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Episode #14 - Defining Our Generational Voice: An Interview With Tom Pfeifer
Episode 1513th July 2023 • Speaking From The Heart • Joshua D. Smith
00:00:00 00:36:57

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Learning from the various generations of history is an important point in creating the best version of ourselves in the present day. What if you have not learned about those stories, and at the same time, want to learn more about your own stories? This is one episode that you want to listen to!

Tom Pfeifer, my guest, and I discuss various stories that has led to Tom's impressive journalism career, and has allowed him to continue the mission of writing those stories for a wide variety of individuals that are seeking to be published.

Guest Bio

Tom Pfeifer has been telling stories since he jumped up on his junior high school lunch table in a black Nehru shirt and white dickey and began “preaching” to his fellow classmates, earning him accolades from his classmates and detention from the cafeteria monitors. (Don’t know what a Nehru shirt or a dickey is? Ask your parents or grandparents.)

As a journalist, Tom won awards from the Associated Press and other news organizations for his storytelling abilities. He followed that up with 15 years on Capitol Hill telling stories for elected officials. For the past 10 years he has been telling and dissecting stories as president/CEO of Consistent Voice Communications.

When not sharing or studying stories, you can find Tom walking along the Shenandoah River, hiking in the national park, or eating bonbons in front of his TV.

Tom's Facebook Page: https://www.facebook.com/YourConsistentVoice

Tom's YouTube Page: https://www.youtube.com/@YourConsistentVoice22150

Tom's Website: https://yourconsistentvoice.com

  • https://www.toastmasters.org - Learn more about a Toastmasters membership can create more self-confidence through communication and leadership development! In addition to learning more information, you can locate the club closest to you (whether in-person, online, or hybrid) through the "Find A Club" option available on the site.

Visit Our Website: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/

Visit Our Business Website: https://www.yourspeakingvoice.biz

Support The Mission Of The Business! Donate Here: https://speaking-from-the-heart.captivate.fm/support

Intro/Outro By: Michael Dugan, Podcast Host: Voice4Chefs

Transcripts

Intro:

Welcome to the podcast where relationships, confidence, and

Intro:

determination, all converge into an amazing, heartfelt experience.

Intro:

This is Speaking From The Heart.

Joshua:

Welcome back to episode 14 of Speaking From The Heart.

Joshua:

Today we have Tom Pfeifer, who will be joining us.

Joshua:

He is the owner and founder of Consistent Voice Communications LLC.

Joshua:

The purpose of his business is to discover the unique voice of small

Joshua:

businesses, associations, politicians, and individuals, and to consistently

Joshua:

promote that voice through all types of communication styles.

Joshua:

He is a former Southern California journalist.

Joshua:

He has won awards from the Associated Press, United Press International

Joshua:

and others for his individual writing and group coverage.

Joshua:

He was, for 15 years, a journalist and also press secretary to the senior

Joshua:

Republican house member of the Judiciary Committee, providing a voice during

Joshua:

the impeachment trial, a President Bill Clinton, and it was soon elevated to

Joshua:

communications director, where he honed his skills in the art of persuasion

Joshua:

through a variety of traditional and new media, which has garnered

Joshua:

international coverage for his principle on a variety of issues ranging from

Joshua:

terrorism to the late Michael Jackson.

Joshua:

Today's interview was really exciting because of Tom's rich career and

Joshua:

getting to know him about all the stories that he had is something that

Joshua:

for me, I felt, a great privilege to have him school me, the podcast host

Joshua:

of this show, to be able to understand a lot more about his rich career.

Joshua:

And with that, let's go to the episode.

Joshua:

We have Tom Pfeifer with us today.

Joshua:

Tom, thanks for sharing your heart with us.

Tom:

My pleasure, Joshua.

Joshua:

Tom and I have gone back for a few years now.

Joshua:

I was involved with a Toastmasters club, which has been a consistent

Joshua:

theme for many of my guests that are appearing for the first time on here,

Joshua:

and I always encourage everyone to check out a local Toastmasters club.

Joshua:

You make excellent connections with people and you network with

Joshua:

so many different individuals.

Joshua:

Tom, I know that you are an entrepreneur and you have been

Joshua:

running your own business.

Joshua:

Do you mind telling us a little bit about your business and why you got

Joshua:

started with it, just to start us out?

Tom:

Sure.

