An Adventurer with Strong Will power
Interviewed by: Saleh Abdullah Alkhamyasi
TM Manoj S Ranade has been
living in Oman for sixteen years with his wife Nehal. The Couple have two
adorable children Kaneesha and Ronith. Manoj hails from Ahmadabad, India. Armed
with an MBA in Marketing, a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering and extensive
professional experience he works at Saud Bahwan Group as Deputy Senior Manager at
Ford Sales.
This Toastmaster is serious yet
light. He is a go getter with a deft touch of humor. TM Manoj is one of those
who are credible because he insists on setting the track right and capitalizing
on his own uniqueness. This year he was flitting like a butterfly as a
contestant, mentor and dedicated seasoned toastmaster. Away from the day to day engagement he is
passionate about photography and automobiles the two things his wife envies the
most simply because they drag him away from home.
“Let us talk” met this
passionate toastmaster whose strong determination and will Power set him apart
as a role model to share his experience with us. We caught a hold of him at
Oman Annual Toastmasters Conference –OTAC 2013 where he was chairing a Table
Topic Contest. He cheerfully welcomed our invitation and our conversation with
him took the following direction:
· I was quickly able to grasp that this is one
forum where I could share ideas & viewpoints with likeminded people and at
the same time, effectively channelize the extra energy that I had in me to
learn something new.
· My Toastmasters journey has been full of
milestones. Each session that I attend is a milestone in itself as there is
always something new that I learn at every session.
· As I moved up the hierarchy of various roles, one thing I have
learnt is that Communication Track of Toastmasters is much attractive,
enriching & full of learning as compared to the leadership track.
·
A lot more could have of course been
achieved as the hunger for Education & Training remains perennially
unsatiated.
·
The learning that can be derived out of
contest participation is absolutely unparalleled and it would be my sincere
request to each Toastmaster who has attained a reasonable level of confidence,
to start participating in Contests.
·
For those who take loosing seriously my
advice would be “Just Chill”. Winning is not everything, but wanting to win is.
And as long as you have wanted to win and did put up your best effort
surpassing your own expectations, that is important.
·
This experience as a President is what
transformed me into a leader that I am today, trying to influence people and
making them rise to the best of their potential.
·
if every senior Toastmaster in the
Division takes it on himself / herself to mentor at least three budding TM’s or
help a new club during its nascent stage, the success our Division would
achieve would know no bounds.
·
The other approach that I tend to follow
towards self development is to spend maximum possible time with my children.
·
Past International President Helen
Blanchar’s words “If you get out of Toastmasters all there is to get out of
Toastmasters, you’ll never get out of Toastmasters”.
When and why did you
join toastmasters?
I joined Toastmasters in April 2007. Initially, entries to
the SBG Toastmasters (a Corporate Club) were restricted through nominations by
Dept. Heads. However, I didn’t have the patience to wait for my turn and my
curiosity saw me attending one of the sessions as a guest. That’s it! I got
hooked on to TM right from that day. I was quickly able to grasp that this is
one forum where I could share ideas & viewpoints with like minded people
and at the same time, effectively channelize the extra energy that I had in me
to learn something new. The mutually supportive & positive learning
environment that Toastmasters offers has made me fall in everlasting love with
this wonderful movement.
What are some milestones
you have achieved in toastmasters?
My Toastmasters journey has been full of milestones. Each
session that I attend is a milestone in itself as there is always something new
that I learn at every session. To recall a few momentous milestones, my P1
speech, my award winning speech at out club’s Centennial Session Celebrations,
my P10 speech, my various Club Officer roles, the Area 65 Contest of 2011-2012
in my capacity as an Area Governor (by far the best TM Contest in Oman, in
terms of event organization & execution) and thereafter my recent winning
of the 1st Runner’s Up Award in the Area 65 Evaluation Contest
2012-2013.
What roles did you serve earlier? And what are the lessons
learnt from that roles?
VP-Membership,
VP-Education, Club President, Area Governor, Asst. Div. Governor (Education
& Training). As I moved up the hierarchy of various roles, one thing I have
learnt is that Communication Track of Toastmasters is much attractive,
enriching & full of learning as compared to the leadership track. This, by
far has been my biggest lesson.
Tell us about your role as ADG Education & Training Last
year?
As ADG Education
& Training I was able to render a strong support to the IPDG Mohammed Salar
in terms of fulfilling the Education & Training needs for the entire
Division. We were able to successfully complete the Club Officer Training for
all Clubs in the Division; we held the Judges training twice before the contest
season and also had held few other exciting training programs. A lot more could
have of course been achieved as the hunger for Education & Training remains
perennially unsatiated.
Tell us about your experience as a contestant? And what is
your advice for those who take loosing seriously?
My experience as
a contestant has been simply amazing. It has been a top of the world experience
each time that I have participated in any contest. The learning that can be
derived out of contest participation is absolutely unparalleled and it would be
my sincere request to each Toastmaster who has attained a reasonable level of
confidence, to start participating in Contests. For those who take loosing
seriously my advice would be “Just Chill”. Winning is not everything, but wanting
to win is. And as long as you have wanted to win and did put up your best
effort surpassing your own expectations, that is important. The fun &
learning lies as much in participating as in participating & winning.
