Mainstage Speakers
To deliver value, inspiration and delight from stage
Rana Saini
Saturday Morning
The CEO behind The Expert Project Group, a pioneer in B2B sales and marketing strategies.
Rana’s professional journey has seen him build, run and sell multiple businesses, and he’s found his true passion in devising marketing solutions that enable experts to cultivate highly profitable lifestyle businesses.
His impressive career is rooted in the ethos of working smarter, not harder, and helping people achieve their full potential.
Beyond his professional endeavours, Rana is a fitness enthusiast, race track driver, target shooter, and foodie.
Rana is another speaker who we were so keen to bring in that we virtually high-fived each other when he said yes! We absolutely love his philosophy on life, confidence, and the way that he forges ahead, pulling everyone in his wake. He believes that we shouldn't focus so much on what we need to DO, but more on who we need to BE.
His energy and positivity are contagious, and we're so excited for the vibe that we know he'll bring to our event. Again, his content will be appropriate for us on a personal level, and super valuable for club leaders.
Kevin Humphreys
Saturday Afternoon
An international keynote speaker, and helicopter pilot.
Graduating top of his pilot’s course at age 21, Kevin went on to serve in the Army for 20 years flying Black Hawk and Chinook helicopters. He deployed on numerous overseas operations however, towards the peak of his career contemplated suicide and suffered a breakdown due to a cocktail of PTSD, anxiety, depression, alcohol abuse and a toxic culture. Kevin got back on his feet but also back in the air again, spending the next 10 years as a Search and Rescue helicopter flight instructor, flight examiner, Chief Pilot and Director of Operations.
Today his mission is to inspire people to engage in Noble self-leadership. Let Kevin give you a brief glimpse into his world when his wings weren’t level and learn what to implement personally and organizationally to build resilience – so you can keep wings level and get stuff done!
Securing Kevin as a speaker was a huge achievement for the team (thanks Steve Bates, specifically!)
Kevin will be speaking about the power of perspective and the debilitating effects of fatigue and burnout, along with what we can do about that.
We wanted to hear from Kevin because fatigue and burnout are common themes that so many people are experiencing, both in our personal lives and as club leaders.
Educational Breakout Speakers
To educate, encourage and inspire
Vaughan Paynter
Identify and Engage with Your Unique Voice
Just because you can communicate well doesn’t mean everyone will be listening. Fight back against the same-same-ness of speakers.
Is your style sassy or respectful? Enthusiastic or matter-of-fact? Your ability to be true to yourself and stand out from the crowd of speakers around you is your secret advantage.
During this session Vaughan will help you to explore;
🏹 IDENTIFY your unique point of difference,
🏹 how to use that to ENGAGE your audience better, and
🏹 why that'll have you SECURE more speaking opportunities.
You will walk away with a very clear pathway to level up your speaking and stand out from the crowd.
Vaughan Paynter
Vaughan is a coach and communication expert from the Gold coast. He brings 20+ years of public speaking experience with him, from small boardroom discussions to MC'ing public events of >10k attendees.
He is a big believer in human potential and seeing people grow in their skills of communication and influence.
Lisa Dodis
Cultivating Growth and Flourishing
Just as a flower needs the right environment to blossom, individuals require nurturing, personal development, and a strong support system to realize their full potential and grow into the best versions of themselves.
🌹 Explore who you are now, identifying personal strengths and recognising areas for Improvement, enabling you to grow.
🌻 Cultivating Growth by celebrating achievements, overcoming challenges and seeking support for growth, embedding roots by building a foundation for further growth and development .
🌷 Flourishing Environment by seeking out opportunities, learning embracing challenges as growth opportunities and illuminating your path to success.
🌼 Reflection and Goal Setting, by identifying the elements required for your personal growth and developing an action plan to ensure you grow by design.
Lisa Dodis
With an infectious enthusiasm, current Brisbane Division Director Lisa Dodis champions Toastmasters as a gateway to transformative growth, drawing from her own profound journey within the organization.
