Catching Up with Gaurav Shekhar on D50 After Dark Join host Mickey Bennett as he reconnects with Gaurav Shekhar, past District Director of Toastmasters District 50, to discuss his journey, leadership during the 2020 pandemic, and his role at UT Dallas. Description: In this engaging episode of D50 After Dark, Mickey Bennett sits down with Gaurav Shekhar, a Toastmasters veteran and Senior Assistant Dean at UT Dallas. They dive into Gaurav’s experiences leading District 50 during the challenging 20...
Aug 12, 2025•20 min•Season 3Ep. 3
In this episode of D50 After Dark, host Mickey Bennett welcomes back Monnica Rose, past international director and District 50's historian. They dive into the 1994 split from District 25, the historian’s role in preserving Toastmasters legacy, the upcoming 2027 redistricting adding Arkansas clubs, and how members can share stories to enrich the district’s history. A must-listen for Toastmasters fans eager to learn about leadership, mentorship, and district growth!Join Mickey Bennett on D50 After...
Aug 05, 2025•25 min
Join us on D50 After Dark as we kick off Season 3 with Monnica Rose, a mechanical engineer turned Toastmasters leader. With 19 years in Toastmasters, Monnica shares her journey from aircraft modifications to international director, highlighting leadership growth, communication skills, and the power of invitation. Keywords: Toastmasters, leadership, communication, engineering, mentorship. Highlight Chapter List (0:00) Introduction: Season 3 kickoff, special guest (0:31) Toastmasters Journey: 19 y...
Jul 29, 2025•21 min•Season 3Ep. 1
Dive into the D50 After Dark Season 2 Recap with host Mickey Bennett and the team! This season, they ventured beyond Habitat Commons, recording in coffee shops and offices, mastering green screen tech, and hitting 50 episodes. Highlights include Walter Price’s Robert’s Rules breakdown and the youth leadership team’s vibrant interview. With Toastmasters leadership in focus, Season 3 promises live streams and demo meetings. Share your feedback and join the excitement for what’s next!The D50 After ...
Jul 12, 2025•57 min
Storytelling, Toastmasters, and Customer Experience In this engaging episode of D50 After Dark, host Mickey Bennett welcomes back Vijay Tambwekar to discuss his journey in storytelling, his experience with Toastmasters, and its connection to his book, Customer Experience Decoded . Vijay shares how his need to improve his writing and leadership communication led him to the Storytellers Toastmasters Club, where he honed his storytelling skills through practical feedback and experimentation. He app...
May 29, 2025•29 min•Season 2Ep. 39
Finding Their Voice: Success Stories from District 50's Youth Leadership Programs Highlights 0:00 Jen discusses parents' appreciation of their children's progress in gavel club. 1:42 Suhani shares her experience learning key speaking skills: impromptu speeches, vocal variety, and hand gestures. 6:09 Jason explains how his initial skepticism about Toastmasters changed, helping him overcome nervousness. 9:06 Jen describes how parents witness their children's transformation in confidence and skills...
Apr 22, 2025•21 min•Season 2Ep. 38
Starting a Gavel Club: Bringing Toastmasters to Young People Highlights 0:14 Mickey introduces D50 After Dark, focusing on starting a Gavel Club for young people interested in Toastmasters. 2:32 Jen explains that starting a Gavel Club has fewer requirements than starting a Toastmaster Club. 3:45 Clubs pay a $125 registration fee plus $125 annual fee. 7:00 Pathways is not accessible to Gavel Club members; they use digital versions of older Toastmaster manuals. 9:42 Hitesh notes that Gavel Clubs f...
Apr 09, 2025•17 min•Season 2Ep. 37
Youth Leadership Summit: A Celebration of Success Highlights (0:43) “And in today's episode...we’re going to be talking about the Youth Leadership Summit.” (1:17) Youth Leadership Summit is a celebration of successes, workshops, and a speech competition. (3:04) Educational workshops, like public speaking for social media (4:10) When registering for Summit, they can choose if they want to participate in the International speech contest. (6:45) This is for anybody, so the first invitations went ou...
