Today's guest on the Transformational Pathways Podcast is Angelika Kerzakova. Angelika is the Immediate Past President of the Gray Bar Toastmasters, one of New York City’s oldest Toastmasters clubs. Angelika describes her upbringing from a small town in Russia, to learning English and eventually moving to the United States. Angelika joined a Toastmasters meeting only as a way to fill some idle time, but quickly grew to appreciate the culture of improvement and strong sense of community. While others joined Toastmasters to improve their public speaking skills, Angelika found that she enjoyed the aspect of speechwriting and self-discovery more.
HIGHLIGHTS
QUOTES
Angelika: “For me, every speech, every topic that I've presented at Toastmasters is a way to relive your experiences, and to kind of underline, okay, what did I learn from them and how did that influence me as a person.”
Scott: “The speech making process that's embedded into the Toastmasters educational curriculum, is a way to examine, reframe and process the events in our lives if we choose to make it so.”
Angelika: “Your club, you become like a family because you bring some topics that are very vulnerable sometimes. And being that transparent with these little parts of yourself, that gives you that sense of closeness and community.”
Angelika: “Being that open about your weak spots, that's the difficult part. But then you receive the support of the person, even of an evaluator saying, I understand, I've been through that, I know what that feels like, I got you. That gives you strength.”
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