District 54 Annual Conference

In this session, you will learn about opportunities to further enhance your communication and leadership skills while working with a diverse group of people from across the District.  

This session will be a panel discussion of three of your esteemed past District Leaders led by Past Region 5 Advisor Phil Varona.  In this session, your past District Leaders will share their experiences and lessons learned while also offering advice to those looking to hold such leadership positions in the future.  

This promises to be a session where you will learn from your fellow leaders and be inspired to take the next step in developing your communication and leadership skills.

Elaine Lung will tell us how many speakers pass up opportunities to use impromptu speaking skills when they present, give feedback or facilitate.    

Pick up impromptu speaking strategies and techniques to use the next time you speak that can engage and entertain your audience. You can be a speaker your audience enjoys and remembers. You can also have more fun and enjoy being onstage.

So what is it about prison clubs that has caused them to survive and thrive through the years?  How did Toastmasters clubs get started in prisons?  Why are they often the best performing clubs in all of Toastmasters?  Why is the recidivism rate for inmates who have been involved in the Toastmasters program so low?  Is getting involved with a prison club dangerous?  Can I help without going into the prison itself?  

Jon Greiner, D54 Prison Club Manager will be joined by Tim Keck, Past International President, who has been involved with Toastmasters in prison clubs for many years.  Tim will share the genesis of Toastmasters clubs in prisons.  The above questions will then be addressed in an overview of prison club activity in Toastmasters and in District 54. 

If you have ever wondered about how Toastmasters clubs work in prisons, this would be a good session to attend.  We promise----you will not end up in prison unless you choose to help a prison club!  

The success of Toastmasters International for these past 98 years has been due to founder Ralph Smedley’s brilliant understanding of two elements: the vital role the club plays as a nurturing ground for members, and the key role played by leaders in fostering club success and club growth.

In this keynote, we will look at how clubs can tap the secrets for creating the type of atmosphere that leads members to want to return again and again to club meetings and how clubs and districts can nurture leaders who become passionate advocatess for empowering individuals to realize their communication and leadership potential. If membership building and retention is important to you, if finding new leaders who catch the passion for Toastmasters vision for all people is something you would like to embrace, then come listen, engage, and learn, because Together We Can! 

Thinking about getting your DTM?  Looking for alternate ways to meet the requirements for a DTM award?   Check out the new Club Coach Program for 2022-2023.  You can also learn about what’s new in Pathways and Speechcraft!  All these programs have or will soon undergo updates or significant changes.  We have assembled a panel of experts who have hands on experience with these programs.  They will each present a short synopsis of the changes and then entertain your questions.  Join us for a rapid fire look at what’s new in Toastmasters!

Pres Vasilev rose above 30,000 contestants from 122 countries to become the 2013 World Champion of Public Speaking. 

He is the author of the popular online training program “How to Master Compelling Storytelling.” 

For over a decade, Pres has studied, researched, and spoken on self-improvement, speaking and storytelling. 

Pres has coached hundreds of speakers from around the world to craft compelling stories, deliver powerful presentations, and win speech contests. 

Gain Free Access to Pres Vasilev’s “Speaking Secrets” at PresSays.com/3

Phil Varona has been a member of Toastmasters for over fifteen years.  In that time, Phil has become one of the most respected leaders in District 68, his home District.  It started at the club level where he worked his way from Sgt.-at-Arms to Club President of his home club of GSU Baton Rouge Toastmasters.  

During his year as President, Phil led GSU Toastmasters to President’s Distinguished with 10 out of 10 goals.  The next year, Phil started serving in District Leadership roles.  In his early years, Phil was tasked with developing a newly-realigned Division centered around the Baton Rouge area.  Phil would go on to work his way up the District Leadership ranks, eventually serving as 2014-2015 District 68 Governor.

