The 7 magic letters

Introduction
Madam Toastmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen – Good evening
How often have we heard from our parents or grand-parents that the world was a
much better place in yester years? The families could let their children out on the
streets without any safety or security concerns, people in the community worked
with each other rather than being suspicious of each other’s motives. Even within our
own homes, there was harmony and family members took care of each other.

So, what has changed that has made us so fearful of each other, why has the trust that
existed within our community dissipated and the bonding that we had with our
neighbours evaporated. Now, we even can’t stand our own family members with kids
itching to leave the parents home at the first instant and our parents and grandparents
languishing in the aged care facilities and seen as a burden on families.

Where has this world got to?

Today, I shall let you in on a little secret. After hearing my speech, you will be able to
spell out the secret to making this world a better place. It’s just 7 letters and it goes
like this - R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - ‘Respect’.

Body
What is Respect? The dictionary meaning of Respect is as follows:
“Respect is an attitude of acknowledging the feelings and interests of another
party in a relationship, and of treating as consequential for the self the helping or
harming of the other.”

Respect is one of the fundamental tenets about the way we approach life and the way
in which we treat others.
In our society, we are very conscious of abiding by the law of the land but how often
do we think about our morals and our duties as a person and as a member of the
community? We think that as long as we are not breaking the law, we are doing the
right thing. That’s the root cause of all problems.

Let’s have a look at how building a bit of respect into us can make a world of
difference out there.
There are 3 areas in which we need to build respect.

First – Within our Home:

Our parents have given us the most precious gift of all – life. They have nurtured us
thru our early childhood and have had a hand in shaping us and helping us get to
where we are at this moment in time. Without them, we would not have been in this
world and we would not have had an opportunity to experience the sheer magic of
life.
For all that they have given us, the very least that we can do is to show a little bit of
respect. The next time you meet them, acknowledge their feelings and expectations
through your actions towards them. Back home, we touch our parents feet as a mark
of respect and seek their blessings.
Next – Within Our Classrooms:
The next most precious thing after life is knowledge. How often do we stop and think
about the people who have imparted this precious gift of knowledge to us? We take
our teachers for granted. In India, we have a saying “GURU DEVO BHAVA”.
Meaning – Your guru or teacher is on par with God. Such is the power of what they
give us.
All we need to do to be respectful to them is to stop and think about the consequences
of what might have happened if we would not have had the knowledge that we
currently have and I’m certain that you will automatically be respectful towards them.

Last but not the least – Within our society our fellow-human beings:
We all know that in this world there are people who look, think and act differently to
us. This has been magnified with the increased movement of people from one country
to the other and we suddenly find ourselves in the midst of other people who are quite
different to us. The key word here is “Different”. We look at someone who is
different to us and immediately we start to feel a bit uneasy or uncomfortable around
that person till we get to know them. Unless we take the time to understand and
acknowledge their point of view, we will never be able to get to know them and we
will have to live with the consequences of our inactions namely – the racial tensions,
the aggressive behaviour – the attempt to enforce our way of life onto others. The root
cause of all the tensions in our current society is the lack of respect towards the other
person. Let’s extend a bit of courtesy and try to view their opinion from the lens of
‘diversity’ and watch their cold hands turn warm as they reach out to you.

Conclusion
It doesn’t sound that hard, does it. In fact, it’s not hard at all. All you need to do is to
turn on your internal wipers of respect and witness the miracle.

As they say “Life is not defined by the number of breaths you take but by the
moments that take your breath away”. The twinkle in your parents eyes when you
hold them in your comforting arms, the glitter in your teachers face when you
acknowledge their effort and the sheer pride in helping a fellow-human being are
things that make life worth living.

So, when you walk out of the door today, I would like you all to do one thing. The
next time you interact with anyone, take a moment to acknowledge the feelings of
others and treat them with the same respect that you wish them to treat you.

Remember the 7 magic letters that spell “Respect” and witness the world turn into a
better place right in front of you with your own eyes.

Thank you.
What is Respect? The dictionary meaning of
Respect is as follows:
“Respect is an attitude of acknowledging
the feelings and interests of another party in
a relationship, and of treating as
consequential for the self the helping or
harming of the other.”
Clear take-away message for the audience. The speech must have a purpose
Two types of purposes:
1. General Purpose
To inform – learn a new subject, develop a new skill or learn more about a
subject they already know about
To persuade – challenge the audience’s attitudes or behaviours
To entertain – amuse and provide entertainment to the audience
To inspire – draw on emotions & sentiment
2. Specific Purpose
The specific purpose is a one-sentence statement about what you hope to accomplish
in your speech. It should meet 3 criteria namely:
1. Worded from the audience’s view-point – What do you want the audience to
do after listening to your speech?
2. Specific - The wording is precise
3. Attainable – The specific purpose should be realistic and possible to achieve

• Keep the purpose clear and concise

• The statement should be worded so that, after your speech, you could actually test
the audience to see if you achieved your specific purpose
• Be careful to include only the main points and supporting facts and ideas that
directly contribute to your specific speech purpose
• Introduction – should tell the audience succinctly what you want to convey
Body – should detail what you want to tell
Conclusion – should re-iterate the point you want to make
• Avoid words like know, understand, recognise and be aware

Potential topics
• Inspiration – Simple tips to eating healthy
• Inspiration – The power of positive thinking
• Inspiration – “Respect” – the silver bullet to harmony
These wonderful moments can be yours if you choose. All it needs is a small injection
of Respect.

Everyone can be a millionaire,

priceless and no amount of money can ever buy that.

Remember the mighty ocean is made of tiny droplets of water. Just a little bit of
respect

Make this world a better place

think about the one thing that is most important to us.
I know that in this day and age the first thing that will be screaming at you is ‘money’.
But along with that we also are well aware that money does not being about
happiness.

All you need to do is to pay attention to the invaluable and priceless gifts that you
have received and not take them for granted.

Respect for other people (including not using other people as a means) remains a key
concept in contemporary moral philosophy

Global village – potential clash of values & beliefs, erosion of good – now
considered old school, people live longer but lonelier

“Act in such a way that you always treat humanity, whether in your own person or in
the person of any other, never simply as a means, but always at the same time as an
end.”
- Emmanuel Kant

Each and every one of us loves a sense of belonging. The sense of belonging gives us
our identity. I’m from Australia - from Namadgi Toastmasters - from Centrelink.
That’s how I associate myself. By associating yourself with a particular place or
group, you are implicitly making two assumptions: a) your connection with the people
of your group, and
b) You imply that there are other groups that may be different than yours.

“As oxygen is the key to life, Respect is the key to living”. A small change within
ourselves can make a world of difference outside. We have been so engrossed in
living our life using a relative scale of measuring our worth by comparing ourselves
against what others have, we have lost the very essence of what makes us worth
living.

There are 2 parts to it:

First- The action itself: In all our actions, we need to acknowledge the feelings and
interests of the other party and not just think about the ‘self’ at all times, and
Second – The consequences of our action: And more importantly we need to
recognise the fact that we are the ones that have to bear the ultimate consequences of
our actions in helping or harming others.