SPEAKER_01 0:12

Hi, my name is Brisbane Sullivan, a Toastmaster from Brisbane Australia. Welcome to my Toastmasters World Sover podcast. Please join me as I travel virtually around the world and chat to Toastmasters from different countries and all over the life. Let's explore! For this episode of Toastmasters World Tour, we travel virtually to the land of the rising sun, to Kobe, Japan, the port city famous for Kobe beef, on some hot springs, and sake brewing, to chat to CJ Marks, an American expert living in Japan who is a TEDx keynote speaker and TEDx trainer. Listen in to find out how he used Toastmasters as a foundation to progress to TEDx success. Welcome, CJ. Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_02 1:26

This man came in speaking Japanese. Wow, that's really impressive, Brendan. Well, I am CJ Marks, originally from San Diego, California. And if the introduction didn't let you know, I'm indeed currently living in the land of the rising sun, Japan.

SPEAKER_01 1:45

Awesome. Can I ask you what does CJ stand for?

SPEAKER_02 1:49

Oh man, that's that's that's classified information. I don't care about C C C C is the first letter of my first name, and J is the first letter of my middle name. And trust me when I tell you, CJ is considerably cooler than my full first and middle name. So let's let's just leave it at CJ.

SPEAKER_00 2:10

No, you're reminding me of Top Gun, the line where I can tell you, but then I'd have to shoot you.

SPEAKER_02 2:16

Oh, yeah, but we're not gonna be doing that because we're trying to make friends, Brennan. So there'll be no shooting taking place this podcast, other than footage of the risky a question.

SPEAKER_01 2:26

You're good, you're good, you're good. So can you tell me when did you join Toastmasters and what was your first club?

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Yeah, man. Well, I first joined Toastmasters in 2017, and I was introduced by um at the time he was a co-worker, colleague, great man by the name of Hideo Tema, right? Uh out in Osaka. And the first club I actually joined was, in fact, Osaka Toastmasters club with a long celebrated history. Yeah, so Osaka Toastmasters club was my first Toastmasters Club, and I was introduced by the legendary Hideo Tema.

SPEAKER_01 3:03

And why did you want to join?

SPEAKER_02 3:06

You know, I joined Toastmasters for two primary reasons, and it's quite ironic being from California, and you know, depending on who you ask, they'll tell you, well, the truth that Toastmasters started in California, right? Back in 1924. Sure. I mean, there are technicalities, some folks could tell you something else, but it actually started proper in California. So it's quite ironic that I'm from California and it took coming to Japan to join Toastmasters. I truth be told, Brendan, I'd never heard of Toastmasters prior to uh meeting um Hideo Tema. And I joined Toastmasters for two, maybe three primary reasons. The first was at the time, I genuinely enjoy just helping people. I I still do enjoy helping people just improve themselves, right? That was that was one reason. Second reason was for what I thought would be business contacts. Uh I was doing some work at the time that I thought, okay, being around people that want to actually become more prominent, accomplished, polished speakers would be uh good for business. And the third reason was for my own self-interest beyond beyond helping people and looking for business contacts. Like so many folks say it was my dream, or I wanted to do a TED talk someday, a TEDx talk. And I figured that Toastmasters would be a pretty good place to learn the skills that would eventually lead me to my goal of becoming a TEDx speaker one day. So these are my three reasons for why I initially joined Toastmasters to help people for some business connects and to polish my skills and hopefully eventually get on a TEDx stage one day.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

Well, I don't think I've heard that before, CJ, of someone who joins Toastmasters and already has that end goal of being a TEDx speaker. That's that's amazing that you had that already had that vision at that early point.

SPEAKER_02 4:53

Yeah, man. I mean, you hear a lot of folks who say this, right? Like I want to be a TEDx speaker someday, or to say, you know, TED speaker. And I knew that I had raw talent and ability. Yeah, there's so much more required to taking a dream to an actual goal. There's a difference between the two. A dream is really amorphous, really ambiguous, where I think goals are more defined. And I at the time I thought that okay, Toastmasters would give me a good blueprint or the skills or be a map to get me to the tech stage. I now know the two are apples and oranges. They may be public speaking to a certain extent, but they're not necessarily the same. But at the time, I thought that okay, Toastmasters would be a good way to help me get to the TEDx stage. And in some regard, I was actually in many regards, I was not too far off the mark. Because there's no doubt, no question, I would not have been able to accomplish some of the things I accomplished within the realm of TEDx stages and what have you without my Toastmasters foundation. Absolutely, I would not have been able to do what I've done without Toastmasters.

SPEAKER_01 6:01

That's a very interesting comment you made about them being apples and oranges. So I'm interested in exploring that a little bit further. In what way did it help? And in what way was it so different?

