Jason VanderPal, Rotary Club of New Berlin, New Berlin Rotary
Enhance your leadership skills with improved speaking skills
 
Jason VanderPal provided a lesson in the value of strong communication skills during our May 13 meeting. VanderPal, a local minister and professional sales trainer, walked us through his formative years with a major retailer out west.
 
Employed at Guitar Center in California for several years, VanderPal was asked to give a speech during the firm's 2007 national conference. That presentation was so well received, he was offered the manager's position at Guitar Center's Hollywood location - their flagship store. "I have a 20-minute speech to thank for that," he says.
 
Interested in enhancing his public speaking skills, VanderPal joined Toastmasters, then enrolled in an intense, three-day workshop created by renowned public speaking trainer Bill Gove. VanderPal shared some important tips from that training.
 
1. Make a point, then tell a story. Segue into your story by saying, "Let me give you an example." Examples and stories help audience members understand your point.
 
2. Think funny. Incorporate a joke if you can. If not, relay an anecdote from life. "Funny things happen everyday," VanderPal says.
 
3. Avoid being a "teacher." Don't bury your audience (or customer) in features and details. "You don't get paid to teach," VanderPal says. "You get paid to entertain." Make your presentation lively and interesting.
 
4. Make sure you rehearse. You become more comfortable with your material, which improves your delivery and helps you overcome any glitch during the presentation.
 
VanderPal left Guitar Center in 2011. His career to that point had been, by any measure, a success: being named one of top five salespeople in the nation and earning an Outstanding Innovation award for his approach to retail sales. A Wisconsin native, VanderPal had been involved in the ministry in California. He learned of an opening for a ministry position in the Badger State. Seeing that as a new calling, VanderPal accepted the role of Executive Pastor at The Ridge Community Church in Greenfield, Wis. It was "too good of an offer to pass up, " he says.
 
Meantime, he continues to speak, and offers sales training to retail organizations through his program, Rock n' Roll Retail. For in the end, a lot of one's success depends on communicating well.
 
"The key to your next level of leadership," VanderPal says, "might be to take your speaking skills to the next level."