Potential topics:

• Education (types of learning – analytical, memorising, rote)

• Work experience
• Hobbies, likes, dislikes, favourites
• My family (grandfather, father, myself) – journey from the village to the global
village
• Social and family bonds and ties
• Six years in Australia

Get to the Point

Time: 5-7 minutes
Objectives: To prepare a speech that has a clear general purpose (to inform,
persuade, entertain or inspire) and a specific purpose, well organised, projecting
sincerity and conviction.

Get to the point Speech – potential topics

• How volunteering helps shape a nation?
• CEO’s - are they worth the money they are paid?
• My experiences with truth
• What is stress and how do you manage it?
• Change - why is it difficult to change?

Ideas:
- My trip to Aviemore in Scotland
- Deep in the heart of rural India
- From Hot Springs to Canyon Swings
- No guts no glory – the food challenge
- My Wedding
- The Lake Palace – the stuff that dreams are made up of

- The Greater Good – how everyone in this world deserves a chance

- Just Small Talk
- From rags to riches – Happiness
- From automation to transformation

- Howzzat – My first 50 (cricket)

-
 - Structured Speech – Potential topics
• Work
 Programmer/Analyst
 Business Analyst
 Management Consultant

• My alliance with the coalition of the willing

Introduction:
Say what coalition of the willing is and where do you fit in the picture
<Set the scene>

Body:
UK
- My initial opinion of the place - first foreign trip
- Analysis of the place - excited, nervous, hard time understanding the accent
- how did it compare to India

US
- My initial opinion of the place - next destination, more confident,
- Analysis of the place
- how did it compare to UK

Australia
- My initial opinion of the place - that’s my third destination and where I am
now
- Analysis of the place: aussie humour, fair-dinkum
- how does it compare against UK and US

Conclusion:
My alliance is restricted to interacting with the wonderful people of the coalition of
the willing countries and don’t extend to any policies or politics of the countries
<bring it all together>
2000 days Down-under

Introduction
Good evening everyone. As you know my name’s Vikram Peddakotla and today I am
going to talk about my time .

Since childhood, I always dreamt about coming to Australia and I have been in
Australia for around 6 years now arriving just in time for the Sydney Olympics.

Body
• Coming to Australia from the US
One day as I was walking down 42nd street in Manhattan, I got a call. The voice on the
other end said “G’Day mate, howz it going?” I was taken aback with this friendly but
different accent. It was one of the recruitment consultants, who happened to come
across my resume on the internet. And as it turned out, I found myself accepting the
offer to come to Australia. Hopped on a flying kangaroo and lo and behold I was in
Kingsford Smith with posters of “Dump it or declare it” everywhere. I did know that
Australia was an island continent but didn’t realise that the eco-system was this
unique and didn’t handle intruders too well.

• Canberra – the town with a soul

My job was in Canberra, the capital of the country & one of the lesser known facts
about Australia. A day in Canberra and I was convinced that I was in the middle of
the outback. Saw kangaroos jumping around in my backyard and drove to work in 11
mins. At that instant I knew that Canberra was different. It is an amazing place where
urban and bushland intersect each other (city & country meet), it is big enough to
be considered a metro but small enough to still retain a country town feel. I had been
living in big cities around the world namely London, New York, Dallas, Mumbai and
Canberra was a refreshing change.

I started work with a public service agency. It was right next to the lake. That’s where
my love for running started. Started with taking walks around the lake, got inspiration
from the hundreds of people running around the lake and started running. It took me a
while but I did the Canberra Fun Run and couldn’t believe that I could run 10kms at
a stretch. I have continued to run and you can still spot me running around
Tuggeranong Lake on Saturday mornings.

I used to hate driving till I arrived in Canberra. With wide roads and little traffic, it’s
little wonder Mark Webber comes from outer Canberra and most drivers think they
are better than him on the road. Road Rage is not common but when it happens it is
nasty with canberrans renowned for their shoddy driving. Coming from India where
there are tons of vehicles and not much adherence to road-rules, you learn to be very
alert whilst driving as you never know who or what might suddenly come up in front
of you. I must say, that skill has been most useful and even life-saving driving on
Canberra roads, as my Indian driving instincts have saved me from at least 3
accidents where people changed lanes without looking at speeds of over 80kmph and
I have had to take evasive action to avoid potentially serious accidents. Indian roads
might be chaotic but they sure have taught me invaluable life skills to handle
dangerous Canberra roads.

• Australia – The Sporting Nation

Australians, well they are the most friendly, honest and open people with a great sense
of humour. As you know Beer, Barbie and Sport define the nation. Coming from
India, the biggest common passion shared between Indians and Aussies is cricket.
Having played the game has helped me integrate into the Australian culture very
easily. I started playing in the Public Service Cricket Competitions representing
Treasury and am proud to say that we won the trophy twice and were runners-up once
during the four years when I played for Treasury. I am the wicket-keeper and usually
open the batting for my team.
When India plays Australia, the pub used to be the battleground with an Aussie
contingent and an Indian contingent passionately cheering their teams on and an
occasional biff in the pub when the stupid umpire couldn’t get it right.

Conclusion
I subscribe to all the 4 key criteria that are required to be considered an Aussie. They
are:
 Love the barbie
 Hooked on beer
 Own a pair of thongs, and
 Am passionate about sport

Whilst I was born and brought up in India and I consider it my motherland, I have
spent 15% of my adult life in Australia and hence consider it my fatherland.

