Toastcaster Communication Leadership Learning Lab

[12:35] Today, March 31st is #World Backup Day. This reminded this Gadget Guy of an article I was inspired to write for the Edmonton Sun 22 years ago not after watching the news or a show about Technology, but rather a TV Show about Women – specifically Bravo’s Sex and the City.

It's an update to the 2001 article with a humorous look at how I went about writing the article what transpired in Season 4 Episode 8 appropriately titled: My Motherboard, My Self, where Carrie Bradshaw - played by Sara Jessica Parker has her Mac PowerBook G3 laptops crashes and all the trials and tribulations around it including her questioning her relationship with her then boyfriend Aidan who interestingly is a PC user. 

The podcast also talks about backups and the importance of them as well a lessons Carrie learned about backups and relationships.

So do your part, take a pledge and take action on #WORLDBACKUPDAY. You can also visit WorldBackupDay.com for more info.

You can also read the updated article at Troy Media.

[56:05] The Accredited Speaker (AS) designation is reserved for Toastmasters who combine subject mastery with professional speaking skills at the highest level of proficiency. Since the program started in 1981, there have been fewer than 100, 90 to be exact at this time who have earned the coveted title.

This is the audio for the unique webinar: How to Earn the Toastmasters Accredited Speaker (AS) Designation.

It was hosted in January 2023 by AS We Speak, an advanced club dedicated to supporting members who are pursuing applying for the designation.

Sheryl Roush, DTM, AS, PDG, CVP (right) who earned her credential in 1993, invited her fellow AS colleagues to join the conversation and leads the session.  

You will hear them share their journeys, professional speaking suggestions, and tips not included in the official handbook.

If you are already familiar with the AS, please note the Board recently made changes in the Accredited Speaker program for 2023.

You can also view the full webinar - video at  https://youtu.be/wXeNeePm15M. 

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[37:29] Think of AI (Artificial Intelligence), particularly health care and your brain might conjure up The Doctor  - the Emergency Medical Hologram from Star Trek Voyager. But AI in healthcare is here, it’s real and it’s already disrupting healthcare and changing the ways in which we can -  in the words of Mr. Spock, “Live Long and Prosper.”

In this non-technical and eye-opening episode, Greg speaks with Harry Glorikian —an influential healthcare entrepreneur, author, podcaster, and company leader—has been at the intersection of the fast-moving science and business of healthcare and biotechnology. 

Harry offers us a number of insights from his new book: The Future You: How Artificial Intelligence Can Help You Get Healthier, Stress Less, and Live Longer - how AI is disrupting healthcare and what you need know to successfully navigate through it. 

In our conversation, Harry also helps demystifies the term AI. He illustrates some of the ways it’s being used in research, at your local healthcare provider, at home and in everyday gadgets. You’ll hear AI is about playing a role with vaccine development and how technology is being used to proactively identify individuals who may be predisposed to certain types of cancers.

You’ll also be inspired on how this advancing technology can help us improve preventative and preemptive care (before things happen) vs sick-care (after the fact).

Harry also impresses upon us how we are still very dependant on the human brain. However, given the ability of a machine to handle lots of data along with AI technology, you’ll hear how the two together can help predictability that someone may be predisposed to a certain condition. You also be introduced to the term Digital Therapeutics on how non-medicinal treatments in some areas are already FDA approved to replace the need for meds. 

Harry also shares a number of personal stories and how he himself uses technology to better his personal health, and more. 

Harry Glorikian lives int the greater Boston area and can be reached via LinkedIn or Glorikian.com . 

His book The Future You: How Artificial Intelligence Can Help You Get Healthier, Stress Less, and Live Longer is designed for anyone and includes over 50 pages of references, You can find the book on Amazon. 

ToastCaster 169: How AI Can Help the Future You Live Longer & Prosper – Harry Glorikian

[27:53] In this episode Greg speaks with Varun Puri co-founder of Yoodli a web-based platform, that helps individuals practice, record, upload and store speeches or interviews and provides feedback and AI enabled analytics as well as an auto-generated transcript of the speech.

In our conversation, Varun enlightens us on a little more of what Yoodli is, why it was created it, how it was funded, how it works and why he refers to it as a “smart- mirror.” 

He gives us a few examples and explains on how Yoodli,  in real-time, provides users with personalized feedback such as filler and repeated words, body language, word pacing and more. We’ll also hear about the added bonuses like games you can play to further step-up those skills. 

We also hear a little bit about the recent partnership between Toastmasters International and Yoodli, giving Toastmasters members, at no-cost, a customized version of the Yoodli platform tailored to the Toastmasters experience including the ability to practice your Table Topics (impromptu speaking).

We’ll also hear about how you can get your analytics on your Zoom communication by inviting Yoodli to join your meeting through a pasted link or your calendar. (Public version only)

And finally Varun shares with us how the platform has helped him in fine-tuning his own communication skills.

Varun Puri, Co-Founder, Yoodli is based in Seattle, Washington and can be reached at Yoodli.ai where you can also access the public version of Yoodli.

Toastmasters members are encouraged to access the Toastmasters Yoodli by simply logging onto their accounts at Toastmasters.org/myhome. 