SPEAKER_02 6:12

Yeah, well, I mean, both can apples and oranges are both fruits. So Toastmasters is public speaking, and when you're doing a TEDx talk or in that realm, it is public speaking. So the way it helped, in terms of actually being able to craft a story and and to structure a talk, truth be told, man, Toastmasters is really good at that. See, the way I look at it, Brian, Toastmasters really is about storytelling. Be it pathways or or or the legacy program. And if we look at how especially the speech contest, right? Let's take the speech contest. It's two things, man. It's performing and storytelling. At least that that's that's what it's become in my assessment. So in Toastmasters, you really learn how to structure a story, how to become a better storyteller. And also, you learn just how to prepare a talk, you know, a speech or what have you. So I really need to learn these the technical nuances if I see giving a proper prepared talk. Also, with the the practicing, the discipline, these skills you learn set you up to be a just better speaker in any regard, right? Be it TEDx, uh a keynote speaker, graduation. A lot of folks join Toastmasters, obviously, because they're trying to prepare for something, you know, trying to get over something. Um, speaking. So anyway, uh no doubt, no question. The the structure, the discipline, the foundation, understanding how to structure a talk, that was really important for me learning how to become what I became, uh a TEDx presentation coach and what have you. The difference is all right. Well, Toastmasters itself, it doesn't really market itself as a public speaking entity. I think that's what it is. It markets itself as a place where leaders are made. Um so I've come across the fact that I think a number of Toastmasters it's not really about in the conflict, what I just said, it's not ultimately about public speaking, right? People join Toastmasters for different reasons, different purposes. Um and even like with the speech contests, sometimes people are telling a story, but the actual message, this is simply my opinion. I think the message isn't always as clear as it could be. Whereas if you take the stage to do a TEDx talk, it it's fundamentally about your idea.

SPEAKER_00 8:42

Okay.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

Uh the old tag used to being, you know, ideas were spreading. Now it's ideas change everything. But if your idea, if your message isn't really, really clear before you take that TEDx stage, you're not gonna get it. Right. Um and again, part of part of what part of what I do is actually train coach speakers that are going to be giving TEDx talks to to make their overall stage presence better, right? Or I think sometimes in Toastmasters, at least what it's become, I think the the stage presence and and and the antics and what have you, sometimes that comes at the expense of the message. That's what I've seen.

SPEAKER_01 9:21

Yeah, I see that, and I think I'm guilty of that myself, you know. I might have something that I think is a humorous story to share, and then the message is kind of an afterthought almost.

SPEAKER_02 9:29

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 9:30

And I sense that in others sometimes, particularly in humorous speeches. I hear where you're coming from. Let me go back a step. What made you go to Japan in the first place from California?

SPEAKER_02 9:42

Good question, yeah. Well, let's just take it back, man. Well, concise, concise, concise answer to that question. I came to Japan for two primary reasons, Brendan. The first was to learn about the Japanese school system, right? Because when I was going to a university in California, uh initially I was going to be a lawyer and I was seduced by education, right? Uh-huh. Of course, there's a significant trade-off financially between what I could have done as a lawyer and becoming a teacher. Um, at the time, the university I was attending, and just the public school system, actually, not public school, but like the schools in general were really trending towards charter schools. A number of the schools were looking at Japan, believe it or not, because Japan was testing very well, right? Like the scores went higher. So a lot of my instructors were talking about the merits about Japan, Bali who in Japan, Japan, Japan. I'm like, okay, well, who actually has actually been to Japan? So I actually moved to Japan specifically to learn about the Japanese school system. And I actually have taught every level of the Japanese school system like from from from preschool all the way through university. I'm still currently at a university where I teach. I've taught Juku, which is a cram school. So I have learned everything I wanted to, and then some about the Japanese school system. That was my primary reason. And the second reason was to do some informal research about the significance of hip-hop culture in Japan. Because I was curious. Yeah, I was seeing a lot of uh there was a lot of just East Asian, really ambiguous amorphous, East Asian, but specifically Japan influence in uh or not strong, but it was making its way into some of the hip-hop I was listening to at the time. Still am. And also I was just fascinated by the fact that the culture, hip-hop culture have been embraced by Japan. So I I wanted to find out what. So, yeah, these two things to learn about the Japanese school system and the significance of hip hop culture in Japan. That's what brought me out here so many years ago. And I paralleled my experiences and what have you into now. I'm happily married, have a we have a beautiful daughter in Japan. It's been very, very good to me. Very good to me.