And as I stand in front of you all on this great land, I think back on my journey down-
under with fondness as I look forward to the next 2000
Quotations

A man's feet should be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.
-- George Santayana

Have you ever noticed? Anybody going slower than you is an idiot, and anyone going
faster than you is a maniac.
-- George Carlin

Fair dinkum is an old Australian expression very roughly translating to mean genuine

According to Melvyn Bragg's The Adventure of English: The Biography of a

Language, "dinkum" comes from the English Midlands and meant work. "Fair
dinkum" referred to a fair day's work and subsequently fair play.
 My Experience with Canberra

Introduction
Canberra is a dull, boring, public-service town. Why would anyone want to come to
Canberra? I’m sure everyone who has arrived from inter-state or overseas has found
themselves asking this question. Then why are we still here. What is it about Canberra
that once people come they find it hard to move out? This is my story about my
experiences with Canberra and why I find myself still here. There is a little secret that
I shall be sharing with you.

Let me take you back to New York. One day as I was walking down 42nd street in
Manhattan, I got a call. The voice on the other end said “G’Day mate, howz it going?”
I was taken aback with this friendly but different accent. It was one of the recruitment
consultants, who happened to come across my resume on the internet. And as it turned
out, I found myself accepting the offer to come to Australia. Hopped on a flying
kangaroo and lo and behold I was in Kingsford Smith with posters of “Dump it or
declare it” everywhere.
I proceeded to the Customs area and that’s where I got the first taste of the Aussie
accent. The customs officer looked at my documents and then asked in a typical
Aussie accent “Have you come here to-die”? I was shocked and horrified at that
comment. In a stern voice, I replied “No sir, I have come here to live”.

<Pause>

The flight touched-down on the runway and from there began my association with the
place called “Canberra”

Body
Woke up in the morning. I had flown in from New York straight to Canberra. Looked
out of the window. Looked again. I was convinced that I had come to some other
town. There were Kangaroos just outside my backyard. I sat there watching this funny
animal that I had heard so much about but never seen one.

At that instant I knew that there was something different about this place. Let me split
my story into two parts:
• The first 100 days, and
• The next 100 days.

First 100 days

- No traffic, no people, convinced that I was in the centre of the outback
- I read a lot about Australia and was on a high till I reached Canberra. My
spirits dropped from “up here” to “down there”
- Got into the bus on my way back from work one day. I was the only person on
it. It felt very odd
- I started looking for the first opportunity to get out of Canberra

Next 100 days

- At work, I got a window seat. I looked out. I looked again. I couldn’t believe
it. I called out to one of my colleagues to make sure I was not dreaming. It was
the Old Parliament House. What a great sight. In all the places I had worked,
 all I could see out of my workplace window was traffic, concrete buildings
and pollution. It was different here. I could see wide-open spaces, trees and
birds. It felt really nice.
- I went out for a stroll during lunch-time. The lake was less than 100 metres
away. It was so wonderful to be able to walk out of the office and walk into
this scenic place. There were people walking and jogging around the lake. I
got inspired. I started walking…In the next few weeks, I took inspiration from
all the people who were running around the lake and started running. I may
not be like “Forrest Gump” or like our friend “Sally” but I have taken long
strides and now can run for an hour at a decent pace. You can still spot me
running around Tuggeranong Lake on Saturday mornings.
- It took me 10 mins to get from work to home. I was used to travelling for at
least 1 hour. I used to come home by 5:30pm and I didn’t know what to do
with myself. I loved the fact that I had quite a lot of “me” time but was
running short of ideas to use my time. I asked around. Some said they play
“sport” after work, some went for a walk or to the gym. I had always dreamt
about finding some time to exercise. This was my chance and boy I grabbed it
with both hands.

Conclusion
It was 3 months. I was still in Canberra. Why was I still here? I could sense that the
urge to get away had subsided quite a lot. I started looking for answers…
I started jotting down things that appealed to me.
Work-Life Balance
Open Spaces and abundant greenery
No traffic hassles
You can get from anywhere to anywhere in 30 mins
Abundant work
“Me” time
…
And as I was jotting them down, I started to think, how would an outsider be possibly
aware of this?
And here-in lies the secret. “Appearances attract you but the soul moves you.”
Canberra is a town with a soul rather than outward appearance.

I love Canberra and hope everyone in this room feels the same.
Thank you.
 What’s in a name?

Introduction
Madam Toatmaster, Ladies and Gentlemen – Good evening.
My name is Vikram Peddakotla. What’s in a name you might ask?
Vikram - means an era or more specifically the beginning of an era
Peddakotla – well, that’s my identity – my background.
Today, I shall be talking about my background – my origin – my roots and what it
means to be a Peddakotla.

Body
The story about Peddakotla goes back 3 generations.

My grandfather was born and brought up in a remote, rural village in India. The
village had no school, no hospital and not even a market. My grandfather’s family,
were poor and found it hard to put 2 square meals on the table. My grandfather had to
travel 20 kms everyday to the next village to go to school. He only studied till year X
as they could not afford further education.
But, in adversity comes strength. From his humble beginnings, my grandfather rose to
the position of the CEO of the “Cottage & Village Industries”. His message was
simple. All you need to succeed is dedication and hard-work.

He passed on the baton of the family to my father who brought us from a town called
Kakinada (where I was born) to the city of Bombay, the city of dreams.

I was fortunate enough to get an excellent education and opportunities that my

grandfather would never have even dreamed of. I have had the privilege to travel
around the world across several continents. I have worked in the UK, US and now am
in Australia.

As I stand today and consider myself to be a part of a global village, my thoughts

always go back to the rural, remote village in India, the village called Peddakotla.

Conclusion
So, what’s in the name, you might ask?
Whenever I get ahead of myself or my feet get off the ground, I look at my name.

I hear the voice of my grandfather who always said “No matter how high you fly or
how far you go, you should always remember where you came from”

That helps me get my feet back on the ground, restores my humility and instils a lot
of pride as I stand in front of you all and say my name is Vikram, Vikram
Peddakotla.

Thank you.