PEN resumed its “Toastmasters Programme” with New Edition at its Secretariat on February 9, 2011. The programme was discontinued since August 22, 2009. The Toastmasters Programme was lasted exactly one hour: from 6pm to 7pm. Altogether 10 persons attended it.
The Toastmasters Programme formally started with the welcome speech by President Sujan Koirala. He warmly welcomed guests Suraj Duwadi, Hari Pahari, Badri Sigdel, Sachin Koirala and PEN members Guna Raj Pyakurel, Harihar Sapkota, Laxman Pd. Neupane, Bijaya Thapa and Sudarsan Risal. He also assumed the role of Toastmaster (TM) of the Day. The theme of the day was “Self-Introduction” and language had been set English.
He briefed about the rules and procedures to the participants. Then, he introduced the next two members of evaluation committee viz. Harihar Sapkota as Timer and Guna Raj Pyakurel as Ah Counter. As there were very few participants, Sujan also performed the role of Grammarian and Speech Evaluator.
This was the first attempt after a long gap; all participants were highly excited. As a demo, TM Sujan gave his self introduction. Then, each participant was asked to introduce himself in four minute time. Bijaya Thapa, Badri Sigdel, Laxman Pd. Neupane, Hari Pahari, Sachin Koirala, Sudarsan Risal, Suraj Duwadi introduced themselves one after another. After their turn, TM Sujan also insisted Harihar (Timer) and Guna Raj (Ah Counter) to give self-introduction.
After the speaking session, TM Sujan called for the reports from evaluators. Timer Harihar presented his report. Suraj Duwadi and Sudarsan Risal could not stand more than thirty second while Sachin and Guna Raj utilized the time properly. Other members could speak between 2 to 3 minutes. The result was encouraging.
Ah Counter Guna Raj presented the report of each speaker. He pointed out mainly the repeated words, pause etc. Ah counting ranged between 10 times (Sachin Koirala) to 30 times (Badri Sigdel). Since this was their first experience, the result was highly encouraging.
After Timer and Ah Counter’s report, Grammarian cum Speech Evaluator Sujan presented each individual’s report. He spoke about the strong and weak points of every participant and suggested ways to improve the weaknesses. He was quite impressed with the participants as it was the first attempt after a long time. He appreciated the speech of Sachin Koirala, Guna Raj Pyakurel and Badri Sigdel. However, Sudarsan Risal and Suraj Duwadi could not speak well as they were very weak in English. He also hinted to support in their English.
He stated that each speaker possesses potentiality for becoming a good speaker but they need to attend the Toastmasters Programme regularly in order for sharpening their speaking skills.
In the end, TM Sujan sought opinion of each individual on the day’s Toastmasters programme. Each individual was quite excited to be a part of this program. They were thankful to PEN for providing such an important platform for improving their speaking ability and vouched for the regular running of the programme. All the participants appreciated the well-articulated speech of Sachin. Some participants insisted PEN to conduct some classes to improve their speaking skills. TM Sujan assured to give some tips for improving their speaking skills.
After the individual’s comment, TM Sujan sincerely thanked each individual for active participation and formally adjourned the programme.
