South Main Monthly

Vol. 2 No. 3 South Main Speakers, District 56, Club 8609 September 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 Corner
Vivian Li
Jazon Samillano
Raghuram Arakalgud Area Contest, Library, and District Conference
Renay Jacob By Vivek Rajan, CC
Congratulations to all the humorous speech and table
*Calendar of Events
topics contest participants! The winners of the contest, Raghu
Sept 29: Area Q-50 Table Topics and
Humorous Speech Contest and Jazon, will represent our club at the area contest. Let's all
go to the area contest on September 29th and support them.
*New Member Spotlight South Main Speakers now has a library! The library
Erika Parrish
has three books (yes, it's small, but it's a start ☺), and they are:
Alvin Chenier
Jeanne Button
1) The Seven Strategies of Master Presenters – by Dr. Brad
McRae and David Brooks, 2) Using Stories and Humor - Grab
*Features your Audience – by Joanna Campbell Slan, and 3) Writing
Member News Release Great Speeches – by Alan Perlman. The library also has three
by JR Reynolds, Jr. sets of audio CDs and one DVD set – 1) Elements of Eloquence
“Let's Think Outside the Box of Bad Clichés” - David Brooks, 2) Speaking Secrets of the Champions –World
by Renay Jacob, ACS Champions, 3) Connect With Any Audience –World
“South Main Speaker’s Fall Contests” Champions, and 4) Magic Moments 1 &2 – David Brooks. You
by Vivian Li, CC can borrow the books and CDs for two weeks, and there is
small fine of one penny for the first late day, double that for the
next late day, and the fine keeps doubling each day until you
The South Main Monthly is a monthly publication of the South return the book. If you do the math, the fine adds up to over ten
Main Speakers Toastmasters club. We meet every Sunday at million in a month ☺, so don't forget to return the books on
1:30 p.m. in 10305 South Main Street (Houston Chinese time!
Church), Room 411. For more information, please visit our The District 56 fall conference is coming up in
website at: http://groups.msn.com/southmainspeakers
November. The registration is now open, and I strongly
If you have any comments, contributions, or suggestions recommend everyone to register for the conference. I have
concerning this or future issues, please send them to attended the last two district conferences, and they have been
judycyan@gmail.com. Thank you for reading! very educational. Besides various educational sessions, you
will also get to see the humorous and table topics contest at the
– Judy Yan, Editor District level, which includes the Greater Houston and
Galveston area. Don't miss this great opportunity to learn!
 September 29: Area Q-50 Table Topics
Anniversaries & Milestones and Humorous Speech Contest

• Congratulations to Vivian Li, CC, who Who: Toastmasters and Guests

celebrates her first year anniversary with When: Saturday, September 29, 2007
South Main Speakers this month! 9:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.

**********
Where: University of Houston
Farish Hall Building 587
4800 Calhoun Rd., Room 101
• Congratulations to Jazon Samillano
Houston, TX 77004
and Raghuram Arakalgud, who are
the winners of Table Topics and
Don't miss this great opportunity to
Humorous Speech contest, respectively,
and will represent South Main Speakers learn while having fun!
at the Area Q-50 contest on September
29!

**********

• Congratulations to everyone at South

Main Speakers! We are now qualified
for the Smedley Award!

**********

• Happy Birthday to Renay Jacob, ACS,

whose birthday is on the 7th of this
month!

The Smedley Award commemorates the founding of Toastmasters International

on October 22, 1924, by Dr. Ralph Smedley. One person initiated a program
that would go on to affect millions of people. In his honor, if your club can add
five new, dual, or reinstated members between August 1 and September 30,
Smedley you'll receive a Smedley Award ribbon to display on your club's banner.
Award
Your club will also earn a choice of one module from The Better Speaker Series,
The Successful Club Series, or The Leadership Excellence Series.

District 56 also challenges any individual Toastmaster (not club), who recruits five (5) new (not reinstated
or dual) members between August 1 and September 30, will receive free admission to the 2007 Fall “Round
Up” Conference. In addition to the free admission, those same outstanding Toastmasters will be individually
recognized at the Fall Conference.

