South Main Monthly

Vol. 1 No. 2 South Main Speakers, District 56, Club 8609 February 2007

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-confidence and
personal growth.

IN THIS ISSUE:

*President's Corner President’s

*Anniversaries and Milestones
Ashish Sinha Corner
Annie M. Ballatore

*New Member Spotlight Big Happenings at South Main Speakers!

Michael Plaks By Annie M. Ballatore, CTM

*Calendar of Events
Tall Tales Video showing
Chinese New Year Celebration
Tall Tales and International Speech Contests
*Features
“How Toastmasters Changed My Life”
by Annie M. Ballatore
"The Beautiful Man" by Renay Jacob
”About People Magazine” by Lu Yao
“What a Day at Hermann Park!” by Vivek Rajan
*Ask the Master
How do you end a speech?
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
floatingcomma@gmail.com. Thank you for reading!
-Vivian Li, Editor
"February, when the days of winter seem endless and no
amount of wistful recollecting can bring back any air of
summer." This bleak description of February may have
been true for the American short story writer Shirley
Jackson, but not for the South Main Speakers! This
month, we are planning dynamic and exciting events -
colorful and joyous.
To start off, on February 18th, we will host a cultural
event: the celebration of the Chinese New Year. With
dragons and fireworks (that is to say powerful speeches
and a glittering Table Topics session) we will learn more
about each other's backgrounds. How fitting for such a
diverse club as the South Main Speakers! This theme
meeting will be a great opportunity to bring guests and
share the wonderful atmosphere, friendliness and
dynamism of our club. Bring your friends and your
coworkers to this showcase meeting!
February 25th will feature our bi-annual club contest. This
time, we will compete in two categories: Tall Tales and
International Speech. Contests are challenging and fun!
They provide an occasion for each one of us to get out of
our comfort zone, to show our talents and to grow as
speakers and leaders. You can even use the contest to
 speakers and leaders. You can even use the contest to reach some of your educational goals! For
instance, a tall tale fits perfectly with the requirements of speech #5 (Your Body Speaks) and speech #6
(Vocal Variety) of the basic manual. Similarly, the International Speech will do well for speech #9
(Persuade with Power) or speech #10 (Inspire your Audience). On contest day, participate by giving
speeches and cheering on your fellow Toastmasters!

Truly, with so many exciting happenings at South Main Speakers this month, it seems obvious that
Shirley Jackson’s description of February is in dire need of a renovation. How about “February, when the
days of winter are scattered with a multitude of opportunities for fun and excitement!”

Anniversaries & Milestones

Milestones

February
February 11: Tall Tales Contest Video

If you plan to compete in the Tall Tales Contest, this

• Fond farewell to Ashish Sinha, who
is moving back with his family to
India this month. He plans to take the
lessons he learned here with South
Main Speakers and apply them to his
new Toastmasters club in India. We
wish him the best of luck!
• Annie Ballatore, CTM, celebrates her
two-year anniversary with South Main
Speakers this month!
is a meeting you cannot miss! The video shows
previous tall tales competitors on contest day, so it
will familiarize you with how is the tall tales contest.
February 18: Chinese New Year Celebration
Invite your friends and family to the South Main
Speakers Chinese New Year themed meeting! Come
celebrate the Year of the Pig Toastmasters style!
We’ll learn about the holiday through special speeches
and table topics.

That sounds like FUN!
February 25: Tall Tales Contest and the
…But what is a tall tale?!! Toastmasters International Speech Contest

A tall tale is a story that claims to explain
the reason for some natural phenomenon, or
sometimes illustrates how skilled,
intelligent, and/or powerful the subject of
the tale was. In either case, the tall tale is
fictional and usually obviously so. It can,
however, be based on a real figure in
history. Very often, the tall tale is told in a
manner that is intentionally ridiculous.
Brush up your tall tales and your best speech! Tall
tales speeches are open to any member who is in good
standing. The tall tale has to be 3-5 minutes.
Members in good standing who have completed at
least 6 manual speeches are eligible to compete in the
International Speech Contest. The speech has to be 5-
7 minutes. Winners from South Main Speakers will
represent our club at the district level.

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New Member Spotlight

Please give a warm welcome to our newest (but definitely not new to Toastmasters!)
member, Michael Plaks, ATM-B. In his own words to the club:

For years, Americans worried about the Russians coming. Indeed, one of them
came to the U.S. in 1992 and stayed. 10 years later, he joined a Toastmasters
club in Houston and won 1st place in District 56 Tall Tales and Humorous
speech contests. His name is Michael Plaks.

Michael reflects that his Tall Tales experience proved invaluable in

his professional practice as an income tax advisor who defends his
clients against the IRS. His daily dealings with income tax also give
Michael material for his humorous speeches. After all, one really has
to have a sense of humor to appreciate the IRS rules!

