We are 25% MBA’s now. It time to celebrate!! While the whole campus has gone crazy with parties, I choose to travel back home to take some off. I am celebrating in my own way, through an intense 16 hour sleep schedule at my home. Parents are little concerned with my sleep timings and worry whether this is what I do at as well ISB. 20 Lakh for sleeping is little too much:P. Really, time flies at ISB. I heard that so many times, but its one thing to hear and another to experience the same. Many of us have been caught by surprise that Term 2 has already ended. Most of the people still remember the flow of Term 1 and connect back to things that happened there. But how exactly did Term 2 progress? Everyone thinks they hardly ever interacted with people sitting next to them in Term 2. There was hardly any gap between Mid Terms and End Terms. It’s like just yesterday when we spend 16 hours locked in a room understanding that Mark Start !! How come we ended so soon? Here is the brief snapshot of what all happened in Term 2 – as much as I vaguely remember!
In terms of Academics, Term 2 will always be remembered as Mark Strat and DMOP term. Two subject where opportunities to learn were immense yet the workload ensured that we succumb to just keeping pace with latest assignment submissions of these subjects. Personally, I really enjoyed the MarkStrat game. I think it helped me conceptualize everything taught in the class and it helped that we did well overall in the game. Given the addictive nature of the game, I am looking forward to participate in E-Strat – the global competition in the game. DMOP was a tough for me as for any non-engineers. Many engineers on campus were actually hiding their identity as engineers – such was the impact of the subject. Understandably the concepts taught in the subject have significant applications once we move to real world but most of us, looking towards marketing or strategy as career options, think we would not be directly involved in Operation related activities. Now coming to the subject that I and perhaps the whole campus loved and learnt most – Competitive Strategy!! Our section was unfortunate to miss out as we didn’t get Mr. Prashant Kale as our prof during first half but we were compensated with even better option – Mr. Harbir Singh. Each of 10 classes of CompStrat covered a case and opened up new dimensions for each of us. Whether it was about Potler’s five forces, or Cost based advantage of Southwest or Sustaining C.A. case for Wal-Mart – everything was so fascinating. The best part of each case was that we used to put over selves on a layer higher that CEO and analyze each and every move the CEO. No wonder Strategy Consulting is most sought after profession among MBA’s. My final comments on the fourth subject – Macro Economics! Excellent subject with huge implication of decoding the complex terminologies of Capital Markets, Labor Productivity, Debt-to-Equity Ratio, Free Trade etc. Economic Times has started way more sense now and I realize how superficial was my reading of ET earlier and what depth I used to miss. Also, I believe Macro Economics may not be of immediate use in short term for our careers but going forward, understanding Macro Economics concepts will be required to take decisions about operating any firm.
Along with these aspects, the number other activities took place at Campus in Term 2. I wish I could write on details of each. GSB Core and extended Core has been formulated, all CLUBs are functional now, already couple of conferences have been held at ISB, the bidding for Exchange Programs is over and many of CMs have got their first choice of exchange programs, ELP projects have already been declared and we have submitted our EOI for the same, ICON – Internal Consulting Initiative of ISB has also been kick started, LDP – Leadership Development Programs are also in progress, B-Plan competition preparations have started among several groups, Section Wise competitions for Relay Race, Swimming, Football took place and my section did well overall, number of Alumni have been pouring on campus to guide us further, and etc etc. It’s amazing how we manage to pull off all these activities along with on-going pressure of studies. I think this will be the biggest take away from ISB. Nothing will seem impossible or even difficult after this. You just need to jump into the waters and you are sure to find your way out.
All said n done, I think there is a huge conspiracy going in time theory. I think someone is manipulating against me and my holidays back home are getting expired quickly. I have mixed feeling while heading back to ISB to face the toughest term at ISB – Term 3. Nevertheless, I will be just matter of few hours (at least that’s what it appears) that Term 3 will be over and I will be writing a similar write up for 37.5% MBAed !!
Showing posts with label The Firsts in my life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Firsts in my life. Show all posts
Friday, July 17, 2009
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Goa Trip - Capturing those incredible moments !!!
One of my best trips! Awesome place, awesome occasion, awesome peer group, and above all, the unique combination of 4 B’s – Goa's USP - that made the trip deeply embedded in our memories forever. Perhaps this post will assist in some way to remember the nitty gritties of the tour!!!
