Successful demonstarion session for Bank Dhofar

 

Well Begun is Half Done: Bank Dhofar Demo:
A Report by TM Ahsan Jalal, Division PRO

A successful demonstration session was held for Bank Dhofar on 27 June 2013 at their Training Centre in CBD, Muscat by Division"L" Toastmasters.  The session started with the meeting calling to order by TM Pramod, who was Sergeant at Arms (SAA) for the session.TM Promodgreeted all including the experienced Toastmasters and Bank Dhofar staff who had come in good numbers and were full of enthusiasm. He then read out the new mission of a Toastmasters Club and advised the participants as per Toastmasters guidelines to refrain speaking on sex, religion and politics and put their mobile phones on silent mode or switch them off.

As the momentum of the meeting was set the SAA invited Mr. Zain Al Busaidi, Career Planning Officer of Bank Dhofar, who welcomed the senior Toastmasters including Division ‘L’ Governor DTM SrikumarPai and bank staff who had come for the demonstration session. He spoke about the importance of Communication and Leadership Skills and how Toastmasters with a flexible learning approach was the ideal option available to the bank staff. He said “Keeping this in mind, the bank management has decided to start Toastmasters Clubs at its various locations for development of the staff”.

Mr. Zain then invited DTM SrikumarPai to talk about Toastmasters International. DTM SrikumarPai after welcoming the audience briefed them about the history of Toastmasters, which dates back to 1924, when Dr. Ralph C Smedley started the first club in California, USA.Since 1924, Toastmasters International has helped people of all backgrounds become more confident in front of an audience. Toastmasters International is a non-profit educational organization that teaches public speaking and leadership skills through a worldwide network of meeting locations. Toastmasters is a well-structured organization, it has more than 280,000 memberships in 13,500 clubs in 116 countries. The club comprises of members who select a 7 member executive committee headed by the club President. Various clubs form an Area, various Areas form a Division, which in turn form Districts and various Districts are combined together into a Region. The regions report to Toastmasters International, so the avenues for growth are enormous.    

He also showed a video from Toastmasters International of a meeting in progress. The presentation was appreciated by the audience. He then told the audience, the meeting process which they saw on video will be demonstrated live by members of different clubs of Division ‘L’, the new division in Oman under District 20.

To start the proceeding he invited DTM George Thomas, a veteran Toastmaster to conduct the session as Toastmaster of the Day (TMOD). DTM George Thomashas the distinction of starting Toastmasters movement in Oman in 1998 and has since then sponsored and mentored numerous clubs in Oman and hence is called, the Club Making Machine.DTM George Thomas introduced different role players:

Time Keeper: TM Nanthakumar

Word Master / Grammarian: TM Shaheen

Ah Counter: TM Pramod

General Evaluator: DTM ClitaCrasta

All the role players explained about their roles and briefed participants of how their roles will help them to become better speakers.

The starters were over, and now was the turn of main course, that is Project Speeches, the first speech was delivered by TM ShyamalaIyer which was evaluated by TM Jackson. TM Shyamala delivered her Ice Breaker, the story of her life which portrayed her struggle and a never give up attitude, which inspired everyone in the audience.

The second speech, Project 2: Organise Your Speech was delivered by TM Tiju and was titled ‘Personality Development’ and the evaluator was TM Ahsan Jalal. TM Tiju through the use of his highly energetic style convinced the audience that true personality is not to show off but, the inner self which needs to be developed to reach to the optimum potential.

After the break, it was time to have some fun and TMOD invited volunteers to share a funny incident or joke. The first to come was Mr. Saif followed by Mr. Jairam, both showed a lot of courage to face the audience and made them laugh.

To keep the spirit of the session going Table Topics were conducted by DTM SrikumarPai in his encouraging style which ensured maximum participation, the topics selected ensured speakers could speak with ease:

·         Ms. Bhutaina: Should we allow mobile phones in school

·         Ms. Ola: Do you agree that leaders are born

·         Mr. Mathew: Time and Tide waits for non

·         Mr. Sulaiman: An unforgettable event in your life

·         Ms. Majda: What is something you spend a lot of money on

In the last section on the session DTM ClitaCrasta called all the role players and evaluators to give their reports and gave her overall report which demonstrated a lot of experience which she has gained as a veteran Toastmaster.

In his concluding remarks, Mr. Zain Al Busaidi thanked the Toastmasters International, Division ‘L’ officers and members and Bank Dhofar staff for the wonderful evening.

The meeting was adjourned by DTM George Thomas.