LETs Stand Public Speaking

“What will be your legacy”? Ted Corcoran, a leading management consultant based in Dublin, Ireland has been the only Irish and the first European International President of Toastmasters International (2003-2004) since the organisation was founded in 1924. Toastmasters International is a US-headquartered non-profit educational organization operating clubs worldwide for the purpose of promoting communication, public speaking and leadership skills. Currently with over 350,000 members, in 145 countries, Toastmasters is the most efficient, supportive, enjoyable, and affordable way of gaining great communication and leadership skills with the tagline: “Where leaders are made”. When it comes to leadership, Ted most certainly ‘walks the talk’. Having led his own district to President’s Distinguished District status, finishing second in the world in achievement in 1994/1995, as International President of Toastmasters, Ted oversaw the continued growth of Toastmaster clubs across the world. Ted has delivered many training courses, presentations and seminars around the world, including the USA, Canada, Australia, and in countries in Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe. Ted is also a member of the Rotary Club, Dublin, since 1991, serving as club president in 2001/02. With a willingness to always listen, observe and consider, Ted has devoted his life to encouraging and supporting others to see and realize the potential in themselves and their teams. He is also the author of three books: “The Leadership Bus” published 1998 and which is available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Leadership-Bus-Effective-Successful-Leader/dp/1438901232 “Hiring a Car and Walking After It” published 2019 and available here: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hiring-car-walking-after-lessons/dp/1946195413 His most recent book, “A Comprehensive History of Toastmasters in Great Britain and Ireland,” was launched in September, 2022 and can be sourced by contacting Eileen O’Neill at [email protected] In this episode, Ted shares with us stories from his childhood growing up in County Kerry in Ireland, his school days and how and where he began to practise his own leadership skills. Recounting some of his experiences as the only Irish International President of Toastmasters International, Ted comments on the importance of empathy, relationships, a sense of humour and teamwork reminding us of the Japanese proverb that “no one is as smart as all of us”. His trilogy of advice is particularly empowering: “1. Always say ‘yes’ to opportunity, 2. Never be afraid to ask for advice and 3. Always believe you’re as good as everyone else”. You can find out more about today’s guest, Ted Corcoran at these links: https://www.toastmasters.org/magazine/magazine-issues/2022/sept/the-irish-oracle https://tedcorcoran.ie/ If you’d like to find out more about Toastmasters International and find a club close to you, you can do so through this link: https://www.toastmasters.org/ Guests are always most welcome.

“Students do not care how much you know until they know how much you care” (John C Maxwell). In this episode, Jukka Sinnemäki (PhD.), recipient of the 2019 Global Teacher Award, quotes John C Maxwell as he shares with us his experience, observations and findings that ”it is not what is poured into the students but what is planted that counts”. Jukka, from Finland, is an award-winning teacher, education thought leader and TEDx Speaker. In this episode, Jukka challenges us to rethink some practices and habits we may be taking for granted in our classrooms encouraging us to “stop often enough to be able to see the unseen” in our students. He emphasises the profound impact and influence of teachers as we help, support and encourage young people to realize their full potential. Inspired himself by a teacher who went an “extra mile” in his youth, Jukka believes that positive transformation in schools is possible even in a very short period of time explaining how relationships and wellbeing are at the very core of positive transformation. His child-centred approach to teaching and learning not only increases his students’ wellbeing, but also their learning results and motivation, proving that “success is a by-product of wellbeing”. Throughout his career in education, Jukka has continuously engaged in research, investigating important questions as they arise while trialling and exploring various innovative pedagogies. In his teaching, Jukka strives to make visible the development which he says is not usually seen in the report cards. Jukka’s unique, student-centred approach to co-designing and co-constructing the classroom environment with his students is a striking example of student voice and agency in action. You might see hammocks and bean bags in Jukka’s class for relaxation and reading as well as treadmills and other PE equipment and various technological devices, all with a particular purpose, all carefully chosen by the students and all contributing to the balanced, holistic development of the children and promoting their holistic wellbeing. Constantly trying to achieve balance between activity, stimulation and calm, quiet, presence, if it is evaluated that something is not benefiting learning and development, then a decision is made to take it away. In this episode, Jukka also reminds us of the importance of the 21st Century skills of communication and collaboration with those around us and across the globe for a sustainable future. In real, visible ways, Jukka shows value for students’ imagination, creativity, ideas and thoughts. “When students first enter our classrooms, what do they see, what do they feel?” Jukka asks. He gently encourages us to reflect and consider: How do we support students to become aware of their own uniqueness, dignity and intrinsic value as human beings? How do we connect with our students when we first meet? Can we listen before we teach? Can we see the unseen? When we, as teachers, come into the class, what comes in with us? Humbly hoping that he can make an impact as a “positive changemaker”, Jukka’s everyday teaching practices clearly embody the changemaker pillars of creativity, empathy, leadership and teamwork and more. Jukka reminds us that building a deeper connection with our students matters and advises that “Learning happens when you see the unseen in every child”. You can find out more about and get in contact with Jukka through the following contact details and links: [email protected] https://www.linkedin.com/in/jukka-sinnemäki-9045a922/ https://twitter.com/JukkaSinnemaki https://www.facebook.com/jukka.sinnemaki?ref=bookmarks http://knownow.fi/en/. You can view some of Jukka’s inspiring, thought provoking videos at the following links: TEDx – Stop Often enough to be able to see the unseen. Tedx - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q6xVGkHjh6s&t=39s Jukka Sinnemäki teaching philosophy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTyFbwzuwxo&t=22s.