Day 1 – The Lost Castle
We arrived at Goa 8:00 P:M and targeted 9:30 P:M to hit the beach. Most of us were envisioning shacks, beer, and beach everywhere during our flight from Delhi. The guest house guy was surprised at the pace with which we arrived, changed, and left. Soon we were at Calangunte Beach – most of us struggling n fighting over the correct pronunciation – and the shack closest to sea was chosen for the grand opening of an innings to meet our target of 100 Beers during the Goa Trip!!
Ankit and I did a “Bottoms Up” with the first beer, and decided that this will be our eeeeeestyle to start every booze party. Ankit later backed out though. 5 of us were preparing our Beer Castle, where each person will arrange his empty bottles in his castle and as the end we will all compare the count. Ashu, couldn’t help repeat 100 times – This is a great idea!! By early morning, all the tourists except 5 of us had disappeared and our beer castle had grown significantly high. Two B’s were already working here – Beach and Beer. However the castles we prepared were lost forever. The digital camera we clicked ourselves with got lost at either of three places – Dropped in sea or lost in beach sand or stolen by the waiter. We could not locate / remember where and who saw it last – The Castles were big you know. The camera loss also meant that we lost our pics of our castles forever. Also, sacrificed were two cell phones – something made two guys dive n jump in water with cell phones in pocket – the castles were huge you know. Moving on, we hired an Auto this time, a unique one. Guess what – The auto had a gate, yes I mean a physical gate that would open just as a car’s do. I repeatedly asked the auto guy the secret behind the gate 8-10 times before my friends helped me realize we could be dropped, rather throw, in middle of the road- The castles were huge you know. I still think that the auto was pretty cool. So impressed was I that I have brought a Memento, a magnet, of the Goa Auto. That brought us to end of very short yet very expensive day at Goa.
Day 2 – The Banana Ride and the other 2 B’s
The next day started with an incessant search for our ride – A bike or car. Good fortune prevailed and we ended up picking Bajaj Avenger over a car or jeep. From there on, the bike rides contributed most significantly to our overall experience.
Water Sports at Calangunte was primary agenda of the day. We didn’t click ourselves much there – the consciousness from loss of digital camera was enough to teach me not to risk my Nikon D40. The two firsts that I personally experimented were Para-gliding and Banana ride. During Paragliding we learnt how cool Goa actually is. The instructor was absolutely fine if we were to bring beer and take it with us in the air. What a missed opportunity!! We contemplated to go to shore n bring our bottles but then, sensibility suggested that we park this thought – let it be our driver to return back to Goa. Next, was the acme of the Goa trip, the Banana Ride. The excitement of being throw open in the sea, Nitin’s frantic search for land and repeated requests to the vendor “Bhaiya, mughe mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, aab please dobara mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, please boat mein hi le jayo” , Ankit’s confidence that I and Varun caught as fake when he said “Main theek huin yaar but mughe lagta hai ki tum aur boat mugh se doorrr ja rahe ho”, “Aur koi khass baat nahin, lekin bohat pani chala gaya hai anndar” - All of us thought at one point or the other that we will never be able to get back to the shore. We fell 5 times while trying to get on the Banana, scaring off the “boat” guy also. At last, we all survived – we grew bit heavier n saline due to amount of water and salt we consumed but we survived – One of my most exciting experience ever.
During all this, we were also steadily progressing towards our objective – 100 Beers. Of course by this time, the 4th B – Babes also contributed in our enriching experience. Nikon D40 SLR with excellent zoom (Am I marketing for Nikon – So be it) helped us capture and appreciate beauty God so carefully created. There were numerous foreigners from across the word but I think nothing beats the Indian beauties. After a quick lunch, we next hit the road again towards Fort Aguada – the DCH way. During our journey, one guy sat backwards on Bike in turns, clicking close n careful photographs of other two driving. We caught attention of locals as well as several foreigners – some thought we were nerds and cracks, others thought we were cool, and some thought we were professional photographers. The trip to Fort was good n helped us take some very good shots and we drove back to Vacautor Beach – the rock beach – to view the Sunset.