SPEAKER_01 11:57

That's awesome. I'd love to hear more about the significance of hip hop culture in Japan.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

Oh man, that's uh yeah, that's that's a holiday for the interview. Um, I mean, I'm not gonna go into like a full you know thesis about what I've learned, but just well, at the time, you know, we're talking about you know, late 90s, early 2000s. I was just intrigued by the fact that you know there are people in another country that are just really into hip hop.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 12:22

For for those who can't see me or who haven't seen the thumbnail, I am a relatively handsome black male from America. So the fact that I yeah, thank you, sir. I I remember the uh initial origins of hip hop, right? Coming up, you know, actually seeing it, seeing it flourish and what what it what it became in the US, and seeing seeing hip hop make its way from New York, uh from east to the west, right? Being from California, seeing it take off, and like the fact that I was seeing images and photos and videos of people in Japan, you know, like what's what's people are really in in into black culture like that? Wow, you know, seeing some folks getting their hair braided. So I was just intrigued by that. Like the fact that there are people outside of my general vicinity, my neighborhood, my area, uh in a completely different part of the world who are into the same things I'm into. So um yeah, and and then well, so the Kassai's answer like why? Because it's just fun. That just the whole aspect of hip hop culture, it's just fun. Now, obviously, it's not just Japan, it's all over the world. But again, to answer your question, that was the second thing which really pulled me to Japan, uh hip-hop culture. The first being studying the Japanese school system.

SPEAKER_01 13:38

That's awesome. And what have you learned about the Japanese school system that's different from the American system?

SPEAKER_02 13:45

Wow, uh again, that's that's a whole different podcast. Well, concise answer. Um well, let me ask you this, and just all all of our listeners and viewers, if I were to ask people like why do you go to school? Okay, the simple answer is to learn things. But obviously, you don't need to go to school to learn what you think you're learning in school, you know, how to read, write, mathematics, these things can be learned outside of school, right? In my assessment, the primary role of school is to teach you the rules of society and how to exist where you're gonna be living. So, concise answer is the Japanese school system for the most part teaches people how to live in Japan, as is the case with the Australian school system. You know, same thing in Ireland, China, anywhere else. The American school system, for the most part, would teach people how to the skills and what the social skills and what have you to live in America. So, concisely speaking, I think the Japanese school system, like I'm sure the Japanese school system is definitely more teacher-centered than the US school system. The US system is more student-centered, and also conformity is definitely a call or conformity is a significantly more important thing in Japan and say the US. Whereas in the US, people's individuality is is is more cherished. And I'm not saying better, better or worse, right or wrong. I'm just saying it's different. So the Japanese school system really teaches people to conform more so than the US school system would. And the actual way of teaching is really one person talking at the students, and there's not as much. And I think things have changed the time I've been. I've been over 20 years, so things have definitely changed, but concise answers, yeah, Japanese school system is a lot more about conformity and teacher-centered, whereas in the US it's more about individualism and studency.

SPEAKER_01 15:40

From what I can gather, in the US, there's a very strong emphasis on critical thinking, whereas maybe less so in some of the East Asian countries. Would you agree with that?

SPEAKER_02 15:50

I would absolutely agree with that, definitely. And of course, we're speaking in general, so general general terms. Of course, to an individual, of course, you know, but yeah, in terms of a system, absolutely. Uh critical thought, and again, individuality, you know. So I'll give give you a really uh clear story. This is this is taking it back when I first came to Japan, right? Many years ago, and I'm teaching a class, team teaching, because I started out as an assistant language teacher, teaching a class with my Japanese uh team teacher, and I remember asking a student, hey, what do you think? Right, and this poor this poor girl looked like a deer in headlights. She was pointing, point it, point at her, pointing at her nose as like me? I'm like, yeah, what do you think? And she and she turned to to to ask her people, oh no, no, no, no, no, no. I'm not I'm not asking, I'm asking you, what do you think? And it wasn't just her, but the class, the everybody in the class, teacher included, was like, no, CG, you kind of like you don't ask that kind of question. Like, what do you like? You don't call someone out and get their opinion. It it it you're supposed to ask the for a consensus or like allow them to discuss it in a group first, then give an answer. And that was one of the uh one of my early wake wake ups to like, oh well, okay, things they think things are different here, right?

SPEAKER_01 17:16

A very telling response.

SPEAKER_02 17:18

Yes, yeah, like okay, individual responses cannot come at the expense of the collective, right? And I think that in a nutshell, that would sum up the school system of Japan and businesses as well, and corporations in Japan. It it takes a while to get to get decision to get decisions and and answers in Japan considerably longer than a way than many other countries.

SPEAKER_01 17:42

I see. Can I ask, what are you teaching now?

SPEAKER_02 17:46

Oh wow, uh again, I still am at a university and actual so concisely I teach uh obviously presentation skills. Uh and I also teach I actually teach a class called uh American I teach like an American history class, which is which is fascinating, teaching an American American history class to first year Japanese universities teams. But that that's interesting. So I teach culture classes and presentation skills and business classes, which is a very ambiguous answer, but just business classes. That's what I teach. So I've come oh I enjoyed profusely, yes, yes. Uh I I'm never gonna not be a teacher, goodness, just regardless of whatever else I may get myself into and what my professional ambitions are. I I still do love teaching, it brings me joy. And again, part of one of the reasons I joined Toastmasters was to be able to help people and what have you. So yeah, I still do teach and I love it.

SPEAKER_01 18:44

That's awesome. So it's interesting you came from California where Toastmasters originated, but your first club was Japanese. Have you joined an American club since?

