Preston Persuaders

Ribbon Winners

5-Star Helper: Mickey
Best Evaluator: Mark
Best Table Topics: Sheri (guest)
Best of the Big 3: Brian
Best Speaker: Eileen
Sparkplug: Don

Ribbon Winners

5-Star Helper: Brian
Best Evaluator: Janak
Best Table Topics: Amar
Best of the Big 3: Mike
Best Speaker: Susan
Spark Plug: Susan

Ribbon Winners

5-Star Helper: Autumn
Best Evaluator: Allison
Best Table Topics: Autumn
Best of the Big 3: Mark
Best Speaker: Jyo
Spark Plug: Don

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit."

This quote by Albert Schweitzer was shared by our Invocator Ann. We hope that your inner fire can be rekindled each week with your fellow Preston Persuaders!

As our Toastmaster, Durai inspired us all with his story of how he followed his heart to reunite with his wife and support her through a difficult time, even though his mind told him it wasn’t the best thing for his career.

Amar’s mission is to change one of the most prevalent stereotypes about engineers. For Amar, engineers are not just calculators that can be tucked away in windowless cubicles, they are people with personalities that can bring more value than just their calculations. In his Ice Breaker speech he told us how he went from studying engineering in Kuwait at the time Saddam Hussein invaded to now leading an engineering firm in Texas with 12 other engineers. His speech was expertly delivered! An excellent start to your Toastmasters career, Amar!

Stephanie began by lighting the first two candles of her manora. She shared with us the story of Hanukkah that she has always known and then proceeded to set the story straight. Apparently the jews under the command of Judah Maccabee (“the Hammer”), weren’t as defenseless as Stephanie had been led to believe when they drove their Greek-Syrian oppressors out of Jerusalem over a two year period.

Brian got his speech started off by apologizing for not bringing props (food) for his after-dinner role-playing speech. He shared three funny and touching stories about his boss Kevin as he wished him well on his new promotion. Brian knew he had arrived in Texas when Kevin took him out to lunch for the first time and it involved a long shopping trip to the gun store.

During Table Topics we heard lots of stories from our members around the theme of following their heart. As if by instinct (Word of the Day), the Big 3, evaluators, and helpers all performed their duties to perfection!

Before being inducted, our newest member Mays shared how the members of Preston Persuaders provided the first space in two years where she felt she was herself, the way she was in her home country. Mays is a tremendous addition to our growing Preston Persuaders family!

We had three guests, Sonia, Saeed, and Sherry, who all participated in Table Topics. We loved having them and they are welcome back anytime!

As our meeting theme taught us, remember to follow your heart! See you at next weeks meeting!

Ribbon Winners

5-Star Helper - Jyo
Best Evaluator - Lisa
Best Table Topics - Mays and guest Sherry
Best of the Big 3 - Durai
Best Speaker - Amar
Spark Plug - Stephanie

“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals”. This quote by Henry David Thoreau, accompanied by a supporting personal story, was shared by our invocator Chris to kick off our meeting about goals.

For his Ice Breaker speech, Jonas took us on a wild ride through his early career. His evaluator Jyo said it had been a long time since she had heard an Ice Breaker with so much energy and honesty. Jonas’ happiness and peace-of-mind are his true measure of success! His speech was fun and inspirational. Way to go Jonas!

Eileen got to the point for project #3: Music is a Language. Babies naturally recognize the beat of music and observe the joy music brings to the adults around them. Eileen taught us that babies and children learn spoken languages through exposure and that they can learn the language of music in the same way. If children were praised for their musical accomplishments in the same way they are praised for their first spoken words, we would probably have fewer children dropping out of music lessons in favor of other activities.

Dean taught us about the Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Using powerpoint like a pro, he provided a very balanced view about what is working and what isn’t so far. On the plus side, 20 million people have gained insurance coverage who didn’t previously have it. Not so great: large companies with 10,000 or more employees had their healthcare costs per employee increased by $4,800 to $5,900. PPACA has a long road ahead of it with changing political leadership and the need to address the fact that healthcare costs are still extremely high.

After the meeting, our Toastmaster of the Day Mickey sent us some video links to reinforce the simple process for settings goals that he taught us: Short and Simple Process for Setting Goals by Brian Tracy, Brian Tracy on How to Word Your Goals, and How Goal Setting Has Impacted Brian Tracy’s Life.

All of the Big 3, Evaluators, and Helpers ambitiously (Word of the Day) completed their roles to produce a top-notch meeting. Our two guests, Sonia and Stacy, certainly enjoyed it based on their feedback at the end of the meeting.

Join us next week as Durai takes the reigns as Toastmaster!