Fresh from my experience of Sunset in San Diego, I must say that Goa’s sunset was a disappointment; I was expecting wonderful display of colors n hoping to take some great shots – both went incomplete since the Sunset was nothing spectacular. Nevertheless, it was pretty refreshing and we moved to “The Saturday Nite” market in Arpora. We explored n rode through numerous roads in the interiors of Goa and loved it. The market was pretty good, most of stalls n shops were owned by foreigners. We tasted good wine and food there and moved on to our favorite place, the Beach Shacks at Baga Beach that was lot more happening than Calangunte as far as nightlife is concerned. We tasted Cashew Feni and danced quite a lot at the open disc. Nitin wanted to sleep at the Beach itself but was informed and scared by the waiter about potential raids by police or stray dogs wandering around. He rejected the idea. While returning back, Ankit turned down plan to go to Café Coffee day and earned several curses from us. It worked. Police tried to stop Ankit’s bike, he ran instead, police followed, and finally caught him. Ankit still maintains that he just paid 300 Rs but we continue to be skeptical – must have been something more, either money or …………
That brought end to Day 2@ Goa!! Thrilling, exciting, awesome, fantastic, fabulous, fantabulos– What not!
Day 3 – Beer Game and Pressure censors!!
Day 3 was always about Beer Game. Nothing else was planned. We took a call to skip driving 80 Km to South Goa and focus on North Goa. We picked up the happening Calangunte again. Before I get into specifics, first I will briefly explain what exactly Beer Game is.
I last played and learnt the same while at Backwaters at Allepy, Kerala. In beer game, you have people sitting in a circle with all the cards turned downwards. In turn, each person will pick up a card and each card carries a rule. If it’s anything 2-9 of Black, the person drinks Beer for those many seconds. Anything 2-9 Red, the person can nominate other person (Think who cracked the last nasty joke on you and target). 10 is Waterfall and that means Bottoms Up for everyone. “A” makes you the ruler. You can define any rule and people have to follow. For instance, I made an Alien rule. Every time you drink, you have to take an Alien out, drink, and put the Alien back. Simple as it sounds, Nitin repeated his drink three times (9 second Red nomination) because he forgot to either take out or put back the alien. Similarly, you can define other rules for Jack, Queen, and King. We went on to play the Beer game for 3-4 hours and ended up with a huge collection of empty bottles close to our shack. The people passing by were amazed at the same and wanted to click our pic with our empty bottles. The whole day went like this, chilling out in our Shack, clicking numerous pictures of each other, running, jumping in water.
As the evening approached, we were looking for a nice decent place to eat and searched “The Stone” restaurant close to Calangunte. Done with the food, Casino was the next. We learnt about “The Mint” casino in Arpora and ventured to explore the same. Nitin was at his skeptical best. According to him, everything at the Casino - the Roulette tables, people, free drinks, free food – were a conspiracy against us. He was on mission to uncover the dark secrets. While Ankit, I, and Ashu played Roulette, Nitin quietly observed everyone closely. Meanwhile, Ankit made the Roulette a perfect strategic decision making game and he would carefully articulate the exact number to bet upon – based on a paper on which he noted the previous results. However, as everyone else does, he too lost and finally concurred to appreciate that the game is all about gamblingJ. No pun intended. Later, I tried my luck and secured several big wins. Meanwhile, Nitin would touch the whole table multiple times while the game was on. The Casino guy finally asked him to stop at which he bended over and asked me “Are you sure these guys don’t have Pressure Censors to know what we bet upon and fabricate the result of the roulette? “. Sherlock Holmes was at work!! We returned from the Casino, proud of spending more than 2 hours and losing just 1500 bucks. Overall Casino experience was pretty good and I shall recommend the same to everyone visiting Goa. Finally we returned for another peaceful trip to Beach before hitting back to our place- some 4:30 in the morning.
Day 4 – Sign Off Beer and Memento Negotiation
We didn’t have much to do on the final day. Since there was some time, we went to Baga beach to click some more shots. We counted where we stand for our Beer Count and learnt we are just 1 short of 100. That was just perfect and we 5 took our final beer that we called – Sign off Beer. Done with this, we departed from three B’s – Beaches, Beer, and Babes. The 4th n last – Bike was next.
In our way, we stopped for Momento shopping. I would always remember that lady in the shop. At Goa, I learnt that everything gets negotiated. You like it or not but you have to. The Coconut Water guy would start from 25 and end at 10. Don’t even ask about the clothes. 350 to 100 is common. I was so accustomed to this by end of our tour unless I met this lady. She didn’t even negotiate for 1 rupee from initial quote. She shouted at an uncle and aunty from “Nagpur” who asked her to take out merchandise worth 1000 but bought nothing. She concluded that this is a general problem with Indians. We were shocked initially but glad later. Some shopkeeper makes sense in Goa. But in general, be prepared for some serious price negotiation to an extent that you negotiate beer prices at standard restaurants and shacks – We did this at Calangunte. Finally each of us departed from our beloved 4th B – The Bajaj Avenger Bike - and took our long drive to Airport to Delhi.
