The last day of the year 2014 ended with a bang and a pledge. The bang was a manifestation of the enthusiasm and charisma of the attendees of Arabian Stallions' weekly meeting and the pledge was taken to ensure that both individual as well as team standards are slowly but surely raised. The appetite for improvement is never saturated, which was the word of the day.
An Excomm meeting preceded the regular weekly meeting and led to some delays in the commencement of the regular meeting. The meeting began at about 6.36 with the ad hoc Sargent-at-arms TM Naqi who opened the meeting with a bang and welcomed the members and guests. He jovially introduced the presiding officer DTM Waqas and dispelled rumors about him being in his late twenties!
DTM Waqas was the presiding officer as the president was still in the excom meeting 1 floor above. DTM Waqas welcomed guests and returned the favor to TM Naqi by a heart-warming introduction of the Toastmaster of the Day (TMOD). In his usual affectionate and flattering voice, DTM Waqas recounted the target speech of TM Naqi during the district conference of 2013.
TM Naqi started the official meeting on a high note and asked the audience about their perception of the phrase "raise the bar". The 2 answers talked about raising standards and staying away from complacency or stagnation. TM Naqi played a short video by a motivational speaker about how to aim high and hit the target. It talked about perseverance, being the first to attack and last to counter, first to awake and the last to sleep, and first to accept challenges and the last to hide from them. It beautifully articulated that our thoughts shape who we are. If you put water in a cup, it becomes the cup. Water can flow or it can crash. Be like water my friend!
After hearing those words of wisdom, the functionaries were introduced with TM Omar as the grammarian, TM Fayez as the timer, TM Ahmad Yahya as the ah counter, and TM Rayees as the honest vote counter. The session smoothly transitioned into the prepared speech section in which 3 speakers were eagerly waiting to inspire the audience with their personal stories of overcoming challenges and raising their bar.
The first speaker was guest Sajid who broke the ice by talking about how his experiences shaped his personality. He beautifully linked his struggles with the theme of the meeting and mentioned that we all have to give our best but leave the rest to the Creator. He ended his speech with a beautiful message of hope and reinforced the idea that we need to trust the Almighty as things happen for the best and fall into place.
The second confident speaker drove from Al-Qasim and talked about winning the trust of his company's CEO for an assignment that he was entrusted with just before he had planned to submit his resignation. TM Taqir comfortably blended his message with humor, receiving bursts of laughter from the audience. He spoke about how he got the job done because of his personal contacts and determination. He happily concluded by demonstrating how he successfully raised his bar.
The third in the line of speakers was TM Sultan, the Area 38 governor. He transcended the audiences' emotions by his brilliant diction and carefully worded motivational speech. His imaginative words conjured images in the minds of the audience who stood transfixed as he talked about the idea of grappling with loneliness and went on to talk about how to manage it and use it positively. TM Sultan talked about his dreams of transforming the lives of impoverished children with his vast and enriching life experiences.
The prepared speech session ended on a very positive note not only because all 3 speakers uplifted the audience with their messages of hope but also because the theme of the meeting was reinforced with every speaker who took to the podium. The upward trend did not end here and was carried forward by the high spirited TM Naveed Hussain, who had prepared a set of questions and presented 3 of those.
His first victim was TM Rayees who was asked to relate the phrase "early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise" to the theme of the meeting. As always, TM Rayees in his commanding voice and casual tone pledged to change his lifestyle for the better and then encouraged the audience to do the same in order to benefit themselves in all aspects including monetary as well as health.
TM Naveed then called TM Ali Adnan who beautifully and succinctly conveyed his message of overcoming his fears and anxiety. He talked about his apprehensions of public speaking and how his resilience paid off and instilled a feeling of confidence and positivity in him.
The last in line was the volunteer speaker TM Sultan who was asked about what his dream is. He talked about taking concrete action instead of day-dreaming. He cascaded his dream of being a good human being and encouraged the audience to do the same. Being honest to oneself was the biggest accomplishment and should be incorporated in our day-to-lives.
The final session was presided over by the current Area 6 governor TM M.I.M. Zubair who called TM Omar, TM Rayees, and DTM Waqas to evaluate their speakers and the table topics. All the evaluators encouraged and motivated their speakers and suggested areas of improvements to help them take their well-crafted speeches to the next level. Each of the evaluators was subtle in his recommendations and commended the speakers for their phenomenal performance.
TM Zubair took the functionary reports and evaluated the meeting in general. He mostly sounded a positive note and praised the club for its welcoming and homely ambience. However, he mentioned some areas for improvement and emphasized on adherence to protocols for all roles, printed word of the day, and a chance for inactive members of the audience to participate in table topics.
TM Naqi utilized the last few minutes of his role to briefly reflect on 2014 and requested the audience to rise and stand in silence for a minute to introspect on the past year and to pray for the year ahead. He wished success and fulfillment for the audience and handed the control to the president TM Omar. The president thanked everyone for their participation and encouraged the attendees with his encouraging words. TM Omar then handed awards to guest Sajid as the best prepared speaker, TM Ali as the best table topics speaker, DTM Waqas as the finest evaluator, and TM Naqi as the chosen Big-3.
The final meeting on 2014 ended on a very positive note and struck a chord with all the attendees. The theme of the meeting was executed from the beginning to the end and inspired the members to strive to achieve individual as well as collective goals.
No comments:
Post a Comment