Toastcaster Communication Leadership Learning Lab

[37:21] Wonder how did a shy, socially awkward introvert turn into a successful serial entrepreneur and master relationship builder? Just ask Monica Parkin, who on today’s show will give us an insight into the answer to that question and more by telling us about her recent book, part memoir, part instruction guide, Overcoming Awkward: The Introvert's Guide to Networking, Marketing, and Sales.

You don’t have to be an introvert to benefit from Monica’s wisdom. In this fun and lighthearted episode, you’ll hear honest stories (many from the book) of her often sometimes challenging but fruitful transformation and overcoming her obstacles. You’ll hear about a number of lessons she’s learned and how these can be applied in many areas of one’s personal, professional, business life and even through social media.

You’ll hear how things blossomed for “Mortgage Monica” as she revealed her authentic self and how her moniker as a “crazy goat lady” who lives on a small farm with an assortment of furry creatures actually contributes to her business success and more.

Some of the other topic areas she touches upon include: Difficult conversations, asking questions, setting boundaries, mentorship, Toastmasters and her podcast Juggling Without Balls.

Monica Parkin is from Courtney, British Columbia, Canada. She’s a licensed mortgage broker and successful serial entrepreneur an award-winning international speaker, author, podcaster and Toastmaster. 

You can find her book: Overcoming Awkward: The Introvert's Guide to Networking, Marketing, and Sales on Amazon.

Monica can be reached at MonicaParkin.ca. 

[18:33] Milestones are achieved and celebrated every day and recognized in a variety of different ways. Celebrations are also often backward looking going back to where one once was to where they are now. But what if you commemorated by celebrating forward? Using the milestone as a way of encouraging a future activity.

In this episode we look at the milestone of 200th episode of the Toastmasters Podcast and how instead of looking back at the first 200 episodes as many do, the hosts Greg Gazin and Ryan Levesque decided to create a contest - a Pitch Us Your Podcast Idea! contest. 

The idea would be to create more buzz around podcasting and encourage members to give it a try. Members could submit their most creative idea - a pitch and an audio sample and they did not have to have an existing podcast.  The winner would be announced and  be a guest on Episode #200 where they could introduce themselves to the world and pitch their idea to Greg and Ryan. 

When the dust settled, the winner was Rashmi Ketha from Ledgewood NJ, USA  with “The Experience Passport.” Personal development through hobby sampling.

You can catch the 200th episode - shown above at ToastmastersPodcast.com, and Apple & Google Podcasts. 

Also, if you want to find out a little more about the Toastmasters Podcast and its hosts, please check out: Tune In to The Toastmasters Podcast, in the March 2022 on-line issue of the Toastmaster Magazine.

[25:28] Resolutions for many just don't seem to work but our guest today, Dave Fuller uses "Naming Your Year" as a method to accomplish what resolutions are meant to do.

In this episode Dave shares how he stumbled upon this method; what it does and how it works. You'll hear how puts it into practice at home, at the office for both himself, his team and his clients and learn how you can implement it for yourself.  You'll also hear about how Naming can also help achieve goals and how Dave uses this to help focus on a 12-week planning method.

David (Dave) Fuller MBA, is an award-winning business coach and a partner in Pivotleader Inc. and the Author of Profit Yourself Healthy. 

You can also read Dave's article at Troy Media, New Year's Resolutions are out, naming the year is in, at Troy Media. 

Email him at Dave AT Pivotleader.com. Dave would love to hear what you named your year.

[26:00] As we reflect back on this year, caregiving can mean many things to many people. Some people are caregivers in the traditional sense, others give care in many forms to others. In this episode we bring back author and former co-caregiver Rick Lauber. The idea of his return was prompted by a recent insightful tweet he made. 

“As a #caregiver, please don't ever question the difference you make in someone's life. Thank you so much to all caregivers for everything they do.”

This episode is for  those who give care, receive care or know someone who is either.