That’s all about GOA. I am in serious GOA Hangover since I am back. I can’t get over the 4 B’s. I wish we were to think of breaking Brian Lara’s record of 400 rather than focusing on just a 100. I find my healthy Unicorn nothing more than a bi-cycle now. I think Nitin should continue to probe into Casino’s pressure sensor enabled tables. May be, we should have persisted a bit to ask to lady to drop Momento prices by 1 Rs, at least live the spirit of Goa. Perhaps, we should have gone for Para-Gliding taking beer along again. One more Banana Ride. May be, this time Nitin will be find some land in middle of sea this time to position his feet. I will always remember this trip for the place, for the “bachelors type” activities, for the timing – I am closing my current version to commence a new life at ISB, and lastly, perhaps most importantly, the people I went with – I am sure never again I will have a chance to go anywhere with the same peer group. Life is fine blend of holding on and letting go. I am just collecting the maximum I can hold on and the memories of this trip will always be right up there.
Day 1 – The Lost Castle
We arrived at Goa 8:00 P:M and targeted 9:30 P:M to hit the beach. Most of us were envisioning shacks, beer, and beach everywhere during our flight from Delhi. The guest house guy was surprised at the pace with which we arrived, changed, and left. Soon we were at Calangunte Beach – most of us struggling n fighting over the correct pronunciation – and the shack closest to sea was chosen for the grand opening of an innings to meet our target of 100 Beers during the Goa Trip!!
Ankit and I did a “Bottoms Up” with the first beer, and decided that this will be our eeeeeestyle to start every booze party. Ankit later backed out though. 5 of us were preparing our Beer Castle, where each person will arrange his empty bottles in his castle and as the end we will all compare the count. Ashu, couldn’t help repeat 100 times – This is a great idea!! By early morning, all the tourists except 5 of us had disappeared and our beer castle had grown significantly high. Two B’s were already working here – Beach and Beer. However the castles we prepared were lost forever. The digital camera we clicked ourselves with got lost at either of three places – Dropped in sea or lost in beach sand or stolen by the waiter. We could not locate / remember where and who saw it last – The Castles were big you know. The camera loss also meant that we lost our pics of our castles forever. Also, sacrificed were two cell phones – something made two guys dive n jump in water with cell phones in pocket – the castles were huge you know. Moving on, we hired an Auto this time, a unique one. Guess what – The auto had a gate, yes I mean a physical gate that would open just as a car’s do. I repeatedly asked the auto guy the secret behind the gate 8-10 times before my friends helped me realize we could be dropped, rather throw, in middle of the road- The castles were huge you know. I still think that the auto was pretty cool. So impressed was I that I have brought a Memento, a magnet, of the Goa Auto. That brought us to end of very short yet very expensive day at Goa.
Day 2 – The Banana Ride and the other 2 B’s
The next day started with an incessant search for our ride – A bike or car. Good fortune prevailed and we ended up picking Bajaj Avenger over a car or jeep. From there on, the bike rides contributed most significantly to our overall experience.
Water Sports at Calangunte was primary agenda of the day. We didn’t click ourselves much there – the consciousness from loss of digital camera was enough to teach me not to risk my Nikon D40. The two firsts that I personally experimented were Para-gliding and Banana ride. During Paragliding we learnt how cool Goa actually is. The instructor was absolutely fine if we were to bring beer and take it with us in the air. What a missed opportunity!! We contemplated to go to shore n bring our bottles but then, sensibility suggested that we park this thought – let it be our driver to return back to Goa. Next, was the acme of the Goa trip, the Banana Ride. The excitement of being throw open in the sea, Nitin’s frantic search for land and repeated requests to the vendor “Bhaiya, mughe mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, aab please dobara mat girnana”, “Bhaiya, please boat mein hi le jayo” , Ankit’s confidence that I and Varun caught as fake when he said “Main theek huin yaar but mughe lagta hai ki tum aur boat mugh se doorrr ja rahe ho”, “Aur koi khass baat nahin, lekin bohat pani chala gaya hai anndar” - All of us thought at one point or the other that we will never be able to get back to the shore. We fell 5 times while trying to get on the Banana, scaring off the “boat” guy also. At last, we all survived – we grew bit heavier n saline due to amount of water and salt we consumed but we survived – One of my most exciting experience ever.
