Hello positive filter listeners this is a special episode of the podcast earlier this week past J president Mark s tman joined Alpha Toast Masters to share about his journey with leadership and public speaking I hope you enjoyed this special episode as he shares his journey within Alpha and as a public speaker
Enjoy welcome to positive filter with your host phet Wilkerson the podcast that focuses on friends family health and career with a little self-help along the way please join me in this journey for self-improvement and I hope what I have to share will make you a better person thus making the world a better
Place I hope you enjoy the show I hope you enjoy the show I hope you enjoy the show and I’m making sure I don’t do a lot of O and and O and you know and all that stuff so first all let me just say thank you to Wilkerson for the
Invitation uh brother Wilkerson and I uh communicated back in May of this year so right before the summertime and he asked me brother Tillman would you attend this meeting and I said sure but I had to get through summer but so we got through summer we’re in the fall
And it is just my high honor to be here with all of my brothers and I see many brothers who I know personally I see we got brother M uh brother MCAS here brother Rodney blunt brother blunt actually served as my secretary within the midwestern region who is really 45 minutes away
From me I’m in Southfield Michigan he is in an Arbor Michigan I just biked 105 miles with brother Peralta just two weeks ago well 10 days ago in the rain for 40 miles so so we got out there and uh for us it’s about health and wellness
But uh we just did a a century in uh Salsbury Maryland and and for all of the brothers who I’ve never met before one day I hope to get to meet you in person grip you up I’m sure at a convention or any activity that Alpha does in the future so I’m
Going to share my screen and brother Wilkerson asked me to speak on the importance of public speaking in leadership and I told them not a problem because as a general president you get many opportunities to speak in front of individuals I by my count I think I have spoken to
Over 200 events where I had to give remarks where I had to do formal speeches impromptu speeches presiding over Mega Services you name it and topics that were not a part of who I am and so it is very important that this entity the Toast Masters Alpha
Toast Masters help grow skills to allow everyone to give to have the opportunity to influence others and that’s what I’m going to be talking about through the course of this presentation but I don’t assume that everybody knows who I am so this is just simply a quick Mark Tillman on the page
Uh I am from New Orleans Louisiana that means I am a New Orleans Saints fan so if you are a Saints fan put it in the chat and if not don’t tell me that you are a Dallas Cowboys fan I hear that a lot I also have the opportunity to serve
W I should say I’m married um with to my first lady uh valicia we’ve been married for 27 years she became a member of Alpac Kappa Alpha in 2022 so now our re our roles have reversed she’s busy I’m the one at home cooking dinner
And then you see that in my background I am in the it field uh I am a project delivery lead I’m a senior IT project manager leading a team of project managers in a cyber security information assurance space and you can see the other roles that I’ve played in some of my
Career uh switching to the fact that I enjoy my brothers uh I’m a cyclist so again I just cycle with brother Peralta uh I cycle with these brothers in uh Atlanta Georgia this just this past August so if you are a cyclist on this call let me know pop it in the chat
Because we have a group of alpha cyclists over 600 of us globe and we encourage each other we support each other and so we are about health and fitness and if you are a brother of the other tools that is if you ride a motorcycle if you enjoy the twisties if
You enjoy the taale of the Dragon 11 miles and 318 curves pop it in the chat as well because there’s also an alpha motorcycle group called Alphas on twos and we host a yearly uh Alpha Roundup which is an event that brothers from around the country get together
Ride different roads and just I’m the p i was initiated to Alpha through chapter seated at Dill Unity on November 22nd I was the backto back alumni chapter of the year of the fraternity here in Detroit Michigan and then I’ve also had many many speaking opportunities and I just
Happen to pick these too because I had videos for these two uh one was that uh I delivered remarks for the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington so you’re actually seeing the video feed that was done by cpan I also had an opportunity to um become the person of
The week here locally at our local ABC affiliate uh TV station uh where myself as a big brother and my mentee Elijah we were interviewed and uh it was an honor to be able to sit there and and talk about mentoring with my little and share my thoughts to others
And so in this role or even in the role of being an alpha maybe in the role of your current job you may never know when you will be called upon to speak to to an audience and honing in those skills honing in on what you need to convey is
Very very important so I I just wanted to share a little bit of my background uh in a minute but uh if anyone wants to know a little bit more about me feel free to uh get with me so this is my I call it um personal journey in icons or
Brands when did you know that you needed to speak up you know when you are a young individual you don’t know exactly what you want to do you don’t know if you want to be a sports caster or a newscaster president of United States but there are pieces of your
Journey that forms who you are and every brand that you see up here on this screen forms the overall brand of who you are it’s simply an amalgamation of these different pieces of your life these different piece the these different stages of your life to become the person that you are today and
Preparing for this speech I had to go back and think about when was my first real opport opportunity that I had to speak up when I was young I was a Cub Scout and ultimately became a Boy Scout and when you’re in that stage of life you’re just learning how to get along
With a group you’re learning certain leadership skills you’re learning how to get along with others how to organize and build things uh that provides a foundation of what’s going to come later on in life in high school I was in the marching band St Augustine High School in New Orleans Louisiana we called
