An inspiring Tamil orator and writer, Ms Bharathi Baskar left us with several take-aways on the last day of our District 120 Conference - Discover 2023. Since knowledge is meant for sharing, here we go with the summary.
1. She was all praises for the Toastmasters fraternity for not only developing great speakers, but also great listeners. She firmly believes that listening equally requires intense training like speaking.
As the Internation Speech Contest was in progress, she had to wait for the speaker to conclude, to enter the hall, as per the contest rules. She was fascinated and explained the importance of how a speaker should be treated like a teacher on stage and how it is seldom followed. According to her, chief guests entering the hall while the speaker speaks, might be an intended distraction caused that will demotivate the speaker.
2. She believes, 'Communication is a path to victory, not only on stage but also in life'. She recalled the incident, where she demonstrated her debating skills and impressed her interviewer to win her job.
3. She emphasized the importance of 'knowing the audience' (அவையறிதல்). While a speaker speaks, he/she should parallelly process whether the audience is receptive, even though the primary focus is on the content.
I could clearly see that she had done her research on the kind of audience she was going to address that day. All her jokes on the plight of the IT employees landed so well because it was relatable to most of us.
4. The two thumb rules for a speaker are:- a. You should have a point. b. You should be skillful enough to convince your audience with your point.
5. The most important takeaway for me, from her speech was - 'Choose your words'. She explained the importance of going well prepared for any conversation or speech and how it would save all of our time and bring positive outcomes. An unwanted word uttered is our precious time wasted. She used the term 'சொல் சிதறல்கள்' referring to the unwanted words that get scattered all over the room, even after a person leaves. So each word we choose to use should be 'irreplaceable' and the only best word that can fit there. How can we choose such words? Yes. You guessed it right :). She says, by reading as many books as possible, you get to dominate the world of words.
6. You should always have at least 7 words in mind and be always prepared to meet any great person in your life. You should not run out of words when you happen to meet them accidentally.
7. She concluded by saying that, while we wish for blessings from God and our parents, we should also wish for the abundant knowledge of words and the proficiency to use them appropriately to succeed in life.