During all this, we were also steadily progressing towards our objective – 100 Beers. Of course by this time, the 4th B – Babes also contributed in our enriching experience. Nikon D40 SLR with excellent zoom (Am I marketing for Nikon – So be it) helped us capture and appreciate beauty God so carefully created. There were numerous foreigners from across the word but I think nothing beats the Indian beauties. After a quick lunch, we next hit the road again towards Fort Aguada – the DCH way. During our journey, one guy sat backwards on Bike in turns, clicking close n careful photographs of other two driving. We caught attention of locals as well as several foreigners – some thought we were nerds and cracks, others thought we were cool, and some thought we were professional photographers. The trip to Fort was good n helped us take some very good shots and we drove back to Vacautor Beach – the rock beach – to view the Sunset.
Fresh from my experience of Sunset in San Diego, I must say that Goa’s sunset was a disappointment; I was expecting wonderful display of colors n hoping to take some great shots – both went incomplete since the Sunset was nothing spectacular. Nevertheless, it was pretty refreshing and we moved to “The Saturday Nite” market in Arpora. We explored n rode through numerous roads in the interiors of Goa and loved it. The market was pretty good, most of stalls n shops were owned by foreigners. We tasted good wine and food there and moved on to our favorite place, the Beach Shacks at Baga Beach that was lot more happening than Calangunte as far as nightlife is concerned. We tasted Cashew Feni and danced quite a lot at the open disc. Nitin wanted to sleep at the Beach itself but was informed and scared by the waiter about potential raids by police or stray dogs wandering around. He rejected the idea. While returning back, Ankit turned down plan to go to Café Coffee day and earned several curses from us. It worked. Police tried to stop Ankit’s bike, he ran instead, police followed, and finally caught him. Ankit still maintains that he just paid 300 Rs but we continue to be skeptical – must have been something more, either money or …………
That brought end to Day 2@ Goa!! Thrilling, exciting, awesome, fantastic, fabulous, fantabulos– What not!
Day 3 – Beer Game and Pressure censors!!
Day 3 was always about Beer Game. Nothing else was planned. We took a call to skip driving 80 Km to South Goa and focus on North Goa. We picked up the happening Calangunte again. Before I get into specifics, first I will briefly explain what exactly Beer Game is.
I last played and learnt the same while at Backwaters at Allepy, Kerala. In beer game, you have people sitting in a circle with all the cards turned downwards. In turn, each person will pick up a card and each card carries a rule. If it’s anything 2-9 of Black, the person drinks Beer for those many seconds. Anything 2-9 Red, the person can nominate other person (Think who cracked the last nasty joke on you and target). 10 is Waterfall and that means Bottoms Up for everyone. “A” makes you the ruler. You can define any rule and people have to follow. For instance, I made an Alien rule. Every time you drink, you have to take an Alien out, drink, and put the Alien back. Simple as it sounds, Nitin repeated his drink three times (9 second Red nomination) because he forgot to either take out or put back the alien. Similarly, you can define other rules for Jack, Queen, and King. We went on to play the Beer game for 3-4 hours and ended up with a huge collection of empty bottles close to our shack. The people passing by were amazed at the same and wanted to click our pic with our empty bottles. The whole day went like this, chilling out in our Shack, clicking numerous pictures of each other, running, jumping in water.
As the evening approached, we were looking for a nice decent place to eat and searched “The Stone” restaurant close to Calangunte. Done with the food, Casino was the next. We learnt about “The Mint” casino in Arpora and ventured to explore the same. Nitin was at his skeptical best. According to him, everything at the Casino - the Roulette tables, people, free drinks, free food – were a conspiracy against us. He was on mission to uncover the dark secrets. While Ankit, I, and Ashu played Roulette, Nitin quietly observed everyone closely. Meanwhile, Ankit made the Roulette a perfect strategic decision making game and he would carefully articulate the exact number to bet upon – based on a paper on which he noted the previous results. However, as everyone else does, he too lost and finally concurred to appreciate that the game is all about gamblingJ. No pun intended. Later, I tried my luck and secured several big wins. Meanwhile, Nitin would touch the whole table multiple times while the game was on. The Casino guy finally asked him to stop at which he bended over and asked me “Are you sure these guys don’t have Pressure Censors to know what we bet upon and fabricate the result of the roulette? “. Sherlock Holmes was at work!! We returned from the Casino, proud of spending more than 2 hours and losing just 1500 bucks. Overall Casino experience was pretty good and I shall recommend the same to everyone visiting Goa. Finally we returned for another peaceful trip to Beach before hitting back to our place- some 4:30 in the morning.