Ourselves The Marching 100 the best band in the land and I was a section leader of the clarinet section and my job was to ensure that every clarinet player knew the formation knew the music know how to step know how to be integrated in the overall formation of 128 steppers
And musicians that are out there on a football field that was my first real taste of a leadership position because you have the band director drum Majors section leaders and so that started to form my leadership ability but also my public speaking or speaking ability because I had to direct I indicated I
Ride a motorcycle and I am in a Harley Owners Group and the one thing about the Harley Owners Group that I’m in is that I am one of very few African-Americans in that group it is overwhelmingly uh Caucasian but being a public speaker did not make me afraid to speak to an
Overwhelming group of caucasians in fact throughout my career in it throughout my job uh from EDS to HP to dxc to Michigan medicine I am usually one of very few African-American Americans where I’m at but that did not make me afraid to speak up and to speak my mind and to lead
Others in those particular uh uh roles that I served throughout my journey and so one day you may be taking a stock into your particular brand your brand of Brands what allowed you to get this far with what you have done in your life it’s more than just a resume it’s really
The fact that you have now become this overwhelming sense of person based upon these individual brands that you are part of and this is just a taste of everything that I’ve done so that’s one thing that you need to think about or I should say to think about as you are
Moving through your leadership Journey as you’re moving through your fellowship Journey one thing that’s all interrelated is how you address and deal and work with people brother Wilkinson asked me to brother Tillman share your Alpha Journey with us and this is a timeline from the moment
That I became uh well that I entered Dill University in 1984 uh as a freshman and while I was at dillet that’s when I basically became aware of alpha alpha and uh uh my major was computer science and uh I became an alpha in my sophomore year in uh November of
1985 and yes that is a young fresh face right off of being initiated young brother without be and um again my first taste of public speaking at the collegate level and becoming an Al I should say was when I addressed who went from Big Brother brother to being my brothers of alphi
Alpha and we had to in introduce ourselves um within a uh this was at our banquet that we were doing graded Dillard and then immediately started my job up here in uh Detroit Michigan with EDS but EDS formed my foundation for being organized I’m I was a systems
Engineer you know when you graduate you get your first career you get your first Taste of a paycheck a real paycheck get your first taste of working with others that is not why you’re not in college and then my Alpha leadership Journey has really begun and taken off
About 10 years after I became a member of the organization I was a area director for the Detroit area and then eventually became the district director of Michigan so I went speaking to three chapters to 20 Chapters at the time of Brothers within the state of Michigan
And then I started getting notice within the fraternity and eventually became the midwestern regional vice president I served in other roles within the region I served in other roles at the national level or general level and but I became a board member within the fraternity by becoming the midwestern regional vice
President and then I went from speaking to 20 chapters with a brother to 13 states or 12 states with the worth of Brothers plus the District of Canada and then ultimately I became the general president of alpha alpha and I can tell you between the time of being a district
Director regional vice president General president and even past general president by my count I have been invited to and spoken at over 100 50 to 200 different functions where I had to deliver my thoughts where I had to convey my ideas and influence individuals didn’t mean that folks
Agreed with what I was saying but being in these positions allowed me to prepare to being a leader in this organization and so uh as I matriculated my journey within the fraternity it also strengthen myself outside of alpha I was not afraid to speak up at a company meeting or to
Speak up at my C’s leadership staff meeting to convey what needed to be done with the role and the activities and the tasks that I’ve been given I was not afraid to jump into being a board member of the Boy Scouts not afraid to working with young individuals and letting them
Know little skills that you develop along the way will help you be a better person for the future and for the here and now and so as I look back throughout my Alpha journey of being a leader in this fraternity and speaking to a diverse crowd I spoke about racism to
The Chamber of Commerce in Iowa I spoke about mentorship to Big Brothers and service to various organizations along that Journey so it wasn’t just about Alpha it was conveying who Mark Tillman is the information I needed to convey at that time and the leadership that I needed to exude to those individuals wrong
Way one thing I feel about public speaking and its importance to leadership is that one leadership is not given it is truly earned in public speaking is pretty much the foundation on the skills and the right to lead these seven points that are shown on the screen and I’m not going to read
Each one of them but these are the seven points that come from from John C Maxwell’s book called the right to lead and he talks about these seven traits of leadership and that these traits are a part of me there are many different styles out there but these are the seven
Traits that I embody when I know that I have to direct individuals I have to delegate tasks to others I have to convey my vision convey my my thoughts influence individuals and public speaking is more directly tied to item number three building positive relationships because as it states
Leadership is influence and your ability to speak in front of a crowd no matter how big or how small you are influential and it’s a relational activity if you are unable to speak to a crowd to convey your thoughts you may seen as a credible individual or a credible leader and that
Doesn’t mean that folks have to agree with you it just means that folks want to know do you know what you’re talking about can I follow what you’re saying and is it something that I can get behind so I feel that public speaking at its core of leadership is that if you want
