SELF-DEVELOPMENT
The last meeting of January 2015 was a spectacular meeting that was full of entertainment and learning. It was not a typical toastmaster's meeting and only consisted of table topics and the introduction given by the Toastmaster of the Day (TMOD).
The theme of the meeting was self-development and the word of the day was "hone". The fun filled meeting was opened by the Sargent at Arms TM Rayees Syed who greeted the audience and welcomed the attendees. He handed the lectern to the presiding officer TM Omar Khan who recognized the previous week's winners and requested the guests to introduce themselves. He handed the control to the TMOD TM Naqi Rizvi who took the meeting forward.
TM Naqi talked about a book that he has been reading called "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen R. Covey. He talked about what a paradigm is and how a paradigm shift must occur to broaden a person's horizons and get him closer towards objectivity. He also mentioned the difference between principles and values with the former being universal and always relevant instead of the latter (values) that are situational and time bound. He also stressed on the character ethic vs. the personality ethic that has become more prevalent. He stressed that it is the character ethic that leads to long-term success and keeps a person's actions aligned with his or her values.
The functionaries, whose roles were rendered almost unnecessary due to the informal setting of the meeting, were TM Taqir Hussain as the timer, DTM Waqas as the grammarian, TM Omar Khan as the ah counter, and guest Ismail as the vote counter.
The meeting took an enjoyable turn and headed for what was to be the most inclusive and fun table topics session. The table topics master was TM Viquar who made sure that every member of the audience spoke. He had divided the session into 2 parts with the first one as a story telling segment and the second as a press conference involving a famous personality.
TM Viquar started a story about a handsome man falling in love with a beautiful actress. He left the story with a twist and every speaker had to continue the story in which ever way he pleased and had to end his speech with a twist for the next person to take over. The entire session was filled with laughter and creativity and was concluded with both lovers becoming a fruit salad and someone else cleverly taking the girl of their dreams.
In the second session, speakers were given a famous personality that they had to enact. They could choose another person if the given choice did not satisfy them. Personalities included Michelle Obama, Pervez Musharraf, Hosni Mubarak, and Rajinikanth, among others. The audience threw questions at the presenters and showered them with funny and interesting questions to which they had to find novel and humorous answers.
By the end of the table topics session, every member of the audience had spoken and the audience was extremely pleased with the session that TM Viquar had pulled together. His innovative and humorous approach definitely won him the man of the evening award.
The formal rules of a regular meeting were ignored as the meeting had taken an informal turn and the meeting reports as well as voting were canceled. Without the shadow of a doubt, TM Viquar was the winner of the evening and went back to his seat triumphantly.
The presiding officer concluded the meeting with an announcement about the area contest and an idea to have the following meeting as a mock contest to allow club representatives to hone their skills before the contest.
The meeting concluded on a jubilant note and the attendees left in high spirits.
By Naqi Rizvi,
Secretary,
Arabian Stallions Toastmasters Club (ASTM)
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