Education Session

Gratitude is the Key to Optimism, Health and Happiness

• Understand the relationship between gratitude, optimism and happiness.
• Explore benefits of gratitude on health and wellness.
• Identify ways to incorporate gratitude into daily life.

It’s easy to be optimistic when the sun is shining, your relationships are rewarding, and you’re healthy… But, what happens when we lose our job or a loved one, break a leg or get overwhelmed by life’s challenges, as we all do from time to time. Thoughts like “Why is this happening to me?” “Why me?” or “What did I do to deserve this?” send us spiralling downward into negative victim-land where it’s dark and lonely. It doesn’t have to be this way. Instead of despairing and wondering if there’s light at the end of the tunnel, you can overcome the darkness with your own light; a torch called Gratitude that will always show you the way!

Tracey Purvis has a passion for helping and serving others. She has over 20 years experience in health care as a registered psychiatric nurse in a wide range of settings. As a “brain tumour and 4x brain surgery” survivor, Tracey knows what overcoming adversity is all about. As a speaker, she wants to share that with the world, to inspire those that struggle with their own adversities, to see beyond their obstacles and count their blessings.

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How to Effectively Apply ToastmastersSkills in Your Workplace

• Apply Toastmasters skills at any organization
• Empower people at any level of any organization
• Practical ways to implement your leadership skills

Gerard Pietrykiewicz is an experienced Toastmaster, Leader and Project Manager with long experience in the IT sector.

Born in Poland, he immigrated to Canada in 2012, where he established himself as a mentor for his colleagues from multiple Toastmasters Clubs, but also to attendees of his Mastermind Group.

Currently he works as a Project Director for a technology company producing software for the mortgage sector in Canada. In his spare time, he loves listening to audiobooks, traveling the world, and enjoys fine dining.

It is easy to implement all the skills we learn at Toastmasters meetings in your professional life, once you know how.

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Training is a Show

• Make training fun and more effective
• Create effective presentations
• Understand how adults learn

Neila has been an adult educator for the past 25 years. She trains Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software around the world.

She has taught in the Philippines, England, Spain, Mexico, Brazil, Hungary, United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, Ecuador, Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile.

Neila trains the trainers from major corporations, in three languages: Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

I love what I do, and get recommended to many businesses because, according to my students, my sessions are entertaining, I am patient, and I explain in a manner they can understand.

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How to Create Deeper Connections

• Uncover your personal barriers which are stopping you from connecting deeply.
• Learn how to go beyond superficial conversation.
• Discover the three simple principles that lead to deeper connections.

Sam Middlewood is a research-storyteller who is fascinated by people & psychology; how we interact, the emotional challenges and existential crises we face, and the associated societal pressures can be the root cause of our biggest uncertainties and questions.

As the founder, host, and a speaker at Be Inspired Vancouver - he curates a series of interactive talks, on interesting topics designed to simply inspire his audience with ideas.

Following a 7-year engineering career in the UK aerospace industry, in 2015 Sam experienced his quarter-life-crisis. After taking some time to reignite his inspiration, he moved to Vancouver and turned that crisis into a breakthrough in the process.

Instead of asking ourselves “what do I want to do”, a more beneficial question is “who do I want to be”.

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How to Apply “Agile” Thinking to Everyday Leadership

• Use Agile mindset in everyday life.
• See how Agile tools can be adapted into everyday routine.
• Achieve your goals without stress!

Aina Aliieva is an international speaker, coach, author, blogger and founder of Bee Agile Consulting. She has a background in Electrical Engineering and holds an MBA from SFU. Aina has worked as a Project Manager and Scrum Master for the past 5 years, and has her PMP (Professional Project Manager) designation.

Recently, she started Hundred Dares; this project is about people who dared to change their lives and followed their dreams. She has interviewed Hollywood designer Shelly Komarov, legendary poker player Evgen Kachalov, and the youngest executive in the aerospace industry - Katerina Lengold.

Every day can be inspiring if you concentrate on the positive side of things.

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How to Construct Presentations That Win Collaboration

• How to cultivate your personal archive of “raw ingredients” - for a lifetime of original and fascinating presentations.
• How humans make decisions.
• How to earn respect and trust.

Most presentations, for work or stages like TEDx, are intended to win collaboration. You might want to persuade, motivate, sell or something else.

Attend this workshop to shortcut your success. Learn how to construct fascinating and original presentations that fast-track likeability, credibility and trust.

What You Say, and How You Say It, make all the difference.

Dr. Renee Jacobs served in the United States Air Force, then opened her private practice Optometry business and a Tutoring Center. She is a doctor and also has a Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction. About 10 years ago, Dr. Jacobs sold her businesses and changed her focus to public speaking.

In Toastmasters, Dr. Jacobs earned her DTM and is currently the District 96 Humorous Speech Champion. For two seasons, she was as a Speaker Coach for TEDxStanleyPark, one of the largest TEDx events in the world. She is also Speaker Coach for Get Inspired Talks – Vancouver. Today, in addition to private coaching, she leads workshops about Speaking to Activate and Leadership.

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Why Don’t You?

• Identify an unachieved goal and its associated fear
• Understand your fear through simple analysis
• Learn seven tips for busting through fear
• Establish one practical next step toward your goal

Are you satisfied with your lot in life, or are you living below the level of your own desires?

In this motivational session, we’ll explore the ways in which fear may be holding you back. Learn how to dissect your fear and bust through it. By the end of this session, you’ll be ready to live beyond your imagination in small ways and in bigger, bolder ways, too.

Come on. Why don’t you?

Sheila Cameron, DTM, has a no-regrets policy and the curiosity and courage to try things outside of the norm. She respects a healthy level of fear and kicks the rest to the curb. Sheila is the author of Shine Bright: Live A Supernova Life, published in 2017.

Sheila's life experiences include: backpacking the globe; advanced scuba diving; raising a baby without diapers; taking a week-long hike on a highway with two toddlers; unschooling her children; spending her retirement savings before retirement; and sharing uncomfortable truths through writing memoir. She is passionate about raising our collective human consciousness.

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Use Storytelling and Vulnerability to Influence and Change the World

Learn how to...

• Practically and wisely become more vulnerable to a few.
• Engage others with compelling stories.
• What we do every day has global reach and how to change the world.

As an actor and award-winning speaker, David Fisher has spoken at TEDx, has coached other speakers for events such as Get Inspired, TEDx Stanley Park, and Tony Robbins Power of Success.

Through his company DavidFish.ca he has inspired thousands of others to create a life of connection through storytelling, vulnerability, and influence.

In an increasingly isolated and noisy world, it is vitally important that we learn to connect on a real level with each other. It is the thing that has kept us alive as a species.

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