‟t fear

Speaking in public! “Why should I join Toastmasters International? I don‟t need

it!” many say.

It was the same with me till my induction at Logica. During the Induction, when

LCTC (Logica Chennai Toastmasters Club) was introduced and the presenter

Madam Toastmaster Viji invited one of us to come and give an Ice breaker

Speech, I volunteered. Speaking comes easy to me, or so I thought till I re-

ceived my first feedback.

It was a blow to the belief that I was a Good Speaker. Keeping my Hands in the

Trouser Pockets was always my style statement, which was the first to be

pointed out as bad practice.

“No you can‟t put your hands in the pocket, it is not a style statement, but

shows you are hiding things!” was the Feedback I received. Later

on the during weekly meetings, I came to know that there

were other things like Ah counting, keeping tracks of

the filler words like ums and Ahs

From the Club Saravanan S

17

Never Ending Journey

we use, Time management, grammatical inconsistencies and many more that

needed perfection to be a good speaker. Speak well, speak within time. What

an important lesson! I learnt that the public speaking was not just about speak-

ing on stage but it involves a lot of other aspects like body language, gestures,

facial contortions, voice modulations and more. From the Toastmasters I learnt

a lot of new things on the nuances of public Speaking. I have now embarked on

a new Journey, one where learning never stops!

From the Club Saravanan S

18

Not just a Meeting... An Experience !!!

19

I was just 9 days young in the company, when my col-

league Divya Subhas dragged me into the Logica

Chennai Toastmasters Club meeting on a lousy

Wednesday after a sumptuous lunch.

“You don‟t have to do anything Uday. Just watch

what‟s happening and enjoy the meeting.”

These were the exact words she told me and I fol-

lowed her into the meeting Room without realizing the

fact that this was going to be addictive and was going

to give me lots of responsibilities in the times to come.

When I walked into the room, I saw people spread out

widely in a U-Shaped seating arrangement and I was

offered a seat by one of the Toastmasters. The meet-

ing began and I was taking notes in a MOM format

(Since I neither knew the flow of the meeting nor the

agenda).

Prepared Speech session was over and there was an impromptu speech session

where they called me (surprisingly!) and asked me to pick a topic from a lot on

which I was to speak for 2 minutes. I wasn‟t reluctant to speak on stage, but I

was reluctant to speak on the topic that came up: “Which behavior in public an-

noys you the most?”

What an amazing topic to speak on for the 1st time in a Toastmasters Meeting! I

spoke about the topic for almost 1:48 minutes and my answer to the topic was

“Spitting in Public places”. Once I finished, all the Toastmasters clapped & ap-

preciated.

From the Club Udayakumar R

Not just Meeting... An Experience !!!

Soon I was evaluated as well. This gave me a confidence with a provocative

thought,

“It is not the topic but the content, which gives you laurels”

Since then, I‟ve been a part of this phenomenal club with astounding energy and heaps of enthusiasm. The spirit is contagious to everyone who walks into

the meeting every Wednesday.

I believe on the statement “Every day is a learning” and I would like to re-

phrase this to “Every Wednesday is a Learning in LCTC” because, each and every Toastmaster in this club possess an unique quality which is to be learned

by other Toastmasters.

It is not just a Meeting. It is an Experience.

Cheers Uday

From the Club Udayakumar R

20

LCTC Team:

Radhika Kandala

Shyamala Nagasundaram

Ranganath Raghavan

Niranjan Kadel

Vijayalakshmi Soundararjan

Udayakumar Rajarathinam

Saravanan Santhanam

Harish kumar Navrathnmal

Himanshu jain

Syed Nymuddin

Raghavan Sridhar

Omprakash swaminathan

Vivek ranjan

Shalini Shrivastava

Digvijay karasi

Shraddha singh

Serwan kumar gupta

Asogar narayanan

Arun m.g

Sathish mahadevan

Poornima budda

Obily B W

Jaganmohan Ramani

Anthony mahimaidoss

Amrita das

And all

LCTC Meets Every

Wednesday

Between

03:00 PM to 05:00 PM

Logica Chennai Toastmasters Club