Lone Star College System employees Michael Mathews and Burton French took first place honors at the NW Houston Area L42 Toastmasters International speech contest held at Lone Star College-University Park on Saturday, Sept. 22. 

Mathews, chief strategist for innovation and entrepreneurship at Lone Star College-University Park, competed in the humorous contest while Finch, an adjunct professor of public speaking at Lone Star College –CyFair, competed in the speech evaluation contest. Both men advance to the greater Houston Divisional Level contest with approximately 10 other contestants on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 11:30 a.m. at Memorial Hermann Hospital Conference Center in The Woodlands.

Mathews advanced to the divisional level contest with his speech entitled, “No good deed goes unpunished;” a dialogue about how humor and effective speaking has helped his 25-year marriage. French advanced for a test speech entitled ‘Scary stories.’ 

With over 180 active clubs and a membership of 280,000, Houston has the largest number of Toastmasters International clubs, Mathews said. Toastmasters International is a world leader in communication and leadership development, helping its members improve their speaking and leadership skills by joining one of the 13,500 clubs in 116 countries.

With 78,000 students in credit classes, and a total enrollment of more than 90,000, Lone Star College System is the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and fastest-growing community college system in the nation. Dr. Richard Carpenter is the chancellor of LSCS, which consists of six colleges including LSC-CyFair, LSC-Kingwood, LSC-Montgomery, LSC-North Harris, LSC-Tomball and LSC-University Park, five centers, LSC-University Center at Montgomery, LSC-University Center at University Park, Lone Star Corporate College, and LSC-Online. To learn more visit LoneStar.edu.