Apr 01, 2025•15 min•Season 2Ep. 36
Building Tomorrow's Leaders: D50’s Youth Leadership and Gavel Clubs 0:00 - Highlights (0:34) In this timely episode, Mickey interviews District 50 leaders in the youth programs. (1:21) Mickey introduces Hitesh Balala as the youth leadership chair. (3:05) Hitesh explains gavel clubs are like Toastmasters clubs but for youth, ages 10-18. (6:40) Jen shares her experience starting youth programs in 1993. (9:06) Nikki describes the youth leadership program as a four-week mentoring course. (12:56) Nik...
Mar 25, 2025•19 min•Season 2Ep. 35
Highlights 0:00 - (3:31) Origins of the book from IoT implementation observations (8:02) Introduction of “customer experience on the go” measurement concept (12:35) Definition of customer experience as satisfaction of needs (16:47) Application of Maslow’s hierarchy to retail (18:31) Discussion of customer segmentation (21:41) Exploration of belongingness in customer loyalty (26:04) Extension of the model to personal relationships Summary D50 After Dark celebrates its 50th episode as hostMickey B...
Feb 19, 2025•33 min•Season 2Ep. 34
Highlights 0:00 - Intro: (0:38) Mickey Bennett welcomes Bonnie Dubin, District 50’s Quality Contest Chair, for a discussion on leadership (1:39) Bonnie emphasizes the connection between leadership and team dynamics (2:47) Bonnie distinguishes between motivation (temporary) and inspiration (lasting change) (4:22) Leadership in healthcare involves seeing your team ascustomers, with patients as the end customers (10:13) Bonnie explains the team progression: “form, storm, norm, and perform” (11:42) ...
Feb 14, 2025•18 min•Season 2Ep. 33
Highlights (1:44) A Toastmasters speech evaluation leads to an unexpected book opportunity (3:27) Discovers and joins a publisher's writing challenge (5:17) Book published in February 2021, inspired by fellow Toastmaster MJ Presley (8:38) Reveals the story behind her book's powerful title (12:18) Uses Toastmasters speech structure for book organization (13:48) Announces plans for a children's heart health book (15:00) Encourages all Toastmasters to write books Summary In this engaging D50 After ...
Feb 06, 2025•19 min•Season 12Ep. 32
Speech Craft Secrets: Practice, Passion, and Performance Highlights (0:27) In this episode, Bonnie Dubin, Quality Contest Chair, focuses on speech craft (1:35) Her key advice: Speak about topics you know and avoid word-for-word memorization (5:09) Emphasis on practicing with a timer to manage timing cards effectively (8:12) Discussion of passion's role in speech delivery (11:25) Tips on body language and gesture management (13:30) Only 7% of communication is words; body language and tone matter ...
Jan 28, 2025•20 min•Season 2Ep. 31
In this first part of our two-part conversation with author Vijay Tambwekar, we get to know him a bit better. We discuss his professional background in IT, his leadership roles, and his experiences living in various countries, including India and the United States. We also explore his journey with Toastmasters, including his time as an Area Director and his completion of the Dynamic Leadership Pathway. Additional Notes: Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vijay-tambwekar-a796bab/ E-Mail: vija...
Jan 21, 2025•11 min•Season 2Ep. 30
HIGHLIGHTS (0:00) Behind the Scenes: D50's Program Quality Teams and Spring Conference Preview (1:32) Program Teams Overview (5:08) Youth Leadership Conference (7:04) New Member Orientation (10:36) Contest Season Details (14:27) Spring Conference Preview SUMMARY In this D50 After Dark interview, Program Quality Director Denise Castille continues an overview of D50 Toastmasters' educational initiatives and upcoming events. In a previous episode, she and host Mickey Bennett discussed the Toastmast...
