South Main Monthly
Mont
Vol. 3 No. 6 South Main Speakers, District 56, Club 8609
The mission of the Toastmasters club is to provide a mutually
supportive and positive learning environment in which every
member has the opportunity to develop communication and
leadership skills, which in turn foster self
growth.
In This Issue
• President's Corner
• Anniversaries & Milestones
Grace Hu, Bob Hu, Jian Wang, Vivek Rajan
• New Member Spotlight
• Words of Wisdom
• New officers welcome
• Features
“The Consistent Toastmaster” by Grace Hu
“Desires, Happiness & Spirituality” by Francis Athappilly
“4th Annual Spring Picnic Celebrations” by Vivian Li
• Ask the Master
Using a theme to drive your point home
The South Main Monthly is a monthly publication of the
South Main Speakers Toastmasters club. We meet every
Sunday at 1:30 p.m. in 10305 South Main Street
(Houston Chinese Church), Room 411. For more
information, please visit our website at:
http://groups.msn.com/southmainspeakers
If you have any comments, contributions, or suggestions
concerning this or future issues, please send them to
vrajan@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!
-Vivek Rajan, Editor
June 2008
self-confidence
confidence and personal
President’s
Corner
Bon Voyage to Another Great Year!
By Vivian Li, CC
If you don't know where you are going, you will probably end up
somewhere else. –Lawrence J. Peter
The South Main Speakers ers voyage will soon end for another
year, but in July she sets sail for a new voyage with a new captain
(incoming president Jian Wang), and his fabulous crew to help steer
the ship. But before we close out this fantastic 2007-2008
2007 year, I
wanted to do three things.
Thank you first to this year’s team of officers. Special
kudos go to Jian, Vivek, and Mary for going above and beyond their
duties to make sure this club shines. From the excellent education
sessions to the inaugural Grand Slam and our outstanding
outst
membership growth of over 50%, we without doubt had a great year.
On behalf of the club, I would like to wish hardcore veteran
Toastmasters Renay and Jeanne a fond farewell and best wishes as
they depart in August to Portland. Though you two will certainly
c be
a welcome addition to any TM club over there, don’t forget about
your favorite Toastmasters club!
I am sad to say that I’ll be leaving soon too to study in
China. Lastly, but of course not the least, I would like to thank each
and every one of you for making South Main so incredibly
wonderful. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. The club is
essentially just volunteers who all add to the club’s flavor—Grace’s
flavor
distinctive laugh, Annie’s motherly persistence, Renay’s creativity
(who could have guessed how much fun the periodical table can
be!), Bob’s wit, Jeanne’s finesse, Erika’s goofiness, Vivek’s
calmness, Mary’s smile, etc. As the South Main ship picks up new
passengers, its flavor will become richer and better! Mmmm….
 Anniversaries & Milestones New Member Spotlight
Last month we have had two new members join our
Grace Hu and Bob Hu, the club! Please give a warm welcome to our newest
co-founders of South Main members – Jerry Li and Priscilla Fernandes.
Fernandes And a
Speakers, celebrates their brief introduction of Priscilla in her own words:
12th anniversary with
South Main Speakers this
month!

Congratulations to Jian
Wang on earning his
Advanced Communicator
Bronze award this month!
“I was born in Kuwait and grew up both there and
in my home country, India. My interest in Biology
brought me to the US in 2001 to pursue a doctoral
degree in Genetics. I have lived both in Galveston
Congratulations to Vivek and Portland, Oregon while here in the US. On
Rajan on earning his completion
etion of my degree I moved to Houston
towards the end of 2006 to join a post-doctoral
post
Competent Leader award
training program at Baylor College of Medicine. I
last month! work in a clinical diagnostic laboratory that offers
gene testing for various disorders. My job has been
exciting, rewarding
ding and has exposed me to a lot of

Words of Wisdom
Watch your thoughts, for they become words.
Watch your words, for they become actions.
Watch your actions, for they become habits.
Watch your habits, for they become character.
Watch your character, for it becomes your destiny.
new areas but most of all has made me appreciative
of life in general, of being healthy in mind and body
without a debilitating genetic disease. In my leisure
time I enjoy being in the company of my friends,
shopping and trying various restaurants in the city.
Houston reminds me a lot of my home city Mumbai
that is hot, humid and busy. I am glad to have joined
Toastmasters and look forward to participating in
the group.”

