D27 Discuss with Us!

In this second episode of season 2, you will hear an interview with Ida L. King, D27’s newly appointed Club Growth Director. Get to know her as a private person, her journey as a Toastmaster, and what her goals are for the current program year. She has a lot of ideas and plans for the upcoming program year she shares with us. Reach out to her if you want to support her: [email protected]

Welcome back to District 27’s podcast series! After a longer-than planned pause, “D27 -Discuss with us!” is back. In upcoming episodes, we continue where we stopped and provide you with interesting interviews and stories that matter to the members in our District and beyond. Let us start to get to know our Trio that will lead us through the program year 2023/24. In this episode we learn more about Jeanna Lee, District Director, DTM. Get to know her as a private person, her journey as a Toastmaster, and what her goals are for the current program year. Feel free to email her ([email protected]) if you are interested in becoming an area director or want to volunteer in any other way.

Look out for upcoming episodes where we introduce District 27’s Program Quality Director and Club Growth Director as well as other members' stories.

If you wish to produce an episode, reach out [email protected].

February was American Heart Month. In honor of this, this episode discusses what it means to live with a happy heart attitude and provide advice not just from experts but from a Toastmasters member's approach. We will cover how to keep your heart healthy and happy as wells discuss the connection between a happy heart and Toastmasters.

In today’s episode of D27 Discuss With Us, you will listen to Us Navy Commander Jason Garrett present his experience writing speeches for two naval admirals. As a former Toastmaster, he will address how actively honing his communication skills enhances his career and how he developed his life motto by following "Fortune favors the bold," and "Luck is when preparation meets opportunity."

Today we interview members of DTM Masters, an advanced Toastmasters club, to discuss the benefits of joining an advanced club. DTM Masters will discuss how it is unique compared to a general club, how the club contributed to the District, and the "What's In It For Me" that every Toastmaster would ask.

Pres Vasilev rose above 30,000 contestants from 122 countries to become the 2013 World Champion of Public Speaking. He is the author of the popular online training program “How to Master Compelling Storytelling.” For over a decade, Pres has studied, researched, and spoken on self-improvement, speaking and storytelling. Pres has coached hundreds of speakers from around the world to craft compelling stories, deliver powerful presentations, and win speech contests. In this episode, Pres Vasilev will discuss how he went from learning English as his second language to becoming an effective evaluator. He will also describe his experience as he competed in the 2013 Toastmasters International Speech Competition and how he won.

In this episode, we discuss some public speaking tips and advice with Sheryl Roush, DTM, AS. Sheryl Roush is the youngest female in the world to be honored by Toastmasters with their elite Accredited Speaker designation for outstanding platform professional speaking. Only 88 have earned the award since 1981. She also will discuss what it means to be an Accredited Speaker.

Cultural diversity surrounds us everywhere. Toastmasters International is an international non-profit organization which membership base includes representatives from all over the world. We might work for an international organization with a diverse range of co-workers or clients. Friends and in-laws might come from a different cultural background. Can we talk to all of them the same way? Well, we could but we may miscommunicate or misinterpret what they are saying. Understanding nuances in verbal and nonverbal communication make a difference. In this podcast, we’ll explore some do’s and don’ts and best practices on how to address a diverse audience. Our guest today is multicultural communication specialist Alfonso Pernia from the bilingual Toastmasters club “Que Pasa.” He shared with us how his club embraces cultural diversity and also his experience on how to target a culturally diverse audience.

A short funny story about how one school lunch launched a new lunchtime tradition!

This podcast will discuss the advantages of diversity in the workplace with Linda Zhou. A diverse workplace employs people of different genders, ages, races, cultural backgrounds, languages and national origins.

Workplace diversity offers many advantages:

• Broadened problem-solving and creativity: A diverse workforce bring a wide array of experience, skills, perspectives and insights to problem-solving, increases innovation and strategic thinking.
  
• Better decision-making: Diverse groups of employees pull from a wider range of sources and experiences and make sounder decisions leading to improved results for the agency.
  
• Increased productivity and profitability: Ambitious employees are more motivated when the work environment is inclusive; resulting in increased productivity and profitability. Those organizations are more likely to be high performing.