FROM HICCUP TO HA, HA, HA

What happens when a chocolate from a child’s hand disappear, what happens to youngster whose mobile goes missing. What happen to a lady when her shopping trip gets cancelled and what happen to a speaker when a Toastmasters meeting is declared cancelled.

The same thing happened at Saudi Kayan Toastmasters Club. It was not just one meeting but meetings in a row that did not happen. A gasping person can be supported by resuscitation. A gasping person can be moved to intensive care unit, but what to do with a gasping club.

 

Me and Jamaan Al-Ghamdi were asked to revive the club but the modus operandi was not known to anyone of us. In the toastmasters we don’t learn by reading books, we learn by performing. I was reminded of a beautiful saying “If you sincerely decide, the whole universe conspires to get what you aspire” and we aspired to revive the club.

In the initial stage there were no speaker, we would only do the table topics. We would explain the benefits of toastmasters, we would emphasis that there is room for improvement for everyone and anyone who has the will. We stressed that every phase in life is a phase in transition; likewise your shortcoming too is a phase in transition. There are living examples in Saudi Kayan Toastmasters Club who would agree to it.

Proper planning paved the road to success and becoming the President’s Distinguished Club. Few corporate clubs achieve it. Apart from planning we carefully and attentively listened to the person who had the last say; we often thought about how to widen the scope, we though how to bring in people who were not able to attended the meeting. The committee decided to start the customized lunch hour meeting which last for one hour. It catered to two prepared speeches and three table topics. More guests visited our meeting, meeting the target now was a cake walk.

The executive committee was successful in reaching out to the lower half of the organization chart and the next focus was to reach out for the apex of it. The Toastmasters Day conducted on 13.12.2011 served the purpose. Now it has become a regular feature of the club. The management at Saudi Kayan appreciates and supports the Toastmastering Club Activities with open heart.

Toastmasters are able to see the shift, from who he was and what he is. Uncontrolled- stammering, low self-esteem, inefficiency in organizing ideas, fear of speaking without notes are now things of the past. We address it in a structured way.

Now a days neither my name appears in the agenda nor do I have a role in the meeting but I happen to be a part of the audience just like any other person. Can any person feel happy doing nothing? I have an easy answer Yes I do, when I see the new faces on the stage.

It is like the sons who have turned adult and are running the show; the father sits, watches and rejoices thinking his effort are rewarded.

Jamaan has left, I too will leave sometime but the Saudi Kayan Toastmasters Club that has taken shape will continue to reward the youth who patronize it for all time to come.