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What we did in Vegas . . . Won’t stay in Vegas!

By Dottie Love—ACB, ALB, Triple Crown Award
and Allison Bennett—CC

Who would have thought going to a Toastmasters Convention
would have caused us to laugh ourselves silly? Be awe-inspired
by high-caliber speakers all while getting our 10,000 fitness steps-
a-day in… by getting lost in Caesars Palace?

The first day started with a run. We entered into this grandiose ballroom just in the nick of time to hurriedly join the
band of District-7 members giddily prancing across the stage in front of over 3,000 attendees as our leaders (Im-
mediate Past District Governor Phyllis Harmon, DTM, Michelle Alba-Lim, DTM, Leanna Lindquist, DTM) and a host of
District 7 members carried our Distinguished District Banner! District-7, You Rock!

Motivated starts with “E” - Yes, indeed! How could we not be with the extraordinary leadership training? Our
presenters included CEOs, a Vice President of fortune-500 company, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, best-selling
authors, award-winning speakers and trainers. The most poignant: the words of Nobel Peace Prize winner,
Professor Muhammad Yunus, which left us enraptured, excited, and enriched. He transformed financial lending
with a concept called ‘microcredit’ that helps poor people create businesses and helps end poverty around
the world. He said, “We are instinctively creative beings with the power to enhance the world. . .” It was a
glimpse into the opportunitites we all have, especially as Toastmasters, to change impossible to possible.

Too many other memorable quotes, but we had to share a few more. . .

“You are meant for something. . .Find your life’s purpose and it will take you through your obstacles.” -- Marilyn Tam
author of Happiness Choice and presenter of Leadership Excellence, How You Can Achieve It.

“Laughter is a celebration of life. According to new research, writing down your negative thoughts and them throw-
ing them in the trash can help a bad mood. I tried it and although happier, I really miss my iPad.” -- Tim Gard pre-
senter of Laughter Becomes You

Give yourself an everlasting gift of the videos: www.toastmastersondemand.com

Debit or Accredit

We didn’t realize the power of Toastmasters until we saw the by-product of Toastmasters at its highest level! Did you
know Toastmasters has an Elite Program for paid, professional speakers? Oh, you did. Well. . .we bet you didn’t know
that our District 7 member was in the Accredited Speakers Competition. We proudly cheered as Cathey Armillas, DTM
presented an excerpt from her award-winning book, The Unbreakable Rules of Marketing. She promised and proved,
“Creativityisthesmallestinvestmentwiththepotentialforthebiggestreturn.” Checkheroutatwww.CatheyArmillas.com.

Lunch was a Contest Hero Sandwich
A big shout out to our “Superhero”, Libra Forde, District 7’s semifinalist. She showed up in a big way. . .all 6’ 5” of her.
Watching the contestants perform, we garnered the ingredients for the sandwich.
- 2 Slices of whole-hearted laughter
- All meaty prose
- Special sauce of enthusiasm
- With a side of crunchy content
Libra, we will be rooting as you continue your hero’s journey. Finalist, Mohammed Qahtani, who didn’t speak until
the age of 6, and had a terrible stutter, rose to become the 2015 International Champion of Public Speaking!

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