Former pro By Paul Sterman player Mark Eaton scores slam dunk as a speaker.

Reaching Rare Hei hts

hen Toastmaster Mark Eaton speaks, audiences look "What I did is, I helped my team win," he explains in a keynote up at a man who stands 7feet 4 inches - or 223.5 W speech to a group of meeting plan­ centimeters. His towering presence gives weight to his equally ners. "I became invaluable to my commanding messages ofteamwork and how to achieve success. teammates by the very fact that I learned what I could be excellent at and I focused on it, so everybody Eaton, a member of Park City (who just happened to spot the else could do their jobs." Toastmasters in Park City, , is a 7-footer one day in the auto shop), To win in your field, he tells the former professional basketball player a great deal of hard work and a group, concentrate on what you do in the National Basketball Associa­ late-blooming belief in himself, best and "put other people first." tion (NBA), made up of the greatest Eaton eventually flourished in the players in the world. His journey to sport. He played 12 seasons in the Joining New Teammates All-Star status with the NBA, was twice named Defensive How did Eaton go from profeSSional defied all odds, and is an inspiration Player of the Year, led the league athlete to professional speaker? He to everyone who thinks their goals in blocked shots for four seasons, made Toastmasters part of his team. are unattainable. and still owns He's been a "When Mark gives a speech," says the NBA record '" member of the Julio Garreaud, preSident of the Park for most blocked Park City club City club and Eaton's close friend, shots in a sea­ since 2005. "you see his stature, but at the same son. Eaton did Before joining time you see the spirit of the man. all this by being Toastmasters, I call him 'The Gentle Giant.'" a team player he often gave "Mark's speaking is compelling," who knew his speeches to he adds, "because the events from role on the youth groups his life are remarkable. " court. He did and community As a teenager, Eaton was the the things that organizations anti-LeBron James. Uncomfortable are unsung and (Eaton played in his oversized body, he barely overlooked ­ his entire NBA made a ripple on the high school blocking players' career for the basketball team, spending most of shots, snagging Utah Jazz and his time on the bench. At one , rebounds off the is well-known he gave up on the sport and trained backboa rd, in Utah). How­ to be an auto mechanic. At 21, using his big ever, he wanted Eaton was working full time at a body to set to become a pro­ auto and tire screens for fessional speaker shop - with no intention of ever teammates - but that are essential who could deliver his message to a picking up a basketball again. to a team's success. wider audience. The ex-Ja zz man Then an amazing turnaround The lessons he learned in basket­ sings the praises of the Park City club, took place. With the mentoring ball are equally applicable to the saying Toastmasters helped take his of a kind coach business world, Eaton says. speaking skills to a new level.

20 TDASTMASTF.R Apni 2010 ~ Demon strating the defensive skills he was renowned for, Mark Eaton blocks the shot of NBA player Otis Thorpe, in a 1984 game betwe en the Utah Jazz and .

evaluation process, the awareness of ums and ahs. So he joined, eager to improve his own speaking.

Words from Wilt In his motivational speeches, Eaton mentions a turning point in his basketball career that came courtesy of - arguably the greatest player in NBA history. After watching Eaton mn around the court one day, frantically and futilely chasing a much smaller player, Chamberlain pulled him aside. He tolel Eaton he wasn't taking advan­ tage of his greatest asset: his 7-foot­ 4, 290-pound frame. Eaton's job wasn't to nm after speedier players, said Chamberlain, but to stay close to his team's basket, protect it by play­ ing defense, shots, the ball and get it to his teammates. The counseling changed Eaton's whole way of thinking. He carved out a specific niche in basketball and excelled at it. His message to others: "What's your greatest strengthl There's prob­ ably one asset or strength about you that causes those clients to call you up again and again and again. That's what you should be spending 80 percent of your time doing. In this "\X!hen I started in Toastmasters, participant in the club. Club president world of multi-tasking, it's hard - but I was developing a signature speech Garreaud says Eaton is a down-to­ get back to what you're excellent at." about my life and career," he says. earth guy who always tries to As he was developing and refin­ "What Toastmasters enabled me to improve himself and generously ing a keynote speech about himself, do was dig deeper into my [speech] offers feedback to other members. the ex-basketball player also worked ... to add physical gestures, learn how "When Mark's your evaluator, with a speech coach, New York to have a back-and-forth dialogue he evaluates you with dignity and City-based Lisa Yakobi. She says when you're onstage, how to deal respect," says Garreaud. "You're audiences have responded power­ with your placement on stage. where going to benefit from his comments." fully to Eaton's story. you should move - the various per­ Eaton's involvement with the "People are really surprised to fOlmance tips that really make a club began when a Toastmaster see a professional athlete be such a story come alive. Toastmasters was friend asked him to be a guest good speaker," says Yakobi, noting a real stepping-stone for my career." speaker at a meeting. The former that many former athletes are con­ Big Mark, as he's affectionately athlete was captivated with what tent to recount their past glories in known, remains a regular and active he saw - the timed speeches, the the sports arena while Eaton wants

