Session 78

George Orwell wrote in Animal Farm, "All are created equal, but some are more equal than others". It can be said in the same vein that all Elite sessions are special, but some sessions, like session 78, are more special than others. Why? When we get a combination of great speeches, strong evaluations and an entertaining table topic round, a session rises beyond the mundane and takes flight.

The session started on time with the SAA TM Suvojit giving a strong message to the members to look for charisma not in public figures but in ourslves and to lift up our capabilities beyond average.

Stand-in President TM Rupashree (President having been delayed due to monsoon) welcomed all attendees and gave an inspirig message to contribute and grow.

Today's TMOD Shrradha had aptly chosen as a theme "Monsoon". Throughout the session, she gave us a rainy atmosphere and introduced each role player with his or her feelings about the monsoons. It was very well integrated with the current season and we all enjoyed her easy running commentary.

TM Vidwata, today's GE, introduced her team of feedback assistants. The Grammarian declatred the word of the day as DELUGE (quite expectedly, right?).

There were three speeches scheduled today - an Icebreaker, a Level 1 speech and a Level 3 speech. The audience were all agog to be entertained by a wide variety in tone and tenor.

The first speaker, TM Sarbadaman Mukherjee, delivered his icebreaker speech titled "Finding Myself". He held us spellbound as he opened his heart out to us, sharing his growing up years, his dreams and aspirations, the challenges he faced, the turnarounds in his beliefs and crystallisation of his final philosophy of life. Totally easy on stage, he exuded a confidence not normally seen in first time speakers. We are sure he will go a long way in his speaking career.

The second speaker TM Daliya Thacker, delivered her speech titled "How Long?" for a second time, as per the requirements of her project. In a powerful delivery, she laid out how insecure the world is for women and questioned how long they have to continue to live in fear. High in emotional content, her speech left an indelible mark in the minds of the audience.

The third speaker, TM Panna Rashmi Ray, delivered her speech intriguingly titled "An Eye for an Eye". The objective being a persuasive speech, she had chosen organ donation as the subject. It was a powerfully delivered speech, using a mixture of personal story, data, logic and a call to action. We are sure the audience will will leave today with a seed planted in their minds.

Today's Table topic master, TM Rupashree, rang in a variation in TT by calling up a couple of toastmasters (or guests) to enact a scene. Understandably most of the topics revolved around the monsoons. Some of the impromptu skits turned out to be hilarious and the players threw themselves into the roles with gusto, be it enacting a married couple or a teacher-student combination. Kudos to TM Rupashree for bringing in this entertaining innovation.

Evaluations for the three speeches were delivered by TM Rajat Ray, TM Ashish Baid and TM Abhishek Mitra respectively. All praised the speakers and suggested extremely valid points of improvements, supplemented by a few points by the GE.

The GE, TM Vidwata, invited her team members Ah Counter TM Stuti, Grammarian TM Kushal, Timer TM Akash and Parliamentarian TM Kunal for their reports, each of whom gave a crisp feedback in their respective areas. The GE then provided a much-needed review on all the table topic speakers, repeating her appreciation of guests (who had stepped up undauntingly to speak on stage), as well as on the overall running of the session. As usual TM Vidwata was meticulous, penetrating and humorous, which made her evaluation comprehensive as well as easy to accept and assimilate.

President TM Ashish Baid wrapped up the session with guest introduction and feedback. The quality of a session can be readily understood if 80% of the guests say "I am now thinking of joining this club", which was the case today! The best advertisement for a product is its quality.

The day's awards were:
  • Best Role Player (aux):      TM Kaushal (Grammarian)
  • Best Role Player (main):    TM Rupashree (TT)
  • Best Speaker:                      TM Panna
  • Best Table topic (member): TM Shikha & TM Varun
  • Best Table topic (guest):      TM Arvee
  • Best Evaluator:                     TM Abhishek
  • Most improved speaker:       TM Sarvadaman
See you all at the next session on 10.8.19, same time, same place.

Comments

  1. UnknownAugust 8, 2019 at 1:37 AM

    Word wizardry is your strength. Hope the cycle of growth and contribution continues.

    ReplyDelete

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