Transformational Pathways

HIGHLIGHTS

05:15 Toastmasters instilled confidence and a sense of accomplishment from the get-go

06:05 The Foreign Service Exam made it clear that public speaking is a necessary skill

07:36 Learning through imitation and challenging himself to join Toastmasters

12:30 Nurture the fire that led you to Toastmasters: Nerves are normal!

16:41 Public speaking is a practice in leadership

18:27 Story-telling as an executive skill and exercising leadership for a Fullbright scholarship

27:00 The lasting change of video conferencing and its effectiveness in teaching

30:53 Coaching and corporate training with Jesse

33:20 Barack Obama as an example of great executive presence

34:38 Being nervous means stepping out of your comfort zone and growing

QUOTES

02:33 "What I realized is that when you don't speak, other people make assumptions about what you're thinking. You don't have to dominate a conversation or try to control other people's thoughts, but it's really important to speak your own mind."

10:48 "I'm Toastmaster even now because I realized that the most important thing to public speaking is regular practice. It's like playing an instrument or playing a sport that, to keep up your skills, you have to do it regularly."

16:49 "That willingness to step forward, to put yourself forward, and willingness to put yourself forward. That's what leadership is. And when you practice public speaking, you're literally taking a step forward." 

22:33 "I need to be out there putting my ideas in the world, publishing articles, giving guest lectures, basically going beyond what's asked of me. And when you start going beyond what's asked of you, that's when you start to exhibit leadership."

35:09 "The only way you know whether you're really pushing the envelope and challenging yourself is if you feel some nervousness about what you're doing. If you're completely comfortable with everything that you do, you're not stretching in any way whatsoever."

Connect with Jesse in the link below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessescinto/
• Website - https://publicsphere.llc/

Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on:

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/toastmasters46/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/toast-masters-district-46
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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

HIGHLIGHTS

01:59 Growing up in Guyana and moving to New York

07:22 A fascination with the moon and her emotional arrival in New York 

12:17 Working and studying full-time and joining Toastmasters as an extracurricular activity

17:17 Being welcomed into Toastmasters and doing her first Table Topics

23:14 Toastmasters is a platform for sharing and learning

26:41 Losing her confidence and walking out of the room and the audience

33:19 Facing her fear of speaking in front of an audience and overcoming it

39:52 Joining a bilingual Toastmasters club

42:16 Keeping an open and mind listening to each speaker and their stories

44:17 Growing with Toastmasters and working on areas for improvement

QUOTES

10:01 "There's the other side of the world in Guyana where people who have seen you for all this time can't bear to let you go. So here I was sort of stuck in that limbo. Should I be happy that I'm here, or should I be sad that I'm here?"

15:43 "To be honest, I wasn't looking to go do speeches. I just really wanted somewhere to be, somewhere to go, so I can feel that I was a part of college outside of the academics."

23:46 "It's such a good platform. the way you can share and you can learn from people. So people go there and yes, they are improving their public speaking skills, but they're also sharing something that people in the audience would have never known."

31:51 "From that day on, I never went back to speak in front of an audience because there was this always lingering fear that okay, this happened, and this will probably happen again."

34:34 "Are you waiting for some miracle to happen for you to say, oh yeah, let me do this. I mean, I guess I realized that if I don't make that effort to work at it, I'll always be a prisoner to this fear."

Connect with Christina in the link below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/christina-p-bb350294/

Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on:

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/toastmasters46/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/toast-masters-district-46
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TMDistrict46/

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:47 Radhi's journey: Growing up in Nigeria, India, and the US

09:08 Barely speaking at her father's toast and joining Toastmasters

14:32 Running for area director and creating an impromptu speech

17:43 Becoming a leader in Toastmasters and building confidence

23:38 Join the Toastmasters club that's right for you and learn new skills

28:16 Toastmasters' international conventions bring the world together like never before

33:42 Radhi's commitment and plans as a leader in Toastmasters 

35:10 Even Mahatma Gandhi had to learn how to speak publicly

37:06 Connect with any Toastmasters club around the world and make new friends

QUOTES

09:56 "My hands are all shaking and I'm like, To the best dad. One sentence. It was awful. And at that time, my two sisters who had come from India, belonged to a Toastmasters club in India and they said enough, you have to join Toastmasters."

