Jody White, Speaking Directly

I used to think a leader was the “big cheese” in the corner office, a Boy Scout Troop Leader or the person down the street who owned a business. Early in my career, I had several supervisors who were “leaders” by their position; however, they certainly didn’t lead “me” in a way that promoted my growth and success!   Did I ever see myself as a leader? No! Why? It was me who labeled myself as a “follower." The generic job titles that I was placed in, regardless of the experience and skill set I had to offer, didn’t help my thought process either. It wasn’t until many years later when I worked with a supervisor who truly changed my mindset to believe that I was a leader and gave me courage to change the course of my career path! When I joined Toastmasters, I jumped right in to serve in leadership roles which gave me even more experience and knowledge to pursue exciting challenges in Toastmasters and my community. Do people ask your opinions about certain topics? Do you ...

A few years ago, I attended a lunch meeting hosted by an organization to promote their next charitable event. I looked forward to learning more about the organization and hearing their speaker provide a bit of history and details to peak my interest in their fundraising efforts. I settled in my chair, turned up my ears and waited patiently for the speaker.    After he was introduced, and began speaking, I had a bad feeling. The feeling was similar to being told that your favorite ice cream has been discontinued; a big disappointment!    What happened?      The speaker, who I am sure was knowledgeable and experienced, filled his speech with so many “pause fillers” that I had difficulty understanding what he was saying. He began the majority of his sentences with a long “Uh” and added other distracting words in his sentences.      His 20-minute presentation seemed like hours and it became uncomfortable to listen to him speak. As a  “l...

What does it take to be an effective communicator? First of all, you must gain confidence in order to tackle improving your skills and getting your message out to an audience.    Your audience can be another person, your supervisor, a small group of members in an organization or a huge crowd at a conference. Confidence allows you to “be yourself” and not fret over your perceived imperfections.    Every speaker has areas that they are not their best; however, knowing that you can get through whatever happens, makes them a better communicator.   Years ago, I never thought I’d be standing in front of 100+ audience members to deliver a speech or workshop; many of them for 30+ minutes.    It took time for me to gain the confidence I needed to pursue speaking opportunities; however, I learned from feedback and pushed myself to enhance my skills.    As a long-time Mentor, my initial advice is to take baby steps to feel better about speaking...

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”    John Quincy Adams Leadership is about helping others achieve goals through guidance and sharing our experience. However, many people take leadership too far and turn it into chaos when they want to take over and not confer with their team. Great leaders motivate by inspiration; by being the 'cheerleader' of the team. They set a vision of how they believe a dream can be a reality. They also know their own strengths and weaknesses and look for team members to fill the gap of their knowledge and experience.  Enable others to act on what they have to share. When the team wins; the leader wins. A leader can be CEO of a company, the Executive Director of a non-profit organization OR can be the first-year employee in charge of changing procedures that have been in place for years. It is how you direct others in a positive way to get the job done. Rem...

How do you make YOUR presentation “memorable” for your audience? Every speaker has their own way of pulling a speech together and they tweak it when changes are needed. Over the years, through feedback and sharing of ideas, I’ve created my own template to organize my thoughts and plans. I’ve outlined below what has worked for me. I encourage you to use this outline then revise it to suit your own style and personality. There are basically three main parts to a speech: Opening, Body and Conclusion. OPENING •    Your first sentence (or first few sentences) should GRAB the attention of your audience so they WANT to stop what they are doing and listen to you. In Toastmasters, we call this an “attention getting” statement. •    Keep this opening statement short but powerful, memorize it (without skipping a beat) and say it confidently.  What is a powerful statement? 1. Open with a quote that fits your message (espe...

When was the last time you sat and did nothing and listened to the sound of silence? For the past several years, I have decided that when I cannot find enjoyable music on my car radio that soothes my mind, when the 100+ stations on my TV have nothing interesting -- I turn them off and listen to beautiful silence! By turning off these devices now and then, I am happier and content - rather than to just let them run in the background. This precious time has given me the opportunity to enjoy silence that helps to relax my mind. It's very liberating to take control of what I am listening to; if it's not enjoyable -- I turn it off.   When I was younger, I could not have imagined turning off my car radio; thinking that silence would be boring. That just enjoying quiet time was a sign of getting old. Not any more! I encourage you to turn off noise making devices now and then because you might find you like the sound of silence.  You might find, as I have, that s...

I had a great time presenting the topic, "Leadership Dynamics" to the San Jacinto Chapter of the ABWA (American Business Women Association) on January 10, 2017. I am pictured with Vivian Kearney, the Chapter Secretary. This Chapter chartered in 1960 and have several long-time members (a member just celebrated 45 years with the club!)