Niagara Falls

[The project was to paint a picture without using the pictures and show the picture at the end to see how well we did.]

Imagine a nature created adorable, tri colored veil that spreads its over a vast area of land. This gigantic veil is 2500 feet wide and 50 m tall. Its view with green border at the top, blue at bottom and white in between is gorgeous. More than half a million gallons of water flowing over, I should rather say falling from, the edge carving the land into a horseshoe shape creates this adorable veil.

The fierceness of this monstrous fall creates a gigantic sized mist that rises even taller than the falls itself. Neither words, nor picture can do justice to illustrate this marvelous view. Over the blue veil floats a large vessel that carries thirsty souls closer to this monster to quench their thirst. It sure does give not only a spectacular view, but also a free shower.

Pictures that Pop

[The project was to deliver the same speech by all of us. Requirement is to use the transparency.]

How many of us have taken pictures that tell a story or intrigue the viewer? Well, no worries for those who didn’t raise their hands. Three simple tricks that I’ll be sharing for next few minutes would enable you to become a better photographer. Professionals use these tricks to make their “pictures pop.” Who knows, your pictures might be worthy to publish in some of the hottest magazines and you may be featured as the best photographer of the year :-).

Trick #1: Position your subject using the "Rule of thirds" – move your subject off center. Partition your picture into thirds and move your subject from the middle partition to either the left or right/ top or bottom. Moving your focal point incorporates more of the surroundings in an interactive way. And, don't feel like you must have your entire subject in the picture. Sometimes what you don't show is as important as what you do show.

Trick #2: Leverage Lighting – Shoot during the magical hours: an hour after sunrise or an hour before sundown where the shadows are long and colors are vibrant. Incorporate reflections and shadows to give your shots extra dimension. You can also, bring out colors using polarization. If your camera does not have polarization, shoot through your sunglasses!

Trick #3: Incorporate vertical lines – A wall edge, doorways, stairs, trees, a waterfall, a sidewalk or road leading away, all add perspective and draw the viewer in. Incorporate where possible. At the edge of your photo, these lines will help to "frame" your subject.

Now I am going to show a “pop star” picture that pops! The subject is moved off the center; lighting, though artificial, is used to create shadows that give additional dimension; and staircase is used to frame the subject.




People say a good picture is worth a thousand words. Following these tips on offsetting your subject, lighting and vertical lines will transform your pictures from snapshots to stories. Be a director, don't take pictures; make them!

My 3 Corporate Lessons

Project #6: Vocal Variety
Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)
Jul 17, 2009

[I repeated this project at TGIF Toastmasters]

Every one of us has or had at least one boss in life: it could be our manager at work or our spouse everywhere else. Bosses at work are typically more experienced and we would have learned something from them that we could make use of in our life journey. I too had few bosses in my career. The three key lessons I learned from three of my bosses are outlined in this speech.

It was my first job after my school. My friends and I always thought that life would get better if we land up in a job and we don’t have to work as hard as we did in school. In those days email is not widespread, so we were thrilled to have email access that helps to communicate with many friends, who are remote. First couple of days, I learned to send and receive emails. Whenever I got bored I also read through few pages of the test tool manual, which I was supposed to complete by end of that week. On the third day, my friends and I got very excited and started bombarding each other’s mailboxes with flurry of emails. I spent the whole day, except for the lunch and restroom breaks in sending and receiving emails. Close to end of the day, I sent almost 220 emails, which is one email every 2 minutes. At the end of the day, my boss called me to his office and asked me “how am I doing with respect to the assignment?” Well, I had read only few pages. So, I stumbled to answer. Before I could open the mouth, he threw other one: “are you playing with emails the whole day?” I was stunned, but recovered soon and told him that I would complete the manual before the deadline. Next day, I focused and gave my 100% on reading the manual. At the end of the day, which was a day ahead of the original deadline, I completed the manual and informed my boss that I am ready for the work. After that, I was never sloppy at work and received outstanding rating in performance appraisal for that period.

This incident taught me the first lesson: Duty first; never loose the sight of it.

My next venture was working for a startup. Well, as usual startup environment was challenging and hectic. I spent countless nights burning midnight oil churning code. Many days, I came home only to sleep. Some days I even slept in office and came home only to take shower. My only goal in life at that time was to make the company successful at any cost. Fortunately, I was single at that time. Otherwise, my wife would have killed me. J Amidst hectic life, I got engaged when I went to India for my sister’s wedding. On return I went to my director to convey the news. My director congratulated me whole-heartedly and told that my life will not be the same. He mentioned: “Sud! There are 30 employees to take care of this company, but you are the only one to take care of your family.” Oh boy! That was an eye-opener for me. From then on, I trimmed my working time close to 8 hours per day and began balancing other activities: family, my MBA, etc.

Well, I learned the second lesson: the importance of work-life balance.

Few months later, I quit startup and joined a midsize company. The new company culture is totally different from the startup and I am glad that I made the switch. Though this experience reinforced quite a few lessons: importance of hiring right people, time management, proactive planning, etc, I learned an important lesson from my manager. Couple of years back we hired a senior person to the team. He was assigned to implement a feature using the framework I have written; hence I was assigned as a feature buddy. That feature was supposed to be completed in less than 3 months, but it dragged on and on, even with all the support and got completed after a year. I was frustrated and went to discuss this with my manager. He said “Look at your hand; are all your fingers look alike? Each one is different, but meant for different function.” On that day, I learned my 3rd lesson that all are not created equal.

