When I inherited the podcast from the founder, I wanted to change things up. I immersed myself in this new venture with some lofty goals in mind. I rebranded the podcast with a new logo and tagline and promoted content through strategic messaging on social media platforms and the website. I had experience in these areas thanks to one of my High Performance Leadership projects: By modernizing my home club’s website, I had developed marketing strategies to boost club membership.
The power of mentorship can’t be undervalued, and this is one of the biggest benefits of the Toastmasters experience.
In addition, the skills I had honed as Vice President Education and Vice President Public Relations enabled me to develop an editorial calendar, target new audiences, and secure sponsorship for a special podcast series. Such steps were a key to managing the podcast successfully.
I am constantly receiving requests from agents, PR professionals, and award-winning artists to secure a spot on the program. I have interviewed actors, directors, playwrights, choreographers, designers, and theater educators, including Tony Award-winning actor Ari’el Stachel and musical theater performer George Salazar.
After my interviews with the co-creators of the award-winning Off-Broadway hit musical Mexodus, Brian Quijada and Nygel D. Robinson, I was inspired to engage more artists of color to promote their contributions to the theater industry.
Through Toastmasters and the podcast, I have become a mentor for young and aspiring content creators. With the support of universities with reputable theater programs, including George Mason University (Fairfax, Virginia), Howard University (Washington, D.C.), and Carnegie Mellon University School of Drama (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), I have connected with students interested in the arts. The intern placement director at George Mason University, a fellow Toastmaster, introduced me to Sujay Khona. He, too, is a Toastmaster, and develops new video content to promote the benefits of our bilingual club.
My current podcast co-host, Manuel Coronado, is a social media influencer whose video content reaches millions of viewers, and I am his mentor in Que Pasa, a bilingual club in Alexandria, Virginia. Manuel and I share a love for theater, and together we have held dynamic conversations with a number of artists.
The power of mentorship can’t be undervalued, and this is one of the biggest benefits of the Toastmasters experience. After every interview recording, Manuel and I follow the traditional feedback session that is implemented in our club by talking about what went well in the podcast interview and what we can improve on in the future.
My journey hosting Embracing Arlington Arts Talks has given me an opportunity to interview hundreds of talented artists, and I am diligently working to expand my subscriber base. My mentoring experience has made me proud of how I am contributing to the development of future content creators. I am thankful for these opportunities, which never would have been possible if not for the transferable skills built through my Toastmasters experience, including target marketing, developing an editorial calendar, and conducting engaging interviews that are generating conversations about theater and the arts.
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Juan Carlos Velázquez, DTM is vice president education of the Crystal City Evening Toastmasters in South Arlington, Virginia. He has completed Level 4 in the Dynamic Leadership path in the Pathways learning experience.