Tom:

Well, I've been a writer for more than 35 years, professional writer, and when

Tom:

my boss, who was a congressman from California, Elton Gallegly, who you never

Tom:

heard of, I decided to retire in 2013.

Tom:

I retired with him; sent that I hung out with my shingle for the first

Tom:

time and I had TJP writing services was the name of my company at that

Tom:

point, and I was just doing marketing and, press releases and whatnot for

Tom:

different companies, and it involved into Consistent Voice Communications

Tom:

later that year, September of 2013.

Tom:

Right now I encourage people to write their books, and particularly

Tom:

entrepreneurs and speakers because it's a great way to get out and be

Tom:

recognized in your field as an expert in your field, which speakers

Tom:

need to be experts in their field.

Tom:

It's a great way to bring credibility and increase your earning potential.

Joshua:

Absolutely, and as many people know with my business too, I really am

Joshua:

trying to get people to also realize that the basic fundamentals, especially with

Joshua:

starting out with public speaking, is all about just understanding more of not just

Joshua:

your speaking voice, essentially how you project yourself, but also the messaging

Joshua:

behind it, but speaking of messaging, Tom, when I read your bio, I was really

Joshua:

impressed by just the impressive history that you've had as a reporter, and I

Joshua:

don't think I even knew that, for as many years as I've known you, that you

Joshua:

won awards with the Associated Press, and you've been working with all kinds

Joshua:

of different people on Capitol Hill as you were a reporter, could you tell

Joshua:

us a little bit about that experience?

Joshua:

Because not many people, probably really understand the beat that you have to

Joshua:

do, and I know that you might have some really unique stories as a result of that.

Tom:

I think I do.

Tom:

I was the kind of reporter who made friends with the janitors and the

Tom:

secretaries and whatnot; knew their names, knew their kids, knew their

Tom:

husband's names, and knew their birthdays and paid off one time when the police

Tom:

chief for police shot himself in the butt on weekend, he was on vacation-

Joshua:

Wait, an officer actually shot themselves in the butt?

Tom:

Chief of police.

Joshua:

Wow.

Joshua:

That's, that is hilarious.

Joshua:

Go on, I'm sorry.

Tom:

Oh, I thought it was hilarious too, particularly since one of the lower rung

Tom:

people in the police station, when I came back from vacation, ran up to me

Tom:

and said, "where the hell have you been?"

Tom:

I said, "I've been on vacation.

Tom:

Why?"

Tom:

She goes, "come here."

Tom:

She pulls me over the side.

Tom:

She whispers to me they have a press release ready, but they're not going to

Tom:

give it to you unless you ask for it.

Tom:

I said, "what press release?"

Tom:

She said, "boss shot himself in the butt over the weekend."

Tom:

I marched into the PIO office and had this big grin on my face

Tom:

and I said, "I understand you have a press release for me."

Tom:

That was a fun story.

Joshua:

I bet.

Joshua:

I bet you got a lot of reactions outta that one.

Joshua:

It's like, I got the scoop, but I'm curious too, you said that you made

Joshua:

friends with the janitors and secretaries.

Joshua:

Now let's put this in context.

Joshua:

I know that for some people they're probably scratching their heads and

Joshua:

thinking, "why would you ever make friends with people like that?",

Joshua:

because I know for a reporter, because I studied journalism in college, you

Joshua:

try to get the scoop wherever you can and it's all about who you know

Joshua:

and the connections that you make.

Joshua:

Why the janitors, why the secretaries?

Tom:

Because they know what's going on.

Tom:

I grew up in the blue collar family, so it comes naturally to

Tom:

me to be friends with these people.

Tom:

They're my kind of people, and, when something happens in their company, they

Tom:

want to feel important too, and if you're friends with them, they want to tell you

Tom:

what's going on, and that's how I got the scoop over the Los Angeles Times.

Tom:

In the Los Angeles Daily News, our little Podunk Senior Valley Enterprise

Tom:

got the scoop on this story because I had had friends in low places.

Joshua:

When you were growing up, and you mentioned that your family at least

Joshua:

brought you up in a blue collar situation.

Joshua:

Tell us a little bit about that.

Joshua:

Was that something that really made an influence for you

Joshua:

to enter into journalism?

Joshua:

Was that a catalyst for you to get into that industry, that business?

Tom:

No.

Joshua:

Well, hey, at least you are straight up with me about it.

Tom:

No, not at all.