SPEAKER_02 18:54

You know, I actually I I was a member, still am technically speaking, a member of uh of an online club, an amazing club. Uh well, two one was uh Smetley Chapter One. Smetley Chapter One is the first Toastmaster Club, as in club number one. And it was an online club. This is coming you know out of the whole during the time of the whole COVID situation, as I'm pretty sure most of our listeners and viewers would know. A lot of things changed during COVID. I was putting it lightly. And uh Toastmasters are a lot a lot more subject to put online. So I joined this club online and it eventually branched off into a different club called Smetley Chapter One Advanced SCOA. So yeah, I was uh still am a member of that club, an online club. Amazing Toastmasters from all over the world. I mean, it's it's it's a smorgasmorgue of riches of who's who Toastmasters. So I see really different experience in what Japan clubs offered.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

The Japan clubs that you're a member of face to face?

SPEAKER_02 20:05

Uh yes. I mean, and it's yes, uh, and of course, you know, during the whole COVID. So I mean I joined these I joined these clubs, online clubs, during the whole COVID situation. And as again, it it it it allowed people to interact like as we're doing now, um with different people from different parts of the world, right? And that I think that's that's been one of the for lack of a better way to put it, one of the the good legacies of what came out of the whole COVID experience, you know, more online interaction. Uh but prior to that, yeah, all I mean most clubs, most Toastmaster clubs in the world were face-to-face, right? Uh again, I I joined in 2017, 17, 18, early part of 2019, everything was face-to-face. Since then, yeah, there were a number of hybrid clubs, what have you. But yeah, uh all of my Toastmaster experience prior to 2019, the two years prior to 2019, were face-to-face clubs in Japan. And that was a whole different experience. Like when I when I was able to interact with Toastmasters online in other parts of the world, I'm like, wow, this is completely different than what I was used to. Wow, people are talking about things that I just hadn't really thought people could talk about in Toastmasters.

SPEAKER_03 21:23

Right.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

This is mind-boggling, breathtaking. So it really opened my eyes to what Toastmastering could be on a global perspective.

SPEAKER_01 21:34

So, CJ, given that you've been a member of both Japanese clubs and clubs in California and America, aside from the differences between face to face and online clubs, are there any other differences you've noticed between the Japanese clubs and the American slash global club?

SPEAKER_02 21:52

Absolutely, absolutely. Well, I would say well, if we look at Toastmasters, right? Why people join Toastmasters, of course they're Different reasons why people would decide to join. That being said, that being true, I will look at two, possibly three, uh primary reasons you're here. You hear these two or three reasons by for many people why we join TopSpecs, the first obviously being let's say to get over our fear of public speaking, glossophobia. So people want to become just more confident and capable of speaking. That may be one, like because they have a fear of public speaking. Right. Two, some people may want to take things to a different level. Like as I said earlier, I wanted to, you know, become a technical speaker someday. I thought this would be a good way to not just get over fear of public speaking, but to brush up. There's a difference between getting over a fear of something and improving, right? And I think the third reason that often gets overlooked, at least I hadn't really thought of it, is the linguistic component. A number of people actually join Toastmasters clubs because they're working on a second or third or fourth language, yeah, in order to actually improve the overall proficiency, competency, and confidence in that second, third, or fourth language, they join Toastmasters, right? So one of the biggest differences between Japanese clubs in Japan and what I experienced uh online, mind you, or even in person when I visited uh other clubs, is I think I'm sure a significant number of the individuals that are English speaking clubs in Japan, a significant number of the members are doing it because they want to brush up their English. And that's completely understandable. I mean, definitely not casting inspirations. There are Japanese clubs in Japan for uh people who are uh not native Japanese speakers to to brush up their Japanese. And again, it's it that's a big a lot of folks would be surprised to to learn this, but that's a big part of why people join Toastmasters. So concisely, a number of the people in the clubs in Japan are second, third English learners, language learners. That was not necessarily the case for me in English speaking clubs. So that yeah, that by far is the biggest difference in terms of overall quality of just so for example, like oftentimes when I give a a table topics, right, even a prepared speech, afterwards I get the quote unquote company, oh your English is so smooth. I'm like, Well, I hope it's smooth. I I I I would hope it's I'm from California. Like I'm a native English. I that that's the best you could do in terms of feedback. Come on, I need more than that. So if you know your English is smooth, for many people that is a legitimate compliment. But for me, I was like, yeah, I'm gonna need more than that. Um, and you know, your English is smooth, isn't something that these I would hear a lot of outside of the clubs in Japan. Um, so that that's definitely one big reason. Again, a bit of a long-winded answer to your question, um, Grendon. I think for a number of the speakers, Toastmasters in Japan, the primary reason for joining is to brush up their linguistic skills. Whereas um some of my experiences outside Japan, even if a person wasn't a first, even if that particular language, in this case English, wasn't a native language, that wasn't the that was the predominant reason for them being a member of Toastmasters and like your English is really good. It's something I only tended to hear when I was um attending clubs and attending meetings in Japan. And also content, like uh I mentioned earlier, like I was surprised I my mind was blown about some of the topics that people address. Again, keep in mind the majority of Toastmaster members in Japan are Japanese, and generally speaking, and not looking at it to stereotype, but generally speaking, obviously your average Japanese citizen is relatively conservative in what she or he speaks about regardless of Toastmasters' affiliation. So certain topics just weren't gonna get, you know, people weren't weren't talking about certain things. I think in general, Toastmasters could do more to talk about some of the things that keep us apart, you know, politics, sexual discrimination, with racism. I think these things could and should be talked about more toastmasters as a whole. Um, but in Japan, like these things are really, really just not not gonna get explored. Uh every now and then, yes, yes, but every now and then, uh actually more than every now and then outside of Japan, I I I would hear topics like, oh, all right, cool. So you actually can talk about things other than uh struggling with language or or things that that you know I wasn't always willing, I didn't always want to hear about. So yeah, uh those are two biggest things, uh focus of linguistic emphasis and then content of the talks themselves.