The three lessons: duties first; maintain work-life balance; and not all are created equal from my 3 bosses have made my life better than it was before. Thought, I would share these lessons that could be helpful to you as well.

My MBA Journey

Project #5: Your Body Speaks
Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)
Jun 12, 2009

[I repeated this project at TGIF Toastmasters]

Fellow Toastmasters (and welcomed guests) … It’s December 2004; my friend and I were planning to enroll into MBA program at University of Phoenix. I was very excited as doing masters in U.S. has been my long-time dream. I informed my parents about this and they were fine with it. However, few days later my mom called me and asked not to join. I was shocked to hear this from my mom, because she has taught me the significance of education and always encouraged me to study well. I typically heed to “signs” in important activities and decided not to join. My dreams shattered and I was very upset.

Six months later, after my wedding, my mom asked to pursue my MBA. Although the passion still lingered in the back of my mind, I was little reluctant. Few months later when my wife and I were on family way, I thought that I should either complete MBA before my kid goes to school or postpone the dream for another 15 years or so. Given the plans to return back to India in long term, I decided to do it sooner than later and my wife supported that decision as well. This time, I preferred to do the masters in an AACSB accredited university such as SCU or UC Berkeley. Both the schools required GMAT, so I switched gears and started preparing for the same. In the meantime, I attended UC Berkeley’s open house session. As soon as I heard the total cost required, I was out of the session; I didn’t even wait for the session to end. During preparation I realized that I should have listened to my high school English teacher as it was difficult to cram all the intricacies of grammar in 2 months. As a result, I didn’t score well in the verbal part and I had to take TOEFL. Time was running out for the application deadline, I prepared even harder and in 2 weeks I took the TOEFL, scored more than adequate for SCU cut-off, finished up the essays in a day, rushed my application and, finally, I was accepted. I began my first quarter at SCU in spring 2006.

Well, 2 weeks later my wife and I had a pleasant surprise. Yes, our daughter decided to say “Hello, World!” 6 weeks earlier than expected. This is the time my wife’s support reached its pinnacle. She took care of baby and herself such that I don’t have to miss even a class. My parents came a month later to support us and the life was little easier for my wife. My journey progressed smoothly.

Mid way through the program, I had an opportunity to take study abroad course. I visited S Korea, HKG and Shanghai, China, met executives from several multi-national firms, gained business insights and learned about cultures in those places. The 2 week trip was lot of fun, but the bad part was that I got B+ for first time, which made a dent in my overall GPA (due to the overall team performance). This taught me the importance of having a right team and managing expectations.

Moving on, the tail end courses were heavy in work load. I took capstone, the final course of the program, in this spring. Boy! That was really hectic. During that quarter I spent more time with my team members than I saw my family. Many days I didn’t even get a chance to talk to my daughter. The good part is that even after the long absences, my daughter remembered me J
In retrospect, I learned quite a lot in this journey that was fueled by countless hours of work, good chunk of money and unequaled family sacrifices. Well, finally, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, fellow toastmasters, I am graduating from SCU today and getting off this train. But, with my first speech at TGIF I am beginning a new one …

Mr. Toastmaster …

Care for Youth

Project #5: Persuasive Leader

Manual: AC - Persuasive Speaking
Mar 23, 2009

What youth issues are you aware of?

• Shootings
• Sexual abuse
• Drug abuse
• Depression: Suicide is the 3rd leading case of death in youths
• Gang violence: Statistics shows that one in 3 youth is involved in bullying

and many more . . .

In 2005 to 06, 78% of schools experienced one or more violent incidents of crime. Fellow Toastmasters, youths are the pillars of our future. But, how many of us have done something to address these?

[If hands up?] Fantastic …

How about the rest of us, including myself? It’s sad that we didn’t take action and I really feel guilty about it. If you are like me, looking for an opportunity change the life of a youth, here is a great opportunity to make that difference we are longing for. Yes, International Association for Human Values, known as IAHV, is organizing Yogathon this May at Baylands park in Sunnyvale.

Yogathon is a fund raising event to support the youths in bay area schools. Runners run together for marathons; musicians band together for benefit concerts; In Yogathon, yoga enthusiasts stretch out to support stress-free and violence-free schools for our youth. Funds raised through this event will be utilized to organize Youth Empowerment Seminar (YES) in schools.

YES is a fun and challenging seminar that provides youth with a comprehensive toolbox to manage their emotions and stress. This program broadens youth’s vision of the world and provides practical knowledge and skills needed to realize their highest potential. Independent research has also shown that the processes learned on YES reduce anger, violence and depression as well as improve focus, clarity of mind and concentration.

Let me share a true story of a person, whom I met couple of years back. His name is David. David was born in California, but for some reason migrated to a different place within U.S. during his early school days. After few years, he, along with his family, returned back to California to continue his high school. However, his old friends ignored him. In order to gain acceptance, he started taking drugs and got addicted to it. Despite being one of the bright kids, he failed miserably in the school. This drove his life in a wrong direction, until one of his family members introduced him to a YES-like program. After the program he completely stopped taking drugs and his vision about life changed.

Fortunately, David had a loving family and with their help he was able to get a meaningful life. Now, he is teaching YES programs in high schools. But, there are countless numbers of kids who are not lucky like David and don’t even have a caring friend or family. Folks, it is our duty to take some action to lit their soul. Yogathon is one such avenue where we can make the difference.