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 New Member Spotlight

South Main Speakers Toastmasters Club has been experiencing fast growth this
year! The club added 3 new members in both this month and last month!

Please give a warm welcome to our newest members, Erika Parrish, Alvin Chenier, Jeanne
Button!

This wife and mother of three joined Toastmasters International

so she can think quick on her feet. "You ever had an
argument with someone and had speaker's remorse. You know
what that is, we've all experienced it. That's when you replay that
conversation over and over in your head and think to yourself,"
Oh, I should have said this.." Don't get me wrong, I'm not
looking for a fight, I'm just looking for the right words to say
at the right time!” -Erika Parrish

Alvin Chenier is a native born Houstonian. This father of two has

been married for 20 yrs and is in the shipping industry. He joined
Toastmasters so it can help him become a more professional and
dynamic speaker.

Member News
Recently our club member, JR, was
promoted from the rank of Captain to Major in the
US Army. Congratulations, JR! In his letter to our
club, he wrote:

“ Toastmasters, I also had to speak for a few minutes

about the promotion. I had to use my table topics
skills and have remarks for 1 - 2 minutes.”
Like JR, many of our members have
experienced how practice in table topics and
prepared speeches has helped them improve
communication skills in both their professional and
personal lives!

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Member News Release - John (JR) Davis
Reynolds Jr. was promoted from the rank of
Captain to Major in the US Army on 03
August 2007. For this US Army Major’s
promotion board of 2007, over 2100 Army
Captains were considered and reviewed for
promotion to the rank of Major and only 62%
were selected.
John Davis Reynolds Jr. AKA J.R. has been
involved with Toastmasters since 1992.
Currently he serves as the area governor for
District 77 Division B Area 7 and vice
president of membership for his home club is
7177 Calhoun County but also is a member of
a club in Atlanta, Georgia Herzing 7789 and
the South Main Speakers Club 8609 in
Houston, Texas. John has spent considerable
amount time in other clubs around the country
and the world in leadership positions and
actually conducted meetings in Afghanistan
with the assistance of District 49 (Hawaii).
His toastmaster training has set him up for
success in his current job at the Jacksonville
State University as the assistant professor of
Military Science and chief of recruiting
operations. His major duties include teaching,
recruiting, retention, scholarship management,
and enrollment of students at Jacksonville
State University, Talladega College, and
Gadsden State Community College. John is
working on his advanced leaders with goal of
becoming DTM in 2008-2009.
Previously to rejoining the Army on active
status and accepting an assignment with JSU
Army ROTC, John has spent time in teaching
and administrative positions at the University
of Notre Dame, University of Toledo, and
Central Texas College. John has also spent
time working in business with National City
Corp – National City Bank in Trust and
Private Client Services and Detroit Edison in
Human Resources and Training. John served
a tour in Afghanistan in 2005-2006 that led
him to make a decision to leave business and
return to higher education and training. He is
currently working on EdD at the University of
Alabama and looks forward to starting his
own college and obtaining the rank of General
in the US Army Reserves.
John is a native of Toledo, Ohio and resides at
Fort McClellan, Alabama. He loves working
with youth and assisting people in career
management. He is on the board of directors
for the Boys and Girls Club of Toledo, Ohio
and assists the Leadership Toledo and Youth
Leadership Toledo program as well the
United Way on its speaker’s panel. In his
spare time, John runs road races and travels.
He also has found time to serve as a volunteer
deputy sheriff for Lucas County (Ohio).
************
Let's Think Outside the Box of Bad Clichés
By Renay Jacob, ACS1
As a student at the University of Houston
Bauer School of business, I read several
essays and reports from my classmates. One
of my pet peeves concerns the many trite or
inaccurate phrases students rely on to express
themselves.
When I read the reports, one of the phrases I
hate most is "It goes without saying," in
response to which I scribble on their essays,
"Then why write it?" Another favorite of
students is "It's not for me to say," to which I