SPEAKER_01 27:07

Sure. I think it is a common misconception that Toastmasters can't talk about sex or religion or those sort of potentially controversial topics. But my understanding is that you can actually talk about them as long as it's done in a sensitive and non-offensive way.

SPEAKER_02 27:22

Yeah, yeah. I mean, I I you know some people that have really been uh I mean, I I've really been a lot from uh Paul Malong's an amazing Toastmaster in Japan. He was the first person I ever talked about sexuality. I was like, wow, okay. So he opened my eyes, okay, you could actually talk about these things. And um then Linda Linda Marie Miller, uh, amazing Toastmaster. She actually was the uh, I want to say 2020, maybe 2021, first runner-up, uh, second place in the international speech contest, and she gave an amazing talk. Uh again, Linda Marie Miller, if you know who she is, look her up. Uh so yeah, and I just remind, okay, you can talk about these things, race-related issues, you can talk about sexuality, even politics. Again, it's similar to TEDx stages, though it's not really encouraged. Actually, it's discouraged. But as long as you just as you as you said, as long as it's done tastefully, tactfully, they can be talked about. And I think they should be talked about more often speaking. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:17

Give me a few motivations. You you mentioned what they were for yourself, you know, you had an end goal of TEDx talking. But you also then said for other people it can be linguistic. And here you are in Japan. Have you tried to have you visited or joined any Japanese-speaking Toastmasters clubs?

SPEAKER_02 28:34

I visited, but truth be told, I haven't I haven't aggressively attacked my Japanese ladies like I should. So a concise answer to that question is no, I have not. Most of my Toastmastering, actually, all of my Toastmastering to any significant degree in Japan has been in the English language.

SPEAKER_01 28:51

Fair enough. Getting onto something else, what do you think of the recent changes to the Pathways program?

SPEAKER_02 28:58

Honestly, man, I haven't even really been immersed in pathways to to give the most enlightened or educated answer to that. So, I mean, honestly, just from the transition from the legacy program to put pathways, I okay, so going back to when I first joined Toastmasters 2017, right? I had a really I was blessed to have an amazing first year. Meaning within the first within the first nine, ten, ten, ten to eleven months, I had managed the district stage of the um uh speech contest, right? And I had a really good day. I actually won a trophy, right? Now I say that to say that's not a common thing to do that like in the first year, right? And I don't believe I would have been able to do that with the Pathways program. Like, I'm sure I wouldn't know. It's the way it's structured, it's just in my honesty, a lot of the speeches are like the same stuff. It's just like on this path, it's so because honestly, I I the legacy program I think offered a lot more room for creativity to to actually get into the art of public speaking. Where I think the path is from my honest perspective, the pathways program definitely more for I'm gonna say rudimentary or like true beginners, if that makes any sense. People who are just getting into public speaking, who need more structure. So I think the changes to pathways are really good for people who need a lot more structure and are really new. But if it's a bit more capable, confident, I think uh the pathways seem to be very, very limiting, very, very constricting and binding.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

Oh interesting. So it's sort of been dumbed down a little bit. It wasn't just the IT change because I know there was a bit of opposition to to the sort of transition.

SPEAKER_02 30:52

I think so. I mean, for my again, again, uh I want to be very clear. I haven't really logged on to the pathways and been involved in that quite some time. But just overall pathways, yeah, there's been more than one change since it was first introduced. And yeah, it's it's definitely, you know, um, yeah, I would say it's definitely more for brutal mysteries. Because I think a lot of the blowback you get is from more experienced Toastmasters, um, like new Toastmasters, I guess, cool, yeah. All right, pathways, whatever. But people who've been involved for for a while, it's like, yo, this is okay, I don't do this, I don't need to do this. Now, if you're about collecting badges, if you're about collecting paths, and that helps you to find yourself and your merit as a speaker, well then, yeah, in that regard, cool, yeah. Yeah, path away, explore away, have fun. Have fun.