You may ask, what’s in it for me? First and foremost, serving others gives the greatest life satisfaction than anything else. Next, Yogathon is designed for all sorts of people from beginners to seasoned yogis. Beginner can learn Yoga through many free workshops and it keeps your body flexible, active, healthy and fit. Best thing I like about Yoga is, whether it is raining or shining, I can practice it within home without any equipment. On the other hand, Yogathon challenges a seasoned yogi to complete at least 54 rounds of “Sun Salutation” in one hour. Yogathon has other family & kids-friendly events as well. You can learn more about Yogathon at yogathan.iahv.org.

Now that you have learned that Yogathon not only helps youth, but also you, I encourage you to register today and take a pledge to raise funds from your family and friends to support youth. Personally, I have pledged to support 10 youths by raising one thousand dollars. Through generous donations of few of my friends and family, I have already raised 20% of it. So, for some reason, you are unable to register as a Yogathoner, I hope you can at least support the cause and help me to meet and exceed my fund raising goal. In that case, please use my full name “Sudhagar Chinnaswamy” under “Pledge for a Yogathoner” and donate generously. Lets strive hard and hope for a peaceful and stress-free tomorrow.

"Can we care for the youth?"

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Step up Toastmasters

Project #3: The Winning Proposal

Manual: AC - Persuasive Speaking

Jan 23, 2009

[I gave this speech after a long break from "speaking" at Toastmasters due to other roles and responsibilities.]

It’s Friday evening … 5.30pm … our kith and kin are either getting ready to party or jumping with joy for a deserved weekend. But, we have decided to spend this time at Toastmasters. Why are we here?

… to improve our communication skills – Good

… to enhance our listening skills – Excellent

… to hone our leadership skills – Fantastic.

Toastmasters help us to improve our communication, listening and leadership skills. Has this Toastmaster’s club helped to achieve these? Absolutely. But, have we realized that we need to take our club to the next level. In fact, I would state that like many banks, our club is in a crisis. Fellow toastmasters this mother, who nurtures our skills, is in need of our support.

You may be surprised or even shocked to hear that. However, the facts are that our club membership is declining and we are unable to convert majority of our guests into regular members in the recent past. The good news is that we do not need the government to bail us out. We can turn around this club. Yes! We can, but we need to step up and act now.

Today, I appeal before you on two simple, yet critical things that have profound effect on our club. First, Punctuality. Fellow Toastmasters, starting and ending our meeting on time exhibits our discipline and commitment to self-development. To begin the meeting on time, we must show up not at 6.10, but at least 10 minutes earlier.

How early do we go to airport? 1 hour for domestic flight and at least 3 hours for an international flight. If we can go hours early to catch a flight, then we can come few minutes early for Toastmasters meeting, where we improve our skills. Along the same line, imagine how frustrated and disgruntled we are if the boarded flight is delayed due to one or two passengers? Similar frustration prevails in almost all occasions where some activity is delayed. So, we must avoid delays and start our meeting on time.

Second one is responsibility. It is essential to understand our roles and responsibilities in the meeting. Remember friends this is a forum where we learn from each other and grow; the good gets better and better gets even better. Hence, we must strive our best to fulfill the roles. In addition, we should support other members to perform their duties to the best of their abilities.

Let me give an example. Imagine that you delivered a manual speech that focuses on vocal variety and eagerly looking for your evaluation. Your evaluator shows up and provides feedback about other aspects such as speech organization, preparation, and visual aids, but keeps mum about vocal variety. Now, how good is that evaluation? Do you love that? No way. Well, this is an exaggerated example. However, I wanted to stress upon the point that actions of a person, who doesn’t understand his/her role is worthless. Be an “Ah counter” or “Toastmaster” role, we must understand our meeting assignments and come prepared. I also recommend you to read “A Toastmaster’s promise” one more time and commit to that.

As citizens shape the destiny of the nation, members shape the destiny of the club. The names engraved on the trophy and the vibrant ribbons on the banner speak volumes about the members and our club performance in the past. If they could do it, then I am confident that we can. But, if we don’t act now, then the quality of our meetings will deteriorate. Making or breaking this club is in our hands. Everyone should step up to make this club stronger than ever. Folks, these two traits – punctuality and responsibility – not only help this club become better, but also take us higher in the success ladder. Can we all make a commitment to that now?

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Cold call

Project #2: Conquering the Cold Call

Manual: AC - Persuasive Speaking

Feb 22, 2008

Mr. Toastmaster, Fellow Toastmasters and welcomed guests. On the earnings day, C-level executive of your company announces that the company failed to meet its sales target for the 4th consecutive quarter. Wall Street reacts negatively to this news and your shares plummet. If you are in non-sales organization, you often wonder what is the problem with sales team? Why do they miss their targets? Well, selling expensive products takes lot of effort and time. Typically buyers are wary. In case of expensive products, the stakes are so high that they tend to be more cautious. Moreover, more than one person is involved in making the purchase decision. Sales people use a technique called “cold calling” to break this barrier and get a lead.

What is a cold call? Cold call is a process where sellers seek buyers typically over telephone. It is challenging because sellers try to change buyers to accept a new product/service. To add to it, buyers often think they do not have any need. Let me explain this with a short story. Few days back I went for a team dinner at a prominent restaurant. The project manager began ordering wines for the team. The waiter observed the order pattern for first few rounds. As time passed by, the order frequency declined. Now, the waiter sought the manager with a new bottle and asked “Sir! Would you like to try Red Zinfandel?” The manager accepted and this repeated for few times. I thought wine was inexpensive, but the total damage on that day was 1300 bucks. If he hadn’t made that cold call then he would have lost the sales and his commission (gratuity).

Now, lets see the three steps in cold call sales.