Tom:

In fact, my aunt one time said, when I told her I was going to be a writer, she

Tom:

said, "well, just don't be a journalist.

Tom:

Make me a promise you won't be a journalist.", so I promised

Tom:

her I wouldn't be a journalist.

Tom:

Probably what killed her, but, oh well.

Joshua:

Well, if it wasn't for your family, then tell me a

Joshua:

little bit about your dad and mom.

Joshua:

I'm kind of curious as to how they nurtured you growing up and got you to

Joshua:

at least move into this direction; maybe not influence you, but at least move you.

Tom:

Well, they were against me, going into the writing business.

Tom:

Nobody ever made money writing.

Tom:

It was a laughable goal in my family was to be a writer, because nobody had

Tom:

ever even gone to college in my family.

Joshua:

Oh wow.

Tom:

They didn't nurture me to be a writer.

Tom:

They nurtured me to grow up and do what I wanted to do, but, uh-

Joshua:

Oh, go ahead.

Joshua:

I'm sorry.

Tom:

But writing was not in their top goals for me.

Tom:

They wanted me to be a lawyer or a doctor or something of that nature.

Joshua:

Was there something that you read that maybe influenced you

Joshua:

to be a journalist, or was there other people that maybe inspired

Joshua:

you to enter into the field?

Joshua:

I know for myself, I could easily say that my parents were also a big

Joshua:

detractor for me to not go into the direction I did, which was have a

Joshua:

political science degree, do all this.

Joshua:

I had the aspirations too, of wanting to be a lawyer, but I completely shifted

Joshua:

gears after the Great Recession of 2008.

Joshua:

I knew that wasn't going to be a viable career path.

Joshua:

Was there something that maybe shifted you, maybe gave you influence to do that,

Joshua:

because you definitely do some awesome stuff when it relates to not just the

Joshua:

business that you were talking about earlier, but I know that you help others

Joshua:

as a result of writing those stories too, which we'll get into, but is there

Joshua:

something that really propelled you?

Tom:

Well, I knew that Mark Twain and Ernest Hemingway had been journalists,

Tom:

so I figured it was good training, but I'd never planned on being a journalist.

Tom:

When I got to California after my construction accident in October of

Tom:

1978, I found the community college was only $50 a semester out in California,

Tom:

so I said I'd be a damn fool if I didn't go to school at that point.

Tom:

I took journalism because it was only hands-on writing curriculum they had.

Tom:

I didn't want to learn about writing.

Tom:

I wanted to learn to write.

Tom:

I took that route.

Joshua:

When you did take that route and you got into the job that you

Joshua:

did with reporting the news for several decades, was there something

Joshua:

that stood out for you in those years that, when you were doing that career?

Joshua:

In other words, was there somebody or something that helped propel you to

Joshua:

continue doing it for as long as you have?

Joshua:

If so, who's that person and tell us a little bit about them if you don't mind.

Tom:

Bob Sathway was my first writing coach and he came about because at

Tom:

the end of my first year of college, my journalism and instructor came up

Tom:

to me and said, "Tom, as far as I'm concerned, you're already a professional.

Tom:

There's nothing else so I can teach you."

Tom:

I went down to the local newspaper and took my way into

Tom:

an internship, wanted to test it.

Tom:

Bob Sathway was the copy editor.

Tom:

They sent me out on a story.

Tom:

I don't remember what the story was, but I came back and typed it up and handed it.

Tom:

In those days, they marked it up with the number two lead pencil to correct

Tom:

spelling and typos and move words around if need be, and to move paragraphs around,

Tom:

they actually tore the paper and Scotch taped the paragraph in a different spot.

Tom:

I'm sitting back in my chair waiting for the accolades to come in.

Tom:

Bob gets up from his desk and walks over to me, has smoke Marlboro,

Tom:

hanging from his lips, and he looks at me and goes, pulls up my paper

Tom:

in his full lead and scotch tape.

Tom:

Crumpled it up, threw it at my head and said, "rewrite that crap, Pfeifer.

Tom:

I can't turn it into the proof reader like that."

Joshua:

Wow.

Tom:

First person, whoever spoke lowly of my writing.

Tom:

He became a mentor and a friend.

Joshua:

When you have people like him enter your life and they kind

Joshua:

of tear you down and pretty much rebuild you from where you are, which

Joshua:

I've had people in my life that I can name off the top of my head that have

Joshua:

certainly done the same thing and made me the person that I am today.