SPEAKER_01 31:41

Cool. So just getting back to your ultimate goal then, you know, you've done all this Toastmasters, and then at some point you you decide that you're ready to take on a TEDx talk. How long does that take you from when you're to transition? And what was that transition like?

SPEAKER_02 31:55

Oh wow, so join Toastmasters 2017, making to the district stage. Uh so joined Toastmasters 2017 was April, I believe it was April 2017, district stage 2018, May. And the actual the actual day of the district contest was uh a TEDx audition. And I remember very clearly because I obviously couldn't do both at the same time. Did the Toastmasters gig things worked out pretty cool, so I will later um approach the TEDx. Like, look, I know I missed the audition, I wasn't able to make it because I was competing in Toastmasters, becoming one of the best speakers in Japan. Like that's how I pitched. Like I like I I won a trophy. Because you know, most people outside of Toastmasters don't understand like district this or area that. Tell people, yeah, I I I I I I placed third, like I placed third in the District 76 Toastmasters speech content. No, no one knows that means. Like, oh, in District 76, what was that? Like Hunger Games? Like, what no one knows that? It's like, so I'm like, look, I'm the third best speaker in Japan, according toast according according to Toastmasters, which has been around for almost 100 years, right? So yeah, I couldn't make it to your audition because I was becoming, you know, so I I prom promoted myself pretty well. So I was able to get the gig. And this is this is uh September, October of 2018. So to answer your question, from joining Toastmasters in April 2017 to getting a TEDx spot, September, October 2018, that's the time it took. And Toastmasters imbued me with the confidence to be able to do that. I mean, I I would not have been able to do that without the confidence and the achievement of what I did at the district speech contest. So at the at the actual Toastmasters, excuse me, I mean TEDx stuff, the actual rehearsals, I'm like looking around, like, look, wow, goodness, like you people really don't know much about public speaking, do you? Like, okay, you you want to be TEDx speakers, but you don't really know the first thing about how to go about this.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 34:03

They went very good at public speaking. Just because you have a good idea, see this thing. Uh TEDx is about ideas, yeah. It doesn't necessarily mean you can communicate these ideas clearly. Yeah, exactly. So that's what I saw the angle, like, ah, okay. All right, let's say I do a TEDx talk. How good, how many TEDx talks talks is a person good for? Let's say two, three, unless you're some kind of illuminary and whatever you do, you may be able to get four or five, but you're not gonna make a career out of being a professional TEDx speaker. It's asinine. But I saw the angle for okay, if I actually want to become a coach for different TEDx teams, uh, I could help people and also meet people, like meet a lot more people, that would be the business opportunity I want. And I and I I was right about that. I was I was right about that. Like the people I was at I've been able to meet and coach and help them get TEDx stage ready. Man, that's led to so many opportunities. I I recently co-authored the book, uh The Life IPO. And that that came through my TEDx connection, right? Uh be so I I've learned so many things um from well initially just my involvement in Toastmasters, which which led me to become a TEDx, not just speaker, but presentation coach. Yeah, it's it's it's been it's been really cool.

SPEAKER_01 35:24

Can you tell me a bit more about your book, The Life IPO?

SPEAKER_02 35:27

Yeah, life IPO book I co-authored with uh Sam Simani, and it's it's really cool. It's uh I'm one of one of um one of five uh people who uh contribute to the book. And the the chapters I did are getting over gloss getting a grip on glossophobia, like helping people become more confident and capable speakers. And I also do a a book on I'm sorry, a chapter on confidence. And the book is it's called the Life IBO because it's about helping you take things to the next level. All right. I mean, people may have a skill set. I mean, a clear example. Okay, you may have a you may think you're a halfway decent public speaker, or you may think maybe you're halfway good with money or numbers. How can you take this to commodify it to something that you can actually become professional at? Because that's how companies work, you know. Maybe they anyway. I wouldn't get too much into it. Yeah, the Life IPO is uh is a book. Hopefully, it's gonna help people see the value in themselves and help them take that value and take things to the next level.

SPEAKER_01 36:33

And where can you get the book?

SPEAKER_02 36:36

Amazon, yeah, all over the world. I mean, I mean, obviously, I'm in Japan, so Amazon, Japan, if you're in Japan, Amazon Australia, if you're in Australia, uh Amazon, yeah. No, we've been very fortunate. It's been about a month, and the book's giving really good numbers. No number of best-selling lists on Amazon throughout the world. Is that right? That's awesome. That's that's that's really a gratifying, grateful, humbling experience. You know, life IPO. Check it out.

SPEAKER_01 37:01

Is it being translated into Japanese at all?

SPEAKER_02 37:03

It has as of now, it's only it's exclusively available in English. It is not available in Japanese as of now.

SPEAKER_01 37:09

Any plans to translate it?