Research
First, invest in research. You got to be an expert in your domain. Research about the business, trends, your prospects and your competitors. With this information you will be able to help your buyer to improve their product effectively and economically. If you make their jobs easy, they will support you and make your job easier.

Script
Second, script your conversation. Do not open your conversation with questions such as “Is it a good time to talk?” or “How are you doing today?” Questioning is a powerful tool used in sales. Exercise caution during the questioning process. Ask questions that enable you to understand better your buyer’s situation. Avoid manipulative and/or defensive questions. Make your buyer comfortable and do not put him/her on the spot.

Review/Retreat
At the end of your conversation, review the next steps or action items. If the prospect still has any objections or concerns, pose more open-ended questions to understand their hidden problem and address it. If your buyer has a legitimate objection, then recognize it and make a friendly retreat.

Role Play
To illustrate the “cold call” sales, Ravinder and I are going to enact a short scenario. Ravinder is the manager in charge for full-size cars division at “Unique rentals” and I am the salesperson from Toyota Corporation.

[Address any concerns/objections. Review next steps.]

Conclusion
[Through series of questions understand the buyer’s situation – encourage buyer to discover that change is necessary – How does your product or service benefit the buyer – Review the action item – Address concerns, if any.]

“Always put the customer first.” To be a successful salesperson, always consider buyer as your priority and your job is to serve the buyer.

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

How to sell it?

Project #1: The Effective Salesperson

Manual: Advanced Communicator (AC) - Persuasive Speaking

Feb 01, 2008

Fellow Toastmasters and dear guests, imagine that – It’s your first day as a salesperson at a popular toy store. Your boss’ secretary comes and congratulates you for being the 25th person for that position. Wait a sec, 25th person. Are you kidding me? She says “No” and adds that Boss has your probationary assignment ready and will meet you shortly. Now, you get very anxious and start to stare at the door. Your boss, 6 ft 2 inches tall, a stout retired army general with petrifying eyes & smoking cigar in his mouth marches into your office and says, “Welcome aboard Alex! Your first assignment is to sell 2-dozen toys in a week. Either you sell it or walk out. By the way, 3 dozen will be awesome.” Other than few advertisements you have heard or seen you do not have any clue about selling a product. But, this is the job you dreamt for years and you cannot let go at any cost. Now, you begin to wonder, “How do I sell it?” Folks, I am going to present you the persuasive sales process that you can use at such situations.

Identify Buyer’s Needs

“One of the best ways to persuade others is with your ears - by listening to them.” First, gather information about your buyer’s needs and goals by asking questions. Do not overwhelm your buyer with annoying questions. Avoid questions with one-word responses. Ask questions that require longer responses and enable you understand buyer’s present situation and his/her needs and wants.

Introduce the Product

Second, once you understood the buyer’s situation, introduce your product or service. Point out the features of the products and more importantly, how that benefits the buyer and meets his/her needs. Remember the sale is important to you. But, integrity is more important than the sale. Do not hide or mask information and lose his/her trust.

Obtain Commitment

Finally, obtain commitment from your buyer. Look for signals from your buyer. It could be either a smile or nod or a statement such as “This sounds great” from the buyer. Some salespeople are reluctant to ask for commitment and guess what? They lose a sale. Remember, if you do not ask, then the answer is a sure “No.”

Role Play

To illustrate the above-mentioned sales process, Saro and I are going to enact a short scenario. Saro is a prospective buyer of a mobile phone and he walks into the Blackberry Retail store, where I work as a salesperson.

[Ask for any questions/concerns he has such as “Do you have any further questions or concerns Sir? Would like to buy this model? Assure that Saro made a right choice and will not regret it.]

Conclusion

[Get connected with the buyer – Through series of questions understand and funnel down the needs of the buyer – Introduced the product (BB Pearl or Curve) – Obtained commitment. Ask audience as to what I could have done to make it better or effective?]

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Global Warming: What can you do?

Project #10: Inspire your Audience

Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)

Jan 11, 2008

“The heaviest rainfall in 100 years caused massive landslides and flooding that killed approximately 30,000 people.”

“Fires due to dry conditions and record-breaking heat consumed one-fifth of the island.”

“Temperatures rose to 120F (49C), resulting in the highest one-week death toll on record.”

These are just few samples of numerous calamities happening around us. Do you know what causes such disasters? Yes, Global Warming is the primary cause and we are in some way responsible for that. Fortunately, the solutions to prevent such disasters exist now. More importantly the prevention is in our hands. Fellow Toastmasters and dear guests, I am going to share three easy solutions to prevent or reduce Global Warming.

Vehicle Solution

First, vehicle solution. Transportation accounts for over 30% of CO2 emissions in US. We all know that technology exists today to build fuel-efficient cars to get 40miles or more per gallon. But, do we know that increasing the average fuel mileage from 24 to 40miles is equivalent to taking 44 million cars off the road? Yes, 44 million. Lets see what ‘we’ can do:

a) When you buy your next vehicle, look for one with best fuel economy in its class.

b) When you have more than one car, use the fuel efficient one whenever possible.

c) Better yet, join a carpool or take mass transit.

These actions not only slow down the global warming, but also save you thousands of dollars over the life of the vehicle.

Energy Solution

Second, energy solution. Like better technology for transportation, the technology to build energy efficient appliances exists at least for past two decades. For instance, energy efficient standards for household appliances kept 53 million tons of heat-trapping gases out of air each year. Here are simple things we can do:

a) When it comes time to replace appliance, look for energy star compliant appliance.

b) Unplug the appliances, especially freezer, when they are not needed. Use water efficiently, because water purification requires energy.

c) Light bulbs matter – Replace regular lights with energy efficient compact fluorescent lights.