In this episode Rick enlightens us with what prompted him to share that wisdom. He reflects upon his own personal experiences sharing some of his thoughts and feelings, even those of guilt, which are also likely felt by many others - particularly during the holiday season and this past year.

Listeners are also in for a learning experience as Rick also reflects back with respect to what he’s learned, how he’s coped, some of the actions and steps he’s taken and continues to take and some of what he’s still dealing with even after many years.

He also shares with us how you can go about resetting your life when you are no longer a caregiver,  and more.

Rick Lauber is from Edmonton, Alberta Canada. You can reach him at RickLauber.com or on Twitter @CDNCaregiver. You can also find his two best-selling guide books  – Caregiver’s Guide for Canadians (2nd edition) and The Successful Caregiver’s Guide (U.S) on Amazon and the usual outlets.

You can also listen to past episodes with Rick Lauber. Toastcaster 69 How Toastmasters helps Authors and Toastcaster 127: Caregiving - The Ultimate Leadership Role.

Happy New Year 2022!

[06:05] Hearing things being repeated can often drive you absolutely crazy. In this brief episode you'll learn that if used effectively, repetition in presentations, conversations and even recordings can truly be an effective tool in getting your message across.

If you think about speeches like MLK Jr.'s, I Have a Dream, there's a perfect example.

This podcast is also available as an article. The original article can be found at GadgetGreg.com.

[37:43] With Livestreaming, you are both a producer and performer. These are words from our guest today,  Markus Seppälä, who adds that it’s also public and live and lonely and dependent on tech which can certainly make it a challenge. It’s with his comedic side that he jokingly takes on a sarcastic view of Livestreaming. 

For Markus however, it’s rewarding. He loves every minute of it and is with us to share his expertise and some of the things he’s learned along the way.

He enlightens us on how using live-streaming tools, learning from those tools and leveraging the communication skills and other disciplines you’ve already mastered you can super-charge those skills to a whole new level just as our guest today has done - and he shares with us some of the specifics he has accomplished.

You’ll hear how livestreaming is a mode of communication and how it differs from platforms like Zoom and Netflix.

Plus, you’ll discover how you can “level-up your tech” with free tools like OBS and Melon that also integrate with Zoom that add a dynamic level of uniqueness and professionalism to your presentations.

Markus also offers tips on planning a livestream, where to place your most important content and why, answering questions, and ways to engage the audience and keep them listening (not necessarily in ways you might think) and what to do when you get no audience reaction and how not to be dependent on it.

Your livestream will live on-line forever.  Markus touches upon on how you can best plan to balance your live feed to maximize the delivery of your content yet maintain its long-term replay value.

Any the end of the interview I’m sure you’ll all want to get started in Livestreaming.

You can also listen to our interview with Markus on the Toastmasters Podcast Episode  #180: Comedian Masters Hybrid Meetings.

Also check out Markus’ YouTube videos: How live streaming will improve your communication skills (5 tips) and  How to share PowerPoint slides on Zoom with OBS Virtual Camera

Markus Seppälä is a two-time TEDx speaker, event host and stand-up comedian who brings fun to the corporate stage. You can catch Markus on YouTube where you will find a plethora of videos - with tutorials one an array of different videos showcasing his talents with teachings on topics like - Zoom, Streaming, Hybrid Meetings, Video conferencing and ways you can be a better speaker.

Markus is based in Basel, Switzerland where he runs Comedy Basel, the biggest comedy club in town. You can find him at MarkusPresents.com.

[29:55] Many people avoid meetings at all costs - they feel they’re unproductive, a waste of time and simply a bandaid for bad communication in an organization. In this episode Greg speaks with return guest Matt Abrahams, educator and coach whose extensive exploration, research and experience has led him to discover a collaborative approach to keep meetings fun and exciting. More importantly they be can productive in achieving the goals of the organization and add value to the teams. And you might even be thanked for running a meeting.