Toastmasters is where leaders are made. Relate this to your
experience as president of your club?
My role as President is what has made me what I am today in
Toastmasters. Our Club follows a schedule of weekly club meetings and hence to
come up with a new, inspiring speech every week was a tough challenge to begin
with. Initially for a month or two, I used to get tensed up as the D Day
approached every week. But thereafter it became fun. I started looking out for
the inspirational happenings in my day to day life and grew eager to convert them
into a short inspirational speech at the next TM Session. I actually started
looking forward to the D Day every week. I was able to influence Toastmaster
members & other people attending the sessions as guests during those
initial 3-4 minutes of every session. This experience as a President is what
transformed me into a leader that I am today, trying to influence people and
making them rise to the best of their potential.
Our Theme this year “Touch to Transform” how did you
contribute to make this a true reality in our Division?
“Touch to
Transform” is a very vibrant and
personalized theme which appeals to each and every Toastmaster member. I salute
the current Div Gov Yasser and his wonderful team, not only for choosing this
wonderful team, but also living it at every interaction that the Division has
with each & every member of the Toastmasters fraternity of Oman. As a part
of my little contribution to this, I chose three fellow Toastmaster
members whom I felt I could “transform” by me “touch” and believe me I have
been quite satisfied with the success I have met. Mentoring the newly formed
SAB TM Club (which was formed under my Area last year) & offering them a
helping hand towards the threshold of success at which they are at today, has
also been my modest contribution to the “Touch to Transform” theme of the
Division. The reason for stating this here is just to illustrate that , if
every senior Toastmaster in the Division takes it on himself / herself to
mentor at least three budding TM’s or help a new club during its nascent
stage, the success our Division would achieve would know no bounds.
Tell us about your reading habit & what are you reading
at the moment?
I am not that
much of an avid reader. I prefer looking at & learning from real life experiences
rather than sticking into a book to derive inspiration. I fall back to reading
only when I don’t have much outdoor adventure to do or at times to show my wife
that I am upset (lol). Nevertheless, the one book that I have been attempting
to complete over the last few months is “Building Left Brain Power” and
it would surely take me a few more months to overcome the challenging task.
What other approach do you follow in developing yourself?
The other
approach that I tend to follow towards self development is to spend maximum
possible time with my children. Believe me, “a child is the father of man” and
my home stands testimony to this famous adage. Expressing the minutest of the
human feeling and persevering with every need & want is what I keep learning
from my eight year old son.
What is your advice to the budding toastmasters?
Attend every session, take up roles as
frequently as possible, deliver speeches at a steady but long enough intervals
wherein you are able to raise the bar for yourself to see an improvement in
each speech and at the same time, your audience (fellow members) look forward
to seeing your next speech (believe me this is extremely motivating). Take part
in as many contests as possible. Be adventurous. Try your hand at areas which
you perceive as you are weak at, be it humor or table topics. If you feel you
are weak at it, take it head on.
What is your feedback on OTAC this year?
Let me say first & foremost, it was a well planned & executed event. The time element was well managed and it has resulted in a great difference and made people at ease. Of course if it was complimented with a good professional workshop, something like the Lance Miller one that we participated in recently it would have been extremely sensational.
A last word you want to conclude with
Past
International President Helen Blanchar’s words “If you get out of Toastmasters
all there is to get out of Toastmasters, you’ll never get out of Toastmasters”.
Area Governor's Message
 |
| AG Robin Anand |
Toastmaster Credentials
ACB ALB
Immediate Past President
Have worked as VP Education and VP PR
Mission - Establish a mutually supportive culture among all the clubs and leverage each other’s strengths and Achieve more together
Vision - A wonderful fraternity of clubs where members learn from each other and spread the learning and joy of toastmasters around them in the society.
Values - Integrity, Service to member, Fairness & Respect for every member
I would achieve the above by
Sharing my rich experience of working with a club like Saud Bahwan Toastmasters and leaders like DTM Ramesh and DTM Harish.
Have a close relationship with all club officers and help them achieve their goals
Plan a lot more inter-club events within area with objective to create more interest in sessions
Plan critical educational sessions for the area after assessing the learning needs of each club
Try and establish a new club which could add more colour to the toastmaster’s fraternity within the area
Celebrate the toastmaster’s spirit by organizing the best Area contest we can
Make Area 65 an area we all love to be in...
My Team
 |
| Area 65 Team 2012 |
Assistant Area Governor Education and Training
– Stephen Brass
Assistant Area Governor Marketing – Sri Ram
HariPublic Relations Officer – Manoj Baijal
Treasurer – Manoj Chacko
Area 65 Clubs
Morison Muscat Toastmasters
Saud Bahwan Toastmasters
MBP Toastmasters
Muscat Overseas Toastmasters
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