Jan 15, 2025•24 min•Season 2Ep. 29
Highlights (1:20) Leadership through collaboration and its definition in practice (2:10) The three pillars of collaboration: active listening, providing training opportunities, and fostering mutual respect (3:06) Discussion on active listening techniques and the critical importance of confirming understanding in communication (5:24) Practical example of collaboration through area director contest organization 8:00) Learning from mistakes and collective problem-solving in hybrid contest environme...
Jan 08, 2025•18 min•Season 2Ep. 28
Highlights (0:33) District 50 Quality Contest Chair Bonnie Dubbin discusses upcoming contest season. (1:15) Excitement about returning to face-to-face contests after COVID. (3:52) Explanation of her role as Quality Contest Chair. (8:37) Discussion of this year's contest format. (16:24) Announcement that contests are returning to fully in-person format. (21:59) Bonnie’s perspective on why clubs should host contests. Summary This episode of D50 After Dark features a discussion with Bonnie Dubbin, ...
Dec 31, 2024•29 min•Season 2Ep. 27
Highlights (1:21) Describes her role as Quality Contest Chair, overseeing organization and quality of contest materials (2:24) Currently works at Willis-Knighton Health teaching leadership and communication skills (3:21) Reveals being new to Toastmasters—just over two months! (4:05) Shares her 20-year experience with the National Speakers Association (6:04) Illustrates Toastmasters' diverse applications through example of physician assistant school candidate joining to improve interview skills (...
Dec 31, 2024•14 min•Season 2Ep. 26
Chapter Markers (0:00) Opening Excerpt (1:35) Division Directors Chat Begins! (2:35) How Leading as a Division Director Is Going in 2024-2025 (20:15) Contest Season: Getting Ready to Work in Contests! (25:20) Clarification on What Division Directors Can Do During a Contest (26:01) Changing Some Roles within Clubs to Fit Club Differences (31:07) Focus on Members to Refresh or Revitalize a Club (33:00) Engaging the Young Millennial Crowd (36:01) The Emergence of the Virtual Club’s Zoom Master (37:...
Dec 24, 2024•1 hr 6 min•Season 2Ep. 25
(1:30) Why start a new Toastmasters club— focusing on organizational benefits (2:43) Three main reasons to start clubs: personal growth, cultural change, skill development (3:49) First step— contacting Toastmasters International or the district directly (7:11) Paperwork requirements and $125 charter fee (14:01) Demonstration meeting with experienced members (17:37) Clubs can begin meeting before official charter with 20 members (22:21) Call to action for members to identify potential new club op...
Dec 17, 2024•24 min•Season 2Ep. 24
HIGHLIGHTS (0:00, 18:53) Denise encourages members to treat D50 like a college campus, taking full advantage of all educational opportunities (1:31) Role of Program Quality Director explained— like a VPE but for the entire district (2:37) Toastmasters Thrive program (formerly Leadership Learning) detailed (4:57) Discussion of district's goal to become distinguished for first time in several years (10:12) Toastmaster Leadership Institute (TLI) explained as the "academy for officers" (11:04) Impor...
Dec 10, 2024•20 min•Season 2Ep. 23
Highlights (0:59) Rhonda Bunte is introduced as Club Growth Director, one of the top three leaders in District 50 (1:54) District 50's goal is to become distinguished by June 2025, requiring net growth of one club (2:40) Currently facing challenge with nine suspended clubs, requiring significant effort to either reinstate them or charter new ones (5:22) Discussion of club coaches who help struggling clubs by implementing "Moments of Truth" and club success plans (15:50) Demonstration chairs orga...
Dec 03, 2024•29 min•Season 2Ep. 22
HIGHLIGHTS (1:50) Denise Castile joined Toastmasters in January 2019 and has quickly risen to Program Quality Director. (3:40) Nine years ago, Denise survived a Widowmaker heart attack while on a business trip in Michigan. 4:49) This experience inspired her to start a business focused on teaching lifesaving skills. (6:16) Her CPR training business now has contracts with major organizations including the Department of Defense. (7:27) She describes a heart attack feeling "like an elephant sitting ...
Nov 27, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 21
Empowering Leaders for Tomorrow: Victor Johnson’s Mission to Mentor Youth Highlights 0:00 1:31 - Victor Johnson published a mindset-focused book in 2018 which led to his first paid speaking engagement at Dallas College 2:01 - At Dallas College, Victor mentors men of color in leadership, financial literacy, and communication skills 5:01 - He observes that many young people struggle with communication despite being tech-savvy 11:23 - Victor’s Create Your Future Self Youth Program has mentored over...
Nov 19, 2024•23 min•Season 2Ep. 18
Maps, Members, and Moving Clubs: Ezekiel Reveals D50's Realignment Puzzle Highlights (1:08) Ezekiel explains how he became involved with district realignment (2:53) Details the target district structure: 4-6 clubs per area, 5 areas per division, 6 divisions per district (4:07) Explains balancing factors: club numbers, member counts, and distinguished club status (5:13) Discusses geographical considerations in realignment (7:45) Reveals scope of recent realignment: only 5-6 clubs moved within the...
Nov 13, 2024•16 min•Season 2Ep. 17
Following the Laughter: How Rhonda Bunte Discovered Toastmasters Highlights (2:06) Rhonda Bunte’s career as an audit specialist (4:35) – Inspired by hearing laughter and applause from a conference room (7:27) – The open corporate club at FDIC welcomes both employees and outside members (9:18) - Shares success stories of helping fellow members (14:36) - Describes pivotal leadership experience organizing division contest Summary In this episode of D50 After Dark, host Mickey Bennett interviews Rho...
Nov 06, 2024•23 min•Season 2Ep. 16
Show Notes for D50 After Dark - Episode Featuring Victor Johnson 00:00 - Intro 00:42 - A Man With Charisma, Victor Johnson 01:37 - Charisma Translates into Confidence 03:13 - Developing Confidence Leads to Charisma 04:28 - Confidence Conveys Credibility 05:42 - How Does Victor Recommend Building Confidence? 07:44 - Fear Can Help with Charisma? 09:45 - What Else Can We Do to Demonstrate Charisma? 13:24 - Call To Action Victor Johnson's Information: Website: http://www.bethevictor.us Social Media:...
Oct 30, 2024•14 min•Season 2Ep. 15
Where Does Our Recycling Really Go? An Industry Insider's View Highlights (3:40) China recycled 70% of world's recyclables using empty return shipping containers (8:01) Environmental damage at Chinese ports led to "superfund sites" (10:36) 2018-2022: Most US recycling went to landfills after China's ban (11:46) US excels at metal recycling, but is poor at plastic (15:15) Landfills create long-term real estate and gas release issues (22:17) India pioneered e-waste recycling by extracting gold fro...
Oct 23, 2024•26 min•Season 2Ep. 14
The Art of Connection: Mastering Storytelling with Victor Johnson (1:21 Discussion on why storytelling is important (3:50) How to choose stories for different audiences (6:56) Types of stories Victor uses (7:07) Victor tells powerful personal story about family road trip and self-reflection (10:21) Tips on finding and crafting impactful stories (12:11) How to structure stories within a speech (14:38) Using storytelling to motivate people Host Mickey Bennett interviews professional speaker Victor...
Oct 16, 2024•17 min•Season 2Ep. 13
From Public Speaking to Eco-Entrepreneurship: How Communication Skills Launched a Recycling Empire Highlights 2:52 - Ezekiel Setne’s struggle to pay for college and aversion to debt 4:41 - Ezekiel's early experience with recycling and scrap metal 7:49 - Development of Ezekiel's business pitch to mining companies 11:12 - Transition from using recycling to pay for education to making it a career 14:31 - Importance of communication skills in Ezekiel's current role 15:08 - Leadership experiences in ...
Oct 08, 2024•21 min•Season 2Ep. 12
