Preston Persuaders

Have you ever done a speech, presentation or any other important event and felt like you bombed? That was the theme for this week's meeting, led by Toastmaster of the Day, Hugh. Hugh reminded us that every experience can be a learning experience. Even if you feel like you bombed, ask yourself, "What went well? What can I learn?" Many years ago, Hugh bombed during an important work presentation, but that experience led him to join Toastmasters! 

Our speakers didn't bomb this evening! Durai did a speech about Dr. Edward de Bono's Six Thinking Hats using visual aids. The Six Thinking Hats is a systematic way of discovering all sides of a situation in order to solve a problem or make a decision. Durai put on different colored hats as he demonstrated the process using an important decision in his life: whether to move his family from India to the US or not. I'm happy to report that Durai is planning to be reunited with his family in the near future.

Patrick told us the story of the many trials Theodore Roosevelt overcame throughout his life. His speech ended with these inspiring words from Roosevelt's "Citizenship in a Republic" speech: "It is not the critic who counts...The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming...who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly..." Patrick said that when we speak at Toastmasters, we are putting ourselves into the arena. There are a million reasons why we could not speak or not come to a meeting, but it's when we are present despite those reasons, striving for greatness, that we are the bold, daring souls that Roosevelt refers to.

In Jyo's speech, we learned three primary reasons why great companies succeed. She said they focus on the most important things: 1) Making small innovations continually, striving to create the best experience for their consumers; 2) Setting high expectations for their products, workers, and customers; and 3) They keep examining and simplifying their process. Jyo invited us to consider how those points relate to our club. Are we serving or members to the best of our ability? Do we hold high expectations for each other? Do we keep examining and simplifying our processes? It's time to renew your dues, and if you have suggestions for the club to help it better meet your needs, please write to the officers as soon as possible. We welcome your contribution! This is your club, and it is what you make it to be. We want you and everyone else to get the most out of every interaction and every meeting.

Hugh finished the meeting with a reminder that even the best can have an off day. If you've bombed, know that you can rise like the Phoenix (Word of the Day!), learn from your experience, and be even better next time.

We're looking forward to seeing you and all the friends you invite to our next meeting!

Ribbon Winners

Best Speaker - Patrick
Best Evaluator - Mickey
Best Table Topics - Eileen
Best of Big 3 - Hugh
Sparkplug - Patrick
5-Star Helper - Melanie

We had a room full of STARS at our Sept. 8th Meeting! With the many actors (WOTD) playing their roles, we pulled off yet another wonderful Preston Persuaders production!

Toastmaster of the Day Durai took us on a journey through the history of movies. He reminded us all to “get busy living or get busy dying” (a favorite quote of his from the movie Shawshank Redemption).

Mickey stepped up to the bat with an inspiring pocket speech! Mickey shared the speech he gives each morning to the man in the mirror. His morning ritual came from his reading the book As a Man Thinketh. Mickey IS, amongst many other things, a phenomenal speaker, getting better and better with every speech!

We invited back many members that have been away for varying lengths of time, including Patrick, Munzer, Jyo, Shiny, Doug, Susan, Ed, Jeff, and Sarah. It was SO WONDERFUL to have you all at the meeting! And we look forward to welcoming back our other members that have been on break!

Because we had extra time for table topics, our Table Topics Master Mark experimented with a new format. We had six table topics speakers that each had an impromptu 1-2 minute evaluation. It worked out great and everyone appreciated the helpful feedback and encouragement.

Our 5-star helper for the evening Posture Monitor Allison told us about what was drilled into her back when she was in band at school - Up, Back, Down! This was a great reminder to us all for what to do with our shoulders to achieve excellent posture with our heads held high.

We were happy to have Eileen, Tim, and Munzer as our guests and look forward to having them back! Join us next week for our club contest, beginning at 7pm!

 

Ribbon Winners

Best Speaker - Mickey
Best Evaluator - Sarah
Best Table Topics - Eileen
Best of Big 3 - Mark
Sparkplug - Dean
5-Star Helper - Allison