Joshua:

When you have those sort of people and they're making that influence on you, I

Joshua:

know that the industry itself has changed so much in the last several decades,

Joshua:

especially with the rise of the Internet and even having news on demand where we

Joshua:

pick up our phone and essentially can read it at our own leisure whenever we want.

Joshua:

Would your mentor be surprised as to how far we've come with that, or would he

Joshua:

have been probably scared of all these advances, and either or, what would you

Joshua:

say is, well, lemme put it this way.

Joshua:

What would've been the reaction of him knowing all these things

Joshua:

that have changed, especially in the world of journalism?

Joshua:

What would he say to you and how would you navigate through that?

Tom:

Hmm, that's good question, because we never really had

Tom:

any of those conversations.

Tom:

When I went into journalism, computers were just coming out.

Tom:

I had to bring my own manual typewriter in because we didn't

Tom:

have enough electrical outlets for electric type typewriter.

Tom:

We were in the early beginnings of computers and whatnot when he passed away.

Joshua:

Would he have ever imagined, I guess is the question, of holding it on

Joshua:

your phone and being able to research it, having that sort of technology.

Joshua:

Even if you don't know the answer as to what he might thought of, would you

Joshua:

have ever thought, even as you were growing up in the journalism industry,

Joshua:

seeing what we see today as just having so many news stories on hand.

Tom:

No.

Joshua:

Yeah.

Tom:

Never would've pictured it.

Joshua:

I think so too, especially myself, I think that it's usually

Joshua:

very tough to conceptualize that.

Joshua:

We wouldn't have never, ever had this much information at our hands, but,

Joshua:

Tom, I want to pivot into really the essence of what you're doing now because

Joshua:

you definitely have had a long career of doing exactly what you are doing

Joshua:

even right now, which is essentially telling stories whether they are

Joshua:

factual, not factual, or all in between.

Joshua:

I will put a link into the show notes about Tom's business, which

Joshua:

is Consistent Voice Communications.

Joshua:

Tom, as a business owner and somebody that works with clients specifically relating

Joshua:

to working on their story, what's one piece of advice that you typically give

Joshua:

to someone that is starting out, they have no idea where they want to go with their

Joshua:

story, or what their idea is of a story.

Joshua:

What is usually your first step working with them?

Tom:

My first step working with them is to try to figure out what they

Tom:

have to say, and what's important to them, and you ask questions and you

Tom:

ask questions, and you ask questions until they have a clear in their own

Tom:

mind what they want to write about.

Tom:

It's not up to me to tell them what to write about.

Tom:

It's up to them to figure it out on their own, but I can ask a lot of questions

Tom:

and lead them to where they want to go.

Joshua:

Is there a process that you walk them through other than

Joshua:

maybe showing them what they are essentially developing on their own?

Joshua:

Is there something that you help them see when they're bringing you that idea,

Joshua:

or they're bringing you that concept that they want to write out as a story?

Tom:

Well, let me ask you this.

Tom:

What's your first book on?

Joshua:

Good question.

Joshua:

I've been playing that around actually in my head, and I'll even let the audience

Joshua:

know that one of the first things that I hope to write about at some point is

Joshua:

about the stories that I've had growing up as a kid and leading up to where I'm

Joshua:

at now, being an owner and a podcast host.

Joshua:

I really want to get a lot more, not just my autobiography, but I want to

Joshua:

have it so that there's lessons built into it so that people can relate to

Joshua:

them, because I think that's really important to have lessons relating to

Joshua:

the mini stories that I want to write up.

Tom:

Right.

Tom:

You need to have a point.

Joshua:

How do you flush out a point with somebody?

Joshua:

What's your process with that?

Tom:

Usually I ask him what the point of the story is, and you'd be surprised

Tom:

where I've been and people say, "I don't think there is a point to it."

Tom:

So then I ask them, "well, why did you tell it?"

Tom:

There's the old story about how my generation used to tell the story about

Tom:

how we walked to school, four feet of snow, three miles up hill, both ways.

Tom:

Hell of a story, but what's the point to it?

Tom:

The point is that we had life hard, so get off your whippy asses and get to work.

Joshua:

Yes, let's get to work.

Joshua:

Let's do it, and I know that sometimes that for even some of the generation

Joshua:

that we have now, that'll be like, "whoa, wait, I actually have to

Joshua:

do something other than get be on my phone or be on my computer?"