Day 4 – Sign Off Beer and Memento Negotiation
We didn’t have much to do on the final day. Since there was some time, we went to Baga beach to click some more shots. We counted where we stand for our Beer Count and learnt we are just 1 short of 100. That was just perfect and we 5 took our final beer that we called – Sign off Beer. Done with this, we departed from three B’s – Beaches, Beer, and Babes. The 4th n last – Bike was next.
In our way, we stopped for Momento shopping. I would always remember that lady in the shop. At Goa, I learnt that everything gets negotiated. You like it or not but you have to. The Coconut Water guy would start from 25 and end at 10. Don’t even ask about the clothes. 350 to 100 is common. I was so accustomed to this by end of our tour unless I met this lady. She didn’t even negotiate for 1 rupee from initial quote. She shouted at an uncle and aunty from “Nagpur” who asked her to take out merchandise worth 1000 but bought nothing. She concluded that this is a general problem with Indians. We were shocked initially but glad later. Some shopkeeper makes sense in Goa. But in general, be prepared for some serious price negotiation to an extent that you negotiate beer prices at standard restaurants and shacks – We did this at Calangunte. Finally each of us departed from our beloved 4th B – The Bajaj Avenger Bike - and took our long drive to Airport to Delhi.
That’s all about GOA. I am in serious GOA Hangover since I am back. I can’t get over the 4 B’s. I wish we were to think of breaking Brian Lara’s record of 400 rather than focusing on just a 100. I find my healthy Unicorn nothing more than a bi-cycle now. I think Nitin should continue to probe into Casino’s pressure sensor enabled tables. May be, we should have persisted a bit to ask to lady to drop Momento prices by 1 Rs, at least live the spirit of Goa. Perhaps, we should have gone for Para-Gliding taking beer along again. One more Banana Ride. May be, this time Nitin will be find some land in middle of sea this time to position his feet. I will always remember this trip for the place, for the “bachelors type” activities, for the timing – I am closing my current version to commence a new life at ISB, and lastly, perhaps most importantly, the people I went with – I am sure never again I will have a chance to go anywhere with the same peer group. Life is fine blend of holding on and letting go. I am just collecting the maximum I can hold on and the memories of this trip will always be right up there.
Monday, September 08, 2008
A refreshing realization at Toast Master !!!
It isn’t easy for me to come to my blog these days. Still wanted to write a quick update on the first prize I won at Toast Master in yesterday’s meeting for I don’t want my dear blog to be devoid of the good news.
I was rated as the ‘Best Table Topic Speaker’ though I thought I could have added a lot to the content. The topic given was ‘Knowledge is Best when put into Practice’. It was even better when the evaluator showered praise on my voice, style, and flow. The best compliment perhaps was ‘It was an impromptu speech and you are our Guest. Still I would say it seemed like a prepared speech”. In my own small world, it’s a huge boost and a significant step towards my public speaking un-official career that I launched couple of months back.
This post definately deserves 'The First in my life' tag. I shall be updating about my public speaking developments as I go. For the time being, time to get back from where I came from.
Ciao
~Vinit
I was rated as the ‘Best Table Topic Speaker’ though I thought I could have added a lot to the content. The topic given was ‘Knowledge is Best when put into Practice’. It was even better when the evaluator showered praise on my voice, style, and flow. The best compliment perhaps was ‘It was an impromptu speech and you are our Guest. Still I would say it seemed like a prepared speech”. In my own small world, it’s a huge boost and a significant step towards my public speaking un-official career that I launched couple of months back.
This post definately deserves 'The First in my life' tag. I shall be updating about my public speaking developments as I go. For the time being, time to get back from where I came from.
Ciao
~Vinit
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Public Speaking – A marathon with David Brooks!!
For long, I wanted to write a post in Q & A format. Please pardon me if you find this structure imposed.
Q. Who is David Brooks?
A. David is World Champion in Public Speaking contest in 1990, have been associated with Toast Masters club for more than 20 years, author of the book “The Seven Strategies of Master Presenter”. To discover more please visit www.DavidBrooksTexas.com
Q. How do you know David?
A. Ahh…he is a childhood friend. In fact when he was writing his speech for his contest in 1990 I helped him with some fundamental corrections without which he admits he may have never won!!! (Wasn’t that outrageously audacious: P). On factual note, I heard him today at New-Delhi present with his Magic Moments collection and I am highly impressed the way he digressed the moves and gestures of speakers, suggesting that it’s no less than an ART to speak well.
