Virtual Conference – May 14, 2022

Plan to join us for a great day of educational presentations and  and the Humorous and International Speech contest.

Our keynote is Mark Brown, Past World Champion of Public Speaking.

“The last 2 years have presented significant challenges, and the world is looking forward to a brighter tomorrow. How can  we navigate those challenges and forge a formidable future together? What steps can we take make our District even stronger as we look ahead?

Drawing from his own leadership journey of more than 45 years, keynote presenter Mark Brown will offer an inspirational message of hope that will help us lift our team to increasing levels of excellence as we move forward together.”

Key Note Speaker

Mark Brown

The last 2 years have presented significant challenges, and the world is looking forward to a brighter tomorrow. How can we navigate those challenges and forge a formidable future together? What steps can we take to make our District even stronger as we look ahead?

Drawing from his own leadership journey of more than 45 years, keynote presenter Mark Brown will offer an inspirational message of hope that will help us lift our team to increasing levels of excellence as we move forward together.

Mark Brown is a dynamic presenter and executive speaking coach who helps people overcome their fears to reach their maximum potential and achieve ever-increasing levels of excellence.

Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Mark Brown migrated to the United States at 18 years old with only US$40 in his pocket and a dream for a better life. Today, he has become one of the most popular inspirational speakers in the world.

In 1995, he defeated more than 20,000 contestants from fourteen countries to win the illustrious Toastmasters World Championship of Public Speaking. Since then, he has delivered more than 3,500 presentations to more than 1.7 million people on five continents. He is one of only SEVEN (7) people on the planet who is both a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) and a World Champion of Public Speaking.

A frequent presenter at National Speakers Association meetings, and keynote speaker at Toastmasters International Conferences worldwide, Mark shares his insights across a wide range of industries, including finance, education, hospitality, transportation, marketing, and technology.

As a speaking coach, he influences various professions, including financial planning, politics, information technology, franchising, medicine, and sales. His global coaching clientele includes emerging speakers, corporate CEOs, and seasoned professional presenters.

He is the co-author of the book The Speaker’s Edge, and a leading member of the coaching faculty at StageTimeUniversity.com. He co-hosts the weekly Unforgettable Presentations Podcast with fellow CSP & World Champion Darren LaCroix, which caters to presenters at every level of proficiency. The podcast ranks in the top 1.5% of over 2.7 million podcasts worldwide according to Listen Score.

Mark is committed to helping individuals and organizations excel, and he passionately believes that “Your life tells a story, and there’s someone out there
who needs to hear it!”

He lives in Lizella, GA, USA, with Andrea, his wife of almost forty years.

Presenters

Dave Hansen

Make ’em Laugh, Make ’em Cry

Dave joined toastmasters in 2017 after being hired to speak on a Norwegian cruise line teaching potential retires about social security. Only expecting to attend for a short time, he fell in love with the club, the contests, and most of all the evaluations. After five years, Dave’s favorite part of Toastmasters is watching brand new speakers go from the “Ice Breaker Waltz”(where they move in a box step over and over with no destination or purpose) to good speakers, and from good speakers to great speakers that captivate and motivate.

Dave loves the contests and has won the humorous speeches at all possible levels. 

He has been married to the love of his life Natalie for 22 years and they have 5 boys.

His favorite quote is always his own, and it’s his family motto “The opportunity to serve, is the opportunity to grow” Dave thought of that at a scout camp fire, and he explains it to his kids this way “When we give our time and effort to help others, we are the ones who truly benefit.”

Jeff Jensen

Toastmasters as a Service

Jeff is currently a member of Eclectic Voices Toastmasters and has been a part of District 15 Toastmasters since January 2010.  He earned his DTM in June 2020, and has served the District in Club President, Area Director, Division Director, and District Administration Manager roles.

In his professional life, Jeff is the Founder and Principal of I Train IT Leaders, LLC, which just celebrated its five-year anniversary.  Jeff’s company provides consulting and training services in IT Service Management, Agile, DevOps, Lean, and other related frameworks to IT Leadership and their organizations.  Jeff has attained his ITIL 4 Strategic Leader and Managing Professional certifications, and is a certified trainer for ITIL 4, DevOps Foundation and Leadership, Agile Service Management, Process Design/Engineering, and Lean/Value Stream Mapping courses.  Jeff also leads the Boise ITSM local interest group and actively participates in other related IT communities in the Boise Area and virtually around the country.

The leading Information Technology Service Management Framework, named ITIL, provides guidance and practices related to how to best deliver and support IT services.  Many of these aspects of service management guidance are not just applicable to IT but can be applied to helping to improve any organization, including Toastmasters.  In this session, we will review the ITIL definition of a service and its parameters, dive into the concepts of VOCR (Value, Outcomes, Costs, and Risks), and look at the model of a customer/user journey to evaluate how a club can better prepare itself to deliver the best Toastmasters experience to its members.

As a final takeaway, we will review the “Start With Why” approach from author Simon Sinek to put together an outcome and purpose-based description that each individual Toastmaster can use to help clarify their own purpose as well as to better share the value of Toastmasters with others.

Jamiel Khwaja

Commune with Communication

Jamiel is a member of Lone Peak Toastmasters, who meet in Draper Utah.  He has been a member of this Presidentially Distinguished club since the summer of 2019.  His growth over the last 3 years can be directly correlated with his participation in District 15.  Jamiel has served as the Sergeant at Arms, Vice President Education, and is currently serving as President of the club.

Jamiel has been described as a talkative numbers person.  He has been able to turn his interest in communication into a career in the contact center industry.  He is currently the Sr. Workforce Manager for Extra Space Storage.  Even though he is working with numbers every day, one thing that sets Jamiel apart from others in his field is his ability to communicate effectively and build relationships.

The speaking, teamwork, and leaderships skills that he has practiced in Toastmasters have had real world applications in many areas of his life.

In this day and age, we are living in, it seems like it’s harder than ever to get real connections with those around us outside of social media interactions.  Especially with the fast-paced world we live in, it’s more important than ever to build bonds through talking with others.  Let’s connect and develop the tools needed to bring people together through the ancient art of Communication.

Janet Cole

Protect and Prosper: The Responsibility of an Effective Leader

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