You’ll learn about the importance of planning, executing and setting expectations up front - and even determining whether there is an alternative to holding a meeting. 

You’ll hear how to invoke emotion by leveraging meeting invites and making agendas valuable and how the information, emotion and actions are the three important key elements of any communication.   This includes the importance of paraphrasing and how that leads to better communication and boost engagement during the meeting. 

He also stresses the value of focusing on the experience and the creative order of things and not just the content and also using physical engagement and leveraging the use of technology tools and more.

Matt also touches on how to ensure the new way of running meetings endures and tips for running virtual meetings.

And finally, Matt talks about his new podcast, Think Fast Talk Smart from Stanford GSB.

Matt Abrahams teaches Strategic Communication for Stanford University’s Graduate School of Business and Presentation Skills for Stanford’s Continuing Studies Program and co-founder of coaching consulting practice Bold Echo Communication Solutions. If that’s not enough, Matt is also the author of the book Speaking Up without Freaking Out, now in its 3rd edition. 

You can also hear Matt on episode #93 Speaking up without freaking out and also on the Toastmasters Podcast, Episode 111, with Greg Gazin and Ryan Levesque where he spoke on how to be confident.

[15:26] In this episode Greg speaks about two incredible individuals whom we can call unexpected leaders. These are people who positively impact others not really with any intention but simply by doing what they do. In fact they may not even be aware of the impact that they are having on others and the long lasting impression they leave.

You’ll hear about, Reverend Kevin Fast (left) from Cobourg, Ontario, Canada is best described as a modern day Popeye and Brittany Walsh, a.k.a  AcroBritt (RIGHT) from Portland, Oregon, U.S.A a dancer, a gymnast, former circus performer and  acrobatic archer who both happen to be individuals featured in the 2020 Guinness Book of World Records.

Greg shares a little about each of their stories and 3 leadership lessons he’s taken away by speaking with them

Related Materials

If you'd like to read the related article Leadership tips from the Book of Guinness World Records you can find it at Troymedia.com.

To hear the full interview podcast with these two inspiring Guinness world record holder's along with a bonus interview with an official judge or adjudicator and hear them tell their stories, check out:  Toastcaster 122: Setting a Guinness World Record – It Takes True Leadership. 

A short link for that is bit.ly/toastcaster122. 

Also please visit GuinnessWorldRecords.com

[31:31] Conversations are fundamental to everyday life – at work or at home, yet little emphasis is ever put on improving it as a skill, particularly in getting one started and keeping them a succinct as possible.

In this episode, Greg speaks with Chris Fenning - subject matter expert and author of the new book, The 1st Minute: How to Start Conversations that gets Results. Chris will share his expertise and insight with lessons taken for the book that you can apply in many communications situations, like job interviews, conversations with the boss, presentations and even written communications.

You’ll discover some of the most common mistakes made in that first minute and some of the misconceptions that surround it. You also learn about when that first minute really starts.

You’ll takeaway two methods you can out to use right away:

1) Framing, a simple 3-part process that in 15 seconds helps you provides context, clarifies your intentions, and makes your message clear: and

2) Structured Summary: How everything we do can be described in the form of a GPS – no, not your car’s GPS but rather Goal, Problem & Solution.

You’ll also learn why you should never ask someone, “Do you have a minute,” and more…

Chris Fenning, in addition to author is also a husband, father and communications instructor. He lives in Amsterdam in The Netherlands and can be reached at ChrisFenning.com.

[32:53] Imagine the hardest speech you'll ever have to give.

In this episode you'll hear about that speech, the process that went into creating it and the speech itself and how on that day, I felt a rollercoaster of emotions the likes of which I’d never experienced in my life.

That day I was surrounded by loving friends and family as I said a final farewell to Elaine Baram, my best friend, my love, my wife, the sunshine of my life who I will miss forever .  It will also explain why there were no episodes over the past months.