How many of you remember the old action movie "Red Heat"? In
that movie, Arnold Schwarzenegger played a Russian policeman: a
tall, muscular, fearless man of very few words. If this has been Michael’s cats drink only the finest
your image of the Russians, you will be quite surprised to see
Michael. He is the exact opposite of Arnold: short, athletically challenged, very - and I
mean - VERY talkative, and with a sense of humor. Well, with a Russian sense of humor
anyway. And here is his most striking difference from Arnold: his heavy Russian accent
is 100% authentic.

Michael spends his spare time with his very supportive family that includes
three boys, four cats, and one wife (so far).

It was a cold, rainy Sunday afternoon when,

two years ago, I attended my very first
Toastmasters meeting, hoping it would help
me improve my public speaking. Who knew
that joining the South Main Speakers on that
dreary day would soon become the most
monumental decision in my life! It did not
take more than one meeting for me to
become enthralled and join the South Main
Speakers. As I look back from this two-year
How Toastmasters Changed My Life
anniversary, I am floored by the impact that
Contributed by Annie M. Ballatore, CTM
decision made on my life.

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When I first joined the club, it was mind-
boggling simply to multi-task during
meetings. Though I was inclined to sit back
and relax, listening to my fellows’ speeches,
the friendly club atmosphere encouraged me
to start taking on meeting roles. But what a
challenge that turned out to be! The first
time I was timer, I did not hear a single
word of any speech. How could I possibly
keep track of time and pay attention! But
meeting by meeting, I began to remember a
little of what I had heard while also
concentrating on my role. To my elation,
one day I realized that I could easily time
the speakers and enjoy the speeches! This
breakthrough made my confidence soar so
that, after that pivotal moment, I gained the
confidence to take on other challenges.
Encouraged to give speeches, studying the
manual to meet the project requirements, I
improved my ability to organize my
thoughts and effectively present them.
Persuaded to become officer, I worked on
my leadership skills and discovered that I
could be a leader. Moreover, it was not long
before I saw these communication and
leadership skills and my newly-found
confidence make an enormous impact on my
personal and professional life. At work, I
began to lead my group more effectively.
At home, I broke through my shyness and
now make friends with ease.
Undeniably, I am now making
accomplishments that I never thought I
could have done: speaking at the TLI
(Toastmasters Leadership Institute) in front
of an unknown crowd of fifty people,
participating in speech contests, and being
president of my club! What a long way I
have come from that first Sunday afternoon
two years ago. As I look back from my
anniversary, I am enthralled with my
progress and, more importantly, I am excited
because I know I will continue to change my
life with Toastmasters.
************
The Beautiful Man
by Renay Jacob, ATM-B
with help from Frank de Ford of National Public Radio
I had the privilege of attending my first
professional tennis match in 1994. It was the
U.S. Open, and it was a mere two subway
stops from where I lived. I saw the
legendary Pete Sampras, Steffi Graf, and
Martina Hingis glide effortlessly to win each
of their matches. Stadium hotdogs, frozen
yogurt and Budweiser beer usually seen at
baseball games was replaced by grilled
Panini sandwiches, Haagen Dazs ice cream
and Heineken beer. I felt very proper and I
admired the game for its grandeur.
Around that time, a young Roger Federer
circuited the junior tennis championships.
Few people thought he would accomplish
everything he has until now.
The amazing thing about Roger is that not
only do many famous tennis authorities
speculate that he may become the greatest
tennis player ever to pick up a racket, but
that he may already be the prettiest.
It is almost as if he were so beautiful on the
court that it’s worth paying to see him play
even if he doesn’t win, which, of course, he
does most every time. There is such an
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effortless quality to his game. He always
seems to be at the right place at the right
time. He glides; never scurries. His strokes
are so perfect that it’s as though he lifted out
of a manual – picture perfect.
Being a champion in any sport doesn’t
necessarily equate to beauty. The finest
players are often by the very nature of their
excellence, too ingenuous. This means that
they are impressionists who create a new
model rather than improve on the loveliness
that preceded them.
I have never seen Joe DiMaggio play, but
from everything I heard about him, he
seemed to be the equivalent on center field
that Roger is on center court – all grace and
majesty. The fact that he still hits an old-
fashioned one-handed backhand certainly
helps. The two-handed backhand, which
most players have used since Jimmy
Connors and Chris Evert came to glory, can
never look so stylish. This is because two
hands can never achieve the lovely arching
reach and extension of one. The two-handed
jerks; the one-handed flows.
It’s good that we have Justine Henin-
Hardenne, the fabulous little Belgian
champion around, because she hits a
backhand for the angels. It reminds us that
Mr. Federer is still short of perfection.
Of course, although he utterly dominates on
the hard courts and grass, he is still
vulnerable on clay to the very best dirt
specialist. But it will take an opponent
playing well beyond his usual talents to
deny Roger a repeat championship at the
Grand Slams this year. Roger Federer
