January 15
Dr. Jeff Bronstein
January 22
DG Chuck Anderson
|
|
|
Next Week...
December 18
Holiday Program at Luxe Hotel
Upcoming Programs...
January 8
Hump Day
January 15
Dr. Jeff Bronstein
Parkinson's Disease and PLLUS
January 22
DG Chuck Anderson visits
Activities...
January 20
District Breakfast - LAX
Westin Hotel, 5400 W. Century Blvd.
|
This Week...
PRESENTING WVRC OFFICERS FOR 2009-2010.
MIKE YOUSEM led the Pledge. PP BILL GOODWYN gave the invocation. BILL noted that at the time of the founding of our country, crime and civil disorder were rampant and few people took religion seriously. Chief Justice John Marshall sought a cure for this condition by asking three men of God to meet and come up with a solution. Whatever they did worked; our new country changed its aberrant ways. BILL alluded to the various stages countries go through starting with bondage and ending in bondage and wondered what stage our country is in today with all of its problems. Maestro LENNY FRIEDMAN led us in a rendition of "Silent Night."
Visiting Rotarians included Christina and Dr. Robert Fischer from Vienna and Mars Jison from the Philippines. MARK ROGO brought guest Bart Forman who is a member of the UCLA Chapter of Engineers Without Borders.
The head table consisted of Joe Mulryan (LA 5), Lindsay Fyfe (Ambassadorial Scholar), MARK BLOCK, Jason VanderPal (speaker of the day), and PEGGY BLOOMFIELD.
President SEAN said he was not happy with certain members who sat at the same table each luncheon and harped about members who did not have on their Rotary pins.
PP PETER MORE, chairman of the Nominating Committee, presented for approval the WVRC officers for 2009-2010. The membership unanimously approved the following slate of officers:
President: EDWIN GAULD
President Elect: MARK BLOCK
Vice President: SHANE WAARBROEK
Secretary: GORDON FELL
Treasurer: DON NELSON
International Service Chair: KEVIN KOMATSU
Community Service Chair: LEAH VRIESMAN
Youth Service Chair: J.R. DZUBAK
Vocational Service Chair: CURT SMITH
President SEAN deferred December birthdays to January. He noted that a District Breakfast will be held on Monday, January 5, 2009 with the WVRC taking a table for 10. MIKE YOUSEM reminded members of the shopping trip taking place in the evening; indeed, it was imperative to be on time which means 5:15 pm sharp. Twenty six children will participate and members will pay for their own meal which costs $13. President SEAN reminded the membership of the Braille Institute luncheon on Friday (10:30 am); those attending will get the opportunity to serve lunch.
PP STEVE SCHERER administered the oath to JULIE WARE who became a full fledged member of the WVRC. MARK BLOCK reminded members of the Christmas luncheon that will take place next Thursday at the Luxe Hotel at 12:15 pm. Valet parking will be available for $5.
President SEAN gave us his customary Irish history lesson: On December 11, 1931, British colonies received legislative independence which meant that Ireland could finally write its own laws.
RICK BROUS presented an analysis of the state of the economy using the medical profession as a metaphor, for example, an obstetrician as labor, a pathologist as working over dead bodies, a radiologist seeing the light, an internist being a hard pill to swallow, a cardiologist not having the heart to do it, etc. He concluded by comparing Washington DC to a proctologist; you draw the conclusions.
Joe Mulryan of LA 5 introduced Ambassadorial Scholar Lindsay Fyfe who gave an interesting talk on what she wants to accomplish. She said she moved to Los Angeles to join AmeriCorps which is an organization similar to the Peace Corps. As such, her responsibilities included teaching art to children in a low income area of the city. After some trying events, perseverance, and hard work, she witnessed the transformation of the local community she ministered to for the better and she would like to see that happen while she is in Mexico. While in Mexico, she intends to work closely with Rotary.
PEGGY BLOOMFIELD introduced the speaker for the day, Jason VanderPal, who is the General Manager of the Guitar Center in Hollywood. The Guitar Center is the largest of its kind occupying some 40,000 square feet. Jason is a professionally trained speaker who has been chosen numerous times to address the entire management staff of the Guitar Center. He is also an accomplished musician with three nationally released albums. He has been nominated for a Dove Award. Jason's topic was public speaking which included insights from the incredible Bill Gove system which he attended.
Jason worked his way up the organization ladder by learning to be a very effective public speaker Early in his career, he sought a speech coach who asked him what he wanted to get out of public speaking. Jason said that he noticed that top managers speak well and he wanted to be able to do so also. After mastering public speaking, he gave a speech to his colleagues at the Guitar Center including the Executive Vice President who was so impressed that he asked him four days later if he would like to become the manager of the largest music store in the world. Thus, Jason's public speaking success launched his managerial career.
Jason said that when growing up, he wanted to excel in something; indeed, at the time, he played the drums quite well. He wanted to be a rock star but this interest waned as he matured and discovered it would take a lot more work to do that. He then saw public speaking as a way to affect people positively. As noted above, he attended the Bill Gore public speaking workshop which is the Harvard of public speaking.
Jason noted that good speakers generally make a point which can effectively be reinforced by a story. In fact, he gave a story about teaching sales people to deal with customers. Jeff meets Alex who is a very good salesman. Alex is so good that Jeff buys two cars from Alex in two weeks. Jeff asks Alex what his secret is. Alex doesn't answer but asks Jeff how much he thinks Harvard professors earn. Jeff answers by saying some $200,000 to $400,000 a year. Alex then asks Jeff how much Michael Jackson earns. Jeff answers a lot and Alex says $60 million; furthermore, Michael Jackson doesn't get paid to teach people but to entertain them. Alex says that his competitors want to teach people about cars and he wants to entertain them. Everyone has stories and it is important to weave the point one wants to make into a story.
A distinction between a professional speaker and an average speaker is that the former conducts a dialogue with the audience while the latter conducts a monologue with the audience. It is instructive to watch comedians; when they speak, the audience responds. In addressing a group like the Rotarians, it is not helpful to blast away at them but to generate a story like "you can't believe what happened to me" - in this way, being casual is effective.
Jason said that he used to think that he was a good speaker but after he attended the Bill Gove workshop, he was brought to a whole new level.
Jason felt that public speaking in business is underutilized. He named some individuals who he considered as effective speakers such as Steve Jobs, Joel Olsteen, and President Elect Barack Obama. He said that 95% of people are terrified of public speaking; in fact, the number one fear is public speaking followed by death. He quoted Jerry Seinfeld who at a funeral said he would rather be in the casket than doing the eulogy When Jason was 19, he thought that he would never be able to speak effectively; by age 22, he was speaking twice a day.
In summary, Jason said that a huge opportunity is presented by being a good public speaker. QUESTIONS/ANSWERS included the usefullness of Toastmasters International (much), how controversy may be effective (it should be directed and not for its own sake), the importance of humor (if you want to get paid), and lastly, how to avoid panic (practice, practice, practice).
President SEAN reminded members of next week's luncheon at the Luxe Hotel. He closed with some WORDS OF WISDOM: the easiest way to find a lost article is to replace it.