“Help your children fall in love with reading again” and lots more with today’s guest. Today’s guest, Anthony Garvey has 30 years’ experience working in international public relations, ranging from technology and telecommunication blue chips to educational and local government organisations. He spent 9 years as Head of PR for Psion plc, during a period of rapid change as it evolved from a start-up to a FTSE100 company. In 2001, Anthony returned to Ireland where he established Quinn Garvey PR, which provides public relations and marketing services to small businesses in the UK and Ireland. Anthony also runs Confident Presenting https://confidentpresenting.com/ , which provides twelve different management training courses to companies and business executives: • Presentation Skills • Communication Skills • Time Management • Meeting Mastery • Pitching to win • Interview Skills • Minute-Taking • Media Training • Commercial Negotiation • Public Speaking • Leadership Skills • Public Relations Whether you’re preparing to make a speech at a wedding, giving a presentation at work, preparing for a sales pitch, delivering the latest financial results or getting ready for an interview, Confident Presenting courses teach you how to master the skills necessary to succeed. Anthony is an award-winning presenter and public speaker having competed in the District 71 UK & Ireland finals four times. He is currently President of Shilling Speakers in District 91. Anthony has also written seven children’s books, including the popular acclaimed Gravespeakers series for 8-12 year olds. Obviously adept at pivoting in times of change, Anthony advises that “there are great opportunities out there if you push yourself forward”. “Anyone who feels there’s a dream they want to follow, go for it.” Anthony also provides creative writing, public speaking and presentation training for schools as well as doing readings of his popular children’s books series. Connect with Anthony on LinkedIn here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anthonygarvey/ or by visiting: www.confidentpresenting.com or www.gravespeakers.com You can enjoy some of Anthony’s entertaining and inspiring presentations at the following links: TEDx Talk: ‘How to Present Naked’ https://youtu.be/_r16T3eIRqg ‘Come to the Edge’ District 71 finalist Toastmasters International https://youtu.be/uLuH2-CzkIY. #publicspeaking. #toastmastersinternational

