district 105

Where Leaders Are Made

district 105

toastmasters international

Sharing Knowledge

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“Sharing Knowledge” is an activity through which knowledge (namely, information, skills, or expertise) is exchanged among people, friends, peers, families, communities. It is giving back to society what you have learned. In my opinion, it is the best form of non-monetary charity. 

There is a wrong notion among the people about knowledge sharing. There is a difference between sharing knowledge and information. Information is just the data or details of something, but knowledge taps into the experience and context of somebody who’s understood and used that data. Anyone can share information, but knowledge is shared only by people with noble and big hearts.

In one of my favorite movies, Rough Book, the protagonist Santoshi beautifully explains the benefit of sharing knowledge. She asks one of her students to teach the class on “gravity.” The next day, the student explains the concept beautifully, and the entire class and teacher are impressed. Then, she poses a question to the class, “Who benefits more in sharing knowledge, is it the person who is sharing the knowledge or the listening person?”. ” Listening” answers the entire class. She replies, “No, it is the person who is sharing.” She explains that before you share your, you need to master the subject. For that, you need to get your basics right, ensure you have understood the subject, and are updated on the topic. She asks the students who are good in one subject to teach students who are weak in the same subject so that all the students benefit from each other. “Wow,” what an idea. Imagine if the same can be implemented in our educational institutions. Our children will not need a learning app or private tuition, and each will become a master of their subject.

In a Toastmasters club, we introduce many innovative practices in different roles we play. However, this is not captured anywhere except in the minutes or the certificates. In one of the sessions, we had role players selected at random – anyone would be called to introduce the next role player. To add a twist as the word master, I encouraged all the role players to use the Word of the Day – Gourmand (one who is excessively fond of eating and drinking) while introducing each role player. The word was effectively used, and members could recollect the word even after a long time. Though people recalled the word, the method used was forgotten. The future members of the club will never know about such innovative practices carried out earlier. Even within the existing members, it will only remain between those who attended the session. Hence, along with knowledge sharing, “knowledge management” is important at all levels viz., members, club, Area, Division, District. I believe it is even more vital in this digital world when we encounter many different innovative practices, but these are not captured, stored, and shared effectively. We need to explore how we can effectively carry out the process of “knowledge management” within Toastmasters. 

Happy knowledge sharing till then. 

DISTRICT 105

Where Leaders Are Made