Ribbon Winners

5-Star Helper - Durai
Best Evaluator - Jyo
Best Table Topics - Patrick
Best of the Big 3 - Mickey
Best Speaker - Eileen
Spark Plug - Jonas

Our invocator Don shared the evocative (Word of the Day) Gettysburg address, plus some fun Thanksgiving facts. Did you know Thanksgiving was made an official holiday by President Lincoln?

Our theme for the evening was “Home Is Where The Heart Is” and throughout the meeting our Toastmaster of the Day Stephanie shared stories of why Preston Persuaders is a home to her. She had an anecdote for just about every member of the audience and we could certainly feel her gratitude.

The wise can conquer the foolish. Power is nothing, strength is nothing. The wise, gentle, and careful can always win. These are the lessons Lisa brought to life in her retelling of the Chinese fable of the lion and the mosquitos. Lisa’s gestures and vocal variety drew the audience in and thoroughly entertained us!

Brian’s objective was to deliver a dramatic speech. He had everyone’s rapt attention as he retold the story of arriving at a terrible car accident back when he was in college. After sitting for what felt like 40 minutes holding an injured man’s neck straight, Brian developed a much greater appreciation for the work done by his girlfriend at the time who was an EMT.

While Jyo didn’t grow up with Thanksgiving, we learned that it has come to be her favorite holiday. With her objective to use visual aids effectively, Jyo, in true infomercial-style, demonstrated how to prepare her delicious and now famous cranberry sauce. Jyo was totally prepared with samples and printed recipes for everyone!

All of the big 3, the evaluators, and helpers did an amazing job as always. We are all so grateful for the role everyone plays every week in creating such educational and fun meetings!

We were glad to have our guests Sonia and Rachel and they are welcome back any time!

See everyone next Monday!

 

Ribbon Winners

Best Speaker - Lisa
Best Evaluator - Shiny
Best of Big 3 - Stephanie
Best Table Topics - Patrick
5-Star Helper - Mark
Sparkplug - Patrick

In this week's meeting, Patrick inspired us all to tap into our enormous potential and get stronger! As Toastmaster of the day, he shared his personal story of joining the club exactly two years ago to go beyond his writing voice to find and strengthen his speaking voice. He was grateful to all the members of the club for helping him do just that and we are so grateful to have him as a part of the Preston Persuaders family!

Ann got the meeting started with her first speech for our club, her "Ice Breaker". We learned how her love for roller skating brought great things into her life, including a supportive family, a career, and her husband Jeff. We were all wowed by her skills as a competitive roller skater, and the many public speaking skills she already possesses. Great job, Ann!

Our next speaker, also doing his first speech at Preston Persuaders, was Don. Don took us along the serendipitous journey from having a broken neck to being with us at Preston Persuaders. Don entertained us all as he shared how telemarketing was one of the only job options available to him when he was recovering from his broken neck. That led to him working in airline reservations, and then to a job that utilized his background in reservations and journalism. We're so glad that his journey led him to Texas and Preston Persuaders!

Stephanie was a pro using a powerpoint presentation to help tell the story of creating her own butterfly garden. By only having images in her powerpoint, we were able to focus on the words she was saying as they were reinforced by the images. Amongst many tips, we learned about using pipevine as a food source for the caterpillars. Learn more about butterfly gardening in Texas.

Doug used us as guinea pigs for an inspirational speech he will soon be giving about dragon boat racing. His local dragon boat team has worked together to surge (word of the day) ahead of their past records and begin winning competitions. The attendees at Doug’s official speech have a lot to look forward to!

One of our six guests mentioned how you just can’t get the full picture of Toastmasters by reading about it online, you really have to attend a meeting. We love having guests and they are always welcome at our meetings!

See everyone next Monday!

Ribbon Winners

Best Speaker - Don
Best Evaluator - Brian
Best of Big 3 - Patrick
Best Table Topics - Eileen
5-Star Helper - Dean
Sparkplug - Don

Tonight's theme was "Interesting and Weird Holidays in November," led by Toastmaster of the Day, Jyo. We learned about World Kindness Day (Nov 13), Men Make Dinner Day (Nov 6th), and many other weird holidays during our joyous (word of the day) meeting!

Autumn began the prepared speeches portion of our meeting with her first ever Toastmasters speech! We learned about her fascinating career in scenic design for many popular TV shows and movies, including my favorite movie, You've Got Mail. Now she works as an industrial designer, has hilarious stories about her time in New York and her dating profiles, and gave us all a glimpse into her life with her two dogs. We all love having you in the club and look forward to more of your speeches!!!

Our second speaker, Eileen, shared three tips to help control your mind so you feel more peaceful. Her tips were to be in the present moment, be grateful, and live in truth. She shared how yoga has helped make it easier for her to follow these practices and improve her life.