Forest Solution

Lastly, forest solution. Besides numerous other benefits, forests play a critical role in climate change: they store carbon, the main ingredient of CO2. Tropical deforestation now accounts for about 20 percent of all human caused CO2 emissions each year.

a) When you shop for furniture, purchase FSC certified timber or wood products. Certification assures that products are made of wood/timber from well-managed forests i.e., forests with min impacts to biodiversity.

b) Save paper whenever and wherever possible. For past 4 months, I have started using handkerchiefs and cloth towels, instead of paper towels. In retrospect, it feels good. If at all you must use paper towels, use only one or limited quantity at a time. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.

c) If you want to go an extra-mile, plant trees in your backyard and public areas.

Conclusion

This globe/atmosphere has always provided us with essential resources for our life: the light, the air we breathe, the water we drink, and many more. But, it has never demanded anything in return. Shouldn’t we be grateful and at least conserve those resources? It is our duty to leave this world a better place to live for our descendants. I definitely do not want to hear “Dad! Why did you do this to us?” from my children. Do you?

Fellow Toastmasters and dear guests, treat global warming as your high priority personal problem. The cost of inaction is unacceptably high and we could see severe disasters in our lifetime. We must act now! Solutions are countless, but the three easy solutions mentioned above should help you get started.

“You Shall Reap What you Sow.”

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Are you ready?

Project #9: Persuade with Power

Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)

Dec 14, 2007

National Earthquake Information Center reports that on average 50 earthquakes occur every day across the globe. We live in one of the high earthquake risk regions of the world. But, how many of you are prepared for an earthquake? Fellow toastmasters and dear guests, here are 3 simple steps to prepare yourself and your family for an earthquake.

First, know and prepare your environment. Heavy objects are prone to cause more damage during earthquake. Place the heavy objects in the lower shelves and latch the cabinet doors. Secure tall items such as bookshelves to the wall. If the object is taller than its width, secure them. That’s the thumb rule. Locate safe places in your home. When earthquake strikes, you could be in a shower and you cannot run out of your home safe. So, locate safe place in each room. Remember, Kitchen and garage are risky. Locate the exits and alternative exits such as emergency windows at home and workplace. Earthquakes can cause severe damage to utility lines and it may not be safe to use them after the disaster. Locate the shut-off valves for water, gas and electricity and learn how to use them.

Second, prepare and maintain an earthquake survival kit. The important supplies that you need to maintain are: dry foods that have long shelf life, water – at least 3 to 5 gallons per person, flash lights with extra batteries, medications, walking shoes, sleeping bags, toiletries and cash. Don’t forget your pets; maintain emergency supplies for them. Do you know that there are devices to detect and alert an earthquake few seconds before they occur? However, we do not have a device yet to predict the earthquake with certainty. Earthquake could strike us any time and at any place. So, if at all you travel, keep an emergency kit ready in your vehicle. Further, you could be stranded for long time. Make sure you have enough supplies to meet your needs for at least 72 hours.

Third, prepare for emergency communication with your family members. Remember, there is no precursor for an earthquake. So, it is likely that you are isolated from your family members when a major earthquake strikes your place. When a disaster occurs, numerous phones go off hook at the same time causing severe damage to the telephone switching systems. Hence, the switches are programmed to shut itself down in case of overload to prevent the damage. The good news is that long distance lines do not go down from too many calls. Even if it goes down, it will be brought back to service much earlier than local lines. So, arrange an out of state friend or relative as your emergency contact. Here is a sample emergency card. Prepare such emergency cards for each family member. Next, if you have family members who cannot speak English, prepare emergency information cards in English indicating identification, address and special needs.

Until couple of months back, living in bay area for more than 7 years with no earth tremor, I always thought I would never have to prepare myself for an earthquake. Let me share a short story. It was October 30th. Kids were eagerly waiting for the next day, Halloween. My wife and I were in our living room watching TV. Our daughter, 18 months old, was playing with her dolls. My friend has gone for shopping with his family for their daughter’s first birthday. It was 4 minutes past 8pm. Then all of a sudden, we heard a loud noise upstairs. It was as if people were throwing huge stones on our roof. Swiftly the whole building started shaking. Flower vases and photo frames fell down. It was an earthquake, medium one, with a magnitude of 5.4. As soon as we realized, we picked our daughter and ran out of our home. Fortunately, it was a minor jolt and there was no damage. However, that served as a wakeup call for me. So, fellow toastmasters and dear guests Earthquakes are real and can occur anytime. By following simple steps outlined above, you could minimize the damage and, more importantly, save lives.

Before it is too late, ACT NOW.

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Journey to Asia

Project #8: Get Comfortable with Visual Aids
Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)
Nov 16, 2007

The Sun has set fire in the eastern horizon, birds started chirping and my alarm went off. It was August 23rd 2007 morning. I woke up with my heart and mind filled with eagerness and excitement. The day I awaited for more than 200 days finally came. Yes, it was the first day of my summer study trip to Asia. Buckle up!!! Fellow toastmasters [and dear guests] as I take you to exotic places of three Asian countries in next 5 minutes.