“If you love a twisting story that will almost leave you breathless, just read it”. So says one of the reviews of Lorraine Murphy’s new psychological thriller: ‘Into the Woods’. Advising prospective writers that “you start with something to say and then you use the tools you have to make it sound really good”, in this episode, author, Lorraine Murphy guides us through the creative process of writing. Lorraine writes about everyday situations, often twisting them into terrifying tales. She is the author of ‘Into the Woods’, a psychological fiction novel, coming out in September 2022 and published by Inkubator Books. https://inkubatorbooks.com/blog/2022/07/25/into-the-woods/?fbclid=IwAR2wiWw7jlLGWY4GN2wNVZDAB38AJZLHn-bwQON-m U_tPPxeLqyYlcBgemI She has written numerous published, and winning, flash fiction stories, and is currently working on her second novel with Inkubator Books. A software engineer by profession, Lorraine has had many careers including slimming club leader, adult educator, charity co-founder, chairperson, activist and entrepreneur. As a teenager, she adored Stephen King and later found herself on the jury of an infamous murder trial. Lorraine is an accomplished Toastmaster, having reached District 71 (Ireland and UK) table topics semi-finals in 2020, taken second place in Division 9 Humorous speech and table topic competitions in 2022 and having retained the Mullingar club table topics trophy for three years in a row. She is the incoming President of Mullingar Toastmasters. During this discussion we frequently draw comparisons between the writing and public speaking process, especially in terms of craft and crafting a speech, a story, a book. Lorraine lives in Westmeath, Ireland with her husband Brendan and three taller children. ‘Into the Woods’ will be available to buy on Amazon.com from August 21st. To get your hands on Lorraine’s “fast moving, engaging and thrilling” book, keep an eye on Lorraine’s website and Amazon. August 21st is the date! Have a listen to our chat to find out more about Lorraine’s ‘in-person’ book launch on October 01st in Annebrook Hotel in Mullingar. You can find out more about Lorraine and / or contact her through: Twitter: https://twitter.com/@murphylorr Website: http://lorraineamurphy.com/ Email: [email protected]

Making a wedding speech can be very daunting for anyone. Delivering a speech in his role as ‘Man of Honour’ at age 13 at his big sister’s wedding, Oisín Dooley rose to the occasion seeing it as a privilege, a true honour. Even though he had never done anything like this before, he succeeded in delivering a very sincere, humorous and memorable speech to over 200 people. In this episode it is a real pleasure to chat with Oisín about his experience. We will learn how it felt for a 13 year old to present such a wonderful, well-thought-through wedding speech. Oisín, now 17, claims that he was always quiet (except to family) but knew that if he put his mind to it and time into the preparation for this speech, that he would see results. This is a wonderful example of self-efficacy in action. In addition, he showed leadership by stepping forward to present memories and stories on behalf of his younger siblings with such sincerity, humility and empathy. Oisín shares with us how he prepared and practiced for the big occasion down to how he anticipated the audience’s reactions and how he managed and overcame his nerves. He also mentions the benefits he now sees of public speaking in school and beyond. Here are just a few of the nuggets of wisdom and inspiration he shares with us: “I knew I had to deal with the fear and pressure and use it as a way to motivate me” “Yes, I’m doing the speech but all of us care”, “no matter how much anxiety fills you, if you can focus on doing your best at presenting it, people aren’t going to notice the small things you may notice”. “If I put my mind to it, I can do it and if I try and put time into this, I’ll see results”. #weddingspeeches You can watch Oisín’s ‘Best Little Brother’s Wedding Speech’ at: https://youtu.be/vqhWPJ4__Fk

Manjinder (Jin) Atwal is the founder of Magical Mind Coaching and is a Mindset, Confidence and Communication Coach for Children and Young People. His purpose in life is to help ensure all children have the same opportunities to grow into the best version of themselves. He believes every child is born with a Magical Mind, babies are great communicators, they are resilient and have a growth mindset. However, as a child begins to get older, they begin to create limiting beliefs and become self-conscious about what others think of them which can often impact their mindset, confidence and communication skills. Jin helps unlock their Magical Mind so children once again believe that there are no limits to what they can achieve. An award winning public speaker himself, Jin discusses how developing confidence and communication skills changed his life. In this episode, you’ll hear more about the empowering programmes Jin provides for children and young people. You can find out more at: https://magicalmc.co.uk/about or follow Jin on Instagram: . https://instagram.com/mmc_magicalspeaking?utm_medium=copy_link. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/magicalmindcoaching/

Research shows that higher levels of empathy allow people to be more productive and fulfilled in cooperative learning and work environments. Focusing on empathy development in education has also been proven to boost academic success and positively impact Behaviour and motivation . In the school context, empathy enables children to feel understood and supported while better understanding and supporting their peers. In this episode I’m going to explore how skills of empathy can be developed and practiced by engaging in public speaking activities. #publicspeaking #empowerment #orallanguage #empathy

