Public Speaking : My journey through years

(This post was my speech at the 1st demo meeting of Infosys China Toastmasters Club,Shanghai.)

Dear Distinguished Guests, ICTMC Office Bearers and be/to be ICTMC members, a very good afternoon to all of you. I , Rahul U, stand here to deliver my speech on "Public Speaking : My journey through years."

Though my assignment talks about "Body Language", but I, in fact, would actually like to have a small digression for this Demo Meeting and let you know a story about a small , feeble 6th grade kid...

Imagine a small , feeble 6th grade kid who has to give a public speech for the 1st time in his life. Imagine how hard he has prepared for this small event where for the first time in his life, people will actually be sitting to listen to him. That seems great !!!! Isn't it ?? It all seems that a new charismatic leader is about to be born ..to take his men to glory ... a perfect Hollywood drama setting...

That small , feeble 6th grade kid has done all the preparation in the world for these 1st 5 minutes of fame in his small life..he has rehearsed a 100 times in front of mirror , practiced in front of his parents and friends and done everything in name of perfect practice...

And then the real life takes over...On the D day, that small , feeble 6th grade kid waits anxiously for his turn to speak but then he suddenly realizes his heart is pumping...his heart is pumping..for the 1st time in his life, he has realized that his heart is pumping...Gosh..something is happening to him..and some butterflies in the stomach also... he has no clue whatsoever...And then his name is announced...

That was not the perfect time for his name to be called..but he starts going towards the podium...Did he leave something behind...he gives a second look..no thats allright...and then he reaches the podium and what does he see ?? ...He sees all these 40 people sitting in front of him...waiting for him to speak...some ready to clap ..some ready to throw eggs...Uhh...he makes up his mind....clinches his fists...re gathers himself....he has prepared for all of this...and he starts speaking...but oh my God..what is the starting line..he starts looking for his starting line in his papers..but where is the starting paper ????
And while he is searching for his starting lines, all his papers fell from his hand...uhhh..that was over...
NOW, the papers are all over the floor, his hands are trembling and his throat is dry.. he can see some friends giggling at him..he can see all those eyes grinning at him...he can see nothing but black ...AND...he wants water ..no he wants his starting lines...no ..he wants his papers...no he wants a break...no ..he wants something else ....what does he want ??

What did that small , feeble 6th grade kid want ??
What did that small , feeble 6th grade kid do ??
What happened to that small , feeble 6th grade kid ??

Well, after years of failing and standing up again, that small , feeble 6th grade kid is standing in front of you to deliver a speech at this ICTMC demo meeting...
Everyone has a small , feeble 6th grade kid in him ...the kid who wants to grow, the the kid who wants to learn, the kid who wants to be successful, the kid who wants to speak in front of tens and thousands of people, the kid who wants to have it all....
And what a better opportunity than ICTMC to give this small , feeble 6th grade kid in you ...that opportunity in a lifetime ....to get all he wants...

Distributed Hosting

(This post was my speech at Infosys China Toastmasters Club,Shanghai.)

For the last 2000 years since the inception of public speaking, we have been living in a single domain hosting world where the speaker stands in front and addresses his audience. Today, history is going to be created.

Fellow Toastmasters and esteemed guests, I , Rahul Upadhyay, stand here to present to you "Distributed Hosting", public speaking in the new age.

The traditional single person single domain hosting is something like this. (Diagram).

Let us discuss something about this first. What are the pros for a single speaker:

1. Easier for audience to focus.

2. Speaker in charge of the whole event.

3. Success of event depends partially on the ability of the speaker.

What are the cons:

1. Large audience may not feel connected with speaker.

2. Inefficient speaker can mar the whole event.

Now let us consider what some smart people have recently started doing:

Multiple person single domain hosting world: (Diagram)

Pros:

1. Create excitement as single person can become boring.

2. Less dependent on single person.

Cons:

1. Large audience may not feel connected with speaker.

If you look at all these models, one thing that stands out is that people who develop these models do not care about the audience esp the audience at the back of the hall.