19:14 "Everything in Toastmasters, it is all about experiential learning. You're learning by doing, and not only that, everybody there in your club is also having their own goals and trying to get there. But we give each other feedback. We support each other."

20:35 "The skills you learn in Toastmasters is general. It's what you need in everyday life, at home, at work, everywhere. So this is a skill that you take with you. It's always something that will benefit you."

22:32 "Women sometimes underestimate themselves. They're really capable of so much. Maybe it's my mom would always tell us, you can do it. You can do it. But yet, it was easier said than done, but Toastmasters gives you that confidence." 

32:46 "Ours is the only organization dedicated to the individual. We use the skills to help each other and then move on. We don't care about the stock price. We don't care about the stock market. It's nothing. It's just to help each other."

Connect with Radhi in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/radhi-spear-b769061/

Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on:

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/toastmasters46/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/toast-masters-district-46
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TMDistrict46/

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:12 Living by Oprah's words and helping others grow

04:09 Joining Greenspeakers was the best decision of Kira's life

13:25 Speaking at Toastmasters activates the desire to create 

16:24 Good mentorship views both parties as equals

17:28 Work at NBCUniversal Media and being empowered by Toastmaster skills 

22:25 WordsbyKira Podcast: Creating content on self-love

25:53 A space to speak provides unforeseen benefits 

26:57 Toastmasters teaches you to invest in yourself 

28:50 Connect with Kira

QUOTES

02:20 "I just believe that, sometimes in order to get where you're supposed to go, it might take longer than others, but as long as you get there, you do the work, you're actually growing yourself, helping to grow others, that's what really matters."

04:23 "When it came to professional settings, networking, going to job interviews, I had a lot of anxiety. I was very nervous about do I sound intelligent enough? Will I come off confident enough? And Greenspeakers helped me so much with that."

14:43 "I feel like now, for one of the first times in my life, I actually have people coaching me, in a sense, to get to that next place in my career and have that support that I didn't necessarily have."

24:56 "I think for me, the hardest part is just staying consistent and wanting to make sure that my content is helpful and interesting, engaging. And also marketing."

26:07 "Being able to speak in different spaces and feel confident about yourself and know how to articulate your message is incredibly powerful. It can lead to all sorts of opportunities like this podcast."

Connect with Kira in the links below:

• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/kiraaseale/
• YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGqA5LczAlnzBoov6hYsuFA

Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on:

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/toastmasters46/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/toast-masters-district-46
• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/TMDistrict46/

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

HIGHLIGHTS

03:46 Using the principles of economics in Toastmasters and day-to-day life

10:29 Growing up in Cairo and loving math and Arabic

17:25 Creating an impact in the Egyptian Ministry of Finance

22:44 Toastmasters: Finding community and mentorship

35:25 Experiencing different Toastmasters clubs 

39:15 Conquering the fear of public speaking and job interviews 

44:37 Advice to fresh grads: Speaking is the most important skill

47:13 Connect with Loujaina

QUOTES

02:38 "People would always think about economics as money, how to make money. But no, it's not like this. It's a way of thinking. It's how we make decisions. It's all about making decisions."

07:15 "When I think about giving a speech, so basically, how many speeches would I give in a given year? So now I have to think about what we call the marginal principle. So what's the additional cost of giving that speech versus the additional benefit?"

09:03 "We have to clear about what is opportunity cost? Opportunity cost is what is the value of my second best alternative? So if I am not in a Toastmasters meeting now, what is the thing that I would be doing? This is my opportunity cost, right?"

29:45 "I think this is what a great mentor is, right? They'll support you but they never tell you what to do. You're the master of your decisions at the end of the day, right?"

45:28 "Believe me, speaking is more important because most times you're just going to be talking. Not everyone is going to read the material that you write, but everyone has to listen to you at least for two minutes when you introduce yourself."