SPEAKER_02 37:12

Nah. Fair enough. Okay. Nah. We don't leave it in English. Uh there may be some possible, uh maybe like an audiobook down the line, but I get it. I'm I'm the only author who lives in Japan. Uh, everyone else is is to different parts of the world. So that'd be a significant undertaking to translate into all of our local local linguistic tongues.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

Okay. What was your first TEDx talk about?

SPEAKER_02 37:42

I've only done one uh thus far, and uh bless everybody's heart. We were all learning. I was the I was the first TEDx speaker at their first TEDx event, and it was a university event. So I say that to say, should you have the courage to look it up on YouTube, which I do not encourage because I've tried to bury it. Um the the lighting and the audio, the lighting and and and the audio were atrocious. Uh I was like, yo, man, I can't use this to keep in mind this is back when I'm you know, still trying to build my career as a speaker, so I'm like, yo, man, this is a terrible 10x talk. Actually, the talk itself is not bad, but the actual um quality of the talk. Um like yeah, it's a terrible. But anyway, what I'm talking about is concise versions, um exploration, and that that was about exploration, and how children uh don't really have fear when it comes to exploring and how by exploring things is how we grow, how we become better. So yeah, the actual talk, the actual title of talk is uh L I F E L I F E Living is Forever Exploring Uh Life. L I F E Living is Forever Exploring. I love that. Yeah, another bad talk. Halfway decent. Yeah, check it out if you want to. Again, please don't hold me accountable for the for the lighting and audio.

SPEAKER_01 39:10

Um, but that's just a tech issue, but the message is what's important, isn't it? And uh really I've got to say that now because that's that's almost my main track.

SPEAKER_02 39:22

There we go. So yeah, but it was it was a great experience. I learned a lot and um yeah, great experience.

SPEAKER_01 39:28

Can I share the link to the if I can we get a link to the uh to share on the podcast notes?

SPEAKER_02 39:33

How about if I give you a link to the book and people can look at the book instead?

SPEAKER_00 39:39

I'll get to track it down.

SPEAKER_02 39:41

I'll I'll give you a link to the book I originally wrote. Maybe I'll I'll shoot you a link to the the actual TEDx talk as well. But I mean, because that experience, uh Brunning again, I man, I actually uh I lost count of how many TEDx events I've been involved in, man. I mean, uh yeah, I I've I've done a lot and uh that for your your first is always going to be an intimate experience, you know, even with uh the things that may not go so well, but overall it has been uh it it has been and it continues to be an amazing ride. I actually have a TEDx as we record this, it's it's Tuesday, and I have a TEDx event that I'm attending this Saturday, and actually it's upcoming Saturday. So I mean it's I'll learn I I've learned and continue to learn quite a bit from the whole the whole journey of coaching, training, public speaking, teaching. It's been a beautiful ride.

SPEAKER_01 40:36

And is that there in uh Japan in Osaka?

SPEAKER_02 40:39

Yeah, this yeah, this uh this this this next TEDx event, the Saturday one, actually is in it's in Tokyo.

SPEAKER_01 40:45

Yeah, okay, okay. Okay. And so you've coached a number of TEDx speakers. Do you have some favorite speeches there that we could have a look at?

SPEAKER_02 40:56

I do. We may have to talk about that off camera because I don't want to hurt anybody's feelings. But I I I do have some, you know, a lot of I am blessed. I I mean, of course, your favorites. That being said, it's really cool doing what I do. Again, if we just talk about the TEDx coaching, I mean, even outside of TEDx, I I come across some pretty amazing people, but uh like to be accepted for a TEDx talk, you have to have a pretty good idea. Again, part of my job is helping you get it stage ready, but man, I I've come across like I'm enlightened. I'm enlightened, like yo, just hang out with these people. And so that that that's where I saw the business opportunity. And I've been very fortunate to to act in that because you know, okay, so you come across like a CEO or president of a company or a professor or a scholar, they have a real good idea, they want to spread it with the world. Okay, but yeah, they can't really communicate that thing. So bring CJ, CJ trains them like all right, cool. I just got you ready for your first 10x talk. I'm sure you're gonna remember me when you need something down the line for your company or the guest lecturer. So yeah, it's it's really been a good professional move. And especially over the past year and a half, I so any any person I've coached over the past year and a half, I've learned something from. I mean, uh all the people are I'm at the point now where I get uh very fortunate to be able to, you know, to a certain extent choose if if I want to take a client or not, for the most part. And uh I I really want to work with people who I'm gonna learn something from as well. It's not just getting them ready, it's okay, how am I gonna do anything as well?

SPEAKER_01 42:36

And uh CJ, what are your top tips for getting them ready?