Joshua:

I know you could tell me that, Tom.

Joshua:

I understand that completely.

Tom:

Mm-hmm.

Joshua:

When you do have that point, and you do have those facts that back

Joshua:

it up, I think what I really want to ask is, when you are telling your

Joshua:

story, what's your point to your story?

Joshua:

Meaning, I'm not just talking about your life story and how it relates

Joshua:

to the bigger picture, but how do you resonate with people essentially?

Joshua:

Because I think a lot of us want to resonate and they want to have

Joshua:

connection, and I know personally for myself, sometimes I struggle with

Joshua:

that in articulating it because of my autism and what I've been through as a

Joshua:

result of all these life experiences.

Joshua:

When we have this mindset, right, of what we think is going to be the point

Joshua:

of our story, how do we get out of our own traps essentially when it comes

Joshua:

to sharing it with another audience?

Tom:

Well, you just share it and see what flies.

Tom:

If it doesn't work the first time, then you figure out why it didn't work.

Tom:

What words do you need to change?

Tom:

What emphasis do you need to change?

Tom:

Does the story even work at all for the point that you're trying to make?

Tom:

It's trial and error.

Tom:

Everything in life is trial and error.

Joshua:

Yeah.

Tom:

That goes with the speaking and the storytelling business.

Joshua:

Speaking of the storytelling business, being that you've been involved

Joshua:

with it for so long, as I've mentioned repeatedly now, I want my audience to

Joshua:

know and really drill down that you have a lot of knowledge that you can impart.

Joshua:

I really want them to know this, and that's why I, I keep emphasizing it,

Joshua:

but with that said, I know that you've probably have worked with a lot of

Joshua:

people over the years and maybe even more particularly with your business,

Joshua:

and without getting into any names or anybody that maybe you don't want

Joshua:

to disclose, tell me about somebody that you've worked with that you have

Joshua:

seen tremendous success with, and why?

Joshua:

Why was that a success story?

Tom:

My publisher, Wayne Lee, was a tremendous influence on me.

Tom:

He's also a great mentor, no nonsense Texan.

Tom:

When I was working for him for about three weeks, ran into him in the bathroom,

Tom:

and he's washing his hands and he stares at me through the mirror and says, "How

Tom:

do you like working here, Pfeifer?"

Tom:

I said, "well, I like it just fine Wayne.

Tom:

I think I'm doing some good stories and having a good time at it," and he

Tom:

says, turns to me and he is wiping his hands off and he looks at me and he

Tom:

says, "Well, if I was a younger man in as honor as I used to be, I tell you,

Tom:

I have a hard time working with me with my foot up your butt, the way you spell.

Tom:

You ever hear a G D dictionary?"

Joshua:

Wow.

Tom:

Wayne was a great influence on me and, still kept in touch with his

Tom:

daughter, who lives in Kansas now.

Tom:

Has two grown kids.

Joshua:

When you see people like Wayne that have been really successful and

Joshua:

have been able to take it to the next level where that career was and before

Joshua:

you worked with 'em, and even after you worked with them, do you get a sense of

Joshua:

joy out of that in terms of not just the successes that they have, but do you feel

Joshua:

that you have a little bit of a part of that, and when you feel that way, how

Joshua:

does that make you feel, because knowing that you have instituted and help somebody

Joshua:

to kind of move it from point A to point B, how has that shaped you into the Tom

Joshua:

Pfeifer that I'm talking to right now?

Tom:

Let me give you a little anecdote about Bob Woodward.

Tom:

When I was working for Congress, Bob Woodward came to speak to the Republican

Tom:

Communications Association, which I was a part of because I worked for a Republican,

Tom:

and I walked into the room and he was the only one in there, and he gets up

Tom:

and he walks over to me, he puts out his hand and says, "Hi, I'm Bob Woodward."

Tom:

I said, "Well, I know who you are, but let me explain who I am because I

Tom:

doubt you very much you know who I am."

Tom:

That was a eye opener for me because he was real and he didn't expect that

Tom:

anybody actually knew who he was.

Tom:

He probably did realize that people knew who he was, but that

Tom:

was his way of disarming people.

Joshua:

Mm-hmm.

Tom:

And, it worked.

