Toastcaster Communication Leadership Learning Lab

[28:38]  Videos are a valuable tool for any Toastmasters Club. Join me as we speak with Video Guru Joe MacKay from St. Albert, Alberta, Canada as he shares why your club needs one, what types of videos you can create along with some tips and tricks to make your club video a success.  

[09:08]  Finding a decent affordable Lavalier Mic is not always the easiest thing. This episode, Greg puts on his Gadget Guy hat and looks at iRig Mic Lav by IK Multimedia and why its a good idea to use one to record all your speeches and presentations. You can read the full review at Canoe Tech Blog .

[27:44]  Greg speaks with Lance Miller 2005 World Champion of Public Speaking as he shares his insights about Cam Newton's defeated attitude during a post Super Bowl 50 media interview. Lance reflects on lessons learned, dealing with defeat and adversity taking a page from his own life both in business and journey to the World Championship. Read the Post at LanceMillerSpeaks.com

[02:15] Today video is pretty commonplace. It's so easy to simply shoot a video on your iPhone and in virtually zero time have it published for all to see. Some clubs, like New Entrepreneurs Toastmasters has always been an early adopter of technology to help promote the club. To save bandwidth and other reasons, Toastcaster Episode 3 featured a highly compressed version of the video that really di...

[15:17] Record 360 can help protect you from damage you didn't do. I interviewed CEO and Co-Founder Shane Skinner about their app and realised that this is very relevant to the Toastmasters audience since some of us rent vehicles or places to stay when we head to conferences and conventions. It also relevant at home and at work. Enjoy the interview. When you're done, head to Record360.com where yo...

[20:29] Entrepreneur Rana Varma from Calgary, Alberta Canada credits Toastmasters as key in helping him win a $10,000 prize for a new product pitch at a recent health competition. He tells us about his pitch, his new invention the Slate Scale and how skills he learned in Toastmasters helped make all the difference.

[09:04] A Virtual Ticket to the Toastmasters International Convention is a marketing genius and the next best thing to being there. Listen to find out all about it  and how you can participate and once you buy you can listen again and again and again. Visit ToastmastersOnDemand.com . (photos courtesy: Toastmasters International)

[11:24] Greg speaks with Russ Dantu of Calgary, Alberta Canada and winner of the District 42 International Speech Contest, as he shares his experience in preparation for the road to Las Vegas for the 2015 World Championship of Public Speaking semi-final a possibly the finals at the Toastmasters International Convention. (Photo credit: Rhys Davies)

It's no secret that Vocal Variety can certainly enhance a speech or presentation. In this episode Greg proves that song lyrics can in fact be used to illustrate it. He uses Spanish Train, by Chris de Burgh, one of his favourite artists to do so. In fact this was speech #6 from the Toastmasters Competent Communicator Manual. If you wonder why he had to prove it, you'll need to listen to find out. (...

[18:59] Greg speaks with guest Sheryl Roush, PDG, DTM, AS who tells us all about the Toastmasters Accredited Speaker (AS) program. Sheryl enlightens us as to what it's all about, why you would want to become an Accredited Speaker & how to go about doing it. She also talks about a special pre-convention event in Las Vegas this August dedicated to those who want to take the AS journey and get more p...

It's not often that we have a guest on our show that has both a tie-in to Toastmasters, Public Speaking and a major motion picture release - in this case the much anticipated Mad Max: Fury Road starring Tom Hardy & Charlize Theron which will hit theatres May 15th 2015. In this episode, Greg speaks with Greg Van Borssum who hails from just outside of Sydney Australia. Greg, had a real rough start w...

Looking to jumpstart your productivity? DTM and expert Kevin Achtzener returns to Toastcaster and speaks with Greg Gazin about Visual Productivity the new Mind Mapping. He also introduces his new book appropriately entitled - Visual Productivity. (25:33)

Toastmasters is celebrating its 90th Anniversary, but what you may not realize is that the party is lasting a whole year. So here's some information, resources, too many to mention that you and your club can use to celebrate the milestone. It even help you attract new members.

