Today's guest on the Transformational Pathways Podcast is Jesse Scinto, Fullbright Scholar, Deputy Director of Strategic Communication at Columbia University, and Founder and CEO of Public Sphere. Jesse is living proof that it is never too late to pursue your dreams. At the age of 37, he decided that he wanted more out of life. He quit his comfortable job in advertising and decided to try for the academe. He discovered Toastmasters through his girlfriend and learned through imitation. In his experience, Toastmasters provided him an immediate sense of fulfilment and a boost in his confidence. These lessons would become formative in his journey to become Deputy Director of Strategic Communication at Columbia University, CEO of his own coaching company, and especially in his eventual successful application as a Fullbright Scholar. Jesse shares that feeling nerves before public speaking is normal. He invites others to speak their mind because, if not, other people would most definitely make assumptions about who you are and what you are thinking—an especially relevant detail for establishing executive presence.
HIGHLIGHTS
05:15 Toastmasters instilled confidence and a sense of accomplishment from the get-go
06:05 The Foreign Service Exam made it clear that public speaking is a necessary skill
07:36 Learning through imitation and challenging himself to join Toastmasters
12:30 Nurture the fire that led you to Toastmasters: Nerves are normal!
16:41 Public speaking is a practice in leadership
18:27 Story-telling as an executive skill and exercising leadership for a Fullbright scholarship
27:00 The lasting change of video conferencing and its effectiveness in teaching
30:53 Coaching and corporate training with Jesse
33:20 Barack Obama as an example of great executive presence
34:38 Being nervous means stepping out of your comfort zone and growing
QUOTES
02:33 "What I realized is that when you don't speak, other people make assumptions about what you're thinking. You don't have to dominate a conversation or try to control other people's thoughts, but it's really important to speak your own mind."
10:48 "I'm Toastmaster even now because I realized that the most important thing to public speaking is regular practice. It's like playing an instrument or playing a sport that, to keep up your skills, you have to do it regularly."
16:49 "That willingness to step forward, to put yourself forward, and willingness to put yourself forward. That's what leadership is. And when you practice public speaking, you're literally taking a step forward."
22:33 "I need to be out there putting my ideas in the world, publishing articles, giving guest lectures, basically going beyond what's asked of me. And when you start going beyond what's asked of you, that's when you start to exhibit leadership."
35:09 "The only way you know whether you're really pushing the envelope and challenging yourself is if you feel some nervousness about what you're doing. If you're completely comfortable with everything that you do, you're not stretching in any way whatsoever."
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