🎙️Storytelling for Real Life with Doug Thompson🔥🚀

In the first 20 years of Bob’s engineering career, he worked as a general aerospace engineer on airframes, wind turbines, undercarriages, propellors and air-to-air weapons. During that early part of Bob’s Aerospace career, he realised that the standard of presentation in engineering was very poor. But he was not going to do anything about it as he detested speaking in public and would do almost anything to avoid it.Then in 1995 a happen chance visit to a Toastmasters International Club changed his life and started a 25-year journey that continues to this day. It started with him overcoming his fear of public speaking which was his only real target. After that though a whole world of possibilities opened up. He started to enter the twice-yearly competitions and by 2002 had won the UK & Ireland International Speech contest that took him to America to compete in the semi-finals of the World Public Speaking Championship; an event that was in equal measure exciting and a learning experience. It taught him the necessity of having processes in place to deal with writing high-quality speeches. Around Bob started his 20-year career in the space industry. He dealt mainly with the European Space Agency missions to Mercury (Launched October 2020) and to Mars (due to launch 2022). It was a fantastic and enjoyable experience working on spacecraft and led to him giving many presentations to expert and lay audiences to explain the complex concepts of the flight hardware.So, he continued to focus on improving his crafting techniques and won the UK & Ireland evaluation contest in 2005. This is a competition to provide structured, supportive and encouraging feedback to a test speaker. By this time, he had achieved the award of Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest educational award available in Toastmasters.Then he embarked on his toughest challenge – the humorous speech crown. Humour is one of the hardest skills to learn and Bob reckons it is harder than the contest that leads to the World Championship! In 2006 he was the runner up in the competition and another 3 years of work paid off when he won the Humorous speech championship in 2009. Humour is such an important skill for all speakers to be able to make listening easy and highlight important points that Bob thinks it should be mandatory training for all speakers. Bob’s success in the speech championships attracted private speaker coaching clients who wanted to improve their crafting and delivery of important presentations and speeches. For many years Bob ran the two careers in parallel. Eventually the work on the ExoMars rover finished and Bob decided to focus solely on his speaker coaching and event speaking career. He now specialises in coaching technical experts to communicate their valuable information effectively. He also speaks at conferences, largely to technical managers, about getting communication in their organisations right so that information flows up and down the organisation effectively. His life-long learning continues. In 2018 he worked with199 World Champion of Public Speaking, Craig Valentine to achieve the Certified World Class Speaking Coach qualification.Bob has an engineering degree, an MBA and was a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, A Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association and a member of the UK Guild of Speechwriters.Notes:Toastmasters International is a worldwide organisation with 364,000 members in 145 countries with over 16,200 clubs. It is an organisation that promotes public speaking and leadership skill development. It is not associated with the red-coated MCs that the word Toastmaster is associated with in the UK.Contact Details.Bob can be contacted by email at: [email protected] or [email protected] website is:

In the first 20 years of Bob’s engineering career, he worked as a general aerospace engineer on airframes, wind turbines, undercarriages, propellors and air-to-air weapons. During that early part of Bob’s Aerospace career, he realised that the standard of presentation in engineering was very poor. But he was not going to do anything about it as he detested speaking in public and would do almost anything to avoid it.Then in 1995 a happen chance visit to a Toastmasters International Club changed his life and started a 25-year journey that continues to this day. It started with him overcoming his fear of public speaking which was his only real target. After that though a whole world of possibilities opened up. He started to enter the twice-yearly competitions and by 2002 had won the UK & Ireland International Speech contest that took him to America to compete in the semi-finals of the World Public Speaking Championship; an event that was in equal measure exciting and a learning experience. It taught him the necessity of having processes in place to deal with writing high-quality speeches. Around Bob started his 20-year career in the space industry. He dealt mainly with the European Space Agency missions to Mercury (Launched October 2020) and to Mars (due to launch 2022). It was a fantastic and enjoyable experience working on spacecraft and led to him giving many presentations to expert and lay audiences to explain the complex concepts of the flight hardware.So, he continued to focus on improving his crafting techniques and won the UK & Ireland evaluation contest in 2005. This is a competition to provide structured, supportive and encouraging feedback to a test speaker. By this time, he had achieved the award of Distinguished Toastmaster, the highest educational award available in Toastmasters.Then he embarked on his toughest challenge – the humorous speech crown. Humour is one of the hardest skills to learn and Bob reckons it is harder than the contest that leads to the World Championship! In 2006 he was the runner up in the competition and another 3 years of work paid off when he won the Humorous speech championship in 2009. Humour is such an important skill for all speakers to be able to make listening easy and highlight important points that Bob thinks it should be mandatory training for all speakers. Bob’s success in the speech championships attracted private speaker coaching clients who wanted to improve their crafting and delivery of important presentations and speeches. For many years Bob ran the two careers in parallel. Eventually the work on the ExoMars rover finished and Bob decided to focus solely on his speaker coaching and event speaking career. He now specialises in coaching technical experts to communicate their valuable information effectively. He also speaks at conferences, largely to technical managers, about getting communication in their organisations right so that information flows up and down the organisation effectively. His life-long learning continues. In 2018 he worked with199 World Champion of Public Speaking, Craig Valentine to achieve the Certified World Class Speaking Coach qualification.Bob has an engineering degree, an MBA and was a Fellow of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, A Fellow of the Professional Speaking Association and a member of the UK Guild of Speechwriters.Notes:Toastmasters International is a worldwide organisation with 364,000 members in 145 countries with over 16,200 clubs. It is an organisation that promotes public speaking and leadership skill development. It is not associated with the red-coated MCs that the word Toastmaster is associated with in the UK.Contact Details.Bob can be contacted by email at: [email protected] or [email protected] website is:

