The Program
The basic outline for the Gavel Club education program is set up by Toastmasters International.
Here at the Delhi Public School Nacharam Gavel Club, we aim to provide a supportive and positive learning experience in which members are empowered to develop communication and leadership skills, resulting in greater self-confidence and personal growth.
Beyond communication and leadership skills, the Toastmasters program specifically targets listening, critical thinking, giving feedback, time management, delegation and organization.
For guided learning, we follow the 'Competent Communication' manual which contains 10 "Prepared Speech" projects each highlighting a specific skill to work on.
Vice President Education (VPE)
The office of Vice President Education is a critical office in a Toastmasters Club and Gavel Club. The Gavel Club educational program is the heart of our organization and it’s through the work of the Vice President Education that the mission of the club is accomplished.
The VPE plans, organizes, and implements gavel club meetings, contests, and other educational events to fit member needs.
When members complete a speech or achieve a major milestone, the VPE serves as one of the club’s representatives on the council and specifically keeps an individual record of all the members’ progress. The progress checks members are able to do here on the website regarding roles they have taken in the past and projects they completed are all based on the records of the office of Vice President Education.
The Hilarity Project
During Year 4 (2020-2021) of the DPS Nacharam Gavel Club,
President Kashika Dochania and Sergeant at Arms Shaik Azam developed and implemented an additional part of the DPS Nacharam Gavel Club Education program: The Hilarity Project.
The idea behind this project was to introduce a specific segment pertaining to humor. It is common to be tasked with what many would call "mundane tasks" in professional environments. What happens when we need to inspire those who are uninspired with mundane tasks or presentations? Even in professional settings, it's sometimes alright to "spice things up a bit" (in moderation, of course)!
In The Hilarity Project, there are 3 separate projects to complete, each a little more complicated than the last.
Project 1: "The Cheshire Cat's Tale"
In this "Alice in Wonderland" spin on Table Topics, students are asked to speak for 1-2 minutes about a "mystery object" presented to them by their Presiding Officer during the meeting. This might seem like a basic Table Topic task; however, students need to incorporate humor into their speech and attempt to engage the audience about a random object they were just introduced to!
Project 2: "Mischief Managed"
Named after the famous incantation from Harry Potter, Project 2: "Mischief Managed" is a task where students are asked to "teach" a concept from their academic curriculum for 3-5 minutes to a group of students of the 21st century. The motivation behind this project is to help teach members how to make even the most uninteresting topic engaging. Employing a little academic humor and creativity might just do the trick!
Project 3: The Humorous Speech
In this final task of The Hilarity Project, students are asked to develop their own "Humorous Speech" based on a topic of their choosing while following the guidelines of the DPS Nacharam Gavel Club. This speech is 4-6 minutes long.
The ExplOratory Project
During Year 7 (2023-2024) of the DPS Nacharam Gavel Club, The Officers developed and implemented a brand new segment of the DPS Nacharam Gavel Club Education program: "The ExplOratory Project" spearheaded by the Vice President Education of Year 7, Saini Anuroop.
Each month, the meetings will feature a different, unorthodox, and fun segment, along with the well-known and loved Hilarity Project. The Rules of Procedure-2 (ROP-2) was introduced in Year 7, consisting of both The Hilarity Project and The ExplOratory Project.
Some of the most celebrated ExplOratory segments during meetings following the implementation of ROP-2 were as follows:
Crisis Saga
Volunteers will be called upon to describe a perilous situation given to them by their Presiding Officer: how they ended up there, how they felt within the situation, and how they escaped it. Members will be evaluated on their descriptive skills as well as their ability to improvise speech and overall realism.
News Flash
Members will be given a bizarre piece of breaking news by their Presiding Officer, and will have 30 seconds to form a speech in 2-3 minutes giving a line-by-line breakdown, news anchor style. Evaluation will be based off of content, relevance, adherence to the news anchor character, and hum our.
Navarasa
Members will speak in pairs for this segment. The PO will provide the members with two chits: a topic to speak upon (Example: "Ice Cream - a delicious treat for all ages"), as well as the emotion in which they have to express themselves in (Example - Anger). They then have 30 seconds to come up with an impromptu skit regarding their subject, making sure to speak with the given emotion in mind. The pair will be judged on fluidity in conversation, overall content, as well as the use of the unique emotion provided to them.
The goal is to discover ways to express oneself in dramatic, creative, and unorthodox ways, combining topics and emotions that often don't go together.
Reimagined Narratives
Members who are tasked with this are required to pick any movie or story of their choice and retell it with a new plot but keep intact the same title and characters. In short it is the retelling of a story but with your twists. This is an amazing opportunity for members to showcase how their imagination runs wild! This will be judged on the level of preparedness, fluidity, creative ability and speaking skills.