Lisa has been highly involved and dedicated to Toastmasters since she joined in 2016.. She loves competing and her proudest moment was achieving 3rd place in the 2021 District 69 International Speech Contest.
As a Club Officer Training facilitator for the past 3 years, Lisa has contributed to nurturing the next generation of leaders. With her personalized touch and unwavering commitment, she empowers individuals to unlock their full potential and embark on a journey of self-discovery and achievement.
Luke Meacle
Persona Play: Discovering Your True Self Through Improv
This session aims to help participants explore and understand their own personalities through a series of interactive activities based on improvisation concepts.
Through discussions, personal reflections, and group activities, participants will gain insights into their presentation styles, approaches to challenges, and ways to embody different personas. This session provides a safe space for self-exploration and skill development.
Participants will gain a deeper understanding of their own personalities, including how they present themselves and react to challenges.
Luke Meacle
Luke Meacle worked for 10 years as a high performance sports coach, tasking several high school athletes to different stages in their athletic career.
He has taken these coaching skills into the professional environment, utilising his background in HR to work with graduates nd leaders alike to develop their toolbox of skills and ideas on how to improve their professional experience.
He loves to share humour of his day to day life in improv and stand up comedy,
Jock Elliot
Top Ten Tips For Contest Speaking
This session covers the things that the serious contest speaker should be doing if they hope to take the prize.
It includes topic selection and content, speech construction and development, writing and editing, audience analysis, mentors and feedback rehearsal, stage effects and props and much, much more.
Everyone does some of the skills that Jock will deal with, but do they do enough of them and all at once.
Jock Elliot
Jock Elliott has been professionally engaged in public speaking for forty-five years as a key note speaker, after-dinner speaker, Master of Ceremonies, speech writer and editor, coach, trainer, mentor and author.
He is the 2011 World Champion of Public Speaking, 2nd runner up in the 1994 WCPS and holds the record as a six times finalist in the World Championship of Public Speaking. He also holds 24 state, national and international speaking titles.
Home base is Brisbane, Queensland, Australia and he has presented at conferences and seminars in every state in Australia, as well as the USA, UK, Ireland, Poland, Saudi Arabia and Hong Kong as well as numerous on-line seminars for TM clubs worldwide.
Katrina Roberts
Stage Presence - Demystifying The "It" Factor
When you watch someone speak, you know if they’ve got the ‘it’ factor. But what is ‘it’ and how can you manufacture ‘it’ for yourself? This session will define and demystify stage presence, empowering you to become a more effective and magnetic speaker through the application of some simple techniques.
Katrina Roberts
Katrina Roberts is a qualified and highly-experienced voice and speech trainer, specialising in the coaching of actors, and executive leaders and professional communicators. She’s the principal Voice and Speech Lecturer at JMC Academy in Brisbane teaching within the Bachelor of Creative Arts (Acting) stream, Voice Specialist educator for NIDA Open, and a reputable adjudicator of national speech, drama and public speaking competitions.
Since launching her own business (Simply Speech) in 2019, she has worked with hundreds of professional voice-users including high-performers in the Queensland government, corrections and judicial systems.
Lewis Jones
A Crash Course in ‘Theatricality’
It’s out with the old and in with the new. No more public speaking! Just stop!
Make the big shift to simply holding a conversation with a group of people and focusing on how you want to act upon them. Stop worrying about what you are saying and how you are saying it – focus on your actions, how you feel about what you are saying, and how you want to impact your listeners.
Learn how to connect intellect, emotion, body, and voice to take your speeches – your conversations with groups - to the next level.
While as speakers we often spend many hours poring over the words, all that work is wasted if we are just ‘delivering a speech’ – rather than connecting to our conversation partners!
Liberate yourself from the burden of speaking! Welcome to a dynamic, physical, muscular body:voice connection that will get your message across.