Joshua:

You are pretty much a person in which not only have you worked with those

Joshua:

individuals where, like a Bob Woodward, that are walking down the corridor

Joshua:

and you think like, "oh boy, they're never going to approach me like that.

Joshua:

I'm just a nobody.

Joshua:

I'm just, I'm just here to get the story."

Joshua:

Do you feel that nowadays, as we see this culture of political change happening,

Joshua:

especially, not to get into politics, but I'm kind of curious what your

Joshua:

thought is about all the things that are happening in this world, and it seems

Joshua:

like there's this tension about trying to get something done and to get a

Joshua:

slash on the board for getting a point, essentially, for doing X, Y, and Z.

Joshua:

Comparing it to where it was when you were even on the beat, do you think that things

Joshua:

have gotten worse, gotten better, gotten maybe, nah, nothing's really changed.

Joshua:

I think it's just more awareness of it.

Joshua:

What do you say has been some of the biggest changes as a whole with just

Joshua:

being able to talk and have an open communication, and that might even include

Joshua:

having stories that go along with it.

Joshua:

Do you sense that there's a shift happening?

Tom:

Oh, major shift starting with with Newt Gingrich.

Joshua:

Mm-hmm.

Tom:

Newt Gingrich decided that the old boys network in the Congress was no

Tom:

longer going to work, and we were going to have partisanship and it grew ugly.

Joshua:

Yeah.

Tom:

I worked for a very conservative congressman in California, and

Tom:

I was not conservative at all.

Tom:

First column I wrote for him, he came back with my desk and he says, "well,

Tom:

that's a really good column, Pfeifer, but I'm really surprised you wrote it."

Tom:

I said, "just cause I wrote it, doesn't believe I believe a word of it."

Tom:

We worked together for 15 years.

Tom:

When he decided to retire, he started referring to me as his token socialist.

Tom:

He used to introduce me to his constituents as his token socialist,

Tom:

which I had to agree with.

Joshua:

How did that make you feel that he did that?

Tom:

I thought it was hilarious.

Joshua:

Yeah.

Joshua:

Tom, we're almost at the end of our time, and I know that you are doing a lot of

Joshua:

things as it relates to your business, so I want to give you a few moments to

Joshua:

tell our audience a little bit about it as a whole, make your sales pitch to

Joshua:

us about how we can reach out to you.

Joshua:

Obviously, I'll put all this in the show notes, but I'll give you the last few

Joshua:

minutes to tell a little bit about that.

Tom:

Sure.

Tom:

I'm a writing and speaking coach now, certified speaking coach,

Tom:

and been professional writer and editor for more than 35 years.

Tom:

I am on a mission to have people write their books.

Tom:

Everybody has a story to tell and there's somebody out there who needs to hear it.

Tom:

In words of Mark Brown in 1991, I believe, World Champion of Public Speaking.

Tom:

You can connect with me through my website, yourconsistentvoice.com, or

Tom:

you want to set up a 30 minute free, no obligation phone call with me to discuss

Tom:

your ideas, go to connectwithtom.com, or you can call me: (540) 823-6787.

Joshua:

Thank you, Tom, and I have to say that I know that your career has

Joshua:

been impeccable and that you are one of those people from a generation that is

Joshua:

quickly fading, and I'm glad that I got to record this with you today because

Joshua:

I think it's really important to know that there is a need for continuing to

Joshua:

share our stories, and both the written form, along with the oral form, are both

Joshua:

equally as important to be able to do that and arrive variety of different

Joshua:

mediums, and you, sir, definitely have inspired me so much with many of the

Joshua:

things that you have done over your career and what you have shared with me,

Joshua:

even with our friendship that we've had.

Joshua:

Thanks so much for taking some time with us today to share some of those

Joshua:

experiences with us, and thank you for being on Speaking From the Heart.

Joshua:

It's been really a great time with you.

Tom:

Thank you, Joshua, but I'm not going anywhere real soon.

Joshua:

I hope you don't, and I will stress that more than anything else.

Joshua:

Thanks, Tom.

Tom:

Thank you.

Joshua:

I really enjoyed our interview with Tom, and Tom is one of those

Joshua:

people that is going to give it to you straight and to the point, and that's

Joshua:

what I really enjoyed about Tom's appearance on this show because for

Joshua:

many of us, we often don't get that opportunity to meet people that have that

Joshua:

influence over us so that we can learn so much about not only ourselves as an

Joshua:

individual, but through the stories and through the aspirations that we learn

Joshua:

as a result result of all that, we can garner so much information from that.