First, let’s go to South Korea the country that was devastated 60 years ago by war. The South and North Korea is separated by a special area called demilitarized zone (or DMZ for short). DMZ is one of the must to visit places in Korea and is approximately an hour drive from Seoul. DMZ tour comprises of visit to Freedom Bridge at Imjingak, Dora observatory, 3rd infiltration tunnel and finally Dorasan railway station. Here are some insights if you plan for the DMZ tour:

Book the DMZ tour through agency, 24 hour advance booking is recommended, and Original passport is required to tour the DMZ area. Be aware of the restricted use of camera and respect the rules. Otherwise, you may have to spend rest of your life in prison. If you are in good health, take the walking tour to the 3rd tunnel. Always wear helmets during the tunnel walking tour. Other interesting things to do at Seoul include: visit to Seoul Tower, Gyeongbok palace tour and shopping at Itaewon. You can buy genuine counterfeit goods for very cheap price.

Second, let’s fly to Hong Kong, the international financial center. One of the must visit attraction in Hong Kong is Big Buddha temple at Lantau Island. This is the world’s largest, seated, outdoor, bronze Buddha. The statue is 85 feet tall and weighs 200 tons. Here are some tips:

Allow at least 4 to 5 hours to visit Big Buddha. The trip includes a subway (MTR) ride to Lantau Island followed by a 45 minute bus ride. Finally, you need to climb 268 steps to go to the temple top. The temple gate closes at 5.45pm, so be sure to start early for the evening visit to temple. Other exotic places include: Avenue of stars, Victoria Peak, Clear water bay, Nan Lian Garden and Chi Lin Nunnery at Diamond Hill.

Next, let’s go to two cities in China, the country that houses the largest population in the world. Oriental pearl tower, the second tallest skyscraper in Shanghai, is 468 meters tall. Night view on top of the tower is a feast to our eyes. It is recommended to go the Pearl tower in the evening before Sunset, so that you can get the glimpse of city in both day and night light. In fact, it is a general recommendation for any skyscraper.

Next, one is Great Wall of China in Beijing. It is one of the wonders of the world and does not require any introduction. Here are some tips: Be prepared for a nice/strenuous hike. If you plan to hike, then wear comfortable clothes and shoes. Carry water bottles. Btw, do not forget your camera.

Other interesting places in China include: Bund site seeing tunnel, Cruise on the Bund and Yuan-Yuan gardens in Shanghai and Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven in Beijing.

To recap, let’s take a Google Earth tour to these places. Though the satellite image resolution for some of the sites is not good, this tour should give you a nice perspective of location of these places.

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Heart Burn

Project #7: Research Your Topic
Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)
Oct 19, 2007

Ohhh! That fiery feeling! The feeling of liquid coming back to your mouth! The bitter taste in your throat! The burning in your chest! If these symptoms sound familiar to you, you may be among the millions of Americans who suffer from heartburn. Statistics indicates that about 25 million experience heartburn daily and 60 million monthly. How many of you suffer or have suffered from these symptoms? Well, Good evening toastmasters and fellow guests, this speech educates you about heartburn, one of the common health problems, the causes and preventive tips.

Well, what is heartburn? Before that, let’s take a quick look at our digestive system. The mouth, throat, esophagus, and stomach. The junction or valve between the esophagus and stomach is called the Lower Esophagus Sphincter (LES). Heartburn is the common ailment of esophageal disorder. The digestive stomach acid (a.k.a., gastric acid) that helps the body in food digestion often remains in stomach. However, when LES does not close the stomach acid can reflux upward. This reflux irritates or injures esophagus and result in a sensation known as heartburn.

What causes the heartburn? When functioning normally, the LES opens like a door that allows food into the stomach but not out the same way. However, at times the LES relaxes and allows stomach juices to flow upward into the esophagus. This relaxation exposes the esophagus to the harsh acid from the stomach. Various lifestyle and dietary factors can contribute to heartburn by

1. increasing the relaxation of the LES, allowing it to open
2. increasing the amount of acid produced in the stomach
3. increasing stomach pressure, or
4. by making the esophagus more sensitive to harsh acid.

These triggers vary from person to person. The most common contributing factors include the following:

Eating/Dietary Habits

• Eating foods such as citrus fruits, chocolate, peppermint, tomatoes, raw onions, garlic, black pepper, fatty or spicy foods
• Drinking beverages such as coffee, tea, citrus juices, and caffeinated or carbonated beverages
• Drinking alcoholic beverages, particularly before bedtime
• Eating less than two hours before bedtime

Certain positions

• Lying down, especially within two hours after eating
• Bending over

Medical reasons

• Pregnancy
• Taking certain antibiotics and pain medications
• GERD (gastro esophageal reflux disease)

Lifestyle habits

• Being overweight
• Smoking
• Hectic lifestyle
• Wearing restrictive or tight clothing around the waist

How can you avoid heartburn? First, let’s see what can be done if you have heartburn. Talk to your physician and assess the situation. He/she will be able to guide you to appropriate recovery path. I would highly recommend this. However, if for some reason you are unable to talk to your physician then my suggestion would to control your diet, which means, no food and beverages that cause heartburn. Second, elevate your whole upper part of the body – not just the head – while sleeping. Elevating just your head could cause neck pain. Third, take a brief stroll or walk before your sleep.

As the saying “Prevention is better than cure” goes, we should prevent before anything bad occurs. How can you prevent yourself from getting heartburn? First, have healthy eating habits. Refrain from eating fast food items. Take non-spicy and non-fatty food. Eat regularly at the appropriate time. Refrain from taking food items/beverages that induce heartburn. Second, do not lie down or sleep immediately after having food. It is recommended to wait at least 2 hours before lying down. If you absolutely cannot wait for couple of hours, take a stroll/walk. Elevating your upper body also helps. Third, shed some pounds. Quit smoking. Reduce your stress, by doing meditation.