Lewis Jones
Lewis Jones is an award-winning theatre director and producer with over three decades of experience in the performing arts.
In 2022, he pivoted this extensive experience working with a diverse range of actors – from emerging artists studying in tertiary institutions to high-profile professional performers working in main house theatres - into the delivery of public speaking coaching. Currently, his clients range from emerging graduates to C-suite executives of ASX 200 corporations.
Since launching Effective Public Speaking, he has extended his services into presentation coaching for high-end corporate pitches, as well as offering bespoke communications training for organizations such as Screen Queensland and Redland City Council.
He has been a member of SouthBank Toastmasters since 2018 and placed 3rd and 2nd in the District 69 Humorous Speech Contest in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Michelle Priem
Living Intentionally - Intentionally Prioritising the Things that Matter Most and Answering Only to your Authentic Self
Explore the concept of Living with Intent, letting go of the modern “busy-ness” to live more simply and grow in the direction of your best life.
What will people learn from your session?
🧩 Difference between setting Goals and defining Intention.
🧩 The link between setting intention and answering to your authentic self.
🧩 The freedom that comes from understanding your own “why” or intention as decisions and actions become more deliberate and more aligned with your bigger picture best life rather than just “busy”.
🧩 How to succinctly sum up your own intent.
🧩 How to use your intention to guide future goals and direction.
Michelle Priem
Michelle is an accomplished leader in Education, having worked in the Industry for more than 20 years. She has been successful in a range of classroom, in-region advisory and administrative roles. Michelle has experience in a variety of school environment, but specialised, and has great passion for special education, particularly students with social, emotional, and behavioural difficulties.
These days, after becoming the CEO of a blended family of 5, Michelle has sought ways to apply her experience to her own family as well as achieve the right work/life/family balance. A seemingly impossible task in today’s modern world of expectations but did lead Michelle to relocate her family from Brisbane to Stanthorpe on the Granite Belt, just over 12 months ago. The move saw Michelle leave Education, purchase a small business on a rural property and enter the highly competitive and seasonal tourism industry. Now living on 38 acres of quiet serenity, she is an involved mother, active member of the community, keeper of chickens and advocate for breaking the mould, being authentic and learning to ‘Live with Intention’ to find the joy in the chaos of the everyday.
Kevin Ryan
The Path To Professional Speaker
💥 Do you have a vision of taking your Toastmaster skills further?
💥 Could speaking for reward be a goal for you?
💥 Would you like to explore more speaking opportunities?
Grow your speaking by design. See what action you can take to change your speaking up a level – and how to get going. This session will be about what you need to know if you want to take your speaking to bigger or broader stages.
Kevin Ryan
Kevin Ryan joined Toastmasters in 1989 and pursued the contestant’s path, winning the District 69 International Speech contest twice.
He became a full-time speaking professional in 2000, built his business in Australia for eight years, then spent the next twelve working mostly overseas. He has earned the accreditations of CSP (Certified Speaking Professional – the highest level in professional speaking and held by less than 900 speakers in the world) and CVP (Certified Virtual Presenter).
Kevin is a Past National President of Professional Speakers Australia and is the PSA National Accreditation Chair (responsible for approving all Professional Membership and CSP applications). He has been inducted into the Australian Speakers’ Hall of Fame.
Amanda Rosazza
Creating A Purposeful Culture
Culture in our clubs, our workplaces and our organisations can be moulded. In this session, Amanda will walk you through:
💥How do we create a club culture that makes people feel valued, want to stay longer, and maybe step up to lead?
💥What are the transferable skills and systems from a volunteer setting to the workplace?
Amanda Rosazza
Amanda is an Organisational Culture and Leadership specialist and runs her own training and consultancy company, Amanda's Here For You.
She specialises in developing managers into new to leadership positions, customer and employee experience and shifting culture for the better.
She also leads The Unconventionalists which is a community of Brisbane-based business owners who are forging their own paths - unconventionally.