Winter and Water!!

I know what you did last summer. Well, you know what? I still know what you did last summer!

Fair enough! Let me talk about… Winters, then!

Actually, when I came to know that I had to talk about ‘Winters’ – I was, well, at a loss. The very last meeting, I had delivered an entire speech on Winter itself. I spoke about fog and mists, I spoke about Santa Claus and New year resolutions. Was there anything left, is there anything else that I could further tell you about, on Winter?

I could not think of much. So, I searched for Winter on Wikipedia. Too much information confused me again! But then, as I was closing it down, something caught my eyes. Down in the Etymology section, there was just one line - an interesting one, it appeared to me. It said:

The English word "winter" comes from the Proto-Indo-European word "Wend", that stood for water. - Check it out on Wikipedia, if you would.

But then, winter and water… how are they even related?

A very good morning, dear Toastmasters and (guests)… So today, I will tell you a story…

Once upon a time, there lived a mountain. He was tall and broad. He gave shadow and shelter, he gave home to the homeless. He housed on himself cities and villages, and forests and plantations. Every morning, the Sun shone upon its peak and the birds sang songs on the branches of its trees. The Mountain - he took care of everything that was above the Earth – the clouds, the sky and the birds.

And then, around the same time, there lived an Ocean as well. She nurtured everything that lived on the surface of the Earth – the Animal and the Plant kingdom, and the undersea world too. She sent water to the core of the Earth and nourished the living things. The entire Life System on Earth thrived on her.

That year, it was that time of the year… and Winter had just came. When he came, the birds flew away, the trees shed off their leaves. The rivers froze up, the crops dried out in dearth of water. The Sun hide himself behind the clouds, and the fogs descended on earth and blurred up vision. The whole world was devastated… and everyone was cursing Winter.

The Ocean was very sad too; she was shrinking, freezing down, turning into ice. The water kingdom – the fishes and the mermaids – they were cold and freezing inside her. The Ocean could not supply water to land through its rivers. In the farms, and the crops dried up and died. The green lands that surrounded the Ocean had vanished, and a barren brown had taken over. When Winter came, the Ocean could not nurture Mother Earth like she always did. It was a long dark winter night, and she was lonely – sobbing helplessly. She wondered how this can be solved, how life can be brought back to Earth. Through the clouds, a little star twinkled at her. There! It was then that the idea struck her.

Next morning, when it dawned - as soon as the Sun rose, the Ocean sent out for the clouds. The Clouds were busy covering up the Sun, and when they heard her they came rushing to the Ocean in form of heavy, thick fogs. When they came to her, the Ocean told them her idea; she sent them to the Mountain with a secret instruction.

The Mountain, sitting thousands of miles away, was melancholy too. When Winter arrived, everything suddenly started to go out of order for him as well. The Mountain became so cold that people started to run away from it, travelling all their way down to the plains. The birds in the sky went thirsty, they tried to fly across the sky and many of them lost their lives on the way. The trees in his forests shed all their leaves and became barren. The animals in the forests and the people in the villages were suffering alike – freezing in cold, at loss of food and water, and at loss of Sunlight.

And then, suddenly one day, the Mountain spotted a row of clouds coming its way from far off in the horizon. He looked up at them. The clouds were steadily flying down at him, and soon they were close. The Mountain was surprised. The cloud rushed down upon him, and in his ears, the clouds delivered the message the Ocean had sent.

He loved the idea! He smiled.

Within the next few days, the clouds started accumulating around the mountain from all across the sky. They were getting darker and bigger, and soon, a heavy snowfall started on the cliffs of the mountain – the clouds had turned themselves into a hailstorm. Soon, the Mountain became snow clad and the roof of the forests turned into a sheet of white ice. There, it was working!

In the Sky, as all the clouds had fallen off – reluctantly, the Sun had to now come out. In fact, without a cover to hide behind, the Sun had to now shine brightly upon the snow. Within a matter of days, the temperature rose and the snow started to melt.

Soon, they formed a rushing, gushing waterfall. They started to roll down the slopes of the mountain – sending water to the forests on the way. As the streams hit the ground, they made their way towards the Ocean in form of river. They travelled their way through the cities and the towns, and through the farms and forests. The crops  flourished once more, and the Earth – slowly yet steadily – got back to life.

The rough period was over, and the World had turned around! It now understood why Winter was essential to complete own its life-cycle, and how what it thought was the end was only the sign of a new beginning. It rose, it shone, it bloomed… again.

And thus, Winter got its name from water, you see!

 

Project 5 - Your Body Speaks

Body language is an important part of speaking because it enhances your message and gives you more credibility. It also helps release any nervousness you may feel. Stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact help communicate your message and achieve your speech’s purpose. Body language should be smooth, natural, and convey the same message that your listeners hear.

Time:	5 - 7 minutes
Objectives:	•	Use stance, movement, gestures, facial expressions, and eye contact to express tour message and achieve your speech’s purpose.
	•	Make your body language smooth and natural.
	•	Focus on methods of delivery, but do not overlook speech content.

Links to:

CC1 | CC2 | CC3 | CC4 | CC5 | CC6 | CC7 | CC8 | CC9 | CC10

Based on the convention we follow in our Club, this meeting was thematic and the theme was WINTERS! So essentially, I had to talk on ‘Winters’, even though my very last speech was – unknowingly and instinctively – already based on Winters. So I had to get pretty much innovative with the theme, you see!!

This is what I presented for my fifth speech in the Competent Communications journey! This one, well, fetched me a Best Speaker of the Meeting award! :)