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Sounding good in English

Project #6: Vocal Variety

Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)

Aug 17, 2007

Good evening everyone!

How many of you can speak 2 languages? Linguists believe that bilingualism offers benefits such as an ability to see from a larger perspective, greater resourcefulness and creativity. How many of you are non-native English speaker? You may feel that this status puts you at a disadvantage among native speakers.

When English is your native language, your reading, writing and speaking skill can always be improved. When it is not your native language, there is an extra room for improvement. It is like traveling in a business class vs. economy class. :-)

Lets look at few techniques that we can try to boost our skills in a second language.

Immersion
The more you speak in English, the more interactions you have with English-speaking friends or colleagues, the more your command of English will develop. Let me tell a quick story. Couple of months back, my colleague and I were troubleshooting an issue. At that moment, one of my eyelids started to twitch and I rubbed my eye so that I can focus properly on the monitor. Seeing this my colleague asked me “are your eyes okay?” I started explaining that my eyelid is blinking or moving involuntarily and it is normal. At that time, I was not aware of the word “twitch”. She mentioned that it could be “eye twitching” and, later, she sent me a website link about the same. I precisely had the same condition explained in that website. In that interaction, I learnt a new word “twitch”, which and I’ll remember forever. At that instance, Ii I had been with a person, who speaks my native language, then I would have used our native language and never bothered to look for English equivalent.

Reading
If frequent interaction with native speakers is impossible, then the next best technique is reading. Extended reading in English helps you develop 2 things: 1) a sophisticated vocabulary and 2) skill with more complex structures of the language. If you read a lot, then the words go into your passive memory and often remain for years. If you encounter a particular word later, then your vocabulary gets activated and you’ll remember it.

Support & Guidance
Next technique is to seek guidance from a teacher or enroll into a class. They guide you and correct your mistakes before you become too fluent. By fluency, I mean the ability to speak quickly and easily. The scary part is, if you become too fluent without this, the natural mistakes you make will tend to become ingrained and it is virtually impossible to get rid of them.

You can also work with your friends or colleagues to correct both your pronunciation and your grammar. While vocabulary can be improved any time through other means, good pronunciation and grammar require the aid of a teacher or native-speaker friends.

To recap, remember this mnemonic IRS. Immersion – more interaction with English speakers help you develop your command of English. Reading – helps you to improve your vocabulary. Support and Guidance – helps you to improve your pronunciation and grammar. Being a toastmaster you have an ample opportunity to try: Immersion and Support techniques.

Final tip, read monthly TM bulletin regularly. It contains good tips to improve your language skills. My today’s speech is an extract from the article “Sounding Good in English” in this bulletin.

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Leader in You

Project #5: Your Body Speaks

Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)

May 04, 2007

Good evening fellow TMs and Guests. If you are asked to think about your childhood, what could you recollect? If you watch activities of children, what could you infer? - Curious and humble, always hungry and thirsty for knowledge, with an incredibly vivid imagination. As children we were natural leaders - we knew exactly what we wanted, were persistent and determined in getting what we wanted and had the ability to inspire, influence, and motivate others to accomplish our mission. So why is this so difficult to do as adults? What happened? We have been deprogrammed along the way.

This speech offers five easy steps to awaken the leader in you and rekindle the passion of greatness. These steps are based on Sharif Khan’s research in human development and leadership area for over 10 years.

First, Leadership starts with humility. To be a highly successful leader, you must first humble yourself like a little child and be willing to serve others. Nobody wants to follow someone who is arrogant. Whom do you want to follow: Hitler or Gandhiji? When you are humble, you become genuinely interested in people because you want to learn from them. And because you want to learn and grow, you will be a far more effective listener, which is the #1 leadership communication tool. When people sense you are genuinely interested in them, and listening to them, they will naturally be interested in you and listen to what you have to say.

Second, Follow Your Bliss. Regardless of how busy you are, always take time to do what you love doing. When you are pursuing your passions, people around you cannot help but feel impassioned by your presence. This will make you a charismatic leader. Whatever it is that you enjoy doing, be it writing, acting, painting, drawing, photography, reading, dancing, set aside time every week, to pursue these activities. Believe me, you’ll find the time. If you were to video tape yourself for a day, you would be shocked to see how much time goes to waste!

Third, Honor Your Word. This is my favorite one. Every time you break your word, you lose power. Successful leaders keep their word and their promises. You can accumulate all the toys and riches in the world, but you only have one reputation in life. How many times have you said you’re going to exercise or eat better and not followed through? We’ve all fallen into the trap of saying we’re going to do something and then finding every possible excuse not to do it. Have you noticed that the next time you make a similar promise to yourself it’s tainted with doubt? You don’t completely trust that you’re going to do what you say. Honoring word pays huge dividends in everyone's life. Your word is gold. Honor it.

Next, Be Yourself. Read about great leaders and use your research on great leaders as models or reference points to work from, but never copy or imitate them like a parrot. Everyone has vastly different leadership styles. History books are filled with leaders who are soft-spoken, introverted, and quiet, all the way to the other extreme of being outspoken, extroverted, and loud, and everything in between. A quiet and simple Gandhi or a soft-spoken peanut farmer named Jimmy Carter, who became president of the United States and won a Nobel Peace Prize, have been just as effective world leaders as a loud and flamboyant Churchill, or the tough leadership style employed by The Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher. Be yourself, your best self, always competing against yourself and bettering yourself, and you will become a first rate version of YOUSELF instead of a second rate version of somebody else.

