PEN Toastmasters Cell (PTC) successfully conducted Vol. 3, No. 3 Toastmasters on the theme “GOOD OL’ DAYS” at PEN Secretariat, Pashupati, Kathmandu from 5:30PM to 7:00PM on Friday June 8, 2012. Seventeen energetic youths attended the program.
President Sujan Koirala called Toastmasters Program to order at 5:30PM. He cordially welcomed guests and members respectively. He asked for a brief introduction from each participant. As he was also performing the role of Toastmasters of the Day (TMD), he introduced theme of the day “Good Ol’ Days” and stated the reasons behind picking this theme for the day. He also introduced evaluation committee members: Nilambar Badal in the role of general cum speech evaluator, Harihar Sapkota in grammarian, Binod P. Mainali in Ah-Counter and Rabindra Neupane in timer. Nepali was set the standard language for delivering the speech.
TMD Sujan introduced Kamala Basnet as the first manual speaker of the day. She spoke on “Good Ol’ Days”. She termed the period since 2009 as the ‘golden days’ as her life could take a u-turn. She, specifically, termed the time since December 2011 as ‘diamond days’ because she could meet her school friends after 16-years through the internet and could join in Pax Earth with their encouragements. She further stated that joining in Pax Earth has opened avenues for improving her speaking and interpersonal skills. She learned and enjoyed a lot after joining the organisation. She heartily thanked Pax Earth for these.
TMD Sujan introduced the second manual speaker of the day: Laxman B. Pahari who too spoke on “Good Ol’ Days”. He termed his life since 2008 as good old days. Before that, he was about to fall in the influence of bad guys and involve drug addiction. However, spending some hours of his late evening in a café at Mitrapark provided him a chance to discover friendship with an intellectual circle. Regular interaction, gossips and debates on some contemporary issues with this intellectual circle was turned out to be a panacea to stop friendship with the bad company. “The friendship with these seniors opened avenues for me to involve in Pax Earth from which I could learn to serve the poor and needy,” he said.
TMD Sujan who was also in-charge of Table Topics session, put forth three topics in the floor one by one. The topics were (1) My First Saving’s Purchase, (2) Participation in a picnic with school friends, and (3) An unforgettable moment in my school days.
First speaker in the Table Topics session Peter Badal spoke on “My first saving’s purchase”. He shared about the purchasing of a toy (motorbike) with his first saving. He said, “Saving is essential. Europeans spend whatever they earn. They are never interested to save the money. The Europe’s present economic crisis is just the outcome of this.” He likes the saving habit of Nepali and added “Nepali people save money so they don’t need to worry for such economic crisis.” Second Table Topics speaker Dev Raj Karki spoke on “Participation in a picnic with school friends”. He shared about his school’s educational tour to Gorkha and Pokhara while he was at grade 10. The third and last Table Topics speaker Reetu Adhikari spoke on “An unforgettable moment in my school days” in which she shared how she had been beaten with a pipe stick by a teacher despite completing the assignment.
After the Table Topics session, TMD Sujan passed the podium to general evaluator Nilambar for the evaluation session. Nilambar asked for the respective reports from timer Rabindra, Ah-Counter Binod, and grammarian Harihar. Timer Rabindra disclosed that manual speakers Kamala and Laxman spoke 7min 5sec and 5min 49sec respectively while Table Topics speakers Peter, Dev and Reetu spoke 2min 43sec, 2min 37sec and 2min 29sec respectively. He was happy that all five speakers could finish their speech within the allotted time.
Ah-Counter Binod reported that first manual speaker Kamala made 16 mistakes in Ah-Counting category (unusual pause, hesitation and repeated words) while second speaker Laxman made 23 mistakes. Similarly, Table Topics speakers Peter, Dev and Reetu respectively made 7, 5 and 8 Ah-Counting errors.
Grammarian Harihar, in his grammar report (grammar error, any awkward word, misuse of language), reported that manual speakers Kamala and Laxman respectively made 15 and 9 grammar mistakes in aggregate. Similarly, Table Topics speakers Peter, Dev and Reetu respectively made 9, 11 and 17 mistakes in aggregate.
Nilambar who was also performing the role of speech evaluator came up with his report. He made an evaluation of manual speakers Kamala and Laxman mainly on speech value, preparation, organisation, opening, body, conclusion and transition. In terms of speech value, Kamala’s speech was satisfactory while Laxman’s speech was above average. Both the speakers’ preparation and organisation were above average. Kamala’s opening was excellent whereas Laxman’s opening was above average. However, the body of the speech of Kamala was satisfactory while Laxman’s body of the speech was above average. Kamala’s conclusion was excellent while Laxman’s was above average. Transition of Kamala’s speech was above average while of laxman was excellent. Kamala’s speech could be more interesting if humor factor was added while the speech of Laxman lacked the humor value. Nilambar appreciated Kamala’s confidence in the presentation and liked the way Laxman built the confidence. He gave some advices to improve their future speeches.
Similarly, Nilambar made an evaluation of three Table Topics speakers. Their speeches were evaluated mainly on the ground of speech value, preparation, organisation, opening, body and conclusion. The report depicted that speech value of Peter and Reetu was above average while Dev’s speech value was satisfactory. As all three Table Topics speakers spoke choosing the spot topic, here the evaluator judged how quick and promptly the speakers prepare the speech. All three speakers’ quick preparation was satisfactory. In terms of organisation, the speeches of all three speakers were above average. Opening and conclusion of Peter’s speech were excellent while body was above average. Opening and body of Dev’s speech was excellent while conclusion was above average. Reetu’s opening, body and conclusion, all were above average. In order to make the speech more effective, Peter should not have repeated the introduction, Dev could have included more items in his speech and Reetu should have stood on her own i.e. to believe in herself. Peter’s presentation was nicely coordinated with well added conclusion with a great message. Dev had a smooth speech while Reetu had honestly presented her speech. He also gave some tips to each Table Topics speaker for improving his/her speaking and presentation skills. After the evaluation session, Nilambar returned the podium to TMD Sujan.
Bal Gopal Shrestha coordinated the Ballot Counting. Through Ballot Counting, Kamala and Dev were declared the best speakers in manual session and Table Topics session respectively. TMD Sujan awarded both the best speakers with a pen that symbolically represents Pax Earth Nepal (PEN). He also insisted all audiences to give a big round of applause to next three speakers for their effort.
TMD Sujan Koirala then assumed his original Presidential role and wholeheartedly thanked all the speakers, evaluation committee members and audiences for their valuable roles and active participation. Before wrapping up the program, President allowed if any participant is interested to add any comment on the day’s program. Utilising the opportunity, guests Kapil Deuja, Sital Mainali, Bhagawati Pandey and Pragya Tamang respectively made comments and gave useful advices for next Toastmasters.
After the vote of thanks, President formally adjourned the PEN Toastmasters Vol. 3, No. 3.
Guests and PEN members present on the occasion:
Guests: Dev Raj Karki, Reetu Adhikari, Pragya (Lisa) Tamang, Lava Dulal, Kapil Deuja and Sital Mainali
PEN members: Sujan Koirala, Bal Gopal Shrestha, Nilambar Badal, Binod P. Mainali, Harihar Sapkota, Laxman B. Pahari, Rajan Dulal, Kamala Basnet, Peter Badal, Rabindra Neupane and Bhagawati Pandey.
Reported by PEN Secretariat!!!