Welcome New Officers for Fall 2008

President VP-Education VP-Membership

Membership VP-PR Secretary Treasurer
Jian Wang Francis Erika Parrish Vivek Rajan Mary Deng Priscilla
Athappilly Fernandes

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The Consistent
Toastmaster
By Grace Hu, ACB, ALB
I received an email from Vivek
two nights ago to ask
sk me to write an article
of what I said in the Table Topics speech
last Sunday. This was a creative idea of
Vivian to get more articles for the
Newsletter. This is the first time that I am
writing a speech after I have given it. It is
like a Backward Meeting.
I can’t remember the exact question that
Brenda, the Table Topics Master, asked me.
It was something like “what was your stellar
accomplishment last year in Toastmasters?”
What came to my mind at that time was not
what new title I got or what award
ard that I got.
All I thought about was what I did to benefit
me and others in the club by attending the
club meeting consistently.
I have been the member of the South Main
Speakers since it was chartered 12 years ago.
Although I have not moved up very fast in
the education system, but I am proud to say
that I have attended the club meeting
consistently. Just by participating in
different roles in most of the meetings for 12
years, I have benefited tremendously both in
my career and personal life. I be
believe that I
have also helped many new members by
being supportive and providing a positive
environment for them.
Everyone joins the Toastmasters Club for
one common purpose. That is self self-
improvement. I believe that if you can
achieve self-improvement that hat is the biggest
accomplishment that you have done for
yourself. Therefore, the benefit resulted
from attending the club meeting consistently
was my stellar accomplishment for not just
last year, but also for the past 12 years.
Desires, Happiness &
Spirituality
By Francis K. Athappilly
Most of us are familiar
with different kinds of pets.
Based on my experience, I believe that more
people are happier with cows, cats or dogs,
rather than with fishes, turtles or insects. It is
possible to form some kindnd of meaningful
relationships with cows, cats or dogs, which
is not possible with insects, fishes or turtles.
The lower forms of life seemed to care only
for the food that we provide, and cannot
think beyond that. They do not care much
about the provider, the pet's owner. But, the
higher forms of life recognize their provider
and reciprocate affection, which draws us
closer to them.
Recently, Vivek spoke about desire and
happiness. This made me think. Today, we
enjoy a standard of living that would have
been unimaginable for even the greatest
emperors of past ages. But, are we happier
than people of past generations? Probably
not. Think about the poor and the illiterate
people in the third world. They do not have
much of what we have. Are we happier than
them? Probably not. I have seen them smile
and laugh more often than myself. I wonder
what will make us happy. We often expect
that satiation of desires will make us happy,
only to be disillusioned over and over again.
What will make us really happy?
This leads me to the topic, desires,
desires
happiness and spirituality. Any human being
is imperfect with many deficiencies or needs.
The craving or yearning to fill in those
deficiencies is at the root of our desires. In
other words, desire is our urge to fill in those
th
deficiencies. Our carnal desires often get
satisfied with material things. Food often
satisfies hunger and drink quenches thirst.
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But meeting the physical needs alone does
not provide lasting happiness.
Human beings crave for relationships. We
form various kinds of relationships. The first
of these is perhaps the baby, who in the
beginning was concerned only about the
milk and care that its mother provided,
bonding with its mother to form a filial
relationship. The baby recognizes someone
beyond itself and in that process manifests
itself as a person changing from 'it' to 'he' or
'she'. This is the beginning of spirituality.
Spirituality is all about relationships. We
often find more lasting happiness in
relationships. Lasting happiness may be
found in lasting relationships.
As we grow, we search for meaning and
purpose in life. Most of us desire to have a
deep relationship with someone else. Often,
we end up espousing someone else in the
hope of everlasting bliss and eternal
happiness. Unfortunately, even the best of
human beings cannot satisfy other human
beings completely by themselves. As
mentioned earlier, each of us have many
deficiencies or needs and together we have
more needs.
Our search for lasting happiness and peace
take us to the bigger and the more powerful.
Some espouse something for which they are
willing to sacrifice anything. This could be
anything, such as material things, power,
fame, ideology, etc. It can be money,
profession, health, pacifism, terrorism,
science, black magic, etc. For some, who
turn inward, it could even be themselves.
But almost everyone, knowingly or
otherwise, makes something or somebody
their God, in whose altar they are willing to
sacrifice anything. I have come to conclude
that it is wise to make one's god the provider
and creator of everything.
To me God is the infinite source of all
goodness. This God is always giving and
forgiving, accepting us without conditions.
He wants us to enjoy a filial relationship
with Him. He wants us to call Him 'Our
Father'. When we accept him, we also accept
other human beings, who are His children.
When we do this and align our will with that
of God's will, we can have lasting peace and
happiness. The purpose of this life is to
make the permanent and fundamental choice:
either choose eternal peace that comes from
aligning one's will with that of the Almighty
– a choice of love based on faith that gives
hope. Or choose anything else. Our life here
on earth is our chance to compare the
Creator with His creation and choose one or
the other. Throughout this life, we are free to
change and morph into whatever we like.
Theoretically, we can change our selection
as often as we choose, as long as we live.
That choice is made permanent at the
moment of one's death. Thus, one's entire
life is the opportunity to make this
permanent choice. One's permanent choice
of the creator as God leads to everlasting
union with the supreme, ever-living author
of life. This choice of love based on faith
leads to the alignment of one's will with that
of the creator. This removes all fear and
produces to tranquility and peace. This
relationship or union with the Supreme
Being is eternal bliss or everlasting
happiness. A cat or dog recognizing and
submitting to its master and having a
meaningful relationship with him reminds
me of this union.
I believe that this is what Jesus Christ meant
when he said that Kingdom of God is within
you. It is like being immersed in the
Supreme Being to receive all that is good
and becoming channels of grace – "the
spring of life-giving water" -- to those
around us. I believe that this alignment of
our will with that of the Supreme Being is
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the essence of the principle of Adwaida or
Non-duality
duality that the Hindu sage Swami
Vivekananda spoke about. According to that,
you are NOT separate
eparate from God or you and
God are one. When you are immersed in the
Supreme Being, you become one with Him.

