Ice Breaker — Say Hi To Tarun

I have written about the significance of public speaking in the past. It was when I started Toastmasters, and I loved it with no end. Over the past couple of years, my focus shifted to blogging. My personal life was not smooth enough to continue Toastmasters. A couple of weeks back, I joined Hume Toastmasters.

Toastmasters Pathways

Pathways refers to the educational program offered by Toastmasters International. The goal is to develop and improve their communication and leadership skills. Toastmasters introduced pathways to replace traditional communication and leadership tracks. It’s designed to align with Toastmasters members’ diverse goals and interests.

Ice Breaker

The “Ice Breaker” speech in Toastmasters is a new member’s first speech. It’s part of their journey in the Toastmasters educational program. The goal is to create a comfortable and supportive environment for new members. It also allows them to introduce themselves to the club.

With this background, I would like to share my icebreaker speech. I will also do the same for my speeches in the future. The exercise aims to review my effort and get feedback for continuous improvement.

Speech Ttitle — Say Hi To Tarun

Meaning of the name

Have you ever met someone whose name does not match this physical appearance? Yes, no

Well, let me introduce you to someone. My name is Tarun. It’s a Sanskrit word, and its meaning is ‘A young male.’ I repeat the meaning so that you don’t forget. The meaning of my name, Tarun, is ‘a young male.’

Hold that meaning, and then look at this (pointing a finger towards my bald head).

My head is like a mini garden. A patch of green that does not need a Gardner. It’s low maintenance, but it tells me I am not young anymore.

Introduction, Migration & Profession

Today, I want to introduce Mr. Toastmasters, fellow members, guests, and my dear friends. I am someone in a constant tussle between his name and its significance on the planet.

I came from India and migrated to Australia 7 years ago as a skilled migrant. With that background, some of you would have assumed I am an engineer who works in IT. Yes, you are right; I am an engineer who works in IT (Information Technology). I design software that makes life more complicated than it is.

S/w Engineers are weird; spreadsheets and presentations surround us. We make applications that make things more complicated and, at times, addictive. Weird, isn’t it?

Man of extremes — Eating disorder

I am a man of extremes, and I love to eat clean. I prefer eating healthy not because I hate my pot belly. It’s because I suffer from an eating disorder (pun intended). Hence, I eat tuff my body with anything with sugar.

Spiritual lifestyle

Living a spiritual life has become a status symbol in today’s world. Even though I am no different, I hate to be a hypocrite. Hence, I try to live a spiritual life but am still entangled with materialistic possessions. I am no different from anyone striving to take the lead in this rat race.

Cricket & Betting

Being an Indian, I love to watch and play cricket. The most fun, though, is betting on cricket matches. People call it gambling; I call it investment. If you are a Lotto fan, my apologies; Lotto, Powerball, etc., come under the same investment bracket. Apart from cricket, I love to play table tennis. After moving to Melbourne, I have been looking for a company. If you find table tennis exciting, I am a phone call away.

2nd Innings with TM

As some of you know, this is my second inning with Toastmasters, my first with Hume ™. Even though I have not been to a club in the last couple of years, I have satisfied my creative urges with blogging. I blog on technology and programming, but I sometimes like to show off with spiritual humor. As the time comes, I would love to bring those blogs to my speeches in the club. Hopefully, it will increase traction for my poor-performing blogs.

I look forward to using this opportunity and creating some beautiful memories. This starts something special and will end as one of my best.

Les Brown

I started my Toastmasters journey after listening to Les Brown. Toastmasters International voted him among the top 5 outstanding speakers. I came to know about Toastmasters after listening to one of his speeches. Today, I would like to end my Ice Breaker speech with a quote from one of his speeches.

If you are not scared of the beast inside you, the beast outside you can’t do any harm.

It’s not the external circumstances that stop us from being successful. But our personality. We are our biggest enemy. If we take care of our inner inhibitions, the universe will take care of us.