Brenda Meller is a self-proclaimed “ambassador” of LinkedIn, national speaker, and the Chief Engagement Officer at Meller Marketing (www.mellermarketing.com), which provides marketing and social media support for individuals and businesses, specializing in LinkedIn. She has been leveraging social media to propel her personal and professional efforts for over ten years, and now blends this experience with her marketing expertise to help clients achieve their goals. You can find Brenda Meller and Meller Marketing online on all the major social media channels.In January 2021, she published her first book, "Social Media Pie: How to Enjoy a Bigger Slice of LinkedIn."Other Important Facts: Brenda loves coffee, chocolate, and pie. In her downtime, she enjoys jigsaw puzzles. Connect with Brenda by clicking on MORE and including a note: www.linkedin.com/in/brendameller #socialmediapieCompany Page: https://www.linkedin.com/company/meller-marketing-llc INSTAGRAM https://www.instagram.com/mellermarketingTWITTER @brendamellerFACEBOOK https://www.facebook.com/MellerMarketing/YOUTUBE http://youtube.com/c/BrendaMellerMarketingCLUBHOUSE: @brendamellerTheme music - Elevators Need Rock Too by Spence

Lila Smith is a Coach, Business Consultant, & Speaker/Workshop Leader. This is the first part of a 2-episode story. The conversation was so good that I could not find anything to cut.Lila used to think that being a professional actress would be the best way to use her love of storytelling to make a difference that mattered in the world. After spending 20 years training and 10 years professionally performing to great acclaim in NYC and around the US, she still felt there was more. More connection, more honesty, and more impact to be had.She didn’t want to just tell one fictional story at a time. She wanted to tell the stories that were happening behind the scenes of the onstage creative work. She wanted to use the tools designed to help actors communicate with intention and give them to people who were struggling to do so with clarity in real life.That’s why she created Say Things Better, a 5-Step method of Intentional Communication. She now travels around the world helping people and brands to tell your real stories in a way that really connects. That provides a framework for accountability and partnership before you ever try to “sell” anything. It’s the simplest, easiest, and most consistent method of making your message clear, and connecting it to the person who really needs to hear it. And it’s how Lila Smith saves the world.In addition to her own methodology, Lila is also the world’s only Certified YouMap®Coach who specializes in communication. This means her own Say Things Better work as a messaging consultant and communication coach gets a fast-forward jump start for all clients who opt-into working in both programs. YouMap® provides the self-awareness clients need to communicate with, about, and because of your values and your value. Say Things Better connects that message sustainably, permanently, and directly to the hearts of the people who need what you offer most.Making the most of her own YouMap®, her values for storytelling and community building, and the Say Things Better Method, Lila has quickly built an international following of over 30k Communicators on LinkedIn. Her goal is to make sure each one of them (and everyone they know) is empowered with the tools to communicate well when it is most important. And it is always important.Theme music - Elevators Need Rock Too by Spence

Lila Smith is a Coach, Business Consultant, & Speaker/Workshop Leader. This is the first part of a 2-episode story. The conversation was so good that I could not find anything to cut.Lila used to think that being a professional actress would be the best way to use her love of storytelling to make a difference that mattered in the world. After spending 20 years training and 10 years professionally performing to great acclaim in NYC and around the US, she still felt there was more. More connection, more honesty, and more impact to be had.She didn’t want to just tell one fictional story at a time. She wanted to tell the stories that were happening behind the scenes of the onstage creative work. She wanted to use the tools designed to help actors communicate with intention and give them to people who were struggling to do so with clarity in real life.That’s why she created Say Things Better, a 5-Step method of Intentional Communication. She now travels around the world helping people and brands to tell your real stories in a way that really connects. That provides a framework for accountability and partnership before you ever try to “sell” anything. It’s the simplest, easiest, and most consistent method of making your message clear, and connecting it to the person who really needs to hear it. And it’s how Lila Smith saves the world.In addition to her own methodology, Lila is also the world’s only Certified YouMap®Coach who specializes in communication. This means her own Say Things Better work as a messaging consultant and communication coach gets a fast-forward jump start for all clients who opt-into working in both programs. YouMap® provides the self-awareness clients need to communicate with, about, and because of your values and your value. Say Things Better connects that message sustainably, permanently, and directly to the hearts of the people who need what you offer most.Making the most of her own YouMap®, her values for storytelling and community building, and the Say Things Better Method, Lila has quickly built an international following of over 30k Communicators on LinkedIn. Her goal is to make sure each one of them (and everyone they know) is empowered with the tools to communicate well when it is most important. And it is always important.Theme music - Elevators Need Rock Too by Spence

Dr. Jim White first found his entrepreneurial spirit at age five when he created his first business collecting and selling Coke bottles to help support his family.