You can also read more about Yoodli and the partnership in Laura Mishkind's new article on Yoodli in the Toastmaster Magazine On-line.

[29:17] “How Far? A Tale of Determination, DNA, and Drama” by Bob Wilber is a book written in the "historical fiction" genre, and features two fictional characters who "write" the book in their own voices. One is a baseball player from Southern California. The other is a hockey player from Roseau, Minnesota. When their very different lives intersect, they become friends and the drama begins.

It’s a life book told through a sports lens and - everyone can relate to it. It’s not only an incredible read and a great story but it’s also full of life and leadership lessons that anyone can benefit from.

In this episode we speak with the author about his book and why he wrote it and what's unique about it. We get to better understand about the genre of historical fiction and how it can be used for any type of storytelling.

We learn more about who Bob is, the skills he acquired including wisdom from his writing coach and the lessons he learned about himself on this journey and much, much more.

ABOUT Bob: Bob Wilber has been writing creatively since grade school and first published at age 16. He is the son of a former Major League baseball player and a mother who passed along her communications and public relations skills to her youngest son. 

After earning a full athletic scholarship to Southern Illinois University - Edwardsville, he spent six years in professional baseball as a player, coach, and scout for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Bob then moved on to international sports marketing and eventually spent 22 years in the world of NHRA Drag Racing, as a PR representative and team manager for Funny Car drivers Del Worsham and Tim Wilkerson. In 2017, he published his autobiography "Bats, Balls, & Burnouts"  and his latest book is "How Far?"  A Tale of Determination, DNA, and Drama.

Bob lives in Minnesota with his wife Barbara and their cats Boofus and Buster. You can reach him at BobWilber.net where you learn more about Bob and purchase the book through links to Amazon.

[05:31] When you play a round of Golf, chances are that you will use more than just a putter. So why is that businesses sometimes have only one message or one sales strategy regardless of the demographic or who the potential client is?

Same goes for communicators. Some deliver the same speech verbatim regardless as to whom their audience is.

Sadly the results are not always as you think.

Listen on few a few tips - for business, not golf! :)

Image by Kevin Phillips from Pixabay

[11:59] It’s Halloween time. Let me share with you something that’s perhaps a little scary and that’s email.  Boo! Before you chuckle, I want you to think about this...

You’re trying to lead your team, get your projects done and get ready for that next meeting. You’re obviously multitasking and in so much of a hurry, you don’t realize that opening just that one email could not only put you behind time, it could potentially create your worst possible nightmare - a phishing email which you've been oblivious to. Don't be afraid! Listen on.   You can also read my previous article on the topic at Gadgetgreg.com.

[06:31] Greg Gazin is interviewed on CHQR Radio about his Troy Media article Try Nightbuds Earbuds for a good night’s sleep.

For anyone who offers a product or service, or in my case writes about one, it's always important to be ready and always have a few talking points and a story or two in your back pocket in case the media literally comes calling. It's great PR for you and for the product or service you're talking about.

This is also where your Toastmasters International Table Topics impromptu skills come in really handy. 

[23:52] Ever wonder how to fill the gaps when business is slow? There are a number of productive things we can do - some we already know but are often forgotten. But what about when things are so slow and choices are so limited that you have to totally reinvent yourself?

Our guest today is an expert in both those areas. Stephanie Northcott, a former corporate project administrator from Calgary, Canada in the construction and electrical utility industries found herself in a position of having no position that fit her skills due to a corporate. 

With a decade of extensive experience under her belt, Stephanie decided to take matters into her own hands. She put her administrative skills and strengths to work becoming an entrepreneur specializing in helping sole proprietors and online entrepreneurs as a virtual assistant, relocating her family and now working from the paradise of Guanajuato, Mexico.

In this episode, Stephanie shares a little about her journey, what a virtual assistant does and shares a number of tips that she has discovered and things you can do when business slows to a crawl.

Many of her tips and nuggets of wisdom come from the article: Filling the Gaps when Things Get Slow that can be found on her blog as well as on LinkedIn.

Some of the tips include: Examining your business from the outside in, posting past content and cleaning up those nagging “tolerations” and more.

You can find Stephanie Northcott on LinkedIn or reach her via her website: StephanieNorthcott.com.

[25:23] What can you learn from your first professional speech (outside Toastmasters)?

In this episode Greg speaks with copywriter Kate McClare who pulls back the curtain and shares five powerful lessons and more from her recent live presentation to a group of CPAs. These lessons are basic fundamentals but important reminders that every speaker should remember if they want to make an impact on their audience and of course the organization who engaged them.

You can also hear Kate in her interview with Greg Gazin & Ryan Levesque on the Toastmasters Podcast, episode #201, Powerful Collaboration between Toastmasters International and Rotary International.

Kate McClare  runs a company called Kate’s Copy, a writing and editing service. Specializing in Digital, Video and Print content for Marketing and PR professionals, Web Designers and Entrepreneurs.

Kate is passionate about Language and prides herself with her ability to harness the power of the written word for better storytelling.  She’s is also a Distinguished Toastmaster and a frequent contributor to the Toastmaster Magazine.

Kate McClare lives in Hollywood, Florida and can be reached on LinkedIn or at KatesCopy.net.