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Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on:

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

HIGHLIGHTS

02:55 Maim's diverse background growing up in Queens 

07:24 Joining the debate club and harnessing public speaking with Toastmasters 

13:05 Coaching young debaters and forming meaningful connections

16:45 Toastmasters is a venue for constructive dialogue to bridge gaps

19:33 Furthering your career in another city and meeting new Toastmasters

28:23 Pursuing happiness is a luxury, pursuing meaning is a moral obligation 

29:45 Connect with Maim

QUOTES

08:16 "Saying something is very different from doing something, and that extends greatly to public speaking... You think public speaking looks easy but there's so many nuances to the art form of public speaking that it just boggles your mind."

14:06 "Like anything in life, nothing can be transactional. You need to have some level of genuinity when you're dealing with this. And one thing that I've learned is the genuine relationships I started forming with my students."

16:51 "I just don't want to give speeches or do debate competitions or rounds just for the sole purpose of me trying to gain a win, trying to gain advantage or win the argument. So that's what really lured me to Toastmasters."

25:15 "While you do meet people in a professional environment, it's also how you carry yourself over with them and how you keep in touch with them. By building upon that relationship, not only do you form a really cool friendship, but you're also able to ask for assistance."

26:50 "You may not necessarily see yourself exactly in one place, but you have certain values aligned with your beliefs and your experiences, you'll eventually get to that place."

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Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on:

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

HIGHLIGHTS

06:43 Rediscovering Toastmasters and becoming active in pursuing roles

11:33 Growing confident through public speaking and developing leadership

19:09 Brenee embraces leadership and wins the presidency of her chapter

27:12 Using the lessons of Toastmasters and applying it to the workplace

30:27 The role of mentorship in creating strong leaders

QUOTES

08:20 "He tells stories about his childhood growing up in Jamaica because he lived with our grandparents when he was young. So he told stories. And when he came down and he sat back next to me, I'm like, how did you do that, Jason? He's like, Toastmasters."

09:33 "He definitely learned the technique of telling personal stories. Again, he just spoke warmly of his childhood and what it meant to him and what she meant to people in the community. And it felt like he was having a conversation with the audience."

16:44 "Management is managing processes and things and leadership is empowering others and reach their potential."

28:33 "I would definitely say if you want to go far in your career, if you want to reach your potential and you want to go fast, I say join Toastmasters. It's going to teach you a lot of skills that transition into the workplace."

31:25 "You'll go further and faster if we have great mentorship if you have a support system if you have a team. And that transitions into the workplace."

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Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on:

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

Genein Letford is the Chief Executive Officer at CAFFE Strategies, LLC which integrates both developmental processes for individual and organizational success. 

As an award-winning educator, speaker, and 2019 LA LAKERS Business Women of the Year, Genein’s company develops and facilitates intercultural creative thinking needed to inspire, revive, and empower employees to connect, create and innovate beyond cultural lines. She believes that the critical need for intercultural creative thinking within ourselves and in our team has now taken precedence over other workforce skills. 

Genein has worked and consulted with various organizations, including Woodbury University, Medtronics, DonorsChoose, PwC Foundation, Moreno Valley School District, and many other organizations and entrepreneurs needing to feel confident in their ability to create and produce effective ideas for a global workforce.     

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Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on: 

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

Johana Jiang is a Marketing Analyst at StepStine Group. She is the President of the Fordham Lincoln Center Toastmasters Club since 2019. She is also a graduate of Fordham University.

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Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on: 

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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.

Matt Kinsey is the President and CEO of MK Tech Group, Inc. Matt has over 30 year's experience in IT Infrastructure. High focus on providing high quality, exceptional customer service, and creative solutions. He has extensive experience with open systems, internetworking, workplace computing, technology evaluation, solution architecture, enterprise architecture, and technology forecasting.

Matt Kinsey will take on a new role as an International President for the Toastmasters starting on August 2021.

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Find out more about Toastmasters, visit https://toastmasters46.org/ and follow District 46 on: 

• Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/toastmasters46/
• LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/toast-masters-district-46
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Toastmasters - where leaders are made.