From these humble beginnings, Jim went on to serve his country in Vietnam before entering the corporate world upon his return. Along the way, he would go from high school dropout to academic triumph-eventually earning a B.S. in Civil Engineering, an MBA, and a PhD in psychology and Organizational Behavior.

Dr. White achieved international recognition as CEO of Blount World Trade Corporation, owner and Managing Director of ACEC Centrifugal Pumps NV, Belgium, and as Vice-President and Division Manager of Ingersoll Rand Equipment Corporation.

You can find more about Jim at https://authorjimwhite.com/opportunity-investing/

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Moshe started writing his story - building software products - 30 years ago, and he is still at it.

He worked for 20 years on the engineering end of software development, holding positions in all areas of product companies - core development, sales engineering, customer application support, customization development, and a CTO of a payment startup. In 2010 he shifted gears to focus on product management. He fell in love with product management after seeing the gap that existed between what customers wanted and what engineers produced. He learned what it takes to build real products that users love.

His 2nd passion is helping product teams mature from project mindset to product mindset. He helped several organizations move to agile development, and implemented many Product Ops tools to modernize the product management efforts. Vision, strategy, discovery, experimentation, data driven decisions, iterative learning, failing fast - he lives and breathes them daily.

Moshe is originally from Israel which means he knows what Chutzpah is and he got the startup nation’s mindset. Currently he lives in Toronto where life is more relaxed but the tech scene is growing rapidly with a diverse and inclusive community.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikanovsky/

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This is the Season 1 Finale and I think you all for supporting the podcast.

Cheers
Doug

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In this episode I talk with Jeremy Streich. We talk about Talk about his Hero's' Journey to becoming an Author. Being too early for an idea. Life as a nomad and his perceived failure as a startup founder. We also talk about a vision he had while in Cuba which became the subject of his book. It is a story of how earth would be different if the planet was still as it was in Pangea.

Jeremy Streich is the author of the forthcoming book from New Degree Press, The Tree of Knowledge. He is a startup founder and 2019 iTunes Top 100 podcaster having interviewed New York Times Best-selling Author Michael Pollan, Presidential Candidate Andrew Yang, Nobel* *Prize biologist Randy Schekmanith Jeremy Streich about his Hero's' Journey to becoming an Author, Being too early for an idea. Life as a nomad. His perceived failure as a startup founder and a vision he had for his book while in Cuba of how earth would be different if the planet was still as it was in Pangea. in his book Tree of Knowledge., Chicago's Treasurer Kurt Summers, and more...

Book: The Tree of Knowledge

Instagram: @jeremy.streich

LinkedIn: Jeremy Streich

Twitter: @jeremyfstreich

Website: https://www.jeremyfstreich.com/

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In this episode Jay and I talk about talk about showing up as who you are. Struggles with the culture in Hollywood. Building on others success. Jackie Robinson and Junior, his inner bully.

We also have a tech fail about 20 min into the podcast.

Jay Andrews is a recognized expert in social media branding and personal resilience. He is the founder of RippleEffect which helps small businesses and entrepreneurs build values-based, authentic brands that align with the soul of their business. He also helps clients define and grow their social media presence to increase their lead generation and sales.

In addition to running his company, Jay works as the Chief Business Officer at LHR, an international coaching and training company. Over the course of 3 years, Jay has developed the presence of the CEO and founder of the company on all social platforms earning her international recognition.

In addition, Jay picks up the mic and takes his passion for motivating and inspiring others to audiences through speaking engagements. His natural ability to connect with audiences using humour, story-telling and powerful analogies leave audiences inspired and empowered. Jay speaks to groups of all sizes on a variety of topics including all Resilience, Overcoming Adversity, and Leading Through Change. Jay also has a large presence on the social platform LinkedIn and is known for his visual-angled, thought-provoking daily posts and is the original creator of the Fantastic Four, a weekly post that recognizes individuals across the global community for their unique superpowers.

With over 25 years of experience in the corporate and entrepreneurial fields and a proven track record of successful social media/branding campaigns, Jay continually finds time to spend with his partner and 4 teenage boys. Whether that's doing numerous activities outside, spending time a the lake, or cooking gourmet meals. In closing, Jay's personal mantra and professional mission statement are the same – to ”positively affect one person a day '.