jot down, "Then why continue writing?"
I also despise the phrase "Who can say?" to
1
ACS – Advanced Communication Silver
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which I reply, "You! That's who! That's the
point of writing an essay!"
Sometimes the clichés are simply redundant,
as when students write of a "mass exodus."
Can there be a "small" exodus? "Exodus"
implies a mass of people.
Other times the expressions defy the rules of
logic. A student in an accounting class writes
that reconciling financial statements "bores
me to tears." But if something brings him to
tears, it's certainly not boring.
I also fear that most students don't know what
they are saying when they write that a
question "boggles the mind." Does every
problem in finance really boggle the mind?
What does this mean?
Students aren't the only ones guilty of cliché
abuse. The language of medicine confuses
patients' families when physicians write, "On
Tuesday the patient was declared brain dead,
and on Wednesday life support was
removed." So when did the patient really die?
Can people die in two ways, once when they
are declared brain dead and second when their
respirators are removed? Better to write,
"Physicians declared the patient dead by
neurological criteria and the next day
removed his respirator."
All of us repeat trite expressions without
thinking. The TV weatherman sometimes
says, "It's raining cats and dogs." Should I
call the Humane Society? Where did this silly
expression come from?
Another common mistake involves "literally."
I often hear people on election night say, "He
literally won by a landslide." If so, should
geologists help us understand how?
Then, of course, there's the criminal who was
caught in "broad daylight." I guess he could
not have been caught in "narrow" daylight.
And are we sure that the sun shone on the day
he was caught? I sometimes read about a
"bone of contention." I imagine two animals
fighting over a bone from a carcass. But, do
writers want to convey that image?
And how can we forget about the "foreseeable
future" (versus the "unforeseeable future?")
and the "foregone conclusion" (versus the
"non-foregone conclusion?").
Spare me jargon from sports, such as being
"on the bubble" for something. I'd also rather
do without other jargon, such as "pushing the
[edge of the] envelope." And has writing that
we should "think outside the box" become
such a cliché that it's now in-side the box?
Some of the worst phrases come from the
business world. Because of my profession, I
read a lot of essays on engineering, ethics and
money. So I must endure endless strings of
nouns acting as adjectival phrases, such as
"facility finance administration official
business." Even authors of textbooks on
business and hospital administration use such
phrases; no wonder that students use them,
too.
And in these fields and others, can we do
away with "take a leadership role?" These
days, can't anyone just lead?
Can we also hear more about the short arm of
the law (versus its "long" one), about things
that sell well besides "hotcakes" and about a
quick tour other than a "whirlwind" one?
Beyond the shadow of a doubt, I'd like to
leave no stone unturned in grinding such
writing to a halt, saving each and every
writer’s essay in the nick of time. But I have a
sneaking suspicion that, from time
immemorial, that has been an errand of mercy
and easier said than done.
************
South Main Monthly 5
 South Main Speaker’s
Fall Contests
Table Topics & Humorous Speech
By Vivian Li, CC2 Raghu accepting humorous award from
Jim Capers, Area Q-50 governor
After months of preparation and special
coaching from two very special guest
speakers, Yolanda Bynum and our own
legendary Michael Plaks, some of the best
and brightest among us stepped up to give
their all in the Table Topics and Humorous
Speech club contests on August 19.
Congratulations to all who participated in
making this season’s contest another
memorable one and good luck to Jazon and
Raghu who will represent South Main in the
Area Q-50 Table Topics and Humorous
Speech contests, respectively. Come support
them at the next Area Q-50 level on Saturday,
September 29, 9 a.m., at University of Jazon accepting table topics award
Houston, Farish Building 587, 4800 Calhoun from Jim Capers
Rd., Room 101.

Our proud Table Topics and Humorous

The Line Up: Annie interviewing the
Table Topics contestants.
2
CC – Competent Communicator
Speech contestants (l-r): Jane, Jazon,
Judy, Mark, Eda, Raghu, Ranjith, and
Jian.

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