Finally, be a giver. Leaders are givers. By giving, you activate a universal law as sound as gravity: life gives to the giver, and takes from the taker. The more you give, the more you get. If you want more love, respect, support, and compassion, give love, give respect, give support, and give compassion. Be a mentor to others. Give back to your community. As a leader, the only way to get what you want is by helping enough people get what they want first. I would like to repeat Sir Winston Churchill’s words here: “We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.”

In sum, developing the Leader in you requires a process of unlearning by self-remembering and self-honoring. Being an effective leader again will require you to be brave and unlock the door to your inner attic, where your childhood dreams lie. Remember!!! Be humble, follow your bliss, be yourself, be a giver, and honor your word always.

Digital Photography - Tips

Project #4: How to Say it

Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)

Mar 30, 2007

[I did not script the complete speech]

Good evening fellow toastmasters and guests. Though my speech is titled as Digital photography, the tips and concepts are common and apply to film photography as well.

Imagine a situation where you or your spouse wanted to take photos of your kid. You spend lot of time to dress your kid up. To make your little prince/princess give a good pose or cute smile, you have to do lot of gymnastics or funny actions. Believe me, it is not an easy process. After all the drama, you and your spouse wanted to see the photos. What if your photo turns out to be like this? Oops! Shaken photo. Or like this? Oh, ho. Bad lighting (typically indoors). How do you feel in this situation? Bad? Guilty? or embarrassed? Can you avoid this? Yes, you can and that is the objective of this speech.

Okay, here is my agenda.

[Speech]

Lets move on. Here is an easy way to remember the aperture and shutter speed combination. Imagine 2 different water hoses connected to a tap: Bigger hose for large aperture and a smaller one for small aperture. Now, you want to fill a bucket with water using these hoses. Assume that bucket is nothing but the film or image sensor and water is nothing but light. If want to fill the bucket with small hose then you need to open the tap for longer time i.e., longer shutter speed. If you need to fill the bucket in less time i.e., shorter shutter speed, then you need bigger hose, which means larger aperture.

Lastly, camera manuals typically contain some of these information and operating instructions. Read, or at least browse them, Practice and be Creative.

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.

Arise, Awake!

Project #3: Get to the Point
Manual: Competent Communicator (CC)
Dec 15, 2006

Good evening President, Fellow Toastmasters and Guests. For quite some time I was looking for a theme for my 3rd speech and when I browsed through the TM’s manual last Sunday, I decided on inspiration theme. I am sure that almost all of us have some goals in life. So my question for you today is “How many of you are working towards achieving those goals?”

Well, this speech is an attempt to fire up few cells in your body to work towards your goals. As soon as I decided this theme, two things came to my mind: First one is Steve Job’s commencement address at Stanford University. It is one of the excellent inspirational speeches I have ever heard. Second one is a forwarded email titled “10 Things you can do today to jump start success.”

To begin with, Jobs’ speech is about 3 stories of his life: Connecting the dots, Love & loss and death. I would like to share my personal story and some excerpts that like from his speech.

Ever since college days, I dreamt to do higher studies, but soon after I completed my undergrad I joined Wipro Technologies as a Software Engineer. A year passed by and the academic spirit was still lingering in my thoughts and by mid 99, I decided to do Masters in Science. My GRE and TOEFL scores were decent enough to get into an US university. But the Creator had a different equation for me. The day I took GRE exam, my Dad had a heart attack and Doctor told that his coronary artery has 90% blockage. A week later he underwent an open-heart surgery and being the only son and I was indecisive as whether to do higher studies. But my Mom came to me and said, “Dad asked you not to get distracted with the recent happenings and do what you like to do.” She also reminded me about my friend who had plans to pursue his career abroad. That rang a bell and I took a job in US and trust that it would work OK.

Jobs mentioned that one can only connect the dots of one’s life when looking backward, not looking forward, and so “you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever.” In retrospect, given the recession and dot COM burst during 2001, my trust worked out pretty well for me. Thankfully my Dad is in good health and I am doing MBA at SCU.

In his second story, Job shared his failure at Apple, where he was fired from the company he has created. Two snips I liked from his 2nd story are: “Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith.” Next, “the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven’t found it yet, keep looking. Don’t settle.”

When I heard this, I recalled Winston Churchill’s golden words: "Success is never final. Failure is never fatal. It is courage that counts."

Jobs’ 3rd story was even more inspiring and the message was: “Your time is limited; so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.”

I would like to mention a fantastic quote by Walt Disney here: "All our dreams can come true - if we have the courage to pursue them."

Next, I am going to share few things that you can do today to achieve your goals:

First, Read or listen to something that motivates you every day. Don’t let a single day go by without providing yourself external motivation.

Second, Make goals and re-write them every day. The hardest part of making big goals is starting. Break down the task into milestones that you can reach in few years.

Third, only sleep as much as you need to. Sleep is obviously important, but don’t use the most important hour of the daydreaming. If you go to bed at 12 and wake up at 8, begin to wake up at 6:30 and go to bed at 11. Chances are there is an extra time each day that you could use to do things that make you more happy and successful.

Next, Focus on what you can do. Stop assigning blame and don’t look for excuses. Do not try to change others, make a decision and then take action.

To conclude, if you can do only one of the above-mentioned things, then my recommendation would be “Read or listen to something that motivates you every day”. Also, I would like to remind you of Robert Frost’s poem: “The woods are lovely, dark and deep.
But I have promises to keep.
And miles to go before I sleep.
And miles to go before I sleep” and a quote from Swami Vivekananda “Arise, Awake and stop not till your goal is reached!”

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Copy of this presentation can be found here.