Q. Why are you writing this post?
A. First because research suggests we loose 50% of content from our memory within 24 hours, next 50% in 48 hours and continue to loose at similar pace. I don’t want to loose insightful things I learnt from David today. Second, if you go right to my first post on this blog I made a promise to my blog that it will be my companion in my journey. I am man of my words my friend.
Q. Why should I read this post?
A. If you have reached this far, perhaps you are interested in either of three: - Public Speaking or David Brooks or me!! Read on, I assure you will be interested in at least one more thing that what you currently are.
You can’t have better start to your newly developed passion as I did. I have often read and tried to understood styles, presentations, speeches, and insights of numerous well known personalities. However, this is the first time I met someone accomplished personally. David left me with number of things to think, actions to take, and ways to improve my public speaking capabilities. I will note here some of the highly concise yet elaborate pieces one should take care to make credible speeches:
Body Language begins with Face:-
Speeches not backed with credible gestures will merely be imposition. You have to act as a guide to the audience with your gestures making it as simple as possible for them to interpret what you are saying. The body gestures start right from your face. Learn to let your face clearly express what you say and more importantly, what you don’t. Audience will love it.
Don’t tell the audience, take them to the scene:-
Again, the gestures -The speech should include gestures that take the audience right into the scene. If you are verbally fighting with someone in the speech, the person should appear to be at a distance with your gestures. If you are caring for someone, the person should appear right close to you.
Repetition and Restatement leads to Remember able speeches
The theme needs to be restated so that the audience stay hooked to the message.
Good writing backed with rigorous practice is pivotal for good speeches:-
Now I can relate and decode Steve Jobs. When Steve was giving his presentation on launch of i-Phone, he had his presentation behind him. Without even looking at the presentation, Steve most of time spoke exactly when the next slide was shown. This shows rigorous amount of practice that took him close to perfection.
Structure your speech like a Necklace: -
Each bead is unique story / anecdote. The thread that binds bead is your theme.
Make a point & tell a story because Facts Tell. Stories Sell.
I can’t illustrate this better. People don’t remember points, they remember the stories. So if you are writing your self-evaluation or personal statements, any adjective you use for yourself should be backed with an example. Similarly, if you are making a presentation and preaching some message back it up with a story.
Silence can be a message
Perhaps the toughest thing to do. To be silent and to keep the audience silent at the same time. For this, you need to have riveting control over the audience. Use silence at appropriate time and your presentations will fly.
Keep your own personal story file:-
Start noting small stories from your life and connect them to six emotions all human share (Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Surprise, and Fear). I am fortunate that I have been collecting and introspecting on my story for some time now. I got a new handle today to organize my thoughts – connect your stories with six emotions we all share.
Learn to use the power of misdirection.
Sometimes you have to misdirect the audience simply to gain more control. For instance, you may start an anecdote and give a pause where you feel audience will state something obvious. Once the audience does, say something different and more insightful. To surprise the audience and to re-state that “I am here. I am taking control here”.
Quite a lot of words of wisdom: - Writing them is one thing and practicing is another. This new journey in Public Speaking should be fun. I am on!!!
Q. Who is David Brooks?
A. David is World Champion in Public Speaking contest in 1990, have been associated with Toast Masters club for more than 20 years, author of the book “The Seven Strategies of Master Presenter”. To discover more please visit www.DavidBrooksTexas.com
Q. How do you know David?
A. Ahh…he is a childhood friend. In fact when he was writing his speech for his contest in 1990 I helped him with some fundamental corrections without which he admits he may have never won!!! (Wasn’t that outrageously audacious: P). On factual note, I heard him today at New-Delhi present with his Magic Moments collection and I am highly impressed the way he digressed the moves and gestures of speakers, suggesting that it’s no less than an ART to speak well.
Q. Why are you writing this post?
A. First because research suggests we loose 50% of content from our memory within 24 hours, next 50% in 48 hours and continue to loose at similar pace. I don’t want to loose insightful things I learnt from David today. Second, if you go right to my first post on this blog I made a promise to my blog that it will be my companion in my journey. I am man of my words my friend.
Q. Why should I read this post?
A. If you have reached this far, perhaps you are interested in either of three: - Public Speaking or David Brooks or me!! Read on, I assure you will be interested in at least one more thing that what you currently are.