Since then, Phil has regularly served as a trainer for District 68, as he has conducted both officer training sessions and stand-alone education sessions.  Phil had the privilege of presenting the education session “The Map to Effective Impromptu Speaking” at the 2019 District 68 Conference.  Phil has also been a supporter of club growth in his local area, having served as a new club mentor twice.  Most recently, Phil served as 2020-2021 Region 5 Advisor supporting District 54, among others.  

Professionally, Phil is a licensed Professional Engineer, working as a Chemical Engineer for BRIS Engineering, LLC in Baton Rouge, LA.

Who is Michael Davis?

When you hire a coach, trainer or speaker, do you want someone who has experience and expertise? Michael Davis’s work is focused on helping you attract more clients, create more efficient teams and increase your influence through more effective speaking, business storytelling and online presentations. He helps experienced speakers, entrepreneurs, and sales professionals confidently deliver memorable and meaningful talks of any length, even on short notice.  Learn more about Michael here.

Elaine Lung works with business professionals who want to show up and speak up confidently with the people around them at work and at home. She is a Certified World Class Speaking Coach, Distinguished Toastmaster, and co-founder of three Bay Area Toastmasters clubs dedicated to promote the use of storytelling or improv skills: the Silicon Valley Improvmasters, the Silicon Valley Storytellers and the San Mateo Storytellers.  Her website is ElaineLung.com 

Dilip R. Abayasekara, Ph.D., M.Div., DTM, AS was born and raised in Sri Lanka and completed his higher education in the USA. He has inspired thousands of people in the USA and in nine other countries as a keynote speaker, trainer, and coach. In 2005-2006 he served as International President of Toastmasters International. He earned Toastmaster’s highest recognition of professional level speaking skills, the Accredited Speaker designation, and was twice a finalist at Toastmasters’ World Championship of Public Speaking, placing second in 1992.   

Among his favorite Toastmasters experiences have been when, as club president, he and his fellow officers led their club to become the top club in their district by growing it from 8 members to 39 members and from not being distinguished to be President’s distinguished. That club has been a President’s Distinguished Club year after year, and has produced many district officers. Another one of his treasured memories is when, in his year as District Director (then Governor), he and his team led their district to achieve President’s Distinguished District status despite not achieving distinguished status the previous four years. However, more than awards, what Dilip treasures most is that these successes allowed more individuals than ever before to discover the transformational power of the Toastmasters program, and lived up to his presidential theme, Find Your Voice, Serve Your World.  

Dilip has had varied occupations spanning science, college administration, college teaching, training, coaching, and professional speaking. He is an elder in the United Methodist Church and is currently serving as a fulltime pastor. He enjoys mentoring aspiring speakers and leaders. He resides in Sunbury, Pennsylvania, USA with his wife. They have two adult children and two grandchildren. 

Past Toastmasters International President Jon Greiner joined Toastmasters International over 49 years ago in Decatur, Illinois.  He earned his Distinguished Toastmaster (DTM) award in 1989.    

Jon served in all Toastmasters Club and District Offices in the 1980’s.  In August 1991, he was elected International Director.  He was elected to the Executive Committee of Toastmasters International Board of Directors in August 2001 and served as President of Toastmasters International from August 2004 to August 2005.  

He is currently a member of 8 Toastmasters clubs in the Central Illinois area.  He is also serving as District 54 Prison Club Manager.  

Tim Keck, DTM and Past International President, has been a Toastmaster for 43 years. He joined Toastmasters in Germany in 1979 and has been a member in in Europe, Hawaii, and on the mainland US.  He is a member of six clubs, including his current home club, Bolling Toastmasters (3308-27).   

He became involved in prison clubs in the early 1990s, and was an active supporter of prison clubs in Hawaii and elsewhere since the mid-1990s.  He has worked with Past International President Jon Greiner for more than ten years to promote prison clubs and encourage their support throughout Toastmasters. 

A retired Air Force historian after more than 40 years’ service in the active duty military and as a civil servant, he now resides in the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia.