Preston Persuaders

The theme for our meeting centered on limiting your intake of online and computer activity through a digital diet. The table topics brought out a range of technology preferences, as well as guilty pleasures such as playing the game Candy Crush. Our speakers broke the ice, completed a milestone tenth speech, and came prepared to step in at the last minute. 

Karen K. introduced herself to the club with a speech about her return to her hometown, McKinney. Mickey B. related his adventures mountain biking with friends to pursuing new goals. Max R. stepped up as a back-up speaker and discussed his trip to Australia and New Zealand with his family. The three speakers each did a wonderful job. 

Our next meeting will be on Monday, September 9. (The club voted previously not to host a meeting on Labor Day.) Our Toastmaster of the Evening will be Aaron M. with General Evaluator Ed M. 

Yesterday meeting's speech-a-thon was phenomenal. We had four fabulous speakers. Toastmaster Susan B. introduced herself to the club with an icebreaker describing the sweet struggles of her life. Toastmaster Mark R. taught us about the language learning website Duolingo and educational Khan Academy website. Toastmaster Patrick M. described a transformative time in his life and the power of thoughts. Our final speaker of the evening, Competent Communicator Brian T. role played asserting himself with a co-worker about turning off the lights.

During last Monday's meeting at Palio's Pizza, we voted to postpone the meeting and instead had a club social. We will have five prepared speeches for August 19, so be prepared for great presenters and information. We will have two icebreaker speeches, as icing on the cake. The club officers are actively looking for a new permanent meeting location, but we need your help as well. With a group effort, we can find a space that works for our club while minimizing the potential cost. Keep us updated on your search efforts. We appreciate them greatly. 

Our meeting at the Atmos Energy facility was an exciting change of place for last Monday! We had a great crowd out to hear from a fantastic line up of speakers. Toastmaster Melanie regaled us with a speech about discovering your ideal and going for it. Competent Toastmaster (CTM) Sanju explained what charity is: kindness given to other people, not necessarily a cash donation. The final speaker of the evening, Competent Communicator Brian taught us the fundamentals of coaching and performed a live role play guiding a troubled employee through a spreadsheet issue. The table topics master Toastmaster Aaron asked some striking questions in keeping with the theme of "Unions - Organized Labor." At the end of the evening awards were presented to the persons who best met their objectives and performed their roles.