Success is expecting nothing less than winning; if you doubt you have already lost
-John R Banks
Sheer determination and commitment was in the DNA of every contestant of ABLAZE 2015. Division A had an amazing display of talent and competitiveness. To know more on the preparation and journey towards success, we share insights from the contests winners.
International Speech Contest and Table Topics –Winner
TM Mathew Verghese
TM Mathew Verghese, President of Talkmagic Toastmasters has been a part of toastmasters since 2010. He views Toastmasters as being a place where one has the license to fail and yet not be judged. A place to meet great minds and a place to make great friends.
In what manner has being a part of contests helped you?
Contests help putting to test, things learnt at the club. It teaches you to manage yourself on a bigger stage. It stretches and pushes you and in it there is great learning.
Do you have a mentor whom you owe your success to?
My better half and kids are my mentors and my biggest critics. I practice at my club and enjoy great support from my club mates.
What was running through your mind when you first heard the table topic?
Where’s the exit…? I am not sure what transpires in my brain at that point in time. I just show up and speak up and at the red light – Shut Up.
What is the one lesson you learnt during this contest season that you believe will help you the most during your future contests?
Practice never makes perfect. Practice just makes one better. There is always room for improvement.
What is the one message you would like to give other toastmasters who are aspiring to do well at contests?
Keep trying. Keep reading.Keep experimenting and never stop dreaming. Randy Harvey says it best “Speak from your heart and the world will listen”.
International Speech Contest and Table Topics – 1st Runner Up
TM Dirish Mohan
TM Dirish Mohan, one of the founder members of Banjara Toastmasters has been a part of toastmasters for more than 10 years now. Dirish once delivered a speech at Banjara Toastmasters from the story-telling manual for which he was playing a boutique shop owner. Raghunandan Srinivasan, happened to hear this speech the first time he walked into their club. For almost a year from then, Raghunandan thought that Dirish really owned a boutique shop at Commercial Street!:D:D
With his speech titled “Just Around the Corner”, Dirish won many hearts during the Division A Conference.
How did you prepare for the contest? Did you have a mentor whom you owe your success to?
I look deep within to introspect on my life and subsequently write a speech. You need to be original and true to yourself first. My mentor Dr Chaya, has been a great source of motivation for me to compete year-after-year. If I continue to compete despite various setbacks, I largely owe it to her.
What was running through your mind when you first heard the table topic?
I leave it to the inner voice within me to handle the table topic (as weird as it may sound!). I do not know what transpires over the next 2 minutes.
What is the one message you would like to give other toastmasters who are aspiring to do well at contests?
My only message is – “Look at the process, forget about the result”, you will surely become a better speaker. Also only if u learn to accept defeat with grace, you learn to accept victory with humility that is the hallmark of a great speaker.
Who is your favourite among the world champions of public speaking and why?
There are two whom I admire the most.
Vikas Jhingran- He has something different in him
Dananjaya – I love his style and the subtle elegance he brings on stage.
International Speech Contest- 2nd Runner up
TM Ganesh Ramachandran Iyer
TM Ganesh Ramachandran Iyer from Banjara Toastmasters swept way the audience and the position of 2nd Runner Up for the International Speech Contest with his speech titled “Whatever Happens”. Has been associated with Toastmasters for over 5 years now and is currently serving as the VP Education of the club.
How has being a part of contests helped you?
Even though we speak about competition, it brings out the best in each individual. The energy and excellence of the every other contestants rub on you as there’s so much you can learn from them and this brings out the best in you.
What was the inspiration behind your speech?
Myself. I had gone through some tough time in my life. Got fired from work and I felt as though I had hit the rock bottom. From there I went on to get my dream job, which is Training and Development. I then realised that being fired was actually a blessing in disguise as it helped me to find my passion. So that was the message of my speech -“Whatever Happens, Happens for Good.”
How did you go about preparing your speech? Did you take help from anybody in the toastmasters’ fraternity?
There are many people who helped me take my speech to the next level from where it initially was. The first person would be DTM Deepak Justin. He’s the one who introduced me to toastmasters, TM Dirish who is an excellent speaker and a co-contestant himself, helped me structure my speech. TM Anmol Garg, the creative mastermind turned around this speech and gave it a fresh perspective and TM Aurobindo helped me with the body language and delivery.
Who is your favourite among the world champions of public speaking and why?
My favourite WCPS is Lance Miller. The Ultimate Question is a masterpiece and he has a wonderful style of delivery which is conversational and friendly.
Table Topic Speech contest- 2nd Runner up
TM Amulya Kulkarni
TM Amulya Kulkarni from NB Toastmasters is quite new to the fraternity. She has been a toastmaster since October 2014, yet nothing stopped Amulya from speaking her heart out and clenching the 2nd Runner Up position in the Table Topics contest.
How did you prepare for the contest?
I learnt from my club members that contestants start the preparing for these contests a year in advance. I did not want to leave any stone unturned to match the quality on the TM contest podium. As a newbie, my club mentor, TM Shiva ensured he provided the best support possible. This included rehearsing about five topics every day for the table topics contest. This truly helped build a thought process attributing to a smooth flow in a table topic. I felt much more confident with TM Shiva’s support and guidance.
During your division contest which one contestant impressed you the most? Why?
I was swayed as TM Dirish Mohan spoke about success being just around the corner. His attitude to the idealism, approach to the topic and passion in sharing his experience in my opinion was phenomenal. The vocal variety, use of body language and vocabulary perfectly blend together to what was an inspiring speech to me.
What was running through your mind when the table topic was first read out to you?
This was the first time I was participating in a Division contest! My brain flushed various thoughts as I waited for my name to be called. It was intimidating, as every other participant would listen to my speech (I was the last participant!). As the host uttered ‘Amulya Kulkarni- My Way of Making a difference’.., I flew back in time to instances in my life. And before she could complete her sentence, I was on the stage, all set to speak. The fear had just vanished when I saw the room full of audience eagerly waiting to hear what I had to share.
What is the one lesson you learnt during this contest season that you believe will help you the most during your future contests?
The lesson would be : Do not feel less confident when you are surrounded by people m you know as great speakers. Make the most of the opportunity to learn from every word they have to say!
The Pit Stop - District 92 