already has 10 Grand Slam titles. His most
recent title was on January 28, 2007 where
he won the Australian Open without losing a
single set through the entire tournament. At
the time of going to press, Roger has a 36-
week streak of not losing a match; the fifth
longest in the Open Era. Pete Sampras just
set the record with 14. He should keep it for,
oh, another 2 or 3 years. And, if anyone can
beat Roger, it must be done before the finals.
As they say of Roger . . . never on Sunday.
By winning the 2007 Australian Open, Mr.
Federer became the first man in the open era
to win three straight Grand Slam singles
titles twice in his career. Victory in six
major finals! That’s almost beyond
comprehension in any sport today. So, come
next championship Sunday we should
expect to see him jumping the net in victory
yet once again. No . . . excuse me . . . strike
that.
Tennis champions used to jump over the net.
Now, the men anyway, all fall down in
triumph. It’s bizarre. I believe it started with
Bjorn Borg. He would collapse to his knees.
Oh no guys, that’s not the way to win! All
other champions rise up in victory; you
throw your arms up; you shake your fists to
the heavens; you exalt. Basketball players
raise their fingers on high. “We’re number
one!” they say. Football players even find
someone to hoist on their shoulders. Victory
is up, up. Only modern male tennis players
act like losers when they win. Roger is the
worst of the lot. He tends to fall flat out.
C’mon Roger! As gorgeous as you are in
everything else, why do you have to take
victory lying down?
************
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About People Magazine
by Lu Yao
Among the many magazines I subscribe,
People is the most down-to-the-earth and
“low-profile” one (despite the high-profile
stars it covers). Though I don’t know how
popular People magazine is, I do know that
it is a consistently successful magazine in
history. The editorial focus of this magazine
is on the compelling stories of both the
famous and infamous, and ordinary and
extraordinary in today’s America.
I subscribed to this magazine two years ago
out of the consideration of familiarizing
myself with American pop culture. I knew
that knowing movie and TV stars, singers
and other celebrity people in the spotlight
was a good starting point since they play a
vital role in forming American pop culture.
Then after a few issues, I found that I fell in
love with this magazine not only because it
fulfilled my goal of getting to know
American pop culture, but also because I
was consistently touched by the
extraordinary life of ordinary people
reported by the magazine—their struggles,
dilemmas and triumphs. From People’s
report, I know about autism (a
developmental disability that results from a
disorder of the human central nervous
system), the severe and even fatal allergy
reaction to peanuts (from the report on a
Canadian teenage girl who tragically died
after kissing her boyfriend who had peanut
cake a few hours ago), American children’s
fight against obesity, the controversy of
international adoption and many other issues
and stories.
People serves as a guide on what are hot in
the arts, science, business, politics,
television, movies, books, music and sports.
It offers quick picks and pans on what's up
in entertainment. One of the sections I find
quite useful is the movie rating section.
Some critics give their opinion on the newly
released movies and issue a rating out of a
star scale (with four stars representing the
worth-to-watch ones). Whenever my
husband and I go for a movie, we check
People’s ratings because it seems that the
critics and we have the same taste. Any
movies that are given three stars below are
excluded from our watch list.
P.S. (a few more things)
1. As for the celebrity’s glamorous lifestyle
or the most recent fashion tips, I have to
admit that after a few issues I got tired of it.
I got no guilty pleasure from reading their
stories any more.
2. The celebrity news on People is more
“real” than other similar “gossip” magazines
such as US Weekly and Intouch. I’ve heard
that People have a $3-million-a-year fact-
checking department. I also like the
magazine’s flashy, full-color high-quality
photography.
2. Though I like them, I do think that
Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt get too much
attention from the magazine. There is no
single issue that they didn’t appear on it.
Brief introduction to People magazine
from Wikipedia.com
People is a weekly American magazine of
celebrity and human interest stories,
published by Time Inc. As of 2006, it has a
circulation of 3.73 million and revenue
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expected to top $1.5 billion. It was named
"Magazine of the Year" by Advertising Age
in October 2005, for excellence in editorial,
circulation and advertising.

The magazine, whose full name is People

Weekly, runs a roughly 50/50 mix of
celebrity and human interest stories, a ratio
it has maintained, according to its editors,
since 2001. People's editors claim to refrain
from printing pure celebrity gossip, enough
so to lead celebrity publicists to propose
exclusives to the magazine, evidence of It was a gorgeous day to take pictures.
what one staffer calls a "publicist-friendly
strategy." Though it had rained earlier in the morning,
the sky had cleared up by noon and the sun
People has a website, was shining brilliantly. It was a chilly day
http://www.people.com, which focuses and the wind was blowing hard that I needed
exclusively on celebrity news. People is my wind jacket to keep myself warm.
perhaps best known for its yearly special
issues naming "The 50 Most Beautiful
People", "The Best and Worst Dressed", and
"The Sexiest Man Alive".