Joshua:

Now, Tom is one of those people that I have known through a number of years

Joshua:

because of Toastmasters and through his unique experiences that he's had through

Joshua:

Consistent Voice Communications, which for those that are really interested

Joshua:

in working with Tom, I'm going to throw a link into the show notes.

Joshua:

He will help you with getting that story, and he's done a number of

Joshua:

workshops personally that I've been able to help him critique and evaluate

Joshua:

and get him to the next level as it relates to that amongst a group of peers

Joshua:

that are aimed towards the same goal.

Joshua:

Tom, when you're listening to this, thank you for being here and talking

Joshua:

through a lot of this with us.

Joshua:

There are a couple of things that I really enjoyed about our talk

Joshua:

that I just want to point out.

Joshua:

It was one of the things that he said in the beginning that I really enjoyed

Joshua:

and that resonates with me, and it made me think a lot about the times

Joshua:

that I went through my early stages of working with the Commonwealth of

Joshua:

Pennsylvania, and he said to know the janitors and the secretaries.

Joshua:

I think that's an important lesson for all my professional people out there

Joshua:

that have an established career that are figuring out what's important,

Joshua:

what is needed, what is absolutely important for all of us to be able to

Joshua:

move forward from point A to point B.

Joshua:

It isn't just about knowing the influencers, it's about knowing the

Joshua:

people that know the people that get the scoop, and I love that Tom took

Joshua:

advantage of that in his early days, especially with many of the mentors

Joshua:

that he talked about throughout the show, and he really got to the heart of

Joshua:

it when he talked about this important point of the janitors and secretaries

Joshua:

because for me, if you don't have those relationships with people of all various

Joshua:

backgrounds, it does create a big shift.

Joshua:

There's a shift that is happening even right now, and Tom and I talked about

Joshua:

this during the episode about how this shift of partisanship and even the things

Joshua:

that are happening in the political realm have been happening quite a lot.

Joshua:

It isn't about just having those differences.

Joshua:

It's about having that communication style so that we are able to tell our stories.

Joshua:

We are able to learn and gain influence over those people that are necessary for

Joshua:

us to grow as not only professionals, but also personal individuals as well.

Joshua:

Tom reminds me of a generation that had to work very hard

Joshua:

to get to where they were at.

Joshua:

It was based on merits.

Joshua:

Merit is something that you learn to attribute to all the things that you

Joshua:

grow, not only as an individual, but also the things that you do as a person

Joshua:

overall through the various tasks, whether they're repetitive or you're

Joshua:

learning new things about the business that you're trying to enter into.

Joshua:

The same sort of practice still happens today with apprenticeships.

Joshua:

When you're talking about people that are electricians, they're working on plumbing,

Joshua:

they're working on even the electrical grid of the United States, even beyond.

Joshua:

Those are the people that help to drive the ingenuity and the processes that we

Joshua:

get to enjoy even to this day, and it doesn't matter what your background is.

Joshua:

It doesn't matter where you're coming from in terms of country of origin.

Joshua:

It doesn't matter where your knowledge sits in.

Joshua:

It's about the important fact that you're able to provide something to

Joshua:

somebody that allows them to go to the next level, and Tom really honed

Joshua:

in on all those individuals that really flourished with him, allowed

Joshua:

him to get ready for what was ahead.

Joshua:

He touched on this, which I hesitated in even talking about it myself, and

Joshua:

for those that had been listening to my podcast, know exactly what I'm

alking about when it comes to:

parents.

alking about when it comes to:

I know, parents are sometimes a big drag.

alking about when it comes to:

Sometimes they're really authoritarian figures that are

alking about when it comes to:

trying to just ruin everybody's life.

alking about when it comes to:

Maybe when it's your pre-teen or even a teen, maybe in your early twenties.

alking about when it comes to:

"Mom, Dad, I don't know why you're here.

alking about when it comes to:

I don't know why you keep on bothering me.

alking about when it comes to:

Leave me alone."

alking about when it comes to:

I was one of those people, and I realize that influence isn't just based on our

alking about when it comes to:

parents, it's about the people that we associate with, and I think for me,

alking about when it comes to:

Tom talked about that for not just the reactions that he would get from being

alking about when it comes to:

part of the room in which he was doing his work, but the work that he was doing

alking about when it comes to:

was instrumental to communicating to a whole new generation that was coming up

alking about when it comes to:

that would value the importance of the knowledge that would be gained from people

alking about when it comes to:

that worked on the Hill, specifically Capitol Hill, and we all know that Capitol

alking about when it comes to:

Hill is where a lot of deals happen.

alking about when it comes to:

Deals happen for a variety of different reasons, whether they are to pass budgets,

alking about when it comes to:

whether it's to move legislation, to make things become a law, it is all the

alking about when it comes to:

things that make democracy important for the foundation of our country, the

alking about when it comes to:

United States, and even for those people that are outside of the United States,

alking about when it comes to:

I know that it could be very challenging sometimes to even get cooperation from

alking about when it comes to:

your own government when it comes to that.

alking about when it comes to:

I know for even us, we have those difficulties here in the United

alking about when it comes to:

States, but what makes this beautiful is that we have a voice.

alking about when it comes to:

We have an advocate for that, and that is through our media.

alking about when it comes to:

Tom defined a generation in which I know personally, I am forever

alking about when it comes to:

grateful for being an Alvernia University graduate myself, majoring in

alking about when it comes to:

communications, specifically journalism.

alking about when it comes to:

I had a professor named Dr.

alking about when it comes to:

Marc DiPaolo, who would teach those basics for me, and Marc was one of

alking about when it comes to:

those individuals that flourished with that, with the use of technology

alking about when it comes to:

that was rising during that time.

alking about when it comes to:

Learning to be able to edit, learning to be able to be succinct, being able

alking about when it comes to:

to run what was the school newspaper, the Alvernian, allowed me to be

alking about when it comes to:

able to communicate to a generation myself: my own generation, and I think

alking about when it comes to:

that's what is really important to understand that there's no difference

alking about when it comes to:

to what I've been through almost 18 years ago to what it is today.

alking about when it comes to:

We still do that communication, whether it's through the various apps

that we have on our phone:

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok,

that we have on our phone:

you name it, whatever's on your phone, we all have those variety of ways in

that we have on our phone:

which we communicate with each other.

that we have on our phone:

Tom set the foundation amongst a lot of different people, including Bob Woodward,

that we have on our phone:

which he talked about being able to meet when he was part of the Press Corps.

that we have on our phone:

Tom is somebody that I have been fortunate enough to realize that we are

that we have on our phone:

going to lose that generation, and we are going to need to learn very quickly

that we have on our phone:

about the importance of getting back on track on what's important to report.

that we have on our phone:

Here's my next report to tell you, almost like what the late Walter

that we have on our phone:

Kronkite would tell you every night.

that we have on our phone:

This isn't just about the news, this is about the world.

that we have on our phone:

This isn't just about what's happening in your backyard, it's

that we have on our phone:

what's happening in your life.

that we have on our phone:

It's not just about the things that we do.

that we have on our phone:

It's about how we can have repercussions and opposite reactions as a result of

that we have on our phone:

ingesting and being able to learn all the different types of information

that we have on our phone:

that we have at our disposal.

that we have on our phone:

In other words, we take it for granted.

that we have on our phone:

Your Speaking Voice, the business that I started, isn't necessarily

that we have on our phone:

about how we can articulate ourselves and how we can create best values.

that we have on our phone:

I know that for many episodes previous to this, I talked about those values and

that we have on our phone:

I talked about the importance of being able to understand those values as it

that we have on our phone:

relates to the bigger context, but what would it look like if you actually took

that we have on our phone:

some of the lessons of what Tom learned in his generation and we applied it to

that we have on our phone:

our generation today, and we're able to create value for ourselves, whether that

that we have on our phone:

is through a news report, whether that is through creating stories in which

that we have on our phone:

he's able to do for his clients, or, what would it look like if we would be able

that we have on our phone:

to rewrite our own stories so that we can tell a great story that has not only

that we have on our phone:

the opportunities in which we succeeded in, but we also talk about the failures

that we have on our phone:

that made us become who we are today?

that we have on our phone:

That is what's really important, and I think that for many of us, those

that we have on our phone:

are the lessons that we need to gain so that we can continue to grow not

that we have on our phone:

only inside, but also outside, for a whole new generation to learn.

that we have on our phone:

Thanks for listening to episode 14 of Speaking from the Heart,

that we have on our phone:

and I look forward to hearing from your heart very soon.

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