To become a better leader that you have to consider these different areas conveying your ideas more effectively to others engaging your audience that ignites additional thoughts and ideas that when one comes together and they can collaborate the idea becomes bigger than the one individual and and then in turn these
Individuals or audience will give you the right to lead them into whatever situation that you’re there to uh to provide for so I for myself these seven traits are basically foundational to who I am and how I’ve LED this organization how I lead at my company and how I’ve LED in different
Organizations I’ve been a member of and so my approach to public speaking that when I’m addressing my brothers or I’m addressing a room full of board members for the Boy Scouts I have a a simple approach you can Google TI tricks for public speaking but this is what has
Been the court to me and foundational to myself uh that um I do believe that the audience wants to hear what you have to say I’ve been invited over 200 times I have to know and understand that whatever I’m going to say the audience wants to hear it I never go into any
Situation thinking man will the audience accept what I’m going to give them I go in there with the confidence and with the knowledge that I know what I’m talking about and I want to share sh Thoughts with the individuals who are going to be reviewing and viewing my presentation I speak with
Confidence but not with arrogance and so for my Approach and the approach that I suggest as tips is that know what you’re going to say know how you’re going to say it but say it in a manner that’s not offputting and so I work very hard to
Ensure that my delivery make would make individuals in my audience feel comfortable and that they understand what I’m going to say and then if I don’t know something I say so I am not the smartest person in the room I know that there are more folks smarter than
Me sometimes what I’m presenting on their individuals who spend years and decades on that craft or that area or that topic so sometimes for me it’s a 20-minute conversation but if I don’t know something I am open enough and confident enough to say I don’t know and
To say I can find someone to get that answer or I will go research that answer so when I’m standing in front of a public uh in front of the public giv a speech I don’t try to be the smartest person in the room and I’m very humble
To say I don’t know something if I’m asked a question I always check my f and I would say that um in any approach you check your facts before someone else does I work very hard to ensure that the information that I’m conveying is very factual and very specific and that if
Someone wants to Google it they will know that it came from a source or that it was formed based on information that you can find I work very hard not to just add live uh anything that I say to my audience I want to make sure that I’m
Very intentional about what I’m going to convey and that the information I convey is very factual I do try to keep in mind of the time and I am looking at the time and I’m sweating with the timekeeper on this call because um I I made mistakes
Ongoing over time at the 2015 General convention I spoke for 1 hour and 45 minutes to almost 2 hours give my state of fraternity address I had a lot of information to convey but one of my biggest regrets that I spoke that long but one of the things that I
Came away with is that my brothers sat there and listened but I am very conscious of everyone’s time um respectful of everyone’s time because they’re there to listen to you but they don’t want to listen to you all day all night and so I I try to keep
That I know I go over at times and sometimes it’s avoidable but I do try to focus on that and that’s very important I always say thank you thank you to brother Wilkerson for inviting me here this evening thank you to any speaking engagement that I deliver
Because if they didn’t want to hear from you they didn’t need to invite you and so I’m very cognizant that it is an honor when someone wants to hear what I have to say and I always want to let people know that I appreciate the fact
That you want me to speak to you so I always say thank you at the end of all of my speeches and the last tip that I can give and that I follow myself personally is that the best speaking style is your style you know as a past
General president you have many examples and of great orators within our fraternity one of the living orators is our own brother Milton Carver Davis who is the 29th General president he is a fantastic speaker you have brother ever Ward our 35th General president he is also a fantastic speaker and all of our
General presidents had to really be good speakers in order to become General president because I can assure you if you were unable to convey your thoughts to the Brotherhood the Brotherhood will let you know and you will not become General president but one of the things
That I took for myself as a speaker was not to emulate anybody else I can only be me and as long as you are authentically you in who you are you may speak with an accent you may speak with a with a slight lisp be authentic to who you are because
That forms the foundation of the person that’s going to con information and the audience wants to know man is he being true to me is he being who he is and the worst thing to do is to try to be someone that you’re not so I do want to say thank you to
Brother Wilkerson and thank you to my brothers of the Alpha Toast Masters for allowing me to be a part of this occasion uh I don’t take it for granted that uh for everything that I do brothers are watching the public is watching but one thing that I always try
To do is to be very prepared because at any moment you may be asked to speak for any occasion for any function for any person and I take high honor to be able to provide my thoughts my ideas um my tips on how I can help better my
Brothers to become better speakers but more importantly to become better leaders not only for this organization but for the World At Large so I want to say thank you my brothers for this opportunity thank you for listening to positive filter a podcast that focuses on family friends career with a
Self-help along the way if you enjoyed this podcast please share it with your family and friends and like the Facebook page spreading positivity a movement thanks for Listening
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