Ap"I 20 10 TOASTMASTEr 2 I to give audiences practical advice with his StOIY. While most people from professional sports, Eaton for their own lives. can't relate to being over 7 feet tall, became a successful entrepreneur. When he touts the values of they can relate to feeling different Among his ventures: operating two teamwork, she adds, he has instant and vulnerable in some way. acclaimed restaurants - Tuscany and credibility. "There are many, many "They get it," Eaton says. Franck's - in , Utah. people who speak about teamwork, Learning to move comfortably In the restaurant business, he says, but very few of those people have onstage has also been a challenge. communication is key to practically actually been on a team," says the Because of his size, Eaton says, he's evelything: obtaining financing, speech coach. "Mark was on the always felt somewhat inhibited with marketing your restaurant, addressing Utah Jazz for 12 years, when the movement - as if not wanting to the City Council or a government average time for an NBA player is take up even more space or call agency, chatting with customers, and talking to the people who work for you. "The ex-Jazz man sings the praises of the "You can have a vision and idea of where your business needs to Park City club, saying Toastmasters helped go," notes Eaton, "but if you can't take his speaking skills to the next level." effectively communicate it in a way that employees can buy into it, it's going to be a one-man show."

[less than] four years, because he more attention to his size. But he Passing It Forward knows teamwork." knew that to be a successful speaker, When a basketball player passes the Eaton's journey - from basketball he had to have a more confident, ball to a teammate so he can score, dropout and auto mechanic to NBA assertive presence. that pass is called an . Mark All-Star and professional speaker ­ "I realized I have to learn how to Eaton played with the greatest assist has a certain cinematic arc to it, and let go of that self-consciousness and man in NBA history: the Utah Jazz's his story may indeed hit the big really learn to be comfortable with , who dished out screen one day. A Park City-based who I am," he says. nearly 16,000 of them. Big Mark filmmaker has written a script about Eaton says the act of sharing was on the receiving end of some Eaton's life and hopes to turn it into personal aspects about himself has of those passes. Now Toastmasters a feature film. been liberating - and made him feel is delivering an assist to Eaton's freer and more comfortable in his speaking career. World's Tallest Car Salesman body language and movements. "It has been a place where on a Eaton's presentation style is conver­ weekly basis I can practice," says sational. He jokes about his height, Blending In Eaton, "where I can stand in front sharing one story about his clays as Eaton is just one of the group in the of an audience and not just give a a college student working selling Park City club - not a celebrity, just speech but have a conversation cars at a Datsun dealership: ''Perhaps another member there to leam and with an audience." you can picture me, behind the help others. The club is a thriving wheel of a B-210 Honey Bee, one, with more than 60 members. It For more in/ormation ahout j\IJark explaining to the customer that this meets at 7 a.m. every Tuesday, and Eatoll visit his Weh site: www.7ft4.com. was actually a roomy vehicle." Eaton and fellow members typically But he didn't always have such go for coffee aftelward, to socialize Mark Eaton was interviewed last a playful perspective about himself. or talk more about Toastmasters. October in a Toastmasters Podcast. As a teenager, he was extremely Park City is a skiing paradise, and To listen to the episode, visit self-conscious about his size, wishing Eaton says some members attend www.toastmasterspodcast.com he could shrink away from all the club meetings dressed in their ski and type Mark Eaton in the site gawking. Painful as it was to revisit gear and head straight for the Search box. those times, Eaton says he was slopes after the meeting. determined to share those feelings Eaton also credits the conununi­ Paul Sterman is an associate editor and experiences so that all audiences cation andleauership skills he's at the Toastmaster magazine and - sports fans and non-spolts fans honed in Toastmasters with helping member of a Toastmasters club in alike - could find common ground him as a businessman. After retiring Orange, California.

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