‘What if we radically re-imagined the way we see children? What if we saw them as changemakers, engaged humans, scientists or inventors, and then helped them to develop their abilities for these roles’ – Emer Beamer, Co-founder and Program Lead of Design-a-thon Works. Emer Beamer, social entrepreneur and designer, inspired by children’s imaginations and altruism founded Design-a-thon Works in 2004. She is also an Ashoka Fellow and has co-founded both Butterfly Works, Co-Creation for a Better World and NairoBits, her first social enterprise (founded in 2000), Design College for youth from slum areas, Nairobi, Kenya, co-creating social change. What began as an art project is now a family of schools in 5 African countries with some 10,000 graduates securing jobs in the formal tech sector in Kenya and beyond. Nairobits is still going strong. The aim of Design-a-thon is to empower children globally to design a better world and to have society in turn include children in co-designing the future. Emer was elected as an Ashoka Fellow in 2016, and awarded ‘Global Innovator’ of Dubai Expo 2020. eLearning programs which she co-designed such as 'The World starts with Me' (Uganda 2004) and 'Learning about Living' (Nigeria 2007) are regularly adapted for 15 new countries in Africa and Asia and have won prizes from the World Bank and the United Nations. The connecting principle in her work is empowering learners by supporting them to become the author, creator and maker of their own worlds. She holds a Bachelor of Commerce from University College Dublin (Ireland) and then studied Graphic and Interactive Design at the Rietveld Academy in the Netherlands. Emer is originally from Ireland but has been based in Amsterdam longer than she likes to admit, she is married with two teenage daughters. If you have any specific questions for Emer, you can contact her at [email protected] If you’d like to find out more about Design-a-thon Works, you can do so at the following links: Global Children's Designathon, a yearly event, The 2021 video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzG73QrnBkk Video from RTE of the first Global Children's Designathon, held in 5 cities including Dublin https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iks-v2nmkrI Design-a-thon Works https://www.designathonworks.com Butterfly works http://www.butterflyworks.org NairoBits http://www.nairobits.com

Is public speaking a creative process? In this episode I explore and discuss the relationship between public speaking and creativity. I also share how Edward De Bono’s ‘6 Thinking Hats’ technique can be used to stimulate lateral, critical and creative thinking in the classroom in a fun way.

“We all want to make an impact on life”. “Most people don’t have an interest in being on stage but most people have an interest in making sense to an audience”. In this episode, it’s my pleasure to speak with Paul O’Mahony, a man of many hats and talents. As Paul is a poet, amongst many other professional and personal roles held across his life, we chat about a topic I love, poetry. Poetry mainly and also, public speaking. Paul shares with us, his love of poetry from passing a book of poetry under the desk in secondary school to the impact of Wilfred Owen’s poem on him to writing different types of poetry himself. Paul advises that the discipline poetry gives us is a worthy challenge, the discipline of making every word count. He recommends that because “we all want to make an impact in life “and are “individually distinctive”, poetry writing helps us to understand the importance of thinking about every single word we use, saying and writing not too much but enough to make an impact. He also shares with us some very thought-provoking ideas about public speaking, a term he would prefer not to use and reminds us of how Toastmasters empowers individuals to become more effective communicators. Throughout this episode, you will be inspired to consider the power of words and the language we use in poetry and in speech to explain, inspire, entertain, inform and even transform our feelings and experiences. Paul advises that the better the quality of your language, the better you’ll be able to communicate through poetry and speaking. Here are links to some of Paul’s poetry and some of what Paul spoke about: From Bath to Cork with baby Grace https://paulhomahony.com/ Paul on Twitter: https://twitter.com/omaniblog?lang=en From Cork with Love: https://audioboom.com/channel/From-Cork-With-Love 2015 World Champion: 'The Power of Words' Mohammed Qahtani, Toastmasters International https://youtu.be/Iqq1roF4C8s Dananjaya Hettiarachchi - World Champion of Public Speaking 2014 - Full Speech https://youtu.be/bbz2boNSeL0 #poetry #toastmastersinternational #toastmasters4golf #PaulO’Mahony #communicationskills