Shiny was our third speaker, and she shared a humorous and touching story of "Lazy Town". She shared how she realized she was not communicating as much as she'd like to because of insecurities about her English. With her friends in Toastmasters and renewed determination, she has completed two speeches in the past two months and had fun competing in the most recent speech competition! Way to go, Shiny!!! 

Tonight was a night of celebration, with Mickey earning his Competent Leader award and Danielle joining as a new member! We had a meeting full of fun and laughs and learning! Join us next week for another great night at Preston Persuaders!

Ribbon Winners

Best Speaker - Shiny
Best Evaluator - Allison
Best of Big 3 - Jyo
Best Table Topics - Mark
5-Star Helper - Ann
Sparkplug - Shiny

 

This week's meeting started off great with our invocator, Wen, retelling the story of the Time Machine and its lesson to cherish what we have now. This tied into the theme “The Wisdom of the Story", chosen by our Toastmaster of the Day and storyteller extraordinaire, Shiny. 

Durai, our first prepared speaker, persuaded with power as he shared the benefits of drinking more water. It is the only non-caloric beverage that is native to our body and crucial for optimal health. His tips included having a glass of warm water every two hours to make sure you stay hydrated, drinking water 30 minutes prior to a meal to support digestion, and drinking extra water the day after you consume alcohol. Here are 13 Easy Ways To Drink More Water Every Day. 

Patrick was our second speaker, and he spun a story of his youth for our enjoyment. We met his childhood friends Knuckles, Scrounge, Stinky, and Butt Lips. We learned that even with the best laid plans, crime doesn’t pay - at least not for Patrick and his compatriots. After recently being released from being grounded for 50 years by his police-officer mother, Patrick has never felt freer. :)

Mickey put the “toast” in Toastmasters as he practiced his best-man speech for his best friend Joe’s upcoming wedding. Mickey’s toast was funny and meaningful as he retold stories of growing up with Joe. They’re going to love it, Mickey!

Our evaluators, Susan, Mike, and guest Toastmaster Jeff, were prodigious (Word of the Day) in their evaluations of the prepared speeches.

Max, our Table Topics Master, quizzed participants on current events. General Evaluator Mark reminded the group that if they don’t know the answer to a question asked in Table Topics they can either redirect their answer to something they are more familiar with (as demonstrated by Eileen) or just have fun totally making something up (as demonstrated by Sofia). Of course, if you know the answer, just go with that (as demonstrated by our guest Mays). The most important thing with table topics is that you just practice your impromptu speaking, even if you don’t fully understand the topic or question. Have fun with it!

What question was asked more than any other in our meeting? “What is that smell?” You just had to be there to get the reference. :) We had 7 guest join us this week, and many of our new members were fulfilling new roles for the first time. It's always a great Monday at Preston Persuaders, so join us next week for another fun opportunity to practice your speaking and leadership skills.

Ribbon Winners

Best Speaker - Patrick
Best Evaluator - Susan
Best of Big 3 - Shiny
Best Table Topics - Sofia
5-Star Helper - Don
Sparkplug - Max

It was another fantastic meeting of Preston Persuaders with a spooky twist! This week's theme was Halloween, led by the Toastmaster of the Day, Dean. Did you know that the word Halloween is a contraction of "All Hallows' Evening"? You can read more about the history and meaning of Halloween here. 

Our first speaker, Susan, gave a speech about living with passion and courage. She received praise from her evaluator for engaging her audience and her use of visual aids to support her speech.

In Lisa's speech, we learned tips for speaking with assertiveness. She did an informative and entertaining role-playing scenario with Patrick. Patrick played a clerk at a hotel that had cancelled Lisa's reservation. Lisa was confronting him while teaching us all about being assertive in a way that is respectful to everyone involved. One of her tips is to begin statements with "I" instead of "you". For example, instead of saying, "You're wrong," say, "I disagree."

Shiny enchanted us (word of the day) as Table Topics Master, and we all got involved with creating a fun Halloween story together. Our General Evaluator, Janak, reminded us to check that our cell phones are on silent before the meeting.

We are so excited to welcome Amar as a new member!!!! Big congratulations to first-time role-keepers Eileen, Autumn, and Don! It can be a little nerve-wracking to jump into a role, but you all did a stellar job! We also welcomed Danielle as a returning guest and look forward to seeing her again next week!

Thank you all for making this Halloween meeting spooktacular! Your presence makes a difference! Join us next week for another great opportunity to practice being a superstar speaker at Preston Persuaders!

Ribbon Winners

Best Speaker - Lisa
Best Evaluator -Ed
Best of Big 3 - Shiny
Best Table Topics - Mark
5-Star Helper - Don (new member!)
Sparkplug - Don (new member!)