Toastmasters Declares Speakers for 2022 Convention

“We are excited to offer an illustrious and diverse group of speakers at this year’s International Convention,” says Matt Kinsey, Toastmasters’ International President-Elect. “Whether attending in-person in Nashville, or virtually, this year’s convention attendees will be treated to a wide variety of world-class presenters who will entertain and educate the audience throughout the convention.”

The main-stage presenters include Jim Cathcart, who will deliver the keynote presentation during the Opening Ceremonies on Wednesday, Aug. 17. Cathcart is a life-long professional speaker, author of 23 books, university professor, entrepreneur, and a leader in the field of success motivation and personal development. Beginning as an entry-level government clerk dreaming of a more meaningful life, he ultimately became friends and colleagues with the greats of his profession: Og Mandino, Zig Ziglar, Earl Nightingale, Jeanne Robertson, Patricia Fripp, Les Brown, Nido Qubein, and many more.

Cathcart is past president of the National Speakers Association and the 2001 recipient of Toastmasters’ Golden Gavel Award. He has spoken in 23 major cities in China, all 50 states in the United States, Canada, South America, Asia, Europe, and Australia. He was inducted into the Speaker Hall of Fame and the Sales & Marketing Hall of Fame.

Shirley Davis, PhD is the recipient of Toastmasters’ 2022 Golden Gavel Award. Davis is an award-winning global workforce expert with over 30 years of human resources and business experience, as the recipient of the organization’s 2022 Golden Gavel Award. Davis worked in a variety of senior executive roles for several Fortune 500 and Fortune 100 companies. As an international speaker, she has worked in more than 30 countries on five continents and delivers more than 100 speeches a year.

Davis is President and CEO of SDS Global Enterprises, a full-service firm that works with organizations around the world providing strategies and solutions for fostering high performing and inclusive workplace cultures.
Other education sessions:

• Engaging the Post-COVID Audience Through Real Human Connections: In this session, Damon Moon shares his experience engaging distracted college students through all stages of hybrid interaction. Learn how he was inspired by his Toastmasters experience to motivate his students to speak up during class and be engaged for both online and in-person classes.
  
  
• The Phenomenon of Impostor Syndrome and Mental Health: Are you struggling with impostor syndrome? Do you ever doubt your success? Have negative self-talk? Come up with excuses for your success? Feel your failures define you? You are not alone. This is classic impostor syndrome at work, explains Kevin Cokley, who invites you to join him and learn how to conquer it. You are deserving of your success, he emphasizes.
  
  
• Tongue Fu!: It’s ironic, isn’t it? We’re taught math, science, and history, but we’re not taught how to deal with people who are being unfair or unkind. The good news is, you can learn how to keep your cool—even when other people aren’t—and respond diplomatically in sensitive situations, relays Sam Horn in this session. 
  
  
• The Three C’s for Managing Unconscious Bias: Presented/streamed live from the stage at the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center, Dima Ghawi delves into the intricacies of unconscious bias, uncovering the root of predispositions and sharing methods for managing unseen prejudices. The dialogue focuses on three essential messages related to Curiosity, Courageousness, and Commitment.
  
  
• Speechwriters Panel: Join Toastmasters International’s esteemed panel of World Champions of Public Speaking as they discuss their speechwriting process and the importance of their craft. Led by the founder of the European Speechwriter Network, Brian Jenner, this session will help you understand the important elements of what makes a speech stand out and how to tell your story more effectively.
  
  
• Opportunities in the Great Resignation: In this session, Toastmasters Past International Director Susan Zhou will discuss how The Great Resignation relates to leadership development and organization strategy, as well as how to develop individuals and organizations to reach their potential during these changing times.
  
  
• Mic Drop: How Storytelling Can Take Your Business and Career to New Heights in a Hybrid World: Who doesn’t love a good story? This session will add awareness to the importance of storytelling in all aspects of life, but especially business and career. Learn from dynamic motivational speaker Kazim Abbot, who engages his audiences, including hybrid ones, with vivid, powerful, and thought-provoking stories.
  
  
• Embrace Your Culture, Fast–Track Your Career: In this session, learn and get inspired from the story and real-life example of an Indian girl from a middle-class family who became a “circuit breaker,” defining the new normal for her community by embracing her culture and fast-tracking her career.
  
  
• Your Story: Made to Order: Learn what it takes to build structure and skills when telling a story. In this session, Caren S. Neile, PhD, will explain the philosophy of storytelling and give you proven tips on how to build and share your story.
  
  
• The Internal Combustion Engine of Leadership: Approximately 35,000 times throughout the day, we’re making decisions. In this session, Mo Barrett will explain how to dissect the important ones and learn to make them more effective, intentional, and powerful. The idea is to slow down now so we can speed up later.
  
  
• Situational Leadership: Meeting Your Teammates Where They Are: Leading diverse teams and personalities in today’s changing work environments is both a challenge and a constant. Situational Leadership—identifying the readiness of your teammates and adjusting your leadership style accordingly—can make a difference. In this session, you will learn the six leadership styles that create the greatest impact, along with how and when to use them.
  
  
• The Impact of Inclusive Leadership: Inclusive leadership encourages diversity and is proven to make teams more successful. A leader practicing inclusivity reaches and responds to a larger team and ensures that teams are heard, respected, valued, and retained. In this session, you will learn the importance of being an inclusive leader and how it can positively impact the team experience.
  
  
• Up Your Storytelling Game: Have you ever wanted to be more confident when communicating in the moment? You can—with short-form storytelling, embedded in improvisational practices. Join Kymberlee Weil, short-form storyteller, as she walks you through the key components of this skill and provides you with applicable tools.
  
  
• Aim Higher, Do More, and Become More—Through Mentorship: In this session, Dr. Stanley Mwenda Aruyaru will explain the origin of mentorship, highlight mentorship as it relates to surgery, and the aspirations of mentees looking up to mentors—this is the “Aim Higher” portion of his talk. He will then relay his personal mentorship experience, the ABCD’s of mentorship, and the benefits of mentorship in a professional career.
  
  
• Is Leadership For You?: This panel discussion provides personal accounts of lessons learned through leadership. The moderator and panelists, who served as leaders within and outside of Toastmasters, share what being a leader has taught them. Be inspired by their stories as they reflect on successes, shortcomings, and the pivotal moments that provided personal growth.
  
  
• Including Disabilities in the Inclusion and Diversity Conversation: Join Lesa Bradshaw as she gives insight and ideas from a personal and professional viewpoint on how to include disabilities in the diversity, equity, and inclusion conversation. This session approaches diversity training from a unique perspective, using disability as a form of diversity to showcase how common stereotypes, unconscious bias, and beliefs around all different forms of diversity impact our behaviors and judgments in life and in social settings

To learn more about Toastmasters’ 2022 International Convention, Aug. 17-20, and obtain a complete schedule of events, including the Opening Ceremonies, Education Sessions, and the World Championship of Public Speaking®, visit www.toastmasters.org/Convention.  The International Convention will be a hybrid event and the public is invited to attend in person or online.