Banglore marches ahead..

TISA Meeting 1st
July 2012

The first meeting of the month started with a low attendance
of 9 people(Dinesh Kadam, Dinesh R, Anandh, Sairam, Upasna, Rohit, Jitu, Pawan
and Chandrashekhar), but all were turbocharged with energy. The session started
with a number counting exercise with mouthing only few numbers, but
lip-synching the rest. People realized
that they stammer less when doing that. Then the session started with a
devotional song ‘itni shakti hame de na data’, word of the day/joke of the
day/quote of the day, each of which provoked food for though/discussion.
Then
on the topic ‘Should the world end in 2012’, there was a roundtable discussion
with each person giving his views referring Merlin, Vedas, philosophy, karma
etc. As always, Dinesh in his imitable style closed the discussion with his
philosophy of living every day as if it was your last, and not hoping to extend
life just to achieve delayed goals!

Anandh clarified his understanding about TISA Bangalore’s
philosophy and activities, and then Dinesh and other members present described
the framework of

·
Acceptance(NOT passive acceptance of stammering
but removing guilt/shame )
·
Expressing yourself(socialize, don’t be afraid
of what others will think)
·
Theraphy/Practice-techniques like slow speaking
are useful only when applied. But the holistic approach to stammering means
boosting self confidence, staying calm etc.
The aim is to undo the stammering instinct, by repeated practice.
·
The overall objective is to manage your stammer
in the real world(not just ensure ‘fake fluency’ in a controlled
environment).

The session concluded with a round of picture stories, where
those present looked at a picture, and then built on each other’s sequential
stories. It was great fun. The session
concluded with an agenda allocation for the next week’s meeting. Kudos to Dinesh Kadam for being a great emcee,
Sairam for chairing the discussion, and to other members for being
there/attending!

Some takeaways/decisions
from the session

1.       New
members to attend only from the 1st session of the next month, to
ensure continuity/saving time in introductions for other sessions.
2.       Devote
one day in the month for a longer session, to give people more time to speak
and take the session to the next level
3.       Develop expert power in your subject,
that gives you self confidence as people seek you out for help, and it
mitigates your stammer as well as people flock to what you say instead of ‘how
you say it’. And never be afraid of asking questions and learning.
4.       When you speak fast, people don’t ‘get it’.
So don’t be afraid of slower speech.