It is like the baby that once only loved the

milk and care, bonding or transforming itself
to become that person that reaches out and
loves his or her mother, the provider.

4th Annual Spring Picnic Celebrations

Since the inaugural spring picnic in 2004,

the annual spring picnic has become a blast
for us to celebrate the Toastmasters year end
and elect the new officers. Good food was
had, excellent
ellent speeches heard, and fun
charades played! Enjoy these pictures from
the picnic on June 1.

Ask the Master

Dear Master,

I took your advice,

and I now write my
speeches, but I still have
trouble getting my audience to remember
what I say in my speech! Could you please
suggest some ideas on how I could drive my
point home?

— ToBe Remembered

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Dear ToBe Remembered,
Writing speeches consists of a lot more than
finding a few inspirational quotes and
possibly a funny story or two. The key to
writing good speeches lies in using a theme.
If you always refer back to this theme, the
audience will respond positively and
remember your words. This does not mean
that inspirational quotes are not important.
However, they should be integrated into
your speech in a way that makes sense.
Choosing a Theme
The first task that a public speaker needs to
focus on before they do any actual writing is
the message they are trying to convey. My
inspiration for this idea came from the
speeches of John F. Kennedy. In his
inaugural speech, he chose to focus on
freedom. He addressed many different topics,
but always came back to this idea of liberty.
When asked to be the guest speaker at a
National Honor Society induction recently, I
decided to focus on how an individual's
daily decisions add up to reveal that
person's true character. We cannot cheat in
the small things and expect these blemishes
to never surface. When the real tests in life
occur, our character will not be able to
withstand the pressure because we have not
chosen the harder path all along. Why did I
choose this as my theme? My audience
consisted of Juniors and Seniors at the top
of their respective classes. They had to meet
stringent requirements in the areas of
scholarship, community service, leadership,
and character in order to be accepted into
the organization. I wanted to leave them
with one idea that might make them think
twice.
Think of the ONE thought with which you
want to leave your audience. Why only one
idea? Mainly because if you reinforce a
single point instead of focusing on entirely
different ideas, your audience will have a
greater tendency to remember it. A speech
does not lend itself to having many themes.
Stick with one really good theme, and use
each point you make, your theme reinforcers,
to bring that idea home.
If you would like some ideas for possible
themes, look at the world around you. What
are people concerned about? If you are
speaking about the state of education, find
one central idea like personal responsibility
that you feel strongly about. Then return to
that idea with each point you make. Write
your individual points to reinforce your idea.
Utilizing Theme Reinforcers
Theme reinforcers are simply the points that
a speechwriter uses throughout his or her
speech to 'reinforce' the central idea they
are trying to get across. In Winston
Churchill's famous commencement address
to Westminster College in 1946, we find him
emphasizing over and over again the need
for cooperation against tyranny and war.
His speech covered serious problems with
which the post-war world was faced,
including what he termed as the 'iron
curtain' that had descended across the
European continent. Many say that this
speech was the beginning of the 'cold war'.
What we can learn from his address is the
importance of continually reiterating one
idea. The effect that this speech had on the
world is almost incalculable.
Of course, this does not mean that
throughout the speech the same words are
repeated over and over. The hardest part of
writing any speech is to approach the main
theme from many different angles.
Wrapping it All Together
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Once you've picked your theme and chosen
the points you want to emphasize, putting
the speech together is fairly simple. You can
organize it first in outline form,
remembering to return at the end of each
point to the theme you are trying to get
across. Numbering your points sometimes
helps the audience remember where you are
and how far you have left to travel before
the climax of your speech. This climax is the Wouldn’t it be GREAT
most important part. It should be the last
paragraph, and leave everyone with ...if you could just take a pill,
something to think about. One great way to
bring your ideas home is to find a quote and no longer be terrified to
which aptly embodies your theme.
speak in front of groups?
Speechwriting is all about knowing your
audience and addressing their concerns. Come to South Main
Leave your audience with something about Speakers Toastmasters
which to think. Include humor and
inspirational quotes. But make sure that Club, we supply them!*
each of these are integrated into the whole.
Study the great speeches of the past to find It costs nothing to visit our club, and
inspiration. The joy that you will feel when there is no obligation to join
you have given a speech that has inspired
people is amazing and worth the effort. Visitors are ALWAYS
Good luck! welcome!
We meet every Sunday, 1:30-3 p.m.
10305 South Main Street @ I-610
For information visit
http://groups.msn.com/SouthMainSpeakers

* Disclaimer: Quantities are limited. First come, first serve.

South Main Monthly 7