You can’t have better start to your newly developed passion as I did. I have often read and tried to understood styles, presentations, speeches, and insights of numerous well known personalities. However, this is the first time I met someone accomplished personally. David left me with number of things to think, actions to take, and ways to improve my public speaking capabilities. I will note here some of the highly concise yet elaborate pieces one should take care to make credible speeches:
Body Language begins with Face:-
Speeches not backed with credible gestures will merely be imposition. You have to act as a guide to the audience with your gestures making it as simple as possible for them to interpret what you are saying. The body gestures start right from your face. Learn to let your face clearly express what you say and more importantly, what you don’t. Audience will love it.
Don’t tell the audience, take them to the scene:-
Again, the gestures -The speech should include gestures that take the audience right into the scene. If you are verbally fighting with someone in the speech, the person should appear to be at a distance with your gestures. If you are caring for someone, the person should appear right close to you.
Repetition and Restatement leads to Remember able speeches
The theme needs to be restated so that the audience stay hooked to the message.
Good writing backed with rigorous practice is pivotal for good speeches:-
Now I can relate and decode Steve Jobs. When Steve was giving his presentation on launch of i-Phone, he had his presentation behind him. Without even looking at the presentation, Steve most of time spoke exactly when the next slide was shown. This shows rigorous amount of practice that took him close to perfection.
Structure your speech like a Necklace: -
Each bead is unique story / anecdote. The thread that binds bead is your theme.
Make a point & tell a story because Facts Tell. Stories Sell.
I can’t illustrate this better. People don’t remember points, they remember the stories. So if you are writing your self-evaluation or personal statements, any adjective you use for yourself should be backed with an example. Similarly, if you are making a presentation and preaching some message back it up with a story.
Silence can be a message
Perhaps the toughest thing to do. To be silent and to keep the audience silent at the same time. For this, you need to have riveting control over the audience. Use silence at appropriate time and your presentations will fly.
Keep your own personal story file:-
Start noting small stories from your life and connect them to six emotions all human share (Happiness, Sadness, Anger, Disgust, Surprise, and Fear). I am fortunate that I have been collecting and introspecting on my story for some time now. I got a new handle today to organize my thoughts – connect your stories with six emotions we all share.
Learn to use the power of misdirection.
Sometimes you have to misdirect the audience simply to gain more control. For instance, you may start an anecdote and give a pause where you feel audience will state something obvious. Once the audience does, say something different and more insightful. To surprise the audience and to re-state that “I am here. I am taking control here”.
Quite a lot of words of wisdom: - Writing them is one thing and practicing is another. This new journey in Public Speaking should be fun. I am on!!!
Monday, July 28, 2008
The First in your life !!
In a recent experience, I realized that there is a usual charm associated with doing things for the first time. The first time, you begin to speak – Of course you may not reflect how you felt then but your family does, the first time you begin to ride a bi-cycle, first time you say ‘I love you’ to someone, and numerous other first. Some we remember till date such as first time I saw a Beach, some we forget in race of our lives. But to my regret, many times we simply keep on doing new things without realizing we are doing it for the first time. In such instances, we generally miss a chance to enjoy the thrill of the first.I experience another first in my life yesterday. Nothing significant if look retrospectively, yet I felt charged up to the journey. Without over-dramatizing, I reveal that the recent first was a travel in Swarn Shatabadi from Ludhiana to New Delhi. Did I disappoint you with this fact? I would love if your answer is ‘Yes – What’s so significant about it’ because that would help me make my point more assertively.
The opportunities to celebrate the first in life are numerous. It’s we who have to associate that importance to things and look at the whole routine life from an entirely new dimension. Sitting inside the Shatabadi, I didn’t find much difference other than some trivial ones such as you could feel that the train is really guzzling fuel fast, the courteous food services, and lot of foreigners in Indian trains. However, it is the connection that I made to my past that rendered me excitement to write this post. I remembered those days of traveling in Passenger trains and watching Shatabadi zooming past. Then came the time when I used to travel in Express / Super Fast trains n the speed and AC coached of the train fantasized me. Then, I began to travel in AC yet never did it in Shatabadi.
I wish to emphasis here that although the train experience sounds trivial yet the connection I could establish with this FIRST helped me make this memorable experience. I am convinced that if one continues to note and consciously add the ‘Firsts’ in his/her experiences, life would become way better and colorful. So much so that it am prompted to write this post. So much so that I am going to add new tag to my blog – The Firsts in my life and conclude that if I don’t find a post to write in this category for more 2 consecutive weeks, I am going to die without trying a lot of things even once. Steve jobs said ‘Stay Hungry Stay Foolish’. Be so – Always !!
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