In last one month, two of my very close friends became authors and one of them is Sanjay Pinto (The other is Raghu Raman) and as he loves the extempore style, the moment Sanjay saw me at the launch of his book, “Speakers Are Made, Not Born” promptly appointed me the host along with his wife Vidya to welcome the guests at the Don Bosco School auditorium. It was a beautiful evening spent along with many of my old friends listening to the dignitaries at the dais. The master of ceremony was a welcome change as school going kids, honed by Sanjay’s ‘Silver Tongue Academy Resource’ delivering perfect introductions and speeches. (Read Indian Express Report on the launch here...)
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| Sanjay doing what he does best.. |
I remember meeting Sanjay Pinto, decades ago, in the office of my friend Mr. Karuna Sagar (then DCP Traffic) and connecting with him instantly as a long lost friend. Over the years, I watched Sanjay grow from strength to strength through sheer hard work, catching all those opportunities that came his way following his own mantra as he said in this lovely book, ‘Opportunities don’t fall into your lap like manna from heaven. You need to push yourself… you need to fight for that chance’. As the face of NDTV South India, he grew in stature and as he left NDTV to pursue his dream, he did what he always believed in… stepped on the accelerator and rose to greater heights.
“When you get an applause, instead of pausing, step on the accelerator and raise your pitch a little. Don’t stop speaking.” – Sanjay Pinto in ‘Speakers are made, not Born’
And Sanjay Pinto, as National Debating Champion with 106 victories, loved speaking…
“NDTV Producers at headquarters would often slot me for the ‘morning to night’ “OBs” because they knew I enjoyed speaking nonstop, “in full flow”, even if it was for a minute and half. “Sanjay, please address the nation at 8.03 am” used to be a common line from the Good Morning India news desk.”
Over the years, I learned lots of things from Sanjay but the best being his dedication to the things he does. Like a Karma Yogi, he kind of follows the principle of Bhagwad Gita, i.e. doing what comes his way with 100% sincerity, hard work and commitment and then never worry about the fruits of his endeavours. Another thing that's unique about him is his style of making the person being interviewed, very, very comfortable. As host of popular NDTV Show, “Corridors of Power”, this unique style made his guests reveal their personal stories and candid thoughts. His sense of story is very powerful and I remember, when I informed him of tremendous work being done by the Architects M/s C R Narayan Rao to get the TIDEL park ready for inauguration by the then Prime Minister, Sh. Atal Bihari Bajpai, he was probably the only one of the media, who interviewed Padam Shri. Raghvendran Rao – M/s CRN Assoc. for NDTV curtain raiser.
Consul General of the U.S. Consulate in Chennai, Ms. Jennifer McIntyre, released the first book for the audience and spoke highly of the book and was full of praise for Sanjay Pinto as noted speaker. She spoke of taking few cues from the book but also noted that she is not following one of his primary tenets…
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| US Consulate General Ms. Jennifer McIntyre releasing the book... |
“I confess that I am violating one of his primary tenets in the book by bringing my written speech to the podium, – but I hope he will give me an exemption to this rule since diplomats are held to account for every word we say!” - Ms. Jennifer McIntyre in her felicitation speech at the launch.
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| Fr John Alexander of Don Bosco |
Fr John Alexander of Don Bosco noted in his speech, “Becoming a writer is much more difficult” but for Sanjay I guess it comes easy, as he plans 3 more books in the coming year. One by one, the heads of three prominent institutions – YGP of PSBB, Meena Muthiah of Chettinad Vidyashram and Father John Alexander of Don Bosco, who received the first copies of the book, spoke of Sanjay Pinto as a lovable person, highly professional and dedicated speaker who not only speaks but also walks the talk. Sanjay is not only passionate about speaking but also passionate about sharing his ‘secrets’ of becoming a great speaker. With his ‘Silver Tongue Academy Resources’ Sanjay came forward to mentor thousands of school going kids in various schools across the city, in public speaking.
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| The large hall was packed for the launch.. |
FROM THE BOOK: Speaker’s Are Made, Not Born
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| Vidya Pinto, Sanjay's sustainable source continous of energy |
17 years of education can boil down to your ability to showcase your credentials in 1 minute or 6 minutes
There are two types of speakers – those who are nervous and those who are liars! – Mark Twain
The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public. – George Jessel Award winning Film Maker
An anecdote is a simple and a most effective strategy to make any audience sit up and take notice.
Preparing a good speech is like cooking a gravy. You need a recipe, fresh ingredients in the right proportion for that perfect consistency.
If you analyze some of the worlds best speeches, the Anaphora will inevitably show up as a common thread.
I have always believed that a good public speaker must have conviction. And it must show.
Never crack a dirty joke in public.
Politicians are great wordsmiths.
Don’t ridicule a wrong answer. Your audience is not a Google search engine!
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| Sanjay Pinto and me. |
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Shashi
ॐ नमः शिवाय
Om Namah Shivaya
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