SPEAKER_02 42:42

Not just for a TEDx talk, but one of the biggest things that I speak to in the book Li The Life IPO is is the process. Okay, so alright, so let me just this is this is a tidbit of of knowledge that a lot of people understand. The TEDx thing is it's three stages, right? Three three stages you gotta think about is preparation, which a lot of folks would obviously same thing for tech uh the toastmasters, right? It's preparation for your talk, right? Really can't be can't be overstated, you gotta prepare for your talk. You just can't go up there and win it, right? So preparation, practice, all these things. That's the first part of the process. Second part of the process is the day of, right? You can do all the practicing and preparing, and all that can go out the window of the day of you can't get it right. So my job is to get stage ready, right? To get them ready for the actual experience. Because sometimes people take that stage, Brendan, those lights see them in the face, they see those, those, those letters, T E D X, whatever city, whatever you know, all of a sudden they this really happening. Yeah, you're on that. I'm actually on the red circle. Yeah, it's real. All of a Sudden, yeah, all of a sudden, people get people get moist. They get moist sweating, all kind of stuff. So getting them ready for the day of, right? And the third step where a lot of people drop the ball on is post, right? In terms of promotion. Because let's say you prepare beautifully, you've done a great job, you're giving a good time. And because I learned the hard way. After the fact, if the audio is messed up, or if the if if the sounds messed up, which the speaker has no control over, but even if everything is great, if you don't know how to promote your stuff, people okay. One of the first things people do when they finish their TEDx talk is they start posting on LinkedIn, or they they change their profile on LinkedIn or Instagram or what have you, they put a TEDx speaker, right? Before the event's even done, they're modifying their profile. You're you're only a TEDx speaker to people who are in this room. But that's not your goal, is it? Your goal is to be you know to be on YouTube or whatever because you could page. So you gotta make sure you market and promote it right. So my my tips my tip is to understand for any aspiring or people who already landed who've landed a TEDx talk, three steps to process preparation, of course, the day of the event, and then the post promotion.

SPEAKER_01 45:27

And CJ, so are you saying it's an error to put it on LinkedIn? How should you promote it?

SPEAKER_02 45:32

Oh no, so um, okay, so no no, so what I'm saying, let me play for so when what people do is like when they when they before they even finish their events finished, they're already updating their profile saying I'm a 10x speaker. It's like, all right, but what if all right, so you you you're already getting caught up in I'm a TEDx speaker. Um, but you gotta make sure you go beyond. So that's not an error to update your profile, it's not an error to put it just on LinkedIn, but there's a lot more to just putting it on LinkedIn. There's a lot more than just your circle. Of course, that's a really significant part of the process, but how to properly promote your TEDx stuff and how to make it do things for you, other than just you know tagging tagging your circle of friends on whatever social media professional platform you're on. So yeah, saying I am a TEDx speaker and then telling people to wait, you know, a month, two months, demo for the video, there has to be more to it than if you're gonna go about the right way.

SPEAKER_01 46:35

So what is the right way?

SPEAKER_02 46:38

Man, you're asking great questions, man. The right way is to contact contact CJ Marks, man. Part of what I do as well in terms of especially as the president of this company now trolexia, in terms of helping people an AI powered PR entity. So that's that's a big part of what what I'm doing these days is helping speakers, authors, what have you, properly market and promote their message from podcasts to books to what have you. Yeah, so that there's a way to do that.

SPEAKER_01 47:14

And so they contact you and you set them up with some marketing strategy.

SPEAKER_02 47:19

Yeah, yeah. You know, CJ Marks is a pretty good guy to know in general, man, for just public speaking stuff, man, from call from coaching to marketing to getting your 10x stage ready. Holler at CJ, man. Be CJ's friend, or at least hope CJ likes you. As I present in third person.

SPEAKER_01 47:42

I love that. Reminds me of a song Phillips. Is there anything else you'd like to share with us today, CJ?

SPEAKER_02 47:51

In general, like if if so, I'm gonna presume the majority of people viewing us are have aspirations or at least some desire on improving their public speaking goals in Swiss and Toastmasters World Tour. Ask yourself like why are you doing it? And be be be true to the craft, true to the art. All right, not not everyone's gonna be a world champion of public speaking, not everyone's gonna make it to the TEDx stage, but you gotta ask yourself why are you in this? And uh as you achieve that goal, you know if you want to set another goal, do that. But but be be true to yourself and true to the craft is what I would say. And that's different for each person, you know, different people have different goals, but as long as you've been true to yourself, I think it's gonna help help you get to where you want to be.

SPEAKER_01 48:41

Thank you so much, CJ. It's been an absolute pleasure and an honor. If I can make it onto your friend list.

SPEAKER_02 48:47

Oh, we're good, man. We're good, we're good right now. We're good right now, we're good, we're good, we're good. Thank you so much. Thank you so much.

SPEAKER_01 49:00

Thanks for listening to today's show. One of the key elements of Toastmasters is evaluations. This is how we grow and improve, both by encouraging comments for things we got right and points for improvement. We all learn and benefit from these evaluations, not just the person being evaluated. So any feedback in the comments is greatly appreciated. If you have a Toastmaster story you'd like to share or would like to be on the show, I'd love to hear from you. You can reach me at Toastmastersworld tour at gmail.com. Thanks for listening.