So, today on 24th of January 2008, I present to you the mulitple person , multiple domain hosting model.

It looks something like this: (Diagram)

Pros:

1. Multiple points of contact for audience.

2. More interaction with audience.

3. Less dependency on single person.

4. More involved conversation between different hosts and hosts-audience.

5. Large audience can feel connected with the whole event.

Cons:

1. Requires coordination among hosts. That means more practice for hosts.

2. The multiple-person multiple-domain hosting world can turn chaotic. Need an additional synthesizer/collborator to carry the whole event.

3. Audience can sometimes get confused about the whole event.

During the recently concluded Infosys China Annual Dinner, we for the first time, tried to implement this new model. Was it successful ?? Was it enjoyable ?? Was it a welcome change ??

Some lessons learnt:

1. Check the audio enhancement capabilities of the hall.

2. Check the wireless range of the microphone equipments, as hosts are distributed.

3. Check the interference zone of the wireless microphone equipments., as hosts are mobile.

4. Though it is distributed, always keep the best speaker/better than others at the front position. This is for risk mitigation, so that even if technology fails you, you still can carry on the show in the traditional method.

5. Have enough participation from the audience at regular random intervals, not only at specified intervals.

This is the era of collboration.The era of youtube, the era of torrents and the era of open source. I now declare it the era of multiple person multiple domain hosting.

Thanks.

Dropped in Bangalore

On Jul 28,2008 I was dropped into the Great Indian Sea..not the Arabian Sea not the Indian Ocean..the Great Indian Sea..the headquarters of Infosys Technologies at Bangalore.
The journey of 2 hours from the new Bangalore airport to Electonics City was a ride to remember (or to forget ?). So much for the Silicon Valley of India..without the asphalt on road, without the concrete on flyover and bridges, without the glass on bus windows, without the electricity in the traffic lights.
Infosys office though had a different picture. Reading all that stuff about the new India within the old India had made me a bit skeptical but surely no one was wrong. For inside the Infosys office, its a complete world all together. From the bicycles of China to the Mac burgers of US, from the pizzas of Italy to the gyms of Australia, from the architectures of Paris to the banks of England...there was it all..except ,of course, the beers of Germany !! But then, I remind myself, its an office !
And then there was this sea..sea of software engineers from all different parts of the country (and also from different parts of the world, like my badminton friend from Infosys China..Mountain Guo) coming to a single place to achieve their aspirations, aspirations long kept under the hood for centuries.Everywhere I could see there were people and people and people..lots and lots of them. And then a sudden feeling sank into me.

People people everywhere
Not a person to talk.

Who am I ? A mere software engineer. Thats it ? After working in Shanghai for the last 2 years amidst around 400-500 people, I had started carrying an image of me with myself. How pleasant it was to know that everyone in the office knows you and that you know him/her. A courteous smile, an exchange of greeting and the habitual "Ni haoma ?" or "Ni Che Fan Lenma ?". But here in Bagalore, I was no more than 1 of the other 30000 people, all of them more or less the same as me.
Can I really distinguish myself from these hordes of extra ordinary people ?
Can I really stand out with my achievements amidst this sea of talented people ?
Can I really be myself and not be a part of the whole ?

Not sure though, but certainly it seems to me the other (ill) effects of working in such big organisations. I seem to make up my mind to prefer working in small office locations rather than being part of such big messy affairs.
Am I only a drop in the ocean, a drop that originated from the holy glaciers but now a small part of that grandeur river that flows across the land of India and utlimately merges into the ocean. Can a drop really carve out a different path for itself ?
Can a drop really defy the logic of physics and geology and be on its own. Or is it in the drop's destiny to flow in the current wave and make the stream the be-all and end-all of its sole existence ?
Too much of meta physics can drain you out of all your energies, they say.

But going back again to the Infosys office with ever growing population of software engineers seems an ordeal to me now. But then its the Great Indian Sea. Per the ancient Indian scriptures, it was the churning of the sea that produced magnificent pearls of wisdom, thought and action. Will this be the Great India Sea of the India of 21st century ?