************

The effect of the wind was even noticeable

in the reflection pool as it wasn’t reflecting
the Pioneer Monument Obelisk. Walking
What a Day at Hermann Park! further down to the McGovern Lake, I saw
by Vivek Rajan ducks swimming in a calm and peaceful
manner.
My visit to Hermann Park on Christmas Day
last year was a very enjoyable one. With my
digital camera around my neck, I was taking
a stroll in the park clicking away at anything
I thought was interesting.

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 Getting away from the dog, the ducks started
gathering around some kids who had started
feeding them cheese puffs. They were
happily relishing the yummy free snack but
that didn’t last very long.

Some of the ducks were outside the lake,

idly stretching their wings seeming to enjoy
the sun.

The noisy seagulls circling over the lake

were aggressive to dive down and grab the
cheese puffs before the ducks could get to it.
I had managed to capture all these activities
in my camera.

By then, my hands were beginning to freeze

up so I stopped taking pictures, got into my
car, turned up the heat and drove back home.

But their calmness was destroyed by a ************

cheerful hyperactive little dog that was off
its leash. The dog was madly chasing and
scaring the ducks away until they flew back
into the lake. It was a funny sight.

Ask the Master

Dear Master,

I have heard veteran members of our club

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say not to end our speeches with “thank
you,” since it’s meaningless (the audience
should thank the speaker for the information
he or she shared, not the other way around).
So we are told to end the speech by just
saying “Mr./Madam Toastmaster,” and wait
for the applause, but that also sounds like an
awkward ending. Are there any better ways
to end a speech?
— Unsure Endings
Dear Unsure,
As a Toastmaster, you know there must be a
better way to conclude your speech. After all,
what the grand finale is to a musician, the
conclusion is to a speaker. The ending of the
speech is a chance to stir the audience to a
standing ovation with a resounding call to
action - or a gentle tug on the heart strings.
How can you end your speech as confidently
as you opened it? Try these 10 tips:
The Title Close
Use the title of your speech as your closing
words. Last words linger, galvanizing your
message and mobilizing your audience. Just
as comedians should "leave 'em laughing,"
speakers should "leave 'em thinking." (HINT:
Try writing the ending of your speech first to
better construct the title.)
The Circular Close
Refer back to your opening anecdote or
quote and say: "We have arrived now at the
close where we began." Reiterate the
message you want your audience to
remember. Summarize the main points in the
classic: "Tell 'em what you are going to tell
'em; tell 'em, then tell 'em what you told
'em."
The Invitation Close
If you were concluding a speech on the
importance of getting involved in the
education process, you could say: "More
than 450 years before the birth of Christ,
Confucius said: 'What I hear, I forget. What
is see, I remember. What I do, I understand.'
Let's do it together. We've heard what we
have to do. We've seen what we need to do.
Now is the time to do it and together we can.
Do it!”
The Quotation Close
Find a famous quotation and use it like a
lever to lift the close of your speech. If you
were concluding a speech on the importance
of embracing change, you could say: "Our
tomorrow's need new and different solutions
today. Recall the insight of President
Abraham Lincoln. On the brink of the Civil
War, Lincoln looked change directly in the
eye and said: 'The dogmas of the quiet past
are inadequate for the stormy present and
future. As our circumstances are anew, we
must think anew and act anew.'
The Repetitive Close
Find a phrase and structure it in a repetitive
format, building to a climax like this: "And
so what we have been saying is that life is an
adventure, dare it. A duty, perform it. An
opportunity, take it. A journey, complete it.
A promise, fulfill it. A puzzle, solve it. A goal,
achieve it. "
The Sing-Song Close
Ask the audience to repeat a phrase a few
times in your speech. For example, you
might say: "Toastmasters fosters learning."
Ask your audience to repeat that phrase on
cue. You can end by saying: : "We all know
that Toastmasters fosters …" (Pause and
coax the audience's response with a wave of
your hand to complete the phrase.)
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The Suggestive Close
"Before I take questions, let me conclude
with this point …"
The Congratulatory Close
"I salute all of you and everyone in your
organization, and I look forward to your
continued success…"
The Proverbial Close
Find a popular phrase and twist it to fit your
message like this: "May the
transformational force be with you."
The Demonstration Close
Use a prop to signal the close of your
speech. For example you could close a book
and say: "This concludes this chapter in my
life and now I stand firm to write my next
chapter." Or don a cap as you conclude
your speech and say: "It is time for me to
head out and find the road to success."
Use these 10 techniques and you will be well
on your way to developing the ultimate close
- the personal signature close - that you'll
eventually develop so well that you own it,
like Barbara Walters who ends her 20/20
television programs with: "We're in touch,
so you'll be in touch."
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