I was asked to give a Toast (Special Occasions Speech Manual Project #1) and decided I would combine the honouring of our Sergeant at Arms along with a mini educational for the benefit of new member and guests so not only can they see how a Toast works, they get to know a little about what a Sergeant at Arms does and what they could get from taking on that role. Cheers! (03:32)

[17:02] Ever show up for a Toastmasters meeting only to find the doors locked? It recently happened to Rich Hopkins, a fellow Toastmaster, Speaker, Coach and Author.  In Toastcaster 50, Rich and Greg chat about how this can happen and how we sometimes take our locations for granted. Rich returns to Toastcaster and shares with us about a meeting that almost didn't happen and 4 key tips on what we c...

After almost a decade on the District 42 Executive, I decided, ok, maybe shamed, into competing in our District's Humorous Speech Contest. We have almost 290 clubs. After winning at the Club, Area and Division levels, I didn't win, but placed 3rd at District. I won't give too much away as to what it is about, but it involves Gadgets, Shakespeare and Frustration. Nevertheless, if you've never compe...

Guest Post: Toastmasters International President Mohammed Murad, DTM visited District 42 (Alberta/Saskatchewan, Canada). Rookie Toastmaster Marta Munoz, CC had an opportunity to sit down with President Murad for a few minutes at the D42 Fall Conference, held in Calgary, Nov 7-9, 2014.

[10:30] Legendary broadcaster Red Robinson introduced The Beatles at their first ever Canadian concert, Aug 22, 1964 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Host Greg Gazin, had an opportunity to recently speak with Red, who recounted the events of that day - and which might be a surprise to some and talked about an upcoming 50th Anniversary concert to commemorate that day. Full article: The Day the Beatl...

Whether you are a Toastmaster or simply a traveler, there's always a need for technology on the road to make the trip so much better. Here are a few Gadgets & Tech Tools and a few things to think about before heading out on the road this summer. You can also read the full article at Canoe Tech Blog .

As a Toastmaster you might be asked to host or emcee an event. Have you ever been asked to emcee a charity fundraiser? My first time is coming up, so to prepare, I checked in with good friend and Distinguished Toastmaster Jim Ewing, Pro-Vision Solutions, Edmonton who has experience on this area. Have a listen to our chat.

Greg Gazin was one of the feature speakers at DEXIO 2014 in Edmonton (DEXIO.biz), along side Dr. John Gray, Arkadi Kuhlmann, Fran Hewitt and Nicole Farley.  Greg shared with the audience his entrepreneurial and Toastmasters journey. Here's a clip from the projection screen feed of Greg talking about how he discovered Toastmasters and how it can transform you.  (NOTE: This is a Projection Screen Ca...

Toastmasters DVDs & Videos can make a great in-meeting educational tool. They are also handy when you have low member attendance and or prepared speeches.  It's a great alternative to just extending Table Topics. Until 2011 Official Toastmasters Convention CDs & DVDs were produced by  Bill Stephens Productions .  Some videos are now available via streaming, digital download and still some in DVD f...

Crutch words can hinder our communication and even make us appear unprepared or not confident. Here's a way to recognize them and help keep yourself from using them. Listen to our podcast and if you like, you can also read the Troy Media article..

When you play Golf, chances are that you will use more than just a putter. So why is that businesses sometimes have only one message? Same goes for communicators. Some deliver the same speech regardless as to who the audience is. Sadly the results are not always as you think. LIsten to our podcast and if you like, you can also read the article at Troy Media.

Hearing things being repeated can often drive one absolutely crazy, but if used effectively, repetition in presentations, conversations and even recordings can be an effective tool in getting your message across. The original article can be found at Greg Gazin's Digitally Speaking at Troy Media.com . (photo courtesy Troy Media)